Round Here

Truly, You Have a Dizzying Intellect

2010-05-23T10:31:00.004-06:00

Adam and Audrey have been playing so well together all morning (a rarity!) with stuffed animals. As they were coming up the stairs, I asked what they were doing.

Adam: We were giving the animals breakfast. That's healthy.

Me: Oh, really? What did you feed them?

Adam: Cupcake Pebbles (can you believe this is really a cereal?! We can blame my sugar-cereal addict husband for its presence in our home) and marshmallows.

Me: Hmm...are Cupcake Pebbles healthy?

Adam: No.

Me: Are marshmallows healthy?

Adam: No. But eating breakfast is healthy!

Hallelujah! As long as it's the first meal of the day and I call it breakfast, I can eat whatever I want and call it healthy!

Land of the Sun

2009-04-22T09:27:00.008-06:00

We spent the latter half of Audrey's Spring Break, including Easter weekend, in Phoenix visiting my sister Julie's family. Despite the severe lack of sleep, particularly amongst the children, we had a really great time! Julie warned us that the weather might be a bit "cold" - which, to her, means in the 70's, so it was pretty much perfect (except for Saturday, when it rained, but we rolled with it and just took the Easter Egg Hunt inside, kids didn't seem to mind a bit!). The 5-6 hour drive is a piece of cake compared to the 10 hour drive to Utah - especially since we drove at night and the kids slept a lot of the way (Adam climbed in his carseat as we were loading up and fell asleep before we even got on the road - and slept not just the whole way home, but the rest of the night once we arrived home, too!).

We took the kids to a really fun park that had themed areas - there was a farm playground, a dinosaur sand area, and a transportation area that had bike/scooter paths that were painted to look like roads. The kids loved it! The unequivocal favorite was the tire swing:

We got home, got the kids settled in with a movie, and Julie and I hit Last Chance. It's not for the faint of heart (when Julie first told me about it, she compared it to DI. I didn't believe her, after all, it's owned by Nordstrom - but she was right, it's right on par with DI), but this place is rife with bargains - it's where Nordstrom sends all their returned merchandise and they sell it at a steep discount. Julie found tons of great shirts and some shoes, and my highlights were a fantastic pair of black flats and an awesome pair of jeans. It was definitely worth the trip out there and worth the 2 hours of sifting through um, other, not-so-great finds. The plan was to stay up and play Rock Band on the Wii after we got the kids to bed, but I fell asleep myself! I dragged myself out of bed around 9:30 or 10:00, but could not keep my eyes open. I'm getting old and can't do the 5 hours of sleep thing anymore, I guess! I think everyone else played a couple of songs, and then we all headed to bed.

Friday we took the kids to a children's museum in Mesa. They had lots of fun there, too:

Friday night, we welcomed Julie's friend Rebecca, and her family, who came to visit. Rebecca's family lived down the street from us growing up, but I haven't seen her in years. It was so fun to see her again and to meet her family. We had a great time playing The Office trivia game and eating candy from Julie's stash. The kids had a great time too - so much so that they didn't settle down and go to sleep until after 10:00 and were up and at 'em by 5:45 the next morning! Saturday dawned rainy, so we hid the eggs inside the house and let the kids loose. They loved hunting and the resulting spoils.

Saturday night we met up with Lynsie and her fiance Steve for dinner. Yummy food and great company! Sunday was church, followed by a quick photo shoot, then an impromptu hunt for Easter baskets since the bunny came a little late this year:

After baskets, the kids dyed Easter eggs while Julie prepared a delicious dinner. We took quick pics of the kids with their favorites before turning them all into deviled eggs.

I went and picked Jeremy up to join us for dinner. I was able to see his new place - he closed about a month ago and has put a lot of work into having it renovated. It looks great - very classy! We really enjoyed visiting with him over Easter dinner and, consequently, left much later than we should have, which meant driving late into the night. We had a hard time getting up the next morning for work/school, but it was worth it - we had such a great time! Thanks so much, Julie and family, for being such great hosts! Hopefully we'll be back again soon! :)

Breaking the Ice

2009-04-20T17:22:00.002-06:00

I've been absent so long, I feel like I need either a marathon post, where I totally catch you up with everything we've been doing the past 4 or 5 months, including pictures from various events, or else I need to post something really big and important, like we're moving (we're not), I'm pregnant (I'm not) or we won the lottery (haha). Since I don't have any big news, and the giant catch-up post seems too overwhelming, I'm just putting up this one little inobtrusive post that doesn't say much at all. That way, next time I want to post, it won't seem so daunting.

We're Here!

2008-11-30T21:29:00.002-07:00

And it's hard to believe it's only been a week - Utah feels like a lifetime away! Last week, we were sitting here in a dark, empty house, twiddling our thumbs (ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration - Jared's family took pity on us and invited us over for dinner last week, but we did spend quite a bit of time sitting around an empty house the first few days). Now, all our worldly belongings have arrived (with nary a casualty, that we've found yet, at least!), we're on the way to being unpacked and able to park a car in the garage again, and we're starting to settle in a bit. We went to church today and met a ton of people - I'll be surprised if I remember anyone's name by next week. There were lots and lots of kids there, to my relief. Despite Jared's assurances that, "there are kids in California, too!" I had my doubts. ;) We've spent a lot of time with family enjoying various activities including a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, and now it's time to settle in to reality. I'm going to take Audrey over to school tomorrow to register (the kids had all of last week off, for the Thanksgiving holiday, so this will be the first day, even though we've been here a week). We found out at church today that Kindergarten at this school is full-day, which both Audrey and I are a little nervous about (I'm trying to hide my apprehension from her, not sure if it's working). 9:00 - 3:20 just seems so LONG after going from only 12:00 - 3:00 at her previous school! I'm sure she'll do fine, I'm just a little sad about having my little girl away from me all day. I'm really going to miss her!

Unless the kids object, I think I'm not going to decorate for Christmas this year. At least, not much. All of the unpacking is starting to get to me, and that combined with the 70 degree temps have me feeling not all that festive. We'll also probably be leaving for Utah mid-month, so I can bask in the decorations everyone up there has put up. We'll see. I'm having mixed feelings about our trip up. Of course, I'll be thrilled to see all the friends and family we miss so much, but I've quickly adapted to the temperate weather here and dread going back to the coat-wearing, ice-scraping, heater-running days of winter. Maybe if I focus on curling up by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate, soft Christmas carols playing in the background after a good old-fashioned snowball fight...

New Digs

2008-11-12T07:46:00.002-07:00

This is it! We just signed the rental agreement yesterday, so this will be home sweet home until at least November 30, 2009. From the pictures, the downstairs seems to be set up very similarly to our current home, except there's no den, no mudroom, and the 1/2 bath is just off the front entry, rather than in the back corner. It has 4 bedrooms upstairs - come and visit us!

This will take some getting used to. The kids really roam all over our yard now, so to go from our yard to this will be quite an adjustment, I'm afraid. There is a park a couple of streets over, so I imagine we'll find ourselves there quite a bit. We're also within walking distance of the elementary school, and there is also supposedly open space with walking/jogging trails, so hopefully we'll still spend plenty of time outside, even though the yard is teeny tiny.

Overall, I feel really blessed that we were able to find such a nice place in our price range. When I first started looking, I was dismayed at how much things cost, and pretty much figured we'd be back in something the size of the condo we lived in before we moved to our current home. That would have been adequate for our needs, but it would have been hard to pare down all the stuff we have and get used to living with much less space. As it is, we'll still have to get used to less space, but it's much larger and nicer than what I thought we'd end up with. Things are working out, I guess!

Take a Breath

2008-11-12T06:27:00.002-07:00

Well, not really, we close in 9 days (yes, it's still on, though I'm still entertaining hopes - probably fantasies at this point - that the buyers will back out!), and even after we close on the house, I'll have all the unpacking and moving stuff on the other end (not to mention the Thanksgiving holiday). I feel like I'm moving in slow motion. Luckily, I have that luxury, since Jared found a moving company that will pack for peanuts. I'm trying to do some of the packing on my own, so I can sort through and get rid of a bunch of stuff, but every time I do, Jared asks me why I'm bothering to pack, when he's hired someone to do it. So, I mostly wander around, gaping in disbelief at the fact that we're actually MOVING.

We had a really busy weekend. Aside from the obvious getting ready to move, we ran a bunch of errands, watched the football game, celebrated Audrey's birthday on Saturday, Sunday, AND Monday (separate post on that), I taught Relief Society, went to a Scout meeting, Audrey did her part in the primary sacrament meeting program (reluctantly - she seems to have developed a bit of stage fright, which was not an issue at all last year), and went to Sunday Night at Grandma Henrie's. Whew!

Oh, and I'm making a note to myself, and for anyone else who may move at some point - If you want to take a bunch of pictures or video to remember your house, do it while you're still showing the house, not after you've accepted an offer. After you've accepted the offer, you're getting ready to move, and things are no longer in showing condition. I keep trying to get things cleaned up, so I can take a video of the house, and it's impossible to do while trying to pack! Why, oh why didn't I do this when I was keeping the house spotless for showings?!

Tag!

2008-11-04T17:24:00.003-07:00

OK, I felt bad every time I looked at my blog and saw my cute little girl with the title "Inconvenience" right over her. Didn't mean it like that, I promise! Anyway, to bury it down a bit, I'll do this one word tag Traci tagged me with a little while ago.

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Where is your significant other? work
3. Your hair color? Brown
4. Your mother? self-sacrificing
5. Your father? hardworking
6. Your favorite thing? kids
7. Your dream last night? short
8. Your dream/goal? goodness
9. The room you're in? dark
10. Your hobby? reading
11. Your fear? vomit
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? high-maintenance
15. One of your wish-list items? travel
16. Where you grew up? Utah
17. The last thing you did? packed
18. What are you wearing? glasses
19. Your TV? on
20. Your pet? imaginary
21. Your computer? shared
22. Your mood? lazy
23. Missing someone? soon
24. Your car? messy
25. Something you're not wearing? makeup
26. Favorite store? target
27. Your summer? last
28. Love someone? always
29. Your favorite color? orange
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? Sunday?

Inconvenience

2008-11-04T09:25:00.003-07:00

I forget sometimes that Audrey can read. I was up really early this morning, with lots of things to do running through my head, but before I was actually able to do much of it, since stores weren't yet open and the family was still sleeping. So, I made a big list of all of the things on my mind. One of those things was Audrey's birthday. I started a list of what I wanted to get her for her birthday (with only one item - "Alexa," a barbie she wants, on it - any other suggestions for a girl turning 6 who already has enough Barbies, Polly Pockets, ponies, Littlest Pet Shops, movies, dress-ups, etc. to last 3 lifetimes?!). I had the giant to-do list sitting here on my desk. She comes up and says "Why does it say "Audrey Birthday Alexa" on here?" Ack! Luckily, she has a friend Alessa, and I had kind of chicken scratched it, so I told her it was a list of who she should invite to the party. She took that and ran with it, and is now making out a list of whom to invite (forget the fact that I was going to discourage a party, with all else I have to do in the next couple of weeks, and instead encourage her to invite one or two friends to go to the movies, go get their nails/hair done, etc...).

I remember being so bummed when I realized I could no longer buy presents in front of her (and still have them be a surprise). Now I guess I have to take it one step further, and hide the lists, too. Next thing you know, she'll be sneaking around looking for the presents like I did as a youngster!

Overall, though, I'm pretty excited for Audrey. I love reading, and hope she will, too. Her language skills are coming in handy, too. The other day, I was on the phone. She was trying to tell me something, and I said, "Just a minute, wait until I'm off the phone." She couldn't wait, though, so she scrawled a note that read, "Adam is in chrubbl," letting me know that Adam was getting into all the moving boxes down in the basement. It got the point across, and gave me a chuckle.

There's No Place Like Home

2008-10-28T07:54:00.002-06:00

And yet, we're leaving ours! I can't believe it. I've been kind of down ever since we decided to accept the counter-counter-offer. We got an ok price, not great, but what do you expect in this market and economy? It's not a done deal, yet - we disclosed a roof leak we'd had over Labor Day weekend, and they want to come take a look at it (Jared looked at it when we had the problem, then we had a roofer out, and neither of them could see a significant problem, they figured it was the pelting rain combined with high winds that basically blew the rain horizontally. We've had a couple more heavy rains since, with no problems). Part of me is actually hoping they will decide to back out. Funny, that's usually a seller's worst nightmare, but I think, to some degree, Jared and I would both welcome that news. I do feel like this is the "right" thing for us at this time, but I'm incredibly nervous. And kind of harried. Did I mention they want to close Nov. 20th?! That gives me roughly 3 1/2 weeks to get everything in this house sorted through and packed up. Michelle came over to help me yesterday and took a trunkful of baby girl things off my hands. She's generously offered to keep those and store them for me, should I need them again someday. ;) I am going to have to get rid of so much stuff, and pack up all that's left. Not looking forward to this. We need to find a place in SD. We're still planning on renting at first. I've seen a few things that I think would work for us in our price range, but I'm worried nothing will be available when we need to move, and then I'm not sure what we will do. I guess I just need to have more faith that things will work out.

I Never Thought It Would Come To This

2008-10-21T10:22:00.002-06:00

Seriously. Yeah, we cleaned up the house, had the yard sale, stuck the sign in the yard - even showed the house a handful of times. I heard over and over how rough the market is right now, between the lousy economy, the tightened loan requirements, the many foreclosures we're competing with, and just the time of year - and kind of figured selling the house was a pipe dream. But now we have an offer, and it's become a lot more real to me that we might really be moving. Um, yeah. Kinda freaking out. Now, the offer is a low one, so there is a strong possibility that we won't be able to come to an agreement on price. I'm not sure what I'm hoping for here.

The thought of packing up everything I own, leaving behind friends and family, the security of a home that we built, that we love, that we can afford, having to pull Audrey out of school and have her start all over again at a new one, moving further away than I've ever lived from my family in my life - it's all very frightening (and more than a little sad)! However, the thought of trying something new, living somewhere where I don't have to deal with yucky snowy winters, a great job opportunity for Jared, and experiencing a little more diversity than we have here is all kind of enticing. So, part of me wants to flat out reject the offer, pull the sign out of the yard, and plant myself right here where I'm comfortable. Part of me wants to just take the offer (lowball and all) and be done with it - this is what we've been working so hard for the last few months, right? Realistically, I think we'll counter, and see what happens from there...stay tuned!

I'm All Over This

2008-10-08T11:23:00.003-06:00

I've been trying really hard not to let my politics spill over into my blog (maybe why I've been so silent lately) - but this is too good not to share. Jared said he's up for carving one or two! We'll probably do McCain/Palin, as we think they have less of a chance of being smashed in this ultra-red state of ours.

You can download the stencils to carve your own political pumpkins here. Check out the descriptions - almost as funny as the pumpkins themselves!

The Happy Homemaker, I'm Not

2008-09-29T09:28:00.002-06:00

As evidenced by an exchange I had with one of my children yesterday.

Child: Mom, do you know what that "screeee-ch" sound was?

Me: Yes, that was me opening up the ironing board (a little rusty, I guess?!)

Child: What's an ironing board?

Me: It's something I put the clothes on to iron them.

Child: What's "iron"?

This would have been bad enough coming from my 3 year old, but no, it's a conversation with Audrey, my almost 6 year old! I'm sure I've ironed sometime in the last 6 years - but probably not in the last year. In my defense - I was ironing Adam's shirt for church. As soon as I ironed it and put it on him, he went downstairs and finished eating his lunch - vegetable soup (I thought he was already finished eating, but I guess not). He ended up not even wearing the shirt I had painstakingly ironed.

Weeping, Wailing, Gnashing of Teeth

2008-08-27T07:32:00.002-06:00

No pictures to go along with this one (you're probably grateful for that). Audrey's still having a hard time going to Kindergarten each afternoon. She does fine after a couple of minutes in class, but it's still so sad for me to see her get so upset before it's time to go. She whines about getting in her uniform, she doesn't eat lunch, and she starts telling me, "I'm too shy!" as we're driving to school. She also won't go into the class when I tell her to - she digs her heels in and stays planted where she is (each time a little further from the door than before - the first day we made it to her desk, the second, to the door, and yesterday, she wouldn't budge from her hook where she hangs her backpack). Thankfully, the teacher calls out to her, "Audrey, it's time to go to school", and then she runs in the classroom, but she's crying all the way. I know this too shall pass, but anyone have any ideas for me to make the transition easier for her?

Side note - the other moms at this school are wonderful! The one who helped me when I was upset the first day asks me each day how Audrey's doing, and assures me it will get better. Another one whose daughter is also having a hard time suggested a play date for the girls to help them to get to know each other outside of school and become better friends. Plus, Audrey's already been invited to a birthday party for a little boy in her class. I don't think she's having a hard time making friends - I think she's just feeling some separation anxiety at being parted from me, and feeling timid in a new situation. So, what do I do?

The Verdict is In!

2008-08-22T06:53:00.003-06:00

According to Audrey, "The first day of school was amazing!" I can't tell you how relieved I was to hear those words come out of her mouth after a somewhat rocky start. All morning, she kind of vacillated between being excited and being nervous. I thought it would be smooth sailing when she quickly got dressed, grabbed her backpack, and ran out to the car when it was time to go. On the way to school, when I told her I'd be running errands while she was at school, she said, "Kindergarten is the BEST!" However, once we pulled in to the parking lot and it was showtime, she suddenly starts telling me, "Mom, I can't do it. I'm just too shy." We were standing outside the school; I was delivering my best pep-talk, and several moms come to my aid, telling Audrey to go find their daughters inside, and they'll be friends with her. Can I just say, if the kids in her class are half as nice as their moms, she should be just fine in the friend department! We also discovered that a little girl from her preschool class is in her K class, along with another little girl who lives down the street. So we walk to class; she's feeling a little better, having seen her friend Alessa in the hall, hanging her backpack on her very own hook, and knowing she already has a couple of friends in her class. The worst isn't over yet, though. I drop her off, give her a hug, wave goodbye, and as I walk out I hear, "I miss my mom!" immediately followed by a sob. I look back and she has her face buried in her hands and is just sobbing. As I watch the teacher continue on with the lesson and ignore my bereaved daughter, I'm barely holding it together. I'm standing in the hallway, out of Audrey's line of sight, watching to see how she does, and another mom, standing in front of the volunteer sign-up sheet, asks if she's in my way. I shake my head no, point to the classroom, say "My daughter..." and burst into tears myself! I so did not peg myself as the "cry on the first day of Kindergarten" kind of mom - I'm really not that emotional, and I was singing praises when I dropped her off at preschool last year. It was just so hard to watch her break down and not be able to rush in and help her feel better. Thankfully, the other mom in the hallway was so sweet, and just gave me a huge hug. She said, "It's a hard day for moms, too." and checked on Audrey for me (so Audrey didn't see me, all upset), and reported that Audrey had stopped crying and was doing her work - she was going to be just fine. I thanked her, and Adam and I left to run some errands. Although it was nice not to be dragging two kids along, I really missed Audrey and wondered about her all day. The three hours passed slowly, but when I went to pick her up, she said, "Mom, I liked it!" She made the amazing comment later, when she showed me what was in her backpack. I didn't get many details from her as far as what they actually did - somehow I thought I'd have a few more years before I had to pry things out of her - but she had a good time and is excited to go back. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the next dropoff is a bit less traumatic!

What's Goin' On?

2008-08-18T14:11:00.005-06:00

For those wanting more details about our move - we don't really have a solid timeframe - we just plan to go when things are wrapped up here with our house, which is now on the market. Anyone wanna buy a house, or know somebody who does? Jared is transferring, so he'll continue working for the same company, and essentially be doing the same job. He feels it's a better opportunity, though, as the engineering headquarters for their company is located in San Diego, so this puts him in a position to learn more, gain more relevant experience, and work more closely with other engineers in the company who have more experience than he does. We took a trip to San Diego a few weeks ago and had a good time. A little bit of sticker shock, but we did find a couple of places that we'd definitely be interested in if we were currently in the market for a place in the San Diego area, so that's promising. Our plan, as it stands, is to rent for the next couple of years. That will allow us to get to know the area a little more before making the commitment of buying, and will also give the market a little more time to settle - Jared's still pretty sure things are overvalued and thinks prices will continue to drop over the next little while. Most importantly, we can't wait to have visitors down there. More often than not, when I tell someone we're moving to San Diego, the response is, "Ooh, we love it down there!" So, don't be shy - come and visit us! I'm not sure yet what kind of accommodations we'll have, but if you don't want to stay with us, at least let us know you'll be in the area, and we can have you over for dinner or something! We haven't even left Utah yet, and I'm already feeling anxious about how much we're going to miss all of our wonderful friends and family here, so, someone, throw me a bone, and tell me you'll come and visit us!

Here's the update I sent to my grandparents, for those who are wondering what we've been up to. I want to do each of these events justice and give them each a blog post, but the way things are going around here, it's looking more and more doubtful. So here's the rest of what's going on with us:

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

Well, we've had another very busy and oh-so-fun month! It's hard to believe that summer (at least summer vacation) is already over - Audrey starts school on Thursday, and most of the kids around here go back today (she starts a little later because they do individual assessments of the kindergarten students the first few days). As the date draws nearer, I get a little more anxious, but the only thing she mentions by way of complaint is that she still doesn't want to wear collars to school (all of her uniform shirts have collars). We'll see how that goes. Her best friend Alessa is going in to first grade, and a spot just opened up for her at the school over the weekend, so they will be attending the same school, which I think will make a big difference for her, especially as far as wearing the uniform goes. Regardless, though I think she's a bit nervous (and I'll admit, I'm a bit nervous) about school starting, I think we're all a little anxious to get back into our normal routine after a crazy, fun summer!

Things are moving ahead with getting ready to move - slowly, but surely. There's still plenty to do in the house, but Jared went ahead and listed it last Friday. We haven't had any bites yet, but we'll see what this week brings. We had a yard sale where we were able to clear a lot of our stuff out of the basement (though we'll probably need to have another one before we move, depending on how big our new place ends up being), we've had the carpets cleaned, I've been cleaning and organizing like crazy, and I've done a little more decorating (with lots of help from Julie and Michelle) to help 'stage' the house a bit. Now that things are looking good, it's hard to want to leave! Audrey's helping us out, though - the other night, she told me we should probably sell our house for $100 (the biggest amount of money she could conceive of). I chuckled and told her we'd probably sell it for a bit more than that. She went and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and asked me how much the house would cost. I told her, and she asked me how to write it. She wrote it down, and then wrote all of our names - 'Jared, Jenny, Audrey, Adam.' She then asked how to spell 'San Diego,' telling me that people would need to know where we were going and why we were moving. When she finished, she taped her little 'for sale' sign to the front door, went down to the bottom of the driveway to inspect her work, and declared, 'People might need a magnifying glass to see it!' We don't need a real estate agent - we've got Audrey!

In other moving news, we took a trip to San Diego a few weeks ago to check things out there. Jared was already there for some training, so I flew out to meet him. We were a little dismayed at how expensive everything is out there - there is just no way we'll be in a house even close to the one we have here - but we did find some nice areas that we've kind of 'targeted' and will watch once we have a better idea of our timeframe. Life will be different there - everything seems so much more crowded and bustling. We had a great time, though. We were able to leave the kids with Jared's parents, so it was just us, and we took advantage of that, taking a walk on the beach, going to several favorite restaurants, seeing a movie, visiting with Jared's brother and sister-in-law who live out there, and driving all over northern San Diego County, checking out homes and areas. It's still really hard to think of leaving here, but I feel blessed that this opportunity is in a place that we both really love.

Adam had his 3rd birthday last week, and we had lots of fun with that. Mom and Dad came over to celebrate on Saturday, and then Jared's family all came over on Sunday evening. He kept saying he was going to turn 5, just like Audrey, but he's figured out that he's not quite there yet. He still won't say that he's three yet, though - when you ask him how old he is, he just holds up 3 fingers and says, 'I'm this many!' He has been so much fun the last couple of years, that it's hard to imagine he was once such a difficult baby. He has such a sunny little personality now, and is generally pretty easygoing. He still loves trucks and dirt. We got him a sand and water table for his birthday and, though we had to fill it up entirely with sand, because the water was just making it too messy, he still loves it and will spend a good couple of hours outside playing in it, even just on his own. He's been making us laugh lately with the things he comes up with. Recently, I got him a churro after we were done shopping at Costco, and told him to share with Audrey. As we were walking to the table, a piece of it fell onto the floor. He picked it up and said, 'This piece is for Audrey!' A couple of weeks ago, he asked to wear a tie to church and proudly said, 'I'm just like Daddy!' He often proclaims, 'I'm big! I'm big! I'm a big boy!' and the worst way Audrey can insult him is to call him a baby. He still hangs on to a few vestiges of babyhood, but he's growing up fast!

We've had quite a few other fun events and activities this month. Last weekend was our city's 'Lindon Days' celebration and, on Saturday morning, they had a little parade. Our ward participated, and Audrey loved riding on the trailer, waving and throwing candy to the spectators. Jared, Adam and I sat near the front of the parade route and collected lots of candy and chatted with friends and neighbors. It only lasted half an hour and was lots of fun. Audrey kept saying, 'That was my first parade! That was my first time to be in a parade!' There was some work being done on the road between the parade route and where we'd parked our car, so Adam got some up-close-and-personal moments with some of the heavy machinery he's so fond of. That pretty much made his day! Speaking of parades, we had so much fun seeing Mom's float in the Salt Lake Children's Parade. Adam was sick, but Audrey and I got down there just in time to see them walking past. They had a huge turnout with lots of kids, and everything looked great! I really marveled at all of the hard work involved in each entry, knowing a little more about what goes on behind the scenes. We enjoyed the donuts Dad brought and had fun walking around the Children's Festival, though we didn't stay long since it was crowded and hot.

We loved having Julie's family here to visit in July. The kids had so much fun playing with Jacob and doting on baby Eric, and the adults had a great time visiting. We took the kids to BYU and the Life Science Museum, where they got to watch a reptile show and pet a snake! We also went to the Dinosaur Museum, had fun in the wading pool at Grandma's, ate lots of great food, and actually got a good-looking family picture, which was a major feat!

We sure missed you guys this weekend, knowing it was the wedding, and wishing we could have been there. I hope all went well. I saw some photos that Emily posted on her blog, and everything looked beautiful. Grandma, we have been thinking of you, especially, and the challenges you are having with your knee - please know that you are in our prayers, and we hope the doctors are able to find a solution and you're finding relief soon. We love you both so much and appreciate all you do for us.

Love,
Jenny and family

Final Wednesday Activity

2008-08-12T14:43:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow's the last Wednesday before school starts, so I'm going to take my kids to do something I've been meaning to do all summer - the Seven Canyons water feature at Liberty Park. I have already enlisted my sister-in-law and her children to accompany me on this outing, but anyone and everyone else is certainly welcome. I plan on arriving around 11:00 am or so, and packing a lunch. I have no idea where the water feature is within the park, so I can't help you out there. If you are coming and you don't know where to go, give me a call, and I'll try to get you there ;) Depending on how long the kids are wanting to do the water, we may also check out the playground and/or the Aviary. Join us if you can! I know it's a drive for the Utah County-ites and even the South Salt Lake County-ites, but I've heard it's pretty fun. Plus, I have to pick up my parents from the airport tomorrow, anyway, so it's all the same to me. ;)

Why the long hiatus?

2008-08-08T08:10:00.003-06:00

My absence from my blog has been noted, at least by a couple of people. If you've noticed, you may be wondering why I've been neglecting my blog (yet again). Perhaps you just expect it of me, because I'm a flaky kind of a person. Maybe you assumed I'd been kidnapped by aliens (you'd be wrong). It's likely you thought I'd just been too busy to post (you'd be right). It's possible you thought I just didn't have anything to blog about at all (you'd be half right on that one). The truth is, we have been busy, we've been having a lot of fun, and I have lots to blog about - but not until I blog about the proverbial big pink elephant sitting in the middle of the room, and I don't WANT to blog about the big pink elephant. Blogging about him makes it more real, and I'd prefer to live in denial. Besides, I'm not really happy about the elephant being here. I didn't ASK him to plop right down at my house (ok, maybe not entirely true), and I was perfectly happy without him here (of course, I didn't realize that until he'd already set up camp here). OK, enough with the silly metaphors. We're moving to San Diego, and I'm trying to be happy about it. While the opportunity was still theoretical, I was all for it. I could move somewhere where there isn't winter? Where we could be within easy driving distance of the beach? Where public schools are actually pretty decent, and where my children (and I!) can experience a bit more cultural, religious, political, etc. diversity? A place where people commonly choose to vacation (and not just because all their family is there)? Sign me up! But, alas, the dream has become a reality, and I'm dragging my feet. I've lived in Utah for almost 19 years, and I'm comfortable here. Maybe not deliriously happy (particularly January - March), but definitely comfortable. A majority of both Jared's and my families now live here. If we end up in Southern California permanently, I am very possibly leaving behind the nicest house and biggest piece of land I will ever own (yikes, that sounds a bit shallow!). I think I'm guilty of pessimism here. While it was still just a dream, I was comparing the best parts of San Diego to the worst parts of Utah. Now that it's a reality, I'm comparing the worst parts of San Diego to the best parts of Utah. I'm generally all about fairness, even to a fault, but I'm not really being fair this time, am I? Of course, I've never been big on change, and the fear of the unknown is pretty hard for me. But I'm trying to be happy, because I think this pink elephant just might be here to stay.

Wednesday Activity

2008-07-08T16:34:00.003-06:00

Wow, I'm a blog delinquent! Not a long, updating post here, either, just want to inform any of you who want to take the kids on a fun outing tomorrow - I'm planning on the Dinosaur Museum tomorrow morning at 10:00 am. Join us - it will be fun!

The Upside

2008-06-23T10:32:00.002-06:00

I'm not enamored with living in Utah. The long, cold, snowy winters, coupled with the hot, dry summers, and only a tease of spring and fall weather in between is not really for me. However, there is an upside to living in Utah, and that's all of our wonderful friends and family - both those who are living here, and those who come to visit. I find we're often a side attraction in a friend's Utah trip, where the main draw is something bigger, like a family event, a ski vacation, or a chance to attend General Conference. That's just fine with me - I relish the chance to see these people that I might not see at all if I lived in, say, North Dakota.

Just this weekend, I got to see my friend Lynsie, whom I've known since we were 11 or 12. She was here for a cousin's wedding, but I reaped the benefit of that visit as well, and we were able to chat over a delightful breakfast at Hagermann's Bakery in Draper (which, incidentally, is fantastic. Try it, you won't be disappointed!). She even got to share with me, in person, the news that she's getting married! Hooray!

Last month, I had a great time visiting with Jeremy, who had come from Phoenix to visit his brothers. Lucky me, I got to see him as well! The month before that, I saw my good friend Rochelle, who had come down from Seattle for a teaching conference. I love that I can sit back, relax, and the friends and family come to me. ;) I'm sure this is a function of remaining in the same area where I grew up/went to college, it's not like all roads truly lead to Utah, but as long as the friends keep visiting, I'll keep enjoying it.

I'm also grateful to have so much family close by. We were able to attend a fun birthday party for my nephew, Noah, on Saturday, which was attended by all of Jared's family that's in the area - 4 of his 6 siblings and their families, and his parents. A friend of mine was telling me about a brother-in-law and sister-in-law she has that she's never met, and it made me thankful for the opportunity we have to have close relationships with both of our families.

I was also able to see lots of my extended family this weekend at a family party celebrating my grandparents' 65th anniversary. We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family and to be able to see them on a regular basis. I'm still not in love with the less than ideal weather in Utah, but it's more than a fair trade-off!

Yard Sale Nirvana

2008-06-15T08:02:00.005-06:00

All right, maybe not quite nirvana, but pretty darn close! Kori has been telling me for years about the great garage sales in Park City. This weekend, she invited me to make the trek up there with her and, I have to admit, I was not disappointed! Here are some of my fantastic scores:

Toaster Oven (it works!) $1

Costco Cookbook - $0.25

King-Size Featherbed (in new-looking condition) - $3

Office Chair - $5

4 movies (Swan Princess 3, Aristocats, Return to Neverland and Monsters, Inc. - all on VHS, yes, we're old school here) & Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator - $2 for all

Dance Dance Revolution Knockoff - free! We arrived at a sale as they were wrapping up and they were just giving stuff away. I also got a couple of baby doll bottles and a stuffed doodle horse for Audrey there, but she'd commandeered them by the time I took the pictures.

Kori ended up with lots of great stuff, too, including a free over the range microwave to replace theirs that went out a little while ago, a really nice high chair for $8, and some cute puzzles and toys for her kids. Her cousin and cousin's friend came with us, and they got lots of great baby stuff - stroller and carseat, lots of cute clothes, and a hospital-grade pump for only $15!

So, lots of great deals, fun gals to chat with, a break from the kids, and all wrapped up with lunch at Cafe Rio - in short, a fantastic way to spend a Saturday morning!

Good Fortune

2008-06-13T10:23:00.002-06:00

May Recap

2008-06-09T22:31:00.004-06:00

I had illusions (delusions?) of going through and giving each event from the month of May its own separate post because I have so many cute pictures of each one. It may happen yet (though it seems pretty rare that I actually follow through when I promise a forthcoming post), but, in the meantime, here's the monthly recap I sent to my grandparents today. See why I've been too busy to post? ;)

Dear Grandma & Grandpa,

Wow! We've had such a fun, busy month. May is generally busy in our family, as you know, with the birthdays and Mother's Day, but it seems like we packed even more in this month.

We had a fun birthday/Mother's Day celebration over at Michelle's house. We had yummy hamburgers on the grill and a giant chocolate cake from Costco that was incredibly rich, and the birthday folk got to wear a silly hat. The kids were really excited to get me flowers for Mother's Day (a few days before Mother's Day, Audrey told me, 'I know what I'm going to get your for Mother's Day...they're red with green stems and they smell good. Those are all the hints I'm giving you!' - she really loves to play guessing games lately!), and Jared helped them get me breakfast in bed that morning, so I felt adequately spoiled ;)

The next weekend, Jared and Adam headed to the mountains for the Father/Sons campout. This has become a really fun tradition for them, though neither of them gets much sleep and they both come home exhausted. Jared was hoping Adam would do better this year than last year (when he kept waking up in the middle of the night and, finding Jared next to him, though it was playtime and would start poking Jared in the eyes or squeezing his nose), but Adam had a little bit of a cough that kept him up some. Maybe next year. They still had a great time, though - they rode up with some friends of ours and set up their tents together. I told Jared to take pictures and he came home with pictures of the boys canoeing, riding a zip line, and sitting around the fire. With the amount of dirt available to play with and the handful of toy trucks he took with him, I'm sure Adam was in heaven. Audrey and I had a fun picnic in the park with some friends whose men and boys were also up at the campout that night, so we didn't mind too much being left behind. ;)

No sooner had the boys returned home than Mom and Dad called, enticing us up to see them with the promise of free Build-a-Bear stuffed animals for the kids (R.C. Willey was doing some sort of promotion) and a little carnival in the Macey's parking lot. We did the bears, but by the time we got to Macey's, the carnival was over, so the kids settled for ice cream cones with Grandma. We came back and washed the cars with Grandpa, which Adam LOVED. We had such a fun time but it was truly a jam-packed weekend!

The next weekend, Memorial Day weekend, we spent a lot of time visiting with an old college friend of mine, Jeremy, who had come to visit from Phoenix. It was so fun to see him and we had a great time with a yummy BBQ, playing games, and just catching up. We also went and got Audrey's uniforms for school next year. She's not too excited about them, because they have collars, which she's decided she doesn't like. I had her try them on and they look really cute on her. I'm hoping once she sees that it's what all the other kids are wearing, she won't give me such a hard time about it.

She'd better get used to the uniforms, because a few days after we bought them, she graduated from preschool, so she's definitely starting Kindergarten in the fall. ;) She had a cute little ceremony - they sang a few songs and repeated a few nursery rhymes. I'm pretty sure Audrey was the loudest of them all. Much better than last year's ceremony, where she was so upset about having to wear the gown that she just stood there, kind of whimpering. I'm really glad she had this 'extra' year of preschool (she'll be nearly 6 when she starts Kindergarten) - I don't think she would have been ready for Kindergarten this year. Mom came down for the graduation and brought Audrey a Tinkerbell necklace which she loves wearing. I don't think it's come off since Mom put it on her before the graduation. I think Audrey misses school, though. Every day she asks me what we're going to do and seems to miss the routine of the school year. I think she'll settle into the summer routine, but the first couple of weeks are a little rough.

Anyway, I didn't intend to write a book. As I said, we had a busy month! We thought of you, Grandma, on your birthday and Mother's Day. I hope they were enjoyable for you. We miss you so much and wish we could see you both more often. We are so grateful to have you in our lives!

Love,
Jared, Jenny, Audrey and Adam

The Honeymoon's Over

2008-06-06T08:33:00.001-06:00

Referring to my blog, of course! It's been almost a month since I updated - I haven't gone that long since last summer sometime, when I first started the blog and was still getting the hang of it. We've been busy - but not too busy to update, really just busy enough to have lots of fun things to post about. So, why'd I disappear for so long? I can't really say - I just wasn't feeling it. I was tired of feeling beholden to summarizing each event we do. Can't we just go do something and have a good time without feeling we have to make a record of it or broadcast it to the world? As you can see, the honeymoon's over. The blog and I have made amends, though, and we're ready to settle in as old marrieds. I guess the timing is appropriate, given that I started my blog just over a year ago.

As I mentioned, we had lots of fun during the month of May. I have lots of pictures and will post a few updates. We're looking forward to a fun summer. The past couple of years, I've had friends plan weekly outings throughout the summer. Since I haven't heard anything from anyone about doing that this summer, I think I'm going to do it. I'm going to work out a schedule on where we're going to go each week - I think we'll go on Wednesdays. Anyone and everyone is welcome to come - just send an email or leave a comment and I'll let you know what I have planned.

Burning Smashmallows

2008-05-08T09:05:00.002-06:00

On Monday, Ali called to see if we wanted to go up the canyon with them for dinner and a campfire. I'm so glad she did - we had so much fun! It was so nice to be outside, enjoying nature. The kids loved running around, splashing in the water, running up and down the hills, playing with the ball, and watching the fire. Adam seemed a little under the weather for the first hour or so, but he had a strawberry to eat, promptly threw it back up, and then began acting like his old self again - running around, sliding down the hill, and able to down 3 or 4 "burned smashmallows" (a phrase he coined on this outing). I suspect he may have gotten a bit carsick driving up the canyon road, poor kid! I'll have to see what I can do to help him with that - it's not something I've really had to deal with before. That aside, though, we had a truly delightful time and I'll agree with what Ali said - "When I'm doing something like this is when I actually like living in Utah." Campfires up in the gorgeous mountains, sign me up! Snowstorms in May - not so much.

Audrey was thrilled with this giant stick she found

This was the closest to a smile Adam could manage when he wasn't feeling well.

Feeling much better (and he has the messy face to prove it!)

Global Warming?

2008-05-01T10:13:00.001-06:00

Sorry, Al Gore, I'm not buying it. Maybe climate change, since this was what it looked like outside today. May, and it's still snowing?! It's just not right.

Adam was really excited about this truck shirt I got for him with my Gymbucks. He would have been thrilled if I'd bought the whole line to make up his summer wardrobe, but I can only take so much blue, orange and gray. We need a little variation! As it is, he has about 3 or 4 of the shirts and 2 pairs of the underpants. Audrey was funny when we opened the package, she asked me, "How does the mailman know Adam likes truck shirts?" You'd think with all the online ordering I do, she would have caught on by now, but I guess she just thinks the mailman is kind of like a modified Santa Claus or something - knows just what we like and brings it to us just because we're nice people. Hey, sounds good to me!

New Church Curriculum?

2008-04-29T17:36:00.003-06:00

I just overheard Adam singing, "She's got a ticket to ri-ide, she's got a ticket to ri-i-ide." I'm an avid Beatles fan, but don't listen to them ALL that often (I've got that song on my ipod, but there are a ton of songs on there, so we don't do a lot of repeats except by request, and that one hasn't been requested), so I was surprised to hear him singing it. I asked him where he learned that song (fully expecting him to say, "in the car" or something like that) and he tells me he learned it in Nursery. I can totally get on board with early Beatles indoctrination for the young'uns. Too bad his teacher just got released!

Spring Break

2008-04-23T14:01:00.003-06:00

Adam at the park

Audrey on the swings

Another shot of Adam

I was a lame-o and didn't take many pictures, but we had so much fun last week during Spring Break, going on outings with friends and enjoying the nice weather. Monday, I worked in the yard for the first time this year (it desperately needed attention, and still does, actually, but it felt good to at least get started), while Audrey and Adam played outside with Jarom and Alessa. Audrey, especially, thinks it's such a treat to play with Alessa during the week, since Audrey's in school in the mornings and Alessa goes to school in the afternoons, Audrey's really been feeling deprived. They had so much fun playing together that Bethany invited Audrey and Adam over on Tuesday. That was great for me, as I was able to get a lot more done around the house without the kiddos underfoot! Tuesday night I had a great girls' night with Traci, Laura, Jen and Sally - it's always so fun to get together with the girls and catch up! Wednesday, we missed the outing to Chuck E. Cheese (though I heard it was a total zoo, so I'm over it), but we were able to meet up with Kori and her kids in the later afternoon and let the kids play at Arctic Circle and back here at the house. Our kids have a great time playing together and really get along well. Thursday was arguably the highlight of the week - can you say IKEA trip? I've only been a handful of times since it opened here, so it's still fun to go and just look around (though I did a little more than "just look," to the tune of about $100)! It wasn't crowded at all, so I got to drop Audrey off at the childcare and take my time looking around. Adam was really well-behaved (though I still have high hopes that he'll be able to go to the childcare next time, too - we're making some headway on the potty training!) I couldn't get ahold of the girls on the phone, so I just shopped a bit, then went to get Audrey and go upstairs to eat. When the elevator doors opened, there was Jen! So I did get to see my friends, and we all had lunch together. I can never resist the Swedish Meatballs - they're practically an institution. Friday morning, I was supposed to go to book club at Traci's, but ended up actually reading the book during that time instead, and showed up after book club was already over (oops!). The Road was the book of the month, very intriguing and a fast read, albeit a bit depressing. I'm feeling rather well-read, though, after Traci informed me it was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2007. Overall, I'd definitely recommend it. Anyway, I showed up too late for book club, but we went to the park and the kids had a ball playing all afternoon, while we chatted until Heidi showed up with Jamba Juice - what a great treat! Saturday culminated in cleaning out the garage (not a thrill, but very necessary), working a bit in the house, and a fun BBQ next door. All in all, it was such a fun week - thanks for all the outings and get-togethers, everyone!

Wii Can Be (Guitar) Heroes

2008-04-23T13:40:00.002-06:00

We don't play a lot of video games around here. Well, Jared plays computer games, which I guess fall under that category, but we don't play a lot of console games. All of that changed this last week when Alene and Carl went on vacation and bequeathed their Nintendo Wii to us for the duration of their trip. It's probably a good thing we don't own one, because I'm seriously addicted to Guitar Hero. That's probably because it's the first video game EVER that I'm actually better at than Jared. He claims it's my musical background, but I just think it's my brilliance and general mental prowess being made manifest (hey, I never claimed to be humble!). The kids love it, too - Audrey always wants me to play "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" (as best as I can gather, it's because a girl sings it), and Adam is partial to "Slow Ride". I've also been playing Dance Dance Revolution a bit and am convinced I need to own it as a means of exercise - it's so much fun, you don't even feel like you're burning calories. I did it for over an hour the other day. The kids like to watch that one, too - they especially love calling out my grade and telling me if I did good or bad. We're having so much fun with it I'm pretty sure we'll be the proud owners of one before too long. Either that, or we'll be avoiding Alene and Carl's phone calls for the next few weeks. ;)

Back in the Saddle

2008-04-22T12:06:00.004-06:00

I took a cooking hiatus (not sure if you've noticed yet, but that's not really a rare event) when we had friends and family in town and were eating out or with family or whatever frequently, but I'm back with a few recipes I tried last week.

First, a funny story. Audrey loves getting the Scholastic book orders from school. Her teacher sends home all 8 or however many of them there are, from the one for babies (mostly board books in that one) all the way up to the one for high schoolers. She pores over all of them, and I generally let her choose a book or two to order every other time. Last month, there was a Rachael Ray kids' cookbook in one of the book orders that, being the huge Rachael Ray fans that we are, we just HAD to order. We were all looking forward to this book coming in. Finally, the big day came, and the books arrived. We had ordered 4 or 5 books, so Audrey carried them out in a grocery bag. She got in the car, and Rochelle (who was with us that weekend) started pulling the books out of the bag. We had Adam's truck book, Audrey's Mariposa book, a couple of the 99c special books, and then some random book I hadn't ordered, but no Rachael Ray. I was wondering aloud if I'd screwed up the order, or if they'd sent the wrong thing when, on the book I hadn't ordered, I noticed a sticker that said: "The book you ordered will arrive shortly. We hope you enjoy this gift while you wait!" Ah, mystery solved, the cookbook was on backorder. That was Friday. On Monday, Audrey's teacher walked her out to the car and said, "I'm sorry I didn't let you know on Friday your Rachael Ray book was on backorder. Audrey came in today and told me, 'My mom's missing Rachael Ray.'" I had actually forgotten, but Audrey hadn't! Wednesday, after school, Audrey came barreling out, waving the cookbook and calling, "It came! It came! Rachael Ray is here!" So, a lot excitement surrounding the Rachael Ray cookbook. It looks great, I'm just bummed that there aren't photos of the recipes. I know that's something the kids would really love, to be able to see the pictures and pick what we make from the photographs, rather than me having to read all the recipe titles to them. Still, it's been fun, and each night Audrey asks if we can make dinner from the Rachael Ray cookbook. We made these sloppy joes, and I loved them, but the kids found them a bit spicy with all the pepper from the steak seasoning (and that was after I cut the amount in half!). They did love the cheese fries (also from the cookbook) that went along with them (though we won't be having that particular heart attack on a plate all that often!).

Sloppy Turkey Joes
1 + 1/3 pounds ground turkey or ground turkey breast (1 pkg.)
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 red onion
1/2 red bell pepper
1 T. grill seasoning blend, such as Montreal Seasoning by McCormick or Mrs. Dash grill seasoning for poultry (I used 1/2 T., and the kids still found it too peppery)
2 T. brown sugar
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 c. tomato sauce (8 oz.)
4 crusty sandwich rolls, split

Brown turkey in oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Dice onion and pepper and add to cooking meat. In a small bowl, mix grill seasoning blend, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce. Stir in to meat and lower heat. Simmer mixture for 10 mins. Serve on buns.

Cheese Fries (we only made a 1/2 recipe and it was plenty!)
1 sack frozen french fries, prepared to package directions
2 T. butter
2 T. all-purpose flour
1 + 1/2 c. whole milk (we used 1%, and it was just fine)
2 1/2 c. shredded yellow cheddar cheese (10 oz.)
1/4 c. ketchup

Bake fries according to package directions. While fries are baking, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute or so. Whisk in milk, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir in the cheese. Once cheese has melted, remove from heat and stir in ketchup. Pour sauce over fries or serve sauce on the side for dipping.

This next recipe I found on one of my favorite new cooking blogs, The Daily Bite. Not only are the recipes delicious, they have step-by-step pictures and the writers are pretty witty. Check it out! This sweet and sour was great. I used chicken, rather than pork, because that was what I had. It came together quickly and was really yummy.

Cashew Sweet and Sour Pork

2 Tbsp. cornstarch, divided
1 Tbsp. cooking sherry or apple juice
1 lb. pork tenderloin or boneless pork chops, very thinly sliced
1/3 c. water
¼ c. sugar
¼ c. cider vinegar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
3 Tbsp. ketchup
1 Tbsp. oil
1/3 c. chopped cashews (or exactly one of those little .99 bags of Fritos cashews at the front of the grocery store)
¼ c. green onions
2 tsp. minced or grated fresh ginger
2 tsp. fresh garlic, minced or pressed
6-8 oz. snow peas, trimmed
1 8-oz. can pineapple chunks, drained

Begin cooking your rice.

Combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch, sherry, and pork. Toss well.

Combine 1 tablespoon cornstarch, water, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and ketchup. Stir with a whisk; make sure there are no clumps with the cornstarch.

Now collect everything that's going into the stir fry next to the stove so you can access it easily.

Heat 1-2 Tbsp. canola oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add pork and stir-fry 3 minutes. Add nuts, onions, ginger, and garlic. Stir-fry 1 minute. Add snow peas and pineapple. Stir-fry 3 minutes more. Whisk sauce ingredients again and add to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Serve over hot rice.

I found some tilapia on sale at Smith's, so I picked it up. Cooking fish still intimidates me sometimes, probably because my mom didn't cook it for us all that often when I was growing up. Whenever I cook it, though, I think we should have it more often, because it just comes together and cooks up so quickly. This recipe was really good. The kids loved helping me - Audrey helped me mix up the Dijon sauce, and Adam stirred together the bread crumbs and Parmesan. The panko is great because it gives it a really nice crispy texture. I was able to coat 4 filets (probably about 4 oz. each) with this mixture, even though the recipe just states 2. We had it with Lemon Rice (also very good), steamed veggies, and salad.

Tilapia Dijon

Moist, flaky fish is topped with a saucy layer of lemon-Dijon butter and a crispy bread crumb coating to create a perfect harmony of tastes and textures. Make sure to use a nonstick skillet to prevent the breading from sticking to the pan.

2 (6-oz.) tilapia fillets

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons butter, divided

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

1/2 cup panko*

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Combine melted butter, mustard, parsley and lemon peel in small bowl; spread over both sides of tilapia. Combine panko and cheese in shallow dish; generously coat tilapia with crumbs.

2. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook tilapia 8 to 10 minutes or until it just begins to flake, turning once.

TIP *Panko are coarse bread crumbs usually found next to other bread crumbs in the supermarket.

2 servings

PER SERVING: 300 calories, 8.5 g total fat (3 g saturated fat), 40.5 g protein, 13.5 g carbohydrate, 100 mg cholesterol, 1510 mg sodium, 1.5 g fiber

Lemon Rice

Here's a great dish if you want rice with a little more pizzazz but not too overpowering......this is a great chicken accompaniment and serves 4ish.

* 1 cup uncooked rice
* 2 cups water
* 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
* 1 1/2 teaspoons parsley flakes
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoons oregano leaves
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Place rice, water, butter and herbs in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Simmer 20-25 minutes. Stir in lemon juice. Serve.

This one was simple, but surprisingly, really good. Definitely halve the recipe, though. I did and still have lots left over!

Linguini with Ham, Peas, and Mushrooms

16 oz Linguine
4 Tbsp. olive oil
8 scallions, including tops, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg. mushrooms, thinly sliced
8 oz baked ham, cubed (from freezer)
2 ½ cups frozen green peas, thawed
3 cups chicken stock
¼ tsp black pepper
2 Tbs. butter
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the linguine according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbs. of the oil in a deep 12 inch skillet over moderate heat for 1 minute. Add the scallions and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and the remaining oil and sauté 3 minutes longer. Add the ham and sauté, stirring, for 12 minutes. Add the peas, stock and pepper, raise the heat to high, and boil uncovered, for 3 minutes or until the liquid is slightly reduced. Remove from the heat and swirl in the butter, drain the linguine and add to the skillet along with the cheese and toss lightly. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese on the side if desired.

The kids are big fans of Pear Sauce (like applesauce) that Grandma has at her house - she bought it from the wet pack cannery. I had some pears that were really bruised and looked unappetizing, so I decided to turn them into pear sauce. It turned out really good, and the house smelled great while the pears simmered. I blended it after the pears were cooked, and it was a huge hit with the kids!

Homemade Pear Sauce

5 pears
1/4 cup water
1-2 tsp. vanilla (I used 2)
1-2 tsp. sugar (I used 2 but would probably cut back a bit next time - the pears were already pretty sweet)

Wash, peel, core, and slice pears. Place all ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer, stirring occasionally until pears are tender. You may need to add more water if it cooks down. You may either serve these hot as slices or mash them up and serve them as hot or cold pear sauce.

I took this salad to a family gathering, and I thought it was great. The dressing, especially, is so light and fresh-tasting. I found this recipe on my sister's friend's cooking blog, Tasty Sensations.

Pomegranate, Pear and Avocado Salad

Salad:
2 bunches red leaf lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
2 avocados cut into ½ inch chunks
1 large pomegranate (seeds only)
2 pears, peeled and cut into ½ inch chunks
1 block of Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (or use asiago, romano or parmesan for milder flavor)
1 bag almond slivers, toasted on low with butter and 1 heaping tsp. of sugar
2 cans mandarin oranges, drained
Dressing:
½ t grated orange peel
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
2 T red wine vinegar
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 T sugar
1 T Good Seasons dry Italian dressing mix

Mix the dressing ingredients and chill before mixing with the salad. Toss immediately before serving.

Is that enough recipes to keep you busy for a while? ;)

Dramatics

2008-04-17T08:31:00.004-06:00

Both kids seem to have a bent for the dramatic. Here they are, re-enacting the poison apple scene from "Snow White." Adam just saw the picture and said, "That's us, dying." I never know what they'll come up with next!

Time Keeps on Tickin'

2008-04-17T08:20:00.002-06:00

Another month, another update...

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

I'm so sorry I missed getting the update out yesterday. Audrey's on Spring Break from school this week, and I think that caused me to forget it was Monday! You guys weren't the only ones, I also forgot I had signed up to donate blood yesterday, until Jared came home and reminded me 2 hours after the appointment (and after the blood drive was over). Some days are like that, I guess!

We've had a fun month! I wish I could say, now that it's April, that we're getting out and enjoying the beautiful weather but, unfortunately, it's currently snowing! It's been snowing since October and I'm ready for winter to be over! We did have some nice weather yesterday, and the kids were able to play outside and I got some much-needed yardwork done. It's a never-ending project, but it feels good to make a little headway.

We've had so much fun seeing so many friends and family members this month. My friend from college, Rochelle, came to town for a math conference (she's a math teacher). She came a bit early, since she was on Spring Break, and we had a good time shopping, going out to eat, and getting together with other old college friends. She was also here during General Conference, and I don't know if it was having the extra adult around, the conference activity packet my dad sent, or just the kids growing up (or maybe a combo of all three), but the kids were angels during conference! In the past, I've had a hard time getting them even to just play quietly on their own so I could listen, let alone having them sit reverently and listen to the messages, but this time they did great! They did go and play for awhile, but Audrey, especially, really enjoyed the conference bingo, cutting out the pictures of the prophets, and coloring the ties of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve as they spoke (all activities in the packet my dad emailed me). She participated in the solemn assembly, sat quietly through most of the sessions (listening for bingo words) and listened especially attentively to President Monson and the part of Elder Ballard's talk that he addressed to the children. I was very pleasantly surprised with the understanding and reverence she seemed to show for General Conference this year. Adam wasn't quite as attentive, but he did cooperate by sleeping through the afternoon session both days!

While Rochelle was in town, we also had a lot of Jared's family in town for Jared's grandfather's funeral. He passed away a few weeks ago, and the funeral was held the Thursday before conference. There were many associated family activities, since there were family members here that we hadn't seen in years - some I had never met before. I wish I'd been able to attend more (I pretty much was just able to attend the funeral, as Rochelle was in town the same time), but Jared and the kids got to spend lots of time visiting with some of the extended family, which they really enjoyed.

Easter was a lot of fun, too. We had an egg hunt and potluck lunch with Jared's family on Saturday, then got together with the Scotts on Sunday for another egg hunt and a delicious dinner, complete with German Potato Salad. I think Mom makes it better each year! The kids were egg-hunting pros by the time the weekend was over, and we all enjoyed the chance to get together and visit with the family.

We went and registered Audrey for Kindergarten last week. I think she's a little more excited now that she's seen the school, met the teacher, etc. She seemed a lot less fearful and a lot more enthusiastic when I asked her about school after registration. I'm glad. She's really excited to have the afternoon schedule (she's quite the night owl and loves sleeping in), but is still uncertain about the uniforms (something I'm actually thrilled about). Her teacher seems really nice and we've been given some 'homework' to work on over the summer so she's prepared when school starts in the fall. It's hard to believe she'll be in Kindergarten! She's starting to read just a little bit, both by sounding out words and recognizing a handful of 'sight words', which is pretty exciting.

Adam is still busy and into whatever he can find. He hasn't slept in his crib for months, but we finally got around to taking it down, and I bought bedding for him for the full-size bed that was previously our guest bed (we have so few guests now that most of Jared's family has moved up here, that he'll just move to the trundle of Audrey's bed if we need a place for guests to stay). He loves his new monkey bed and his big-boy room. I'm still working on it, though - I have a flower painting on the wall I need to take down and replace with something masculine, and Audrey's princess tent is still up in there. He doesn't seem to mind. He's also excited about starting school in the fall, but if he doesn't become a little more eager to use the potty, that may not be happening! He still loves trucks, especially those of the construction variety. We got him a book called 'Dig, Dig, Digging' that he absolutely loves. We read it to him several times a day and he almost has it memorized. Each page talks about a different truck and then ends, 'They can work all day.' He repeats that line with gusto each time it comes up in the book. He was tired and had a tantrum in the store last week, and it reminded me how lucky I am that, in general, he's very easygoing. The tantrum was a rare event; he's usually very mellow and compliant (I still suspect someone may have snuck in during the night and switched him with another baby around his first birthday, since he was such a high-strung infant!).

We're looking forward to some fun activities with friends this week, since the kids are on Spring Break. We also may meet Mom and Michelle at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens for the tulip festival on Fridays. We generally get together with Mom on Fridays, since that's her day off, and we all enjoy having that as a 'Grandma Day.' So, we have a fun week lined up. Hope that you guys have a great week, as well. We love you so much and wish we had the opportunity to see you more often. Can't wait for Laura's wedding this summer!

Love,
Jenny and family

Set Your DVRs...

2008-04-09T00:41:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow night, it's back! I am embarrassingly, inordinately excited. I never knew I was a TV junkie until the writers' strike!

Old Friends

2008-04-08T23:58:00.001-06:00

Throughout my life, I have been blessed with so many wonderful friends. I am lucky enough to still be in contact with some of my old friends, a few from college days and even a couple from high school. Lucky is the appropriate term here, as it is not my doing that keeps us in contact. Not that I mean to lose touch with people, it just sort of happens. One day turns into the next day, and suddenly, it's been months, and then years, and then I kind of realize I might never talk to someone again, someone who once was such a huge part of my life. It's kind of depressing, actually, but it does make the continued friendships that I have all the sweeter.

I have only a few friends that I'm still in touch with that I've known longer than I've known Rochelle and Matt. I've known them for over 8 years now, and I love that we can get together and things are still pretty much the same between us. We laughed our heads off and acted goofy, but we also enjoyed some serious talks. We all have a deep appreciation for really good food, and we savored an authentic Italian pizza at Settebello in SLC, but the next night, dined on Taco Bell. We played cards, shopped until we dropped (ok, the shopping was girls only), blasted our favorite songs in the car, cooked a meal, watched Conference, and had a pillow fight. I had a ball this weekend, but I know that even if we'd sat around all weekend and just talked, I would have had an equally great time. There's just something about being around somebody who's known you so long, you can say just one word, and everyone busts out laughing. I love being around people I care about so much I just feel like telling them how great I think they are - and at the same time, they're telling me how great they think I am! Old friends are seriously the best. I wish we saw each other more, but I know if we did, I wouldn't appreciate it nearly as much.

I need to give a shout out to 2 of my other great, old friends I saw this weekend - Mindy and Brett. I didn't get to spend as much time with you as I did with Matt and Roch, but I love you just as much, and it was so fun to see you as well! We got to watch Brett tear it up in basketball, watch conference and a movie with him, and have one of those great "drive around in the car and spill your guts" chats with Brett. So good to spend some time with him before he moves away next month! With Mindy, we did a Girls' Night during Priesthood session. In deference to the children, we went to Arctic Circle and let the kids play on the playground (us and every other mom in UT County, it seemed like!) So much fun to sit and chat forever! I'm glad I get to see Mind a bit more often - she's just the best!

All right, cheesiness over. However, if you're an old friend of mine and you've come upon my blog, drop me a line. There's just nothing quite like shared history.

It's Nothing Personal

2008-04-05T08:11:00.000-06:00

With 2 little kids who LOVE to play with the phone, my phone seems to often be off the hook. Combine that with our new(ish) phone service which includes voice mail on the phone (yes, we have arrived...but I'm used to the blinking light of an answering machine beckoning me to check messages), and it's evidently adding up to a lot of phone calls and messages going unnoticed. I checked my messages a couple of nights ago for the first time in about a week, and there were 20. So, to all of you who left me messages, I wasn't ignoring you. I wasn't avoiding you. I was just oblivious. Don't take it personally.

Avoidance

2008-04-01T15:04:00.003-06:00

You may have noticed I've been posting, commenting, and messing around with my blog more the past couple of days. You may also have noticed I mentioned a bunch of cleaning and organizing projects I need to tackle. This is not a coincidence.

Techno-Dummy Strikes Again

2008-04-01T14:45:00.000-06:00

So, I'm trying out a new background. I'm so glad - the green dots were REALLY starting to irritate me. The OCD part of me wouldn't let me change it until the end of the month, though, since I initially set that template for the month of March, in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Guess it was my way of enduring to the end. Anyhow, I've got this new background, for spring (though it's absent here), which I really like, but I don't know how to put any elements on. When I go to "customize" it says I have to upgrade my template, and I'll lose my existing one. Am I doing something wrong here, or is this template just wonky and I need to switch to a new one? Any of you techno-philes out there know?

A Plea for Help

2008-03-31T13:30:00.001-06:00

All of my decorating friends, help me! You know I'm challenged in this area. We're redoing the bedroom situation at our house - taking down Adam's crib that's gone unused for the past 4 months and officially giving him the full-size bed (that he's been sleeping in for the last 4 months) that was formerly our guest bed. We will no longer have a dedicated guest room (since the majority of our former guests have moved to the area within the last year), and Adam will vacate his room and sleep on the trundle of Audrey's bed when we do have guests. The former guest room will be a dedicated toy room. So, I'm looking for a bedding set that will make the full bed feel more like Adam's (the lavender gingham and flowers aren't going to cut it). I found this one, gently used, for a great price and really like it. What do you think? My only concerns are if I should look for something a little more mature, since it will be used by guests on occasion (this weekend, for instance), or if I should get something Adam really likes (he told me, "I don't want a monkey bed, I want a truck bed!") Does he get the final say in this decision? Then, assuming I do go with the monkey set, how do I decorate the rest of the room? If you don't like the monkey set, I'd love for you to post some alternatives that you think would be good.

Crazy Life

2008-03-29T15:19:00.000-06:00

Yup, another one of those infamous self-portraits!

I told my mom yesterday I'm having a hard time striking a balance with blogging - either there's nothing going on, so I have nothing to blog about, or there's too much going on and I'm too busy to blog! Last week was of the latter variety. We had a lot of fun working in the yard, going to the library, celebrating Ashlyn's 2nd birthday at her fun party, going to the first meeting of our ward book club (discussing Little Women - one of my all-time favorites!), meeting Michelle and Laura at Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point (the pony ride and watching the cowboys capture the escaped "Watch out, I bite" donkey after a few rounds around the park were the highlights there!), having 5 friends over while their moms went to classes with older kids (for a total of 7 for about an hour and half, it went a lot more smoothly than I thought it might!), and of course, our favorite, Friday at Grandma's! We went to the library again with her, ran to Walmart, and had a yummy lunch with Grandpa. Adam would have been just as happy playing with Grandma's train set the entire time, though. Audrey had a ball on Saturday going to Alessa's dance recital. Saturday wasn't quite as fun for the rest of us, as cleaning out the pantry was the main event here. I'm so glad it's done now, though! Sunday caught us off-guard with all the snow we got. The kids made the best of it, though, and went out and built a snowman and had snowball fights after church with Dad. I neglected to put snow pants on poor little Adam, though (I misjudged how serious the snow play was going to turn!), and his pants were soaking and his legs were bright red by the time we talked him into coming inside. I felt so bad, though a cup of hot cider seemed to appease him. We spent Sunday evening visiting with family at Grandma Henrie's, which is always fun. A very full week! Next week promises to be equally full, with Monday-Wednesday slated for all kinds of cleaning/organizing projects. Thursday is the funeral for Jared's Granddad, and then I pick up Rochelle from the airport. With her and a lot of Jared's family in town, plus General Conference, I know this weekend's going to be a busy one, too.

I was a slacker and didn't take pictures at most of the aforementioned events. Here are the paltry few I have, though:

Adam's pony ride

Audrey on the pony

Here's the wild, biting donkey on the loose. He came running right past us several times - pretty scary!

Donkey subdued. I actually felt a little sorry for him. He was totally pacing around in his stall when they had him locked back up.

Pantry Before (and yes, I'm embarrassed that everyone's seeing this!)

Pantry after. We can see the floor now!

I Dig Dirt

2008-03-25T11:38:00.000-06:00

Monday night, we had a lot of fun planting bulbs for FHE. The weather was gorgeous, and the kids, especially, were so thrilled to be digging around in the dirt. The bulbs we planted last year didn't come up at all, so I'm hoping we have better luck with these. I am SO wanting to get our yard in shape this year, but I'm at a loss as to how to do it, and especially how to do it cheaply (we've dumped SO much money into our yard the past few years, and don't want to have to do that again this year. Instead, I'm trying to figure out how to get my results with good old-fashioned work). Any tips or ideas?

This used to be the stuff of nightmares for me - my daughter digging in the dirt in her pure white dress. I've loosened up quite a bit!

Jared, too hard at work to smile for a picture.

Adam's got this digging thing down!

The bulbs we planted came from this gardening kit mom gave Jared for his birthday. We just planted the gladiolus on Monday, so we still have lots more work ahead of us. Can't wait to see them come up!

Double Dipping

2008-03-24T23:09:00.000-06:00

It's not often we get to celebrate 2 holidays in one week! Audrey had parties at school on both Monday (St. Patrick's Day) and Friday (Easter). To celebrate here at home, we had a green breakfast, and "the leprechauns" dyed all the liquids they could get their hands on green. They were a little negligent, though, and had to sneak out and do it while Audrey had her back turned. She was amazed they were able to turn the toilet water green (after she'd flushed) without being caught. It was pretty fun.

Speaking of double dipping, one of the best parts of having both sides of the family local to us is the fact that we get to celebrate major holidays twice! Saturday was spent with Jared's family, having an Easter Egg hunt, setting up a jungle gym, enjoying a yummy lunch, and celebrating Alene's (and Mareena's, though she was only with us in spirit) birthday(s). We had a lot of fun, though the mood was a bit subdued due to the passing of Jared's grandfather on Friday morning. We are so grateful for the time we were able to spend getting to know him a bit better over the last 6 months, since he and GG moved here from Indiana. We will miss him, but are so thankful, especially at this time of year, for our knowledge of eternal families and resurrection. When I told Audrey that Great-Granddad had died, her first question was, "When will he come back alive again?" I'm so grateful that she knows that he will live again, and that the Savior has made that possible for all of us.
To ensure equity in the egg disbursement, we lined the kids up from youngest to oldest and let the youngest children get a head start. We really needn't have worried, there were more than enough eggs to go around, and most of the children were limited by the size of their baskets, not their ability to find eggs! (front to back: Noah, Adam, Sara, Clarissa, Rylan, Audrey, Paige, Bree, Colby)

Audrey and Adam, ready to hunt!

Audrey, rushing to find some eggs.

I'm thinking Adam was pleased with his haul.

David and Adam have taken a page from their dads' books and have started the gaming early.

Easter Sunday was perfect. The kids slept in a bit, then woke up and checked out their baskets and had a leisurely breakfast. We went to church, came home and gathered up our various and sundry accoutrements and headed up to SLC to my parents' house. It felt like it had been a long time since we'd seen them (though my mom pointed out that they'd had dinner at each of their daughters' houses each Sunday in March, and we'd been together 3 out of the 4 Sundays) and it was fun to see them again (they just returned from a trip to Phoenix to see Julie and Matt). I had quite a bit of food prep left to do for the salad and asparagus I brought, so I set to work. I had such a good time working in the kitchen with my mom! Dinner was fantastic - I'm thinking German Potato Salad needs to be served more often than just Easter. We had quite the spread with enough food to feed an army. After dinner, we had two egg hunts - the candy-filled egg hunt for the kidlets, and the money-filled egg hunt for the adults (a long-standing tradition in the Scott family). We also had a little FHE where mom helped the kids recount the Easter story and they did lacing cards with different scenes from Jesus's life. This was the first Easter we had with James being home, and it was just fun to all be together. Mom spoiled us all and put cute little Easter treats together for everyone - she's the best!

I can't believe the only pictures I have of my kids on Easter are of them wearing yesterday's clothes (we got home pretty late on "Easter Eve" and kids were already asleep - we put them to bed in their very dirty clothes rather than messing with jammies) or covered in chocolate. If Laura can get adorable pics with her 5 kids, including 3 3 and under, I should be able to get them with my 5 and 2 year olds! What kind of a parent am I?!

Audrey is thrilled that the Easter Bunny brought the movie "Enchanted"

Adam, checking out his new truck playset.

After church, enjoying the spoils.

Audrey curled up with her stuffed bunny and her chocolate bunny to watch her movie after church.
Uncle James working with Adam on an Easter lacing card
Maddy and Adam, egg-hunters extraordinaire

Adam was really excited about the egg he hid (the kids hid the adults' eggs, with a little help from Grandma and Grandpa) by burying it in the dirt.

Kid Funnies

2008-03-24T12:58:00.000-06:00

Jared (to me): Sweetie, are you coming over for scriptures?
Audrey: Dad, are you the boss of Mom?
Jared: No, why?
Audrey: Well, you called her "sweetie" so I just thought she must be your daughter or something.

I guess we're ok on terms of endearment with the kids, but we need to use them for each other a bit more!

Adam (to me): Are we going to your house?
Me: We're already at my house.
Adam: Actually, this is MY house.

Truer words were probably never spoken.

We were hunting for Easter eggs at my mom's house yesterday, when Audrey and Adam spied a cat on the fence. Audrey cries out, "Look, it's a REAL cat!" As opposed to all those fake ones running around, I guess.

The kids got a hold of the camera the other day. They took over 100 pictures. Good thing "film" is cheap these days! It was interesting to see the world through their eyes. Here are some of the more amusing shots:

There were about 10 of these not-so-flattering self-portraits
of each child

including extreme close-ups.

Portraits of beloved objects - the "glass princess doll" and the yellow blanket, for Audrey

and the "digger truck" for Adam

we're obviously equal-opportunity close-up photographers

Decent job of centering, there, if that was intentional!

I wonder if he liked the objects, or just thought it made an interesting composition.

Some interesting lines, there, though the overexposure is unfortunate (unless, of course, it was intended).

Audrey talked Adam into dressing up, too, apparently. If you look closely, you can see me glued to the computer screen in the background, which is how they managed to get away with all of this!

The 80's are back, right?

2008-03-18T20:43:00.000-06:00

So, any chance of jeans like these coming back in style? I actually need them to be the kind that are splattered with neon paint (I seriously can't believe no one has a picture of acid-wash, neon-paint splattered jeans on the internet, at least not available through Google images!), since it was a hot pink crayon I found melted all over my dryer and 4 or 5 pairs of jeans this morning. Argh! That's the 3rd time in probably 4 or 5 months! I have GOT to start checking pockets religiously. I always check mine, but the kids so rarely have things in their pockets (actually, Audrey so rarely has pockets at all, being an uber-fan of the dress), that I just skip it and throw them right in. Hopefully 3rd time's the charm, and I will learn from this extremely painful lesson. Silver lining: 2 of my favorite pairs of jeans were hung to dry, so escaped being eightie-fied. Also, my sister and brother evidently found me an awesome pair of jeans at Last Chance in Arizona for a song, so I do have a new pair of jeans to look forward to!

This was all right before I headed out the door for a root canal. Yes, a simply lovely morning. Silver lining: Would you believe lying in the dentist's chair can actually be relaxing? It is when you're escaping 2 little bundles of energy. Particularly if you throw in a legal high (thank you, inventor of nitrous oxide) along with it!

I have to say, the day got progressively better. We met at Michelle's house for lunch, and then took the kids over to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. It felt so good to get out. The kids loved the sand and water area and would have stayed there for hours, if I'd let them. Luckily, I was able to lure them away because Aunt Carol and Laura stopped by on the way up to the airport. It was so fun to visit with them for a couple of minutes. I wish we'd had more time, but I know they had a busy weekend of wedding dress shopping - what fun! We swung by Costco, and then Adam fell asleep on the way home. I'm keeping my fingers crossed he stays that way through the night, though chances are pretty slim, since he fell asleep about 6 p.m. Speak of the devil, he's coming down the stairs right now. I have a feeling we're in for a long night.

I Feel Like Chicken Tonight

2008-03-17T17:22:00.000-06:00

If you're going around singing this song from that old commercial, this post is dedicated to you! I've tried a few new recipes lately, and they've all been chicken recipes! I'm thinking that may have been influenced by the fact that chicken's all I have in the freezer, and I've been too lazy to go out and buy any other meat. Ah well, they've all been tasty!

Saucy Honey Mustard Chicken is a recipe I found on the familieseatinghealthy blog I recently found. There's a link to it on my sidebar (Dinner Ideas). Lots of great recipes and reviews on this site. We really liked this chicken, although the sauce was a little thick for my liking (maybe I simmered too long?). I think I'll cut it with a little milk next time, and it will be just right. We had mashed potatoes, green beans and green salad with this.

Saucy Honey Mustard Chicken

Rachel--2down8togo

1 tbsp. oil

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast

1/4 cup Italian dressing

1/4 cup cream cheese

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tbsp. honey

In a large skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken; cover and cook on both sides 5-6 minutes each, or until juices run clear.
Combine dressing, mustard, honey and cream cheese; pour over chicken. Cook and stir 2 minutes, or until smooth and bubbly.

Another recipe from that same site that we tried was Cranberry Chicken. This was very good, and different from what I usually make. It looks weird on paper, but the flavors actually blend really well. This would be a fantastic fall recipe. I think the cooking time was a little longer than stated, though - more like 30-40 mins. On the site, she recommended serving it with mashed sweet potatoes and broccoli, which I think would be fantastic. The sweet potatoes, especially, would pair perfectly with this. Unfortunately, I didn't have any sweet potatoes or broccoli, so we had this with rice, green beans (I got the giant Costco-sized bag of those, so we're seeing a lot of them) and fruit.

Cranberry Chicken

2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Cranberry Sauce
1/4 cup Orange Juice
1/8 Teaspoon Cinnamon

For immediate cooking: Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Place all ingredients into a large baking dish, turn chicken to coat. Bake until chicken juices run clear (45-60 minutes for chicken pieces, or 20-30 minutes for chicken breasts).

Wednesdays are my new crockpot meal nights, since I have Scouts at 6:30. This was the first Wednesday-night crockpot recipe I tried. It was really, really good. I had to tweak it a bit, since I didn't have diced tomatoes and green chilis (subbed salsa) and I don't like green peppers (left them out, but added frozen corn for the last 30 mins. or so of cooking). I shredded the chicken and we had this in tortillas as a burrito or taco filling. I've also had it over chips as a taco salad. I thought it would be just like salsa chicken in the crockpot, but the beans really add a new dimension to it. We will definitely be having this again. Bonus - I found this on halfmysize.com, so it's healthy (until I top it with sour cream and cheese!). The picture is theirs, not mine. Jared mocks me whenever I take pictures of food.

Crockpot Chicken Dinner

Created by Halfmysize.com, Monday, 07 May 2007

Ingredients

At a glance

Main Ingredient

Difficulty

Course/Dish

Main Dishes

Serves

Serves - 4
Points - 5

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
15 1/2 oz. can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
10 oz. can tomatoes with green chilies
1 large green pepper, diced
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste

Methods/steps

Place the chicken in crockpot. Sprinkle with seasonings. Add bell pepper, beans and tomatoes. Cover; cook on low setting for 6-8 hours.

Nutrition Information:
270 cal., 2 g. fat, 6 g. fiber

The last one hardly even qualifies as a recipe, it was so easy! I kind of knocked off something that Ali made when she had us to dinner once. I think it would adapt well to the crockpot, too, though I'm not a huge fan of the texture of crockpot-cooked chicken. We had this over rice, with some other stuff (probably the ubiquitous green beans again and a salad and/or fruit, but it's been a while, so I don't really remember!).

BBQ Chicken
4 chicken breasts or 8-10 chicken tenders
BBQ sauce (I love K.C. Masterpiece)
1 can pineapple (I used tidbits)
cheese (I used cheddar, mozzarella or provolone would be good too)

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking dish with foil and place chicken in dish. Cover with BBQ sauce, add pineapple with a little bit of the juice. Cover and bake for 30 mins, or until chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle cheese on top and return to the oven for 5-10 mins., or until cheese is melted.

I have to say, with all this chicken-cooking, I just love using the chicken tenders! They cook quickly, and are the perfect portion for the kids. I actually don't really like having a big old hunk of meat on my plate, either (unless it's a really good steak!), so they're perfect for me, too! I used tenders in every one of these recipes.

March Update

2008-03-17T17:04:00.000-06:00

Some of this will be a repeat for all of you, and all of this will be a repeat for some of you, but, for posterity's sake, here's the monthly email update I sent to my grandparents (who don't read the blog).:

We had a WONDERFUL time on our vacation to Disneyland/Southern California. The kids did amazingly well traveling in the car, and Audrey, especially, loved visiting Disneyland. She went on almost every ride there, which really surprised me - she generally tends to be a little timid, but she evidently has a bit of her thrill-seeking mom in her! Jared and I took turns riding rides with her and letting Adam explore. The highlight of the trip for him was the hotel - he loved the elevator (a glass one that went up 11 stories and looked down on the atrium below) and the swimming pool. He loved the gift shops at Disneyland, tolerated the rides (there were a few he really enjoyed, like the teacups and Peter Pan), and did not enjoy standing in line. Luckily, lines were pretty light, since it was off-season. Audrey absolutely loved meeting all the characters - especially the princesses at a special princess lunch we went to. We had fun collecting autographs of the characters in an autograph book and watching the parade, as well. We also enjoyed seeing some of the shows. There was an Aladdin show that was like a Broadway show with elaborate sets, costumes and music that was incredible - they even flew on a carpet up above our heads! The kids liked hearing the princesses tell stories - Adam was picked to play the handsome prince when Sleeping Beauty told her story and got to dance with Princess Aurora. My favorite part of all was the warm weather! It was so hard to come back to the cold and snow. We also really enjoyed the chance we had to visit with Jared's family - especially some of the extended family we don't get to see that often. The kids had a fun time playing together, and Jared's brother and his wife took us to look at some model homes in their neighborhood to try to talk us into moving down there. I have to say, after the lovely weather, it wouldn't be too tough of a sell!

I've spent the days since we've been back trying to convince the kids that just because it's sunny outside doesn't mean it's warm enough to go out and play! It's been sunny but cold, and I'm still waiting for that telltale 'Spring is on the way!' bit of warmth to show up! Adam must have really missed his toys while we were gone, because he was so excited to come home and see all of his trucks waiting for him in his room. He played happily with toys and stayed out of mischief for 4 or 5 days straight, which must be some kind of a record for him! We've also been working on potty-training a bit - he's had quite a few successes, actually, but we've still got quite a ways to go. It's different than with Audrey - she was very motivated and independent and, pretty much from the get-go, would tell me if she needed to go. Adam, on the other hand, has to be reminded and taken and helped every step of the way, which means a lot more work for me. We'll keep it up, though, as I'd like to start him in preschool this fall and he needs to be trained before then.

Speaking of school, we're getting geared up for Audrey to start Kindergarten! We just found out she has a spot in both of the charter schools I'd signed her up for (they do a lottery for admission, since they limit class size, and there are generally more applicants than positions). I feel really lucky that she got into both, but now I need to figure out where we're going to send her! Almost all of the kids around here go to the public school, which really is a good school, but I feel like the charter schools are a little more structured and academic, which is pretty important to me. There will be one other little girl in the ward going to the one that's a bit closer to us, but the one that's further away has even smaller classes (20 children, and 1 class per grade vs. 25 children and 2 classes per grade) and emphasizes music, in addition to the academic core. It also has the highest test scores. So, I'm torn. I guess it's an enviable position, in some ways - choosing between 3 great schools! I also need to get her in to have her immunizations, which she's nervous about.

It seems like we've been in constant celebration mode around here between our trip, Jared's birthday, St. Patrick's Day (Audrey's school had a party, and I made a green breakfast this morning, which Audrey thought was great), and Easter coming up next week. I'll be ready for a little downtime when it's all over. Jared's birthday was really fun, though. He received your card and check in the mail - thank you so very much! I had his family over the morning of his birthday for a birthday brunch, and we had a lot of fun just visiting and letting the cousins play for most of the day. We got together with our family on Sunday for dinner to celebrate Mom and Jared's birthdays - again, lots of fun! Laura and Chris were able to come to that, so it was fun to talk to them a little bit about their engagement and the plans they have for the wedding. We are hoping to make it out for the wedding this summer, and to see you guys! It's been way too long since I've been in the South!

The only thing better than a great bargain

2008-03-16T14:34:00.000-06:00

Is a better-than-you-expected great bargain! Pretty Pretty Princess is one of Audrey's favorite games (moms of girls 3 years and older, check it out - it's sure to be a hit!). Unfortunately, she also loves to use the pieces for dressing up, and many of them have been lost or broken. It was on sale at Target last week for $7, so I decided to replace our old set. We went by Target last night after we went to lunch at Red Robin to celebrate Jared's birthday, but there were no games on the shelf, no rain checks out, and no employees in sight. I decided to go to Walmart and have them price-match Target's ad. Lucky for me, there was one more game left, tucked away up high and behind some other games. I snagged it and, when we got to the checkout, presented my Target ad so I could get the $7 price. The checker scanned the game, and it rang up at $3! OK, so it was only a savings of $4, but I was thrilled with the bargain nonetheless. Gotta have something to brighten my day amidst all the cold and snow.

Yesterday was actually a great bargain day - we ran to Harmon's since they were having a few great Easter specials, and they were also doing Easter activities - so the kids got pictures with the Easter Bunny, decorated cookies, and got balloons - all free. Then, our Red Robin lunch was free, thanks to Jared's birthday burger coupon (sign up for their Birthday Club to receive your own free birthday burger!) and a mall gift card we got from his work for Christmas. Top it off with the $3 Pretty Pretty Princess game, and it wasn't a shabby day at all for a never-pay-retail girl like myself.

In other news, Jared has called off St. Patrick's Day! All right, so he hasn't cancelled the entire holiday, but I was planning on doing this activity I found on Family Fun's website, which is basically to fill a St. Patrick's Day chest with goodies from the leprechauns, hide it, and have the kids find it. Jared drew the line, saying presents at Christmas is fine, presents at Easter is pushing it, and presents at St. Patrick's Day is ridiculous. Guess I'll have to appease myself with dying the milk green.

2008-03-14T08:40:00.000-06:00

Anyone have any grand St. Patty's Day plans? I guess it doesn't necessarily have to be grand - anyone have any ideas or plans at all? Audrey (and Adam, to some degree) is at the age where it's fun to make all holidays special - but I'm not always so adept at that. If anyone has any ideas for activities, crafts, meals or snacks that would be fun - I'm all ears!

The Happiest Place on Earth (and Disneyland, too!)

2008-03-10T13:17:00.000-06:00

OK, I totally stole my title from Vanessa, but it's so true! We just loved being in Southern California - the gorgeous weather, the vast array of stores and restaurants that we don't have here, all the flowers and trees and grass are gorgeous and green, even in February, and, of course, we loved spending a couple of days with family and 5 days at Disneyland. I did an informal poll of the family, and here are everybody's "Top 5" lists from our trip:

Adam:
1. The hotel elevator. It was one of those glass elevators, and it went 11 stories up and overlooked the atrium in the hotel. He could have ridden this all day and been perfectly happy.

2. The hotel pool. I think Adam only got to go swimming once, since he was napping the other times when we took Audrey, but he really, really loved it. He's such a water baby.

3. His acting debut - he was chosen to be the handsome prince while we were listening to Princess Aurora tell her story. His cameo was during the scene in the forest, when Aurora meets a handsome stranger and dances with him. Their encounter ended with a hug.
4. The food. He begged and begged for this popcorn, but it was lunchtime, and Jared wanted him to eat something more substantial first. He cried when we told him we were going to get lunch and passed by the popcorn stand, then he fell asleep on our way to get lunch. When he woke up, the first thing he asked for was popcorn so, after he had a yogurt and a couple of chicken nuggets, we got him the giant bucket of popcorn. He carried it around all evening - he loved that thing!
He also loved the giant sucker he got from the candy shop we went in while we were waiting for the parade to start (that was an exercise in patience - taking 2 wired kids into a packed candy shop and trying to keep track of them, make sure they didn't break anything, etc.) He made a HUGE mess with it though.

5. The souvenir shops. He loved looking at all the different toys and things they had for sale. He especially loved this Pluto robot that you could make walk and the spinny-light-up-wand kind of things. He sought those out in pretty much every store we visited, and never wanted to leave.
Honorable mention goes to the areas where he could run around and play (Toontown - especially Donald's boat and Mickey's house, the Tarzan Treehouse, the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail at California Adventure) without having to wait in line, but I was a bit nervous with all the people that were around and still kept a fairly tight leash on him (not literally, though I would've liked one!). I could just totally envision him darting off and us having to scour Disneyland for our 2 year old! Thanks to constant hand-holding and stroller-riding, that didn't happen, but I know he would have been happier if he'd been able to have free reign to run around and do whatever he wanted.

You may notice a few things are conspicuously absent from Adam's list - what about the rides? He wasn't all that impressed with the rides, and was even less impressed that he had to stand in line for them. There were a couple of rides he liked (Peter Pan, where he yelled out "I'm flying! In Outer Space!", Tea Cups, Nemo, and Buzz Lightyear are the ones I can think of offhand), but really, I think he would have been perfectly happy at the hotel or in a toy store all week. Good thing his ticket was free! ;)

I know I said I was going to post everybody's list, but this took forever (not to mention there's something funky going on with uploading photos - it was really slow, and now it's not working at all), so I'll be back with everybody else's list soon!

I'm "It"!

2008-03-05T10:13:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Kim, so now you all get to learn a little more about me.

Anyway, here are the rules.
Four people will be tagged.You have to answer the questions, then post on the person tagged, let them know they are tagged, and then they post the answers. It is always fun to learn more about people!!!

10 Years ago: I was finishing up my freshman year at BYU. That semester I took Biology, Calculus, Book of Mormon (2nd half), New Testament (2nd half - yes, Julie, it's been 10 years since Bro. Kline and those horribly specific quizzes about the travels of Paul!), and Intro to Film. I spent more time playing than studying, and my grades reflected that. I was working at Easy Pickins, learning sandwich-making skills that my husband still lauds me for. If this were May of 2008 and not March of 2008, I could say I'd just met my future husband!

5 Things on my To Do List Today!
short list for me, since it's already 4:30!
1. find out if we have Scouts tonight (have I mentioned my new calling on here yet?)
2. fix dinner (I'm thinking tacos)
3. clean up a bit
4. call my sister in law to tell her I can babysit her kids tomorrow
5. catch up on some of the TV I missed while I was gone (Jared's going to be in San Diego again tonight)

Things I would do if I were a Billionaire
1. I'd buy a home in a warmer climate (thinking San Diego, since Jared could easily transfer there, but then again, would he really need to keep working?), and a private jet to fly back and visit family whenever I want.
2. Housekeeping services are a must, along with yardwork. I think I'd continue to do my own cooking, though, and possibly maintain a small garden on my own.
3. Travel - Hawaii and Europe are at the top of the list, but there are tons of places I'd love to go.
4. Philanthropy - I'd love to help out friends and family with things they need, and also give to larger organizations that further causes I support.
5. Definitely go back and get a Master's degree, possibly a Ph.D or M.D. (a girl can dream!). Jared, too, if he wanted. College for the kids, as well.
I can't think of any other "major" things I'd do with it. While I think I'd still be a bargain shopper (can't stand to pay more than I have to, whether I have the money or not!), I'd love to have the freedom to buy what I want without having to think about whether I have the money. I don't think I'd really change my lifestyle that much, though - I don't think I'd want to buy a huge old house, or go to really fancy parties or that kind of thing.

Three of my bad habits
1. Nail biting
2. Procrastinating
3. Buying stuff I don't need

Five places I have lived
1. Memphis, Tennessee
2. Cottonwood Heights, UT
3. Provo, UT
4. Lindon, Utah
5. sad but true

Five Jobs I have had
1. Mom
2. Librarian
3. Administrative Assistant
4. Hotel Front Desk Clerk
5. Lunch Prep/Delivery

Things that people do not know about me
I'm sure some of you know some of these things, but I can't think of anything that NOBODY knows, so here goes:
1. I was introduced to Jared by my very best friend, who had a crush on him. When I got together with him, I lost her as a friend.
2. The first concert I ever went to was Chicago, my sophomore year of high school. Shortly after that, my musical tastes evolved and I wouldn't have been caught dead at a Chicago concert (I've now come full circle and can appreciate the "light hits" every now and then).
3. My teeth are really horrible and I fully expect to have dentures at some point. I also had braces twice. My orthodontist was in our ward and offered to put braces back on for free (about 4 years after I got my first set off), because he couldn't stand to see teeth that he'd worked on look so bad. For me, though, I rarely give my teeth a second thought, and the fact that they're crooked, chipped, filled, crowned, stained, etc. doesn't really bother me.
4. I have an irrational, debilitating fear of vomit. It's getting a bit better, but I still have anxiety if I think someone is going to throw up.
5. I have a really addictive personality. I'm grateful for the gospel in my life and the Word of Wisdom; if I'd even tried drinking or smoking, I'd probably be totally hooked. Shopping was my obsession for a while, and I probably have enough clothing in my basement (or stored at my sisters' houses) to clothe quintuplets really well - especially if they were all girls! I'm into strollers and diaper bags now, but since my kids are getting a bit old for those, it's mostly harmless looking.

YOU ARE TAGGED:
let's keep it in the family - Julie, Michelle, Rachel and Emily

Luck o' the Irish

2008-03-04T22:28:00.001-07:00

I'm not the most festive person on earth, but I figured the least I could do was change my blog background (ok, so I just changed the colors) and put up a new playlist to celebrate the holiday honoring my favorite band of all time's country of origin.

Make sure you check out the U2 goodies on the playlist. Some of my favorite underrated songs, as long as some of the perennial favorites - a little something for everyone, gotta keep all my listeners happy! ;) I wish I could add some of my favorite more rare tracks, but I'm limited by what's available on the playlist site (anyone know if there's some way to get the music you have on CD on there?)

I've got a tag post I need to do (actually I think I've been tagged a couple of times, we'll see if I get around to doing both) and I need to post Disneyland pics and highlights, but I think I've done enough for tonight - I'm headed to bed!

Greetings from Sunny California!

2008-02-26T10:23:00.000-07:00

I had to wait until today to post this, even though we've been in CA since Thursday, because it was rainy, drizzly, and cloudy all weekend. Today, though, hallelujah, the day dawned bright and sunny. I can't complain about the weekend weather, though, as it actually seemed quite appropriate, as that was when we attended a funeral for Jared's aunt. We had a great time visiting with family in the San Diego area, and now we're spending a week at Disneyland! I've got to get moving, as Jared's chomping at the bit to get out of the hotel room and over to the park, but I just wanted to check in, since it's been so long!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is having a great day today. I'm afraid the kids (especially Audrey) may be a bit underwhelmed, as she had her V-Day party at school yesterday, plus Michelle, Maddy and Libby came over and we decorated sugar cookies. I'm sure she was thinking, "And it's not even Valentine's Day, yet!" because last night she was saying, "I'm SO excited for Valentine's Day!" Well, she was greeted this morning with blueberry muffins that were somewhat heart-shaped and pink milk (thanks to the magic of food coloring), but we haven't done much else yet to celebrate the day (beyond me spending way too much time trying to figure out how to put some festive music up on the blog!).

We may do another round of cookies or some kind of treats and take them around to some of her friends, and then tonight, I think it's going to be heart-shaped pizza (thank you, Papa Murphy's) and sparkling cider by candlelight. If the kids aren't too tired, we'll do family movie night, but if they are, we'll put them to bed and probably watch a movie or play a game together. Pretty low-key, but that's the way we like it!

I briefly mentioned the music - check it out! In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I put up some of my favorite "love songs". In the process, I realized that a lot of my favorite slow songs aren't necessarily all that romantic - lots of sadness, bitterness and frustration among my top tunes. Hmm, what does that say about me? Anyway, I didn't set the music player to auto-play, just in case you're at work, or something, and don't want the music to start up when you check out the blog, but if you want to listen, just click the little play button (just call me Captain Obvious!). I did not just go to all that work for just 10 hours - they will be up throughout the month of February, and I'll try to add more as I come up with more of my favorites.

Valentine's Love to all of my wonderful friends and family!

U23D

2008-02-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

My husband is so great that HE was the one who suggested we go see this last night. For a U2 devotee like me, it was incredible. The 3D aspect was so amazing, it was really like being there, but all over the place - in the audience, up on stage, even up above at times. The sound quality was even better than being there, at least at an arena show where the acoustics are lousy (like the Delta Center). It felt weird at first to not be cheering, clapping and singing along, but it was kind of nice to be able to just sit back and take it all in. It's been a while since I nurtured my U2 fan-hood, and this was the perfect vehicle to give me that opportunity. With the guys quickly closing in on 50, the eye-candy factor isn't quite what it used to be (though I'm not complaining!), but their talent and energy hasn't abated at all. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and when it was over, I asked Jared, "Can we see it again?" I think I may be able to make a case for it, since we arrived a bit late and missed the opening number ("Vertigo"). Anyone care to join me?

It's a Sad Day

2008-02-07T11:14:00.001-07:00

OK, I tried to keep from getting too political on my blog, but I have to share my dismay at the news that Mitt Romney has suspended his campaign.

Now, I can't deny that I appreciate that we share the same religion, which almost certainly ensured that we would agree on some of the social issues, at least to some degree, but my support goes far beyond that, and if it meant he would have had a wider appeal, I almost wish Romney wasn't LDS (as long as his platform stayed entirely the same) - I would have liked him just the same. His success with his various ventures in business, as Governor of Massachusetts and with the Olympics gave me confidence that he would have the talent and skill to turn things around in the government that desperately need attention and revitalize our sluggish economy. I know he supports conservative principles and would have appointed conservative judges to the Supreme Court. I believe he has ideas for education and health care reform that wouldn't result in huge tax increases and entitlement programs like the ones the Democrat candidates have proposed.

I'm disappointed that this has gone from a race where I had a candidate I really felt excited about and who I really felt I could get behind to yet another "lesser of two evils" election. A friend of mine suggested casting a write-in vote for Romney in November, and I'm pretty sure that's what I'm going to do (granted, I can get away with that, since I have a pretty strong inkling of how my state's going to swing, even without my vote!) I just hope we see Romney back in 2012!

Halle-freakin-lujah!

2008-02-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

I finally figured out how to change my blog background. It wasn't hard at all! My sister scared me off after she told me when she changed hers, she lost all of her sidebar things (including the links to all her friends - what a pain!). Someone pointed me to the MatieKay blog (I'm sure I'm the last person in the world to find out about this) and assured me she includes lots of boxes so that your links don't disappear (not sure what the boxes were all about, but it sounded good to me), so I took the plunge, and it worked! So now I can change up my background with the best of them.

I chose the pink dots - they're kind of festive for Valentine's Day, but not so over-the-top holiday-ish that I can't leave them up for a bit longer, if that's what I decide to do. It's the same background MatieKay has on her blog now, too, so I'm sure that helped influence my decision. Now I've just got to figure out how to make a cute header. First, to find a pic I like!

It's a Nailbiter

2008-02-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

Jared's a politics junkie, and he's bringing me around, as well. To him, Election Night is better than Christmas Eve. We snuggle up on the couch, watch the returns, and listen to the pundits do their thing. Now, of course, tonight it's just a primary election, and not even the "final" nominations, but we're still pretty much glued to the television. I may need to find a bar of soap to wash my mouth out with after all the "stupids" and "dummies" that are flying out of it. Hopefully things will start looking up once the polls in the West close.

On a related note, I took the kids with me to vote today. As we were going in, Audrey asks me, "Is it going to be boring?" I told her it probably would be, but it would be over quickly. As it was, the kids were actually pretty fascinated with the whole process. Their favorites were the flip-up chairs in the school auditorium where the voting was held and the fun-size candy bars that were handed out after we voted. They were also pretty interested in the voting machine, asking me, "How does that work?" "Can I try?" and "Is it shooting?" (due to the punching noise). I do feel it was somewhat educational, though, as Audrey learned the answers to questions like "What's voting?" and "What's a President?" When I described to her some of the duties of the President, she told me she thought President Hinckley would make a good President. I had to remind her he's no longer with us, but honestly, I think she's right. He would have been a great President.

Weekly Recipe Round-up

2008-02-03T18:15:00.001-07:00

I like to wait until I've made the week's recipes before I post them, so I can give a review of anything we're trying for the first time. Here's what we had for eats last week (on the days I actually cooked):

White Chili is one of my all-time favorite recipes. My mom got it from someone in her ward, and I just love it. Quick, easy, healthy and yummy! We had a cornbread with it that could almost be termed dessert. This is a recipe from my cousin LeeAnn, and it's called Marie Callender's Corn Bread. I don't think it has the exact same texture as Marie Callender's (not quite as dense or moist), but it's every bit as good. We definitely offset the healthiness of the white chili and the salad by serving this cornbread on the side, though - it's pretty sinful!

White Chili

3 1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
1 tsp. cumin
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 chicken or vegetable bouillon cubes
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (9 oz.) pkg. frozen white corn
1/2 can (4 oz.) chopped green chiles
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. lime juice
3 (15 oz.) cans Great Northern beans
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Put water, lemon pepper, cumin, chicken and bouillon cubes in a large pot and simmer until chicken is cooked through (about 20 mins.). Meanwhile, saute (in a little water or olive oil) onion and garlic in another pan. When chicken is done, remove chicken from pot, cube it, and return it to the pot. Add remaining ingredients to chicken pot. Cook until warmed all the way through. Serve ladled over crushed tortilla chips, top with jack cheese, sour cream, and tomatoes. Even better the second day!

Corn Bread

2 c. Bisquick
4-6 T. cornmeal (I usually go with the 6)
1/2-1 c. sugar (I usually stick closer to 1/2 c.)
2 eggs

1 c. milk
1/2 c. butter, melted

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into a greased 9 x 9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 mins.

We had Sweet & Sour Meatballs over basmati rice. I found this recipe on recipezaar and tried it for the first time. It was quick and easy, which was nice, and pretty good, but needed a bit of tweaking. Just a little too sweet and a little too thick for my taste. I'm thinking of either cutting back on the Catalina dressing or replacing the ketchup with tomato sauce. We had this with an asian-style salad, stir fry vegetables, and potstickers (out of a bag from Costco, and a huge hit with the kids!).

Too Easy Sweet & Sour Meatballs

1 (20	ounce) package frozen meatballs
3/4	cup Catalina dressing
1/4	cup ketchup
1/2	cup plum jam (I subbed grape jam)
1	teaspoon mustard
3	tablespoons soy sauce
1/2	teaspoon ground ginger
1/2	teaspoon garlic powder
1/2	teaspoon onion powder
1/4	teaspoon black pepper
1/2	cup cold water
1	tablespoon cornstarch

In a large saute pan, add about 2 tablespoons of oil and brown the meatballs for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile stir together the rest of the ingridients.
After meatballs are browned, pour the sauce over the meatballs and let boil over medium-high heat are 5-8 minutes while stirring it occasionally.
Serve over rice or buttered egg noodles.

The last recipe I tried this week was for a Lemon-Rice Soup. I love Greek food and this is one of my favorite soups. I found a recipe on allrecipes and set to work. Unfortunately, it turned out more like a casserole for me - there was almost no broth. The one review on the recipe suggested adding more rice, so I used 3/4 c. instead of 1/2 c. and that must have been too much! It still tasted good (love that lemon flavor), but I'm going to try it as written next time and see if I can get it to soup consistency. I cut the recipe in half, which is why the amounts aren't really even. The half recipe serves 7, and was plenty for us with some leftovers. For the 1/2 egg, I used the yolk and threw out the white. This tastes much richer than the nutrition facts would lead you to believe!

Creamy Lemon Chicken Soup

2-1/2 cups chicken broth
2-1/2 cups water
2-1/2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
1-1/2 carrots, cut into small chunks
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 cups cubed, cooked chicken
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
1-1/2 eggs (I used one whole egg and one egg yolk)
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

In a Dutch oven or soup kettle, combine the first five ingredients; bring to a boil. Add the chicken and rice. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is tender.
Whisk together eggs and lemon juice; quickly stir into soup. Add oregano and pepper. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Analysis: One 1-cup serving (prepared with low-sodium broth and bouillon) equals 133 calories, 64 mg sodium, 71 mg cholesterol, 16 gm carbohydrate, 10 gm protein, 3 gm fat. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 lean meat.

Snowed In!

2008-02-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

Miss Jen asked after our driveway in another post, and I think this picture pretty much sums things up:

Incidentally, this is the second time this has happened in 3 days. I am so ready for Winter to be over! We actually made it out of the driveway this morning, but couldn't make it up the hill that's about halfway to church (Stake Conference today), so we turned around and came home (and had to leave the car at the bottom of the driveway). Better than Friday, when I tried to take Audrey to school (after shoveling the driveway 3 times that morning), and ended up doing a 180 on the driveway and getting stuck in a snowbank at the bottom of the driveway. Luckily, JJ and a neighbor across the street came upon us and towed us out. I was so grateful for their help!

I guess the snow hasn't been all bad. Yesterday, Blake brought Elijah and Chloe over to go sledding on the hill in our backyard. Since I'm not a cold-weather kind of girl, I let the dads do the sledding, while I stayed inside and made hot chocolate. Chloe tends to agree with me, and stayed inside as well (or maybe it was just too tempting to stay inside and play with all of Audrey's toys when she wasn't around to boss or withhold!). Here are the kids, after their adventure, drinking hot chocolate:

Saturday in the Park

2008-01-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

(no, it wasn't the 4th of July).

Hard to believe, with the cold, blustery, snowy weather we've had the past few days, but Saturday was absolutely gorgeous. I told the kids to go get in the car so we could go to Costco, and I came out to find them playing in the driveway - riding "bikes" (neither of them can ride a real bike yet, but all of their ride-on toys are referred to as bikes) and throwing snowballs. Adam loves to "help" shovel and pulls out the shovel at any chance he gets. We decided not to waste the lovely weather, and took a walk around the neighborhood. We even went and walked around the park! Adam especially delighted in spotting the evidence deer had left of their presence. The walking path wasn't clear at the park, so by the time we walked around, the kids had wet feet and were ready to get back home. Still, we spent a very pleasant couple of hours outside - that's pretty rare for January in Utah!

(sorry no pics of Audrey - I got the camera out and took this one of Adam, then had to help Audrey because she fell down and skinned her knees. I went in to help her and left the camera inside, so I didn't get any shots of our walk, either.)

I've Got Personality

2008-01-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors.
You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius.
Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way.
While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme.

Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

What Color Crayon Are You?

I saw this on Laura's blog and just can't resist any sort of personality quiz. So, does it peg me, or what? Thoughtful, wise, charming, genius - what can I say? I'm calculating, too, though. Does that make you nervous? ;)

First it was funny...

2008-01-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

But now, it's just plain scary! Could my daughter BE any more impressionable (yes, I've been watching "Friends" lately).

The other day we were at the store, buying batteries. Audrey points to the Energizers and says, "Mom, we should buy these ones. They never stop, they just keep going, and going, and going forever!"

Then, yesterday, we were at Costco. I was picking up some Children's Motrin for Adam, whose ears seem to be bothering him a bit lately. Audrey spots the Sudafed and says, "Oh, Mom, I know what this is for - I saw it on the television! It's medicine for when your head starts to grow really, really big. You just have to take one of these, and poof! your head shrinks back to just the right size, how it was before."

Well, the message may have gotten lost a bit on the Sudafed, but still, I can't believe all that she's getting from these commercials! I guess I'm just not used to her watching commercials - before we got cable a couple of months ago, it was PBS (which is commercial-free, of course) or movies (also commercial-free). Not that she's picked up anything "bad" from the commercials (yet!), but I am just realizing that I'm going to have to be a lot more cautious about monitoring what she's watching, because she's clearly picking up a lot of information from the TV!

Adam gave us quite a scare last night! I was in my room, folding laundry, and he was in the kids' bathroom, brushing his teeth. I hear a thump, and then a cry. He comes running into my room, and I snuggle him for a minute. I look down at my hand, and it's all bloody. I'm trying to figure out where it came from - look at his chin, his mouth, his nose, he seems fine. I finally realize it might be the back of his head, turn him around, and sure enough, he's got lots of blood in his hair. I had a hard time getting it cleaned up enough to assess the damage (since it was all in his hair) and finally determined all that blood was coming from a tiny little 1/4 - 1/2" gash in the back of his head. So, he's fine, but for a minute there I was trying to figure out the logistics of taking him in to get stitched up with Jared out of town and Audrey in tow. Luckily that wasn't necessary, but I think Adam just wants to keep me on my toes. He did have fun playing around with the washcloth I used to clean up his head. He and Audrey thought it was hilarious to lay it on top of his head. Incidentally, he'd tipped the stepstool he was standing on over, and fell over backwards, hitting the corner of the bathroom drawer (that was pulled open) on the way down. Of course, he's back to climbing all over the stools again. If that kid makes it to Kindergarten, it will be a miracle!

Now I Really AM Out of a Job

2008-01-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner (eggs & pancakes again, Jared was working late). I had thrown Adam in the bath before I started cleaning up, because he had syrup and whipped cream in his hair (yeah, we do pancakes right around here, with plenty of sweet toppings!). Audrey told me she wanted to wash Adam's hair, and I said I'd be right up to help her. Well, I guess she didn't want to wait, because the next thing I know, Audrey and Adam are both coming downstairs. Adam's hair is washed, he's diapered, and he's got his jammies on! Now, maybe this is behavior to be expected from a 5 year old, but I have a hard time getting her to get herself out of the bath and dressed for bed, so I'm glad to know she can actually do it - and without me asking!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2008-01-21T11:02:00.001-07:00

Here's an "update email" I just sent my grandparents. Some of it's probably repeat info, since I don't think my grandparents check the blog, but hopefully there's something new in there. I just figured, I need to update the blog, I just spent an hour writing this email, so I'll kill two birds with one stone. You can call me lazy, I'm sure I deserve it! ;)

We're busy, but happy and (mostly) healthy. Adam's got a little bit of a cough that kept him home from church yesterday and kept us up the past couple of nights, but he seems to be feeling better today. We're pretty much snowed in today, though - we've got about 5" of new snow, and 9 or 10" total from this storm combined with the previous storm that never totally melted, and since we don't have anywhere to go, we're sticking around here today. I'm glad it hit today - Jared is leaving for San Diego tomorrow evening, and when he was in Mexico a couple of weeks ago, we got a huge snowstorm while he was gone, and I had to shovel the driveway so we could get out. That was hard work! My neighbor's husband was also out of town, and she has a new baby, so I shoveled her drive for her, as well, and I was sore for several days after! Hopefully this is it, and it stays clear for the few days Jared's gone (he arrives home Thursday night).

I have to say, I'm a little jealous of Jared's trip to warm, sunny San Diego. His company recently made some structural changes and his company was basically dissolved and reabsorbed into their parent company. Jared had been doing a lot of work on one of the parent company's other side projects, though, and was offered to work with them rather than going back with the parent company (confusing enough for you?). He spent all last week thinking about it and talking to the bosses of the two entities, and decided he's going with the smaller company (called Localeze) that he's been doing most of the programming for. It was kind of a tough decision, because the parent company is very stable and extremely profitable. They're really doing well. However, Jared (and the bosses) think this smaller company he's going with is really going to take off. It also gives him more potential to move up than he had with his previous company. The nice thing is that this 'startup' company he's going with is still basically under the wing of the parent company, so should anything happen, he can still go back and work with the parent company. As his boss put it, he's in a position to get all of the rewards from a startup, without the risk. For now, he's basically doing the same job he's been doing all along, in the same office and everything. He has to travel to San Diego every now and then (this is his second trip in 6 weeks), since about half of the company's employees are located there, and the other half are here in Orem. Jared said it's likely we could transfer to San Diego if we wanted to (he should know better than to ask me that on a snow day!), but we really don't need to. The only time that would come up as a necessity would be if the parent company sells off the smaller company. We don't expect that to be for several more years in the future, at least, so for now, things are pretty much the same. Jared says the best part of it all is that it's much easier to explain what this newer company does. I asked him what they do, and he said: we help a business be found online, and we help customers find a business online. He's pretty excited for the new opportunity.

I've just been trying to keep up with the kids and the housework, squeezing in visits with friends and reading books wherever I can! I was released from my Sunbeams calling at the beginning of the year and, while I miss the kids and being in Primary, it is nice to be able to attend Relief Society and Sunday School, and get to know some of the other adults in the ward. I've been in Primary most of our married life, so it's a little bit different, but I've been enjoying it. They haven't called me to anything new yet, but I've been assured that won't last for long! I've been enjoying the slower pace of January after a somewhat crazy December. We had all of our family here, of course, with Julie and her family up, and James home, and all of Jared's family was also here. We spent a lot of time with both sides of the family, which we were really thankful for, but not much time at home! I'm making up for that, I think - between the snowstorms and Jared's trips, and the cold, I've been quite the homebody.

Audrey's doing great - she's still enjoying preschool, for the most part, though I often have to coax her quite a bit to get her going in the mornings (I know I deserve it - I was terrible about getting up for school in the mornings!). She's still into princesses/dressups/Barbies, etc. She also really enjoys drawing, coloring, and getting out messy art projects. I've been watching Food Network lately, and both of the kids love Rachael Ray. Audrey loves to get various ingredients out of the pantry, grab a few interesting utensils from the drawer, and mix it all up in her own version of a cooking show. It's fun to watch, but kind of a mess to clean up! Though she still prefers dresses, she has finally agreed to wear jeans on the really colddays. For the last two or three years, it's been dresses only (I knowI had that one coming to me, too!). I actually had to go out and buy afew pairs of jeans since none of the ones I had for her fit. It's really fun to see the world through her eyes. The other day, we were in the car and saw a herd of 6 or 8 deer in a neighbor's yard. She said, 'Uh oh, Mom, I see some deer traffic!' She's becoming quite social and most days ask me who we can have over to play with her. It's kind of a tough year for her, as most of her friends from church started Kindergarten this year and are gone every day - most of them in the afternoons. Audrey goes to preschool 3 days a week, and is gone in the mornings, so we've had to start playing with some new friends that coordinate better with her schedule. She and Adam are also great playmates, and seem to enjoy each other (when they're not fighting!).

Adam is a bundle of energy! The other day, I was talking to my dad and he asked if Adam had been a good boy - well, aside from dumping his cup of milk, pouring out a Costco-sized bag of Craisins (to use as loads for his dump trucks), poking his fingers into all 8 of the mini-loaves of banana bread I made, and squeezing toothpaste all over the carpet - yeah, he was great! That's a fairly typical day, unfortunately. I've really got to keep him busy and stay a step ahead of him or we're in trouble. He absolutely loves trucks, especially those of the construction variety (big dump trucks, backhoes, cranes, etc.). He's recently become particular about his clothing, insisting that his shirt has to have a truck on it. We've got about 4 truck shirts, so I've got to keep on top of the laundry! He loves letters and points them out any chance he gets. He also loves to count. A few weeks ago, I put him down for his nap and went back to check on him a little while later. He was still awake, just laying there in bed, counting his fingers. He doesn't seem to be too interested in potty-training yet. A few days ago, my mom was changing his diaper and asked him if he wanted to start using the potty. He told her, 'No, I love diapers! I asked Santa Claus for diapers!' (He actually asked Santa for a truck, but I guess he's forgotten). In most things, he's really quite agreeable (for a 2-year-old), and the majority of my requests are met with a sing-song 'Okay!' He does have occasional tantrums, but I think I paid most of my dues during his fussy newborn days and aggressive early toddler days. He's in a 'big-boy' bed now, and only naps about 1/2 the time. If he does take a nap, he's up until 10 pm or so, but if he doesn't, he falls asleep over dinner around 6:30. He's learning and growing and changing so fast, I can hardly believe it!

In the Kitchen with Jenny

2008-01-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

For those who asked, here are recipes and reviews for the things I've made in the past week. I didn't cook quite as much as I'd set out to, but I did try 3 new recipes. The others will have to roll over to this week's menu.

For our steaks on the grill, I used a recipe I found on Food Network's website. It's similar to a recipe I've used on chicken, but I'd never thought to use it on steak. The steaks turned out really tender and flavorful, especially considering we don't have the propane tank for our grill and we ended up cooking them inside on the George Foreman. We'll definitely be having these again!

Marinated Sirloin Steak

Recipe courtesy W. Buell 2002 for FoodTV.com's Ultimate Grilling Cook-Off Competition

beef sirloin steak, boneless, about 1 pound
1 cup lemon-lime soda
3/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon horseradish

In a large resealable bag, combine lemon-lime soda, olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic powder, and horseradish. Add steak and turn to coat. Seal and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
Drain and discard marinade. Grill steaks, covered, over medium heat for 4-6 minutes on each side.

I also tried a recipe from my sister Julie, Chicken in Lime Butter. It was really good and really easy! Again, the meat came out really tender and the lime butter was really decadent and had a great flavor. The only problem I had with this one, was that I didn't see Julie's note to cut the chicken into chunks to cook more quickly. I cooked a few tenderloins, and those went quickly, but I didn't have enough for everyone, so I did a couple of whole breasts as well. Those took a really long time to cook, and, according to Jared, who had one, still didn't cook all the way through. So, definitely do the chunks if you want a quick, easy meal! I think I'm going to try this over fish; I really think the flavors would go perfectly!

Chicken in Lime Butter

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 oz. each) – I usually use two large ones
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil (I probably wouldn’t use olive oil as the flavor might be too strong)
¼ cup butter (must use real butter)
1 Tbsp. lime juice (I use the juice of one lime)
½ tsp. dill weed
¼ tsp minced chives, optional

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, cook chicken in oil over medium heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. Remove and keep warm.

Add butter and lime juice to the skillet; cook and stir until butter is melted. Stir in dill and chives. Drizzle over chicken. Yield: 4 servings

Notes: I usually cut the chicken into chunks to cook it quicker. I also usually use a stainless steel skillet so as to brown the chicken better and to retain the little chicken bits for the butter sauce. Lastly, I wouldn’t use the bottled lime juice for this. I’d use the real thing for a better flavor.

I wanted to do something with our leftover steaks, so I found a recipe for Beef Stroganoff on Allrecipes.com. This one was highly rated, and I thought it was great (despite the fact that I had to make several substitutions - my meat was already cooked, so I cut back on the butter a bit, and just added the flour in after the onions were cooked, then added the meat, I had no worcestershire sauce, so I subbed A1, no mushrooms, so I left them out, and had to sub water and beef bouillon for the beef broth). It is pretty heavy on the basil, though, so if you're not a basil lover, you may want to cut back a bit. I am a basil lover, and I thought it was perfect! I love that it doesn't use cream of mushroom soup - made it much less gloppy.

Red River Beef Stroganoff

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine, divided
2 large onions, chopped
1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
1 teaspoon dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
1 (4.5 ounce) jar sliced mushrooms, drained
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup sour cream
cooked rice or noodles

DIRECTIONS

Dredge meat in flour. In a skillet, melt 1/4 cup butter over medium heat; saute onions until tender. Remove from pan; set aside. Melt remaining butter and brown meat on all sides. Add broth, basil, salt and pepper, mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce and onions. Cook until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Just before serving, stir in sour cream. Heat through, but do not boil. Serve immediately over rice or noodles.

That's all I cooked for dinner this week. One night, Jared had gone out for lunch with some guys from work, and wasn't hungry for dinner, so the kids and I had pancakes. One night, we brought dinner to Jared's sister Alene, who just had a baby - you'd think I'd have cooked something for her, but no, I was a bit frazzled from having friends over and trying to get out the door early enough to get dinner to them, so we just swung by Costco and picked up a rotisserie chicken, salad, rolls and Dunford donuts for them (gotta love Costco!). One night, Jared and I went out while my mom watched the kids - we went to Texas Roadhouse, and it was really good! Highly recommended - everything we tried was great! The other night, we had to pick up milk at Costco and I promised the kids we could get some pizza. Unfortunately, they were out of pizza by the time we got our groceries (it was almost closing time), so we came home and cooked a frozen pizza. The Freschetta Brick Oven ones are actually pretty good! So, now you've got some recipes, and you also know my dirty little secret - I don't cook dinner every night, not even close!

One more recipe - this is a banana bread I made this week. I really love this recipe - it's really moist and delicious, and pretty forgiving. It's also huge. I forgot I usually just make a 1/2 recipe, and I'd already started the whole recipe. I didn't have enough bananas, so I made up the difference with applesauce. I also subbed chocolate chips for nuts. It turned out great! Also, I've always used reduced-fat sour cream, I've never been brave enough to use the heavy cream, although I'm sure it's divine with it!

***Big Time Banana Bread

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
6 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 6-7 mashed by hand with a fork)
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sour cream or heavy cream
2/3 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottoms ONLY of 2 loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. Beat butter in large mixing bowl with mixer set at medium speed until light & fluffy. Add both sugars and beat well. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until well blended. Add mashed bananas and beat on high for about 30 seconds.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, & baking powder; mix until combined well. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with cream. Fold in walnuts. Pour batter evenly between the 2 loaf pans. Bake until browned and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. Remove from pan & cool completely. Slice & Serve. Serve alone, or with butter or with cream cheese.

This tastes even better the next day.

Kitchen Inspiration

2008-01-14T14:21:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have noticed that, at the bottom of the sidebar, I have a place to post my weekly menu. Some of you also may have noticed that I hadn't updated it for, oh, two months or so (the entry for "Audrey's Birthday" blew any cover I may have had). I generally enjoy cooking and trying new recipes but, for the past while, I've been in quite a rut. In my defense, for the past month or so, we haven't even eaten at home much, with holiday parties, family gatherings, and the like keeping us well-fed with minimal effort. Then, Jared spent last week in Mexico on a business trip, and since my kids tend to turn up their noses at pretty much anything I cook (Audrey is especially bad about this!), I catered more to their tastes and we dined on PB&J, macaroni and cheese, or chicken nuggets most evenings.

Well, no longer! I've actually been tuning in to Food Network and PBS cooking shows like Everyday Food and America's Test Kitchen, and I'm excited to get back in the kitchen! I've got some new ideas for dinner, and they make everything on the show look so easy to put together, that I just know it's got to be simple, right? ;)

The best part is, the kids are totally on board, too. They are both Rachael Ray fanatics. They'll sit and watch 30 Minute Meals with me, and then Audrey will head over to the kitchen table and put on her own cooking show (which generally involves pulling every utensil from the utensil drawer and using them to smash something like goldfish crackers in an Ikea bowl to smithereens). Anyway, I'm hoping that throwing around the "Rachael Ray" name might get them to try something they'd be otherwise reluctant about. Here's to hoping!

Does This Mean I'm Off the Hook?

2008-01-09T17:19:00.000-07:00

Audrey has been really into arts and crafts projects lately. The other day she asked me for the scissors. I asked her what she needed them for, and she told me she was working on something. I didn't give her the scissors (too busy at the moment to supervise her), but a while later, I came upon this:

MY CHILD WAS TRYING TO SCRAPBOOK! I don't have a crafty bone in my body, so I'm not sure where she's getting this, but I'll take it. If she wants to take over the (currently nonexistent) family scrapbooks, she's more than welcome to. All right, we might wait a few years, seeing as she didn't crop the pictures for this page (I did, for the family calendar), but she did place them, and then decorated the page. Apparently she also wanted to do something using the scissors, but I foiled those efforts. A few years of Aunt Michelle's fine tutelage, and I'll turn over the family photos to Audrey and let her go!

Like Father, Like Daughter

2008-01-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

Jared has a story he loves to tell to illustrate just how poor they were growing up. He claims they NEVER, EVER got treats when they were kids. So, they were on a family trip, driving of course, and apparently it was a Monday, because, when they stopped for gas, Jared talked his parents into buying a bag of jelly beans because they had to have a family home evening treat. Shortly after the bag was opened, the car slid off the road and into a ditch. Jelly beans went everywhere, and were trampled into the floor of the car. Jared loves to recount how, later, he went back and gathered every single jelly bean - even the ones that were smashed in the fuzzy car carpet, because he was NOT missing out on this evidently once-in-a-lifetime treat.

Well, my kids get treats a little more often than once in a lifetime - even more often than just on Monday nights. However, Audrey still gets pretty possessive of her sugar. I took the kids grocery shopping last night and bought them each a bottle of flavored milk as a treat. Audrey chose banana, and Adam chose chocolate. Adam drank his in the store, but Audrey was saving hers for this morning. When Adam saw Audrey drinking her milk this morning, he decided he wanted some, too, and went for the bottle, and tipped it, spilling some on the table. Rather than just drinking what was left in the bottle and wiping up the spill, Audrey insisted on lapping the extra from the table, and then getting a straw to finish off the job. Adam got in on the action, too:
It totally reminded me of hearing Jared tell of picking jelly beans out of the car carpet - not a one could be missed! What can I say, we're dedicated to our sweets!

Baby Steps

2008-01-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

I've always struggled with organization. For instance, we have a backpack that we use as a diaper bag. The other day, I was looking for something, and I said, "Why is this backpack such a mess?!" I had a sudden flashback to my dad saying the same thing to me (about my backpack), probably weekly, back in junior high and high school. Some things never change, I guess.

However - I am trying! Audrey had a blank snowman picture she was supposed to "decorate" and bring back to school on Monday. When I opened up our cupboard to pull out a few craft supplies, this is what happened:

Well, after that avalanche, I didn't have much of a choice, so I attacked the cupboard. This is what it looks like now:
Hey, it's organized now, even if the project was pretty much forced upon me. I also got rid of a lot of stuff, which I'm pretty proud of, because I tend to be kind of a packrat. I think the pantry is going to be my next project - I'd really hate to experience an avalanche in there!

Overheard Recently...

2007-12-31T09:10:00.000-07:00

Me: What do you want for breakfast?
Adam: Hot chocolate!
Audrey: No, Adam, you have to have something healthy for breakfast. I want cookie cereal (Cookie Crisp)!

Looks like we still need a few more lessons on nutrition, though she did save her cookie until after she had eaten lunch yesterday, all of her own accord. Of course, lunch consisted of a roll, chips, the cookie, and a slice of cheese, her cursory nod to protein. There had also been a piece of cauliflower on her plate, but she declared she didn't like it, and gave it to me (it only ended up on her plate in the first place because she touched it at the buffet table, not because she actually asked for it).

Me (to Adam): I love YOU!
Adam: I love ME!

No problems with self-esteem here!

Christmas was great! I'm planning to post a recap as soon as I get some of the pictures from my dad (I was totally lazy about taking pictures, so I have very few on my camera). We've had a crazy week, but we had a lot of fun seeing all of both of our families. The kids loved playing with cousins. We attended James's "homecoming" yesterday and it was wonderful. He did a great job on his talk, and it was so fun to see everyone.

Right now, Audrey's asking to take down Christmas decorations, and that sounds like a good idea to me!

The End of an Epoch

2007-12-23T17:52:00.000-07:00

My Junior Primary days are over, at least for now. OK, so I've only been teaching the Sunbeams for a little under two years - that hardly merits the "epoch" title - however, Adam was 6 months old when I was called to teach Sunbeams, and I had just been released as the CTR 5 teacher (a calling I had held since we had moved in the ward, so almost a year and a half) right before he was born. I was also in the Nursery in our previous ward for a year and a half or so, so that's 5 of the 7 years we've been married that I've been teaching the 18 months - 5 years age group. Pretty much all of the time that I didn't have a child under 18 months myself (and part of the time that I did!), I've been with the young'uns. So, today I was told that my contract's up, and I'm not going to be re-signed for next year. This is the first time I've been released from Primary without having a baby! Honestly, I thought it would be a huge relief - and in some ways it definitely is - but I really think I'm going to miss teaching Primary. I know that Primary 1 manual like the back of my hand. Not to mention, Sunday School's going to be a lot less entertaining than Sister Carter's Singing Time! I had a really lively group of little girls this year who always kept things interesting and were a lot of fun to teach. I'll really miss them, but I just tell myself, I would have lost them anyway and gotten a new group at the new year. Better to be released now before I have another really fun group of kids to miss!

On the flip side, maybe I won't feel quite so wiped out after church on Sundays. These last few weeks have been rough - Jared goes to church at 9 for choir, comes back to pick us up at 10:50 to head over to church (so I'm getting everyone ready myself, plus generally gathering things up for my lesson, though I should have been doing that earlier in the week!), we go to church, and then I head home with the kids while Jared sticks around for tithing settlement. He's been getting home around 6:00, so naps (if we're lucky!), lunch, afternoon entertainment - it's all me. Don't get me wrong, I know others have it much worse, but for me, it'll be much more manageable without the pre-church lesson frenzy and the post-church exhaustion and headache. Who knows, though, maybe it's not the Sunbeams that induce headaches and exhaustion, maybe it's just church. I guess I'll find out!

Together Again

2007-12-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

Friday was a big day! First of all, my brother James came home from his two-year mission to Paraguay! We were so excited to see him - we went with my mom and dad and picked him up from the airport. We were all supposed to wear Santa hats and shake jingle bells when we saw him, but that plan was a little bit foiled since he was taking longer than we thought he would, so I went off to see what was going on at baggage claim (just to see if the bags were out from his flight yet). In the meantime, of course, the minute I walk away is the minute he comes around the corner. Mom ran to get me to tell me he was here, and by the time we got back to him, he'd already hugged Dad and all his buddies who came to see him at the airport! James was tired after a 20 hour trip and seemed a little dazed to be back in his "previous life," but we had a lot of fun visiting and catching up. I look forward to hearing more about his mission experiences over the next few weeks (and especially in his homecoming talk next Sunday). Not to be outdone by James's triumphant homecoming, my sister Michelle had her baby on Friday, as well! ;) Elizabeth Joy (they plan to call her Libby) was born at 12:03 p.m. and weighed in at 8 lbs., 7 oz. She has dark hair and is adorable and sweet. I went and saw them at the hospital yesterday. Michelle looks really good and seems to be doing great. My sister Julie and her family also got into town late Friday night, and they came over yesterday, and the cousins (Adam, Audrey and Jacob) had a great time playing together for a couple of hours. Friday was seriously the day of arrivals - Jared's sister Mareena and her family and his brother Paul also got into town on Friday. We're excited to see them at a party GG (Jared's grandmother) is hosting tonight.

On a different note, I'm wondering if maybe my kids are watching a bit too much television lately. I was cleaning the bathrooms yesterday, using my Clorox toilet wand (love it, by the way). Audrey comes in and says, "You have the wand!? Wow, that cleans better than ever before!" Later she tells me: "I saw that on wand on the television. Do you have the little case it goes in, too?" This morning, Audrey declares: "Tonight, I'm going to spring from my bed to see what was the matter." She's getting really excited about Christmas. She kept asking when it was going to be Christmas, so last week, we made a paper chain. She gets really into taking one link off each day, especially because we wrote on each link a fun activity we would do that day. It's been really fun, and we've finally gotten our gingerbread house decorated, we slept under the Christmas tree, watched a Christmas movie, have most of our shopping and baking done, and have gone to see Christmas lights. I kind of doubt we would have done all that without the proclamation from The Chain (and subsequent "reminders" from Audrey), so that's been lots of fun AND productive at the same time. Best of all, I don't hear "How long until Christmas?" anymore - Audrey can just go count the links if she's wondering!

Hallelujah!

2007-12-10T20:59:00.000-07:00

(These pictures really don't have anything to do with the post. They're just a couple of pictures from our Arizona trip that I decided to post because I've had so many entries without pictures and I'm worried that I'm starting to become boring without pics! They sort of go along, though, when you consider the whole post is pretty random, and these are, too.)

We went to a Stake Christmas Music Fireside last night, and the kids are now enamored with the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. It's so cute to hear it, especially out of little Adam. He has quite the ear for music, I think. There was some orchestral accompaniment to some of the musical numbers last night, and at the beginning of one, he cries out "Trumpet!" It was indeed a trumpet playing. I do need to give credit where credit is due, though - the "Trumpet!" cry was quickly followed by, "Like Quincy!" (a character on the Little Einsteins TV show who plays the trumpet). The trumpet thing wasn't a total fluke though, like I thought it might have been - later, he called out "Flute!" and that was a positive ID, too. Glad to know the television may not be totally rotting my children's brains.

Hallelujah! is also because the Christmas calendars are very nearly done! Just a couple more pictures to be printed that didn't come out right the first time around, then off to the copy center to have them copied and bound. I'm hoping to get it all done tomorrow. This is just for my side, though. If any of you Smiths want to see a calendar, you'd better get me some pictures (thank you, Josh and Alisa, for the pictures you sent!).

I can't believe Christmas is in 2 short weeks. I've had a hard time getting in the "spirit" this year, but I'm trying. I've really enjoyed the holiday gatherings I've been able to attend so far (Primary Teacher Appreciation Dinner, girls' party, family dinner on Sunday) and look forward to a few more. I really can't wait for the 21st when family starts arriving from out of town. I will have ALL members of BOTH sides of immediate family (i.e., Jared's parents and all of his siblings and my parents and all of my siblings). So, lots of family time ahead. I'm looking forward to it!

Scatterbrain

2007-12-05T15:04:00.000-07:00

No surprise, that's me I'm talking about. Jared left for San Diego last night, and Audrey always has a really hard time when he has to go (not that he travels all that often - this is probably his 3rd or 4th business trip this year). We were talking about some of the fun things we could do while he's gone to make the time go faster. One of the highlights was Polar Express Day at school, where they get to wear their jammies, have a special treat, do a craft, and I think even watch part of the movie. She was really excited, and this morning picked out her favorite nightgown to change into for Polar Express Day. We got her all dressed, and when we got to school, I noticed the other kids were in regular clothes. Sure enough, Polar Express Day is FRIDAY. Poor Audrey almost started crying, so I asked her if she wanted to go home and change clothes. She said no, she'd wear her nightgown - she was just sad because she missed her dad. I feel bad for getting her all geared up for something fun, and then letting her down like that. Oh well, I guess we get to do it all over again on Friday!

That aside, I did have a rather productive morning. I took Adam in to the doctor, and he does have an ear infection, as I suspected, in fact he has two ear infections. He's just been complaining about his right ear, but the doctor first looked in Adam's left ear and said, "Oh, is this the sore ear? It looks pretty swollen and red." I told him, no, it was actually the right ear that Adam had been pulling on and pointing to. He looked in the left ear and said, "Whoa, I'll say that's infected! On a scale of 1-10, the right was a 6 or 7, and the left is definitely a 10!" So, we left with a prescription for amoxicillin and an admonition to give that boy some Tylenol or Motrin. Of course, I haven't filled the prescription OR given him any painkillers yet, and he's acting like everything's fine (aside from a 3+ hour nap). He's a pretty tough kid. After the doctor (complete with a lollipop bribe and a few minutes spent "riding the bus" - the doctor's office has this bus toy Adam absolutely LOVES), we headed over to Target where I got the last couple of things I needed to be DONE Christmas shopping for Audrey! Jared and I decided to cut back a little this year, so each child is just getting a big toy, a smaller toy, a movie, and a book or a game, and then their stocking. I LOVE it!! It's made shopping so much simpler. At first I was kind of sad because I really love spoiling the kids at Christmas, and the little list of gifts seemed so paltry, but I realized a couple of things. First of all, Christmas isn't about the presents, and I don't want to teach my kids that it is. Secondly, most Christmas mornings, after they've opened the first couple of things, they just want to play with those, rather than spending all morning opening. I know Audrey's going to be thrilled with the things we've gotten for her, and she won't even miss the other things we ended up not getting this year. Now, onto Adam. I don't know why, but I find it so much harder to shop for him! I've got his movie and his small toy, but I still need a big toy and a book or a game. Any suggestions?

Audrey Funny

2007-12-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago, Jared and the kids were sharing a pack of Skittles (yes, we STILL have Halloween candy!). 5 or 10 minutes after they'd finished the pack, Audrey found an errant Skittle on the floor. She was pretty triumphant over her find, so Adam started whining and carrying on about wanting a Skittle, too. Audrey told him, "Adam, there's only one, but it's ok, I can tell you what it tastes like!" So, I've struck on a new diet secret. Rather than eating all that yummy junk food, I'll just have Audrey eat it and tell me what it tastes like, since apparently that's just as good!

On the Go / Blog-Slacker

2007-11-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in ages! In my defense, I only got on the computer twice in Arizona, and each time was just to quickly check emails to get phone numbers/directions from people in Arizona before the computer was quickly re-commandeered by my dad. Not much of a defense, since I have been back 4 days now, but I feel like I've been busy just trying to recover. Monday, I was around but stayed pretty low-key, as we had driven all night the night before (seriously - we left at 8:30 pm Sunday night and pulled in around 6:00 am. Jared was a total trooper and got up for work at 8:30, after driving all night. I slept in until the kids woke up, around 9:15 or so, and then lazed around most of the day, although I did get the car pretty much unpacked). Tuesday was spent getting my washing machine fixed (hooray!) and running errands, since we were out of most of the basics. Also enjoyed a nice Target run with my friend Traci. Need to get back there without the kids to round out some Christmas shopping - they had some great bargains on toys this week! Wednesday was when I finally tackled the housework - picking up clutter and odds and ends, got the suitcases totally unpacked and back to the basement, plowed through my piles of laundry, and did some kitchen and bathroom cleaning. Great fun for all. Thursday was another shopping day spent with Traci. We went to Steve & Barry's, a great new store in SLC. Lots of cute, cheap goodies. Unfortunately, we found most things weren't a great fit. I did end up with a pair of jeans and a shirt and a few things for the kids, though, so it was a successful trip, topped off by lunch at the Paradise Bakery. Dessert was the highlight here, with cookies and brownies to die for. We had to rush back to get the kids from school, and I ended up at Traci's for the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening, as I am wont to do. I did a little more shopping for the kids at the Store of Traci, picked up a couple of books at the Library of Traci - it was great! Came home and got caught up on my shows, and that brings us to Friday. Not sure yet what the day holds for us beyond school for Audrey - perhaps another jaunt to SLC to see my mom? Stay tuned for more adventures from the Smith household (including an Arizona trip recap!)...

Truly, the Timing is Impeccable

2007-11-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me will probably not be surprised to hear that I got a bit behind in my laundry. No biggie, right, I can get caught up with a big marathon laundry session - nothing new to me. I decided to get a jump start on it yesterday, so I threw in a load of darks in the morning, all's well. We were gone most of the day, and when we got home, I decided to do a load of whites, and I planned to tackle everything else Monday. I go to start the machine - it makes the noise - but no water comes out. I switch the temperature to "hot" - I have water! Back to "cold" - again, nothing. I can't run the load with hot water because all of my rinse cycles are cold water only (besides, I'm a little bit anal about my laundry and wash everything except for whites in cold to prevent fading. The thought of washing all my colored clothes in hot water makes me shudder a bit, though I'd probably do it in a dire emergency, if I had the option, which I don't). Jared took a look at the washer and figures he either needs a part or to have it looked at by a professional. Unfortunately, I'm not at all certain that this will be accomplished on Monday, but we're planning to leave for Arizona on Tuesday! If the washer had broken earlier on Saturday, at least I could have gotten ahold of the warranty center then, and I'd know if they'd be out to fix it Monday or not. As it is, I'm in laundry limbo. A non-functioning washing machine, mounds of laundry, and a trip in two days. This sounds like some sort of a brain-teaser...

Five-Alarm

2007-11-18T14:29:00.000-07:00

So, on the recommendation of several people, I tried a burrito from Chipotle last night. As I told Jared, I'm never doing that again! I wanted to get a carnitas burrito, but they were all out of that. I wasn't aware of that until I was up at the counter, ordering, so I had to make a game-time decision. I surveyed the meats available. The chicken and the barbacoa beef looked a little dry, while the steak looked nice and juicy, cooked to a perfect medium-rare. It was a no-brainer, or so I thought. I definitely underestimated the "spicy" in the description of the steak. The girl probably thought I was crazy asking for mild salsa to top that burrito - because there was nothing else mild about it! I must admit, I'm kind of known for being a wimp when it comes to spice. I stick to mild salsa, for the most part. My sister-in-law once made some enchiladas which she claimed to have toned down for her 2-year-old, but I still found them plenty hot. So, I wasn't all that surprised to find that, to me, the Chipotle steak burrito was spicy, even uncomfortably spicy. I don't know why people like to eat spicy food - I feel like the heat masks all the other wonderful flavors. I'd much rather taste the meat, rice, beans, cheese, fresh salsa, sour cream, and tortilla than just the chilis the meat was cooked in! Anyhow, it was spicy, but I was hungry, and I had heard rave reviews, so I kept eating. Big mistake. I figured the overall spiciness I was tasting was as bad as it was going to get. I was wrong. About halfway through the burrito, I got a chili or something that was hot. Extremely hot. Nose running, mouth burning, bitter taste, tongue on fire hot. I was gagging and drinking and just trying to get it to go away. It did, about 20 minutes later. It was easily the hottest thing I had ever eaten, and I don't care to repeat that experience ever again. That is why this was both my first and last experience with Chipotle. So much for a glowing review! ;)

BIG Bummer!

2007-11-17T11:26:00.000-07:00

I went to copy a few pics off my camera to put in my most recent post (and also get the birthday party pictures off my camera) - and all my pictures are GONE! I guess there was some problem with the memory card, and my pictures are now lost! I am so sad! I do have all of my pictures up to Halloween, but all the ones of Audrey's birthday are gone, and so are the ones I took of our fun Girls' night to the Hillcrest musical. Argh, I just feel sick! Anyway, I can get the pics my mom took of the birthday party, at least (thank goodness for moms!), but I guess I will just have to do without a pictorial record of the other night. So sad!

Update from Jared - apparently the card is broken and useless. Luckily, we have a new memory card laying in wait. Unfortunately, it is only 32MB, whereas my old card was 1GB. My new one holds only 64 pictures. Ugh.

Girls' Night Out

2007-11-17T10:34:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Audrey and I went with my mom to my alma-mater high school's musical - this year it was Beauty and the Beast. We had a really great time, and I know Audrey felt special to be going out with "the girls". The show was really great - the scenery and costumes were particularly spectacular. I was surprised how well Audrey sat and paid attention - the show was about 2 1/2 hours long and, while she did get a little wiggly and restless during the second act, she was quiet and sat through the whole thing (on laps, of course, so she could see). After it was over, she couldn't stop speaking in superlatives - it was her "favorite play ever!" and Belle's dress at the end was "the prettiest in the whole world." She also declared it "the best night ever!" So - success. Because the play didn't end until 9:30 or so, we planned to stay overnight and then spend Friday with my mom, since that's her day off. Since we were staying overnight, I had to bring Adam with me as well, and Grandpa Larry was the designated babysitter. He did great! He took Adam for a ride in his truck (which Adam absolutely loves!) to the mall (how cute is that?!), and then to McDonald's for both cookies AND an ice cream sundae. Is he spoiled, or what?! Grandpa did his job well, though, as Adam was fast asleep on the couch when we got home (imagine an adorable picture of Adam sleeping on the couch here).

Thanks to Mom and Dad for a wonderful time! We all loved it! In other news - I'm on Day 6 of sugar-free, and I'm doing ok. There have been a few hard moments, but I'm pushing through. I'm surprised how much more energy I feel like I have. That was one of my main goals with this, so I'm happy with that. Fruit and sugarless gum have become my best friends! I'm definitely looking forward to Thanksgiving. Julie has promised me some Raspberry M&Ms. I really do miss chocolate!

Jared and I were able to go out last night - we went to Pier 49 pizza (very good!) and then saw Dan In Real Life. We both really liked the movie and laughed quite a bit. We both tend to be kind of picky about movies, but this one was just the kind I was in the mood for - funny and light, but with a bit of a message. Jared then went to play football this morning with the Elders' Quorum (who won this year - they play against the Priests), and hopefully will get the Christmas lights hung before we leave to go to cousin David's birthday party. I've got to finish up on my Sharing Time, too, so we've got a full day ahead of us!

I'm a Good Mom, I Promise!

2007-11-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

Just in case you're thinking I forgot that my firstborn turned 5 three days ago (since I haven't posted any kind of a birthday/party/photo update!) - I haven't! I've just had a delay in getting the pictures I want to post. I really hate posting without photos, so I'm waiting on those. Watch for the recap in the next couple of days.

Kickin' My Addiction

2007-11-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

Honestly, I am horrified by the amount of sugar I've been ingesting since Halloween (well, actually since they put the Halloween candy out in the stores, which is more like August). It's gotten really bad, so I decided I'm going to need to quit cold-turkey. Because I'm not a total masochist, I'm just doing it until Thanksgiving - 10 long days. I'm about 48 hours in and so far, so good. I almost caved when I got in the car - I saw that bag of Peanut Butter M&M's and almost grabbed some - but I remembered at the last second that they're not allowed. Jared will attest to the fact that I have been a little more crabby than usual, however. So, ask me how I'm doing! I need the accountability!

The Storm Before the Calm

2007-11-10T00:59:00.001-07:00

At least, I'm hoping that's what this is. This week has been crazy as I've been trying to prepare for Audrey's 5th birthday (and ensuing parties and school celebrations), the Primary Sacrament Meeting Program, and our class's Primary Sharing Time (that will be next week, but we're putting it together and practicing in class this week, so I've got to have it ready). Being the procrastinator that I'm convinced I must have been born to be, I left most of the preparations for the birthday party (which will be held tomorrow) until today. I had a master plan, though, and it was all going to get taken care of, no sweat. All was going great, I got up early and made Audrey's treats to take to school, got us all dressed and ready (my plan necessitated leaving for our errands immediately after dropping Audrey off at school, otherwise, there wouldn't be time to squeeze everything in!), and then, of course, today, of all days, my car keys are nowhere to be found. Adam has a rather nasty habit of wandering off with the keys, so I wasn't all that surprised that they weren't in the basket where they belong. However, once I checked all of his usual haunts (he often takes the keys to put in the ignition of his toy car, and occasionally takes them out to my car to "play"), and still no keys, I began to get concerned. We don't have a spare set of car keys, and I didn't have extra time to be wasting, looking for the keys. I seriously turned the house upside down looking for those keys. I called Jared in hysterics, wondering if he had seen them, and what I should do if I couldn't find them. Luckily, my wonderful sister Michelle came to the rescue and drove out to my house to take me on my errands. She met me on the way to walk Audrey to school, drove us the rest of the way and took me back home. Since there was only about an hour left of school by that point (yes, I searched for nearly TWO HOURS before I was willing to admit defeat!), we headed back home and she helped me get things back in order (the house was a disaster, and I only made it worse pulling everything apart looking for those keys). By the time we went to pick up Audrey at 11:30, the house had been restored to a general sort of order, and I was feeling much better about things. Shells was a doll and took us to the dollar store, Target, quick stop by Wendy's to grab lunch, Costco, and the library. With three cranky kids in tow. She is seriously my hero today! I tried to even the score by buying her lunch and loaning her my baby swing, bouncer, and a big tub of 0-3 month girl clothes, but I still think she comes out ahead! Irony of ironies, as she was pulling away from my house, I spotted my keys - outside in the flower bed. Adam strikes again!

I expect tomorrow (the birthday and the party, not to mention our Sacrament Meeting program practice) to be crazy, along with Sunday (Sacrament Meeting program and family birthday party), but after that, I'm thinking I deserve my calm! At least until Thanksgiving...

Civic Duty

2007-11-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

So, I know the elections are over and all, but I'm still thinking about it. I guess I'm just bummed this year because, out of the 5 things I had to vote on this year (Referendum 1, City Mayor, and 3 City Council seats), just 2 of them went the way I voted - 2 of the City Council seats (and actually, I was voting against more than for in that election, so I really only cared that 2 weren't elected and 1 of the 2 was). I thought the outcome of Referendum 1 wouldn't really bother me, since I don't intend to send my children to private school (we have a really good charter school in our area I'm hoping they get into), so it wouldn't impact me monetarily. I was still pretty disappointed that it was defeated, and especially with the margin by which it was defeated. I don't think it was going to solve all the issues that exist within the public school system or anything, but I do feel like it was a step in the right direction as far as promoting choice and introducing some competition into the educational system, which would then serve to improve all schools, both public and private. Ah well, at least it got people thinking more about education and hopefully will pave the way for other new ideas.

Lindon City also elected a new mayor this year. We had a good friend and neighbor who ran, and he had some really good, new, fresh ideas. He lost, and the fellow who won seems to be very much a "maintain the status quo" kind of guy. Things aren't bad in our city by any means, so we don't need a lot of change, but I had gotten excited about a lot of Ben's ideas, and I'm bummed that I won't get to see them come to fruition (at least this term!). He's the one who kind of mobilized the neighborhood and really pushed the city to get moving on the park that's now in our neighborhood. I think he would have done a great job as mayor, but he is young and does lack significant political experience, so I can see how those who don't know him may have been reluctant to vote for him. He ran a great campaign, though, and I hope he runs again in a couple of years.

I've just realized - I think I'm disappointed because, despite the elections, everything is as it was before. All the city offices that were elected were retained by imcumbents. A new law that could have had a great impact on the public school system was essentially overturned. I guess it's just the minority, even within the subset of people who actually take the time to vote, who wanted to see some change, to see if things could become better. As I've said, it's not really that big of a deal, because things aren't bad. However, I was intrigued by some of the new ideas presented, and would have loved to have seen some of them put into action. Maybe next time.

I'm tempted to think my vote doesn't really matter (and in Utah, and especially Utah County, it often seems like that's the case!) but I always remember my college roommate telling me the same thing - she wasn't going to bother to send in her absentee ballot, because her vote wouldn't really make a difference. This was in 2000, the year of the Bush/Gore election, and she was a Florida resident. Since then, I figure, you've got to vote, because your vote may really make a difference, and sometimes you don't even know it.

Sugar High

2007-11-01T14:19:00.000-06:00

That would be me, not the kids. Although, let's be honest, they're probably both on one as well. We had a really fun Halloween. Audrey was so excited to wear her Belle costume - she'd been waiting for months. Adam was not so enthused to don the Beast costume (basically, the same lion costume that Audrey refused to wear the year she was 2, dressed up with a navy blazer to coordinate with Audrey's Belle costume - it was actually quite cute!). So, as we had to do the year Audrey refused to wear the costume, we came up with the most costume-like thing he was willing to wear, which ended up being his Lightning McQueen "Cars" pajamas. I've officially sworn off planning out costumes. What can I say, we're more "go with the flow" kind of people.

His lack of a true costume didn't impede the candy haul, however. Here's the proof:
That's just Adam's stash. Audrey actually got a bit more (it took Adam a little while to catch the whole trunk or treat vision). He put it all in that dish himself, too. Funny kid.

Audrey was so excited to dress up as Belle, it actually started the night before as we were watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" - I put her hair up in sponge rollers to get that curly princess look.Here's the after - Audrey in her costume, ready for her school party. As you can tell, her hair doesn't hold a curl all that well:

After school, Michelle and Maddy came over and we made Mummy Pizzas for lunch:

We had trunk or treat over at the church, then headed up to Grandma Jane and Grandpa Larry's to do a little old-fashioned trick or treating (not much of that goes on in our neighborhood due to the trunk or treat). The kids absolutely loved it! They ran from house to house, squabbled over whose turn it was to ring the doorbell, and gleefully announced "Trick or treat!" and "Thank you!" at each house. There were a few homes that were really decked out with decorations and the kids got a kick out of that. I wore my pirate costume and was even offered treats at a few houses myself. I resisted all except the king-size Snickers from LaRae Rasmussen - she offered a treat to me, and I just felt like I was my 10-year-old self again! Good times! The kids really had a ball - they are at such fun ages to do this stuff. As Audrey declared several times while trick-or-treating, "I just love Halloween!"

Accident-Prone

2007-10-29T22:41:00.000-06:00

That's my Adam! The nasty bruise on his cheek (from pulling on the vacuum cleaner, causing the handle to whack him in the face) had almost disappeared, and I guess he was feeling a little lost without a facial injury, so he went over the arm of the couch and landed on a little toy house of Audrey's. Much screaming and blood ensued, and we spent a tense hour or so debating whether to take him to the ER or Instacare to be stitched up - he had a gash in his right eyebrow, and another on his cheekbone, just below his right eye, along with a big goose-egg/bruise from hitting the wood floor. Jared talked me out of it, told me Adam would be fine, and that all little boys need a "battle wound" or two. I'm still second-guessing the decision (I don't want my little boy's precious little face to be scarred forever!), but it did look better when he woke up this morning. Still, it's nasty enough that we considered switching from a Beast Halloween costume to a Frankenstein Halloween costume!

Scarecrows, Pumpkins and Witches (Oh My!)

2007-10-21T15:37:00.000-06:00

**Disclaimer - I started writing this post a week ago and didn't get it finished! So, all the days I'm talking about were actually last week, not this past week!**

We spent this week going on all sorts of fun Fall outings. Good thing, too, since it seems Winter is here now - we got a good 3-4" of snow last night (10/20)(luckily it didn't really stick to the pavement, so we didn't have any problems getting to church this morning).

On Monday(10/15), we went with Lyndell and her kids to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point. It was kind of crazy, but the kids seemed to have a great time. They had a bunch of those inflatable jumping things, a kiddy haunted house, and Adam's personal favorite, a little train ride. They had a neat little play area just for kids 2 and under, but since Adam was the only one who fit that description (well, Lyndell's little girl Brooklynn is under 2 as well, but at 6 months, was still a bit young for the play area!), it wasn't a major draw. We had absolutely gorgeous weather that day, though, and it was just nice to be out and doing something fun.

Audrey and Sara are a little nervous to go in the Haunted House (for probably the 6th time!)

Adam and Sara jumping (Adam mostly liked to hang on to the net and "swing" on it!)

Audrey and Adam on a little teeter-totter

Adam's thrilled with his "wheels"!

Audrey, Adam, Sara, and Bree on the train (Rylan is in the row behind them - along with Michelle's sister-in-law, Ali, and her two boys, Eoughan and Ethan - small world!)

Wednesday(10/17) dawned cold and windy - but that was the day for the preschool pumpkin patch field trip, so we braved the elements and went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point. There were actually quite a few fun things for the kids to do, but the cold weather made the kids a little less enthusiastic than I think they would have otherwise been. It was pretty much "Quick, ride the cow train, now play in the play area for a couple of minutes, ok, let's go on the hayride so we can pick out our pumpkin and GO!" I wish I'd remembered how windy it always is at Thanksgiving Point - we had jackets, but hats and gloves would have helped a lot. Still, the kids were troopers and didn't really complain at all (can't say the same for myself!) I know Miss Misti was kind of bummed, because she originally had the field trip scheduled for Friday (which was a beautiful day), but then the Cornbelly's people asked her to switch to Wednesday. We still had fun, though, and it was just a not-so-gentle reminder that Winter is coming - we have to enjoy the nice days while we still have them!

Audrey riding the Cow Train

Adam driving the tractor

Audrey at the cute little play store

On the hayride

It got so cold, this is what we resorted to - Audrey in my spare sweatshirt!

Friday(10/19), the kids and I met Michelle, Maddy and Mom up at Gardner Historic Village to check out the witch display. It was really fun to see all the different witches - some of our favorites were the bicycling witch (suspended in the air), the baseball-playing witches, the fishing witch, and the hula hoop-ing witch. The kids just loved being outside, watching the ducks on the pond, and playing on the bridge. We did check out the toy shop (where Grandma was generous and bought each of the girls a princess hat!), and there was no way this sweet tooth was missing out on the candy shop! We ended up with some unique-flavor taffy (the cinnamon roll was fantastic, and the pumpkin pie was pretty good, too!) and some very decadent s'mores fudge.Maddy, Audrey and Adam - a decent picture of all three kiddos looking at the camera and smiling?! That's unheard of! Of course, it only took about 7 shots to get this one good one!

The bicycling witch - Audrey thought this one was the "Wizard of Oz" witch

Audrey with her friend, the witch

I tried to set Adam on the bench next to the witch to get the same shot of him that I did of Audrey, above. He very calmly slid off the bench, and quietly backed away, all the time giving that witch a wary look.

Audrey in her princess hat, but acting decidedly un-princesslike

All in all, we've had a very festive week, and if we don't do anything beyond the obligatory Halloween activities (school party, ward party, and trick or treating, all on Halloween) I still feel pretty good about all we've been able to do to celebrate Fall! I would like to get the kids to another pumpkin patch for photo ops, though, since we weren't doing much picture-taking in the freezing weather on Wednesday!

Sunday Dinner

2007-10-16T09:25:00.000-06:00

With Jarom and Cindy in town, we decided to have a family dinner on Sunday at Jared's parents' house. Lots of good food, and lots of fun. We got to see GG and Granddad (who recently moved in with Jared's parents, from Indiana. Audrey absolutely loves their cat, and can't wait to go back and visit again. We had fun visiting while the kids all played. We found some old family pictures that were so much fun to look through and hear the siblings reminisce. We even found a few of Jared and me from our dating years. I think Jared's planning to scan all the pics, and then maybe I'll post some. Here are some of the pictures we took Sunday night:

Sara, Audrey, Clarissa, David (sorry I didnt get a better shot of his face!) and Abby waiting for the grandfather clock to chime

The boys (Jared, Josh and Jarom) were equally enthralled with the clock (and the subsequent discussion of Stratego)

Cindy, Jarom and Carl

Adam, with Cindy and Jarom in the background

Dad, Abby, David, Alisa, Clarissa, Alene, Mom

Alisa, Cindy, Clarissa, Me, Noah, Carl, Josh, Jarom, Dad, Mom

Hmm. As you can see, both Jared's and my photography skills (we each took some of these pictures) leave something to be desired. I think I'd also do well to get myself a nice copy of Photoshop, then I could fix red eyes, crop, and hopefully generally make myself look like a bit better of a photographer than I actually am. Oh well, the important thing is that we had fun, right?!

Family Fun

2007-10-15T09:54:00.000-06:00

Jarom, Cindy and Abby were in town this weekend for Jarom to go to a conference, so we had lots of fun visiting with the Smiths, since 5 of the 6 siblings were in town. The cousins all play really well together and had a great time! We were going to go to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point, but, due to inclement weather, we ended up at the playplace at Carl's Jr. The kids were none the wiser, though, and we were there for a good 2 hours or so before we decided to head home for naps.

Princess Audrey (the tiara is a semi-permanent fixture - the cashier at Walmart asked her if she found a Prince while she was shopping. She also wore it to church on Sunday.)

Adam enjoying a chicken star (something about star-shaped chicken just strikes me as odd, but he seemed to enjoy them, so all right!)

Cute Clarissa with her orange juice

Got My Runnin' Shoes On

2007-10-10T14:06:00.000-06:00

After a nearly 2 month hiatus, I'm back! I started running earlier this summer, but took some time off due to both busy-ness and laziness (how's that for an interesting juxtaposition?). I've been walking Audrey to school 3 times a week, so I'm getting some exercise in there, but haven't gone this week - Monday she was sick and today I was watching a neighbor's little girl. I've been scared to go back out running because I was sure I'd be starting from scratch, as far as fitness goes (since I'd gone so long without running). The lack of any other exercise this week, combined with some shaming from a friend in the ward who asks me if I'm still running whenever I see her (and I saw her yesterday) gave me the much-needed kick in the pants to get back out there. I loved it! I wasn't nearly as out of shape as I thought I would be, and was pretty much able to do my entire regular route. Admittedly, I did feel like I was going to die from a nasty sideache much of the time, but I kept going! I actually think I did better on the hills, probably because I tackle some pretty steep hills when I walk home from dropping Audrey off at school.

Just to set things straight, I use the term "running" loosely. Don't even bother to ask about my pace, or my mileage. It would probably be more accurate to say "jogging," but I like to think of myself as a runner, even if I'm not yet all that good at it. I'm working on it, and enjoying myself along the way! I'm surprised how good it makes me feel when I'm out there, pushing myself to work harder and enjoying the beautiful morning. It's good to be back!

Adam Makes a Sandwich

2007-10-08T13:52:00.000-06:00

I'm not claiming he's the next Emeril or anything, but this is what I found when I got up from writing my last blog post:

Intent on spreading the jam just right

"How else do you clean off the knife?"

Truly, a masterpiece

Enjoying the fruits of his labors

What a big boy!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

2007-10-08T13:03:00.000-06:00

After two weekends in a row of shirking my motherly duties and leaving most of the parenting to Jared in order to spend time with friends and family I don't often get to see, I've had my rude awakening - though I can forget, at times, that I'm the mother of two, the fact remains, that I am a mother of two. That generally involves doing motherly things, like taking care of sick children. Audrey threw up this morning. Those of you who know me at all, know that this is no small thing for me. Jared was around to help with the initial cleanup (which, honestly, wasn't THAT bad), but then he left for work, leaving me alone here, in charge of any future cleanups. Luckily, it seems to have been an isolated incident. She's feeling better, has an appetite and energy, so I'm thanking my lucky stars, and hoping she continues to feel better and no one else gets sick. Still, nothing like a sick little girl to take care of to remind you that Mom is an important job!

Weekend Update

2007-10-08T08:10:00.000-06:00

I had a great weekend, with a visit from my college friend Rochelle and her friend Linda, who came all the way from Washington to attend a session of General Conference at the Conference Center. We had a great time visiting some of their favorite Utah places (Cafe Rio, Pudding on the Rice and Shopko) on Friday and seeing some favorite Utah friends (the Webers) on Saturday. Saturday morning, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of waffles with buttermilk and/or apple cider syrup, fresh whipped cream, and a variety of fruit. I'm thinking I'll be catching up on the Saturday AM session in the Ensign as, between eating breakfast, visiting a bit, and wrangling the kids, the bit of Conference I managed to sit and watch went amazingly fast! Saturday afternoon was a little quieter, as it was just our family (that was the session Rochelle and Linda went to see), and it was in the middle of Adam's naptime. I really loved Elder Wirthlin's talk, both for the message he gave, and for the sacrifice he made to make sure his message was delivered. It made me sit up and listen a little more intently to the rest of conference, knowing how important it was to the speakers to be able to give their messages. Saturday night was fun; we played Tarot (a French card game, not the evil cards) and Settlers until the wee hours of the morning. Sunday was fun, though more low-key, with Conference and visiting until Rochelle and Linda had to leave for Boise. The weekend was a success, filled with good friends and good food - who could ask for more?!

Audrey, Brett, Rochelle, Matt and Jensco after the Saturday AM session

The gorgeous flowers Rochelle and Linda gave me to thank me for "letting" them stay here - as though their company wasn't thank you enough! ;)

Delectable New Delight

2007-10-07T19:53:00.000-06:00

So, this is what it's come to. My life is officially so boring that I'm reduced to blogging about food. Well, either my life is boring, or food is just THAT important to me. Actually, that must be it, since, really, my weekend wasn't all that boring. Well, regardless, I just felt that I needed to share this tasty confection with all my faithful readers. Found at Walmart, for a mere 50c/bar, it's the all-new Reese's Whipps. I have to be honest here and admit that Reese's Peanut Butter Cups don't rank all that high on my list of favorite foods. They wouldn't even make a list of my favorite candy bars (and I'm not generally a candy bar fan, either). They're ok, but they don't call to me, or anything. So, had I not been at Wal-Mart with my good friend Rochelle, chances are, I would have passed right by the Reese's Whipps with nary a second glance. Thankfully, Rochelle was with me (all the way from Washington!) and decided to pick one up for her boyfriend, Paul. She described him as a "connoisseur of chocolate." Well, not to be outdone by this enigmatic Paul, I myself picked up a Reese's Whipps. I'm still trying to decide if this was wise or not. On the one hand, I have found a new treat that I thoroughly enjoy. On the other hand, I've found a new treat that I thoroughly enjoy. Being a self-proclaimed sugar-addict, finding a new fix probably wasn't really necessary. Ah well - try one for yourself and let me know what you think! It's a cross between a Reese's peanut butter cup (as in it has Reese's peanut butter and chocolate) and a 3 musketeers (with a light, whipped peanut butter filling, instead of the dryish, greasy filling of a peanut butter cup. Heavenly! As the wrapper proudly proclaims, it has 40% less fat than the average leading chocolate candy bar. Please don't take that as an indication that this is health food - it's just not as bad junk food. Doesn't mean much for me, since I wouldn't likely be eating the average leading chocolate candy bar, yet another Whipps is already calling my name. I feel that I must add - this bar is rich. Definitely a good one to share, and have a glass of water handy!

Picture Pages

2007-10-04T08:14:00.000-06:00

My sister recently told me she thought blogs without pictures were boring. Well, heaven forbid I bore all of you anonymous yet devoted readers out there, so, with no further ado, I bring you PICTURES!

Me with my newest nephew, Eric

Cute brothers! Eric and Jacob, ready for church

Jacob as a pirate

Jacob dressing up

Me, Julie and Eric

This isn't from my Phoenix trip, but I threw it in because I thought Adam looked cute.

I had a great trip to Phoenix - I just wish I had gotten more pictures! We had kind of a "photo shoot" on my last day there after I realized I had hardly taken any the whole trip. Unfortunately, I didn't get any of me with the friends I was able to visit while I was there. Oh well, we're planning to head back down for the blessing at Thanksgiving - so I'll take lots then - especially since I got a new camera for my birthday! Yay!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2007-10-01T10:49:00.000-06:00

I've returned from a wonderful trip to Phoenix (I'll post pics later), and am still being spoiled since today is my birthday! Jared fixed me strawberries and cream pancakes in bed (well, technically on the couch - it's hard to do breakfast in bed in a waterbed!), took care of the morning diaper change and dropped Audrey off at school for me this morning! I'm feeling very pampered, and all of this after I spent a long weekend in Arizona with my sister Julie. We did have her kids (including newborn Baby Eric), so we weren't totally footloose and fancy free, but we did have a lot of help from her husband, Matt, and her mother-in-law, Susan, so we were able to take a couple of shopping trips (including going to Last Chance - amazing deals!), get my hair cut (a birthday present from Julie, which I'm very happy with!), and spend lots of time chatting and eating all kinds of good food I can't get here in Utah. I was also able to spend a couple of evenings with friends who have moved to Arizona, which was lots of fun. All in all, a wonderful trip! Thanks so much to all who made it possible - Mom and Dad for the tickets, Julie and Matt for being wonderful hosts, Michelle, Mom, Mom and Dad Lee, and especially Jared for taking care of the kids so willingly and happily and well - the house (and my car, and even my basement storage tubs!) looked great when I got back, too! Also thanks to Jared for taking on my Sunbeam class while I was gone!

As though a wonderful trip to sunny, warm Phoenix (I wasn't at all sad to miss the first snow of the year in Utah) wasn't enough, we also got to have a fun birthday celebration last night at Grandma and Grandpa Lee's with the Smith side. Lyndell's birthday was yesterday and mine was today, so we had a delicious (huge!) sheet cake and ice cream, and lots of fun visiting. Alene gave me a great gift. They were over a few weeks ago and Jared was talking about our "year's supply" of breakfast cereal (one of his favorite foods) in our basement storage room. He also remarked, though, that all that cereal wasn't going to be that good without milk. So, Alene and Carl gave us some powdered milk (and even water to mix it up with) for our food storage! Such a creative and thoughtful gift! We had a great time visiting with family and probably stayed over way too late. It has been so much fun having so much of Jared's family move into the area in the past year, and having these get-togethers.

Well, I've got big birthday plans consisting of unpacking, doing laundry, and getting back into my household routine. Should be fun! Thanks to all who have offered birthday wishes - I'm feeling very loved today! :)

I had a delicious bday dinner of Wisconsin Mac & Cheese at Noodles (sign up for their birthday club, and it's FREE!)

Since we had cake on Sunday night, we had birthday donuts on Monday (and then birthday pie on Wednesday - what a great week! ;) )

Krispy Kreme - the one true donut!

It Figures

2007-09-25T19:19:00.000-06:00

So, my driver's license has been lost for a while. A few months, at least. Definitely throughout the summer, since my Costco card was also missing for a while, but that was lost after I lost my license (so I know I didn't lose them together) and I've had my Costco card back for a while now (thanks, Michelle, for letting me use yours in the interim. Can't get by without Costco!). Anyway, there is a point to this. The license has been gone a while. Long enough that I've been unable to purchase things at times, because I didn't have an ID to prove that the check or card I was using belonged to me. Long enough that I was denied entry to the "bar section" at the Guster concert last week for being unable to prove that I was over 21 (flattering though that was :p, it was mostly an irritant, as most of my friends went and sat up on the balcony, thereby gaining a better view and plenty of fresh air - it being an open-top balcony. I remained on the floor, thankfully with Brett and Anne, and did get the opportunity to dance like a maniac, so I guess it wasn't all bad!). I digress. The license has been conspicuously absent. I've looked all the usual places - my 3 different purses and 4 different diaper bags, the kitchen desk, combed the entire car, every pocket of every pair of pants I've worn within the last year or so - you get the picture. Admitting defeat, last night, I rushed down to the Driver's License Division (they close at 5:30, I got there at 5:33 - luckily they pitied me and let me in) and got my replacement license. I knew I would need ID to get on the plane on Wednesday (taking a trip to Phoenix to see Julie), so I bit the bullet and paid the $18 to replace the license. I was telling Jared I preferred the picture on my old license to the new one. I then commented, "Well, I guess I can use the old one if I find it - HA!" Knowing I'd looked everywhere, I figured there was no chance I was finding it. Joke's on me - less than 24 hours after I got the replacement, the original license turned up. Where, you might ask? But of course - in the floppy drive of the computer! Now, why didn't I think to look there months ago? Gotta love my busy little boy!

Quick and Easy Recipes

2007-09-24T14:46:00.000-06:00

I decided to post a couple of recipes I've tried recently, because I love getting new recipes and I want to share the wealth (well, that and the fact that they've been floating around my kitchen on scraps of paper and I'm afraid I'm going to lose them - I like the security of knowing I can always come back to my blog to find them, if it comes to that!).

First, a cookie recipe my sister Julie shared with me a few weeks ago (I believe she got it from her sister-in-law.). I took these to a family get-together and received several compliments. They were so easy!

Cake-Mix Cookies
1/2 c. oil
2 eggs
1 pkg Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 c. butterscotch chips

Mix first 3 ingredients (dough will be very stiff). Stir in chips. Bake at 350 for 10 mins.

This is a soup recipe I found on an online message board. The person who posted it said her 5-year-old daughter loved it. We tried it and were not disappointed. Very yummy, and easy too! I was especially impressed that Jared highly praised it, as he's not nearly the soup fan that I am. Next time, I think I will be more generous with the veggies and chicken, though. It was also just a bit salty, not sure how to cut back on that without thinning the broth too much (it's a creamy soup) - maybe use reduced-sodium canned soup?

Chicken Wild-Rice Soup

5-2/3 c. water
1 pkg (4.3 oz.) long-grain and wild rice mix
1 envelope chicken-noodle soup mix (like the Lipton kind)
1 celery rib, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1/3 c. chopped onion
2 cans (10-3/4 oz. each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 c. cubed cooked chicken

In a large saucepan, combine water, rice with contents of seasoning packet, and soup mix. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 mins. Stir in the celery, carrot, and onion.

Cover and simmer for 10 mins. Stir in chicken soup and chicken. Cook 8 mins. longer or until rice and vegetables are tender.

(Not Quite a) Vacation

2007-09-21T10:51:00.000-06:00

Well, this week they were moving the servers at Jared's work, and there wasn't much he could do while they were down. In addition to that, he's got vacation time coming out his ears and will start to lose vacation days if he didn't take some. So, he spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday home with us. I kept thinking we could go do something fun as a family, but, as Jared's a glutton for punishment, he decided to tackle a bunch of undone home-improvement projects instead! What a trooper. He spent a couple of days fixing up our stairs in the front of our house. He put in edging, piled up dirt and bark, and finished the flagstones (It looks really good - I'd post a pic, but I don't have a camera!). After that, he took on the toilet. Someone accidentally flushed the toilet paper holder down the toilet in the master bathroom. Consequently, it's been out of commission for about a month now. After trying his hand with Jeff and Michelle's toilet auger without any luck, Jared determined the toilet would need to be taken off. I have to admit, I don't mind that I wasn't around for this part! All I know was that I returned home and my toilet was working again! I proclaimed Jared my hero. Yesterday we went out to his parents' new house in Saratoga Springs, and Jared monkeyed around with their wiring for a while, trying to get their internet jacks working. He didn't fix the whole thing, but he did rig up a workable solution for them for the time being. The kids and I had a good time playing, visiting, eating apples fresh from the tree, and helping out just a little bit. It's so fun to have them so close now! Once we got home, Jared had to go out to work to help them set up the new servers, then he was finally able to come home and put together his own new, improved computer. I'm most excited about the DVD burner - I intend to back up all of our DVDs, since several of them have already crossed the path of Adam and no longer work!

I am ashamed to admit, I haven't worked nearly as hard as Jared the last few days. In fact, I need to spend today playing catch-up to get all the neglected housework done. The highlight of my week has to be the Guster concert. I was a little dismayed to find the concert was moved from UVSC to In the Venue (up in SLC, near the Gateway). However, I'm glad it was, because I think I got to be much closer to the band that way! I danced my heart out, sang along with almost every song, and left without a voice. Sometimes it's fun to forget you're a mom with 2 kids at home! The show was great - their songs sound even better live than on the album, I think. They had a great rapport with the audience, and I've had Guster in my head ever since. Definitely in my top 5 bands. If you haven't heard them, check them out. If you have, listen to them some more! And definitely DON'T make the mistake of saying "I've heard their songs on the radio, and I don't like them that much." I don't know why it is, but most of their singles are my least favorite of their songs. So, give them a try. You'll be glad you did.

So This Is What It's Like To Have a Life!

2007-08-29T06:47:00.001-06:00

Seriously, it seems like all summer we were home quite a bit, not doing much - and all of a sudden, the last few weeks have been crazy busy! I've gotten in touch with a few old friends, had playdates with a few more friends, gone to birthday parties, baby showers, gotten together with family - the fun never ends! I do have to say, though, I keep wondering when things are going to slow down.

One of the highlights was going to the BYU Education Week devotional with my mom. Elder Scott gave a really great talk, Mom even said she thinks it may be the best talk she's ever heard him give! If you missed it, check out this link for a summary and times when you can catch it being rebroadcast on BYUTV and KBYU. Thanks to Shells for watching the kids so I could go!

Audrey's doing great at school, we've walked the last couple of times and I really enjoy the workout and the chance to get out in the mornings. It's about 2.5-3 miles, round trip, downhill there and uphill back, so it's definitely quite the workout. I was still a little sore this morning from our walk on Monday! Audrey was thrilled to be reunited with her good friend Alessa last week after Alessa came home from being out of town for nearly a month! She also enjoyed going to her friend Elijah's 5th birthday party. When asked what her favorite thing about the party was, she told me, "When me and the other kids were popping all the balloons." Sounds like a success. Kori (Elijah's mom) is a trooper - there were 10 kids at the party!

Adam's taking full advantage of the rights and privileges that come with being 2 years old - i.e., throwing tantrums whenever life doesn't go as he'd hoped. Luckily, he's usually able to do what he wants - but if we get in his way, MAN does he let us know. Lately he loves listening to music and singing songs, loves playing with dinosaurs and trucks, and pointing out any trucks or motorcycles that we happen to see.

Jared's been extremely busy at work and often spends a few hours in the evenings, working from home, after coming home from a full day at the office. I can't wait until things calm down a bit and I get my husband back!

The REAL Mothers' Day

2007-08-22T09:45:00.000-06:00

Not that I don't enjoy the Hallmark Mothers' Day in May, but nothing brings that sigh of relief quite like the first day of school. I'm not a pro at this, by any means - this is only my second year of having a child in ANY type of school, and she's still just in preschool 3 times a week - but MAN, it felt good to drop her off this morning. Don't take that the wrong way! Admittedly, it was a little bittersweet - especially thinking that this is her last year of preschool - just one more year, and I'll be sending her to school every day, and one more year after that, and it'll be all day, every day - time is really flying! However, as much as I strive to be, I'm not great at self-imposed routines. School is great for forcing us into more of a routine. Audrey was so excited to go back, too. She's been talking about it all week. She was a little reticent when we first got there, but about 1/2 the kids in her class were also in her class last year, so that helped. Adam, on the other hand, would have been thrilled if I'd let him stay for class. I don't think he would have even noticed I was gone. He was NOT happy to leave Audrey behind - he's going to miss his playmate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings!

Audrey Ready for School

Adam says "Cheese" the second he sees the camera!

Outside Miss Misti's house

Adam and Audrey, ready for School!

Not sure what happened...

2007-08-16T13:25:00.000-06:00

Ahem. See my post below about the whole technically unsavvy thing. In the preview, the pictures lined up with the captions beautifully. Ah well - I have brilliantly smart friends and family. I'm sure you can figure out which captions go with which pics!

If anyone has any helpful hints for me re: picture posting, I'm welcoming friendly advice. Obviously I'm in need of a bit!