Snow Day.

I know it is two days after Christmas and the logical post here would be to document the big day, however when I was downloading all the Christmas pics I discovered a few pictures my kids took on our Snow Day.

*A little side note to all my avid readers not from around here: School was canceled two days before our TWO WEEK Christmas vacation (seriously, are they trying to kill me? not like i had a gazillion things i was trying to finish up!) because it snowed about 3-4 inches...I hope all of you sitting in your 3-4 feet of snow are getting a good chuckle at the wimps who live in Utah's Dixie. Any who- I digress- back to my story:

Schools canceled, the kids are home acting wild and crazy 'cuz- hello? WE HAVE SNOW! Honestly my house was total mayhem and I was hosting the book club Christmas party that night. So what did I do? I did what any rational woman would do, I called my lovely husband and said, "I'm leaving. I simply can't sit by and watch them tear the house from stem to stern so I'm out of here for a couple of hours. Please come home two hours before my party and take these crazed maniacs outa here so I can clean and get this place whiped back into shape." Which he did. And I did. The party ,on a side note, was super fun as always- I luvs me my pack of chicks.

I have two babysitters at my house. Adam and Audrey. They don't do too well together; but they both have their strong points and they both like to babysit with a friend; which is great with me.

PHASE ONE

Audrey and her friend Jamie took the first shift babysitting during my snow day absence. All the kids went out and made a snow man. See cute pictures below:

Grant just loving the snow man.

Lucy putting the final touches on...

Who doesn't need a glamor shot with a snow man?





PHASE TWO

Adam and his best buddy Sam took the second shift. They fixed lunch, they laid Grant down for a nap, they let the girls go play at the neighbors and then they had a little fun in the snow of their own...

SERIOUSLY?

WHAT THE H-E-double toothpicks is wrong with my son?!?!?

There are a couple of things that jumped into my head when I saw this picture.

1. Does my son need some kind of counseling? Mike has tried to assure me that this is completely normal 13 year old boy behavior. This of course was after he was able to regain control of himself after nearly falling out of his chair laughing when I showed him this picture and told me he actually saw the above offense in person. He had to tell the boys to destroy or be destroyed by that nice lady you refer to as your mother. Which leads me to my second thought:

2. Does my son have a brain in his head? Not only is he dumb enough to modify the girl's creation into a she-male snow nightmare...he left it like that. And took pictures of it!! For his mother to find!!!

I am still questioning whether or not I will actually post this. It is both mortifying and hilarious to me at the same time- that ,my friends, is what being married to a Schoenfeld will do to you. Things that at one point in my life would have had my eyes cast down for weeks just crack me up. I am a broken woman, married to a fun loving man, raising children who press the edges of the appropriateness envelope. That is why I am blaming this entire incident on his father. Thank you very much.

Doing my part to make the world a better place one chocolate at a time.

My chocolates are finally done. Yippee!!! I still need to plate them(I have half of them plated already) and then deliver. Aahhh...delivering chocolates as a family event rivals putting lights on the tree (see previous post). I actually handed a plate out when some one brought a treat to my house tonight- no offense to any one- but how tacky is that?? That's just where I'm at- I'm considering posting on face book that I have thirty plates of chocolates available on a first come first serve basis. Those who run over here are the lucky ones that get them- to the rest? Well, maybe next year. That's just the exhaustion speaking...it's been a really long day. No worries--little bits of heaven are on their way to all my besties. All my besties that live in a 5 mile radius at any rate.

So I thought I would give a little blog-tutorial on chocolate making, since I don't have a whole lot of takers on getting up at 4:45 to come see the magic in action for themselves. I know, I know you are all dying to here about it.

Here I am beating my Almond Nut Roll (also known as nutty balls by my brother-in-law) center.


Mike and the girls shaping caramels. The kids are only too eager to help- Mike on the other hand does this solely out of duty. Have I mentioned before that he is a really good sport?


I buy a 10 lb. block of chocolate. Yes, I said 10 POUNDS. And yes, that is the end of it. I need to buy more next year, that was barely enough.

Mmmm...melted goodness in a pan.

Here's the actual dipping. I must say that I love doing this. It is a LONG standing family tradition. One that I am hoping to pass along to the next generation...


From the look on her face I think it's going to stick.


This is what you would call "Chocolates as far as the eye can see" --or at least to the end of the counter.

There you have it folks. Now won't you all enjoy them just a little bit more this year?

Husband Tag

Here it is two weeks before Christmas already. I still have much to do. Topping the list is making chocolates. That is on the agenda for the next several days and will become more and more time consuming in the very near future. Right now I am waiting for my carmel to cook so I thought I would do a tag my friend gave me. Sure, there are plenty of other things to do. Like, oh say...laundry, cleaning, Christmas cards, spending quality time with my chiltin's just to mention a few--but I'm gonna opt to blog. That's right, blog. Here goes:

1. Full name: Michael Edwin Schoenfeld. His middle name is also his dad's, his grandpa's and Adam's.

2. How long have you been married? 15 years this coming June (holy crap! that's along time!!)

3. How long did you date? We met at the beginning of the school year and we were married at the end, so I guess about 8 months.

4. Who eats the sweets? Yah-that would be me. Mike like's treats okay...I have a minor obsession with anything warm, gooey, tasty and chocolate. Mike still laments about the year I was off chocolate while I was nursing Elsie. The treat production went down drastically. He claims he gets a little chocolated-out. I know, I know- how is that even possible? I do make a mean chocolate chip cookie that he has a weakness for.

5. Who said "I love you" first? Mike. And for the record--it was waaayyy too soon, but apparently it worked out for him cuz here I am.

6. Who is taller? Mike. He's got about 4 inches on me.

7. Who is smarter? Here's the thing- I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, but Mike knows A LOT of stuff. He is just so knowledgeable about so many things. I did take a few years of Spanish in high school so when he asks me to translate something I feel really smart. To be completely honest my skills aren't that great-I don't really know how I learned any Spanish at all, Miss Snow was not the brightest bulb in the box.

8. Who does the laundry? Well, now how could I be the domestic goddess that I am if Mike got involved with such things as laundry?

9. Who pays the bills? This task has bounced back and forth over the years. Right now it's Mike.

10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I sleep on the side closest to the door, which ever side that is. It's a residual habit from needing to get up with nursing babies.

11. Who mows the lawn? Adam does. Older kids are just so durn handy.

12. Who drives? Mike. He has an awesome sense of direction. But mostly he doesn't want my job of dealing with the kids and handing things back to them.

13. Who admits they are wrong? Neither one of us likes to freely admit when we are wrong. Mike is much better about letting it go when I am wrong. I tend to want to do the whole "told ya so, told ya so, told ya, told ya, told ya so!"

14. Who kissed who first? He kissed me-how could he resist a hottie such as myself?

15. Who asked who out first? He asked me. We did a fair amount of 'hanging out' together before our first official date. He took me to go see Forgotten Carroll's. In his mind we were already steadily dating at that point. Yes, I was very naive.

16. Who wears the pants? Hmmm...that's a tough one. I'd like to think I do, but really Mike just lets me think that until I don't want to deal with something and he steps right in. He's really nice that way.

So there you have it. My dear old darling hubby in a nut shell. He is by far the most fun I've ever had- he tells me quite often how boring my life would be without him and how boring his life would be without me. I guess that means we are perfect for each other.

Thanks for the tag Kelli. These are really fun to do!

Happy Holidays!

From my dancing elves....



It's nothing short of a small miracle that I did this- being the technologically challenged genious that I am.
I'm actually pretty impressed with myself!
And the end result cracks me up- my kids think it is hilarious.

Top Ten Tag

Angie tagged me awhile ago and I am now getting around to it. Here goes:
Top Ten Things I Love About My Kids.

10. Singing "Happy Trails" (thank you Van Halen) at the end of just about every road trip. Mike introduced us to that little gem years ago and it has stuck. We are not what you would call a vocally inclined bunch but we can belt out this one with some gusto.

9. Sunday dinner. You know the old stand by--roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, and biscuits. It is the one meal that they all love. That means no one is complaining that they don't like it! It's a little Sunday miracle for me every time.

8. Family swims in the back yard. This is our FHE most of the summer. They love it when we all get in the pool. This could be because Mike is very fair in his dunking of everyone and doesn't leave me out of it.

7. Camping with them. They are like different kid's out there. I suppose I'm like a different Mom out there, too. We all turn into pioneer people, we can deal with being dirty, we are happy with what ever food we have, and throwing rocks is all of the sudden a fabulous pass time. I love to camp and I love that they love to camp.

6. The way they all treat Grant. That kid is so loved.

5. Laughing with them. I mean when we really get going- tears streaming down everyone's faces, nobody can stop, it hurts- laughing. It doesn't happen all that often and usually when it does it is during scripture reading...I'm not totally sure what that says about us.

4. Watching them wrestle with Mike--all of them at the same time.

3. Seeing Adam with a brother after waiting so many years for it and loving the way Grant has basically become the mascot for Adam and his friends.

2. All three sisters playing American Girl Doll's together, including the "set-up" stage of creating houses for the girls and their doll, watching them be mom's to their dolls.

1. The number one thing I love about my kid's is they made my dream come true. I can never remember a time when I didn't want to be a mom. The old song "When I grow up I want to be a mother. One little, two little, three little babies of my own"...that was me! Except I was blessed with five little babies of my own. Without them I wouldn't be complete- so thanks guys, I love you all.


There are a million things I love about my kids, these were just the first to come to mind. There are those days when coming up with two reasons would be a struggle-that's just how it is here in the trenches, luckily those are just a few days in a whole lifetime. I would suggest this tag for any mother...what good therapy!

Nothing says...

Love at home like decorating the tree for family home evening. This annual event is so painful. Each and Every Year. Husband has his grouch on before the thing is even out of the box. I never can decide if it's best to give a little advance warning to warm him up to the idea ahead of time or just spring it on him the second he walks in the door. I opted for advance warning this year. I thought two days was ample time to gear up- I was wrong.

There are a few reasons he puts the lights on the tree. First of all, he is a perfectionist when it comes to things like that. It always looks fantastic when he's finished. Secondly, I don't want to do it by myself...it's a huge pain. The good news is that we now have a child old enough to take over my job of holding the string of lights. This is a really good thing, he doesn't take it nearly as personally as I do when we're mad simply because we are standing in front of a tree holding lights.

The rest of the kid's are banned from the room, let me rephrase that, not just the room- the entire area. Considering the level of frustration emanating from the front room; it's not such a bad idea.

Knowing how much my dear husband hates putting lights on the tree and the fact that he does it every year any way is a real testament to how much he loves us. He really is such a good sport. I suppose if I wanted to reciprocate I would go buy a pre-lit tree. Unfortunately for him I'm a firm believer in the old "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" saying.

Once the lights are on it's time to decorate. I sit with all the ornaments in my lap and pass out each one individually to it's rightful owner who then places it on the tree. The trouble comes when I get to the ornaments from my childhood. Well, you know I determine who puts on what according to who my favorite children are. Or so you would think.

In the end they always say, "What- that's it? I thought we had more than that."

This scenario is basically the same every year. And yet my kids are excited about it. Every year. That fact alone tells me it's much more painful for me then for them-- we must be doing something right. (Sometimes I'm really glad kids have such a selective memory.) I guess a little Christmas music in the back ground, reminiscing about the history of each ornament and a treat at the end goes a long way.

There's how many weeks until Christmas?

Five you say, well then, I may be in trouble. It has been really busy around here lately and shows no sign of stopping. In fact I need to kick it in to over drive for the next 20 or so hours. My darling husband set up a meeting in Provo on Tuesday, which means we are leaving tomorrow. TOMORROW. Now, in his defense I will say that he did tell me a couple of weeks ago he had to go to Provo on either a Tuesday or Thursday. In a moment of obviously poor judgement I said that the Tuesday before Thanksgiving might work out. Done and done. Next thing I know we are on our way tomorrow. I did talk him into waiting until late afternoon.

I failed to take into consideration that we had his family here all last week. Not conducive to accomplishing a lot of things. Then I found out I had to speak in Sacrament meeting today. Again- family all week- not conducive to accomplishing a lot. So after a week of not much getting done and a Saturday cram session to prepare a talk I am way behind on a whole bunch of stuff.

Tonight is a laundry/packing/present wrapping/list making frenzy. This is one of those Sunday nights were the line between appropriate vs. inappropriate Sabbath day activities is getting a little blurred. (I am really resisting the urge to clean my little heart out.)

And realizing that Christmas will be here like 5 minutes after we say amen on Thursday is kind freaking me out. I will say that I am actually really excited to go up for the big Holiday kick off. The best news is that for the better part of a week we get to just sort of hang out (one of the perks of not being in my own house). Sounds fabulous to me.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Check us out!

So my fabulous friend Robyn took our family pictures. Bear in mind, we have never had family pictures before. Just seemed like too much work and as I have already stated I'm a bit of a dud in the picture department. Can I tell you how much fun it was?

We spent weeks discussing 'the picture plans'. Good ole Robyn came over and helped me pick out clothes- she brought accessories and everything! She found a little known fabulous location. My kids were acting uncharacteristically like actual siblings instead of mortal enemies. (Okay so Adam and Audrey still didn't want to be all that close to each other...but no physical altercations ensued so we'll mark that one up as a success.) Robyn knows all my kids well enough that she knew just what to say to them and how to capture their true personalities.

I am just pleased as punch with the outcome. Who knew we had such a good looking family? Well- I did- but now it's here for all the whole wide world to see.

Score one for Team Schoenfeld. And score a bunch for Team Robyn.

So go check us out on Robyn's blog.....

Not of the majority.

As I check every ones blogs to see if they've updated-- I realize:
Why should I be expectant that others have updated when I haven't?
That's not really all that fair now is it?
So I guess what I'm saying is--I should really update this thing.
I do plan to.
We are currently trying to figure out how to get some pictures that are trapped in a phone out into the free world so that I can document the lives of my children.
It's not going so well.
If I were like every other mother on the planet and just remembered the dumb camera in the first place this would not be a problem.
I, however, am not.
I am really good at a lot of things.
Remembering to take the camera, remembering to take the pictures if I actually remember the camera is not among them.
I'm a bit of a dud when it comes to things like that.
That's just the kinda mom I am.
And I'm really okay with that.
I suppose I should focus on my positive attributes...

so I guess I'll go make a treat and then clean. :0)

Can we talk about....

Garage sales?
Should you ever have a garage sale and one of my children happens along, go ahead and refuse to sell any thing to them. Tell them you've labeled everything wrong and there is supposed to be a "1" in front of all the prices.

My kids have come home with some of the most unusual items. Being the generous little people that they are; garage sales are where they purchase many a gift. I was once given an ash tray. I know you are all thinking, "Did I miss something? Does Farmgirl smoke?" the answer is NO! I do not nor have I ever been a smoker. It was an ash tray made out of wood carved like an African mask...used mind you. It was one of the smelliest gifts I have ever received, to his credit the giver was only about six at the time.

Lest I sound too negative I should mention that there have have been some great finds. I'm not an anti-garage sale kind of a girl. In fact I am a lover of the trash-to-treasure mantra. However, they have also brought home some really weird things.

The latest and greatest being a pair of crutches. "Is someone hurt?" you ask. "Are we in need of crutches?" No, we are not. I received a phone call from the girls on Saturday letting me know they had visited a neighborhood garage sale. Audrey was very excited to tell me that she had purchased a pair of crutches. Why? I don't know, she thought they would be fun I guess.

Sure enough within a day she had seriously injured(stubbed) her toe and was in dire need of crutches. Luckily for us we are now the proud owners of just such an item. I have a sneaking suspicion that the foot/leg injuries in our house are going to be on the rise....here's to good health!

Well what do you know.

It isn't as hard as I thought...

Vampire Lucy, Skeleton Grant, and Minnie Mouse Elsie

Thief Audrey. Hobo Audrey. You decide, let's just say her costume was in flux throughout the day.

The BYU boys or the blue man group as they were referred to at the neighborhood party. Adam is the "B". In answer to the inevitable question: Yes, it was a pain to get off. (I guess I can't really speak for him, but I will say the blue specks left in the shower were a pain to get off.) I think his scalp is still a little blue. -I feel the need to throw in a disclaimer here. I am still an Aggie, despite the actions of my son.-

So there you have it. Halloween 2008. See all I'm learning? Enlarged the text and bold. Italics too! My oh my I am getting fancy!

After we down loaded these pictures it was obvious my camera has clicked it's little heart out. I'm afraid old faithful has seen it's better days. These pictures are quite foggy but I guess you get the idea. Let's just say the mistiness is there to add to the ambiance of the day.

One more of Grant enjoying his candy. Just cuz he is so darn cute.


Shout out to Mike for showing me one more time how to post pictures. Thanks babe!

A work in progress

Okay, so time for a new post before I forget how to do this. Yes, I am that lame. Now this is going to be exciting because I am actually going to attempt to put pictures on here. This could open up all sorts of possibilities for me. So here it goes.

Halloween 2008

Ummm.....first attempt- unsuccessful. I thought I was on to something and then all the sudden not so much. I would call in reinforcements but unfortunately my phone's not really working right, right now. It may just have to wait until my sweet husband comes to my rescue. He just LOVES showing me how to do things on the computer numerous times. Oh well, I guess I'll just leave all my avid readers in suspense as to what my children looked like on the big dia de spook-tac-u-lar. Stay tuned.....pictures to follow......

In the mean time I will tell you they all looked great. That, of course, is coming from their totally unbiased Halloweenie mother. So take it for what it's worth.

And for the record I know I'm fairly pathetic. I seem to have some very deep seeded and completely unfounded fear of "messing something up" when it comes to computers. I'll figure this out and be a blogging pro before you know it. I know you're all pulling for me- thanks guys!

The longest Halloween Ever.

Is it just me?? Does any body else start celebrating at the insane hour of 4:30? Let me just be clear- I'm talking about 4:30 in the A.M. !!! What is up with that?? This morning I heard giggling and scurrying around. My little girls were just "too excited to sleep any more".

Don't get me wrong, I do like Halloween. I'm not a crazy lover of the holiday, but it's cute. The kids have a great time and I actually do enjoy being the make up artist extraordinaire for a day.

But really?? That's just too early, especially considering it's going on 10:30 and I just got the last of my big kids home. Now, if I'm going to be realistic it's gonna be well after 11:00 before every one is sawing logs dreaming of their respective candy loots. And that's just plain crazy! So Happy Halloween to one and all...all 18 hours we've been enjoying it at our house.

Once you all recover from heart failure...

I hope you will enjoy my new blog. Yes, I have caved. I am now officially "blogging", I guess I figured since everyone has moved on to face book it's now time for me to start a blog. I generally run a good decade behind the rest of the techno world so this is huge for me. I'm actually way ahead of my game here.

And Now For A Little Story....
Once upon a time there was a little Idaho farm girl. She had many great farm adventures. One day she realized she was all grown up. She fell in love with a great guy. She left the farm, got married and had a baby. She kept having babies until at last she had five babies. She doesn't know exactly when it happened but one day she realized her life was very full. This is the story of my life post-farm. Farm life was hard, but this life is crazy. I am living in a house all filled up with crazy....and I wouldn't change a thing.