Halloween Video

***Don't miss out on your chance to win a fabulous CD in my first ever giveaway! The deadline for entering the drawing is tomorrow (Wednesday) at midnight. For more details, click HERE***

See the quints in action in this little video that Jayson put together of our Halloween:

Funny Faces and the Fish Fiasco

***Don't forget---the last day to enter the drawing for the AWESOME FREE CD is Wednesday! To read more about the giveaway, click HERE***

Kaydence, Kyndall, Rustin, Ryder and Kassidy

Within the last couple of weeks, the quints have started making these funny faces. I think one of my friends taught them to do it when she was watching them for me (although I haven't gotten a confession yet). Now whenever I tell them to smile for my pictures, they pull this face instead. They think they are being pretty funny, and well, they are!

Kassidy

Kaydence

Rustin

Kyndall--she is the best at making the face!

Ryder is the worst at it---he has a hard time letting go of the nuggie long enough to pull a good face :-)

If any of you have been wondering what it is like to have five two-year-olds running around the house, then you will appreciate this next story...

A few days ago I was trying to get the house clean because my in-laws were coming to visit. The babies were finishing up snacks in their high chair, so I left Riley in charge while I went upstairs to vacuum. I told him he could get them down when they were done, but he needed to put the boxes of snacks away. After vacuuming for about 5 minutes, I called down to Riley to see how he was doing. He said he had gotten all but one of the babies down, and again I reminded him to put away the snacks. When I finished cleaning and went back downstairs, this is what I found:

Do those look like guilty faces, or what?? There were goldfish crackers EVERYWHERE! They had taken the box (we are talking about the huge, 38+ ounce box which was at least half way full when I went upstairs), dumped out all of its contents and were having a great time hearing the fish crunch under their feet. Riley was nowhere in sight. I called out, "Hey Riley, did you put away the snacks like I asked?" and he said, "Oh, yeah, I forgot!"

Kaydence decided to go "swimming" with the fish

The pile of goldfish and crumbs---really this picture does not do the mess justice!

With five two-year-olds, it seems like somebody is always getting into something! I finally had to take the Butt Paste jar out of my changing table drawer because I got tired of cleaning it out of the kids hair and clothes (that stuff is so greasy!). A couple days ago, I left my in-laws in charge while I drove Kaiya to gymnastics. While I was gone, Ryder managed to get into the laundry room and pour laundry detergent all over himself and the floor. Just this morning, I found Kaydence and Rustin giving each other facials with a jar of Vicks vapor rub. Fortunately no one has done any permanent damage (to themselves anyway), and I certainly can't complain about life being boring!!

"Crazy Hair Day" at school:

Kaiya Front

Kaiya Side

Riley Front

Riley Side

Halloween!

Halloween was so great this year! The quints were adorable as the "five little monkey's jumping on the bed". Jayson was the doctor and I was the mama monkey. The "five little monkey" theme must have been popular this year, because someone pointed out to me that the Murray Quads did the same thing (their costumes are even identical to ours).

Riley and Kaiya like to do their own thing. Kaiya was an angel and Riley was Draco Malfoy. He has already been Harry Potter twice, so he decided to go for something a little different. He really wanted to be something relating to Harry Potter because he just finished reading the entire Harry Potter series the week before Halloween.

Our Halloween celebration actually started on Friday night, when we went to our church Trunk or Treat party. Everyone at our church has been so great since we had these babies. Each of the babies has someone who has "adopted" them as their "church baby". At the Trunk or Treat, nearly everyone got whisked away as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. They each had a great time with their "church family" going from trunk to trunk. Riley and Kaiya had a blast too---of course they love that trunk or treating is the most efficient method for getting the most amount of candy in the shortest amount of time.

Kassidy on the way to the Trunk or Treat (she must be rubbing the spot where she "fell off and bumped her head")

Kaydence with Norm doing the cake walk

Rustin with Kevin

Barbara with Kyndall

Tammy with Ryder

Kaiya---she looks angelic enough that I ALMOST believe it...

Riley (aka Draco)---Expelliarmus!

For lunch on Halloween, we made cute spiders out of spaghetti and hot dogs.

While the babies napped, Riley and Kaiya carved pumpkins.

Yum----NOT!

Kaiya's finished product!

Riley's Masterpiece

Halloween night Jayson's brother and family and Jayson's parents came down to go Trick or Treating with us. We ate Jack-o-Lantern pizza's, drank "blood" juice and then headed out! This was the quints first real trick-or-treating experience. Last year we just pushed them in the stroller, but this year we let them do it all. They LOVED it! It did not take them long to catch on. (I did have to stop them from going all the way inside a few houses, though). The neighbors got a kick out of having them all come trick-or-treating. Riley and Kaiya quickly got bored of our slow pace and they went off with Grandpa so they could go at their own pace. In the end, we ended up with WAY too much candy. I left a ton of it on the porch, hoping some greedy teenager would come take it off my hands (it worked--at about 9:30, I heard a car drive up and kids jump out and run to the porch---when they left, there was not a single piece left in the bowl!)

Rustin, Ryder, Kassidy, Kaydence and Kyndall

All the kids--Ryder, Rustin, Kaiya, Kassidy, Riley, Kaydence, Tobi, Kyndall, Cora and Alec

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

After the trick-or-treating is over, I let the kids (well the older two anyway) pick out their top ten favorite candies which they can eat whenever and however they want. The rest of the candy goes into a big bowl for after dinner treats or lunches. My parents had a similar policy when we were growing up. I always had a strategy for choosing my "top ten"---I started with full size candy bars (if there were any), then I went for my favorite chocolate stuff (Milky Ways and Twix bars). I took this picture of Riley and Kaiya's top ten bags because I thought it was funny how different their preferences are---hardly a chocolate candy in sight, and Kaiya chose not one, not two, but SIX Dum Dums. She must have got her candy cravings from the Wilkinson side of the family, because at my house we were all about the CHOCOLATE!!!

Of course we couldn't let the moment pass without getting a picture of the Monkeys actually jumping on the bed. Here is a SNEAK PEAK at one of the pictures from the 2010 Wilkinson Quints Calendar!!! (Ordering information for the calendars will be posted soon!)

Kassidy, Rustin, Kaydence, Kyndall and Ryder (the fallen monkey). It is amazing how much they look alike when they have the costumes on!

PS Don't miss out on your chance to enter the drawing for my first ever GIVEAWAY! The deadline is next Wednesday, Nov 11th. See more details HERE.

"A Time To Love"

Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I recently became reconnected with one of my dearest friends from college, Arian Johnson. Arian and I lived in the same dorms our freshman year at BYU and we later became roommates when we moved off campus. Arian is one of the most happy, likable people I know. My freshman year at college was really tough, and I would not have survived it without her!

Rachelle & Arian 15 years ago!

Arian is also one of the most talented people I know. She was a member of the University Singers, the top choir at BYU and played the violin in the BYU Philharmonic Orchestra.

Because I know how musically gifted Arian is, I was excited when I heard that she was making a CD featuring her violin music. The CD was officially released on October 16th. It is entitled, “A Time To Love” and it has eleven inspirational pieces ranging from sacred to classical favorites. I got my copy a little over a week ago and I have listened to it several times. The music is BEAUTIFUL and it brings such a sweet, peaceful spirit into the home every time I play it. I LOVE this CD and I quickly ordered copies to give to everyone on my Christmas list.




Now here is the really exciting part….Arian is offering to give a FREE, autographed copy of her brand new CD to one of my blog readers! All you have to do to enter the drawing is click HERE to find the answer to this question “What is the name of the song that Arian and her Granddad played together?” Send me an email (WQplus2@gmail.com) with the answer to the question and you will be entered into the drawing to win the CD. (Hint: the answer to the question is found in the “Why I Made This Recording” blog entry.) The deadline for entering is Wednesday, November 11th at midnight CST. The winner will be notified via email and announced on my blog.

Visit Arian’s blog (http://www.ariangjohnson.blogspot.com/) to hear excerpts from the new CD or to order your own copy.


PS--I have lots of great pictures from Halloween. The quints were the "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed" and they were so cute! I should have them posted in a day or two, so check back!

Lifting Burdens

My sweet grandma is in a new video put out by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. My grandma is one of the most kind, charitable people I know. She is always busy helping a friend, baking bread for a neighbor or serving a family member. Growing up, we did not live close to my grandparents, but when I went to college at BYU, she lived only 10 minutes away. We had dinner at her house several times a month and she was always willing to let me use her washer and dryer. She makes awesome chocolate chip cookies and sticky buns and her homemade bread is the best! She is very talented musically and I love to listen to her play the piano or the organ. My grandma is the biggest BYU fan I have ever seen. Sun, rain or snow she rarely misses a home football game. Her home is filled with pictures of her family. She has 7 children and 53 grandchildren (of which I am the oldest!) and more great-grandchildren than I can count.

I really appreciate the example she has been to me, and I think it is very fitting that she is shown in this video because she is such a Christ-like person. The video is entitled "Lifting Burdens: The Atonement of Jesus Christ". My grandma is at the 2:32 point in the video.

The Pumpkin Patch---Revisited!

This weekend we went back to the pumpkin patch at Sweet Berry Farms. This time, Riley and Kaiya got to come. We also had my friend Brenda's kids with us---Joe and Luvinia. I have taken the kids to the pumpkin patch every year for the past five years, but I didn't realize that Jayson had never been before. Something has always come up that prevented him from going in the past.

When GG and I took the babies a couple of weeks ago, there was hardly anybody there---maybe 10 cars in the parking lot. This time was a whole different story! The place was PACKED!! Hundreds of people were there. The parking lot was overflowing and several cars had to park on the street. We had to wait in long lines to get tickets for the Hayride and other activities, but it was worth it. Everyone had a great time!

Kassidy, Ryder, Kyndall and Kaydence check out the pumpkins

Kaiya and Riley

Rustin and Ryder try to figure out how to overthrow Kaiya and take over the tractor

Riley hides in the corn field. He and Joe enjoyed finding their way through the corn field maze.

Luvinia helps Ryder and Rustin drive the boat.

Kaiya

Luvnia and Kyndall

Kyndall peaks through the slats of the old trailer.

Ryder takes a turn peaking out

Kaiya

Kaydence

Jayson spent most of the time behind the video camera---hopefully he will make a WQ+2 episode with all the footage!

Riley found a huge pile of hay to jump in

Jayson and I pose by an old truck, surrounded by Kaiya, Kaydence and Rustin. We met Jayson's brother, Joel and his family at the pumpkin patch. My sister-in-law Tobi took this picture, but unfortunately we didn't get any pictures with them! They were a little late getting there, so we didn't get so spend as much time with them as we would have liked.

Kaiya, Kassidy, Ryder, Rustin and Kaydence wait for the hayride.

While waiting for the hayride, we ran into Kristen Duke.

The Hayride! Jayson, Rustin, Kassidy, Ryder, Kaydence, Luvinia, Kyndall and Kaiya

Ryder, Kyndall, Kassidy and Rustin walk up and down the aisles of flowers. Notice Kassidy's backpack---she found it in Kaiya's room last week and it has become a permanent attachment to her back. She eats with it, sleeps with it and would probably bathe with it if I let her :-)

The flowers were so pretty and there were butterflies everywhere.

More flowers...

Kaiya enjoyed filling a cup full of flowers to take home. She also made sure each of the little girls got a flower in "their" color

Kassidy (with her purple flower)

Luvinia and Kyndall (Luvinia is holding Kyndall's pink flower)

Kaydence with yellow flowers

We also ran into Kaiya's friend, Vivian. Really, I think the whole city of Austin decided to go to the farm that day!

Kids Dinner Nights

I have always enjoyed cooking, which is good--considering the crowd I have to cook for. I am somewhat of a "recipe junkie"--I like to collect new recipes to try. I also like to take recipes and "healthify" them, by substituting ingredients to cut down on fat and calories or increase the whole grains.

Although I like to cook, one thing I hate doing is deciding what to make for dinner every night. Because of this, I started doing "Kids Dinner Nights" at our house. Riley and Kaiya each have one night a week where they help plan and prepare dinner. At the beginning of each month, we sit down together and brainstorm a list of dinners, then we get out the calendar and the kids choose what they want to make for each of their dinner nights. They have to plan well-balanced meals that include fruits and veggies and no one is allowed to repeat the same meal twice in a month. So far, our dinner nights have been a big success. Riley and Kaiya enjoy the one-on-one time with me making dinner and there are two less nights a week that I have to dream up what to make!

Here are a few of the kids favorite "kid friendly" recipes that they like to make:

Chicken Bundles

These end up on the menu nearly every month. They are fun for the kids to make and they love how they taste.

8 oz cream cheese, softened (I usually use fat free to make it a little healthier)
2 cans chicken
1 tsp dried minced onion
salt and pepper to taste
2 cans crescent rolls (reduced fat work well too)

Combine cream cheese, chicken, onion, salt and pepper. Mix well. Open crescent roll cans and lay dough triangles out on the counter. Place a large scoop of the chicken mixture on each triangle. Fold edges of dough around the chicken mixture and pinch together so that there are no holes. Place bundles on a cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 13 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes 16 bundles.

Optional: to make this dinner a little fancier, use sliced green onions in place of the dried onion and add one can of mushrooms (diced) to the chicken mixture. Dip each bundle in melted butter and roll in Italian bread crumbs before placing on the cookie sheet. Serve with a chicken gravy made from one can cream of chicken soup mixed with a half can of water.

Another variation: instead of making "bundles", make "pillows"-- fuse two triangle dough pieces together to make a rectangle. Place a large scoop of the chicken mixture on each rectangle. Fold over and pinch edges. Makes 8 pillows.

Kaiya and Mr. Bear make Chicken bundles

Bread Bowls with Soup

These are a good comfort food for winter and the kids think it is so fun to eat out of the bread bowl.

Super Easy Version:
Thaw one loaf of Rhodes bread dough for about 2 hours. Cut into four pieces and shape into balls. Place on greased cookie sheet. Cover and let rise for about 3-4 more hours. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool. Slice off top and scoop out middle, then fill with your favorite soup or chili.

"From Scratch" Version:
Layer the following ingredients in a bread machine:
1 cup warm water
1 T shortening
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour
3 T sugar
1/3 cup dried milk
1 T instant yeast

Set bread machine on "dough" cycle. When finished, divide dough into four balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Cover and let rise about one hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Bread Bowl with Chicken Noodle Soup

Bethlehem Pork

We had this meal at our church Christmas Party last year (hence the name) and it has become one of Riley's favorite dinners. I know it is almost an oxymoron to call it Bethlehem Pork, since the people of Bethlehem were Jewish and did not eat pork, but from what I understand, there wasn't enough money in the budget to get beef for the Christmas party, so pork was substituted, and the name stuck at our house!

2 lb pork loin roast (I like the kind from Costco that comes individually wrapped in a 4-pack)
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. rosemary
1/2 T. minced onion
¾ t. salt
1 t. oregano
1/2 t. marjoram
1/2 t. celery seed
1/4 t. red pepper

Mix all the seasonings together. Sprinkle over meat and gently rub in. Cook meat in crock pot (with just a little broth/water to cover the bottom) on LOW for 8-9 hours, or until meat pulls apart easily. Shred and stuff in pita pocket and serve. The kids love the pita pockets, but I actually like it better wrapped in a tortilla or on the new Orowheat Sandwich Thins.

Fruit Sundae Cones

waffle cones (one per person)
mixed fruit (we usually use strawberries, bananas, grapes and blueberries)
vanilla yogurt (our favorite is the Archer Farms fat-free vanilla yogurt from Target)

Layer yogurt and fruit in cones and enjoy!

Riley displays his fruit sundae cone

Ryder, Riley and Rustin enjoying the results of Kids Dinner Night

Kassidy, Kyndall and Kaydence

Here are a few more recent pictures:

GG takes the quints out for a walk in the rain

Ryder and Rachelle

Kyndall

Kaydence

Kaiya fell face first off of her scooter :-(

Riley is doing Volleyball this season and Jayson is the coach. They both love it :-)

In other news, Jayson gave our website a new face lift. Check it out HERE. Now if only I can talk him into giving the blog an updated look as well!