A night with Taylor

Last night Taylor and I attended the Stake Activity Days Mother/Daughter night. Each ward was in charge of putting on a short skit from scriptures in the Book of Mormon. The girls were hilarious up there...all giggling and acting weird and whispering. There were 7 wards and I must say it was a bit torturous towards the end...and then Brother Tucker spoke. He is the principal at Davis High Seminary and he was amazing. The spirit was so strong and even the girls were reverent. After that they showed a short video about Jesus coming again and blessing the children and healing the sick...All of the moms were crying by the end of it. It was such a special night for Taylor and I. I didn't want it to end. It brought back so many memories of my mom and I when I was younger. Afterwards, even though it was 9 o'clock we went to Artic Circle for some ice cream. We had such a good time together and I will remember this night forever. Thanks to all who put it together.

Taylor and her good friend, also Taylor were the waves in their skit. Notice the nice blue hues to their outfits.

For Rachel...

I hope you are reading this Rachel...this is for you. A few weeks ago I mentioned how I hate to start projects cuz I never finish them...well my good friend Rachel has inspired me. She is one of those people who just gets things done and is always on the go...she is installing a chain link fence this weekend and it makes me tired just thinking about it. She is so awsome and I wanted to thank her for opening so many doors in my little world...she motivates me to do things beyond my realm of comprehension...no I am not getting up any earlier than usual, I still love my sleep but I am getting more done around the house because of her!!! A big THANK YOU Rachel!!!

If you have been to my house in the last, oh year or so, you know we have had this nasty fish tank just sitting there with no fish in it...just gross moldy, poopy, green fish water. We never got rid of it until the other day...look how nice my counter looks with no poopy fish tank there!!! Amazing!!!

We have this really cool area just inside our garage door that has been a cluttered mess for 2 years, since we moved in..and voila...just yesterday I cleaned it up. I'm such a big girl now!!! I have wanted to get these bins from Wal-Mart forever and I finally just did it without anyone telling me to...I did it all by myself! Look how good it looks. I made Chris clean out his coats (he has probably 100 of them, and I am not exagerrating this time) and he picked 3 to throw away and stored the others in his closet. This is just the kids stuff and 3 of my jackets (my only 3.) The coat thing of Chris' is a whole other post, I'll get to that another day.

Jenny, my friend that does my hair did these awesome vinyl names for me and I couldn't be more pleased. Look how great they look!!!! The kids are excited to try to be a bit more organized too.

Rachel and I had a yard sale last weekend and look at what I bought from her for 30$...sweet! A couch and a chair!! Thanks Rachel!!!

My old green couches are finally gone...but not that far away, our neighbors Dave and Michelle took the sofa (both couches are totally broken, 3 out of the 5 seats were broke and we had been shoving blankets underneath them for support.) When they came back for the loveseat, it was gone...and then back again the next day. Whoever took it realized how broken the frame was and didn't want it...then Dave and Michelle came to get it again...guess what...gone! Twice they missed the boat...but in this case they are probably lucky they did...

Yummy summer dinner

You know those days when you just can't imagine heating up your house anymore by turning on the oven to cook? I was having one today. I am usually so good about just forgetting about the heat when it comes to dinner because hey, I've got to feed my family right? Well today I decided to do something different and I am sad I haven't done it sooner.

Pasta salad

1 bag corkscrew pasta, cooked and drained

1-2 cucumbers, diced

some tomatoes, either grapes halved or roma diced

1/2 can olives, sliced

cheese cubes

Mix all together and pour Kraft Zesty Itailian dressing over it until all of the pasta has sauce on it. So good, Chris' favorite salad.

Fruit salad

For this I used what I had and what I got from a neighbor.

Strawberries, sliced

Peaches, diced

Green Grapes

Sugar

Mix all together and enjoy. Such a wierd combination on paper but so good in my tummy.

Rotissere Chicken

Store bought bread

This makes such a delicious meal. I put the chicken in my pasta salad and it was also divine.

Why does this baby only sleep when I don't want her to...Another long day of fighting naps and she passes out right before dinner. UGHHH

House For Sale

It is official...we put a sign out today...our house is for sale. We have been going back and forth with this for awhile and I can't fight the "feeling" anymore that we are doing the right thing. We are ready to sell. If you know of anyone looking...we have a gorgeous 3 bedroom, 2 bath, spacious kitchen and great room on the market.

Toucano's

Today is my big brother Jason's birthday and we met them in Provo at Toucano's for dinner. My mom and dad came up from Richfield too. We had so much fun! Our first thought was that our kids wouldn't eat any of their food unless they had a kids menu...they don't have a kids menu and the kids ate fine. In fact, Grady ate so much food...he ate a banana (which he has never eaten before), tons of steak, chicken and turkey. Every time the guy came by with meat, we would load up his plate and he would eat it. All my dad had to say to convince him was, "Grady, this taste soooo good, you should try it," and he ate it. In fact, he turned down ice cream at the end of the meal because he was so full. Kids never turn down ice cream. He had to go potty after dinner and then came back and said he now had room for ice cream...so funny! My dad kept shoving meats in Rhett's mouth and we got the okay from him, meaning he didn't like it. He makes this funny face when he eats something he doesn't like and then he'll tell you he liked it but won't eat it again...funny kid. Taylor's favorite was the tri-tip and the brisket...she thought it was sweet pork so she was in heaven. The only one who didn't eat was Chris and that's because he's not much of a meat eater...he married the wrong girl for that reason, I love my steak! All in all we had such a good time and I am so glad we decided to drive for 2 hours to spend 1 hour with some of my family...Happy Birthay Bro...We love ya! And, thanks Dad for dinner!!!!

Misty May's Booty

So my friend Trisha posted on her blog about what olympian anatomy she would like to posess. I must say that I would LOOOOOVE to have Misty May-Treanor's butt...Seriously...Look at it...Wouldn't you want it too?



Oh, and she is an AWESOME volleyball player too!!! We have been obsessed with her and Walsh this whole olympics and I couldn't be happier that they won the Gold!!!

Grady...

I know I've already posted this picture but I just couldn't resist when I am blogging about Grady. This is totally him...

Grady has this new friend at school that he is obsessed with...not the stalking scary obsession but an adoring obsession. Grady is our kid who remembers everything and loves to tell you all of the information he has remembered over and over. The term he frequently uses is, "Guess what?" He has such a good memory that after being to Blakes house only 1 time, he was able to give perfect directions on how to get there. Here is some information about Blake. I have been quizzed on this particular information many times and I have aced my test every time...like I said, Grady tells us these things over and over.

He is as tall as Grady and has blonde hair.
He has 5 pets and his grandpa has 5 pigeons (we thought he was telling kids he had 5 penguins for some time), he has 3 guinea pigs, 1 turtle and 1 frog.
He has a blue room.
He wears glasses.
His house has 2 staircases that connect before going upstairs.
His house is way cool.
His turtle can bite.
His frog will get as big as our house.
He calls Grady Doodle.
He has a baby sister just like us.
His mom has a red clock just like me.

What a fun little boy I have...I am so lucky!

Randomness...

Update on Chris' wrist...He got the long blue cast off on Friday and then got a short red cast put on. He didn't have movement of his elbow before and now he can't use his fingers...trade one evil for another. His elbow has been really sore all weekend but loosening up a bit. The x-ray showed very little calcium developing and we were hoping for more...looks like he might have to have this cast on for more than three weeks, but we are hoping not. We are hoping to go on a Lake Powell trip the weekend he gets it off, that is if he gets it off after three weeks...he is taking 1200 mg of Calcium every day to help with the bonding of his bones...Also, the kids were mad that they didn't get to sign the blue one so they have already signed this red one.


Here is the cutest baby in the whole wide world exhausted after a long day of fighting naps...how adorable is she...I think we have a picture just like this of Grady. Priceless!

Jenner is into everything...she is pulling up to stuff and trying to climb stuff...2 weeks of crawling and she is such an expert. She is so smart too...she waves bye-bye, says Da Da, Hi Dad, Uh Oh, Dee Dee Dow (peek-a-boo), dis (this), and she also shakes her finger at me after I have told her "no no no"...little stinker. I laugh so hard when she does this. She is still nursing and she turns up her nose to milk and water. She does like juice however. She dances and shakes her booty. She calls for her dad when she hears his voice or his footsteps. She goes crazy when the kids get home from school...she is so excited to see them. She is still not sleeping through the night but that's mostly my fault. She is the highlight of our lives right now and we love her to pieces.

A very sad day Friday when we received the news that my brother's niece, Alyssa, passed away. She was 2 years old and had been fighting cancer since March. I spoke to my brother's little girl and she explained to me "Alyssa's dying, she just can't fight it anymore...it's too hard for her." I just cried and cried. I wish I could go and support their family but with gas prices and school...I can't justify it. My thoughts and prayers are with them and I love them so much. I pray that they can feel of my love and know that they have much support. I have a saying above my door that says..."everything happens for a reason, just believe." It's kind of been my motto for the past 17 years and I truly believe in this. I hope their family can heal and continue to love and support eachother. Heavenly Father is with them always. We love you baby girl!

Too hard on disipline?

So if you read my last post you know how we handled the paint on the porch circumstance. I feel like we did the right thing. Our kids earn money each week by completing their homework packets on time. We give them 1$ each. If they don't do their packets, they owe us 2$. Good incentive to get it done. (Earning money for themselves is a whole other post I will get to another time.) Anyways, Chris had just given them all their dollar before we went to Ace to get some paint remover. Grady and Taylor were mad about having to spend all of their money on something stupid and they were mad at us. I was mad at them for wiping their little hands full of paint all over my porch, little stinkers. Again, I feel like we did the right thing, (do you sense me trying to convince myself?) When we got home we were watching the Olympics and Grady said, in his ever so tearful voice, "First you give me money and then you make me spend it." Sniffle, Sniffle. I tell ya, that kid knows how to get to me, I felt so bad after he said that and I still feel bad. I still feel like we did the right thing though. He just knows how to push my buttons, he is a smart little boy. I hope that this whole ordeal teaches them a lesson about doing the right thing. I can just hear them in my mind laughing and giggling while they are wiping the paint on the porch...heaven forbid they get some paper towel or something....little kids....I tell ya!

Approriate punishment?

My darling, adorable, loving children did something out of the ordinary today. Grady received a clock that you are supposed to paint for his birthday in January. We just cleaned the basement and the clock was found during the process. Being the adorable children that they are (sense the sarcasm), they decided to paint the clock today. I told that they had to do it outside and that they needed to put a garbage bag down under the clock to protect the concrete. They followed my instructions to a tee. Did I mention how loving and cute they are? Anyways, when they were done with the clock, they brought it in and washed their hands. All except for Taylor. She was outside still doing something. I went to see what she was doing and I discovered the horror...the devastation...the unthinkable. Paint on the porch...all over the porch. She started crying and scrubbing and crying and explaining..."Mom, the paint was all over our fingers and we didn't have anywhere to wipe it off...Mom...but...Mom...!" Enough said.

We talked about the proper punishment for them, Grady and Taylor, notice Rhett was not involved. We settled on the idea that they needed to go to Ace and purchase some sort of paint removing miracle stuff. Reluctantly they obliged. So far, it's not working and also notice who is doing the work...Taylor ran into the house and said "no pictures and no blogging this." Ha Ha to her. Or Ha Ha to us, depending on how you look at it (Chris doing the scrubbing).

Endless search is over...or not?

I'm on an endless search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie and I found this recipe on My Kitchen Cafe blog...hoping they will be the one!!!

Aunt Alecia's Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter-flavored shortening

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

3 extra-large eggs

1 tablespoon very hot water

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3 1/2 cups flour

1 package chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening and both sugars together until well mixed. Add eggs (extra-large eggs are really important - if I don't have that size I add 3 large eggs and then beat an additional egg in a bowl and add about half of the beaten egg) and mix for 5-7 minutes, until the batter is very, very light in color. Add hot water and mix again. Add salt, vanilla, soda and mix. Add flour and chocolate chips together and mix until combined. Drop cookies by rounded tablespoon (I use my trusty cookie scoop) onto parchment paper or silpat lined baking sheets and bake for 10-11 minutes until barely browned around the edges - don't overbake!

So I just made these for a neighbor of mine and I have to say, they were just okay. The dough is so light from all of that mixing and the cookies are puffy and airy, almost cake-like. I had to bake them for 11 minutes in my oven, so watch them and adjust the time accordingly.

When I say that I am endlessly searching, I mean I am comparing every chocolate chip cookie to the pillsbury premade dough. Those are definitely the best ever! I have been on this endless search since Chris and I got married. I didn't even like CC cookies until I married him and he loves them. Basically, these are not it and we didn't even keep them around. Our neighbors took them to a party to get rid of them. There wasn't much flavor to them although the texture was good. I guess the search goes on...I only post this recipe for those of you who would like to try them, I do realize that everyone likes different things...we just didn't like these!

Kid-Isms

One of my favorite things about little kids is the things they say. I have always gotten a kick out of funny little explanations about things and why things work, coming from a kid, especially my kids. They crack me up.

I was explaining to the kids about how they weren't getting enough sleep and about how kids around 8-10 years old should get at least 10 hours of sleep and younger kids should get more. Grady must have been listening really close because when he woke up this morning he promptly told his dad, "I can't eat with you. I have to go back to bed, because I have to get more sleep than Taylor and Rhett." So Funny!

Tonight Chris was telling Grady that he was the cutest, most fun boy in the whole wide world and Rhett asked, "Dad, aren't I the cutest and most fun boy in the whole wide world too?"

Jenner had her 1 year shots today and I was telling the Dr. how she yells for her dad whenever he is home. I asked him if she is able to understand what she is saying and when she is saying it, and he said she is. Amazing! She only yells his name when he comes in the door or if she hears him talking in the other room or something. So cute!

As for Taylor, very rare does a conversation go by with her that she doesn't say the words "like" and "so" and "cool" and my very favorite, "Hasta la Vista." She is into that stage where she re-tells you events of her day over and over and word for word. She talks in that baby talk and is always trying to say hip words and put them in to her phrases. She's a girly girl for sure.

Look what I can do...

Does this diaper make my butt look big?

Fresh from the Garden

Yummy Goulash...We had this the other night and I love it.

Brown 1 lb. hamburger in a large electric fry pan. Season with salt & pepper, remove from pan

Saute in butter in the same pan:
2 small zucchini squash
2 small yellow crookneck squash
salt & pepper to taste

Add hamburger and tomatoes, I added canned ones but you can use fresh too. I sometimes add corn too but this time I did not.

Add 3/4 lb. pasta, cooked and drained. Mix well. At this point I add maybe 2 Tbsp. of ketchup. Taste it and see if you need more. Top with cheese when serving. Super good and healthy for you.

Catching Up!!!

I'm finally catching up...I had a break from life starting Friday when I started reading Breaking Dawn...let's just say that I sort of shut down for a few days while my head was in Forks with Bella and Edward and Nessie...I kind of went on a vacation! Needless to say, I loved the book and I think it's the best one...I loved everything about it and it all makes total sense now. I didn't expect to read it so soon but my good friend, Rachel had a copy and was done with it...Lucky Me!!!

Jenner turns 1!!!

Jenner's 1st Birthday was Sunday...Here are a few pictures...

Birthday cake, candles and sprinkles...$4.59

Birthday presents...$30.65

Homemade Birthday card...$0

First baby doll...$1.06
Watching Taylor give her baby sister her present that she bought and made herself...Priceless!!!

Diggin In...

Happy Birthday to You...Jodi and Jenner

In my hair and in my ears...


Jenner shared her birthday party with Aunt Jodi. We had a great time even though Jenner was a little tired. She fell asleep on Nammy's lap in the wierdest position...She was holding her and singing to her and she just passed out...Cute!!!

Cards anyone?

Playing Wig Out with the kids...

Ready...Set...Go...
Did I win?

So I must say I am so excited for the Olympics to be on...We are watching the opening ceremonies tonight and they are Ridiculous!!! It's so much fun to get into the games and find someone to root for and to watch make it to the finals. We always watch and we love it. It was fun to explain to the kids about how each country has participants and how the Olympians can be anyone from anywhere in the whole wide world. Their eyes lit up and they too got excited when we talked about this. So much Fun!!!

Strawberries and Cream Pie...

I don't actually have a completed picture of this because it's so good we forgot to take one.

Strawberries and Cream Pie...

2 Marie Callendar frozen pie crusts, baked and cooled

Filling:

1 8 oz Cream Cheese, room temp

1 pint whipping cream

1 cup powdered sugar

Mix cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth, add the whipping cream a little at a time to prevent lumps. When it's all incorporated, mix until semi-stiff peaks form. Pour into pie crusts and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

Strawberries and Glaze:

Enough hulled and sliced or diced strawberries for 2 pies. Strawberry flavored Junket Danish Dessert. Prepare glaze according to package directions and let cool slightly. Add strawberries and cool in fridge for 30-60 minutes. Pour over filling and return to fridge. Let it set up before serving...YUMMY!

And the culprit is....

Evidence that I have a crawling baby...It's only been a week and she is EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING!!! For all of those months that she couldn't crawl, I think she was taking mental notes and collecting images of where she wanted to get to first. Out of all of the kids, she is my most mischevious of all...She is definitely a Red Head!!!

Having a Bad Day?

So I am having what most you call a bad day...I call it a Bleeping...Bleeeping...Bleeeping Crappy Day!!!! I'm so sick of the events of the last 2 hours I could scream...

I find out my Brother's Niece is dying of cancer and there is nothing they can do...She is only 2 years old and her family fought so hard to get her here and they fought so hard to keep her here and it's just not fair. Cancer sucks and it should be in the naughty spot for eternity!!! Her little life is being cut short because of this nasty disease and she deserves to live. Her poor family is going through so much right now and I wish I could fix it...It's not fair!!! I hate it...

Zzzzzzz.....

Jenner fell asleep in my arms the other night and I was called upon by Chris to help him with his bath. Yes, he needs help...with almost everything. I can't wait until he gets the short cast on. I had to put her somewhere and Taylor wasn't ready for her light to be off so I just set her on the floor...thinking she would wake up immediately but she didn't. I just had to take a picture. How cute!!! Notice her eyes half open...just like Grady.

Feed the Fish...

On the way home from my mom's house, we went to Cabela's to see the animals. My kids love to look at all of the elk, moose, deer and so on. We just happened to be there when they were going to feed the fish in the giant fish tanks. It was so cool to see and a little morbid. They first give the fish regular food, then they give them live goldfish and then worms...It was really interesting to witness the facts of life with the kids all their witnessing too. The best was the gasps and groans from the other people...Funny!!!