Cookie Recipes

We had a little cookie exchange with come friends from church and I agreed to post the recipes here for everybody's convenience.

Here are Christi's Peppermint Kiss Blossoms

http://www.hersheys.com/kisses/recipes/8362/KISSES%20Candy%20Cane%20Blossoms.aspx

Tiffany's Brownie Covered Oreos

http://picky-palate.com/2010/12/06/brownie-covered-oreos/#more-10509

And my Ginger Snaps

(I am so old fashioned, I got my recipe from a recipe book.)

3/4 c. shortening

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1/4 c. molasses

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

Beat shortening and sugar. Add egg and beat till fluffy, add molasses. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon. Add to first mixture. Beat until smooth. Roll into 1 inch balls. Roll ball in sugar. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 min. Tops should be cracked.

Katie said that her recipes were family secrets. Personally I think that she just didn't want to write it down. Either that or she didn't actually follow a recipe. You know how Katie is.

Halloween

Chesson won a prize at the ward Halloween party for being so cute. This picture is with her best ffriend Elizabeth. And of course, Chauncey is always cute.

Thomas' Baptism

Princesses

Keith's sister made these matching skirts for the three little girls while we were in Utah. I don't think I've ever seen so much princess power in one place. The dancing, the coy smiles, the beautiful hair bows, the pink, wow.

Summer Vacation

Most of Keith's family at Temple Square in Salt Lake

Pilot and Index, Beartooth Mountains Montana

Chauncey in Alicia's hat.

Grandma and Grandpa Hinchcliff at Yellowstone

Mt. Rushmore

In July we took our annual pilgrimage to the mountains. We spent an afternoon at Mt. Rushmore, then visited Keith's grandma at her cabin in Cooke City, Mt. My parents came up and joined us for a few days and we visited Yellowstone. After that we drove down to Utah and spent a few days with our siblings and their families. Chauncey was a surprisingly good traveler. We had lots of fun and will probably do it again soon.

The Princess, the Prince, a Dragon, and a Pianist

The kids created this "musical pantomime" for the school talent show on the last day of school. Echo is playing the piano, Alicia is the princess, Thomas is the prince, and Estella is the dragon. In case you can't tell what's going on: The princess is gathering flowers, the dragon and the prince see the beautiful princess. The dragon gets hungry and the prince falls in love. They both run toward the princess who sees them at the last moment and steps out of the way causing them to crash into each other. The dragon and the prince each grab the princess by an elbow and pull her back and forth across the stage until she gets an idea and stops them both. The princess passes out flowers to everyone and they all make friends.

We had a good time putting it together.

Quote of the Week...

"You're running a regular pulmonary clinic there." Pediatrician

Chauncey's breathing started sounding bad over the weekend and by Tuesday he was definitely wheezy, so we took him in and, yes, he was wheezing. (He had also gained 2 1/2 pounds. He is now almost 18 pounds.) We drug the nebulizer out of storage. It was nice to have it in storage for a while. The good news is that Chauncey takes his medicine with a minimum of fuss.

This doctor visit ended up being 2 for the price of 1. Apparently Chauncey holds his head tipped to one side. Once the doctor pointed it out then it seemed obvious. So now we get to do physical therapy as well. The doctor gave us exercises to do and said that if it isn't better by his next well check she'll send us to a physical therapist.

It's amazing the number of things that can go wrong.

But he's still really cute!

Happy Mother's Day

This is the letter Echo wrote for me for Mother's Day. I think she did a good job of capturing the essence of motherhood. I have corrected the spelling.

The important thing about Mom is she is responsible. She makes the best broccoli soup in the whole wide world. She smells like flowers. She is beautiful all the time. I can ask about music. She is always busy with Chauncey. She is very loving. But the most important thing about Mom is she is responsible.

Chessy-isms

"I'm drinky." That would be "thirsty."

"I hurt my three head." She used to call it a "two head" but now that she is three it is a "three head." I wonder how long it will take her to realize that foreheads have nothing to do with age.

Chesson "Clean" Oliver

Recently we have been trying to teach Chesson her middle name which is Colleen. So in the middle of lunch she announced that her name is "Chesson Clean Oliver." The funny part was just how dirty she was at the time. Pictures never capture dirty faces very well, but trust me, she was dirty!

Can you see a baby growing?

Yesterday Chauncey took a 5 hour nap. When he woke up I swear he was an inch taller and weighed a couple of pounds more than he did when I put him down. I think I better get out all the 3-6 month clothes.

p.s.

I forgot to include one of my favorite "6 kids" stories. It's actually the one that got me started thinking about it.

I was at the Wonder Thrift store buying the cheapest bread I could find. I passed up the donuts and twinkies and everything else, bought my two loaves of bread and had a short conversation with the cashier. At the mention of 6 kids she said, "Your husband must have a really good job."

I didn't know how to respond. It's all a matter of perspective I suppose. He certainly has a better job than she does, but that wasn't really the point. According to all of the statistics I've ever seen, the more educated you are and the more money you make, the less likely you are to have a big family. And I certainly wasn't shopping at the fancy bread store.

(I was also a little offended at the sexist aspect of the remark, but since my husband IS the one with the money job and I am the one with the kids job, I'll refrain from carrying on about it.)

Weird things people say when they find out you have 6 kids.

Dental Hygienist "How many of your kids do you homeschool?"

People ask me if I homeschool all the time. Why should having six kids have anything to do with homeschooling?

"I saw that lady on TV with 18 kids."

Granted 6 is a lot of kids when compared with 2 or 3, but 18? That's 3 times what I've got. I just don't think that 6 is in the same category as 18. Even if I'd had one every year since I got married I'd only have 11.

Kids' Principal with very long, very impressive resume. I don't know if she has any children, but she is responsible for several schools in Africa, among other things, besides coming out of "retirement" to be our principal when the previous principal took another job at the last minute last August. "How do you do it all?"

Do all what? I baked cookies for Christmas and stuck a few in a bag for you. I don't do it all. The number of things I ache to do, but simply don't have time for are infinite.

Grandmas in the grocery store "What beautiful children. How many do you have?"

me "6"

them "I had 6 (or 7 or however many.)"

This doesn't actually belong in the "weird" category. They always seam a little wistful. Like they wish their daughters would have 6 kids, or they wish they still had their beautiful little babies tugging on them at the grocery store. These always make me feel better. They don't seem to notice the snotty noses or uncombed hair. They don't think I'm weird, or compare me to reality TV shows. They just think that children are wonderful.

When did 6 become a huge number of children? Why is 6 so many more than 5? Was it the minivan that decided that five kids was all any reasonable family would ever have? I like my kids. I'm glad I have 6 kids. Sometimes they make me crazy and I wonder how I'm going to survive, but we always do survive and sometimes we even have fun.

I want to be like those grandmas at the grocery store. I want to look back on these days with fondness and feel a little sad that they are gone.

christmas letter

here is a family update. I always plan to write these at christmas but I never do. perhaps I should make it an easter tradition?

enjoy.

Smile Chauncey!

Today we dressed Chauncey up in his little white suit that Grandma H. made for him. Then we made him sit through about 50 photos. (That's what I love about digital cameras.) He was a good sport and even smiled for the last few. We also played around with the effects button on iPhoto. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Tuesday, Feb. 16, Estella lost her first tooth. The next day she lost her second. At this rate the poor tooth fairy is going to go broke.

Chauncey smiles

Chauncey will be seven weeks tomorrow. I can't believe I got this smile on film.

Chauncey's blessing day, Feb. 7, 2010. We were so glad that Grandma and Grandpa Oliver could be here.
The whole family. I'm still surprised every time I hear myself tell someone that I have 6 kids. That sounds like so many.

Chauncey

Here is Chauncey Orin Oliver. Born Jan. 9, 2010. 8 lbs. 3 ozs.

Chauncey after my Great Grandfather, Chauncey Sandberg, and Orin after Keith's Great Grandfather, Victor Orin Jackson.