Thursday, February 25, 2010

SNOW!!!

Tuesday something very out of the ordinary for Austin happened....it SNOWED!!! And not just a little dusting that melted quickly, we had actual flakes and accumulation that stayed for the whole day. This is by far the most snow we have seen here in the nearly 11 years we have lived in Austin. The kids were so excited. Riley and Kaiya are calling it a "definite miracle".


We let Riley and Kaiya get out of school early so they could play in the snow. The spent the afternoon at friends houses. Jayson and I took the quints outside to play in the afternoon and they had a blast! They did not want to come back in, even though they were freezing.

Lining up to go outside: Ryder, Kaydence, Rustin, Kassidy and Kyndall

And they're off!


Our house covered in snow---officially the snow total I found was 0.6 inches, but I think we got at least 1-2 inches at our house.


Kyndall, Kaydence, Kassidy, Rustin and Ryder


Look, Mom!



Snowball fight!


Brrrr...it's cold!


Once there was a snowman...


Kyndall and Kaydence


Ryder and Rustin


Kassidy


Kaydence


Rustin


Kyndall


Ryder



Kaiya and her snowman


Snowball fight!


Got him!


Riley


Riley's Snowman


Kaiya and Calvin (with Calvin's snowman)


When they got home, Riley and Kaiya made a snowman version of themselves and each of the babies. (it was dark when they finished, so we had to take this picture the next morning---by that time things were already starting to melt)



Here is a video Jayson made of the quints playing in the snow:


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Monday, February 22, 2010

Blast from the Past--Outtakes from the 2009 Calendar

As I was looking back at some old posts, I realized that I never posted the third set of outtakes for the 2009 calendar, so I thought I would take a journey back in time this week. This is more for me than anyone else, since this is also my"journal". It fun to look back at these pictures----I can't believe how much they have changed! My babies really are growing up!




September—454 pictures taken (yikes! I think that has to be some kind of record!)

This was one of my favorite pictures to take. We shot each baby individually and then used Photoshop to put them all together. It is really hard to get all five babies to look good all at the same time, so taking them one at a time is a lot easier! At first the babies were pretty wary of the tub. Some of them were afraid to get anywhere near it. Once they warmed up to the idea, though, they thought it was fun (and so did we!). One behind the scenes secret—I only had three pairs of overalls, so most of the babies are wearing the same pair of overalls in the pictures.

Kassidy


Kaydence, who finally cooperated once we pulled out the Cheerios bribe


Kyndall, Kassidy and Kaydence


Ryder and Rustin. We could not keep Rustin in the tub for anything----the second we put him in, he would dive out!


Kaiya


Riley


Kaiya and Riley



The Final Result: September 2009 Calendar Picture



October—77 pictures taken

Originally, the M&M picture was not supposed to be in the calendar. I already had 12 months worth of pictures and we were working on the calendar layout when my friend, Kristen Duke, offered to come take pictures of the quints in their Halloween costumes. The pictures turned out so cute that I decided it had to be in the calendar! I let my family vote on which picture we should leave out so that the M&M picture could be included.

Kyndall, Kassidy, Kaydence, Ryder & Rustin---they all look a little dazed because we got out the portable DVD player to get them to sit still. Kassidy had a huge bruise on her nose (see this post to find out why), which we photoshopped out of the final picture.


Not even the DVD player was enough to keep Rustin still for long!



The tights were a little on the big side...



The Final Result: October 2009 Calendar Picture




November—50 Pictures Taken

The pumpkin patch pictures were taken at Sweet Berry Farms in Marble Falls. Ever since Riley was a baby, it has been our tradition to take pumpkin pictures. We lined the babies up on the haystacks and both my mom and I were snapping pictures as fast as we could while my sister-in-law, Tobi, was trying to get the babies to smile. By the time we finished, there was quite a crowd gathered to watch. The picture that we chose for the calendar was actually taken by my mom.

Ryder, Kyndall, Kassidy, Rustin and Kaydence


No one wanted to have their picture taken--they all wanted to eat the pumpkins instead.



Riley in the first-ever Wilkinson Pumpkin picture (2001)



Riley and Kaiya in a pre-quints pumpkin picture from 2005



The Final Result: November 2009 Calendar Picture




December—?? Pictures Taken (Kristen gave me 59 pictures, but I am sure she took more than that)


I think this picture is my favorite one from the whole calendar. Once again, we enlisted the help of super-photographer, Kristen Duke, to help us with the picture for December. We scheduled Kristen to come a couple of weeks ahead of time, but the night before the photo shoot, I still hadn’t decided what I wanted to do for the picture! We had lots of ideas, but nothing that I was sold on yet. I was searching around on the Internet and found this Anne Geddes Picture (see below) and loved it, so we decided to do something similar. The next morning, I got up early and ran to Walmart and Hobby Lobby in search of white sheets, Santa hats and candy canes. Kristen stood on my bed to take the picture and my mom and I tried to get the babies to look in the right direction and keep from falling off the bed. In the picture we used for the calendar, my mom is actually under the sheet holding Rustin into place—he did NOT want to lay still!!



Anne Geddes Picture that was my inspiration


Kyndall, Rustin, Kaydence, Kassidy and Ryder


Rustin, Kyndall, Kaydence, Kassidy and Ryder



Rustin, Kyndall, Kaydence, Kassidy and Ryder




It was a toss up between this picture and the one we actually chose to be in the calendar. I loved Kassidy's smile in this one.



Kassidy, Kyndall, Rustin, Kaydence and Ryder




Always on the move



The Final Product: December 2009 Calendar Picture


****Blast from the Past Calendar Special***

For a limited time, you can get a copy of the 2009 Wilkinson Quints Calendar FREE when you order the new 2010 Wilkinson Quints Calendar. To order, use the button on the right or visit our website at www.wilkinsonquints.org





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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Fun and Fit

I recently "won" a "Fun, Fit and Guilt Free House Party" (it wasn't hard to win---all I did was apply on the house party website). This meant that they sent me a box of goodies, including the new Jenny McCarthy Your Shape Wii game, coupons for Jello Mousse Temptations to serve at the party, and headbands, napkins, spoons and coupons for all of my guests. All I had to do was invite friends over to try out the new Wii game and eat yummy healthy food.

It turned out to be a lot of fun! I don't know if I am too wowed by the Jenny McCarthy game, but the Jello Mousse Temptations are soooo good and only 60 calories each. They have three flavors: dark chocolate decadence, chocolate indulgence and caramel creme. I am an admitted chocoholic, but I thought the caramel creme was amazingly good.

While I wasn't impressed with the Jenny McCarthy game (it might be great for someone who likes exercising with the Wii, but I much prefer running on the treadmill and doing my own weight training), there was a bonus game included in the party package that I WAS impressed by. It is call "Just Dance" and it has quickly become the favorite game in our house. To play, you hold the Wii remote in your hand and just follow the dance moves on the screen. It is not like DDR, you are actually doing real dance moves. There are 30+ songs and several different dance styles. Up to 4 people can play at one time. We play almost every night as a family. It is great exercise and it is a lot of fun! (For a picture, check out the end of THIS post)






Fun, Fit and Guilt-Free House Party


According to CBS News, approximately 45 million Americans diet each year, so I know I am not alone in my New Year's resolution to eat healthier and lose weight! One of my favorite websites for low-cal food recipes is Hungry Girl. You can sign up for a daily email service or search her website for all kinds of great recipes. She is known for making healthy versions of favorite foods. She also has two cookbooks with a third on the way.

Here are some of my favorite healthy eating recipes (some from Hungry Girl, some from other sources):

Creamy Vanilla Cinnamon Dip (combo of two Hungry Girl recipes)--I made this for the party and it was a huge hit! I served it with apple slices.

1 1/2 cups Cool Whip Lite
4 oz Fat-free Cream Cheese
6 T Granulated Splenda
1 T Jello Sugar Free Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Mix all ingredients until smooth.

2 T = 32 calories


Holy Moly Guacamole (by Hungry Girl)--I made this for the party too and you would never guess that there is a can of peas in it!


1 15 oz can young peas, drained
1/2 cup mashed avocado (about 1 medium avocado's worth)
1/3 cup chopped cherry or grape tomatoes
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt (or fat-free sour cream works too)
4 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp chili powder
Additional salt and black pepper to taste
Optional: chopped fresh cilantro, chopped jarred jalapenos, hot sauce

Place peas in a medium bowl and mash thoroughly with a potato masher or fork. Add avocado, yogurt, lime juice, garlic and seasonings. Continue to mash until blended. Stir in tomatoes, onion and optional ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

1/3 cup = 78 calories


Easy Chicken Tetrazzini (by Betty Ann, aka "Mimi")


1 8 oz pkg whole wheat spaghetti noodles
1/2 of a 10.5 oz can cream of chicken soup
2/3 cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 cups cooked chicken, diced
1/2 cup skim milk
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 4 oz can sliced mushrooms

Cook spaghetti as directed on package. Drain and place in 2 quart casserole dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Mix soup, milk and yogurt. Add diced chicken and drained mushrooms. Combine chicken mixture with noodles. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 6, 254 calories per serving.



Souper Chicken (I think it originally came from Eat and Be Lean)

2 C brown rice, (raw)
4 C chicken broth
1 C mushrooms, whole or sliced (or 1 4 oz can)
6 chicken breasts (about 2 lbs)
1 pkg. Dry onion soup mix

In a large non-stick casserole pan, combine rice, chicken bouillon, and mushrooms. Place chicken breasts, meat side down. Sprinkle dry onion soup over the top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 ½ hours. Serve. Makes 6 generous servings.

Per serving: 420 calories

Swiss Chicken (modified by Rachelle)

4-6 Chicken Breasts (about 2 lbs)
1 can 98% Fat Free Cr. Of Chicken soup
6 slices lite Swiss Cheese
Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing Mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13 pan with Pam. Layer chicken breasts in baking dish. Place slice of Swiss cheese on top of each. Dilute cream of chicken soup with ½ can of water. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle stuffing mix over all Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings

Per serving: 257 calories (for 6 servings) , 194 calories (for 8 servings)


Our family LOVES smoothies---we probably have them 2-3 times a week. These are our two favorite recipes that we have perfected (click on picture to enlarge):



Speaking of FUN and FIT, the Wilkinson kids were recently spotted doing some fitness activities of their own...

Kassidy


Kaydence


Rustin


Kyndall


Ryder


Kaiya (dancing)


Riley making his first-ever basket during a game! (It is also the only time he has ever attempted a basket during a game, so he has a 100% shooting average :-) )

If anyone else has a healthy, family-friendly recipe, I'd love to hear about it! I am always on the lookout for new ones!


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