Pink Overload

Amelia's Conversation of the Day...

2012-02-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

At the dinner table on Thursday evening:

Amelia, looking at Isabel's food: "That's nasty Isabel."

Isabel: "What?"

Amelia: "Your food sounds nasty."

Isabel: "You mean it looks nasty?"

Amelia: "Eat it Isabel, it will help you breathe underwater!"

Recipe: Simple Stuffed Peppers

2012-02-17T06:10:00.000-08:00

I forgot to take a picture of the cooked ones, so this is raw and probably nicer to look at than the cooked ones.

Another co-op inspired meal (you're going to get sick of hearing that!). I found myself with a lot of peppers as well as onions and needed to do something with them. I also keep garlic, olive oil and rice on hand at all times. Ground beef is hit or miss around here. Sometimes I have it, sometimes I don't. This would probably work really well with mild pork sausage in place of ground beef or even ground turkey. If you need to stretch this further you can add more rice.

Simple Stuffed Peppers
(Serves 8)

8 medium-sized fresh bell peppers (any color is fine)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
1 cup of cooked brown rice
sea salt to taste
pepper to taste
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the peppers in half, remove any white and the stem (if desired). Arrange in two 9x13 pans.
3. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add in the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft, about 10 minutes.
4. Add in the ground beef and cook, breaking up into small pieces with a spoon, until thoroughly cooked, about 15 minutes.
5. Turn off the heat and add in the rice. Mix thoroughly.
6. Salt and pepper to taste.
7. Fill each pepper half with the meat/rice mixture.
8. Cover each pan with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until peppers are soft.
9. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and let cheese melt before serving.

Amelia and the Great Chocolate Bar Fiasco

2012-02-16T08:16:00.000-08:00

Another selection from my continuing series entitled Life With A Three-Year-Old...

One day last week Amelia asked me if she could have some chocolate. I said no. She was not happy. She threw a complete fit, crying and begging me for chocolate. I put her in her room and told her to stay there until she was done with her fit. She wouldn't stay in her room. So I went into my room and locked the door. I tried to concentrate on a movie on my Kindle Fire, which Amelia calls a Ken Doll Fire. She spent the next several minutes beating on my door, crying and begging me for chocolate. I was strong, I didn't give in.

Then silence, nothing. I thought I'd enjoy my movie until she came back in a better mood. A few minutes later I heard a little knock on the door. "Mommy, I'm better now!" she said. I opened the door. She looked very happy. "I ate one of Isabel's chocolate bars under the piano!" Then I noticed the slight ring of chocolate around her mouth. Isabel has been selling chocolate bars for her Orchestra trip. I asked Amelia where she got the chocolate. She said from Isabel's box on the counter. Great. I asked her how many bars she ate. "I don't know, there's only one left!" she told me. Great. I told her to bring the chocolate wrappers to me. She did. Luckily, there was only one. I put $1.00 in Isabel's box to pay for the stolen chocolate.

Later I got into my purse to get a baby wipe, and noticed that the wipe box was covered in chocolate which looked like smeared poo. Great. At least Amelia tried to clean up after herself. I tried to wipe all of the chocolate off of the wipe box, which has a fabric cover and isn't washable. There are still chocolate stains on it. Hopefully no one will think it's poo. I bet they will.

Isabel took the rest of the chocolate to her room later that day.

I wonder what Amelia will do next time she wants chocolate?

It's Spring?

2012-02-15T16:06:00.000-08:00

The weather here has been so strange the last several months. A cooler than normal summer. I don't know that we hit 110 even once last summer, which is very unusual. A warmer than normal fall and winter. I don't think that we ever really had a winter. I kept waiting for it to get cold. It does get cold here, but it just didn't happen. We've been in the 60's most of the winter.

Over the last several days I noticed that the trees are already budding and some are starting to bloom, like our neighbor's tree:

One of our plum trees about to start blooming:

Today the weather was really strange. I left to drive the girls to school at 7:30 this morning and it was 44 degrees. I left to pick them up at 2:15 and it was 44 degrees. I went outside to take the pictures of the trees without a jacket on just a little while ago and in just a couple of minutes I was freezing. The temperature has probably dropped even more.

What's next I wonder?

Valentine's Day Is A Big Deal Around Here

2012-02-14T09:13:00.000-08:00

Curt went to the store late last night after he got off of work and set this up on the table for us to find in the morning. He does that every year. Eva and I had a sneak peek because she had a croup attack last night (those dang allergies!).

The girls were really excited this morning. I had a hard time getting Eva to eat breakfast and get ready for school on time. She has a party today at school and has been looking forward to it for days.

Isabel decided to save her chocolate for later. Wise choice. She'll probably end up with a bag full at school.

Amelia promptly ate a Lindt Truffle and asked "Why are they so fat?"

Curt's own stash of goodies which will go in a designated drawer in his dresser just for chocolate and other goodies, mainly chocolate though. It's a big drawer. We can't even begin to fill it, but we try. He's almost out of chocolate from his birthday. He used to have a small drawer in his nightstand set aside for chocolate, but he upgraded at Christmas. The other drawer just wasn't big enough.

We usually all go out to eat for Valentine's Day, but Curt has to work really late. Bummer. Maybe next year.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Amelia's Ballet Career Has Ended

2012-02-13T15:16:00.000-08:00

It has been building over the last three weeks. Three weeks ago she refused to wear the costume that they provided and dance the last 15 minutes of class, so we left early. She's done this before, she's very picky with her costumes, so I thought that things would be back to normal last week. Last week she liked the costume, but slipped on the skirt, fell down and hurt her knee. That was the end of that, so we left.

I thought today would be fine. The theme was "Fancy Nancy". I knew they'd have a sparkly dress she would love. This morning she kept saying she didn't want to go, but she likes to be contrary, so I just ignored it. She was fine with getting dressed in her leotard and tights. I thought everything would be fine once she got there. I was so wrong! About 15 minutes into class she wanted to take her hairband out and was whining and pulling at it. I took it out so that she wouldn't rip it out. Then she started acting up and refusing to do what her teacher asked, which is unlike her. Then she started crying and said she wanted to leave. She came out of the studio and I took her into the bathroom and talked to her. I told her that she needed to go back into class and finish for the day. I thought she was going to go back into class. Once we left the bathroom she refused to go back into the class. She stomped her little foot and said, "NO!" I told her that if she didn't go back in and finish the class, that she was done taking ballet lessons. She was fine with that, so we left. She was perfectly happy to leave.

I'm not going to waste my time and money taking her there if she isn't going to participate and doesn't want to be there. Unfortunately she has a month left in the semester, and it's too late to get our money back.

The saddest thing for me is seeing her go from loving it to hating it, especially when she seems to have a natural talent for it. I thought it would be something she would really enjoy and do for years. Maybe when she's older (and more mature) we can try again.

The last six months shes been going through a phase, otherwise known as the Trying Threes. My other two had a harder time at age three than at any other age, even more than age two, so it's probably just the same thing, but I want to rip my hair out ~~some days~~ every day.

When we got home she could tell that I was upset with her, so she asked me what was wrong. I told her and then she said, "Go ahead and cry about it!" Lovely. I wonder where she comes up with this stuff. I thought Isabel was a handful at age three, but I'm starting to think that Amelia is even worse. Or maybe it's just that it's been eleven years since Isabel acted up on a daily basis, so I don't remember it as clearly.

I do enjoy her, but some days she makes it soooooooooo hard. I think I'll go scream into my pillow now.

Today: The Dejunking Saga Continues...

2012-02-11T17:16:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we started going through our house and dejunking. Today we continued the dejunking. It feels so good to simplify. It's amazing how empty our house was when we moved in almost nine years ago, and now it's full to the brim. We have way too many things.

I dejunked and cleaned Amelia's room. I took out a black garbage bag full of things to donate, and a smaller bag of trash. It looks so much better. She had way too many things before and now I think it's manageable for a 3-year-old to pick it up every day with my help. I should have taken before and after pictures. It was a shocker!

Curt spent the day going through things in our office. We still have a long way to go but it's coming along. He posted some things on Craigslist. Hopefully they sell quickly. I hate having useless items sitting around taking up space.

I cleaned our bathroom.

I did a ton of laundry (I'm still working on it).

I vacuumed the entire house.

I made a batch of homemade hand soap (recipe to come).

I helped Eva with her school project.

Eva and Isabel spent the morning playing dinosaurs.

Isabel cleaned the other upstairs bathroom and her room.

Eva cleaned the downstairs bathroom and her room.

Amelia played and played and played. And she ate some chocolate chips.

Amelia helped to vaccum for the first time.

I watched Uptown Downstairs Abbey again. I can't get enough.

We opened up the windows and doors for the first time in months. Spring is coming. The trees are budding!

Now I'm making dinner.

Later I have to fold a mountain of laundry.

Not an exciting, fun day but it's great to get things done!

Watch These & Laugh

2012-02-10T17:22:00.000-08:00

If you love Downton Abbey as much as I do, you have to watch these. Hilarious!

Four Year Blog Anniversary

2012-02-10T06:43:00.000-08:00

Today is the four year anniversary of my blog!

Four years ago Curt had just had his 37th birthday.

I was 33.

Isabel was 10 and was in 4th grade.

Eva was 4 and hadn't started school yet.

I was 5 months pregnant with Amelia.

We lived in the same house as we do now, but it didn't have a loft or a fourth bedroom.

Curt worked for a different company, but did the same job that he does now.

How quickly things change.

I wonder what the next 4 years will bring?

Recipe: Tropical Fruit Salad with Vanilla & Mint

2012-02-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

This salad takes a little preparation time but the results are worth it. It's brings a little bit of summer into your home. This is another recipe that came straight from my co-op order last week. Sometimes they offer a "tropical fruit pack" that you can purchase separately from the regular fruit and vegetable basket. And it included two vanilla beans! Vanilla beans are expensive so I rarely buy them. I love the way they smell. Heavenly.

Tropical Fruit Salad with Vanilla & Mint

(serves 6)

1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into bite size chunks

1 fresh mango, peeled, cored and cut into bite size pieces

5 fresh kiwis, peeled, cut in half and sliced

2 tablespoons raw honey

2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

seeds from one vanilla bean pod

Combine all ingredients into a medium bowl and let sit in the fridge (covered) for an hour before serving to let the flavors blend.

Cake Batter

2012-02-08T06:03:00.000-08:00

Amelia helped me make Curt's birthday cake, so of course she got to help lick the utensils (I licked the bowl!).

Faces

2012-02-07T06:05:00.000-08:00

Isabel and Eva love to draw faces on things, especially Isabel. I never know when I'm going to open the fridge or look in the fruit bowl and see one of their creations. Here are a few of the latest ones.

Eva left this balloon in my bag.

Isabel's creation in the nut bowl.

On the windowsill.

Baldwin the coconut in the fridge. Isabel wasn't happy that we took a hammer to his head.

I love their creativity!

Becoming Independent

2012-02-06T06:09:00.000-08:00

Amelia will be 4 in May, and she's becoming more and more independent every day (I wasn't trying to rhyme), which can be a good and a bad thing.

Her latest attempt has her making her own bread and butter. The other day she went downstairs and made herself some without my supervision. I came downstairs to find a piece of bread slathered with butter. She used at least 2 tablespoons of butter. There are little globs of butter in bowl too.

When I was taking a picture of her bread, Amelia came downstairs and asked me,

"Did I use too much butter?"

Yes darling, do you want some bread with your butter?

Lately she's been wearing lip gloss every day too. She commandeered some that I had. Then she came down with a cold and kept using it, so there is no way I'm touching it.

Amelia's Quote of the Day...

2012-02-05T09:02:00.001-08:00

"Do you have to wear clothes at Disneyland Mom?"

Curt's Quote of the Day...

2012-02-04T08:01:00.000-08:00

Last night we took Curt out to eat at a buffet for his birthday. Isabel was lamenting the fact that she can't "stuff herself like she used to".

Curt's words of wisdom:

"You just have to power through the pain."

Recipe: Chocolate Malt Cake with Chocolate Ganache Icing

2012-02-03T06:44:00.000-08:00

This is not healthy. It's evil and delicious. If you're going to have dessert, have real dessert in all it's lovely yumminess. I'm not into the whole low fat and sugar free craze. It's a waste of a perfectly good dessert!

This recipe is from the February 2012 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I thought it would be perfect for Curt's birthday. He loves chocolate, malted milk balls and malt flavoring. A perfect combination. However, I did find some recipe mistakes while making the cake, so I'm correcting those. And, I changed the recipe to suite my tastes - richer chocolate cake, more malted milk balls and thicker frosting with more malt flavor.

Chocolate Malt Cake with Chocolate Ganache Icing

For the cake:

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I used Bakers)
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 cups malted milk balls

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
3. Melt the unsweetened chocolate and set aside to cool.
4. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl. Set aside.
5. In a mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Mix on medium until well combined.
6. Add in the eggs and mix until combined..
7. Add in the melted, cooled chocolate and vanilla and mix until combined.
8. Alternate the flour mixture with the milk until the batter is thoroughly combined.
9. Stir in the malted milk balls by hand.
10. Pour into the prepared pans and bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.*
11. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then flip the cakes out onto the wire rack and cook completely.

*While the cake is baking, make the ganache icing:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup malt powder
1 11.5 ounce bag of milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli )

1. Pour the chocolate chips into a small bowl.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, whisk the malt powder into the cream.
3. Heat on high until the cream is hot, about 2 minutes.
4. Pour the cream over the chocolate chips and let it sit for 5 minutes.
5. Stir the chocolate and cream together until smooth.
6. Let the ganache completely cool and thicken before frosting the cake.

Only eat if you are willing to gain 1 pound with each forkful.

41

2012-02-02T17:02:00.000-08:00

Not only is it Groundhog Day today, but it's Curt's 41st birthday! I don't know that he's excited about being 41, but birthday parties with presents are always nice.

After school the girls were anxiously waiting for Curt to come home from work so that we could have his party. They kept looking out the windows and every time they heard a car they were excited.

I gave him an air compressor. Super romantic, don't you think? I gave him some other things too but that was the big deal. I ordered it online and it was so heavy that I could barely get it into the house when UPS dropped it off. So I had to roll it end to end through the front door. I covered it with a blanket and put a sign on it that said, "DO NOT TOUCH". There was no way I was going to try to wrap it! He was surprised. He's been wanting one for a long time, to air up tires, to use with a nail gun, etc. He's planning on re-doing the crown molding in our house soon, so it will come in handy. Unfortunately I didn't realize that it needs an accessories kit, so he can't use it until we buy one.

After the little party was over Eva decided to use the wrapping paper to create a big stomach and bum for herself. So creative, and crunchy.

We were going to take Curt out to eat, but he's really tired because he had to get up about 3:15 a.m. this morning to go to work. So we are taking him out tomorrow.

Tonight we're ordering pizza and watching a movie. (:

Amelia's Quote of the Day...

2012-02-02T11:47:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday night during dinner Amelia decided to amuse us with several of her crazy stories. My favorite one started with...

"When I was a chicken..."

She was also a ghost and a "small piece of pasta".

Desert Gardening Costs Versus Buying Produce - Something To Think About

2012-02-01T09:51:00.000-08:00

(My destroyed garden. Courtesy of the dinosaurs. My lavender is a live and well as usual!)

This topic has been on my mind for a long time, years in fact, but it's just been recently that I've really, truly thought it out. There are a lot of factors to consider. Of course if I still lived in Indiana (where I'm from) then it would be a no brainer. There you can plant seeds, fertilize a little, it will rain and the seeds will grow and you'll have way more produce than you ever asked for! Not so in the desert.

In the almost 14 years that we've lived in the desert, I've only had one successful garden. We lived in Arizona at the time, and I planted several tomato plants in a raised bed in almost complete shade under a huge tree. In the summer the monsoon rains watered it. Those plants produced for 11 months straight before dying. The climate in Arizona is almost exactly the same as where we live now in Nevada. The exceptions are that it is slightly cooler (by a few degrees) and has monsoon rains.

I've planted at least 7 gardens since then, and they've all been complete and utter failures, no matter what I've done.

I don't consider myself a novice gardener. I grew up gardening with my mother so I know how it's done. I've read lots of books about desert gardening and researched it online. I've contacted seed companies about the best varieties of vegetables to plan in the desert. I've consulted with "experts" in the field of gardening in the desert. I've bought the best soil available, tested the soil, made adjustments with fertilizer, used compost tea, hand watered every day, provided shade during the summer and have gotten almost nothing from all my work.

In the desert there are several factors that you have to take into account:

1. The cost of soil and fertilizer. You can't just plant seeds or plants in the ground and have them grow. The ground here will support trees and shrubs, etc. with the proper fertilization, but not vegetable plants. The natural soil here is rocky and full of caliche, which is extremely hard, and has little nutrients. Buying soil here is extremely expensive. Last year I spent $45.00 on soil for just one garden box. I have 4 boxes. So that would add up to $180.00 per year just for soil. Enough soil is lost every year that it has to be replaced every year. Also add in the cost of fertilizer, which I spend about $20.00 a year on.

2. The cost of seeds and plants. Seeds are relatively cheap, but plants are not. Most plants here are around $2.00 per plant or more. It depends on what you buy. On average I'd say I'd buy 30 plants per year, so that's $60.00 a year in plants. I've found that planting seeds directly in the soil here doesn't work very well (except for root vegetables and lettuce). You really need to start seeds indoors or buy plants. I've tried starting seeds indoors with a kit and had no luck. So I usually end up buying plants, which either die or don't produce very much.

3. The heat. During the hottest months (June, July, August, September) certain plants will stop producing because of the heat. This is especially true for plants like tomatoes which can't handle the extreme heat. Even with manufactured shade I've seen no improvement in produce amounts.

4. The cost of water. If I plant and water a garden, our water bill goes up significantly. During the summer months the amount of water that we use more than doubles if we water a garden. We do water our trees and grass more in the warm months, but they don't need as much water as a garden which needs daily watering to keep alive. I'd say our bill goes up at least $50.00 each month in the warm months (April - September), and probably $20.00 (at least) is from the garden each month.

5. The drought aspect. We live in an area that has been in a drought for years. We have watering restrictions because of that. Is it fair for us to use water on our garden when it isn't producing a decent amount of vegetables? No, I don't think it is. It's a complete waste of precious water.

I have to add that most herbs and flowers grow well here. Lavender does especially well as it tolerates high heat and low water. So there are things that I can successfully grow here.

So lets add this up:

Soil: $180.00

Plants: $60.00

Fertilizer: $20.00

Extra Water: $120.00

= $380.00 per year

And what do I end up with? A few little tomatoes, and maybe a few cucumbers and zucchinis if I'm lucky.

My co-op has a big fruit and vegetable basket every week for $15.00. Take your average round laundry basket and the amount of produce that you get fills that basket up to the top at least and sometimes over the top.

$380.00 would buy about 25 produce baskets from my co-op. With every basket we get enough fruit and vegetables to last us at least 1 week for our family of 5. Also, we can get other produce extremely cheap through the co-op which supplements that produce baskets. Last Saturday I was able to get a huge box of apples for 59 cents per pound, and a massive bag of carrots for 34 cents per pound. And we have an orchard here where you can pick your own fruits and vegetables at a very reasonable cost. And I also scan the weekly grocery store adds for great deals.

So in my experience (and I HATE to say this) the cost of gardening here isn't worth it in relation to what you end up with. Even if my garden produced well, it wouldn't give me even a third of what I can get from my co-op for the same cost. It's a complete waste, especially when you consider all that wasted water.

I hope that one day I can move to a place where I can easily (and cheaply) grow a garden.

My first co-op order in May 2010 -

Eva's Quote of the Day...

2012-01-31T08:04:00.000-08:00

This morning as we got into the van to leave for school Isabel was going through her daily checklist to make sure that she didn't forget anything. "I.D., check. Viola, check. Lunch, check."

Eva's submission:

"Unibrow, CHECK!"

Poor Baby

2012-01-30T08:35:00.000-08:00

Amelia woke up yesterday morning with a cold and croup. Blessedly the croup is very mild. She and I stayed home from church. She had a really hard night last night because her nose is so stuffed up. Unfortunately at this age you can't give them a decongestant. I rubbed Vick's Vapor Rub on her chest and the soles of her feet before bed last night but I don't think it helped much. I've been doing a nasal rinse on her too, which she hates. She woke up even worse today. She's going to miss ballet this morning. :(

Amelia's Conversation of the Day...

2012-01-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, out of the blue, Amelia said to me: "When I was your age, I used to make pizza dough."

That lead to an entire discussion about when she was "my age". She said she was married (Happily Ever After of course) to a prince that helped her make pizza, shopped at the grocery store, liked to play games and go outside and look at the sky. But then she got younger like Isabel and then turned into a 3-year-old.

I asked her where her husband was living now and she said: "In a tree house."

I asked her if her husband had a job and she said yes. Then I asked her what his job was and she told me: "Playing games."

3-year-old imagination running wild!

Recipe: Golden Potato, Bacon & Spinach Soup

2012-01-27T06:15:00.000-08:00

I belong to a great co-op (www.bountifulbaskets.org) that has a pick-up once per week. The main thing I get, and the co-op was founded on, is their fruit and vegetable basket. You get quite a bit for only $15.00. You can upgrade to a 100% organic basket if you want to as well. You can also buy other things like fruit or vegetables in bulk, which are great for canning, as well as breads, olive oil and other goodies. The prices are great. Every week there is something different. The weeks when I do order through the co-op I have to make sure that there is room in the fridge because it will be overflowing with vegetables and fruits. And then I have to get creative and come up with ways to use up all those vegetables. The fruits are easy, we usually eat them fresh. The vegetables are a little harder but it forces me to be creative. It's great because we get a lot more vegetables into our diet this way.

Last week had some spinach and celery that I needed to use and the following recipe is what I came up with. I really love it. The beef stock and bacon gives it a rich, satisfying flavor.

Golden Potato, Bacon & Spinach Soup

Serves 6

1/4 pound uncured bacon
1 extra large yellow onion, chopped
4 large celery stalks, thinly sliced
8 medium gold potatoes, skin left on, cut into small pieces
8 cups of beef stock
8 ounces of fresh spinach, washed well, stems trimmed, roughly chopped
unrefined sea salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste

1. In a large pan over medium heat, cook the bacon until crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon, keeping the fat in the pan.
2. Add in the onion and celery. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until very soft, about 30 minutes.
3. Chop the cooled bacon and add it back into the pan.
4. Add in the chopped potatoes and beef stock.
5. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.
6. Add in the spinach and cook for 2 minutes.
7. Remove the soup from the heat and salt and pepper to taste.

Happenings Around Here (a.k.a. A Lot Of Whining + Some Good Things)

2012-01-26T07:21:00.000-08:00

First the whining...

*We are done with American Idol. We can't stand Steven Tyler. Yuck! Last year his behavior was questionable, this year it's down-right inappropriate. I find him completely creepy. It used to be that you could watch this show with your kids. You can't anymore. By the second episode this season we decided to remove the timer on the DVR and forget about it. It's not worth it.

*We just found out today that starting next year, due to the all encompassing excuse of "budget cuts" (I'm SO sick of hearing those words), our school district is getting rid of all honors classes for junior high/high school as well as high school/college credits and early graduation. Isabel's class is the last that will go through with these classes. Everyone that is in 7th grade and below (Eva & Amelia) this school year will not have this opportunity. And I don't understand what "budget cuts" have to do with this. You have a certain number of children which require a certain number of teachers. Why does it matter if they teach regular or honors classes? The teachers in Isabel's school that teach honors classes also teach the regular classes. Where is the disconnect? I think they are using "budget cuts" as an excuse. It just doesn't make sense to me. If they have children graduating a semester or a year early, that should save them money, right? It makes no sense at all.

*On January 14th I stayed up until midnight to be one of the first to enroll Eva in a fairly new charter school in our area when they opened enrollment up to everyone. I found out just yesterday that she didn't get in and is now on a wait list that will go through a lottery-style selection if they do have any openings before the start of school in August. We're pretty disappointed about it. They only have 100 4th grade spaces every year. The current 3rd graders already enrolled in the school that are moving up to 4th grade have 1st priority, then any siblings of children already enrolled have 2nd priority. We'll try again next year and the year after that if need be. I wanted Eva to go there mainly for junior high. I'm becoming more and more disappointed with the junior high that we are zoned for. I wish we could move somewhere with a decent school district.

*I need to lose like a bazillion pounds and every time I'm doing really well then I fall off the wagon, gain most of the weight back and then have the worst time getting back on the wagon. It's a vicious cycle! Why can't I just wake up weighing 120 pounds one day?

The good news...

*Amelia seems to be coming out of her food pickiness funk that she's been in for the last year. I know it's completely normal, but when you have a child that can't wait to eat dinner every night, will eat pretty much anything (including salad) and then suddenly one day won't eat hardly anything, it's a little disconcerting, to say the least. Isabel went through that phase, and I know it's completely normal, but annoying and worrying. Amelia has suddenly developed a love of cooking the last few weeks. Every day she can't wait to help me make dinner. It's really great having her help, even if it does take longer. She really enjoys it. She is so cute. She wears a cute little apron and really takes it seriously. For a while it was funny because she would help me cook and then tell me that she didn't like any of the food we were making and she wasn't going to eat it. Last week we made a nice dinner (beef and bean enchiladas and corn sauteed with peppers and onions) and she ate an apple for dinner. But the last few days she's been eating different things again. Blueberries, cherries, chicken, salad, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, etc. It's great! Lets hope it lasts!

*Eva does not need braces, at least not yet! The orthodontist is predicting that she won't need them until she's between the ages of 11-13 and has most of, if not all, her adult teeth. I thought that would be the outcome, and I'm very glad it is. I don't want her going through that any sooner than she has to. I never had braces, but it looks completely annoying and painful. Plus, we already have one in braces which costs a pretty penny even with insurance.

So that's about it...

I owe someone five bucks.

Crazy Book Idea

2012-01-25T10:59:00.000-08:00

Curt tells me that I need to write a book and become rich and famous. Writing a book is actually one of my long-term goals, not the rich and famous part (although it would be nice). Right now my brain power is used up taking care of my family and reading other people's books, so that will have to wait.

Sunday night Curt, Isabel and I were having a discussion about what I should write. We came up with a cross between the Harry Potter series, Twilight series, and the Hunger Games series.

We decided on the title of Harry Hungerlight and the Twipot Games

Catchy, isn't it?

He and Isabel came up with the plot. A nerd boy named Harry creates a role playing world called The Twipot Games where tiny vampires fight each other with magic. Harry gets sucked into their world.

We also came up with some names for the main characters:

Harry Hungerlight (Harry Potter)

Shetinee Danger (Hermoine Granger)

Bond Pleasely (Ron Weasley)

Belladonna Duckling (Bella Swan)

Deadwood Culinary (Edward Cullen)

Fakeob Slack (Jacob Black)

Katnip Evergreen (Katniss Everdeen)

Sweeta Snarky (Peeta Mellark)

So what do you think?

My Favorite Books of 2011

2012-01-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

I read a post about favorite books on this blog and thought it was a great idea. Why didn't I think of that before? So I decided to be a copy head (what my girls call each other when they copy each other) and copy her idea.

I belong to Goodreads, which I adore. I'm an avid reader. I'd have to say it's my #1 hobby. Goodreads is like my facebook for books. If you've never checked out Goodreads, please do. Goodreads is a way to keep track of books that you read, want to read and didn't finish. The different "shelves" you can create are endless. I have read, currently reading, to read, didn't finish, re-reading, fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, and self-help shelves at the moment. You can rate books by stars as well as write reviews. You can invite your friends and family to join and be your "friend" on Goodreads, see what they are reading and look at recommendations for new books to read.

I LOVE IT.

I read 62 books last year, which is .169863 of a book per day, or 1.19 books per week. That doesn't include the books I didn't finish or the scriptures that I (hopefully) read on a daily basis. See, I'm obsessed.

We're at the library at least once each week. Isabel goes through books faster than I do. I think she read 4 or 5 books just last week.

To qualify as a favorite each book has to get a 4 or 5-star rating. I don't think I have any 5-star ratings for last year. A book has to be absolutely amazing to make the 5-star cut.

My favorite books for 2011:

Fiction

Candle in the darkness by Lynn Austin

Fire by Night by Lynn Austin

The Sherwood ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope

The Lady of Bolton Hill by Elizabeth Camden

The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen

The Judgement by Beverly Lewis

The Bridge of Peace by Cindy Woodsmall

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Non-Fiction

Pioneer Women: The Lives Of Women On The Frontier by Linda Peavy

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Don't Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life by Sandra Beasley

Listening Is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project by Dave Isay

Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne by David Starkey

This Time Together by Carrol Burnett

Cookbooks

The Jane Austen Cookbook by Maggie Black

Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes: A Revolutionary Approach to Cooking Good Food Fast by Jamie Oliver

Homemade Soda by Andress Schloss

Self-Help Books

None

Craft Books

None

2010 was a great reading year for me as well. I finally read the Harry Potter series after Isabel pushed me forever. I LOVED it. Probably one of, if not the best book series I've ever read. I was really, really disappointed when it was over.

Amelia Evacuates An Entire Wal-Mart (or Embarrasing Moment #758)

2012-01-23T11:36:00.000-08:00

After ballet this morning Amelia and I went to Wal-mart to get a few things. As we were walking past an emergency exit door in the shaving section Amelia barely touched the handle of the of door and said "What's this door for?" which set off an alarm, a long, low beeeeeeeeeepppp, beeeeeeeeeeepppp. There was an associate in the next isle over who obviously heard it, but she ignored it, so I thought maybe someone special had to turn it off. That's the first time this has ever happened, so I didn't really know what to do. In hindsight I should have told someone right away. My brain doesn't kick in sometimes.

So I kept shopping. About 10 minutes later I was reaching my hand into the cart to start unloading my items when an associate came up and told everyone in line that we were evacuating the store due to an "electrical problem" and that she didn't know when we would be allowed back in. So I had to leave my cart sitting in the checkout with a lot of frozen items and walk out of the store. That's when I realized what Amelia's little touch had done.

On the drive home I took the back way through a housing addition to avoid the construction on the main road and saw two cop cars heading toward Wal-mart. Yup, that's my kid. They'll probably ban me from the Wal-mart now when they watch the security tape and figure out it was us.

And those glue sticks are still sitting in the cart...

Quotes of the Day...

2012-01-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

Thursday night during dinner (we were having enchiladas) Eva said...

"I hate beans. I'm never moving to Mexico."

____________________________________________________________________________________

Yesterday at the grocery store Amelia wanted some strawberries. At $4.00 a pound I wasn't going to buy any. She was stuck with blueberries. When we left the grocery store she said...

"They need to take those strawberries down."

___________________________________________________________________________________

Yesterday Amelia created a tangle in her hair that I couldn't get out. So after her bath this morning I told her that I was going to have to cut the tangle out.

Her response (in a sad voice)...

"With scissors? ohhHH...I'm going to look like a boy."

___________________________________________________________________________________

This morning Amelia told Curt:

"When you jump off the stairs you'll die and I'll bury you in the cat poop sand with flowers on your forehead forever!"

Recipe: Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes with Coconut Sugar Buttercream

2012-01-20T06:52:00.000-08:00

This is my first attempt at making a really evil concoction into something somewhat healthy. I used whole wheat flour and soaked it in buttermilk for 12 hours. I used organic coconut sugar which is natural, unrefined and has a low glycemic index. The cupcakes themselves aren't as sweet or rich as I'm used to or as light, but the frosting is very rich. It has a burnt caramel taste. Overall I really like these cupcakes and don't feel quite so bad about eating them. The frosting is definitely a keeper.

Unfortunately I discovered after making these that Eva's system can't handle coconut sugar, so I won't be using it anymore. From what I've read a lot of people find this sugar to be easier on their systems compared to cane sugar, but it's not the case for Eva. Her body reacted like it does when she has corn syrup.

So after that gloriously wishy-washy plug for my recipe, here it is!

Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes with Coconut Sugar Buttercream
(Makes 12 Cupcakes)

For the cupcakes:

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup organic coconut sugar
4 Tablespoons organic cocoa powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
1/2 cup of organic butter

1. In small bowl mix the flour and buttermilk together. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for 12 - 24 hours on the counter.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a small pan melt the butter over low heat.
4. Combine the coconut sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla and sea salt together in mixer bowl.
5. Add the melted butter to the sugar mixture and mix well.
6. Add in the flour/buttermilk mixture and beat until all ingredients are well combined.
7. Fill a muffin tin with 12 muffin liners.
8. Evening divide the batter between the muffin liners.
9. Bake for 14-15 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the frosting:
(makes 12 very large servings - you can cut this in half and still have enough to frost 12 cupcakes)

1 cup of cold organic whole milk
4 Tablespoons corn starch or arrowroot powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup organic coconut sugar
1 cup organic butter, softened

1. In a small saucepan whisk the corn starch into the cold milk.
2. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly until it gets very thick, like cake batter, about 5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and let it cool down until room temperature.
4. In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy, about 10 minutes.
4. Add in the vanilla and cooled milk mixture.
5. Beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
6. Put the frosting into a large pastry bag with a large tip and pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes in whatever way you wish. You can also use a large Ziploc bag with one corner cut off.

Look What Came In The Mail Yesterday...

2012-01-19T09:11:00.000-08:00

I am so tempted. I'm still debating on whether or not a plant a garden. If I'm going to, I need to do it soon, before the end of the month. It seems like every time I turn around I get a nudge in the direction of planting one (this catalog for one).

Last spring I didn't plant a garden for the first time in years, and then we had a cooler than normal summer. Isabel had planted a garden and her vegetables did great. I could kick myself for not planting a garden last year, but who can predict the weather?

Year after year I've spent money on dirt (it's very expensive here), seeds, plants, fertilizer and water, and end up with almost nothing. I love gardening. I wish we lived in a place where I could plant seeds, it would rain and plants would grow and produce. Maybe someday.

Until then, I always have beautiful seed catalogs.

Curt's Quote of the Day...

2012-01-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

This morning Amelia didn't want Curt to go to work.

His way of reasoning with her -

"I have to go to work to 'buy some money'* so that I can buy lots of Barbies and princess stuff. Oh, and food too."

*That's a phrase that Eva used to use when she was little.

Randomness

2012-01-16T13:29:00.000-08:00

A few things that have happened in the last week...

Last Thursday the girls and I had dentist appointments. Amelia had her teeth polished for the first time. I was worried about how she would react, but she just laughed and said "It tickles!". I'm pleased to announce that we are all cavity and gingivitis free. Flossing and brushing really do work!

On Friday I took the girls to see the re-released Beauty & the Beast in 3D. The theater showed a Tangled short film prior to the beginning of the movie and it was HILARIOUS!!! I highly recommend it. Beauty & the Beast was great too. It looks a lot better in 3D. Amelia was enchanted with the movie, but wouldn't wear her 3D glasses.

On Saturday morning Isabel announced that her mouth had finally stopped hurting after her braces were put on. That's 9 days of pain! Now she can eat again.

Today the girls are off of school (yippee!!!).

This morning Amelia had ballet. The theme was the movie Mulan. Amelia refused to wear the red satin kimono dress, hold the fan and dance with the other girls. She came out crying and wanted to go home because she didn't like the outfit. So we went home. Next week the theme is Alice in Wonderland. I'm not holding my breath. This is the third outfit rejection in the last 7 months.

Isabel created a new character named "Jenny". I think she's completely given up her character "Dr. G." the therapist. We filmed her first "Jenny" episode today. If photobucket will cooperate, the movie will be on her blog later today.

I made some healthier chocolate cupcakes complete with frosting today. I'll share them on my blog soon.

I've hardly taken any pictures lately so I have nothing new to share.

I'm contemplating doing a garden, but not sure if I'm willing to put the time and energy into it when it always fails because of the desert heat. That should be a no brainer, right? But I LOVE having a garden. It's a double-edged sword.

To garden or not to garden, that is the question...

Downton Abbey Season 2 is in full swing!

I'm going to go watch the second episode right now while the girls are outside playing with their dinosaurs.

Recipe: Italian Vegetable Sauté

2012-01-12T08:21:00.000-08:00

Italian Vegetable Sauté

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large white or yellow onion, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large eggplant, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 medium zucchini, cut into bite-sized pieces
8 ounces of large button mushrooms, quartered
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
unrefined sea salt
extra olive oil

1. In a large skillet combine the olive oil, sliced onions and a sprinkle of salt. Cook on medium heat, stirring often, for 30 minutes until the onions are starting to brown.
2. Add in the minced garlic and other vegetables. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about 20 minutes.*
4. Add in the basil, mixing well.
5. Salt to taste.

*If the pan gets too dry add in a little more olive oil.

Great as a side dish or over warm pasta.

Amelia's Quote of the Day...

2012-01-10T14:34:00.000-08:00

I was bringing the trash & recycling cans into the garage and had to walk into the street to get them. Amelia followed me into the street and I told her that she's not allowed to go into the road.

Her reply:

"Grandpa said I can go in the road."

Isabel's Quote of the Day...

2012-01-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was making dinner. Isabel walked up to me and in her southern-accent man voice said:

"Hurry up woman, I'm hungry!"

Amelia's Conversation of the Day...

2012-01-07T07:23:00.000-08:00

Amelia: You're too young to kiss Daddy on the lips. That's for married.

Me: I'm already married!

Amelia: No you're not.

Braces: Round Two - Poor Isabel!

2012-01-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

(Her teeth are hurting so much right now.)

Isabel had her first round of braces at age 8 and had them for a little over two years. Since then she's been wearing a retainer every night which helped to guide the rest of her adult teeth coming in as well as the work that was already done. We knew that there was a possibility that she would need a second set of braces. She was an extreme case; her mouth was so small there was no room for her adult teeth to come in, which is why she had to get braces at such a young age. If not, then she would have had to have a lot of her adult teeth pulled and a longer orthodontic process.

December 2005 before braces:

February 13, 2008 - The day her first set of braces came off.

I took her in for a routine orthodontic check-up yesterday. She hasn't had one in a year - my bad. I should taken her in 6 months ago. I finally made an appointment. She has a couple of teeth in particular that we've been hoping the retainer would move into the right place, but it's just not working. The orthodontist said that we could wait another 3 months and see, but it's already been a year and a half since those teeth came in. So I decided to go ahead and do the second set and they put them on yesterday. Isabel wanted to wait a week but we were there and the sooner she gets them on the sooner they come off.

Poor Isabel, not what she was expecting and she was pretty upset. She cried a lot, and last night her mouth started hurting. By this morning she could barely eat her teeth hurt so much (even with ibuprofen) that I made her a smoothie for breakfast because she couldn't eat. She wasn't looking forward to school. She doesn't like the way they look. Most of her friends are just getting their braces off and she is starting all over again.

The orthodontist is predicting a year or less in this set. They are using a new technology now that works faster and is more comfortable after you adjust to the initial install. She has all of her adult teeth so we won't have to worry about more coming in and messing things up.

Eva has an orthodontic appointment in two weeks. I doubt she'll need braces at this age, but we'll see. I'm crossing my fingers.

Eva's Quote of the Day...

2012-01-05T06:22:00.000-08:00

On the way to school yesterday morning I glanced back at Eva and she appeared to be meditating.

Me: Eva, are you in your zen?

Eva: What's a zen?

Me: It's when you're at peace.

Eva: No, I'm in my "Napoleon". (as in Napoleon Dynamite)

Recipe: Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato & Sausage Crock Pot stew

2012-01-04T06:43:00.000-08:00

1/4 cup bacon fat (or olive oil)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 pound of natural pork sausage
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
boiling water
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 cup cornstarch
salt & pepper to taste

1. Turn your crock pot on high.
2. In a large skillet, heat the bacon fat on medium heat until melted.
3. Add in the onion and garlic. Cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
4. Add in the sausage and cook until brown, breaking it up with a spoon into small pieces.
5. Put the sweet potatoes and squash into the crock pot.
6. Add in the sausage mixture and mix well.
7. Pour boiling water over the stew until it covers it halfway.
8. Turn the crock pot on low and cook for 4 hours or until the squash is soft and just starting to fall apart.
9. Mix the cornstarch with a small amount of cold water until smooth and add it to the stew. Stir until thick.
10. Add in the nutmeg and rosemary.
11. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with this bread, if desired.

Back To "Normal" Life, Whatever That Is...

2012-01-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

Most of the Christmas decorations are put away.

Amelia's tree is still up and I haven't taken the cards off of the back of the front door yet.

Curt took down the Christmas lights yesterday.

The snowflakes are still on the french doors (it's still winter!).

The girls resumed school today. They didn't want to go. I didn't want them to go.

Curt went back to work today.

I have to get up at 6:00 a.m. again.

No more lazy mornings and playing all day.

Music lessons start again today.

I'm still rebelling and listening the Christmas music. I bought five new Christmas music c.d.'s after Christmas on clearance. I can't wait until next year to listen to them!

Happy New Year 2012!

2012-01-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

On New Year's Eve we usually have a little appetizer party and stay up until midnight. Well, Curt and the girls do. Usually I conk out way before midnight. This year Curt was flying himself home from a trip to Indiana to visit his family. He didn't make it back until about 8:30 last night. What I didn't know was that he took off in Indiana at 10:30 on Friday night! He knew that bad weather was coming so tried to beat it, but it didn't work. Strong winds and turbulence turned what should have been a 8-10 hour trip into a 21 hour trip. We are so glad he's home safe. Whenever he flies I always worry. It's been that way for 19 1/2 years.

This year was weird because we had an appetizer party on Christmas Eve and so New Years Eve rolled around and I didn't feel like doing that again. So I made some lasagna, corn with butter and my favorite soft ginger cookies. My friend Brandy had given me a loaf of rosemary olive oil bread for Christmas and I had frozen it so I brought that out.

We watched the Twilight Zone. I watched a movie on Netflix on my new Kindle Fire (which I love!). I actually stayed up until after midnight. I put Amelia to bed a little after 9:00 p.m. but Curt took the girls to see the fireworks like always. I didn't end up going to sleep until about 1:00 a.m.

I'm tired.

Do you make New Years resolutions? I don't. I used to, but I don't anymore. Now I just make goals throughout the year as I need them.

Happy New Year 2012!!!!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

On Christmas morning Eva woke up before 6:00 a.m. Isabel had asked her to wake her up at 6:00, so she did. At 7:30 we dragged ourselves out of bed and found them downstairs on the couch watching Elf and waiting for us. They had gone through their stockings already and were dying to open their presents.

We woke Amelia up at 8:00 to open presents. When I told her that Santa had come the first thing she said was, "Did he bring me lots of sugar?" On our trip to Utah she told Curt that sugar fills up her leg and when she runs out she needs more. She frequently tells us that she needs more sugar to fill up her leg. Normally we don't have candy or other goodies in the house, but at Christmas time it's a different story and I fear she's gotten used to it.

After we finished opening presents, we had a quick brunch (eggs, sausage, croissants, cinnamon rolls, sparkling cider) before we got ready for church at 1:00. They just had Sacrament Meeting, and then we came home and enjoyed the rest of the day watching Christmas movies, eating lots of yummy food and goodies.

It was a fun, relaxing day.

Isabel said that next year she isn't going to get up early. This year Christmas wasn't as magical and exciting for her as it normally is. She didn't enjoy decorating as much as she usually does. I guess that comes with growing older but it's sad to see.

My favorite thing about the Christmas season is the good spirit that it brings. I love Christmas music (I play it throughout the year whenever I feel like it) and the good feeling that it has.

I love giving gifts, helping others and remembering what Christmas is truly about, our Savior's birth.

Winter Concert - December 15th

2012-01-01T09:02:00.000-08:00

Isabel's winter orchestra concert was December 15th. Curt was out-of-town on business so I took Eva and Amelia with me. You can hear Amelia chattering in the background. She kept trying to push buttons on my camera. She wanted to take pictures too. She was really bored. A lovely lady behind us gave her a small chocolate bar which saved the situation, literally. Without that chocolate bar, Amelia would have turned into a crying mess. She and Eva were both hungry even though they had eaten not long before we left. I usually carry some kind of snack but for some reason on that night I didn't.

I think their orchestra sounded a little rough overall this time.

You can't see Isabel. She's in the very middle behind a girl with a red & green hat. When I sat down I could see her perfectly, but once they sat up to start playing she was completely out of sight.

Serendipity Suite - Fit as a Fiddle

(They played this for their fall concert. I don't know why they played it again.)

Serendipity Suite - Sol-La Viola

(The violas played the melody in this piece so Isabel was happy.)

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Amelia's Quote of the Day...

2012-01-01T08:52:00.000-08:00

"I want a pink princess gun so I can shoot duckies and things."

Winter Break Trip

2011-12-31T18:49:00.000-08:00

Last year we had planned this trip but then ended up not going when Curt & I both came down with the flu. So this year we made sure that everyone had their flu shot!

Day 1

Polar Express train ride in Ely, Nevada.

We didn't like Ely. The hotel was the worst hotel we've ever stayed in. Smoke coming in our room all night in spite of being in non-smoking rooms on a non-smoking floor. The restaurant we ate at had the worst meal we've literally ever had. We were extremely happy to leave the next morning. We plan on never going to Ely again. The Polar Express wasn't worth it.

Day 2

Christmas lights on Temple Square.

Someone is exhausted.

Day 3

LDS Conference Center

The Conference Center has some beautiful works of art. My favorite is this stained glass window of Christ healing at the pool of Bethesda.

On the roof of the Conference Center.

You can see the Temple behind us in this shot.

The Beehive House, which was one of Brigham Young's homes in Salt Lake City.

Amelia was very impressed with the play room.

The Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Three Wards actually get to meet here every Sunday! We saw the chapel and it's incredible. I wish!

I love this sculpture called "Joyful Moment" on Temple Square.

The Christus in the visitor center on Temple Square.

We came out and it was snowing, which is what the girls were hoping for.

They were predicting a good two inches, but it ended up only being a light dusting.

At the hotel pool that evening.

Day 4

We hit snow on the way home. The girls were thrilled. We stopped at a rest stop and played for a while.

The End

Amelia's Quote of the Day...

2011-12-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

Tonight as I was putting Amelia to bed I sneezed very loudly. Amelia told me -

"You sneezed really loud and you wake up the dark!"

Why We Celebrate Christmas

2011-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

More Ballet

2011-12-23T21:07:00.000-08:00

Amelia has been taking ballet classes since July. She adores going, except when she doesn't like the costume they have. During one class they wore a kitty costume, and she refused to wear it or dance anymore and she left the class. Then during their last class this month she refused to wear the costume and dance even though it was parent's day. It's because it wasn't pretty enough. It wasn't princess worthy. She also started a fashion trend. When the weather turned colder I started having her wear leg warmers. Now all the girls are wearing them.

These pictures were taken during three different classes.

Her teacher Miss Louisa. She is a wonderful teacher. She really knows how to engage the children and keep them interested.We were sad to find out that she's leaving after this month.

Her other teacher Miss Caitlin. We are hoping that Amelia can be in a class with her starting in January.

Makeovers

2011-12-23T20:53:00.000-08:00

The girls are always doing "makeovers" on each other, but they don't use make-up. They use paint. Luckily it's washable. Sometimes the faces they come up with are down-right creepy.

I have no idea what this is. Eva has a beard but she also has eye shadow. A man-girl maybe? Circus worthy that's for sure.

The Princess At Work

2011-12-23T20:40:00.000-08:00

Last month I decided to go through Amelia's entire closet and dresser, de-junk and organize. I pulled everything out of her closet and drawers and put it on a big pile on the floor. When I wasn't in the room Amelia thought she would help by hanging some of her clothing up. She came to me and said, "Do you want to watch me hang up my panties?" I got a kick out of that and followed her into her room so that she could show me her handiwork.

This is what I found:

I thought it was so cute that she did that!

She wasn't too happy when I had to take it down and put it back in her closet.

The Honeymoon Is Over.

2011-12-23T20:30:00.000-08:00

If you've ever moved into a brand new house, you'll know what I'm talking about. We had our house built almost 9 years ago. The first several years you go through a honeymoon phase when everything works perfectly and the house looks great. Then things start falling apart. We're on our third water heater and second dishwasher. We need a new dishwasher, but haven't been able to bring ourselves to buy one yet. We've replaced one toilet and really need to replace the other two. The kitchen flooring needs to be replaced as well. Now the "little" things are starting to fall apart as well. Cabinet hardware, sinks, faucets, etc. It all adds up. We finally got to the point with our kitchen faucet that it had to be replaced because it started flooding the cupboard under the sink on a regular basis. We had ignored the leak for months, but then it really started leaking. Luckily, Curt is really handy, so he did it himself.

Our old faucet. It was a very basic faucet. No frills, with some plastic parts. Plastic always breaks eventually.

Our new faucet, but much better quality. I picked it out. Brushed stainless which matches the reverse-osmosis faucet that Curt replaced a few months ago. Plus, this one has a sprayer. I've wanted a sprayer on the kitchen sink since we moved into the house. Curt bought a kit once to install one, but it didn't work properly. My dream has come true...

Having my own built in plumber is great because I get ~

Free labor.

No overcharging for parts.

He cleans up after himself.

His behind is properly covered.

We're wondering what is going to break next.

Amelia's Quote of the Day...

2011-12-20T06:03:00.000-08:00

Amelia was doing something she wasn't supposed to so I told her stop. Then she started crying with big tears rolling down her cheeks...

"I'm sooo sad. You madddeee meeee crrrryyyy...!!!"

Then in her next breath in a completely normal voice...

"Can I have Cheetos?"

Eva's Christmas Recital

2011-12-19T06:19:00.000-08:00

Eva's recital was on December 3rd. She played Silent Night. If you watch, you'll see her start playing, and then stop because she realized she wasn't using the pedal. She puts her foot on the pedal, then starts playing again. It didn't even phase her.

Amelia's Quote of the Day...

2011-12-18T08:41:00.000-08:00

"I hope the moon doesn't crack."

Amelia's Favorite Christmas Song

2011-12-16T09:26:00.000-08:00

A Much Maligned Holiday Treat

2011-12-15T16:37:00.000-08:00

(picture from stlmag.com)

I have a confession. I ~~like~~ love fruitcake. There, I said it. You can gasp in shock.

Fruitcake is the butt of jokes. Fruitcake is despised and hated like nothing else. I read somewhere that is the most re-gifted Christmas gift that is given.

I don't understand why it's so hated. I love all the candied fruit and nuts and the dense, sweet bread. Yummmmm...

I've never met a fruitcake that I didn't like. There is something addictive about it for me, like rice kripsy treats or no bake cookies. I just can't stop eating it once I start.

I've been given fruitcake, I've bought fruitcake and I've made fruitcake, but I've never given it, because people hate it.

Why don't people like fruitcake? What is so inherently wrong with it that everyone seems to hate?

Kate & William chose it as their wedding cake. So British. It was covered in frosting. I'd love to try that.

I've always had a fascination and love of all things British, so maybe that's why I love fruitcake. It's in my blood, even though I don't think I have a drop of English blood in me. Curt has plenty, and he likes fruitcake too. That's why we got married.

Do you like, love, completely adore or hate fruitcake? I'd love to know. I want to know if I'm alone in my love of this much maligned holiday goody.

Maybe I'm just weird.

Next on my list to try:

English Plum Pudding

It looks heavenly...(at least to my taste buds)

Isabel's Quote of the Day...

2011-12-14T08:41:00.000-08:00

Curt's been on a business trip this week so I've really let the house go the last two days with everything else I have going on. This morning I told Isabel that I was going to clean the house today.

Isabel motioned in Amelia's direction and said:

"It's too bad we can't make her our slave."

"My Twelve Days of Sickmas" by Eva

2011-12-13T08:18:00.000-08:00

Eva had a cold over the weekend, so she wrote this song to the tune of "The 12 Days of Christmas"

My Twelve Days of Sickmas

(by Eva)

On my first day of Sickmas my Mommy gave to me:
O-o-one Na-a-sty Drink!

On my second day of Sickmas my Mommy gave to me:
Two Viruses,

and O-o-one Na-a-sty Drink!

On my third day of Sickmas my Mommy gave to me:
Three Fevers, Two Viruses,
and O-o-one Na-a-sty Drink!

On my fourth day of Sickmas my Mommy gave to me:

Four Nasty pills, Three Fevers, Two Viruses,
and O-o-one Na-a-sty Drink!

On my fifth day of Sickmas my Mommy gave to me:
Five Weeks without Sugar!

Four Nasty pills, Three Fevers, Two Viruses,
and O-o-one Na-a-sty Drink!

On sixth day of Sickmas my Mommy gave to me:
Six Doctor’s Checkups,

Five Weeks without Sugar!

Four Nasty pills, Three Fevers, Two Viruses,
and O-o-one Na-a-sty Drink!

On seventh day of Sickmas my Mommy gave to me:
Seven Skin Diseases, Six Doctor’s Checkups,

Five Weeks without Sugar!

Four Nasty pills, Three Fevers, Two Viruses,
and O-o-one Na-a-sty Drink!

On eighth day of Sickmas my Mommy gave to me:
Eight Days Stuck Inside, Seven Skin Diseases, Six Doctor’s Checkups,

Five Weeks without Sugar!

Four Nasty pills, Three Fevers, Two Viruses,
and O-o-one Na-a-sty Drink!

On my ninth day of Sickmas my Mommy gave to me:
Nine Painful Shots, Eight Days Stuck Inside,

Seven Skin Diseases, Six Doctor’s Checkups,

Five Weeks without Sugar!

Four Nasty pills, Three Fevers, Two Viruses,
and O-o-one Na-a-sty Drink!

On my tenth day of Sickmas my Mommy gave to me:
Ten Hours of Puking, Nine Painful Shots, Eight Days Stuck Inside,

Seven Skin Diseases, Six Doctor’s Checkups,

Five Weeks without Sugar!

Four Nasty pills, Three Fevers, Two Viruses,
and O-o-one Na-a-sty Drink!

On my eleventh day of Sickmas my Mommy gave to me:
Eleven Showers a Day, Ten Hours of Puking, Nine Painful Shots,

Eight Days Stuck Inside, Seven Skin Diseases, Six Doctor’s Checkups,
Five Weeks without Sugar!

Four Nasty pills, Three Fevers, Two Viruses,
and O-o-one Na-a-sty Drink!

On my twelfth day of Sickmas my Mommy gave to me:
Twelve Nights of Croup, Eleven Showers a Day,

Ten Hours of Puking, Nine Painful Shots, Eight Days Stuck Inside, Seven Skin Diseases, Six Doctor’s Checkups,
Five Weeks without Sugar!

Four Nasty pills, Three Fevers, Two Viruses,
and O-o-one Na-a-sty Drink!

Amelia's Quote of the Day...

2011-12-12T14:09:00.000-08:00

Amelia: I'm looking for Daddy's green iPhone.

Eva: You don't have Dad's permission to use his iPhone.

Amelia:

"I'm looking for Daddy's permission."

Just Busy, Busy, Busy!

2011-12-11T10:19:00.000-08:00

(Isabel wrapped this gift for Amelia. It looks like a huge salt water taffy.)

I've been SO busy lately, I've had no time to blog.

First of all, there is the normal, everyday stuff (in no particular order):

Laundry

Dishes

Cleaning

Cooking

School Lunch Making

Driving To & From School Twice A Day

Ballet Lessons

Piano Lessons

Viola Lessons

Activity Days

Young Women

Allergy Shots

Homework

Stake Website Calling

Ward Website Calling

Grocery Shopping

Visiting Teaching

Church

Bill Paying

Sleep

Praying

Scripture Reading

And the list goes on...

Then add in all the extra stuff this time of year:

Christmas Cards

Christmas Presents

Teacher Gifts

Toffee Making

Curt Gone On A Business Trip

Creating Our Stake Calendar For 2012

Creating Our Ward Calendar For 2012

Music Recital

Ballet Recital

Five Christmas Parties

Young Women in Excellence

School Orchestra Christmas Concert

Parent/Teacher Conference

Gift Wrapping

Four Day Trip to Ely, Nevada & Salt Lake City, Utah

Sick Kids

Christmas Eve Dinner

Christmas Brunch

CHRISTMAS!

I think my brain is going to explode. I'm just taking one day at a time.

I'm not complaining (well, maybe just a little bit), just explaining.

Amelia's Conversation of the Day...

2011-12-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

Amelia: Those candy canes are for the tree.

Me: I don't want to put them on the tree.

Amelia: Because people won't leave them alone?

Me: Exactly.

Amelia: Because I won't leave them alone?

(Exactly!!!!)

Nourishing Traditions & Soaked Grain Whole Wheat Pancakes

2011-11-28T22:06:00.000-08:00

I read this book:

It changed the way I view food; what is healthy, what isn't and proper preparation. I'm a far cry from perfect, but it's a step-by-step process. It's hard to completely change the way you eat overnight. I'm making small steps. I'm not going to go over everything in the book, you really need read it if you haven't already.

One thing the book stresses is proper preparation of your grains. First of all, you should eat whole grains, that's a given.

Page 25: "We recommend the use of a variety of whole grains but with an important caveat. Phosphorus in the bran of whole grains is tied up in a substance called phytic acid. Phytic acid combines with iron, calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc in the intestinal tract, blocking their absorption. Whole grains also contain enzyme inhibitors that can interfere with digestion. Traditional societies usually soak or ferment their grains before eating them, a processes that neutralize phytates and enzyme inhibitors and, in effect, predigest grains so that all of their nutrients are more available. Sprouting, overnight soaking and old-fashioned sour leavening can accomplish this important pre-digestion process in our own kitchens. Many people who are allergic to grains will tolerate them well when they are prepared according to these procedures."

So when I think about it and plan ahead, instead of making normal white flour pancakes (which are so yummy but so bad for me) or plain whole wheat pancakes, which are somewhat better but not the best I could make, I make soaked grain whole wheat pancakes, which have a much better texture and taste than non-soaked whole wheat pancakes.

Soaked Grain Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

12 to 24 hours before you want to make pancakes combine the following in a bowl:

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups buttermilk

Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter for 12-24 hours (the longer the better). The top layer might become a gray color, but it's nothing to worry about. If you don't like it, then take it off before you mix in the other ingredients. The resulting mixture will be a soft dough.

Mix into the buttermilk/flour mixture:

2 eggs, beaten well
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons honey or Sucanat
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon unrefined salt (I used Real Salt brand)

1. Let the pancake batter sit for 5 minutes.

2. Grease a skillet or pan with either butter or coconut oil.

3. Drop the batter by 1/4 cupfuls that has been set on medium heat.

4. Serve with real butter and a natural sweetener (real maple syrup, honey, fruit-only jams/jellies).

5. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Eva's Quote of the Day...

2011-11-25T09:17:00.001-08:00

"I can't believe you're letting us have pumpkin pie for breakfast! You're turning into an awesome mom!"

The Thanksgiving Food Pyramid

2011-11-24T07:57:00.000-08:00

My thoughts exactly!

Thanksgiving Prep

2011-11-23T16:39:00.000-08:00

This is the first year in four years that we aren't having family for Thanksgiving. It's weird but nice at the same time. We almost never go anywhere for Thanksgiving. The last time we went somewhere Eva was only two, so that was six years ago. It's nice to stay home and relax. No last minute laundry and packing, crazy airports and long drives. I love sleeping in my own bed.

I spent the day cooking. I always bake the pies and everything else I can the day before. It just makes it so much easier. We always have dinner around noon on Thanksgiving Day. I can't imagine baking all the pies on Thanksgiving morning plus everything else. I'd have to start at midnight to get it all done!

When Eva was about this age, she stirred everything for me when I was making pies that year. Amelia did the same for me.

Yum...Amelia keeps asking for a "small piece of pie". Isabel and Eva keep talking about how good they look. Isabel asked me to put them away so that they wouldn't tempt her.

I usually remember to defrost the turkey in the fridge for several days before Thanksgiving. This year, I forgot. At least there's a fairly quick and safe way to do it in cold water. Still, it took 8 hours!

Mmmm...homemade cranberry sauce. I can't stand the canned stuff.

Lots of ballet going on today. She's got a mild cold but it's not stopping her.

Even the dinosaurs are getting ready!

The dinosaur turkey. How cute is that?

This morning I was standing at the sink washing dishes. Amelia walked up behind me, hugged my legs and said "Merry Christmas mama!" in her sweet little voice.

You can't get better than that. It made my day.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amelia's Quote of the Day...

2011-11-18T17:12:00.000-08:00

This morning when we dropped Isabel off at school Amelia asked me:

"Is this Isabel's 'Charm School'?"

Save Room For Pie

2011-11-16T09:24:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday night my sister Lydia flew in from California to spend a few days with us and go on a short girl's trip with me to St. George Utah. Lydia had never been there before.

I forgot my camera so she took all of the pictures with her camera.

Highlights from Friday...

Jamba Juice Pumpkin Smash Smoothies. It's like drinking a pumpkin pie, without the crust.

The Jacob Hamblin Home. It was my third time there. I love it there. It has such special spirit. Jacob Hamblin was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame for riding over 30,000 miles on horseback among other accomplishments. He was a friend to the many Native American tribes in Utah as well as surrounding states. He learned over 15 different Native American languages.

More information about him HERE.

The best fresh strawberry pie either of us had ever had...

...from this little bakery that had just opened. That was our lunch. We went back the next day and bought a whole pie to take home. Now I need to figure out how to re-create it.

The Brigham Young winter home. This is the second time I've been there. It turns out that the oldest daughter of the missionary couple that was giving tours married the son of family friends. It's a small world.

Lydia also saw her first polygamist family there. They were on a tour as well. We talked a lot about polygamy while Lydia was here. It's an interesting topic.

The Tabernacle. Finished in 1875. It was the first time I'd ever been there. So much history, I love it!

The St. George Temple. So beautiful. I hope that one day I'll be able to go through it.

Cracker Barrel for dinner! They don't have them in California or Nevada. St. George is the closest one. We were in heaven.

We both had the fish fry. I had cod and she had catfish. Yummy...

Shopping at the Cracker Barrel store. They have so many neat things. I bought candy for our gingerbread house. They have a lot of old fashioned candies like that ones that we used as children for our gingerbread house every year.

We finally made it to the hotel. We didn't get to sleep until about 2:00 a.m. We couldn't stop gabbing!

Our late night snack. Apple pie caramel apples from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. So addictive!

Highlights from Saturday...

We decided we wanted to go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. It was literally right across the street from our hotel. We didn't plan it that way, it just happened. It's fate I tell you, fate. We got up at 6:30 a.m. (5:30 a.m. to our bodies) to make it to breakfast before Time Out For Women started. That's how much we love Cracker Barrel.

Here we are walking to Time Out For Women. See what happens to your behind when you eat at Cracker Barrel twice in less than 18 hours? Actually, those are our purses, LOL.

At Time Out For Women. It was awesome. They had Hiliary Weeks, Brad Wilcox and Mariama Kollon among others.

Mariama's story is amazing. I heard her speak at a Stake Women's Retreat a few years ago. Her life makes mine look like a piece of cake, and she's so happy, full of love and forgiveness. It's amazing. Hiliary Weeks is a songwriter and singer. I've enjoyed her music for years. I remember Brad Wilcox speaking at a Youth Conference when I was 17. He's a great speaker. I can't even count how many times I teared up during the day.

Arby's for lunch. Beef & cheddar sandwiches and jalapeno poppers. Lydia and I share a lot of the same tastes in food.

More Time Out For Women...

This is Hiliary Weeks. Not only is she an amazing singer, she's hilariously funny! I laughed and laughed. Then I bought her new CD that just hit #6 on the Christian Billboards. We have several of her Cd's and they are all great.

Here we are, you can barely see us, but maybe that's a good thing!

Then we stopped at Starbucks among other places for some yummy blended creams. They are frappuccino's without the coffee. I never go to Starbucks unless I'm with Lydia. She knows all the ropes.

We drove home. I thought Amelia would be excited to see me. She passed me right by, said "Where's Aunt Lydia?" and made a beeline right for her. I'm a second class citizen when Aunt Lydia is here.

The rest of the time Lydia was here we mainly hung around the house, relaxed and ate. It was great.

And somehow I lost a pound while she was here. I have no clue how that happened, but it did.

Lydia left yesterday afternoon, right after Curt left for a business trip to San Diego.

Now I'm alone with the girls. It's very quiet.

We are crossing our fingers that Aunt Lydia and Uncle Rick will come for Thanksgiving, but we aren't holding our breaths.

So Funny & So True

2011-11-10T06:37:00.000-08:00

When I was four the movie Sleeping Beauty was re-released into the theater. I remember my mom taking me to see it. I absolutely loved it. That was my first exposure to a Disney Princess, and not my last. Later on I was given a record of the soundtrack. I played it for years and had all of the songs memorized. I think I still have it around here somewhere.

Several new princesses have popped up over the years. Amelia ~~loves~~ is obsessed with princesses, Disney and Barbie both. She wears princess dresses all day long and watches a princess movie on an almost daily basis. She dances and sings to princess songs every day. I love that she is so happy in her little world of make believe.

Not long ago I ran across a link to this on facebook I believe, and I found it to be so true and so funny at the same time. As a child you don't think about the fact that the sole purpose of a princess is to marry the prince, at all costs. It's all about the sparkly dresses, beautiful hair and the cute little animals.

The story of Ariel, The Little Mermaid, is especially disturbing. I remember when it came out and my mom wasn't thrilled with the message that the movie sends. At the time I didn't understand why, I was only 15. Now I completely "get it". Isabel gets it and she's only 14, but she's very mature for her age.

I'm not going to take away Amelia's princess dresses, movies, music or discourage her from her make believe. She's three. One day when she's older she'll "get it" too.

I hope that one day she will marry her prince charming and live happily ever after, in the real world. Of course that will take place after she's finished college, gone on a mission and had some time working in a career that she loves.

The Miracle Of Creation

2011-11-09T06:51:00.000-08:00

My mom shared this with me. It's incredible. This is just one tiny aspect of our world and so amazing. How can you not believe in God?

Life of flowers from VOROBYOFF PRODUCTION on Vimeo.

Eva's Quote of the Day...

2011-11-08T06:11:00.000-08:00

This week my sister Lydia is coming for a visit. YAY!!! On Friday we're driving to St. George to have some fun. Eva asked me what we are going to do there. I told her that we are going to Time Out For Women on Saturday.

She asked me, in all seriousness:

"You're putting yourself in time out?"

Halloween Concert

2011-11-07T06:50:00.000-08:00

I'm finally putting this on my blog. Isabel's Philharmonic Orchestra had their Halloween Concert on October 18th at 6:30 p.m.

Isabel wasn't happy with the way that they sounded that night. I agree that it wasn't their best.

Serendipity Suite by Richard Meyer

A Rockin Halloween arranged by Michael Story

Isabel had a viola solo. Her friend Syndee accompanied her on the piano. She played Mozart's Divertimento in C Major, First Movement

After it was over Isabel asked Amelia if she played well at the concert.

Amelia told her, "Yeah, I didn't cover my ears."

A Glimpse Of Things To Come

2011-11-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

I should have known this was coming.

Last Sunday Amelia was watching me very closely while I was putting make-up on. She kept asking questions about the names of different products. She went on and on about how she wanted to wear makeup too. She's always liked make-up and went through a phase of sneaking into my room and putting on lip gloss every chance she got. I thought she was past that.

On Monday afternoon she came downstairs and announced: "Look, I did a makeover!"

I think she did a fairly decent job for a three-year-old. She ended up with some mascara on her lashes, lip gloss on her lips and blush (eyeshadow) on the apples of her cheeks.

I had a little chat with her about not getting into my make-up. At least she tried to put the lids on, put everything back in the drawer and closed it. A lot of the powdered eyeshadow ended up on the carpet. Sigh...

On Thursday afternoon she came downstairs with several cut ribbons. She had gotten into my sewing basket and used my pinking shears to cut some of my ribbon because she wanted bows in her hair.

We had another chat.

Later that day I was in Eva's room when Amelia walked in and we both smelled nail polish. She had opened a bottle of my nail polish, put it on her nails, put the lid back on and put it back in my drawer. Amazingly she didn't make a mess, and she did a pretty good job of painting her nails too.

Another chat.

I think I might have to put the baby proof door knob thingy back on our door and keep it closed at all times, like before, as well as put all the scissors in a locked safe.

She learned to use scissors this week, because I finally decided to let her use them sitting at the counter while being supervised at all times. Then she started talking about hair cutting while she was using the scissors. I'm very afraid of where this is going. Sometimes Eva or Isabel will leave scissors lying around and Amelia finds them. She's always been good about bringing them to me. I'm just waiting for her to come downstairs to show off her butchered hair.

I took her to the salon for a little trim yesterday afternoon. I hope I won't be visiting there again soon.

She's going to be the daughter that spends hours in the bathroom getting ready and making us late when she's older.

Embarrassing Moment #622...

2011-11-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

The phone rings. I look at the caller ID. I see Curt's cellphone number.

I answer the phone:

"Yo."

It wasn't Curt.

It was another building scheduler in our Stake. She laughed. Her phone number is almost identical to Curt's. Luckily, I've worked with her for a long time and I know her, or it would have been even more embarrassing.

Our Halloween...

2011-11-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

The evening didn't start off so well...

Amelia's pumpkin threw up all over the wall and sidewalk. I had to scrub the wall and sidewalk the next day.

Curt and Isabel created a graveyard in our front yard. We bought a fog machine this year, which gave our yard a cool eeriness.

My beautiful family...

Isabel had decided not to go trick or treating this year. She dressed up as a hick for the trunk-or-treat, and did end up getting a little candy when she saw 16 and 17-year-olds making the rounds. On Halloween night she put a cape on and at the last minute decided to walk down a couple of streets in our neighborhood. Then later some friends of hers came by and she went out and trick-or-treated a little bit. She also bought a bag of Kit Kats for herself because she didn't want to miss out on all the chocolate.

Eva went through so many costumes before she finally decided. At first, she was going to be a queen. Then a bee, a fairy, a corpse bride and finally decided to be Supergirl at the last minute. We had all of these costumes already. We've kept almost every Halloween costume we've ever had. Too many choices I think.

Amelia was a queen for the trunk-or-treat, but then decided to be Supergirl on Halloween. Something about wearing a cape and running at top speed is very appealing. Also, it might have something to do with the fact that her queen crown fell into a toilet at the trunk-or-treat and was thrown away.

All their loot.

Isabel has a very small pile.

Eva isn't happy because the pile of candy (on the left) she can't eat. It's full of corn syrup. She can only eat the pile on the right.

For some reason Amelia got more candy than Eva. Daddy and Mommy Tax were taken out. She's in a very high tax bracket.

We have way too much chocolate in the house right now.

Random Ramblings

2011-11-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

The morning after Halloween, as soon as I took the girls to school, I spent 2 1/2 hours taking down all the decorations and cleaning the front yard/porch. I'm glad it's done. I really enjoy Halloween, but no matter how it's done, Halloween decorations are by nature tacky, so leaving them up for even an extra day wasn't going to set well with me.

Winter is here, I think. We don't really have a fall. One day (usually around Halloween) it's in the 80's and the next morning it gets down into the 30's and it's cold. The leaves don't turn pretty colors and fall off of the trees. They just die, fall off and blow away one day. I really miss fall. I want to move somewhere that has fall. I LOVE fall, it's my favorite season.

I'm starting to stock up for Thanksgiving dinner. A little here and a little there is easier than one big shopping trip. I'm thinking about getting the turkey this week, because we have the big freezer now with plenty of room and I found turkeys for 59 cents per pound.

I feel like I just cooked Thanksgiving dinner. I can't believe another year is almost gone!

At least this year I know we won't get stuck in a little town of California flying Lydia and Rick back to their home after making an emergency landing in the fog, with icing in the wings and oxygen deprivation going on. That was scary. I don't want a repeat of that event, ever. Just thinking about it makes me scared. I haven't flown in a small plane since that happened, and I don't know that I ever will.

I'm dejunking Amelia's closet, again. She doesn't have enough room in her tiny dresser so I want to be able to hang up not only her dresses and skirts, but all of her tops. And I need room to store a few bins with clothing passed down from Eva. Half of the closet has been full of Halloween costumes and I need that space. We are using the attic now to store some things so they will probably end up there.

I was going through some baby things today. I found Isabel and Eva's first shoes and Amelia's blessing outfit. I can't believe they were that tiny at one time.

My house is a wreck right now. When I focus on one area (like a closet), then the rest of the house blows up.

We are trying to find a home for Eva's Fiddler crabs. Their food stinks to high heaven and I can't stand it anymore. It all began when Isabel decided she didn't want her goldfish anymore. She gave them to Eva. Eva put them in her bowl with her other fish. Then we had an extra fish bowl, so we thought it would be cool to get a couple of fiddler crabs. We got two male crabs and put them in the bowl with their stinky food. I did research after we got them and found out that they need a lot of water and sand, not rocks. So I bought a 5.5 gallon tank and sand, thinking that it wouldn't stink as much. Wrong! So that morphed into me needing to get a filter for their tank. I got one today and put it in there and realized it wouldn't work. So we decided to get rid of the fiddler crabs and keep the tank for Eva's three goldfish. She won't have to clean a goldfish bowl every week now, which is good. And her room doesn't stink like dried shrimp anymore. Ewww...

If I can't find a home for them, I'm taking them back to Wal-mart and will leave them there without getting my money back if I have to.

Recipe: Whole Wheat Penne With Savory Pumpkin Sauce

2011-11-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

It's the time of year for pumpkin. Why we don't in general doesn't think about eating it all year long is beyond me. It's on the grocery store shelves all year long. It usually has a little spot on the very bottom shelf, and only a few cans, because no one is buying it 3/4ths of the year. Poor pumpkin.

I love pumpkin, but only think about using it in the fall like most people. Last year I bought a case of canned pumpkin at a great price, dreaming of all the pumpkin things I would make, and I haven't even made a dent in it. I think I've used two cans. I'm trying to figure out how to use it all before it expires. I've been thinking about making a pumpkin pie since June, but it hasn't happened. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin fudge, etc. I love pumpkin but don't want to eat it all in sugar-based goodies.

On Halloween night I had pumpkin on the brain, probably due to all the pumpkin carving and pumpkin decorations. I decided to make a pumpkin sauce for pasta because I needed a quick dinner before I took the girls out trick-or-treating.

I adapted this from a recipe of Rachel Ray's. I'm not a big Rachel Ray fan. Most of her recipes that I've tried have been huge flops, but I was really happy with the way this turned out. I changed it quite a bit so maybe that's why. So yummy. Unfortunately I'm the only one that really likes it. The rest of the family wants to taste pumpkin only if it's mixed with sugar.

Whole Wheat Penne With Savory Pumpkin Sauce

1 pound whole wheat penne pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 pound ground mild pork sausage (I use Jimmy Dean All Natural)
1 15-ounce can of pureed pumpkin
1 to 1 1/2 cups of half & half (depending on the consistency you like)
1 teaspoon ground sage
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
salt to taste

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add in the onion and garlic.
4. Saute, stirring frequently, until the onion starts to soften.
5. Add in the sausage, and cook, stirring frequently and breaking sausage into small pieces.
6. When the sausage is fully cooked, stir in the pumpkin, half & half, cinnamon and nutmeg and cook until hot.
7. Salt to taste.
8. Serve sauce over the pasta.

Amelia's Quote of they Day...

2011-11-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Amelia and I were sweeping the sidewalk this morning. She accidentally hit my behind with her broom.

Her apology:

"I'm sorry I sweeped your big, fat bum."

Happy Halloween!!!!!

2011-10-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

A No Work Fun Day

2011-10-28T08:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I declared a "No Work Fun Day". The girls were surprised and excited.

What, no work at all? It's a miracle! Is mom for real?

No chores, no homework, no music practice.

Just fun and playing; whatever they wanted to do (within reason of course).

They...

Slept in.

Played dinosaurs.

Went to the library.

Played at the park.

Ate McDonald's cheeseburgers.

Went to the theater to see this movie:

Ate lots of popcorn.

It was a great movie. 100% clean and touching.

I usually don't cry watching movies, but I cried at the end of this.

Last night they watched this movie:

They went to bed late.

Today:

They don't have school.

They slept in (I slept in!).

Tonight is our Ward's Halloween party and trunk-or-treat.

Isabel is going to decorate the trunk.

Amelia can't wait to wear her queen costume and get candy.

Isabel decided she's not going trick-or-treating this year, that she's too old.

I agree, but it's sad. :(

She's growing up too fast.

I wish they didn't have to go back to school on Monday. I love having them home.

In other news:

I turned the heat on this morning for the first time since last winter.

It got down to 44 degrees last night! Brrrrrrr!

The Mind Boggling Questions Of A 3-Year-Old...

2011-10-24T06:35:00.000-07:00

"Is lightening pink with sparkles and sprinkles?"

"Do princesses need chapstick?"

"Why do raisins make me toot?"

"Can the lightening see you in your bed sleeping?"

"Do bugs have butter?"

"Are pigeons our Heavenly Father?"

"Does Jesus like our Halloween decorations?"

"Do bums talk?"

"Do big people break little pottys?"

"Do fish cry?"

"Do princesses text?"

"Do ballerinas and princesses like yogurt?"

"Can you take dogs clothes off?"

A Trip To The Orchard

2011-10-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

On October 8th we headed to our local orchard to visit their huge pumpkin patch. We decided to pay the fee to drive in with our car instead of walking, and I'm so glad we did! We ended up with a big haul and there is no way we could have carried it out.

After we picked out our pumpkins and a watermelon (which grew with the pumpkins), we drove around the rest of the orchard. We stopped to pick sweet potatoes, granny smith apples and corn stalks to use for decoration. I saw several figs trees that had dropped a ton of fruit and it was going to waste on the ground. How sad! I love figs and would have gladly come and picked them if I had known.

Then we waited in a very long line of cars to pay for our produce as well as buy some butternut squash at the stand and fresh pear cider and apple cider that they make and sell there. We also tried some of their fresh apple cider donuts, which were super yummy.

After waiting in the care line, we finally made it to the checkout area, we had to unload everything for weighing and then wait in another line. Right when I ready to put our produce on the table to be weighed, a lady walked up right in front of me, put her produce down on the table and said to me, "I'm sorry, but I was waiting in the car line." I told her "I was waiting in the car line too." We had been waiting longer than she had! Did she care? No. I detest rude behavior. I would never do that to anyone. Ugh.

All in all it was a really good trip. We had a great time and look forward to going there again to pick different produce in season.

What Do You Do With 20 Pounds Of Peaches?

2011-10-21T18:36:00.000-07:00

Growing up we always had a large garden and spend a good part of our summer canning. Pickles, green beans, peaches, apple pie filling, tomatoes, peach pie filling corn, jams and jellies. You name it, we canned it. I even had a special outfit for canning for when we canned peaches because peach juice stains so horribly. It was a lot of work but I look back at that time in my life with fond memories. I don't can very often, but I enjoy it. It takes a lot of time and preparation, but I love the end result. I feel like I've really accomplished something when I see all the rows of filled glass jars ready to go on my pantry shelves.

Two weeks ago I bought 24 pounds of organic peaches through a co-op. After two days we had eaten about 4 pounds, and I could tell that the peaches were ripening too quickly to leave out at room temperature anymore.

Unfortunately I don't have an extra fridge to keep them in. So I decided to can them. But I didn't want to can them the same way, by taking the skins off and putting them in a sugar syrup, white grape juice or just water. Taking the skins off creates a lot of extra work. I remembered my mom telling me that one year she didn't take the skins off and stuffed peach halves into jars (without any liquid I believe) and they ended up tasting more like apricots.

So I stuffed the peach halves into jars and put this hot syrup on them:

18 cups of water

3 cups of honey

the juice of 5 limes

4 tablespoons of pure vanilla extract

Then I processed the quart jars for 35 minutes and the pint jars for 30 minutes in a water bath canner. I don't yet know how they will taste. Hopefully they'll be really yummy. And the skins come off easily if we don't want to eat them.

Unfortunately I had one pint jar and one quart jar that the bottoms broke off in the canner.

I've never had that happen before and I can't figure out what happened. It happened in two different batches. I was more unhappy about losing that jars than the peaches. I'm almost out of canning jars now, because the rest are being used. Time to stock up!

I ended up with 23 pint jars and 3 quart jars of peaches, including the broken jars.

I'd love to get a pressure canner. Maybe someday.

*Update: 11-2-2011 - It's been 2 weeks since I canned these. I opened a jar today. They are very good. The peaches are sweet, but not too sweet and they are still firm, not squishy and fresh tasting. I'm thinking that maybe a little more vanilla would be good, but I'm very happy with the end result.

Halloween Decorating

2011-10-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

The last day of September Isabel came home from school and announced that she wanted to decorate for Halloween. So we spent the evening doing that, which included a trip to the store for a new staple gun.

We still aren't done decorating. Curt and Isabel are making a graveyard in our front yard complete with a wooden fence, a gravedigger and a skeleton coming out of the ground. At first they had the idea to put an old toilet in the front yard with a skeleton sitting on it reading a newspaper. I about died when they told me. Incredibly TACKY. I told them I would move out if they did that, because I would die of embarrassment otherwise. Luckily Curt decided against it. Thank goodness. I cringe just thinking of it.

Isabel made this sign for me. Isn't that sweet? I've always wanted one.

Then we ate dinner and watched this touching movie:

If you haven't seen it, you're missing out. It's wonderful.

I Can't Stop Laughing...

2011-10-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

Last night was Isabel's orchestra Halloween concert.

The participants were supposed to dress up in costumes.

Isabel decided to be a "hick".

Check out her picture of a pig, her "Porkers #1", pinned on with a big diaper pin.

Check out her "Reserve Grand Champion" fair ribbon and the weed in her mouth.

Check out the dirt on her face and her hair style (my favorite part).

The entire costume was her idea.

Now you know why I can't stop laughing!!!

Amelia's Quotes of the Day...

2011-10-17T07:27:00.000-07:00

A few gems from the last couple of weeks...

On the way to school we were having a conversation about black heads (we have the weirdest conversations on the way to school).

Apparently Amelia was offended because she said in a very loud voice:

"I'm not a black head! I have a blond head, not a black head!"

___________________________________________________________________________________

At Baskin Robbins, Amelia was looking through the glass display at the chocolate fudge ice cream.

Her thoughts on that flavor:

"I hope that's not poop!"

___________________________________________________________________________________

We bought a fog machine for Halloween on Saturday.

As we were leaving for church yesterday Amelia asked Curt:

"Daddy, do you want to smoke after church?"

Isabel's Quote of the Day...

2011-10-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

This morning I dropped Isabel off at school and told her, "Have a good day!" like I always do.

Her reply:

"I'll try to in this monstrous dungeon of terror and hate."

For The Love Of Cake

2011-10-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken at Isabel's 14th birthday party last month. They were not staged.

I think she ~~likes~~ LOVES the cake. What do you think?

Eva's Quote of the Day...

2011-10-03T06:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we were discussing "helping verbs" because Isabel has a test on them today.

Eva said:

"Yeah, like 'cleaning' and 'vacuuming'."

Guess What I Did Today?

2011-10-01T17:11:00.000-07:00

Napoleon Dynamite: What are you doing here, Uncle Rico?

Rico: Your grandma took a little spill at the sand dunes today, broke her coccyx.

Napoleon: What? Since when does she go to the dunes?

Rico: Looks like there's a lot you don't know about her.

I went quading at the sand dunes.

I didn't break my coccyx.

She's Fourteen!

2011-09-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Dinosaur Bowling

2011-09-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

We used to have a cheap little bowling set that I got rid of in the last loft clean out this summer. Of course after I donated it the girls suddenly wanted to use it. They decided to use their dinosaurs instead. I thought it was funny.

Those poor dinosaurs, they go through so much.

Cases in point:

They are hung after being painted pink...

Their towns are constantly destroyed...

They are forced to wear unfashionable clothing...

They live in primitive huts...

They are drowned on a regular basis...

And last but not least:

They are forced to work. At least they have their own horses.

In other news:

I've started walking 2.5 miles a day, except Sundays. It feels great. Amelia enjoys the ride and playing at the park.

Tonight I have a meeting with the Stake Presidency and auxiliary leaders to go over the Stake calendar for 2012. I have to speak about the new lds.org calendar system. I'm a little freaked out about it. I hope my laptop WiFi connection works.

I made some banana bread the Nourishing Traditions way (soaking the grains first) and it's good. I'll share in another post.

I can see fall slowly creeping up. Yes, we might still be in the upper 90's (I'm pretending it's "Indian Summer"), but the leaves are starting to fall off of the trees. We've had a cool breeze in the morning the last two days that makes the leaves scatter across the roads and sidewalks. A sure sign of fall.

Today I cleaned and rearranged the loft, again. Now I have a little reading corner with a bookshelf and the dollhouse is in a better place with more light.

Tomorrow is Isabel's 14th birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amelia's Conversation of the Day...

2011-09-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

I was watching the movie "Love Comes Softly" and Amelia noticed the main character, Marty, crying because her husband had just died.

Amelia: "Why is that lady crying?"

Me: "Because her husband just died."

Amelia: "She needs to get a new husband."

Then Amelia saw a man on the screen and said:

"That's a new husband! Now she can stop crying and be happy!"

Me: "What do you do with your husband?"

Amelia: "You kiss them."

Amelia's Quote of the Day...

2011-09-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

This morning on the way to school we were discussing being tardy. Isabel asked Eva if she was tardy yesterday because I had dropped her off a little later than usual.

Amelia responded with a very indignant tone:

"She's not tardy! She's Eva!"

Steak Smoke = Angel

2011-09-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

One night I was cooking a big steak on the stove top grill. I got a little too happy with the heat level and filled the house with smoke. With the light shining in the living room windows you could really see the smoke. Isabel had the idea to dress Eva up as an angel and have her stand in the smoky light and take pictures. They are always so creative.

I love this picture because she looks so happy!

Wings

2011-09-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, our Stake had an early morning meeting for all the men, and asked that anyone who is or has been in the armed forces, to wear their uniforms.

So Curt pulled out his dress uniform, that he hasn't worn in at least seven years, and took it to the cleaners. He separated seven years ago and neither one of us can remember the last time he wore it. He had to find his hat or "cover", as well as his wings. He had let Isabel borrow his wings for school several years ago, and didn't know where they were. He also realized that he doesn't have several of his ribbons, probably two rows worth. Hopefully he'll get those at some point and add them to his uniform.

That morning after he had left for the meeting Isabel asked me if he had found his wings. Amelia looked up from painting with a very surprised look on her face and asked -

"Daddy has wings?"

She thought he had real wings and could fly.

Sorry, no.

After the meeting, our Bishop called and asked him to wear his uniform to church as well. Then right before we left for church he realized that his 15-year-old military dress shoes were literally splitting apart. He had to grab a pair of his black dress shoes, shine them up nicely and hope that no one would notice.

It was nice to see him in his uniform after all of this time. That is one thing that I do miss about him being in the military.

I'm grateful for his service and for everyone that has, is currently or will in the future serve our nation. They deserve our love, support and utmost respect for their sacrifices.

Amelia's Funny of the Day...

2011-09-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

One day last week Amelia slammed her door because she was angry. We don't allow that, so she was in trouble. She was really upset about it, and so she came downstairs bawling her little eyes out because "Daddy is soooo mean!" I couldn't calm her down and she went into the office area, sat down on the floor and kept crying.

At one point in the middle of her fit she stopped and said in a completely normal voice:

"I sound like a baby. I'm crying like a baby cries 'Waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!"

Then she went back to throwing her fit.

Just Had To Share...

2011-09-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

Lovely, isn't she?

Last Trip Of The Summer

2011-09-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

About three weeks ago I decided to take the girls on a last minute trip before school started. We drove to California to visit my sister Lydia and her husband Rick.

It's usually about a 10-hour drive, but with construction it was almost 11 hours coming back. Amelia had just started potty training not even a week before, but she did really great.

I had finally purchased a GPS right before the trip, which was a blessing. About 6 hours of the drive is in the middle of no where, and there is no cell phone service. I don't know what I would have done without that GPS! I'm not good at navigating at following maps. Curt always tells me to go the opposite of the way that I think I should go and most of the time that works, I'm sorry to admit. I just have no sense of direction.

We were gone for 5 days and had a really fun time. It was great escaping the high heat and the big city. Lydia and Rick live in a wooded area so the girls spent most of the their time playing outside and getting filthy. We went to a farmers market that Saturday and they played in a creek that was nearby.

The girls did not want to go home.

Lydia has a pottery studio and she showed us how to make pottery. Throwing pots is a lot harder than it looks!

Eva's creation.

Isabel had a little bit of a mishap.

But it turned out okay.

I had an even harder time than Isabel. I broke my clay right in two and it didn't turn out at all like I wanted it to, but oh well.

I ended up with this little bowl.

She put our pieces through the first firing this week and they made it without exploding!

Lydia's pottery waiting to be finished.

Riding on the quad with Uncle Rick.

Their "cute and fluffy" pygmy goats.

Dancing in the driveway.

Their wet shoes and socks drying.

Pushed in an old pedal car.

Amelia talks about Aunt Lydia, Uncle Rick and their dog Allie all of the time. She can't wait to visit again.

"That Isn't Even My Princess Laugh"

2011-09-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

This morning I took Eva to the doctor.

During the visit Amelia was acting silly and she started laughing over nothing.

Eva asked her why she was laughing and she said:

"That isn't even my princess laugh."

I told her: "I didn't know you have a princess laugh."

Eva told her: "Laugh like a princess".

So she laughed in this completely silly way, and the doctor, who is usually so sober, burst out laughing too!

I guess you had to be there, but it was very.funny.moment.

Vanilla Peach Frozen Yogurt

2011-09-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

Simple to make, light and refreshing.

Vanilla Peach Frozen Yogurt

32 ounces (4 cups) plain whole milk yogurt (don't use non-fat or low-fat)

3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 medium yellow peaches, diced

1. Mix together the yogurt, sugar and vanilla extract.
2. Pour into a 1 1/2 quart or larger ice cream machine.
3. Churn for 30 - 35 minutes until the mixture is a soft serve consistency.
4. Stir in the peaches.
5. Pour into a freezer safe container and freeze for several hours until semi- firm.