Our Forever Familee

Great Day--Mission Call

2012-01-29T07:38:00.000-08:00

Sunday Dinner

2012-01-08T21:48:00.000-08:00

Church for us has now changed from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. I was so excited that now I will have time to prepare a nice dinner for after church, which in turn reminded me that REALLY I should be preparing what I can on Saturday. This has been an occasional goal of mine (to prepare most of the dinner on Saturday). So I guess now I am going to work on it a bit. Here are my Sunday dinner, prepare ahead suggestions:

Chicken and rice casserole
Porcupine meatballs and baked potatoes
Meatloaf and baked potatoes or au gratin potatoes
BBQ pork ribs and baked potatoes
Cheesy Ham and Potato casserole
Chicken and stuffing casserole
Italian chicken in the crockpot served over fettuccini noodles
Roast beef, pork, or chicken and potatoes and carrots (However, we LOVE mashed potatoes and gravy around here--but the peeling and mashing and gravying take way more work, which we often do anyway).

I love to have a nice dinner after church, but sometimes we end up with grilled cheese or hamburger helper, because, who can cook fabulous Sunday dinners all the time? All of these meals can be prepared ahead of time, refrigerated, and then put in the crock pot or oven on delay bake on Sunday so they are piping hot and ready when we get home. Who doesn't LOVE to come home to those delicious smells after a three-hour block of church?

Did you know that my new black flat top oven has a Sabbath Mode? Really, that is for orthodox Jews who want to override the oven's automatic 6- or 12-hour shutoff features, so that they can have warm food on the sabbath or other holidays without going against their religious standards.

Anyhoo, with our meals, we ALWAYS have a jello with fruit in it(which can be made ahead) or a fruit salad made from canned fruit cocktail and such mixed with bananas, grapes, or apples if we have them, just plain or mixed with marshmallows and cool whip. We always add a simple microwaved veggie like beans, corn, or peas, and we always have some kind of bread. I LOVE Rhode's rolls for their ease, but sometimes I get into a kick of making homemade rolls or bread for Sunday dinner, which, again, really can be made the day before. I'm on a Rhode's rolls kick right now.

Okay, so that is all about one of my "new" old goals for the year. Sometimes it happens on Saturday, sometimes on Sunday. But wow! Today, all I had to do was plug in the crockpot, stick the potatoes in the oven, and set out the frozen Rhode's rolls. The kids even commented that there were less dishes to do--so less work for them, too!

Then we made chocolate chip cookies because we were all craving them since they were replaced in December with every other treat imaginable for the holidays. MMMM.

Some things I want my daughters (and sons) to know.

2012-01-06T20:32:00.001-08:00

Some things I want my sons and daughters to know come from two amazing talks on mothering: Julie B. Beck's "Mothers Who Know." http://lds.org/general-conference/2007/10/mothers-who-know?lang=eng
and President Benson's talk "To the Mothers In Zion" http://fc.byu.edu/jpages/ee/w_etb87.htm

A really long blog post about Christmas to make up for never posting on my blog

2011-12-29T15:04:00.000-08:00

Wow, I am a lousy blogger lately. BECAUSE--

Our camera broke.

Our other cameras are lousy (our traditional sitting-on-the-stairs-in-pjs picture was almost completely DARK) and I don't know how to get stuff off of them very well.

My RS calling, which is not lousy and is quite wonderful, but takes up time.

And Christmas, which is also not lousy but also takes up a lot of time.

And the lousy space bar on my computer sometimes works and sometimes does not, so writing anything requires more attention than I want to give it.

So, here goes anyway. I cannot figure out how put my sentences in the places they need to be. This is another reason I don't blog more. I am also not sure if it is sentences or sentances.

Merry Christmas! Above is our Christmas tree. It is fresh and looks the same as it does every year. But this year, bless Darin's heart, as he was handing out ornaments to go on the tree, he smiled at me as he slyly (is that a word?) set aside any homemade ornaments that were just plain past their lifetimes.

Anyways. Above is a glimpse of how fun our Christmas was with our little Ellie. Yup, she is spoiled. Well, she probably just gets more stuff and gets to do more than our other kids ever did. Princess clothes, a kitchen, a princess scooter. . .but she is the only little, so she needs something to keep her busy. The look on her face as she surveyed the Christmas room on Christmas morning and then lighted on her kitchen was so full of excitement.

The older kids got stuff they need like luggage for missions and cameras.

Maren got a beautiful guitar.

Spencer got a pogo stick.

Seth got walkie talkies.

We got some other fun things, too, as well as lots of things we needed (clothes, socks, underwear, ties).

Oh, and each kid got a 50 count box of chips (Doritoes, Fritos, potato, etc.) Hehe, that is fun.

My husband spoiled me. One fun thing he got me is this:
After all, I used to look just like her. The cookbook is so fun and now I know how to cook 25 things from cornmeal, and wild turkey, and rabbit, and blackbird pie, and cranberry jelly. . . call me if we ever have a dire emergency.

Darin got a weather station. It is 71 degrees in the house and 48 degrees outside and we are expecting rain. It rained last night but I can't tell you how much because the 'rain measurer' was under the picnic table. Hehe.

Lest you think we don't know what Christmas is all about, I just have to say that we have enjoyed the spirit of Christ all month in abundance. I took every single cart to the cart-parking spot. I put away (almost) every item at the store that I decided not to get. The guy I backed into in the Costco parking lot never called me back to get money. We felt the joy of giving. We thought of Christ, we spoke of Christ, we rejoiced in Christ. Christmas morning we beautified ourselves to go to 9 o'clock Sacrament Meeting. We basked in the spirit of those beautiful Christmas hymns and the message of a dear friend. We spent time reading beloved Christmas stories together. These are the things that make us feel Christmasy. And these are truly the kinds of things that make us feel the spirit of Christmas all year long when we do them all year long.

Oh Look! Darin emailed me our kids-on-the-stairs-in-pjs picture. We had to retake it later in the day (or was it the next day?) with his phone camera.

To all a good night.

Homemade bread and other yummy cold-weather recipes

2011-11-22T06:43:00.001-08:00

Just had to share this bread that you can make in an hour and a half! It is from my awesome neighbor-baker, Chelsea Pike. I love homemade bread made into toast, spread with real butter, and dipped in hot chocolate! MMMM

Combine:
2 T. yest
41/2 c. water (I used milk)
6 T. sugar
Then add:
12 cups bread flour-I end up with 11 usually (I used regular once and it turned into a rock. Although the internet says you can add 1 t. gluten per cup of regular flour, haven't tried this)
2 T. salt
1/4 c. oil
Mix in your mixer (Bosch) for 10 minutes.
Make into 4 loaves.
Let rise 30 minutes in warm place (I use preheated oven to 200, then turn off and put bread in oven).
Bake at400 for 20 minutes, or 375 for a little longer.

Chicken Noodle Soup
Boil 4-5 chicken breasts, 1 onion halved, 2 carrots, peeled and halved, salt, and pepper, (and celery if you like it) in enough water to cover them until the chicken is done.

Strain the broth, add 2 T. chicken bouillon (I like the large jar in the Mexican section of the store) and add homemade noodles. Cook until done.

Add chopped carrots, celery, and chicken. Add 1 can cream of chicken soup. (You can use cornstarch and water, but the cream of chicken seems to make it creamier).

Noodles: 3 eggs, beaten, 2 c. flour, 1 t. salt. Roll out and cut. OR if you have a pasta machine: 3 c. flour, 2 large eggs, 3 T. water, 1 t. oil, 1/4 t. salt. Run through the pasta machine several times to make it stick.

Beef stew in the crockpot
Brown 1 1/2 lb salt and peppered stew meat in 3 T. oil. Place in crock pot. Add 3-4 large peeled chopped carrots, 3-4 potatoes, 1 bay leaf, and 2 beef bouillon cubes and enough water to cover. Cook on low 5-6 hours.

When everything is done add: 3 T.flour, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 can beef broth, 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 t. pepper, 1/4 t. thyme (this may be too much for you, try a little at a time), 1/2 t. onion salt, 1/4 t. celery salt if desired. Simmer awhile. Thicken with 3 T. cornstarch mixed with 1/4 c. water. Remove bay leaf.

Just slapping a few pictures on the page.

2011-11-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

Maren's first date! Doesn't she just look so beautiful? Okay, it was the Harvest Dance. They were all nerds. Well, some of them were just dressed that way.

Seth's birthday cake, sideways. I am too stressed and out of time to rotate the picture. It is a penny cake-since he loves collecting coins. The cakes we googled were much nicer. Again, stressed, and out of time to do better. AND I can't find the picture of him blowing out the candles. It took him 3 or 4 tries. Hehe, poor Seth.

Halloween! Seth and Ellie in costumes we already had. Hip hip hooray! Especially for someone who is, well, you know.

More Birthday Girl

2011-10-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

And here she is at the end of the day. Party girl. I don't think she ever makes it through the day in the same outfit. (Potty training may be part of this. It's going well, but it's not perfect yet, sadly.)

Very fun cupcake stand that I got at Walmart on clearance.The tablecloth is fabric from Joann's. We use that and a birthday banner at each birthday and voila! instant reusable decorations! One other cooool idea. The party section at Walmart had a couple cute gift-sized reusable cloth bags (like those reusable grocery bags) for 97 cents each. And what about just using those reusable grocery bags that people give away at every community event? Maybe not so cute, but I thought regular paper gift bags were a money saver over wrapping paper--but cloth bags top them all I am sure.

Happy Birthday Girl!

2011-10-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

It's this girl's third birthday. I cannot believe she is so old, but she is acting that old (independent insistence, we will say). She is so excited for today--for her presents, her cupcakes, her Mickey Mouse cupcake stand, her ice cream at DQ (this is a family tradition--they give the birthday person a free banana split and the rest of us get $1 to spend.)

We love having her as part of our family. She came because of many promptings (it took me a while to accept it), seven years after our last child. Ellie loves her family, especially 'the brothers' and 'all the kids.' A couple nights ago, instead of going to bed, she donned her sister's high heels and dragged Seth downstairs to go 'to a dance' and then 'shopping.' She loves to sing Primary songs. She loves and is picky about clothes. She is so smart, too--we are amazed! She loves her dad to read her the Tickle Monster book. She is my Relief Society visiting sidekick and always asks if we are going 'bisiting'. I love her cute face.

My Neglected Children

2011-10-16T16:55:00.000-07:00

My children have been receiving, shall we say, less attention than usual, now that I am Relief Society president. But they are taking care of themselves and each other quite well, I would say.

This picture was taken Sunday afternoon. Yes, that is a tent made out of a blue tarp, suspended in our back yard. They dragged bunk bed mattresses out, grabbed their pillows and blankets and books, and camped out. They make me laugh. Look! The almost-three-year-old is even reading the Book of Mormon!

Forget Me Not

2011-09-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

See President Uchtdorf's talk at lds.org

So What's Up With Us?

2011-09-20T07:56:00.001-07:00

Canned 28 quarts pears and 4 quarts peaches last night. Used our giant campstove and BOY was it FAST. I could barely have the next batch ready by the time the batch on the stove was done! The entire process only took 3 hours. We scalded the pears to peel them so that made it much easier and they look beautiful sitting out on my picnic table.

Been worried about my grandma, who broke her femur bone and had to have surgery. They weren't sure if she would make it, she is so frail, but she did. Been worried about my mom taking care of her and my grandpa. Disappointed because my mom won't be able to come for the planned visit today, but looking forward to talking on the phone with her.

Got my main floor carpets cleaned today. They look sooo much better. But my kitchen is full of furniture for the rest of the day.

Going to see Mary Poppins today!! It was a birthday gift from my hubs.

The little girl is sick. Fever since Friday. Throwing up yesterday. Developed into a barking cough. Probably take her to the doctor today. Also, she has always been a lover of clothes. Now she has become picky. The clothes I won in a blog giveaway for her, she thinks they are funny and hid the leggings. The darling skirt I made her, she thinks is not cute. And the BYU shirt I got her, she thinks it is too long. NOOOO! She is not even three yet!!

Everyone else healthy! EXCEPT Darin just came downstairs today with a sore throat and chills.

Lack of sleep lately: four hours of sleep the night of the BYU-UTAH game, early meetings, late meetings, sleepless in the middle of the night, kids to powder-puff practice at 6 a.m., in-laws leaving to the airport at 4:30 a.m., water pouring in the basement at 5 a.m., sick girl all through the night for the last couple of nights.

New calling! RS President. Major stress while awaiting the actual call (2 weeks) and major busy starting immediately after. (1 week) Each contributing to more sleeplessness. But I am excited about this calling and enjoying it. (We will not mention all the accompanying self doubt.)

BYU-Utah game. Terrible. But my boy was playing in the band. Exciting!! We could just make him out with our binoculars. And since the game was so terrible, we walked over to the opposite end of the stadium and sat right behind him. I was so excited for him. A dream come true for him! Although I think his real dream would've included a win. At least not a stomping.

The college girl came home for the weekend, so that was fun. She said goodbye to her best friend, who is leaving on a mission in a week and a half.

Love and miss my kids. That leaves only four kids at home! Meals are sparse with one of the remaining kids working sometimes and one of them gone to football practice. My food budget is lookin' good.

Speaking of food, we cooked four toaster strudels this morning at 7 a.m. Two of them set off the fire alarm. GOOD morning everyone!

This morning, I am feeling blessed. Now back to work!

Still Alive and menu ideas

2011-09-08T12:48:00.001-07:00

Yes, even though I AM forty, I am still alive. My brain is more crazy than normal. This is what the to-do list I made last night looks like. My brain was flitting.
color my hair
call Kari to encourage in the job hunt
text Maren to remind her to get her driver's ed info card
do little boy's laundry
send some emails
do a fhe on prayer next Monday for little boys
enter checks in Quicken
buy insertable toilet bowl cleaner so our toilets don't look so terrible all the time
can tomato puree
call cement lifter guy to come fix our front steps
spray the apple tree
clean rotten peaches out of cooler

It is 2 p.m. and I've only done about two of those things, plus a dozen others, and I'm exhausted. I even mowed the front lawn just to get out-of-doors.

I have been car-less during the day yesterday and today. It has actually been quite wonderful. It has been nice to focus on things at home a bit more, and to not spend money (except for the car fix-it bill). AND NO, I cannot drive you to football, you'll have to ride your bike. NO, I cannot drive you to the church even though you're late. Today: NO, I cannot drive you to volleyball, football, OR on the paper route. So, Mr. Car Fix-It Man, take as long as you want fixing my car!

Menu
-pizza on Italian loaves of bread from Walmart's day old pile (pepperoni, pepperoni with peppers, onions, and olives, and ham and pineapple, green salad)
-baked potatoes with sour cream, butter, bacon, cheese, and green onions, corn on the cob, homemade rolls, choc. chip cookies, nectarine/grape salad (took dinner to someone, thus the super yumminess of the meal) Nectarines were 60 cents a pound; grapes 99 cents a pound. Wowsers.
-Hawaiian Haystacks--chopped chicken in cream of chicken soup, over rice, add toppings: onions, pineapple, olives, peppers (super smart me, I chopped all of these when I made pizzas and saved them for this day), leftover corn cut off the cob, chow mein noodles, cheese. Mmmm.
-homemade fresh salsa and chips with quesadillas
-spaghetti or lasagna with sauce made from the zillions of tomatoes in my garden

I'm FORTY.

2011-09-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

And its seems younger and younger.

Fruit Fly Trap

2011-09-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I canned 7 jars of peaches. SEVEN. That is all the peaches there were. Well, I have another tree that might have 7 more jars on it. Frankly, I am relieved that I didn't have to do 56 or 72 quarts. Just didn't feel like it. Got enough in the basement. Got things on my mind. And I sent my oldest daughter back to college by herself yesterday, so I didn't really have time for more.

By the way, I canned them on my flat top stove. I used my pressure canner (without the pressure) because it has a flat bottom instead of a ridged bottom like regular water bath canners. It worked fine since I have an extra large burner, but if I get a batch of 56 or 72 quarts of something-or-other to can, I will want to use my big camp stove outside on the deck so I can run two canners and get things boiling faster to boot.

Fruit Fly Trap

Put 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (the apple is what attracts the flies) into a small mug. Add a tablespoon of dishsoap (this makes them stick and drown). Add a bit of water and stir. Set your mug out and voila!

Moving Day, Part 2, and Why I LOVE BYU

2011-08-22T08:19:00.000-07:00

So we got the kid all moved into his apartment at Wyview Park at BYU. D and I and our three boys headed down after church. We had a fantastic time unloading the boxes and finding a spot for them in his tiny (but big enough) apartment. The other two boys in his apartment will be moving in later this week, along with most of the other freshman.

After scrounging around in Caleb's food for pop-top cans of ravioli and chili (because his cheapo-last-minute can opener totally broke), we had a quick dinner and then headed to Lavell Edwards Stadium for the freshman marching band fireside. Cougar Marching Band Hall, instrument lockers, offices, and uniform room are all inside the stadium, hidden underneath the stands.

This is why I love BYU (and other church schools): this marching band 'meeting' started with a hymn, a prayer, and a vocal musical number "As Sisters in Zion" and "Armies of Helaman." It was at this point that I remembered in full force the value of church schools. This was band like you have never seen it. After staff introductions and a short video of retro-uniformed BYU bands of the past, the marching band directors spoke. They told us that the number one purpose of the BYU marching band is to bring people to Christ. The NUMBER ONE purpose. Awesome.

I am so pleased and excited for the opportunity my son has to be in an environment that is not only academically challenging, but also testimony building. My daughter at BYU-Idaho is having the same kind of experiences.

After the fireside, we ate blue and white cupcakes. And then we sneaked (well, walked quietly) up one of the portals into the actual stadium. We were about 20 rows up on the 30 yard line and there was not another soul in the entire stadium. Cool.

And nope, I didn't cry when we left. I did a little at the fireside and a little right before I went to bed when I asked Heavenly Father to please take care of him. And maybe a little right now while I'm thinking about it. (:

Moving Day.

2011-08-21T05:51:00.000-07:00

I can't sleep this morning. My tummy was full of butterflies the moment I woke up and they wouldn't go back to sleep either. I'm excited!! We are taking my sweet big boy to BYU today and leaving him there. It think it is strange that I'm excited, but I love new things, and it is fun to experience my children's new things with them.

I also love to unpack boxes and organize stuff into fresh new drawers and cupboards. Weird, I know. He even said I could.

We have to be there tonight (Sunday night) for a freshman and parent marching band fireside at Cougar Marching Band Hall in Lavell Edwards Stadium (too cool), and then he starts band camp tomorrow morning.

I took him grocery shopping today. It took a while for it to kick in that he needed to buy the things HE wanted to eat--also things that would fit into his busy schedule easily. Chimichangas, Totinos pizza, Gogurts. Gum. And he is so excited to be totally in control of the fruit stash.

Then we got home and loaded the car and rounded up a few last minute items like an extra-long mattress pad and a cable for his hand-me-down tv (not that he'll have time to watch tv much, but he doesn't know that). And the day before that he had to buy a new bike. He will be living a bit from campus, and his old bike bit the dust last week (better now then when he is riding furiously up University to work at 7 a.m.)

I'm thinking I will be sad to leave him all alone in his apartment for the week. His roommates don't arrive until later in the week. But I'm thinking that he'll be thinking "Party! Party!" He'll be home next weekend for his Melchizedek Priesthood ordination anyway. And we'll be down for BYU football games every couple of weeks. But I will really miss his face around here.

Triple Berry Pie

2011-07-12T21:34:00.001-07:00

Can I just say that I made a TRIPLE BERRY PIE that was DIVINE. No, I didn't take a picture of all its beautifulness. But boy was it so good. Since only a couple people in my family like berry pie, I think I ate most of it. Here's the recipe:

Take about a third or half (enough to fill your pie plate)of a bag of the triple berry frozen mix from Costco (raspberries, blueberries, and marionberries) and thaw it slightly in a bowl. Add 1 cup sugar and 1/3 cup flour. Stir and let sit while you make the crust.

Crust. Cut together 2 cups flour, 1 cup shortening, and 3/4 t. salt. Add 1/3 cup water and mix together with a fork. Add a bit more water if necessary to make it all stick together, but it shouldn't be sticky.

Divide the dough in half and make each into a round. Roll each round out between two pieces of wax paper until the dough is big enough to fit in your pie pan. Remove and replace the wax paper a couple times to allow it to straighten out as you roll. When the dough is big enough, take off the top piece of wax paper and flip the dough into the pie plate. Remove the other piece of wax paper. Fit the dough into the bottom of the pie plate. Using wax paper is the only way I have ever been able to make and roll out really good crusts without completely starting over.

Put the berry filling in the crust. Dot with 3 T. margarine. Cover with the top piece of dough. Flute the edges. (In my case, I just mash the top edge into the bottom edge and then make it pretty with thumb prints evenly spaced around the edge.) I am such a pie professional. Then cut a slit or two in the top with a sharp knife. Brush the crust with beaten egg. Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling.

Happy Fourth Girl

2011-07-04T10:48:00.001-07:00

Dutch Oven on the Fourth

2011-07-03T23:56:00.000-07:00

Dutch Oven Teriyaki Chicken:
Boil chicken thighs in one two liter bottle of sprite a couple hours until done.
Drain and then add a bottle of Soy Vay Very Very Teriyaki sauce and heat through. Yum.

Dutch Oven Cobbler:
Line dutch oven with foil. Pour in your choice of pie filling. Dump a cake mix on top (I like berries). Add 1 can Sprite. Don't stir. Cook until done, using coals on the top and bottom.

Dutch Oven Potatoes:
Brown bacon in dutch oven and crumble. Add sliced potatoes. Cook until done. Add cheese. MMM.

Add some corn on the cob and vanilla ice cream, and Voila!

60 Ways to Leave Your Mother (Alone)

2011-06-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

http://robotjumpingrope.wordpress.com/2007/06/06/60-ways-to-leave-your-mother-alone/

Found this link--fun things for kids to do this summer. I might require that my kids complete this list.

Dinner! (And lunch ideas)

2011-06-27T18:52:00.001-07:00

-Costco you-bake tortillas filled with shredded taco seasoned chicken, black beans, corn, cheese, salsa, and olives.
-tortilla chips with corn salsa dip: 2 tomatoes, 1/2 can corn, 1/2 can olives, 1/2 can black beans, couple teaspoons oil, some sprigs of cilantro, salt
-shredded chicken dipped in 1/2 cup cornstarch, 1/2 cup flour, some salt and fried in oil. Served with rice and soy sauce or Panda Express orange sauce. Green beans (frozen package from Costco) with parsley, garlic, and lemon.
-shepherd's pie
-spaghetti
-homemade pizza, pepperoni and sausage with peppers and onions
-shredded chicken with bbq sauce on buns (Can you guess? I bought a family pack of chicken and cooked it all day in the crock pot and shredded it. Divided it into three and froze two bags of it. Used it for tacos, with rice, and on buns).
-sandwiches, sandwiches, sandwiches, burritoes, burritoes, burritoes (for those ball game nights)

-The kids have been cooking lunch, too! (Maybe not so healthy as lunch goes, but the kid cooks, serves, and cleans up. And we've had very little complaints about the food. It is glorious!):
Scones made out of pop-open biscuits and served with chili and cheese
Bagel Bites and green salad
Chicken Nuggets and carrot sticks
Grilled cheese and tomato soup
Chicken Cordon Bleu (okay we splurged for this lunch on frozen Costco chickens)and green beans

College Checklist

2011-06-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here's our college checklist for living in dorms/apartments with a kitchen:
Household:
Sheets
Bedspread
Pillow
Blanket
Towels/wash clothes
Pitcher
Plates/bowls
Cups
Silverware
Measuring cups/spoons
Mixing bowls
Spatulas
Big spoon/wooden spoons
Pancake spatula
Strainer
Pampered chef microwave pan
Cutting board
Knives, big, bread, paring
Dish towels/wash clothes
Hot pads
Cookie sheet/scoop
Cake/casserole pan
Peeler
Pizza cutter
Pans/frying pan
Leftover storage containers
Cheese grater
Cookbook/recipes
Whisks
Ice cream scoop
Shower caddy
Scrubbers
Shower caddy
Laundry Basket

To divide up among roommates:(although, any of the above could be shared)
Iron
Toaster
Bath rug
Can opener

Have in dorms
Mattress pads
Broom/dustpan
Mop/bucket
Ironing board
Vacuum
Kitchen garbage can

Other
Computer
Printer
Tools
First aid kit/medicine
Seventy-two hour kit
Umbrella
Sewing kit
Backpack
School supplies
White/Bulletin Board
Planner
File box
Lamp for desk
Lamp for bed
Alarm clock/radio/ipod dock
Hanging shelves for closet (or other storage)
Garbage can for bedroom

Let me know if I forgot anything. This list has worked for BYU and BYU-Idaho on campus cooking dorms.

Graduate

2011-06-05T13:33:00.001-07:00

Wooot!

Graduation Cake

2011-06-05T13:20:00.001-07:00

Kari and I wanted to make a black and red and yellow graduation cake for Caleb. Caleb wanted chocolate cake and chocolate frosting, so our only option was to make the chocolate frosting the black part of the cake. If you have a better solution, please tell me. Because though the cake was delicious and cute, black frosting is interesting.

First of all, I used a WHOLE little bottle of food color gel. And, can I just say, that our teeth and our tongues were not the only things this cake turned black. The plates, the sink, our fingers, and the baby's diaper (inside) were all black. And a cake with black frosting just doesn't look that appetizing. Anyway, so there are (is?) my two cents, in case you were thinking about making a black cake.

Bedroom Redo

2011-06-05T13:11:00.000-07:00

Before (The walls WERE white, these are the new walls.)

After
Recovered the chair, made a bench, new curtains, new bed. The bedspread is actually reversible--it is more contemporary on the other side (just plain blue with some beige trim, which I actually like better). This is the picture I had. Still need a headboard.
You can't quite tell in the picture, but the light color in the chair is blue.

Books I've Enjoyed Recently

2011-05-11T10:31:00.001-07:00

I started a gadget over on the sidebar to list some of the fun books I've read recently. Beware--I love simple mushy clean romance stories.

Dinners we've had for those who like ideas!

2011-05-10T18:37:00.001-07:00

Lasagna, with bolognese and bechemel sauces!! MMMM. Artisan French bread from our new Harmon's. A little pricey. Green beans from a can because I was too tired of cooking to make a salad.

Sweet and sour chicken and rice and asparagus.

Roast and mashed potatoes. Homemade Ardella's Rolls. Cantaloupe and watermelon. Corn. (This was our Mother's Day Sunday dinner.) CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES leftover from Mrs. Cavanaugh's, my neighbor is her daughter. The strawberries were starting to get a bit of zing to them.

Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

Homemade pepperoni pizza. No knead-no rise-yummy pizza dough.

For my daughter's birthday a couple weeks ago we made homemade chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting piled high and and topped with an oreo, and strawberry cupcakes from a mix piled high with whipped canned strawberry frosting topped with a strawberry slice. They were so beautiful in a little cupcake stand I borrowed, but I didn't take a picture. Her friends were afraid to take one and destroy my masterpiece. Mmmm were the chocolate ones good.

For her birthday dinner, which was also on Easter, we had pigs in a blanket. She insisted because it was also National Pig in a Blanket Day. We had a ham dinner complete with au gratin potatoes earlier in the day.

Loved the Wedding

2011-05-02T19:01:00.001-07:00

Loved:
the dress
the hair
the smiles
the love
the carriage
the balcony
the queen
the men's military dress
everyone else (except maybe Eugenie and Beatrice's hats & outfits)
the bridesmaids
the maid of honor
the cake (google it!)
the ceremony
the abby
the music
the words of wisdom
seeing how the Church of England does it
the brother saying his part
the voices of the clergymen
the long eyebrows on the Archbishop of Canterbury

Fun Stuff!

Egg Salad Sandwiches for dinner!!

2011-04-25T17:13:00.001-07:00

I feel like I can be myself much more on my blog than I do on Facebook.

Easter Sunday

2011-04-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

Love these guys! And it was someone's

sixteenth birthday today!!

Notice posted on our front door today

2011-04-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

SPECIAL NOTICE TO
OCCUPANTS OF
1239 s. 70 w.
FARMINGTON, UTAH:

RESIDENTS WILL NOT RECEIVE DINNER ON THE
EVENING OF TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2011
UNLESS THEIR PLACES OF ABODE HAVE BEEN
COMPLETELY CLEANED. THIS INCLUDES CLEAN
CLOTHING HUNG UP OR PUT AWAY IN DRAWERS.

THE MANAGEMENT RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REFUSE DINNER TO ANY PARTIES FOR ANY REASON

Exhaustion from Raising Little Kids

2011-03-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

I think it's obvious that part of the exhaustion that accompanies caring for little kids is physical. (Lifting, carrying, picking up toys, blankets, papers, and crayons, feeding, putting in bed, constant needs to be filled). But I really think the exhaustion also comes from rarely being able to stop and focus on a project that requires thought processes and produces results. Just writing this, I'm feeling less tired!

President Gordon B. Hinckley once said, "Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds!" So it's okay. I don't want to raise a little blonde weed now, do I?

P.S. And why can't BIG kids make the decisions we want them to make and make them right now and be done with it? (BYU vs. USU?) Don't worry. I do know the answer.

It's okay. Winter is a time of rest.

2011-02-12T21:24:00.000-08:00

Wow! What a great concept! This blog post (below) talks about winter being a time of rest--for the earth, and for us. Just like when I am so motivated to work so hard on Mondays, and sometimes I kill myself until Thursday, well then Thursday has to become my sit-around-and-read-all-afternoon-time to be able to get any energy back. And then I do, and then Sunday comes, and is a nice day of rest (from my usual work, at least), and then I am all ready to get going again on Monday. It's a cycle, but a good one, I think.

http://www.steadymom.com/2011/02/dont-even-try-to-be-productive.html

A (lack of) Family History Story

2011-02-10T10:47:00.001-08:00

I went to the temple today for our stake Fill the Temple Day. It took me fifteen minutes to find a parking space because the Ogden temple is closed and so the load was double, and I had to stalk a lady leaving the temple to get my parking space. It was going to be an hour wait to do initiatories, so I went down to the baptistry, where they got me right in.

They asked me if I was doing family names or temple names. I felt sad when I said temple names. Not because doing temple names isn't wonderful, too, because it is--and was! But in my case, I have a bachelor degree in family history, knowledgeable family members to help, and resources right next door, and I have NO GOOD EXCUSE to not bring my own names. This is something I have already been stewing over, so I was feeling especially sensitive about it.

Next, they only let me be baptized and confirmed for five people, when it used to be ten or fifteen. They explained that the church has fewer couple missionaries, so they are not calling them to be extraction missionaries anymore. (Is this true? Or has Indexing taken the place of extraction missionaries?) Anyway, they said they have fewer temple names to give to patrons, and the Church is relying on its members to find the names of their own families and perform the ordinances for them. Whatever the reasons, the point that got to me is that I, personally, need to be spending more time doing research on behalf of my ancestors.

I talked to my friend who was tending the little one for me while I went, and we decided that we would love to set aside one Saturday every couple of months to go down to the Family History Library (one of the places I love best in all the world) in Salt Lake and just TAKE the time, away from all the little distractions at home. I'm discussing this with D when he gets home tonight and I'm PUTTING it on the calendar! He will probably even want to come with me.

Dinners this week

2011-02-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

Monday-Chili on salad with tortilla chips and salsa
Tuesday-Chicken Parmesan and asparagus with Hollandaise sauce
Wednesday-Sunday Mash (leftover roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn from Sunday, all stirred up together, the kids LOVE this)
Thursday-mac and cheese for the kids while we go to the temple
Friday-Mexican something
Saturday-homemade pepperoni pizza

Little changes in the kitchen, before and after.

2011-02-01T14:08:00.001-08:00

I'm holding the old knob. The attached knob and pull are spray painted.

Not a HUGE difference, but I can tell and like it.

Before. White stove, hood, and kind of brassy antiquey knobs and pulls.

After. Black stove and hood, and blacky/bronzed knobs and pulls.

Washed the cupboards and polished them with old English for dark wood,

to take away a little bit of the yellow.

First I spray painted the knobs and pulls glossy black and that was terrible. So then I added a matte bronzish spray and several layers of matte acrylic spray and I love them now.

Next up: new paint on the walls. Rusty red maybe? But honestly, on the Sherwin Williams tester sight, this color of green looked the best. What to do, what to do.

I am not as keen on re-doing house things as I used to be. Stresses me out a little bit--
deciding what to do, doing it and doing it right, getting used to the change. Weird, huh?

Who I am really.

2011-02-01T09:26:00.000-08:00

The following words were written by Marianne Williamson and used by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 Inaugural Speech:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?"

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us.

And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Cheap Healthy Menu Ideas for the Week

2011-01-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

Thank you momsinneedofmercy.blogspot.com for these great menu ideas! See the link for more breakfast and lunch ideas, and recipes. The menu there includes a complete $10 a DAY menu for a week.

We had roast chicken and mashed potatoes with carrots today.

•Zesty Sausage Pasta, salad, Italian bread
•Scrambled eggs, toast, mandarin oranges
•Chicken salad sandwiches (from leftover roast chicken), grapes
•Beans con Carne (like taco meat) in the crockpot over lettuce with toppings
•Oatmeal, orange juice, bananas
•Turn leftover beans con carne into chili, cornbread
•Chicken and noodles, mixed vegetables, busy day chocolate cake
•Applesauce bread
•Homemade Pizza, salad
•Whole-wheat pancakes
•Cowboy casserole
•Parmesan-crusted tilapia, (chicken in our case) broccoli, brown rice

Caring for each other as Christ cares for us

2011-01-23T06:42:00.000-08:00

Taken from a post at Segullah

http://segullah.org/house-a-home/so-what-else-do-you-do/

A wise friend of the author shared her belief that, “the work of feeding, clothing, and nurturing one another is every bit as spiritual as it is physical. She feels strongly that when ordinary, life-sustaining tasks are done together as a family, they bind family members to one another in small but critical ways. I was startled to realize that she saw as “sacred” the tasks that I always thought were obstacles to sacredness. And for evidence, she turned to the scriptures. The parable of the sheep and the goats found in Matthew 25 clearly shows that Christ will judge us according to our willingness to feed and clothe “the least of these my brethren” (verse 40). Does this include members of our own families? In fact, Christ used imagery of feeding and washing and cleaning throughout His parables and object lessons. “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd” (Isa. 40:11). He will wash “away the filth of the daughters of Zion” (2 Ne. 14:4) and “sweep away the bad out of [His] vineyard” (Jacob 5:66). He even likens Himself to a hen who “gathereth her chickens under her wings” (Matt. 23:37).
Even more striking to me, Christ not only spoke of these things, He personally did them. He fed multitudes with limited tangible resources in a miraculous example of His attention to our physical as well as spiritual hunger. He washed the feet of His disciples to illustrate the humble service required of a Master and to reveal what He was willing to do that we might be entirely clean. In the book of Moses, He states that He, Himself, made the coats of skins to clothe Adam and Eve. When seen in this new light, my perception of tasks like peeling potatoes and scrubbing floors began to turn upside down and inside out. It was becoming obvious to me that when we care for the physical as well as the spiritual needs of our families, we are patterning our lives after the Savior.” (end quoted section)

The very purpose of our lives is to become like the Savior. Keeping 2 small children alive, helping a teenager with a school report, making a bed, tying a shoe, washing a dish with a 10-year-old, isn’t a “just”. The same friend of mine who sent the article said something several months ago I’ve thought of again and again when I feel discouraged and wonder what I’m doing & if I’m spending my time well. She said, “I’m striving for eternal salvation for me and my family every day. I think that’s enough.”

Goodbye Old Friend

2011-01-20T06:43:00.000-08:00

Are you surprised to see the old friend I am referring to? Me, too! Yep. My lovely white GE stove is getting replaced today. Two of the burners don't work, the kitchen timer button has to be jimmied, there is something falling down inside the window, the self-clean has had trouble for a few years, and the drawer has never played nice. So it's leaving today, and I'm having feelings of sadness. Isn't that funny?
I had to stop and wonder why. I think it's because of all the good this stove and I have cranked out together. Zillions of delicious meals for my family (and a few not-so-delicious). Zillions of bottles of fruit and juice for our food storage. Jars of Christmas Jelly for our neighbors for the last 12 years. Meals for sick neighbors or neighbors who just had babies. Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter dinners. Cookies for and with my kids.

Good work stove. You've done your job well.

New Coat Closet!

2011-01-18T08:11:00.001-08:00

Our coat closet was a disaster. We had a few plastic hooks on the side. Mrs. Destroyer discovered that if she pulled on her coat hard enough it would come down (along with the plastic hook). There were mounds of coats and jackets trying to stay up on the few plastic hooks that were left. Everything else had to be hung up on the hangers on the rod. The floor of the closet was always a mess and we had to dig through the pile to find anything.

For Christmas I gave Darin a drill press that I found at an estate sale (in the box, never been opened!) He used it and made this new closet for us with zillions of beautiful hooks! Everyone has a spot for their coats and jackets now. We don't use the rod at all and I love being able to hang up my coat with one hand (as opposed to putting it on the hanger, etc.) Works marvelously!

Restocking the Food Storage

2011-01-10T21:37:00.000-08:00

Read on--this post may be boring at the beginning, but it ends funny!

Well, it's that time of year again--tax return time! Yipee! It is also the time of year when we reevaluate our food storage and try to catch it up using said tax return.

I am feeling overwhelmed and wondering why in the world I can't keep up the food storage on a month to month basis. We are way behind. We have a lot, but not what it would take for a full storage.

As per providentliving.org, we should have a three month supply of the things we usually eat. And then nine months of food we would need to survive. I found a food storage calculator for the survival food. http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/03/09/long-term-food-storage-calculator/ Providentliving.org has one but it just gives a suggestion for the very bare minimum foods. Which is fine, but there is always more that can be done to bulk up and make that food storage more usable.

For instance, on the way to Costco tonight for FHE with the kids (we were buying food storage), this was our discussion:

"So, I have figured that we need about 12 bags of flour for the year. But if we are in survival mode, we will need much more because we will be making everything from scratch. But we have all that wheat down there, too. Do we really need 12 bags of flour? Should we store less flour and more wheat? Will bags of flour store for a whole year? (I think yes.) Well, we have a tiny little electric wheat grinder that works okay, but what if there is a big disaster and there IS no electricity. Do we need to buy a wheat grinder? If there is no electricity there will be no oven. We have our dutch oven, and propane stoves. Do we have propane? Enough?"

Sigh, it could go on and on. I guess this is what we need to do though. Consider each possibility. Do as much as we can (there is ALWAYS more we can do-where do we stop?). And hope the Lord will take care of the rest.

If you get a chance, read the book Alas Babylon. This book talks about the almost-ULTIMATE emergency situation. It is a fun read and GREAT food for thought. It makes me really glad that I live within bicycling distance to to the Great Salt Lake, too.

P.S. Tonight at Costco, we (all seven of us) got one of those flat-bed carts and pushed it around the store looking for bargains. We bought 144 rolls of toilet paper (which is only a 7 or 8 month supply-maybe a tiny bit more). We discussed the merits of national geographic pages versus regular book pages for when we run out of tp. We also discussed the value of various leaves and wondered about how cold it would be to just use snow in the winter. Eeek!

Christmas Pictures

2010-12-29T07:53:00.000-08:00

Kids' Christmas Creations

2010-12-22T17:01:00.000-08:00

Gingerbread Houses.

The only one that was done at my house was the middle one,

and it was a kit. The house was already preassembled!

Cupcakes for the MiaMaid class friends.

We had adorable cupcake boxes from Oriental Trading Co.

to put them in.

Gingersnaps

2010-12-22T16:55:00.000-08:00

Gingersnaps

Ingredients:

¾ c. shortening
1 c. white sugar
¼ c. molasses (I used full strength)
1 egg
1 ¾ c. flour (more if you want stiffer cookies)
1 t. ginger
1 t. cinnamon
2 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
Directions
Cream together shortening and sugar, add egg and beat until fluffy. Stir in molasses and mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix. Use a cookie scoop to scoop out dough and roll into balls. Dip tops in sugar. They flatten as they bake. Bake at 350° for exactly 8 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and cool.

Christmas Week Menu

2010-12-20T06:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't been planning my menus lately because I just love to cook whatever sounds good. But the last few days I've disliked having to decide what to make. There is just too much going on. And the kids are home all day now. So I made myself plan this menu for the entire day for the entire week of Christmas. Less stress! I intend to enjoy this week with the kids and take it slow. I may even skip nap time for our little night owl and send her to bed early. I did last night and, though I love her to bits, it was divine to have a full three and a half hours of not chasing her. (I stayed up until midnight!) And it is 8 a.m. and she is still sleeping.

Monday
bfast: cereal
lunch: chicken noodle soup from the freezer
dinner: sloppy joes

Tuesday
bfast: toast and boiled eggs
lunch: sandwiches and leftover sloppy joes
dinner: Italian chicken and fettuccini in the crockpot

Wednesday
bfast: pancakes
lunch: broccoli soup from the freezer
dinner: chicken and rice

Thursday (we have a funeral to go to, the kids will be home tending cousins)
bfast: cereal
lunch: corn dogs and fries
dinner: enchiladas from the freezer

Friday--Christmas Eve
bfast: scrambled eggs or dutch babies
lunch: free for all (usually ends up being sandwiches, ramen, and frozen chimichangas)
dinner: spiral cut ham, cheesy potatoes, peas, rolls, individual green
and red ribbon jellos in clear cup, vegetable tray and dip, banana cream pie

Saturday--Christmas!
bfast: favorite cereals that Santa brings, sausage, juice, and fresh pineapple
lunch: leftover ham and rolls
dinner: leftover ham and rolls
meals the next day: leftover ham and rolls!

Christmas Break!

2010-12-17T14:25:00.000-08:00

Well, the kids are home for the break. I put a note on the door for the kids that said: "Merry Christmas! Welcome Home! Put Your Backpacks Away! Hang Up Your Coats! Party Time! Yay!" Because I am tired saying EACH of those things FOUR times. And now I get a break from backpacks, at least.

Here are pictures of us making sugar cookies and gingersnaps. You should have seen our weird colors of frosting--but the cookies were kind of cool. The icing is runny, so it spreads over the entire cookie and then hardens. We are using our 'heirloom' checkered tablecloth that my mom gave us one year that is specifically for making Christmas sugar cookies like we did when we were kids.

Here is an awesome sugar cookie recipe (no chilling!) and the icing recipe, and a really good gingersnap recipe! (gingersnap recipe coming later)

Sugar Cookies

1 c. shortening 2 c. sugar 4 eggs

Mix all together.

Add: 6 c. flour (maybe 5 1/2) 8 t. baking powder 1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda 1 c. milk 1 T. vinegar

2 t. vanilla

Mix and roll 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick and bake on greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 7 minutes. Frost when cool.

Smooth Sugar Cookie Icing

(makes enough for about 20 large sugar cookies)

Mix together: 2 1/4 c. powdered sugar, 3 T. milk, 2 T. soft! butter or margarine, 3/4 t. vanilla, 3/4 t. almond extract (optional), food coloring. Spread thinly over cookies. Decorate immediately as icing will harden up quickly. Test out on a cookie. If icing is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.

(Minor) Things I Love

2010-12-15T07:21:00.001-08:00

I saw this topic over at Mormon Mommy Wars, and it got me thinking about all the little things I love:

The sound of the washer and the dishwasher running. It’s work getting done.

Sleepy head two-year-olds saying good morning.

Doing Jilian Michael's 30-day Shred. Well, not doing it, but the feeling after I did it.

Antibiotics. My 12-year-old is all better from strep.

Yummy smelling candles.

Toast dipped in hot chocolate.

Getting back into bed after an early morning send-off (especially when my hubby is still there).

Playing with play-doh in nursery after a stressful choir practice. You don't have to worry about what play-doh or nursery kids think!

Seeing my 6 foot 17-year-old playing with his two-year-old sister.

The container aisle at the store.

The kitchen gadget aisle at the store.

Brownies.

Christmas concerts.

Staying home on a snowy day.

Visiting teachers that come during December.

Also--I got to do two fun things that really made me feel Christmasy. I have two new friends who knew each other when they lived on the church ranch in Florida. One of them invited us to bring cookies to her house for cookie plates. Then we went caroling to deliver them, had hot chocolate, and watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas. FUN Family Home Evening! The other friend invited me to come help out at their chocolate factory (Mrs. Cavanaugh's). I got to help box chocolates complete with an assembly line, Christmas music, and a conveyor belt. Yummm. I took home a bag of delicious chocolates!

Please comment and tell me what you love! I would love to know who is viewing my blog!

Visions of Sugar Plums

2010-12-01T13:17:00.001-08:00

Today I took this little one to the fabric store and helped her choose some fun fabric for our favorite December 1st tradition. She was absolutely giggling while I sewed it.

When I got married, my mother-in-law made me a Christmas mouse pillowcase, and a few years later, I replaced my husband's threadbare childhood Santa pillowcase with a new one. Each child has their own Christmas pillowcase, too.

This is an easy peasy crafty-type project. I'm thinking of making one for my close friends and attaching some kind of corny note that wishes them 'plenty of rest this Christmas season.'

The best part about this picture is that she's sleeping. Dang, here she comes down the stairs right this very minute.

Memory Tree

2010-11-28T17:24:00.000-08:00

(last year's tree--we had a one-year-old, thus the uneven distribution of ornaments)

Last night I was missing those days when my husband was much more involved in decorating for Christmas, back when it was just me and him. The kids and I were having a fun time doing most of it--in fact, we didn't really need him since I was directing and the kids were decorating. I was grateful when one kid took over decorating the banister, one took over arranging the little Christmas village, one kept the two-year-old away from the glass decorations, and two others placed my old, worn-out decorations in clever places.

Hubby was happy to not be too involved. His real expertise comes when we get the (expensive) fresh tree (at his insistence) and he has to tie it on the car, cut off the bottom, and haul it in the house to place it in the stand and then wrap strands of lights and garland all around it. That's his baby.

I mentioned to his mother that I had thought fondly of the days when it was just us. She said those days will be back soon enough. My mother- and father-in-laws' children are grown and long gone. She told me how the two of them had set up their Christmas tree earlier in the week. They have never had a beautiful, color-coordinated Christmas tree. Theirs, like mine, is a hodgepodge of ornaments made by the children, purchased on vacation, or given to us by friends. She called it a Memory Tree, and told me how she and her husband cried yesterday as they pulled out all the 'memories' and placed them lovingly on their tree. From now on I will think more kindly of my mismatched Memory Tree.

And I will (and do!) treasure the time my husband and I have now with our children. I look forward to the traditional evening where we read the Christmas story and hand the nativity pieces to the children to place on the piano. I will love going to pick out a Christmas tree as a family and handing 'memories' to the children to place on the tree. I am thankful for my children and for the many memories we are creating now that will fill the lonelier times later.

Cooking and cleaning all the time--a post about its sacredness!

2010-11-25T07:18:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I feel like almost all I do is shop for food, store food, cook food, clean up after food, clean the house, pick up the house, and clean the laundry. Here is an awesome post about how important all of these things are. How that is what our Savior taught us. This was a good thanksgiving day reminder. I am doing all of these things for people who need them. And when I spend a little extra time on these things to make a day extra special, it's even more special. http://segullah.org/house-a-home/so-what-else-do-you-do/

My new family room wall and one flour-y girl.

2010-11-16T06:36:00.000-08:00

This one was scooping flour into the dishwasher and then drinking the flour out of a measuring cup. Of course I was in a hurry that day, so I just sucked it all off with the vacuum hose.

Speaking of 'this one', I've decided to free up some kitchen space and vanquish the high chair. She now sits in a booster seat at the table. So yesterday I went shopping at Ross for a placemat (and a black pencil skirt).

I got the black pencil skirt, but totally forgot the placemat when I found two shelves (for $12) for my completely bare family room wall. They are cute and match the furniture. I probably have too many shelves in my house, but I like shelves. This is the new wall: Yes, the shelves ARE level.
I got the two pictures for $10. The bench I just moved four feet to the left. It houses the toys. If you look closely you will probably see that I should have bought paint to paint the wall instead. I do plan to paint the walls a golden wheat color soon.

I am mostly excited to see what cute Christmas knick knacks I can put on these shelves (maybe my Santa pictures.) And now I have a place to hang Christmas stockings instead of just tieing (tying?) them to the banister!

Twenty-five Days of Thanksgiving--Updated Daily

2010-11-15T05:51:00.000-08:00

(continued)
I got behind a bit.
Day 10--I am thankful for good friends.
Day 11--I am thankful for Jesus Christ and his Gospel. I didn't mean to squish this one in the middle randomly. I was saving the best for last. But I am especially grateful for this today.
Day 12--I am thankful for the Holy Ghost and for church meetings that help us feel him more fully.
Day 13--I am thankful for my new calling as choir director. And that I got released as wolf den leader yesterday.
Day 14--I am thankful for friends.
Day 15--I am thankful for family home evening!

Mourning Change

2010-11-10T19:11:00.000-08:00

I have a hard time whenever any of my plans end up different than I expect. Especially if I have a really clear expectation of how something will be. I can adapt okay, but I have a moment or two of initial grumpiness. Here is a beautiful post about change.

http://segullah.org/daily-special/mourning-the-plan/#more-8180

Cute girl and her roomies

2010-11-09T06:51:00.001-08:00

Over budget. . .

2010-11-08T17:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, I had to go get baggies and garbage bags and bananas and my good conditioner today. I would have been under my $11.67 or whatever it was, but I bought a box of 200 garbage bags and two extra boxes of baggies. So I was over by about $8. Not tooo bad. And I didn't even go to Burger King (or Cutler's, or Wendi's, or McD's) even though I was very tempted and hungry.

Now, if I plan before I shop, I should be able to fit in all those Thanksgiving extras.

And then Christmas extras:
dipping chocolate
dipping chocolate
dipping chocolate
peanuts and pretzels for peanut clusters and choco-covered pretzels
mixed nuts for cracking and snacking
Stephen's hot cocoa
candy canes
Christmas Eve Dinner:
ham
a frozen Marie Callender's banana cream pie
raspberries, pomegranate pop, and limeade for our holiday drink
New Year's Eve treats

Hehe. I am excited for the holidays, how about you? It snowed today for the first time. I felt very festive and cozy with my gingerbread scented candle, homemade bread, and homemade chicken noodle soup!

How my budget is working out & Thanksgiving Shopping

2010-11-06T11:22:00.000-07:00

Okay--I have just tallied up my grocery expenses for the week and have spent all but $11.94. I have made all the purchases on my list, except my good shampoo because I forgot. Sooooo.....I think I will be able to break even!

There are lots of extra food items I like to purchase for the holidays, so I really wanted to make sure I break even. Here is the list of things I am going to get for Thanksgiving (which will be with the in-laws) that I don't normally buy:

real butter
cranberries, grapes, and jell-o for "party in your mouth" cranberry jell-o salad
spinach, sour cream, and knorr veggie dip for spinach dip
baguettes and pita chips for spinach dip
oreo crusts, chocolate pudding, cream cheese, and whipped topping for chocolate ribbon pies

I am also bringing 2 pans of Ardella's Rolls, but I have those ingredients!

For at home later:
turkey breast (we are using our free turkey from work for the in-law thanksgiving party)

lard for pie crusts for other flavors of pie (already have the fillings)

My Twenty-five Days of Thanks--updated daily!

2010-11-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

Day 1--I am thankful for a loving, righteous husband who takes good care of me and our children.
Day 2--I am thankful for bright, healthy, obedient children, and for each of their individual personalities, I guess.
Day 3--I am thankful for multi-colored carpet that hides spots well. I am also thankful that the opened fingernail polish didn't get on the carpet, only on my little girl's big toe and pants (dang!). And that I get to go out to lunch today with sisters-in-law.
Day 4--I am thankful for parents who raised me right, who are so fun, and who understand.
Day 5--I am thankful for my three brothers and four sisters. And that I grew up in a large family. It's been the best.
Day 6--I'm thankful for awesome in-laws, too. Every one of them.
Day 7--I am thankful for my incredible pioneer ancestors, and the opportunity I have had to get to know them.
Day 8--I am thankful for the plenty that is in my life. I do not take for granted having enough.
Day 9--I am thankful for prayer and the power that faith and prayer have together.

Halloween Pictures

2010-10-31T08:28:00.000-07:00

Muahaha! (Sorry, bad picture)

HE HE HE!

HO HO HO!

We did trick or treating on Saturday. It was pouring rain. D and I took our giant shade umbrella--one of us carried it, the other pushed the stroller and whisked the little clowny out of the stroller and up onto the porch and back into the stroller (only for about 10 houses though). She was tickled and had a huge smile on her face at every house. The boys ran around our close neighborhood together (don't worry, we know EVERYONE in our neighborhood). And I mean RAN. They came home with ten pounds of candy. Instead of saying thank you at each house they said, "Merry Christmas!"

On to Thanksgiving! I am so excited!

Dinner in a Pumpkin--Fun but Failed

2010-10-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

I decided to try making dinner in a pumpkin. I cleaned the pumpkin guts out and even drew a face on it. What a fun mommy. (Except some people were whining about the recipe I intended to put in it--and even went so far as to tell me with a straight face that they wouldn't be here for dinner.) I filled it with this recipe that is actually very yummy:

Chow Mein Noodle Casserole

½ c. rice
1 lb browned hamburger
1 ½ c. water
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of mushroom
¼ c. soy sauce
Mix and cook 1 hour with lid on at 350. Uncover and add chow mein noodles. Cook ½ hour more.

I minused the chow mein noodles and cooked that puppy for an hour and a half.
Nuttin'. The pumpkin was well-roasted, but the rice hadn't even begun to soften. If I do this again, I will cook the rice first!

Easy Lower Fat But Delicious Hamburger Gravy (or Stroganoff)

2010-10-28T21:16:00.001-07:00

From my sister-in-law Brooke.

Brown 1 pound ground beef.
Add:
2 cup water
4 cubes beef bouillon
Heat to boil and dissolve bouillon in water.
Meanwhile, mix 1/2 cup cold water and 1/4 cup flour and pour into broth mixture.
Stir in 1/4-1/2 cup sour cream right before serving.
Great on rice, noodles, or potatoes.

Getting personal with my budget.

2010-10-27T09:56:00.001-07:00

Confession: I unknowingly went $160 over my FOOD/INCIDENTALS budget for the last 2 week period. EEEEEK! Some of you might not even HAVE that much in your budget. I don't even know how I did that, except a trip to In N Out for the whole family might have contributed (it was NOT worth it). I think I might have already been over at the beginning of the pay period, too. Those little overages add up. Albertsons was bought out by Associated Foods, so I can't get those screamin' coupon/sale deals that I used to either. But I still pay close attention to getting good deals and headliners. Just a few too many little trips to Walmart.

So, anyway...when hubby gets paid on Friday, I will have $180 for two weeks worth of groceries. This is my PLAN to break even by the end of that pay period, which is important because we are going into the holiday season soon, and that always costs more food-wise. These are the purchases I have allowed myself:
-Hair color $7 first things first here, my growout is really bad
-Fructis Conditioner $5 this really works and it has been on my list for 2 months
-School lunches $30 this is for about 15 school lunches, which is only 2 lunches per week for 4 kids. They will make their lunches the rest of the time, as usual, except I won't be buying string cheese, gogurts, or chips. A sandwich, a drink, and a fruit or veg should be enough. Maybe a homemade cookie to sweeten the deal.
-bountiful basket $15 almost all the fruits and veggies we need for two weeks
-bananas $5 for when those run out
-milk $30. Thirty dollars!! That is for 16 gallons. Yes, we go through almost a gallon a day. Maybe water is in order. Or Koolaid.
-eggs $6 variable
-tp $19 for one of those gigo costco packs. We're almost completely out.
-diapers $14
This leaves me with $50 for other things we just HAVE to have.

Now I need to plan my meals, which I think is part of the problem here. I have hardly planned any meals ahead of time for a year or so:

Hawaiian Haystacks and green salad tonight (rice and chicken AND salad! already in the fridge!)
Chicken-Basil Sweet Potatoes with turkey slices and rolls and a veggie or jello
Corn Chowder?
P.S. Miss Make-a-mess is over stirring water in the sink, splashing it all over, while I figure this out.
Ground beef tacos on tortillas
Halloween night: hot dog party at the neighbors--take mint layer brownies
Spaghetti, spaghetti, I love you, spaghetti, and homemade french bread
Chicken enchiladas on corn tortillas
Shepherd's Pie
Chicken and Rice casserole
Chili and corn bread
Chicken Noodle Soup
Hamburger Gravy on potatoes
Stroganoff/noodles
Hamburger Helper (bleck)
Pancakes
Pancakes
Pancakes, YES!

This should be PLENTY. Now I am completely accountable, right? CAN I do it?

Did I miss anything? Does anyone have suggestions?

Ode to Pancakes

2010-10-26T06:43:00.000-07:00

I had to take one child to concert rehearsal at 6:15 this morning, and another at 7:00. It was nice of them to do it on the same day.

So I am making pancakes for the remainder, even though I usually only cook breakfast on the weekend. I LOOVE pancakes, and I love trying different recipes. So here are some of my favorite recipes. Even though I still like Krusteaz pancakes, for some reason, I like to make homemade. And we usually have pancakes with cheese. Probably because mom did. But it adds some protein for those days when you don't have bacon or sausage. Let me first say--I only like homemade maple syrup.

2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 capful mapleine
boil together

But I love other flavors of syrup, too. Once I went to IHOP and tried ALL of the flavors and loved them.

Here is my regular mix:
Buttermilk-type Pancakes
2 1/2 c. flour
2 t. sugar
3 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
I triple or sextuple this and store it in a can. To each 2 1/2 c. of mix, add:
2 eggs
2 1/2 c. milk
2 1/2 T. vinegar
4 t. oil.
I figured it out once, and these really are much cheaper than Krusteaz.

This is from my mom:
Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes
Put 1 c. milk and 1 c. uncooked whole wheat in the blender and blend on high 3-4 minutes until smooth. Add:
2 eggs
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2 T. oil
2 T. honey or sugar.

Even Pancake-covered French Toast:
1 c. pancake mix
4 eggs
1/2 c. milk
Mix all together and dip bread into the mixture.

Oatmeal Pancakes
2 c. milk
2 c. oats
1/2 c. flour
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
5 small eggs
Heat milk until hot, then add oatmeal. Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Separate eggs, adding yolks to oatmeal. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into the oatmeal mixture. Bake on medium hot griddle-don't hurry them. These are worth the work!

Bisquik Melt-in-your-mouth Pancakes They really do!

2 c. Bisquik

2 eggs

1 T. sugar

1 t. vanilla or 2 T. lemon juice

2 t. baking powder

1 c. milk

Yumm.

And here is a waffle recipe my kids love, because they are getting tired of pancakes. (:

Crispy Waffles

1 egg

1 1/4 c. milk

1/4 c. oil

1 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

2 t. sugar

1/4 t. salt

2 T. cornmeal

Makes 4 waffles. Blend in a blender until moistened but not over-blended. Cook in a waffle-maker.

Meal Plan

2010-10-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

I know some of you like to see my meal plans to get ideas for yourself, and I have NOT been good at it lately. I hate thinking of what to have. And then if I tell people what we are having before I cook it, I get little people trying to talk me into something else (you know who you are).

Here are some things we've eaten:

-chicken and stuffing casserole, jello with fruit, corn, homemade bread, and ARTICHOKES.
The artichokes came with our fruit basket (http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ It's just $15 for a basket of fruit AND a basket of vegetables--awesome quality and awesome deal). The artichokes were not much of a hit, but they were fun to disect.

-super soft homemade bread with lecithin on my sis-in-law's blog http://doingsomethingeachday.blogspot.com down on the calendar, click on made bread.

-making banana bread today. Ha! I should be making zucchini bread (see 2 posts back).

-crock potted some chicken all day with some tomatoes, onions, garlic, red peppers. Scooped them onto tortillas.

-homemade pepperoni and ham and pineapple pizza.

-bbq roast beef (crock potted) on buns

-my neighbor made shepherd pie and froze half

-chicken patty burgers, even better is grilled chicken breast on a bun with a ring of pineapple and some teriyaki sauce on top!

-tonight we're having cantaloupe, watermelon, green salad, banana bread, and if I decide to make something more, grilled chicken breasts

-tacos. I have an awesome recipe for seasoning the meat. It makes it yummy and kind of creamy like Taco Bell. Please email me if you can tell me how to put recipes behind words. (So if you click on tacos, it will go to the recipe!)

That's all for now. What have you eaten for dinner lately?

Against my grain.

2010-10-11T12:43:00.001-07:00

It went against my personality to leave this one in

her pjs all day, but these new pjs from Walmart were

just too cute. She thought they were pretty, too.

What to do with all that extra too-big zucchini.

2010-10-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

This is only one in a series, compliments of the boy with

all the energy. This one is throwing up.

Awesome new way to store a year's supply!

2010-10-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law, Brandy, is creating a year's supply of food storage--all in individually bagged meals. (Everything for that meal in one bag). You can check out her blog at http://doingsomethingeachday.blogspot.com/. Awesome!

Fun New Recipes

2010-09-27T20:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is the third post I've posted today. Be sure to scroll down!
Homemade corn dog bites:
2/3 c. corn meal
1 1/2 t. baking powder
2 T. sugar
2 T. oil
1 lb. hot dogs
1 c. flour
1 t. salt
3/4 c. milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
Mix corn meal, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add milk and cooking oil, mix well. Add egg. Dry hot dogs, cut into 4 pieces each. Dip in corn dog mixture. Cook in hot oil at 365 until golden brown.

These are soooo good. But too fattening to make very often.

Popcorn Chicken
Put into a gallon size bag equal amounts flour and cornstarch. Start with 1/2 c. each. Add 1 t. salt and some pepper. Dump in raw cut up chicken and shake it all about.
Cook in hot oil until done.
The kids love these plain. We love them with Panda Express Orange Sauce (from Costco) and served with rice and veggies.

Goings On

2010-09-27T20:45:00.001-07:00

End of summer: now it's just me and her at home all day. I

must really be paying attention.

Marching Band. He's that tall cute one.
I only remembered to take one school picture.

The second or third day of Third Grade!

Sigh. What will they think of next?

Kids off to Moroni's Quest in their homemade Nephite costumes.

We started this dress at the beginning of the summer.

The last week of summer we eeked it out.

She's way too grown up.

And enjoying BYUI wayyyy too much.

I miss her, but we talk often.

Dinner

2010-09-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

Well, today I spent 3 hours trying to decide what to cook for dinner. I ended up with bacon cheeseburger Hamburger Helper and frozen peas. Not my favorite, or anyone else's. I really need to get back in the swing of meal planning--cooking some of dinner at lunchtime and not waiting for something to sound good. Meanwhile--here are two GREAT and VERY delicious recipes that I've tried lately.

Chocolate Cake from my neighbor, Julie Mackliet
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons (heaping) unsweetened cocoa
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk or soured milk (2 T. vinegar + milk to make 1 c.)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup hot water

Sift dry ingredients together into bowl and add eggs, milk and oil. Mix until smooth and then add hot water. Mix thoroughly until mixture is smooth again. Pour into greased and floured pan and bake in 350° oven until cake tests done (40 to 45 minutes for 9x13).

These made DELICIOUS cupcakes. Especially with a creamy peanut butter frosting. Sorry, no picture. Didn't mean to blog about it.

Peanut Butter Frosting
1/4 c. margarine or butter
1/2 c. peanut butter
2 c. powdered sugar, maybe a little more
milk until smooth

Authentic Lasagna from Amy Horlacher
Meat sauce: (Ragu Bolognese)
1 c. grated carrots 1 onion, chopped 4 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. ground beef Salt and pepper 1 lb Italian sausage
4 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes Dried basil, oregano, parsley
Saute carrots, onion, and garlic in 2-3 T. olive oil. Add ground beef; salt and pepper well before adding sausage. Add sausage. When meat is half cooked, add tomatoes and herbs. Bring to a boil, covered, to make sure meat cooks. Boil about 30 minutes. Adjust seasonings, and simmer 2-3 hours (necessary).
Béchamel Sauce: (Besciamella)
¼ c. butter ¼ c. flour 1 pint heavy cream or half & half nutmeg
Melt butter in saucepan. Whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually add cream while whisking. Simmer over very low heat 5-10 minutes until thickened. Season with salt, fresh ground pepper, and a pinch of fresh ground nutmeg.
Assembling:
1 pkg Barilla flat lasagna pasta sheets fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced (regular mozzarella and Parmesan work)
Ladle a thin layer of meat sauce over 9 x 13 pan. Then layer pasta sheets, meat sauce, béchamel sauce, and cheeses. Repeat until dish is full. To finish, put a layer of pasta and then generous layer of sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 375 20-40 minutes, the lesser amount if sauce is warm, longer if sauce was cold, until bubbly and cheese layer is lightly browned.

First Day of School

2010-08-23T21:36:00.001-07:00

Sigh. Today I sent four of my children off to school. I've been doing this for fifteen years, but I still felt a little sad as I took my 3rd grader to his class.

Today I:
Forgot to take pictures of everybody.
Got up early.
Woke up the two who missed their alarms.
Exercised.
Read through 13 class disclosures (the papers that tell you what is expected, what to bring, how to act, what they learn, that PARENTS have to read and sign, as well as the kids).
Discussed the real cost of our free Utah public education. My seventh grader has well over $100 in fees, as do the high schoolers.
Cleaned the house (each and every room got picked up a bit--the kids kind of cleaned their rooms before they left).
Did laundry.
Played dolls with the little one.
Made chocolate chip cookies for after school.
Picked up seventh grader because he missed the bus because his locker jammed.
Enjoyed the glorious quiet before everyone got home.
Enjoyed hearing all about their day and their classes.
Discussed and rehashed whether it would be better to take financial literacy online and take another class at school.
Helped think of new ideas for 'asking' for the Homecoming Dance.
Enjoyed the kids being home.

Everyone is finally in bed at 10:40. I'm a little sad because they all have to go back tomorrow, and my college girl will leave in less than two weeks. But oh, it was nice to have quiet.

Tonight we went on a long walk as a family. It was wonderful to see my 6 foot 17-year-old boy bouncing his almost-two-year-old sister on his shoulders while he talked about his new classes. Wonderful to hear my daughters discussing the merits of different teachers at the high school. Wonderful to watch my little boys picking up sticks and eating blackberries along the way. I love my kids (and their dad) so much.

Wow! What a cutie!!

2010-08-15T20:32:00.001-07:00

What we're up to.

2010-07-01T15:10:00.001-07:00

D's company just switched offices to a new beautiful building. The kids got to enter an art competition for the opening. We won a total of $350. WOW!
Caredon is babysitting for a neighbor 9:30 to 4 four days a week. Then working 5 or 6 to midnight five to six evenings at DQ. She can hardly wait for her weekends, just so she has a few day time hours to herself at least. Getting excited to go back to BYU-I.
Cableguy is working at Little Caesar's Pizza about 3 evenings a week. During the day he is working online on a class for school, and getting up at 5:30 every day to go to marching band. His first parade is Saturday. He usually fits in doing something with friends.
M is reading her driver manual so she can get her permit. Eeek! Then she is working online on her driver's ed class for school. She is hoping for more babysitting jobs, but has been gone to Youth Conference and will go to Girl's Camp next week.
Spelee is hanging around. He is playing Allstar baseball and has a tournament next weekend. The last tournament they improved greatly. Game 1: 25 to 2. Game 2: 30 to 4. Game 3: 16 to 5. It's actually fun to go watch, but not fun to see them get creamed!
Zef is also hanging around. (well, so are they all) He keeps busy working on projects.
LBean is around, too. Getting into stuff.
I make everyone get up for breakfast (except I have been lazy lately). Then they have jobs to do and stuff to work on (Personal Progress, or Scouts, except Caredon who is always working). Then they can play. I'm going to try to take them to the pool or on a picnic once a week. I'm also trying to get the older kids to go to the temple or to work at the food bank once a week.
But other than that, we are being LAZY. And it's actually kind of nice.

Disney World

2010-07-01T14:59:00.001-07:00

D had a conference in Florida, so we took the opportunity to take a once-in-a-lifetime (for us) trip.

It was fun. It was hot.
The plane was supposed to leave Denver at 9 or so. We left at 2:30 or so. Yawwwwn.

Pictures

2010-05-31T17:19:00.001-07:00

So Sassy. This is the real girl.

See the brown blanket behind her? That's

me trying to get her to sit down. She

wouldn't leave my lap. When we switched

to the white background, we got one picture

(with me behind the white blanket) and then

she absolutely lost it. She is kind of a fraidy cat.

On Prioritizing

2010-05-23T08:28:00.001-07:00

Sister Julie B. Beck, LDS General Relief Society President, recently spoke at a BYU Women's Conference. Her awesome talk was so helpful for me as a mom, but would be helpful for anyone. She categorized everything that we do into three categories:

1. Essential.

2. Necessary.

3. Nice to do.

Items in the Essential category focus around receiving personal revelation. These include reading scriptures every day, pondering, fasting, frequent temple attendance, repenting in preparation for Sacrament meeting, service, sharing the gospel, and most importantly-prayer. Keeping a pen and paper near us when we pray is a great idea so we can write down impressions that come to us. "Seeking revelation is the most important skill we can achieve in this life. Being able to feel the Lord's spirit upon us is the most important education we can receive."

The Necessary category includes homemaking. We can try to model our homes after the temple, but since people make messes, we do the best we can. We can try to have the Spirit at our meals, smile, support our husbands, live within our means, become self-reliant, and love one another. This has helped me be a little more dedicated to my homemaking--well, I'm not necessarily more dedicated, but I feel more purpose in doing the laundry or dishes, and cleaning up yet again.

Things that are Nice to Do include crafts, hobbies, reading, lunch with friends, etc. They add variety to our life, but won't save us. "When our priorities are out of order, we lose power." She said, also, that when the essential and necessary things are taken care of, it is surprising how much time we have for the nice to do items.

Sister Beck said that as mothers, the afternoon shift is the hardest but most special shift. It is when our family members are hungry, tired, and unloveable, and we are hungry, tired, and unloveable. But it also when family members are the most teachable and grateful.

One quote I loved is: "Taking care of our posterity takes precedence over everything else."

She also suggested getting a new copy of the Book of Mormon and writing these questions in the front: Who am I? What are my responsibilities in the House of Israel? and How do I fulfill these responsibilities? In the back of the Book of Mormon, write the answers to the questions, as found while reading the Book of Mormon.

Important Papers

2010-04-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

I came across an idea for organizing important documents and papers a few years back, and it really works! So I'm sharing:

My Important Documents Binder includes the following:

Section 1 has dividers for each child where I put important papers like:
school teachers' requirements and teachers' phone numbers for younger kids
course disclosures for older kids
preschool, baseball, soccer rosters
carpool schedules (after transferred to my calendar)
concert and sports schedules (after transferred to my calendar-I keep them in case there is additional info I might need)
new job contracts or info
for each child jr. high and older: a list of accomplishments, leadership postitions, activities involved in, and service hours (for future college and job applications)

Section 2 also has dividers for each child, my husband, and me where I put:
a photo of each child (prob. should be current for emergency purposes)
any certificates related to vital life events like marriage, birth, baptisms, blessing, priesthood ordinations. (I make copies for the kid.) Be careful on this one, you will be doing family history work when you gather these records!
immunization records and notes about tonsillectomies or other operations or illnesses
social security cards until the kids are old enough to carry them
forms for physicals which may be needed again for scout camp attendance, etc.

Upcoming topic--what to do with all the stuff the kids bring home. And all the stuff the mailman brings!

I love housekeeping!

2010-04-29T19:05:00.001-07:00

Okay, for the days before I got my gallbladder removed, I was excited by the prospect of laying around, doing no housework, and watching BBC's Pride & Prejudice for hours at a time. Now I am at that point. I am past most of the pain, can't quite do much yet, and can't wait to get back to how it was before!

D and the kids are doing a great job taking care of the necessities and of the baby. I am SO glad and very blessed that I have them so that I CAN take a break. But I am missing being able to do stuff! I want to be able to clean the floor or sink as clean as I want it! I want to go to the grocery store! I want to pick up Belly!! I am sure I will soon--just need to vent a bit!

I think it is interesting and a blessing that my mom taught me to take pride in and even ENJOY taking care of my home and family! It is not necessarily the fact that those things are done that brings me happiness. It is doing those things that really brings me satisfaction.

That's all for now. Guess I'll go watch the last two hours of Pride & Prejudice. Maybe I'll follow that up with the new Keira Knightley version, too.

Time for bed, writing about food.

2010-04-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

I really should go to bed. But here I sit wasting time. I think I will tell you that I actually have some meals in my freezer! All made during the last two or three weeks, just extra from meals I was already cooking.

I told D if something happens during my surgery tomorrow that there is food in the freezer. I even made a list of what. He said if something happens during my surgery, he'll need a longer list than that. LOL

Here it is:
taco meat
chili
chicken noodle soup
chicken chili (serve over rice)
shepherd pie
chicken and stuffing casserole
hot dogs or hamburgers and french fries

M even volunteered to cook one night this week. Yay! For a rest from cooking for awhile.

Eating Frugally

2010-04-25T08:06:00.000-07:00

Here is a great post on frugal eating from a lady with ten kids!
http://www.owlhaven.net/2010/04/23/only-have-a-few-bucks-for-groceries/

Her list is similar to past lists from the LDS church. And what she cooks is similar to what I cook, although I have MANY convenience items thrown in there.

Here is another one of her posts that talks about eating when you are living at true poverty level. Although, one of the comments posted points out that many in true poverty have no refrigerator, freezer, or stove.

http://www.owlhaven.net/2010/04/24/groceries-part-two/

These posts are great reminders for those who are not poverty-stricken for how to eat frugally, AND very healthily.

My College Graduation!

2010-04-23T21:18:00.001-07:00

Here's me on the bridge. On the left there is me in line for the podium. I'm the one standing farthest to the right. On the right is me receiving my diploma!

Me and my benefactor.
Okay, today was a crazy day. We thought we were supposed to go to the convocation for the college of Home, Family, and Social Sciences at 2 p.m. But it was a little confusing because the school of Family Life from this college meets separately at 11 a.m. I got worried and called the BGS program (my program) at 8:20, they said I was supposed to go to the one at 11 a.m. They double-checked with their supervisor; I even called right back to confirm.

So I OUSTED everyone out of bed and said we have to leave in 40 minutes, to go pick up two kids who had gone to school, to make the hour drive, to pick up my cap and gown, and to be there at 10:15 to line up. It was very stressful, wondering if I would be there in time.

As we drove down, I called the advisement center for the HFSS to ask another quick question. I decided to ask them, to be sure, and THEY said it should be the 2 p.m. ceremony. I called back the BGS people to see who was right. They checked again and then got back on the phone to apologize up and down. It WAS the 2 p.m. ceremony.

Well, it took away some stress to know we had more time. We stopped at Aunt Brandy's house to decompress and play Wii for an hour. Then we parked near the MCenter, walked through the pouring rain to pick up my cap and gown, went to the Bookstore to get me an alumni license plate cover (D got a new one, too), got tacos, and then walked back to the MCenter.

The convocation was 2 1/2 hours long. It was an exciting thing for me, a long awaited day, and the end of a long road! I am so grateful for the education and experience I have had. I know it was what I should have been doing. I was especially glad

that D and all the kids could be there.

Afterwards, Cableguy said he didn't want to graduate from college (it was realllly long). (: I know it was a good thing to have them all there though.

Then we went to Olive Garden in Salt Lake for dinner and even ordered a piece of Raspberry Cheesecake and a piece of Black Tie Mousse Cake to pass around the table!

The end. Of THIS story.

L Loves Being Outside

2010-04-23T21:14:00.001-07:00

L loves being out in our backyard now that it's warm enough, sometimes. She loves to play in the dirt. On this day, she was between outfits for some reason, and I thought it might be nice to let her play in the dirt without having to clean up her clothes. But then I got worried about bugs eating her.

Getting His Wolf

2010-04-23T21:09:00.001-07:00

This boy has been very 'driven' to get his wolf and his arrow points!

Here he is getting it! I am wearing a funny yellow shirt because I am his

den leader. I love being his den leader and love working with the boys.

Thoughts on mothering.

2010-04-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

"Homework: Mothers share how they apply at home what they learned at BYU." BYU Magazine Spring 2010

"Maternal sensitivity and responsiveness is the strongest, most consistent predictor of strong maternal attachment and children's cognitive and emotional development, " says Jenet Jacob Erickson, an assistant professor in BYU's School of Family Life, "Children with secure maternal attachments are more likely to have positive peer interactions, as well as more positive emotions, social behaviors, and exploratory behaviors."

I'm not worried about the attachment part, but I know I need to work on sensitivity and responsiveness.

Another quote I enjoyed and read to sporty-and-grumpy-about-playing-piano-Spelee:
"A law-enforcement major with minors in psychology and sociology, Sheri Denney, was fascinated by the relationship between the left and right hemispheres of the brain and wrote about the topic for a psychology class. She learned in her research that strengthening the right side of the brain through artistic endeavors, such as learning to play a musical instrument, had been linked to academic and athletic success."

On getting cooperation: "Amber Barlow Dahl learned a technique that has come in handy at home: when you give a sales pitch, you should nod your head. Customers will subconsciously nod along with you, and this physical signal of agreement makes them more inclined to accept the pitch. She uses this technique when making a 'pitch' to one of her six children--like convincing her 3-year-old it's time to put on his pajamas. 'It works like a charm,' she says."

2010-04-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

I need to find a good blog or two about raising teenagers! In fact, many of mine don't talk much about raising children in general. Anyone have an idea?

Food

2010-04-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

Hmm, I guess I'll talk about food. Not going to assign days.

Yesterday we had roast and mashed potatoes and corn and fruit salad and Ardella's rolls.
Tonight we had bazanya and salad and peas and garlic bread from the store. I like the garlic bread we make ourselves better. And we had peanut butter fingers for fhe refreshments.
Saturday we had 'lucky' chicken on the grill with baked french fries. Cableguy marinates some chicken in whatever is in the fridge. This time it was bbq sauce, worcestershire, lemon juice, liquid smoke. MMM. I'm better at saying what we already had. But I have some meals on the horizon:
Fried rice with brown rice and leftover ham and peas. MMM.
Chili, carrot sticks, and corn bread.
D says spudboats: a hot dog sliced lengthwise and laid flat with a scoop of left-over mashed potatoes and a slice of cheese on top. Peas or beans.
Breakfast hashbrown, ham, and egg casserole. Canned peaches or grapes.
Any more suggestions?

Working On My Priorities

2010-04-07T20:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was slow. I realize, especially after watching General Conference, that I need to devote more time to my family, especially the kids, instead of always plowing through the housework and my other self-appointed and only-meaningful-to-me projects. So yesterday, I tried to be available for everything the kids wanted. (They are home for Spring Break.) This meant that I was unmotivated to start any of my projects even when there was nothing going on, because once a project is started, it is inevitable that it will be interrupted, which is also hard. I ended up feeling grumpy because I didn't get anything 'useful' or 'creative' done except laundry. And the only thing that sounded fun was eating, which is a different grumpy story all together.

I think I caught on better to being involved with the kids today. It was a busy day and it was nice. After the kids did a few jobs, we took their grades to Krispy Kreme for their free donuts (one per A, up to 6). This beats paying $20 per A, like supposedly EVERYONE else. We also went to Aunt Dana's where they played tennis with their cousins. Then we walked around Hobby Lobby, and, of course, we found some stuff that wasn't necessary but was really fun for Spring Break. Spelee bought a rocket kit and SJ bought a crystal-growing kit. So, it wasn't necessarily the spending of money on something that was the good part.

Spelee spent an hour reading the instructions and putting together his rocket. And I helped SJ mix up and start growing his 'crystals.' It got even more fun when I put off my usual hurried self and, in the midst of a totally dirty kitchen, talked to him about how his crystals are monoammonium phosphate (it said so in the instructions-lest you think I KNEW this), and we even looked at the periodic table of the elements. Since it has been AT LEAST 20 years since I learned that stuff, we were glad to have Cableguy explain that NH4 is ammonia and PO4 is phosphate. Wow! This is what it would be like to homeschool I think. It was really fun and the dirty kitchen was still there when I was done! It didn't even get whiny while I neglected it.

So, at 4 o'clock, I remembered that I'd told D that I was going to make homemade bread today, so I quickly did that in case he had been dreaming about homemade bread all day, and made some raspberry puree into raspberry freezer jam. By now, I was totally exhausted, so I was very happy when I found a bag of homemade-noodle chicken noodle soup in the freezer!!!

I'm sure I won't always be able to focus on the kids because kitchens do eventually need to be cleaned up (and often). I hope I can get better at focusing on people though. It was all worth it when D said he got happy when he smelled the bread as he came in the door and when SJ sighed and happily said, "This was a busy day."

Unrelated Thoughts

2010-03-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

It is so nice to be done with my school work and the rush to get everything done in the morning so I can study in the afternoon. But I'm not getting anything done besides the regular stuff, and I'm not even keeping up on that too well. It's just too nice to be able to meander at the store, or talk to a friend on the phone, or go for a walk. I guess that's okay.

Monday, I watched the the motion picture Pride and Prejudice (for the zillionth time--I can just have it on while doing housework, I know the movie so well). Today, I got the BBC version at the library and started that. Caredon mentioned that she and her 'friend' watched it and that she likes it better. L had fun at the library. She loved the books and she loved the stained glass windows they have.

I'm probably getting my gall bladder out! It's been causing me occasional pain at night, but also some digestive problems and nausea. The ultrasound showed it was nearly full of gallstones. Blah.

I love the Mnmlist blog on contentedness. (Found under my favorite blogs list.)

And I want to try washing my face with olive oil.

I haven't kept up on my meal planning because I can't sign in to this blog from my regular computer. Lately I've cooked: French bread pepperoni pizza, tater tot casserole, Parmesan chicken sliced and served with brown rice and panda express orange sauce (mmm), shepherd's pie, banana bread. Chili and Marie Calendar's copykat corn bread are on my list.

Did you know kids can listen to all of the Friend articles while they read along with them at lds.org? There are also games. SJ also discovered that he can listen to the scriptures online. He's listened to a chapter from the Book of Mormon the last three nights.

Okay, I am going to bed. Or at least upstairs to watch the Duggars.

Oh, so sweet!

2010-03-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

Sewing! Yay!

2010-03-07T20:47:00.001-08:00

Now that I am done with my school classes, (hip hip hooray! What a feeling.) I am doing more 'mom' stuff. It is great. However, sometimes there are so many 'mom' things that I want to do that I can't decide which to do, so I do none! Here are some pictures of that I have done. This is my niece; she is a mermaid in the play Peter Pan. I made the skirt. I decided to make baby bibs out of cute dish towels

for friends who are having babies.

Oh, and this is LE helping me. She loves to put on her
little apron and 'help' me cook. I would never have imagined
letting a 15-month-old help until now. I must be at that stage of life--
I could be a grandma within the next 5 years.
She's soooo cute! And soooo into everything.

Oh, and the birthday tablecloth I was going to make--I couldn't find any birthday fabric, except black fabric with flourescent happy birthday and/or cupcakes on it. I finally found some squares of birthday fabric in primary colors and tried to sew it all together with some other bright colors. It looks horrid, so is going to become a fun warm quilt for someone. I am going to the store tomorrow to buy the black flourescent fabric to make one big tablecloth, not one big tablecloth pieced all together that looks like a quilt. Good thing Joann's is having coupon craziness this week!

Three month food storage

2010-03-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

Today I worked on my three month storage--I was inspired by my friend Colene Wall and http://providentliving.org/channel/0,11677,1706-1,00.html. Though I have lots of storage, to be sure I had everything I would need for three months, I built a month menu of items my family likes, wrote down all the ingredients necessary that I could store in my freezer or on shelves and timesed (?) that by 3. I took note of the things I already had stored and the things I need to work on. I have a friend who just did a week's menu and planned for 3 months worth of that food. Or you could do a two week menu.

The only things for these recipes besides fresh fruit and veggies that I might have trouble storing are sour cream, milk, cheese, & some eggs. I need a cow and a chicken! It was interesting to figure that I will need 4 25 lb bags of flour to bake the bread, rolls, pancakes, muffins, and waffles. This is my menu, you should see the ingredients list! Eeek!
Sundays: chicken and rice
roast and potatoes* will store potato pearls, but use fresh when possible
porcupine meatballs
chicken Parmesan and spaghetti
meatloaf and augratin potatoes
Weekday dinners:
chili
spaghetti
Hawaiian haystacks
shepherd pie
hot dogs and fries
hamburgers and fries
taco stew
beef tacos in tortillas
sloppy joes
chicken enchiladas
chicken chili
stroganoff and noodles
hamburger soup
chicken noodle soup
tater tot or chow mein noodle casserole
homemade mac n cheese
chicken tacos on tortillas
chicken pot pie
sweet and sour or orange chicken, stir fry vegs, rice
Italian chicken & fettuccini noodles
chicken and stuffing
pepperoni and ham and pineapple pizza
pigs in a blanket
grilled tunafish
lucky chicken (chicken marinated in whatever is around)and rice
Salads:
mandarin orange salad once a month
pistachio salad once a month
canned fruit salad twice a month
jello with fruit cocktail twice a month
Sides:
45 cans corn and beans
45 quarts peaches and whatever other fruit I can store
12 small bags peas
Lunches:
sandwiches (tuna, peanut butter, bologna, turkey)
leftovers
Breakfasts: (once a week)
pancakes
muffins
oatmeal
cream of wheat
box cereal
waffles
breakfast casserole
Bread:
6 loaves a week
rolls once a week
Desserts:
probably will figure out a few cookies & brownies or cake (just in case)

Cooking and food

2010-03-07T20:18:00.000-08:00

I made this recipe this week:
Cafe-rio-or Bajio-like chicken salad
Layer the chicken, rice, beans, lettuce, and salsa and dressing in a delicious flour tortilla in a bowl. (The kind that you fry yourself from Costco are YUM)
Chicken:
1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italina Dressing
1 T. chili powder
1 T. cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 lbs. chicken breast
Cook all in a crock-pot for 4 hours, shred the meat and cook 1 more hour.
Rice:
Cook some rice with some lime juice, 5 T. chili powder, cumin, chopped cilantro
Beans:
cook pinto beans with 1 t. salt and 1 t. garlic powder
Dressing:
1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk, 1 T. vinegar)
1 c. mayonnaise
2 tomatillos, husk removed, diced
1/2 bunch cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno (w/o seeds makes it milder)
Blend in a food processor or blender. Refrigerate 1 -2 hours. Darin thought this was a bit just like ranch, so you could try this avocado dressing:
3/4 c. sour cream, 1 mashed avocado, 1 1/2 t. lime, 1/2 t. cumin, 1/4 t. salt, 2 T. oil
OR 1 c. mayo, juice of 5 lemons, 2 mashed avocados

Ramblings

2010-02-26T20:42:00.001-08:00

I can't sign on to post on my blog when I'm on my regular computer. So I haven't been poastin gmuch. I mean posting much. (I got side track and looked over at the women's slalom).

Today, I decided to play hookie from housekeeping, at least for the morning. I called Dana and went to a fabric store. Got some ribbing to make baby bibs. And I found fabric to make the birthday tablecloth I've been wanting to make. And tonight I sewed a lime green glittery mermaid costume for my niece. I will post a picture of her in it later. It was fun to sew that, once I figured out how, except that LE was helping. She got into the buttons, the pins, the bags of beads, etc. Bedtime was a relief.

I haven't been keeping up on my menus. I make my list and then just cook what I want, whether its on the list or not. But it is nice to have a list and know that I have all the ingredients for those meals. I made homemade chicken noodle soup the other day. Made the noodles homemade with my pasta maker--that took a while and got flour all over the kitchen! But it was delicious and I froze two bags of it, too! Other yummies I made this week:
ham and pineapple pizza
Danish puff
meat loaf and baked potatoes
pancakes
mandarin orange spinach salad
ate hot dogs and birthday cake at the blue and gold banquet
hmm, I can't remember what else!

This week I worked on my portfolio summary--which is a spreadsheet of the aims of a BYU education (about 20 of them). I had to go through all my classes and give examples of how they met those aims. It was hard work hunting down and reviewing the last 8 years, but it was rewarding reminding myself of all the things I've accomplished! Next week, I am going to write a 6 page reflective paper about how my education has met the BYU aims. Doesn't sound too hard, but I started on it, and I'm finding it difficult to think of what to write. Then I have a one page essay and I. AM. DONE. With my Bachelor Degree!!!! I keep feeling the excitement.

I need to think of what things I want to do next. My list includes learning photoshop, updating kids books, sewing a birthday tablecloth!, cleaning out the storage room, painting my bedroom, deciding which class materials to save, organizing my notes from research, updating the histories I wrote so people can have them, cleaning some things, playing with kids. And then the list gets into things that always need to be done (like work outside in the yard).

Wow, is it ten o'clock already. Good bye.

Priesthood Boy

2010-02-21T16:48:00.001-08:00

Big little Spelee received the priesthood and was ordained a

deacon today! D ordained him with Grandpa Lee and Cableguy

standing in. He was also recognized for completing Faith in God

and graduating from Primary.

D had to stay after to count tithing, so he missed the pictures.

SJ is being funny because Cableguy and Spelee are poking him.

So handsome boys. I love my boys. Sweet experience.

Most Fun Project Ever! New Spice Containers

2010-02-09T09:58:00.000-08:00

This project is right up my alley! I loved it! On the left: this is what my spice cupboard mostly looked like before. I had to dig through to find any spices. On the right, the completed spice cupboard. I printed the spice names on clear labels and put them on the tins. There are some bigger tins for those things I use a little more. The spices are all alphabetized. I asked Cableguy to make me a rack for the inside

of the cupboard door to put them on so I'm not digging through stacks.

Here's where I got the idea: http://john.owlhaven.net/?p=2565

There is a picture of the in-the-door spice rack, too!

Our cute little bugger.

2010-02-06T12:14:00.001-08:00

So dang cute!! Sitting here

eating popcorn with Dad.

Left, LE in SJ's cub scout shirt.

She's been wearing it around the house.

Right. LE got out a bowl, a spatula,

and a bag of macaroni. She's a smartie!

She can't quite talk though, except mama,

dada, all done, etc, which is amazing considering the huge

amount of noise she likes to make. She also says "ought oh" when she walks

into a room she shouldn't be in or when she gets into the flour drawer.

My NEW laundry room!

2010-02-06T12:09:00.001-08:00

Before. Little room for folding/stacking. Huge sock basket.

After!
I had Cableguy cut and put up this shelf for me! I discovered some empty little baskets downstairs. So now, I have leftover socks in the baskets instead of a huge basket taking up all my space. There is one basket for D and I, one for little boys, one for girls, one for a catch-all. And room to stack stuff. And room on top of the washer and dryer to fold!! I even touched up the top of the dryer with some appliance paint because it was scraped a bit.

Food

2010-01-25T06:23:00.000-08:00

Here are my ideas for the week

Tex Mex Chicken Skillet
http://hoosierhomemade.com/meals-nov-9-15-tex-mex-chicken-skillet/
Fish and hot dogs for the ones who just can't hack it, brown rice, Normandy vegetables
Italiany Shells (I'm MAKING this this week, whether anyone else wants them or not!), French Bread, green beans
Lentil Soup and garlicy breadsticks
Ham frozen leftover from Christmas, cheesy potatoes (good Sunday dinner!), rolls, peas, fruit salad or jello

I have an Olive Garden gift card looming on my bulletin board. I am trying to wait until V-day for that one. I am craving Italian.

Oh, and last week we had stromboli! French bread rolled like cinnamon rolls, with pepperoni and mozz. cheese inside. Cooked, sliced, and then dipped in spaghetti sauce.

We are mostly cold cereal people for breakfast because we have three different shifts leaving in the morning, sometime 4. Cableguy at 6:50, Marebear at 7:35, boys at 8:35, and D whenever in between. On weekends, I LOVE to make all different kinds of pancakes! This weekend I made whole wheat blender pancakes (MMMMM) with white wheat, and plum syrup. Only Seth and I ate the plum syrup. Oh well, it was soooo good.

Helpful kid.

2010-01-20T07:43:00.001-08:00

During the dishwasher project D was heard to have said, "How come there are no screwdrivers in my tool kit?" SJ replied, "Probably because they all got tooken out." Now that's helpful!

New Dishwasher!

2010-01-19T08:27:00.000-08:00

Here is the completed handiwork! I loaded that bugger with all
the dishes from dinner and the whole day, didn't rinse anything. Everything came out spotless. It was a VERY exciting day. I decided on black instead of white like all the other appliances, because we will hopefully have this dishwasher for quite a while, and the stove is up next. Starting the switchover to a new color. Now I need to add some black accents to the kitchen.

Here is my fabulous installation crew.

Cableguy is the one down there doing the dirty work, under Dad's instructions.

Here is what I've been having to put up with for a week or so. She has a runny, stuffy nose, a cough, and a rash on her tummy. All viral.