Keiser Kids

Foto Story Friday -- cake for dinner, because I can!

2009-06-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

I got an email from my in-laws with a 'cake-in-a-cup' recipe. Well, if you know us, we love cake especially chocolate cake, I HAD to try it out. I didn't want to cook dinner (half the kids were gone sleeping over at G&Gs), this would be much more fun.....
1. Gather all the ingredients.
2. Measure carefully.
3. Crack the eggs with care.
4. Steady hand when measuring liquids.
5. Stir well.

6. Place in the mircowave and watch it grow. (Scott's got the most height, but I didn't get the picture.)
7. Allow to cool.
8. Add ice cream.
I chose to put mine in a bowl.
9. Eat up! Cake for dinner, what could be better?!

You too can have a cup-o-cake:
4 Tbs. flour
4 Tbs. sugar (decrease 1 Tbs. for higher altitude)
2 Tbs. cocoa
1 egg
3 Tbs.milk ( increase extra tbs. for higher altitude)
3 Tbs. oil
3 Tbs. chocolate chips ( melted, optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix well.
Pour in milk and oil and mix well. Add choc. chips and vanilla extract
and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 mins. at
(1000 watts)high. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't
be alarmed.
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired...EAT (this
can serve 2 if you feel slightly more virtuous).

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Photos of the kids

2009-01-26T19:21:00.000-08:00

Savanna
Shantel
Cody
Scott and EmmaLece
Scott
EmmaLece
I got this cool cabinet and turned it into a backdrop. Robby has not been shot,since right now he is getting over a black eye:
This is what happens when a group of kids playing soccer meet a group of kids playing football... right at Robby's eye! It's looking better today, but this was right when he came home from school the day it happened.

Impressed by you

2008-12-19T14:33:00.000-08:00

Today was a "Wow! What a kid I have day!"

This morning I saw some wrapped gifts sitting on the table. Shantel asked for a couple of grocery bags, I threw them toward her. A few minutes later I joined them in the entry area while they finished putting the snow/cold weather gear on and I noticed the bags.

Mom: "Hey Shantel what's in the bags?"

Shantel: "Well, I asked Savanna first!"

Mom: giving her the 'what the heck are you talking about' look.

Shantel: "Yesterday, I noticed that *Jane's* shoes had holes in them and I thought I could find some that she could use. Savanna and I got some together. I also saw that she could use some chapstick and I thought she might like a necklace. Is that OK?"

Mom: "Yes that is very nice of you." I turned away and did my best to hold back the flood.

Then they headed out the door to the bus and I was left to ponder the wonder that is my daughter and the depth of her compassion! I think she has learned it is more blessed to give than to receive.

*name was changed to protect the innocent.*

Trunk or Treat

2008-10-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

This year I didn't get very many pictures at trunk or treat .... it could be that I lent Shantel the camera for a picture of her friends out by the red leaves and she NEVER came back in

this is one of about 5 she took

....OK so she did come back, but she it took her forever and so she snapped a few of the costume parade.

The twins and I in the costume parade

I had to do a self portrait.... gotta love the mirrors in the church bathroom! :)

Here's Cody all Gothic

A balloon blowing contest. I think Cody lost!

Scary kids and a couple of cute Things!

Scary Family

Shantel and 2 of her friends.

It was a bee
witching experience!

Thing 1 and Thing 2

2008-10-22T23:17:00.000-07:00

Oh, what to be for halloween? We have been tossing around just what to be. Course some of us are still going to go Goth, but after a suggestion from Uncle Byron and having had Cousins Walt and Di refer to the twins as Thing 1 and Thing 2..... I decided to create costumes.
We went to K-mart and picked up 2 pair red sweats and 2 red long sleeved shirts. They didn't have two of the same unisex shirts, so I got a girls and a boy shirt. The boy shirt is a bit bigger even though they are both marked 5T.
Came home and dug through the fabric bag. Found some off-white material already folded in half! Grabbed a small plate from the cupboard and the fabric markers. Two perfect circles!
Used the trusty fabric marker to assign the Things!
Placed them on the shirts adjusted and then pinned.
Used Shantel's trusty sewing machine on the zig-zag stitch and went to town!
All ready for a try on!
Don't they look like they are up to something? I will spray their hair blue for the big event! For a few more shots of these two hamming it up click here!

First snow

2008-10-12T19:24:00.001-07:00

EmmaLece's Snow angels. By Cody
Savanna and Scott shoveling the walk. By Cody
Shaking the snow off the trees at Grandma's. photo by Mom.
Picts by Shantel on the way to church.
Another on the way to church.
Scott making tracks. By Cody

Just leafing around!

2008-10-03T08:35:00.001-07:00

Tell us which one or ones you like the best. Photos of Scott and Mom taken by EmmaLece. Photos of EmmaLece and Mom taken by Scott and Photos of Mom taken by EmmaLece.

A little make-up

2008-09-20T19:59:00.000-07:00

What does a little bit of make-up do to the appearance of my kids?
Shantel
Cody
Savanna
Scott
EmmaLece

Robby didn't want to get in on the Goth look, he went to bed and refused to even take a peek at us!

Cody

2008-09-09T22:53:00.000-07:00

Does a broken arm slow down a 14 year old skateboarding-boy?

Nope!

He's loved this sport since he was quite small and enjoys trying out new tricks..... it's hard to keep him off the 'board!

More pre-school activities

2008-09-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

We read It looked Like Spilt Milk and learned how clouds can look like different things. So we got out some kid-friendly stamps and made what we think clouds could look like.
Choosing our stamps.
Stamping...
Yup, I CAN do it!
Me too!
All done!
After that we headed outside to look at the clouds.
It is a pretty overcast day, we may have to go check out the clouds another day.

Pre-school

2008-08-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

We've been checking out these backpacks from the library.
They each have a story and at least one activity to learn about the subject. Some of the suggested things are above 3 and 4 year olds , wanting them to write the answers, but all can be adapted. On Thursday the 28th, the twins and I looked through the packs and went over all the fun things to learn. In the Weather one there was a windsock. After observing it and seeing how the wind was blowing, I figured we could make one. Following are pictures of us making windsocks.

All photos with me in them are courtesy of Scott or EmmaLece.

Purses

2008-08-18T21:34:00.000-07:00

Check out this sewing lesson.
fitting the interfacing......
Ironing the interfacing......
preparing to sew....
Sometimes we need to rip it out and start over....
turning it right side out...
Thanks to Serious for the pattern info. The big girls and I made these cute bags last night.
the finished product....
and Shantel's too! They had a good time a learned at the same time.

The twins turned 4

2008-07-13T07:58:00.000-07:00

In honor of the twins recent birthday, I give you some recent shot of them on a page I just put together. Happy 4th EmmaLece and Scott.

More Savanna Hair dos

2008-06-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

Last day of school hair do

2008-05-23T15:18:00.000-07:00

hair dos

2008-05-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

Got this idea from Jenn. She has lots of girls hair do ideas with instructions. I changed it up a bit:And here's a do I did back in March:While I'm on the subject of hair, I gave Shantel a hair cut last month. She requested: short and not all the same length, I think I got it! She loves it and well, it's cute, but it makes her look way older than 12, in my opinion! What do you think?The elements for this page came from this great free kit at Sunshine Girls. {the first link will take you to all the freebies -- I used the 'mother's love', it's a huge kit from several people-- and the second to the main page.}

A close shave, Just playing and Plams of love

2008-04-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks again to Andrea for the free kit!

Easter Pages

2008-03-31T11:45:00.000-07:00

Gotta love Andrea's free kits!

Hair curling experience--More Cute Pages

2008-03-03T19:06:00.000-08:00

Thanks again to Andrea for the free kit!

Sweet baby and little feet --Cute lay-outs

2008-02-04T06:44:00.000-08:00

I got the elements for these pages from Andrea. Go check her out and get some too!

Happy 12th Shantel!

2008-01-08T22:36:00.000-08:00

Pictures from Shantel's 12th birthday.

Candid Black n Whites

2007-12-01T23:00:00.001-08:00

I had so much fun with the Black n White I did with the twins, that I wanted one with each of my kids. These were the best of the many shots we took!
As of today {2-17-08} I have these all framed in a divided frame and hanging on the wall. It looks pretty cool, if I do say so myself! :)

some creativity and some silly

2007-10-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

Savanna and Em were dressing up.Cody was building with the dominoes.

Domino Henge and a crazy pyramid.

Calf Riding

2007-09-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

Robby's Wall

2007-09-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

Robby's room has only 1 wall that can be painted (the other walls are paneling and the outer wall of the house..concrete.. which could be painted as soon as we figure out how to get the wallpaper border off). These are the rest of the family from Savanna's room. I also drew them, shrunk them and re-drew them on the wall. The odd ball is Mysterio from Spider-man. The boys shared this room at the time of painting and Cody was not keen on a whole room of Spider-man characters, so he drew this one for Robby.

The Twins' Strawberry Shortcake John Deere Room

2007-09-24T11:25:00.001-07:00

A visual walk around the twins' room ... from the door back to the door, every wall is done! Well, this is the room that started the whole mural project, so it should be the only one finished. Actually I've been noticing that there are areas that I need to go back and touch up.

Savanna's Forest Room

2007-09-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

These two are characters from ElfQuest. I actually drew these on paper and then had to shrink them just to blow them up again. I really have enjoyed doing these murals. The girls at one time shared this room and they wanted big cats on the wall, so we found some on-line and they painted them ... also their hands are part of the decor. The last area of the room, unfinished trees and a cozy reading corner. I actually made this one first out of some old sheer curtains, a hula hoop, some fake greenery and ribbon.

Shantel's Under-sea Lair

2007-09-24T10:46:00.001-07:00

Shantel thought is would be cool to have an under-seal room. So I got pictures of her and 2 of her best friends and added their faces to a mermaid picture and here they are sunning on the beach.From the beach scene, the room will be under water. This is the corner opposite the beach and it obviously is the mermaid's home.
These friendly dolphins are swimming happily near the door.
And we needed a quiet cozy place to read, right? I made this out of a hula hoop, some cheap material from The Attic (thrift store here) and some fabric markers that I used to draw ocean plants, rocks and sea creatures.

Cody's Room

2007-09-24T10:31:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Cody's castle room. You are greeted by this knight in (shining) armor.

A bed fit for a king! complete with a faux 4-poster and a coat of arms. (It is the Keiser coat of arms that I found on-line.)
What kind of castle would be complete without a dragon? This dragon guards all the important stuff in the closet.
Of course we HAD to have a magician. I found this full-length Dumbledore on-line and bam now he's Cody's personal magician ... the castle room is complete ... except for the brick work and a little more color!

Our room

2007-09-24T10:27:00.001-07:00

This is the horse that is above our bed. Scott thinks it is his horse. I've yet to do anything else in our room. The reason we even have a horse is because I was practicing for the horse in the piano teacher's daughter's room. Plus I like horses and have a few other things that will go nicely with it. :-)

Kid Stuff

2007-09-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

I wanted a place to put the kids stuff and also felt that my room pictures probably weren't getting seen any more... so here is another blog for the kids stuff. Our other pages and be viewed here.