Gingerbread Houses

We had some family fun building and decorating gingerbread houses. Gage was upset that I called them gingerbread houses since they were made out of graham crackers. He can be honest to a fault. We think they turned out great!! I'm not sure what the kids thought was more fun, decorating with candy or eating candy. They were in candy heaven!! Here are some pics of our creations.

Yay!! We're back in the cyber world!! (and a little about Carrigan)

Our computer has been broken for more than a month now. Kimball has been able to post from work but I have been out of luck. Boy have I missed being able to snoop into everyones lives on their blogs. I don't usually leave a comment but I do look. I have been feeling so out of the loop! Anyway it is good to be back online thanks to a good friend (thanks Mike!)

Things have been busy around here with a new baby, Kimball and the kids in school, callings, family events, the holidays. You know--LIFE!

Carrigan has been such a trooper. She doesn't get as much Mommy time as she would like now that the new baby is here. She really misses Gage and Amberly while they are away at school. I try to help by coming up with little activities that she can do on her own while I'm feeding and taking care of Emmalin. I don't want to just resort to the TV all day (although I do admit that that does happen from time to time).

This is one of here favorite things to do. I let her paint her fingernails (I get those cheap little bottles at Wal-Mart for 98 cents). She is obsessed with makeup and can't wait to grow up and be able to wear it. She thinks she is so big and grown up when she does this. You would think it would be a big mess. The trick is to let her paint several layers. Then when it dries it just peels off! She loves it. The pictures are a little blurry but you get the idea.

New Pictures of Emy

Here she is. Sunday we did a photo shoot of Emmalin and the other kids could not stop laughing. Just like her brother and sisters, she has a variety of looks.

Carrigan's Birthday Party

4 YEARS OLD!!

As you can see, Carrigan is in love with Tinker Bell. So she got a Tinker Bell themed birthday. She got 4-5 Tinker Bells, the Tinker Bell movie and Tiffin made her little Tinker Bell homemade cupcakes.

She flipped a lid when she saw she got the Tinker Bell movie.

Amberly could hardly stay still. She wanted to rip open the presents when she saw it was taking Carrigan a little too long to open them herself.

She even got Tinker Bell's friend Dawn.

Overall it was a fun day. Carrigan has really found her spot in the family. She has a confidence about her that is addicting. She does have her shy moments and sometimes has a hard time leaving her Mom's side, but she opens up quick and adapts to situations really well. She is having fun taking care of the girls (Tiffin and Emmalin) since they came home.

We love our Carrigan!

Our Halloween in Buckeye

The kids helped Tiffin carve a jack-o-lantern. They thought it was pretty fun.
Gage did not like the "guts" (like his Father) but the girls (like Tif) loved it.












We made jack-o-krispies. Too much fun.

Trick or Treat was fun. Tiff stayed home with Emmalin and the kids loaded up on the candy. Don't worry, I did not go out in my neighborhood like that. Just to the office.

Welcome, Baby Emmalin!!

The Big Day

There will be more to come, but I took a moment to post some pictures of our day yesterday. On Thursday, October 16th 2008, Emmalin Marie Clark was born. She was 6 lbs 14 oz (rounding up) and 19 inches long. She is amazing!

Tiffin did not like the camera in the room. She gave me one of her famous Wilkins "looks". (By the way, that is a before picture)

I also saw her strength yesterday. What she went through to bring Emmalin into this world was ultimate sacrifice. I thought the doctors were going to break Tiffin in half getting Emmalin out. She grinned through it and deserves all the praise in the world. I have always known that she would go the ends of the earth for our family and yesterday I looked at her face as she did just that. Good job Tif.

As you can all see, Emmalin has dark curly hair and she is very strong. The picture below is of when the nurse set her on her belly to help drain her lungs (at this point she is about 10 minutes old) and she pulled her arms up and lifted her head off the table. The nurse pulled everyone over to see it. I thought she was going to do some pushups. I am a proud Dad.











(Thank you all for your calls and messages of support. It means a lot to feel that.)

Wilkins Family Halloween Party '08

Thriller Nights

In preparing for the Emmalin, we were cleaning and I decided to throw in some Michael Jackson (he may be creepy, but you have to admit, the music is groovy). The kids took to dancin' like ducks take to water. Who would have known?

Clark Family Halloween Party '08

Gingerbread Waffles...Yummy!!!!

I love this time of year.

I always look forward to the smells of autumn.

I was snooping on a blog recently and found this recipe for gingerbread waffles.

It seemed the perfect recipe to welcome in the new season.

We tried them out for dinner tonight. They were sooo good.

Amberly was my helper in the kitchen and all smiles when everyone gobbled them up

and said they were yummy.

Gingerbread Waffles

3 c. flour

4 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

4 eggs

2/3 c. dark brown sugar

1 c. canned pumpkin

1 1/4 c. milk

1/2 c. molasses

1/2 c. melted butter

syrup

powdered sugar

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. In another bowl beat the eggs and brown sugar til fluffy. Add pumpkin, milk, molasses, and melted butter to eggs and sugar. Stir dry ingredients into wet just until mixed together. Do not overmix. Brush waffle iron with additional melted butter and cook. Pour syrup on and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy!!

Sewing up a storm...

This past week I have been busy finishing up sewing projects. A couple of things have made me shift into panic mode as far as getting these projects done. One...the baby is coming NEXT WEEK!! Two...Halloween parties are scheduled for this weekend and I bravely decided to make the kids costumes this year. Three...Amanda is moving this weekend and taking her sewing machine with her. The nerve!! Just kidding. Thanks Amanda for letting me borrow your sewing machine and everything else. We are going to miss having you guys right across the street. Here are pictures of a couple of my projects. From top to bottom -- A nursing cover, a changing pad, and burp cloths. I will post Halloween costume pictures later. They are nothing fancy but it has been fun to be a little creative.

Articles of Faith

Each week for FHE we learn a new Article of Faith. The kids have worked everyday to perfect each part so they can say it perfect everytime. So far we have done well on the 1st and 2nd. Now on to the longer ones, we shall see how we do.

Amberly's First School Project

Amberly accomplished her first school project and wanted to show it off here. Her assignment was to make a family tree out of a grocery bag. Her family pictures turned out cute. She was so proud walking into school today with her tree!

Gage's Monster Truck

Gage drew a monster truck and wanted to post it on the blog. One thing about all three of the kids, they love to draw. And they are good at it too.

Gage types, "I like monster trucks. They are cool. I like that they are really big and that they drive over other cars and do big jumps."

Evil parents or just really, really smart...you decide!!!

Normally, we spend Labor Day weekend with the Wilkins family in Pinedale. This year the doctor advised us not to go because of the contractions I have been having. We were so disappointed. It is always so fun to be with family, playing outside in cooler temperatures.

Instead we told the kids that on Labor Day we labor the whole day!!! We work really hard and get things done around the house. They believed us and got right to it. We got our house sparkling inside and out. Finished all the yardwork, washed both cars, spotlessly cleaned all bedrooms, vacuumed, dusted, mopped, scrubbed, etc. This is normal stuff to do around the house but the abnormality came because there were NO complaints. They sang and laughed and had a great time. We were finished by early afternoon and they were sad because there was no more laboring to do!!!

I wonder how many years of this we have left before they catch on...

Happy 7th Birthday, Gage!!!

Gage opening presents. He got Battleship, a bunch of GI Joes, a lizard hunting container, a light saber, star wars action figures, and a golf disk game. He is a happy boy!
The proud 7 year old!!
Blowing out birthday candles.
Pretending to be spiderman!!
The cake. Don't look to close.

Gage is 7 years old today. How the time flies! We love having him in our family. He is a terrific big brother to his sisters. He enjoys reading and catching lizards. He loves the gospel and helps us all to be better. We love our Gage!!!

He wanted a Spiderman birthday, so that's what he got!

Contractions...

Kimball and I had a little scare over the weekend. Friday I started feeling contractions. (I am only 30 weeks) Saturday afternoon they hadn't stopped so we dropped the kids off at Mom and Dad Clarks and headed for the hospital. Apparently I was pretty dehydrated which helped to bring on the contractions. I told Kimball that it was ironic-- I am always telling people to drink water, drink water, drink water and then I was the one sitting in the hospital hooked up to an I.V. After 3 liters of fluid they still couldn't stop the contractions. I was given a dose of terbutiline, still they didn't stop. The medication made my heart rate go up too much and they decided to try a different medication. The contractions finally stopped but my heart rate wouldn't come down. After a few hours they decided to release me with instructions to take it easy. It is not bed rest but pretty close. Anyhow I go to the doctor tomorrow and hopefully everything will go well from here out.

Kimball and I joked that it was like a date. We were out alone, we had a babysitter, he bought me dinner (ran to Wendy's), and we had entertainment (the Olympics).

Our fun week with the South Carolina Clarks

First Day of School

Gage and Amberly started school today. Gage is a 1st grader and Amberly is in Kindergarten. They were both so brave. No one cried!! Gage is excited to be back with the friends he made last year. After school Gage told me that his stomach started to hurt because he was nervous, but then he sneezed and everything was better. Amberly can't wait to go back tomorrow. She made a little friend but can't remember her name. It is going to be a great year!!!

Carrigan isn't so sure about the change around here. She was wandering around the house and said, "Mommy, it is so quiet around here. I miss Gage and Amberly." I agree that it is different but I'm looking forward to my time alone with Carrigan until the baby comes.

Little Pioneer Children

For family home evening, Kimball and I thought it would be fun to talk about the experiences that pioneer children had as they came across the plains. We told stories, hunted for buffalo chips (not real of course) sang songs around the campfire, and pulled taffy. We talked about how grateful we are for the pioneers and the great sacrifices they made for religious freedom.

Gage's flips

The other day Gage came up to Tiffin and said, "Check this out Mommy!" Then this is what he did. Maybe we will see him in 2012 Summer Olympics.