The Singer Sentinel

Great Idea for your Fav Recipes and Delish Recipe of the Week--Mexican Soup!

2010-01-16T12:28:00.005-07:00

I went on a scrapbook retreat last November with friends. It's the first time I've done anything like that and it was soo fun! This is the project that I worked on:

I scrapbooked all of the recipes that I love--family favorites, recipes passed down from friends, tried and true recipes, and quick and easy recipes. I made a set for me, a set for both Bryan and Sheridan that I will give them later, and a set for Stephanie that I gave her for Christmas.

I think they turned out really nice! I love looking at them in my recipe book!

Here is one of the recipes that I REALLY love (I got it from Tina who got it from Nathell):

Mexican Soup

3-4 chicken breast; uncooked
1/2 cup salsa
4 oz green chilies; chopped and drained
3 TBLS butter
2 chicken boullion cubes dissolved in one cup hot water
1/2 to 1 tea ground cumin
18 oz can crushed or chopped tomato

Mix together and cook on high in a slow cooker for 4 hours.

30 minutes before serving:

Shred chicken
add 2 cups half and half (I used fat free)
2 cups Monterey Jack Cheese (I use fat free)
1 can cream corn

Can be served with tortilla chips and sour cream.

And when you get ready to make this Delish soup try wearing one of these to keep you splatter free!

Enjoy!

Making Super Cute, Super Easy Aprons

2010-01-15T19:11:00.007-07:00

Aprons are HUGE right now. Everyone's wearing them. Everyone's making them. I have one that belonged to my Grannie that I love. It's kitchy and cute. It's probably over 40 years old. I don't consider that "vintage" or "retro" as I am also over 40 years old. (Just call me "kitchy" or "cute", too.) I also have one that I got as a gift over 20 years ago. I've used both of these aprons exclusivly until I, too, caught the apron bug.

First, I bought one from a friend and it is adorable. The fabric is so pretty and it has pleats and a bib. And I'm afraid to wear it because it is so nice and I don't want to mess it up.

Soo...I decided to try my hand at making my own apron. I'm NOT a sewer so I wanted something:
a) EASY
b) functional
c) inexpensive
d) washable

Here are pictures of the aprons I came up with:

Cute, right?! My model is pretty adorable, too.

Here's what I used to make these super cute, super easy aprons:

Tea Towels
Ribbon (at least 3 yards)
additional narrow ribbon (I just used scraps that I already had)

Here's what I did to make these super cute, super easy aprons:

PIN PIN PIN the ribbon along the long side of the towel because it will slip. If you sew a towel loop, pin that under the ribbon at the waist. Sew the ribbon along the top edge the towel. Stitch then backstitch over the area with the **towel loop. At the tie end you will want to fold over about a 1/4" then fold over again. Sew this down. This will keep the tie ends from fraying.

I found my tea towels at Kmart. They were $6 for a pack of two. I know, kinda high, but I loved the two patterned towels. I would suggest opening your towels if possible. One of the solids was cut poorly and was not a perfect square so I couldn't use it for an apron.

I got my ribbon at Hobby Lobby for 1/2 price. Use whatever width you like. These are your apron ties and could also be used as embellishment. Check out the red apron. I sewed a strip of ribbon on the bottom of that towel. I like my ties to be long enough to wrap around and tie in the front.

**The towel loop: This is to stick a dish towel, dust rag or whatever through.

There are lots of things you could do or add to this simple design:

*add a pocket
*use another towel to add a bib
*add addtional trim or embellishments
*cut towel in half the short way to may a child's apron.

I just love my aprons! They cost $5 per apron so I don't really worry about actually using them. They are just dish towels, so they are washable! I will probably put mine in a mesh laundry bag so the ties won't get all tied up in the washing machine. For your own apron inspiration google "tea towel apron" and see all the different ideas that are out there.

Happy Sewing!

A great giveaway!

2010-01-07T09:01:00.003-07:00

My friend Jen has a great giveaway going on...
Jen at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven, 365 Days of TV-Free Toddler Time, and Mega-Family Blogs is giving away a flippin' waffle maker...

To enter, go HERE!!
Good luck!

A Delish Recipe! Outback Alice Springs Chicken

2010-01-06T19:47:00.006-07:00

I've decided to post a Delish Recipe every week. Today I'm posting a copy of:

Outback Alice Springs Chicken

Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 1/2 " thick
honey mustard
6 slices bacon, sliced in half
1/2 teaspoon McCormick's Season All
1 cup sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup scallions
3 cups shredded colby or monterey jack cheese

Directions
1 Rub chicken breast with Seasonal All and set aside.

2 While the breast is marinating fry bacon crisp and drain. Saute mushrooms and scallions.

3 Sauté chicken breasts on medium heat in pan with just enough oil to prevent sticking. I used olive oil Pam instead of oil.

4 Cook on both sides until a slight golden color and cooked in the middle but not dry.

5 Remove from pan and place in a 9 x 13 dish.

6 Spread chicken breast with honey mustard, cover with a layer of mushrooms, three pieces of bacon and then sprinkle with shredded Colby/jack cheese, chicken should be covered with shredded cheese.

7 Bake at 350 degrees about 15 minutes or until cheese melts.

8 Sprinkle with parsley and extra honey mustard may be served on the side.

This is definitely a special occasion dish. But so very yum! It's very quick and easy. And since my husband and I are doing a low carb diet it was perfect--only 3 carbs. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we did! I found the recipe on Recipezaar. It was posted by Mysterygirl.

A shaved cat butt, a birthday girl and Graves Disease (not necessarily in that order).

2010-01-02T20:56:00.005-07:00

I haven't been blogging in a while. I just haven't had it in me. To blog, or much else. In mid August '09 I noticed that I was HOT. All the time. "I'm melting to the ground" hot. Now, I live in Colorado where the high can reach the 90's. I grew up in FL where you wear shorts on Christmas; I've lived in TX where 107 is a nice summer day. So, getting so hot I thought I would faint was not usual. I went to my Dr. for a check up who pointed out that I was 42 (thank you) and that I was the perfect age for menopause (thank you, again). Then I noticed the weight loss. And the shakes, and being HOT. And just the general "feeling like crap". So I went to another Dr who kindly did blood work instead of telling me that I was old. He sent me to another Dr. who specialized in Thyroid issues. He did more blood work (by that time it's been 2 months since I've noticed that I am on FIRE and I've lost 40lbs). It turns out that I have Graves Disease. Not as bad as it sounds and it's treatable. I have to go to Denver twice a month for blood work and what-not. The hyper-thyroid is transitioning to hypo-tyroid (it's supposed to). Still feel like crap, and it's sucked my will to do just about anything but eventually I will be better. If all goes well, in 2 years my thyroid will be cured. Fingers crossed...

Yesterday was my beautiful daughter's birthday. She turned 9. We had a family party and will have a friend party this weekend. She gets funnier, prettier and more wonderful each year. Her birthday wish was for her Gramma & Poppa to move to CO. I know something she doesn't know about that! Shhhhh....She also wanted a guitar. We were fortunate enough to find a purple one. Because everything is better in purple, don'tcha know. She also got a selection of Calvin and Hobbes books which she loves.

As the New Year arrives you go in hoping for a new beginning. For things to go a little better than the year before. For a little luck to be on your side. That was me in a nut shell. I ate a bushel of black-eyed peas which are the good luck food of choice for those of us from the south. I had my best girl's birthday. Things were looking good....until we noticed the boo-boo on our cat, Snowball's, bum. He had a scabish area on his bum the day before. It didn't look so bad. But on New Year's day it looked completely different--and GROSS. Off to the vet we go! He apparently was bitten by something and it was manifesting itself into something really disgusting. $500 later we went home with a little 5 pound cat who thinks he can take on anything and now has a shaved butt.

And finally, I have to thank Marry who commented on my most previous post and encouraged me to maintain my blog. I just haven't felt like it, but I'm going to try harder in the new year. Thanks!

August Visiting Teaching Handout

2009-08-08T15:10:00.007-06:00

This is my August Visiting Teaching Handout. I really like it! My companion, Tina, and I came up with a "Back-to-School" theme. Tina made the cute bags and I made the list of things to do now that the kids are back in school. The VT message was from www.theideadoor.com and I matted it. We also put together the cookies in a jar. We thought that would make a great after-school treat! If you have ideas for VT handouts, leave me a comment!

First Day of School

2009-08-08T14:57:00.005-06:00

Okay, so I've waited a long time to blog lately, but let's face it--my son's just so darn cute!!! My kids have started school this week! I have to tell ya, I miss the summer already! Here are a few pictures from the first day of school. Aren't they cute??? I can't belive I have a 3rd grader and a fifth grader!!!

Why do they have to grow up so quickly???

2009-07-20T20:48:00.004-06:00

I just celebrated my son's 10th birthday. This really hit me more that other birthdays. 10. Wow. He's already spent over half his life with me. It all went so quickly. My daughter still has her little girl ways. I think being the "baby" of the family helps with that. But my son....he's a kid! No more little boy. And as adorable as he is (sounds of agreement go here), he was so stinkin' cute as a little guy I just couldn't stand it. In case you think I am biased (so not) I have some pictures to prove it:

My visiting teaching handouts

2009-07-18T22:50:00.004-06:00

I put together my July visiting teaching handouts today. I know....I know....a little late in the month but my companion was out of town for most of the month so....
Anyhoo-I wanted to make something to go with Independence Day. I found a little history about Betsy Ross, an apple pie recipe and an excerpt from the VT message for July. I matted everything and embellished them, then I printed the Declaration of Independence on red cardstock and made a star clip to hold it all together. I think it turned out pretty cute, what do you think???

How the questions in my life have changed

2009-07-13T10:46:00.006-06:00

So, someone asked me today if I was going through "the change". (my husband was not the 'someone' as he is still breathing) As completely inappropriate and dangerous as asking that question was, it made me think of the milestone-type questions in my life.

We bask in questions like: "would you like to go out with me?" "will you go to prom with me?", "will you marry me?". These questions are about childhood, growing up & the future.

With heavy hearts we hear questions like: "how much longer?", "is he in pain?", "when is the funeral?" They speak of loved ones we can't bear to part with.

We beam with questions like: "are you pregnant?". "when are you due?", "is it a boy or a girl?". They are questions of hope, happiness and life.

We ponder sincerely with questions like: "should we take the job?" "is this the house?" "do you accept this calling?". They aren't to be taken lightly and will probably alter our course.

Most of these are happy questions. Some bittersweet. We look forward to most questions as a rite of passage. Some note the end of a season. But all a part of life's cycle.

Such as it is with the question I was asked today, "are you going through the change?". Unlike the others, I do not bask, beam, ponder or even have a heavy heart. It's more along the lines of dread. I'm not there, yet. But, at 42, it's lurking around every corner. It's taunting and mocking me. And I know there is no escape. It's the end to some questions and a precursor to others. It also clearly answers another questions, one I've been avoiding--"yep, you are getting old" a voice seems to whisper. And I'm not quite ready to be there yet.

So, for today I'll put the question aside. I'll play with my 8 and 10 year old who always make me feel young. I'll enjoy the beautiful summer day. I'll remember that my husband is 13 1/2 years older than me-so what do I have to complain about? (sorry Mark, but it does make me feel a little better.) I'll live in today and be happy.

WOW!!! Look at me!

2009-07-11T21:35:00.007-06:00

I always get these great ideas to change my background on my blog. It usually ends with me spending 2-3 hours trying to get everything the way I like.

Well, last night was no different! I found a new site for free blog backgrounds, aqua poppy designs, and it all just snowballed from there.

I got my lds buttons from leelou blogs. They have several and they have great free backgrounds, too. My last one was one of theirs.

I found another site, kevinandamanda.com where I not only downloaded a ton of super-cute fonts, but I also learned how to use them in my blog as post titles, dates and sidebar titles. The blog title, post titles, dates and sidebar titles are all fonts from Amanda's blog. I had trouble getting the sidebar titles to work and she walked me through it by email--Thanks, Amanda!

After that, I was on a roll!!!! I googled "how to change blog title font" and found a great tutorial on that, as well.

I am just so proud of myself. I really didn't think I'd be able to do all that I did. (I probably wouldn't have been able to if Amanda hadn't helped out) But I did! Next time, I may try to put together my own background!

If you've ever wanted to spice up your blog, check out the above sites! You'll be glad you did!

More Freezer Cookin'

2009-07-08T21:35:00.005-06:00

The past few months I've been making freezer meals. I love it!!!! I make about 12-14 meals to put in the freezer and I have meals ready to go for the next month. 12-14 is a good number for our family. We usually have leftovers, which is good. Other nights we may just have burgers on the grill, a salad for dinner (Applebee's Asian Chicken Salad is a family fave! I'll post that recipe later!) or we may just be in the mood for ramen noodles!

Today I made:

Manly Ham Quiche (2 of 'em)
Swiss Chicken
Pizza Pasta Casserole (2 of these)
Easy Gourmet Chicken Pot Pie (2 again)
Fake Lasagna (2 again--we had 1 of them for dinner tonight and it was delish!)
Beef & Been Taco Casserole
Pork Chops & Limas (2-please!)
Savory Beef
Chicken Spaghetti (2)
Delicious Freezer Gyro's
Slow Cooker Rosemary Chicken Pasta
Chicken and Spuds

That turned out to be 17 meals ready to heat and eat!!!

Here's the recipe for:

Pork Chops & Limas
8 loin pork chops
10 oz frozen lima beans
1 lg apple, chopped
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 tea dried sage
salt & pepper to taste

Brown chops; drain and cool on paper towel.

Run cold water over lima beans to separate (do not thaw).

Mix all ingredients except the chops and place in freezer bag.

Add chops.

Freeze.

To bake: thaw, bake uncovered at 350 for 1 hour.

Makes great gravy, so have mashed potatoes!

2009-07-08T11:13:00.003-06:00

What does a 10 year old wish for?

It's a happy day for Bryan!

Bryan turned a weebelo on his birthday. They went on a field trip to the firestation.

I can't believe my baby is 10!!!

My baby turned 10 on the 30th of June. I can't believe it's happened so quickly! One minute he was this little guy (actually, he was a 10.1 lb newborn, so not so much on the little) and now he's this handsome fella you see in the pictures. He is so sweet and kind and funny and wonderful. He's also obnoxious, loud and goofy. So-all boy.

I remember the day I found out I was pregnant like it was yesterday. It was so unexpected (I went to the dr with strep throat and left pregnant!!!! Did not see that coming!) and it was probably the happiest day ever! If you've ever been told that you will never ever get pregnant and then find out you are--well, it's amazing!

I was given a blessing after a scare during my pregnancy (at 7 weeks along) and in it I was told that my baby would grow "to his full measure". 33 weeks later I had my 10 pounder! He was so beautiful! And he grew well past "his full measure" during the next year.

He's been a sweet, loving addition to me and to our family. I don't think I'd be the same person if I never had my little Bryan Harrison.

Our Summer Vacation!

2009-06-17T18:08:00.002-06:00

We just got back from vacation. We spent two weeks camping. First, we went up to Cherry Creek Reservoir for 4 days. It was really nice. We went fishing, golfing and shopping as well as eating out. Cherry Creek is up in Denver, so there is lots to do. We saw Land of the Lost (worst movie ever), too. It was our first time golfing and it was somewhat fun. We could use lessons, that's for sure.

Next, we went to Buena Vista CO. Now, we didn't camp here, but that's because the weather was supposed to be quite cold with possible snow, so Mark decided we could stay at a hotel. Yippee! We stayed at Mt. Princeton Lodge and Hot Springs. So loved it. They have a family pool that is about 80 degrees, and two more pools-one 90 degrees and the other 100. They also have creekside pools. Just little pools along the creek where you can arrange the rocks to allow creek water in. We spent almost the whole time in the pools! The other thing we did in Buena Vista was go white water rafting. WooHoo! I was a little nervous. I'm not exactly a daredevil. But it was super fun. We rode class 3+ rapids and I can't wait to go again.

Lastly, we went to Lathrop Nat'l Park in Walsenburg CO. There's a Dollar General, Carl's Jr and Subway and that's it! So, we spent all our time fishing, riding bikes, hiking, reading (my fave), and roasting marshmallows. The park showed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory outside under the stars.

We had a great time! We all came back not hating each other, which is always good when you spend 2 weeks in a camper!

Cat-nappers are among us!!

2009-05-03T11:30:00.003-06:00

I got back from a church meeting today and saw our cat, Buzz outside of our neighbor's house. Our neighbors have taken it upon themselves to let our cat in their house. Now, he won't come home to our house. It's really annoying. We can't convince them to not let our cat in. I saw Buzz today and brought him home. It lasted about 30 minutes and he was out the door again. It really makes me sad. I don't know how to get our cat back!!! Even as I was getting Buzz from the nieghbors yard, he was meowing at their back door and the neighbor was about to let him in!!! And he called him "Pumpkin" even though they know it's not his name. What can I do? Of course, in June it's time to take him to the vet. I should share the bill with the neighbor, too!

sometimes it seems if it weren't for bad luck....

2009-04-19T18:40:00.001-06:00

Sister Beck, the RS General President, was coming to CO this past weekend. Of course, at the same time we were experiencing severe weather with snow, ice and wind. Well, a few of my friends and I decided we were going to go to the Friday night fireside. We'd go out to dinner first then carpool to see Sis. Beck. We had the dinner~it was great. Then we all piled into my car to head over to the building where the fireside was. Not 5 minutes later my engine light came on and the engine died. We coasted off the main road onto another then onto another. It's snowy and wet outside but my 4 terrific friends (dressed in church clothes) try to push my big ol' Suburban off the road. Two men took pity on them and pushed for us. One of the friends ran (literally) home to get her car. We waited for my husband and off they went to see Sis. Beck. My husband and I (with my cute little Sher) waited for the wrecker. Turns out the fuel pump is a very important part of the car and if it doesn't work, neither does the car. Anyhoo~I have great friends who not only tried to push my car off the road but took great notes of the talk since I couldn't be there. Oh, and dinner was fun, too.

A great, easy freezer meal

2009-04-18T11:37:00.002-06:00

We had a snow day a few weeks ago. I had gone to the grocery the day before. Since I had nothing better to do, I made 9 different recipes for 12 freezer meals (some recipes made double batches) to put in my freezer. It took all day--about 6 hours--but I ended up with 12 meals in my freezer for later use. Here's one that I made and it is really good:

Santa Fe Chicken Tortilla Wraps

3 c cooked & chopped chicken 1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed 1 can black-eyed peas, drained
1 can pinto beans, drained 1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes
1 c salsa 1 T chili powder
2 t cumin

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients, stirring until evenly mixed. Put in one-gallon freezer bag.

Thaw bag. Heat in a saucepan. Fill tortillas. Top with cheese and sour cream.

Everyone (Sheridan, too) loved this. It's quick, easy and delish!

Check this clip out on You Tube

2009-04-16T09:09:00.005-06:00

I just saw a clip on You Tube of Susan Boyle. She was auditioning for a spot on Britain's Got Talent, a show like our American Idol. She sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables. It was simply fantastic! She is 47, never married and a little frumpy. Not what you usually see on shows like these. He song will bring tears to your eyes. She's just amazing. Click here to see her performance! And if you think she just got lucky, you can check her out by clicking on CBS Early Show where she sings it a capella! She's truly gifted!

Check this out!

2009-04-15T17:00:00.002-06:00

I found this site Simple Finds that is offering a giveaway for $50 for Crocs! I love Crocs and with all the new styles I love them even more!!! you should check out their site Simple Finds!

A great "feed a crowd" recipe

2009-04-15T15:39:00.006-06:00

I love this recipe. I've used it for years and years!!! It is super easy and delish!!! And it feeds a crowd!!! I made it today to take to a lady that I visit teach and dinner for our little family of 4 as well. Here goes:

Chicken Casserole

3 or 4 pound chicken; cooked, deboned, skinned and chopped (I use 2 14oz cans white meat chicken)
3 cups cooked rice (1 1/2 cup uncooked)
1 cup cooked celery (I use 1/2 cup dehydrated-add to broth to rehydrate)
1 cup broth
1/2 cup milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 lg can chow mein noodles (I buy the bag and add about 1/3 of bag)
4 eggs; boiled and chopped
1/2 pound Velveeta cheese; cubed
3/4 cup mayo

Combine all ingredients mixing well. You'll need a large bowl for this.

Crush 1 sleeve Ritz crakers in a baggie.

Add 1/4 cup melted butter to crackers mixing well.

Pour/sprinkle on top of casserole.

Bake, covered, at 350 for 20 mins. Uncover and bake addtional 10 min. until brown and bubbly.

Add the world's best invention-Rhodes dinner rolls-and you've got a great meal. Take it to your next pot luck! Or do like I did and divide it with a friend.

The Hannah Montana Movie!!!

2009-04-14T21:27:00.003-06:00

My friend, Amy, won tickets to the Hannah Montana Movie. As she has no girls, she offered the tickets to me. We also received Chick-fil-A coupons, so, we dressed in our best Hannah Montana gear and went to Chick-fil-A to eat and then on to the theater. We won a few door prizes including a Hannah Montana poster and a Hannah Montana purse in a look-a-like contest. We also got free popcorn. Then the movie started and it was too cute! It was a really cute movie. We really like the Hannah Montana show and this was just as cute. My girl is so cute, she danced, she sang and she quoted all the lines to all the previews (one of her talents!) And we have it all to thank to my good friend! Thanks Amy!!!!

Our 2 week test is over!

2009-04-01T11:21:00.003-06:00

We found out a few weeks ago that Mark's orders were more than likely screwed up and as a direct result, so was our pay. We would get paid, it just may be a few weeks late. With this in mind, we decided now would be a good time to put our food storage to the test. We would just use our food storage adding in fresh fruit and veggies when necessary. We did really great! Mark made milk from our powdered milk and we ate just what we had on hand. I spent about about $15 at the grocery over the past 2 weeks which covered fruit and I got some hotdog buns. Most of our meals were great and no different from what we usually eat. By the end of week 2 we were scrapping the bottom of the barrel for meat in the freezer and I had to make a deer meat meatloaf. Not my fave. We did have more meat on our food storage shelf, but we also used this opportunity to clean out our freezer so that was the food first to go.

I went to the grocery last night with a new mission. First on my list was to get stuff to make freezer meals. I found recipes for about 6 different things to try.

Next on my list was to target one or two items for our food storage and buy enough for one year. It may take more than one shopping trip to have a year's supply, so when I've covered those 2 items I will move on to two more.

Third on my list is to find recipes that we love, figure out how often per month I may make it and choosing one recipe at the time, buying enough to make for one year, then moving on to the next recipe.

This has been a good experience for us. We know our weaknesses and our strengths in our food storage. Plus, we cleaned out all that stuff in the freezer that we couldn't wait to buy and then never made. I may try this again in about 6 months so see if we've made any improvements! You should try it, too! And by the way, we did get paid on the 1st which was a wonderful surprise!

What is my favorite scripture and why?

2009-03-28T11:48:00.007-06:00

What is my favorite scripture and why???

Well, my favorite scriptures are Mormon chapter 9. It speaks of God being an unchanging God. God is still a God of miracles. Mormon 9:19 probably says it best, (And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.) but there are several scripture in this chapter that touch me.

So, why is this my favorite scripture? Well, it's good to know that God is the same today as he was yesterday. But also, I read this chapter right before I found out I was pregnant. I went to the Dr. because I was very ill and weak. The Dr. was going to give me a penicillin shot but wanted to know if I was pregnant, first. We said we couldn't get pregnant. She said that if I wasn't using any birth control she would prefer doing a pregnancy test before giving me the shot. So, she did. What I had recently read came to mind. Then I started thinking "God is a God of miracles" over and over. Now, keep in mind that I have been told by 3 Dr.'s that I will never get pregnant on my own. I have one ovary and one fallopian tube. I don't ovulate regularly. We had been told we have less that a 2% chance of getting pregnant. We had been to 2 fertility specialist, had invitro and artificial insemination. Nothing worked for 6 years. Also, I had just had my period a couple of weeks before. I had not missed my cycle and was at least 10 days from having it. That's when I remembered Mormon 9:21. (Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth.) I pushed aside the doubt and just kept thinking "God is a God of Miracles!!"

The Dr. came back in the room and told me that along with Strep I was pregnant. My husband didn't believe her. He was angry, even. "Don't tell her that! She can't get pregnant!" The Dr. said, "I don't know what you've been told but she is pregnant!" Then she did a blood test that would take a couple of hours to come back from the lab.

I already knew the answer. I knew when she suggested the pregnancy test that I would be pregnant. Against everything that stood in the way I knew it would be true. The blood work came back, I was pregnant! 3-4 weeks pregnant which meant that I got pregnant on my period (week 3) because week 4 Mark was in TX.

Does that mean that every thing I ask for will have the same outcome? Probably not. I do believe in miracles but I don't think they happen just because we request them. That was my time to be pregnant. I had recently read that book in the scriptures and this was my opportunity to put to practice what I had read. I think I was pregnant in spite of the timing and other obstacles so that I would know where my blessings came from-Heavenly Father-and that they come on His timetable, not mine.
My God is an unchanging God! My God is a God of miracles!

Just when you think you're doing it all wrong...

2009-03-27T15:00:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I feel like I'm just doing it all wrong. I try to teach my kids the right thing, but I don't know if they're getting it or not. They fight with each other. I have to remind them to pick up their stuff all the time-every day. It just seems like an uphill battle that I am not winning.

Then it happens....

I went to my son's class to drop off the Thursday folders. He wants to speak to me "privately". That can't be good, right? So, we go to the hall and he tells me that at Cub Scouts the night before he said a bad word. He yelled it at two of his friends. Now, he feels really bad about it. What should he do???? I said, "what did you say?" He said, "I told them to........shut up!" Inside me is saying "whew!" Outside me is saying, "It's true we shouldn't say crude words, but we all let things slip. Maybe you should call your friends this afternoon and tell them you are sorry you yelled at them and lost your temper." "That's a great idea!" Bryan said. "I feel a lot better now. It's been bothering me all day."

In this day and time, when my 4th grader feels bad-all day-about telling someone to "shut up" I am quite relieved. I'm relieved to know that he has a conscience. I'm relieved that he still thinks that "shut up" is a bad enough word that he should apologize for saying it. I'm relieved that "shut up" it still the worse thing he can think of to say. (though there was the time a couple of years ago that he got very frustrated that he "can't get the damn lid off my orange juice".)

Later that same day, Sheridan and I are driving home from piano lessons. She asks if we are still going camping over spring break. I explained that daddy's orders are messed up and we might get our paycheck late, so we can't plan on camping right now. She thought for a moment and asked how much it cost to go camping. I told her it was about $12 per night. She asked how much would it cost for 3 nights? I told her. She said, "Well, I have $67. Maybe I could just pay for it so we can still go." WOW.

Again, in this day and time, when my 2nd grader thinks about using her money for the entire family-without asking to be paid back, I'm relieved. I'm relieved to know that my daughter is able to think about someone else. I'm relieved that, when kids usually think about wanting more, more, more, now, now, now, she's thinking about sharing her hard saved money for the family.

So, I will probably have to tell my kids to stop fighting sometime today, and I will probably have to get them to pick up there stuff, too, but some of the big battles-we're winning! And I'm relieved.

What is Pride??? How do I Stay Positve???

2009-03-24T11:33:00.001-06:00

At the TOFW conference that I attended they had a Q & A session. Here are some of the highlights:

How do you overcome pride?

S. Michael Wilcox: Gratitude is a pride killer. Keeping a daily gratitude journal will help you remember all the good you have in your life. Always be cognizant of where our good things come from. Being "proud" of your kids accomplishments, a meal that turned out well or other personal successes are not the same as being "prideful". The difference is knowing where these successes come from, our Heavenly Father, and giving Him the thanks. "Prideful" equates to "boastful", and when we are boastful we are taking the credit for ourselves.

Kenneth Cope: We can do the things that the textbooks tell us to do: Pray, read scriptures, attend meeting; but why do we do these things?? Are we checking off a list or are we communing with the Lord? We need to stay connected with heaven. When we disconnect, we start to feel prideful.

"If it is not for you (Heavenly Father), It is not for me, either"

How do you stay positive when negative things are happening around you?

Mary Ellen Edmunds: surround yourself with happy people. Always have a prayer in your heart. That means to constantly have a conversation with the Lord. You can still use respectful language but talk to the Lord friend to friend. Trust in Heavenly Father--He wants us to be happy!

DeAnne Flynn: Find times when you can be alone and spend time with Heavenly Father. That can be in the car, the shower or the early morning hours.

Obedience is not perfection!!!!
Obedience is constantly trying!!!

I don't really feel that I am prideful, nor do I think I have a problem with staying positive. But I still feel like I got some really useful information out of the question and answer session. All a different perspective on what pride truly is and what it means to be positive.

Putting Our Food Storage To The Test

2009-03-23T15:06:00.000-06:00

Mark's pay is probably going to be messed up on 1 April, so we decided to watch our spendiing over the next few weeks so we can handle it. We also decided that now would be a good time to put our food storage to the test. We are going to live off our food storage over the next few weeks. We will only buy fresh fruit and possibly veggies if needed. But milk, meals and snacks as well as daily stuff like toothpaste, tp, cleaning supplies and gifts.

Now, it would have been nice if I would have known we were going to do this and stocked up on items, but I didn't. Already, we are having to improvise but we are doing fine. As we go along, I am making a list of items we would like to keep on hand such as nuts (good snack that we have a limited supply of), a couple of birthday gifts (I have only one boy and one girl gift that I bought on clearance), school snacks (I have enough for a few weeks but that's all). I'm also going to pick out a few of our favorite recipes that are quick and easy and make sure I always have items on hand. It's really annoying to want to make something and realize you're one item short.

We are also keeping tabs for the next month on how much TP we go through, toothpaste, paper towels and laundry detergent. We keep a bulk supply, but we really don't have any idea exactly what we use in a month, let alone in a year.

We are going to do fine with our project, and hopefully we will learn how to make the most of our food storage, how to build it to meet the needs of our family and supply it with items that we will eat and enjoy.

Being Assured!

2009-03-22T18:15:00.003-06:00

More from Time Out for Women:

S. Michael Wilcox is an institute teacher and author. I bought his book, "Daughters of God". Bro. Wilcox's talk was mostly about how we should always "Be Assured".

Heavenly Father doesn't want us to come to him in fear and trembling. We should have the assurance that he accepts us. He is here to help us:

make up our insufficiencies

when we ask for help

when we bring what we have to Him he will help make up the difference

and multiply our blessings

by always giving us more.

We should always have assurance of His sensistivity toward us. Jesus, being the most righteous man was alson the happiest. But He did know sorrow.

We should have assurance of His ability to see our needs. He also sees the berauty under the surface.

Sometimes we feel like we are less than others because we are "little of stature". Examples of being "little of stature" are:

economic challenges

social differences

race

physical

We should also have assurance that He wants to know our desires.

I really enjoyed his talk. If was very informative and uplifting. I can't wait to finish his book.

Is my Family "Time Starved"???

2009-03-21T12:33:00.003-06:00

I went to Time Out for Women earlier this month. This was my first time and I really enjoyed it. about 7 of us went, had dinner out and enjoyed a wonder conference. I am going to share some of my thoughts from TOFW speaker by speaker. The first one I'd like to share is DeAnne Flynn:

DeAnne Flynn has written a book "The Time Starved Family". In her talk, she quoted JSJ "We need to be anxiously involved in a good cause."
She said we then get caught in "The Trap" of what a good cause is. Learning new skills, hobbies, etc are all great but if it is taking too much time from the family then it's just TOO MUCH.

Quoting Alma 34:32 she said it is "Time to prepare and meet God". She said we are so involved in the "good" things that we forget and miss the "better" things.

Julie B. Beck, General RS President said, "Mothers who know do less".

Instead of trying to survive we should learn to thrive.

She also referenced a poem from the Oct 2000 Friend "What Lasts" by Rachelle F.A. Dow.

Ice cream melts,
Flowers wilt,
The leaves of autumn fall.
Sunsets fade,
Seasons change,
And children don’t stay small.
Balloons pop,
Snowfalls stop—
Do summers last? Never!
Weekends fly,
Today will die,
But …
FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!

I really enjoyed her talk. It gave me much to think about. When I came home I reduced piano lessons to every other week, we canceled gymnastics and we only do one karate class per week instead of 2 if it interferes with family time. We also had a FHE the following Monday on this topic and came up with ideas on how to make our Spring Break "family time".

Wow! It's been a long time!

2009-03-12T23:18:00.004-06:00

I can't believe it's been a month since I lasted posted something on my blog. In that time I have had a birthday. I turned 42 last Tuesday. Mark got me a TomTom GPS. I really love it. We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, which was really good.

This past weekend me and 6 friends went to Time Out for Women. It was really wonderful. This was the first time I've been. We stayed overnight, had dinner out and enjoyed a girl's weekend. That's the first time I've every spent the weekend with friends and I have to say I am now hooked! Can't wait for another opportunity to do it again.

That's all I have for now! I am going to try to not wait so long before blogging again.

OH!!!! I saw a booth at TOFW for LDSjournal.com. If you like to journal, want to journal but never seem to get around to it or want a new way to journal, this site is for you. It's free. It archives your journaling. Sends reminders. Has a journal jar option if you don't know what to journal about and an "about me" section to put together a personal history. You also have the option to have your journal printed and hardbound (for a fee), but you can print your pages from your own computer for free. You must check this out!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T09:56:00.004-07:00

When my daughter was born 8 years ago, it was really hard for me to do something for my hubby for Valentine's day. When February 14th rolled around I had a one month old and a 19 month old. Sheridan was still in the eat-sleep-poop stage, but I was still overwhelmed at the idea of taking them both out by myself for a shopping trip. So, we got out the craft supplies to make a card for Mark and I got out my "The Four Ingredient Cookbook" to find something to make. I found:
Chocolate Coconut Drops and was thrilled to find that I had all 4 ingredients on hand. Life has gotten much easier, but I've still been making them every year since. Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Coconut Drops

2 (1oz) squares unsweetened chocolate
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In saucepan melt chocolate over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in milk, coconut and nuts. Drop by the teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Place in oven and turn off heat. Leave about 15 min or until candy has glazed appearance. While warm, remove from cookie sheet.

Enjoy!!!

Sheridan's 2nd Grade Musical

2009-02-12T11:01:00.007-07:00

So, I thought I'd be crafty and change my background....what a pain in the hiney. I will never do that again. I finally have it somewhat color coordinated and that's the way it's staying.

So, last week my girl had her 2nd grade musical. She had a speaking part which is huge, 'cause she's been waiting for a musical with a speaking part since kindergarten. Kindergarten doesn't do musicals, 1st grade does but without speaking parts. Then she had to be selected for a part in this musical. Whew! So, the video is of her part and part of the song after she speaks. It was a lot of fun to watch and she is adorable!

Finally!!!

2009-02-11T00:13:00.002-07:00

So, the family left last Monday and I have to say the visit went better than expected. It turns out if the mother-in-law and sister-in-law have each other to criticize, insult and generally attack I will be left alone. It was a little like having an elderly and middle-aged preschooler in the house. You have to give them an occasional time out, but eventually their mothers (or in my case, their plane) shows up and it's no longer your problem.

Crazy in-laws are a must, really. It makes you appreciate your own family. You start to think, "Yeah, my people are crazy, too. But they are crazy I can handle. It's the same kind of crazy I am. These other people are reeeeaaallly crazy."

Now, I can go back to my own little crazy life with my own little crazy family.

Sheridan's big day

2009-01-31T18:03:00.002-07:00

Today was Sheridan's baptism day. It was a wonderful day! The weather was warm and the sky was blue. Sheridan had lots of friends and family there. Everything went smoothly. We were so greatful to have such a special day.

The In-laws are coming! The In-laws are coming!!!

2009-01-24T10:51:00.003-07:00

I have not bogged in a while. The reason?? My mother-in-law will be her in 4 days. I have been cleaning closets, behind the stove and fridge. Putting out MIL gifts in prominent locations. Having the carpets cleaned. My dear, sweet, clueless husband, "what's all the fuss for? Just change the sheets on the guest bed." BECAUSE.YOUR.MOTHER.IS COMING! Is he new?? Nothing is safe. I will be judged on all levels.

Am I wasting Mark's hard earned money???? I don't work-what do I do all day???? The kids sure have a lot of clothes. I own a lot of craft stuff. Is this all we are having for dinner??? Why are we eating so late??? This house smells like dog.

I could go on and on but then I would cry and not feel like painting all the window trim.

Pray for me...

Sheridan's Baptism Invitation

2009-01-10T13:22:00.005-07:00

This little beauty just turned 8 on the first on January. In our church, kids get baptized when they are 8. So, at the end of this month she, too, will be baptized. I made an invitation to send to friends and family and I think it turned out really cute. It was quite easy, too.

I needed:
whisper white cardstock (stampin' up)
cuttlebug embossing folder (a floral design)
cuttlebug
ribbon
corner rounder
pop dots
glue dots

What I did:
I cut the cardstock 4x5/4--rounded the corners

embossed with the cuttlebug

typed up and printed invitation details from my computer onto cardstock

cut and rounded corners of invitation details

applied invitation details to embossed background using pop dots.

tied ribbon into a bow and applied with glue dot.

Very easy project that could be used for a number of occasions--baptism, bridal shower, birthday parties, etc. I think they turned out simple and elegant.

Christmas Vacation in California

2009-01-09T19:18:00.003-07:00

Well, I'm finally back from our trip to CA. We had a lot of fun. We drove out on Christmas Eve and arrived in San Diego on Christmas Day. We were grateful that Santa brought us tickets to Sea World, San Diego's Wild Animal Park and Disneyland. Christmas dinner at Carl's Jr. wasn't ideal, but we knew we had a lot of fun in store.

We went to Sea World the day after Christmas. It was great. No crowds and great shows. A little chilly for us, though. We really wanted warm California weather. After Sea World we went to San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. It was amazing. Nice day, lots of animals and lots of fun.

From there we drove up the coast to Monterey CA. The coastline drive was the best. We saw Whale Seals sunning on the beach, we played in the ocean(the kids-too cold for us old folks), enjoyed the delicious ocean air and beautiful scenery. We visited Stephanie, Mark's oldest daughter, and her boyfriend, Jared and had a nice evening with them.

The next day it was back to Anaheim to go to Disneyland! We had 4 wonderful days there. Sheridan got to spend her birthday at the park. We attended a birthday party for guest that had birthdays that day. It was still chilly, but we enjoyed ourselves.

Finally, we made the long drive home to Colorado, tired but full of wonderful memories. Check out my updated slideshow with all our vacation pictures.

Car Trip Crafts

2008-12-21T20:03:00.004-07:00

So, we're getting ready for our trip and I wanted to have a few things to make the trip more enjoyable. It's quite a long trip from CO to CA so I made these, if I do say so myself, cute neck pillows and tie quilts. The neck pillows were made with leftover material from pillowcases I made for our cousins for Christmas and the quilts were made from fleece purchased at the day after Thanksgiving sale for way cheap.

So I put together an activity box for each child and filled it with drawing paper, markers, books and still have room to put in their gameboys and the mp3 players that my uncle gave them for Christmas. Shhhh! I decoarated the outside of the boxes (that I purchased at Walmart for about $3) with vinyl lettering and designs I cut out with my Cricut machine. They turned out cute, I think.

I've been collecting items, such as books from the Scholastic book sales at our school, markers and colored pencils during back to school sales, so I maybe spent $5-6 on each box including items and the fleece was $1 per yard. A great deal for something I hope will make our trip more comfortable and enjoyable.

My sweet Sheridan!

2008-12-20T20:12:00.003-07:00

When I was a girl, I knew I wanted kids. Boys, in fact. Maybe it was because I grew up in a "girl" house with my mom and sister (having my darling sister for a sister will make you want boys), maybe it was because I did a lot of babysitting and boys were messier, yes, noisier, yes and yes, but much easier.
I knew my first son would be Bryan. I knew I wanted at least a second and third son to follow.

So, pass the years. Trials with infertility (another post) threatened no children. Then one day about 10 years ago I found out that I was going to have a baby. My husband and I were quite surprised and thrilled. My husband hoped for...a girl. He even chose the name "Sheridan" very early on. (She's named after a civil war general and her name means "wild man". fitting? you decide) I had a dream that I was having a girl. So, we were very surprised to find out that it was indeed a boy. My Bryan. He was a delight to the whole family. After a few colicky weeks he was the sweetest, most easy going baby every. And life was good. Mark and I were sure that this was it. Just us 3 (his oldest son was 22 and daughter 12 and living with her mother) and that was okay. This kind of miracle (and it truly was) only happens once in a lifetime, right???

When Bryan was 11 months old I found out that I was in fact due for another miracle. It was the day after mother's day. I looked stunned at the dr and told him that I had a baby. Remember???? You delivered him. You wrote "infertile" on my file. "well," he said, "we can erase that off the folder, now can't we". 7 months later we had our Sheridan.

What a sweet newborn. Unlike her brother as a newborn, she did everything a newborn was suppose to do. She ate, slept and pooped. We joked that Bryan went from "Monster Newborn" to "Angel Baby" in 8 short weeks. What if Sher made the change, too. Uh-Oh!

She cried, she needed constant holding and attention. She cried. I started dinner around 11 am in hopes that it would actually be ready by dinner time. Bryan took 2-3hour naps a day. Sheridan took cat naps. And then she cried or I held her. And she was the light of my life. She was bald as an onion until she was almost 3. Even though she weighed a fraction of Bryan (he came in at 10lbs 1oz she 7lbs 1oz) she was round. Big round head. Chubby little body. She was adorable. She was the prettiest bald baby you could ever dream of.

She is now almost eight. She's been a vegetarian since her first bite of meat. (although she won't turn away a chicken nugget). She's a stuffed animal lover. Everything from paper cups to scraps of paper get googly eyes and a name. She takes one dance class and she's ready to make her own dance. One gymnastics class and she's ready for tricks on the beam. Piano lesson and she's writing her own music. She's my own little drama mama. She has to be warned when the school has a drill or she panics. She cries at the drop of a hat...still. She's the funniest little duck you will ever meet. Sweet and loving. A cuddle bug. She doesn't like to get rid of anything--a real pack rat. Everything is her favorite possession. You can count on her to be sick on Sunday morning. She stresses herself out to the point that she now has to take nexium. And she's perfect.

I love my son. He's sweet. He's easygoing. He's adorable. He's all boy. And then there's my girl. I love her-check. All girl-check. Sweet-check. Adorable-check, check. Not so much on the easygoing. She's going to be with me forever, I hope. She wants to live across the street so if she gets scared at night she can bring her kids over and snuggle with me. My life is truly complete with my kids. What more could a mom want...

My Travel Journal and Photo Album

2008-12-20T10:50:00.004-07:00

We are planning a trip to California soon, so I thought I'd make a travel journal. we will be doing a lot of driving so I thought this would be a great way to remember our trip. Below are pictures of the cover, the inside and the back:

On the inside I have made pockets to put tickets and other mememtos. See where it says, "Look Here"?? It's pointing to the pocket.

I have a ribbon going around the outside to tie it shut.

So, here's what I needed:

2 pieces of chipboard cut to 8 1/8 by 6 1/8 (to slightly overlap the pages)
15 pieces of very vanilla cardstock--5 for journaling and 10 for pictures--cut to 8x6
3 pieces of 12x12 close to cocoa cardstock for pockets.
decorative cardstock and scrapbook paper for the cover--front and back.
die cuts to decorate the inside
zutter binding tool to bind the book
additional embellishments such as ribbon.

Here's what I did:
I cut the chipboard and cardstock as indicated above.

For the pockets I took one piece of 12x12 cardstock. Fold one end up 4". Your paper is now 12x8. Fold the 12" side in half with the 4" fold facing out. You should now have an 8x6 page with 4" pockets. When you bind the pages the open edge of your pocket page will be closed.

I decorated my front and back covers and pocket pages using die cuts I made with my Cricut. You can use ready made die cuts or cut your own.

I bound my book using the Zutter binding system and following the directions provided by Zutter.

Now I have a great keepsake to put our vacation memories in.

My friend's delicious giveaway

2008-12-09T20:41:00.003-07:00

I have a friend, Jaime, who is a wonderful cook and a wonderful person. She is putting on a contest/toydrive at her website www.sophistimom.com. If you live in the Colorado Springs area and you would like to participate in a toy drive for a local women's shelter just click on the link and follow the instructions.
Thanks, Jaime for thinking of doing this. It's a wonderful idea for a great cause!

Christmas Projects

2008-12-09T11:10:00.003-07:00

So, one of the projects I've been working on are homemade boxes to put homemade cards in. The boxes were pretty easy:

I needed:
Cardstock
paper scorer
paper trimmer
adhesive
ribbon

I decided how large I wanted my box-let's say 3x3, then how deep I wanted my box-lets say again, 2" sides. I would cut my cardstock 7x7 then score in 2" on each side. I then would cut on one side only along the score line to the 2" mark so I could fold in my sides. Secure with adhesive and your done.

For the lid I chose a coordinating piece of cardstock and used the same principle as the bottom remembering to make my sides shorter like a lid would be and making the lid slightly larger than the bottom-so 3 1/8x 3 1/8 bottom with 1" sides. Cutting 5 1/4 and scoring at 1". Cutting just like I did for the bottom to fold in sides and securing with adhesive.

Put inside whatever I chose-this time I chose homemade cards-and adding ribbon for the final touch.

That's one Christmas gift down! I will show some of my other gifts that I made soon!

Sandwiches on the Double!

2008-12-08T09:09:00.003-07:00

So, my daughter loves PB&J sandwiches. She could eat one everyday. She also doesn't like the crust. Smuckers Uncrustables are perfect for her, right? Well, yes, but not perfect for me, cost wise. So I decided to make my own. One loaf of bread makes approx. 10 sandwiches. I look for bread that's under $1 but I must say that Sara Lee Soft & Smooth Whole Wheat bread cost more but holds up better to the sandwich cutter. I get my peanut butter and jelly when it's 10 for $10. So you can see that it cost less to make my own "uncrustables".

I get out all my ingredients:
loaf of bread
peanut butter
jelly
sandwich cutter from Pampered Chef
wax paper
sandwich bags

I assemble my sandwiches on wax paper and cut them and seal them with sandwich cutter. I flash freeze them for about 30 min. on the wax paper. After 30 min. I take them out and put them in sandwich bags.

Presto! Chango! I have 10 sandwiches in the freezer. I can do the same thing for my son, who likes meat sandwiches, making sure I use miracle whip instead of mayo.

My Super-Cute Christmas Ornament

2008-11-30T23:42:00.004-07:00

I am perilously close to getting all of my holiday projects done. Unfortunately, every time I get close I come up with another project. I just finished my ornaments for the homemade ornament exchange I'm participating in. Super cute. It's a bird house with a little ceramic bird inside. I got the template from "Capture the Moment", a super great site. Here's what I used to make my ornament:

The template from Capture the Moment increased 25%
Riding Hood Red for the roof
Old Olive for the base
Creamy Caramel for the house
ceramic cardinal (Target Christmas ornament for 83 cents each)
twine
1 1/4 inch hole punch
Close to Cocoa ink to ink around bird hole and to stamp with the stampin' up sanded background stamp on the roof
eyelet for where the twine for the ornament hanger goes
holiday ribbon

I used my cricut to cut out the holly, a scallop-edged rectangle for the roof and a scallop-edged square for the base.

I used my cuttlebug to dry emboss my birdhouse template to give it texture

I punched my bird hole, ink around the hole edge, stamped the roof with the sanded background stamp, punched a hole in the roof and added the eyelet, added twine to hang the ceramic cardinal and glued all the pieces together-roof to house and house to base. Finally, I added holiday ribbon at the roof.

It turned out so cute. And all for maybe $2 each. A few friends and I are getting together to swap our homemade ornaments this week. I'm so excited to see what they made.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T10:26:00.009-07:00

Whata great year we've had. Here are a few things I am thankful for:

1. Two kids that love each other and love us. They are

healthy, happy and basically great kids! My husband's pretty great, too.

2. Our home in Colorado. We have a great home, a great job, a great ward, a great school and great friends.

I love our church. I'm thankful for it. I'm thankful for the plan of salvation.

These are just a few of the things I'm thankful for. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a happy Holiday Season.

Twilight-it was all I hoped!

2008-11-21T19:54:00.003-07:00

My friend, Claire, and I went to see Twilight this morning. It was 11 am and the kidlets were in school so we thought it would be the perfect time. I'm thinking most Mormon women have at least 1 toddler at home so we, being in the Mormon minority, would have the place to ourselves. Boy, was I wrong. By 11 it was either sold out or close to it.

The opening scenes started, people clapped and cheered. Edward came on for the first time, people clapped and cheered (he was cheer worthy, too). The same reaction for Carlisle and Jacob. There were women (well into their adult years) wearing "Twilight" tees, "Team Jacob" tees and "Team Edward" tees. There was definitely a carnival-like atmosphere.

And the movie didn't disappoint, either. It followed the book very closely. Bella wasn't as moody and annoying as in the book. Edward was just as one would want him to be. It left the door open for sequels. Just like the books, the movie left you itching for more.

If you go, leave me a comment on your thoughts on the movie.

2008-11-19T19:53:00.007-07:00

Tonight was our piano recital. We (the kids and I) take piano from a sister in our ward. I didn't do the recital because I am just starting (or restarting from the few months I took a few years ago). Bryan went first playing "Turkish March". Bryan and Sheridan played their duet, "London Bridge" next. Sheridan played last with a song she composed during the piano Olympics, "Best Friends Forever". She wrote words, also, but was too shy to sing. There were 4 other kids who performed. It was a fun night and I was proud of Bryan and Sher's progress.

oops!

2008-11-16T17:39:00.001-07:00

If you tried the link for family fun in the previous post "Organizing your Holidays" I fixed it and it now works. Sorry!

Organize your holidays

2008-11-15T18:36:00.007-07:00

I haven't been blogging that much lately because I have been working double time on Christmas gifts. I'll share my gift ideas soon. I want to get my FL pkg ready before my nephew's bday which is week after next.

We had Super Saturday last week and we got a great "Holiday Stress Buster" idea. It's a holiday organizer. You can find the template here at family fun. I love their site. Check them out and check back here for my diy gift ideas.

They're going to grow up and actually use correct grammer one day!

2008-11-13T08:38:00.003-07:00

My beautiful, sweet, and stinkin' funny 7 yr old daughter to her Army dad on Tuesday:

"Happy Veterinarian's Day!"
(quizzical look from dad)
Sher responding to look:
"I know! It's not just for animals anymore!"

I've been tagged!

2008-11-06T09:13:00.006-07:00

Uggh! Now what? I am just getting okay with this blogging stuff, though I still can't get pictures to cooperate and look all "Martha Stewarty" on my blog, and now I've been tagged by my friend Kelli. I am supposed to come up with 7 quirky things about myself. Quirky??? Me???? Like Kelli, I had to turn to my husband who has less trouble coming up with my faults/quirks, than I do.

I have to sleep with the closet door closed.
Following etiquette from my Emily Post book (that one is from my husband. people who know me will think I need a brush up. He thinks it's quirky that I even have an Emily Post Etiquette book. I requested it for my 16th birthday)
Stray hairs on my husband's face, nose, neck. bugs the living heck out of me. I. Must. Pull. Them.
Things not in their proper place. I can sit in my chair and see a pillow that has slid down the sofa cushion. I watch it, watch tv, look at it again, watch tv, it doesn't really bother me, watch tv, well I was going to get up anyway I might as well straighten it!
I will come in after the Christmas tree is decorated and switch around the ornaments so they are more symmetrical. I know, it's supposed to be a family activity, but really-5 santas in a 2" area is just not right.
(really, this is hard. after #1 everything else just seems normal) Okay-I've got one!!! Boogers! I cannot stand to see these big ole boogers in my kids noses. I will hold them down with my knee on their forehead trying to get them out. Gross, I know, but necessary.
I'm a gadget lover. Office gadget, kitchen gadget, craft gadget. I don't know what you do with it, but I love that I have it!!! I have a grapefruit peeler (don't eat them), a laminator (not a good example 'cause I LOVE it and use it alot), funky little cutter things that I still have figured out. A trip down the office supply aisle makes me giddy. Kitchen gadget aisle tingly. And, well, the craft aisle is beyond words!

I will tag:

natalei bullock, kristen huber, angie johnson, jamie richardson, danielle lindorf. that's really all the people I know!

Another Great Craft Idea!

2008-11-01T11:35:00.009-06:00

I was at my friend Heidi's house this week and she had the cutest thing as a Halloween decoration. It was a small album with her twin boys Halloween pictures in them. You could just flip through and see how much they've grown, how cute their costumes were and such. I immediately took that idea and ran with it.

Here's what I needed:

6x6 photo album with fabric cover

about 7 sheets of 12x12 Halloween paper

random embellishments

letter stamp set

white craft ink

ribbon

pictures of kids

Here's what I did:

Using the white craft ink and letter stamps I stamped "Trick or Treat" on the cover of my album. I then embellished with ribbon.

Organized my kids pictures from first to current.

Started scrapbooking the pages. Nothing fancy, the pages are so small that you don't need a lot.

Added pictures and included the year.

That's it! I was done with 9 years of Halloween in a day! It was a lot of fun and easy to do!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T19:19:00.003-06:00

Today is Halloween! Sheridan has been soooo excited all day long! We had (sad looking) mummy hotdogs for dinner, then Trunk-or-Treat at church, then a trip around the neighborhood! Now the kids are handing out candy at the door. Sher is standing back making "scaaarrry" noises and Bryan's shooting baskets. She dressed as a scary witch and Bry is Aniken (sp?) Skywalker. Very fun! We are having a great night! We hope you are, too!

Thinking ahead to holiday gifts

2008-10-31T08:47:00.004-06:00

It's been over a week since I last posted anything. Why? I've been working on different projects that I making for Christmas gifts! The first one is a recipe book. It is adorable! I took the class for it at Archivers (super great store!) and now I'm trying to make a few more on my own. If you have an Archivers store near you, I highly recommend taking the class. If you don't, all you need is:

Chipboard (cut to size to make ascending pages)

Scrapbook paper (a coordinating paper pack would work great)

embellishments of your choice

O rings to bind your book

ribbon as additional embellishment

paper pockets (to store additional recipes)

and recipes

tools:

glue (scott's wrinkle free glue stick is great)

paper trimmer

scissors

hole punch

ink (to ink edges of your pages)

You can either print key words (main course, dessert etc) on paper or stamp them with stamps.

Cut your cardstock to size. Punch 3 holes in top to later secure with O rings. (found at Walmart office supply section). I had six pages. 6x12 was my longest (and the back page of the book). Next to last page would be 6x8 and so on. You want to see the bottom inch or so of each page.

Cover each page in cardstock/scrapbook paper of your choice. Punch holes through. Embellish as you wish. Make spaces available for recipes.

Between each page there is a paper pocket (6x8 envelope from Walmart office supply section). These pockets will have to be cut down for the first couple of pages so they don't hang from the bottom. Cut the sealed end. Leave the open end so recipes can be slid inside. Hole punch the cut end of the envelope. Embellish as you wish.

Secure top with O rings. Tie scraps of ribbon around O rings.

Add recipes.

You now have a great gift or keepsake! Here is a recipe I used in my book:

Carrot Soufflé

2 lbs carrots; cooked and mashed
1 cup sugar
2 tbl flour

Mix well.

3 eggs; beaten
1 ½ tea vanilla
½ stick butter

Mix well.

Fold carrot mixture into egg mixture and pour all into a 8x8 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 50 min. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Holy coldness, fall is here!

2008-10-15T12:31:00.003-06:00

Burrr, it was cold yesterday and quite chilly today. Fall is certainly here! And fall means nap weather, but if you know me at all, so does spring, winter and summer. We have snow on our beautiful Pikes Peak. Have I said how much I love Colorado? I seriously cannot imagine everyone not wanting to pack up and move here! Love it!

What I don't love is diets. Not a lover. But I have two really cute (and fit) friends who are doing Weight Watchers and exercising and I thought perhaps I should give it a go, too. Chubby quit looking cute after I turned 5. I am well past 5. My husband, whom I love, says "I thought you people were jolly?" (And then he screams 'cause I hit him) So, I thought it was time to try, try again!

So, Monday I broke out all my old Weight Watchers stuff (I did it after Sher was born. You get about a zillion points when you're nursing) and dusted off my walking shoes and dug out the scale (my old foe) and got to business.

First, I crippled myself walking with before mentioned cute, skinny (and about a decade younger) friends. Could not walk for about 2 days! Seriously! Midnight on day one I had to get up and soak my throbbing feet. Yesterday I was still nursing blisters. We walked approx. 5 miles in a little over an hour. My pace is closer to a month or so.

Next, I made my weekly menu from my old WW recipe books. Now, this worked out well. I really love their recipes and use them all the time so this part was easy! Chili Mac on Monday, Turkey Taco Salad on Tuesday and Shredded Beef Sandwiches on Wednesday. All very yummy. I get 24 points and haven't been able to use them all yet. I have also drunk (drank, been drinkin') enough water to sink a battleship.

Now, the scale. Like I told my friend (cute, fit and younger #1) I have been lying to myself for years about how much I weigh, so I am not beyond lying to you! Bottom line, WW recommends 2 pounds lost per week. That would have me at -20 pound by Christmas. So, that is my goal. Wish me luck!

recipe substitutes using food storage

2008-10-11T10:13:00.003-06:00

Ever try to make something and find out you are missing an ingredient? Don't feel like dropping everything and going to the store? Here are a few substitutes I found that work well:

Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/3 cup boiling water
3 tbl melted butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup instant nonfat dry milk
Combine all ingredients in blender and process until smooth. Store in fridge for 1 week. Yield: 1 cup.

Powdered Sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbl cornstarch
Whirl together in a blender until fine.

Pancake Syrup
2 cups coarse brown sugar
1 cup water
1/4 tea cream of tartar
Combine sugar and water in pan. Cook over low heat until sugar dissolves; strain thru a strainer. Return to pan and add cream of tartar. Boil for 3 min.

Whipped Topping
1.2 cup ice-cold water
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbl lemon juice
Put the water into an ice cold bowl. Add milk and beat with a cold egg beater until stiff. Add sugar slowly while beating. Add lemon juice and beat only until well mixed.

Homemade Pudding Mix
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tea salt
3/4 cup cornstarch
2 1/2 cups nonfat dry milk
Mix all ingredients together well, and store in tightly covered container in a cool place. This makes for 24 servings. Here are the add ins:

Vanilla Pudding
1 1/4 cup homemade pudding mix
1 tbl butter
3.4 vanilla
2 1/2 cups warm water
1 egg; beaten

Combine pudding mix with water in top of double boiler. Place over boiling water. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Add butter, remove from heat. Beat half the mixture into the egg. Blend slowly into the remaining hot mixture. Stir in vanilla. Chill. Serves 4-6.

Chocolate Pudding
Follow the vanilla pudding recipe, but add 3.4 cup cocoa and 1/4 cup more sugar to the dry ingredients before stirring.

I got these great ideas from Food Storage for the Clueless. I love this book. It has great food storage ideas, advice and guidlines.

Alas, a bicycle tragedy!

2008-10-10T16:17:00.003-06:00

Well, it was bound to happen. Sheridan had her first bicycle accident. When teaching her to ride her bike, we apparently didn't tell her not use her face to stop with. There was a lot of weeping and wailing. Bryan weeping ("it's all my fault; I should have made her slow down!") and Sheridan wailing ("I'm never riding my bike again!") She was too "damaged" to play for the rest of the day. I should have called an ambulance, she said. She should sleep in my room because of her "episode" this afternoon. She can never see people again because she is too ugly.
Of course, she's still beautiful and after my little drama-mama calmed down she did, in fact, go on her bike again. Her brother does encourage her to slow down. And life goes on.

Making a Diaper Cake

2008-10-09T20:42:00.003-06:00

My mom is going to a baby shower in November and asked me to make her a diaper cake like was made for me at Bryan's shower. Bryan is now 9, so it was not exactly fresh in my mind. I went to http://www.plan-the-perfect-baby-shower.com/diaper-cake.html to find instructions. It's really quite simple. I used:

approx 80 diapers
a small fleece blanket (for core)
a small sippy cup (goes on top of fleece blanket for core)
1 1/2 inch ribbon for outside
bear (for top)
small baby items: rattle, teether, medicine dropper, etc. (for decorating the outside)
glue dots (to hold ribbon and small baby items in place.)
rubber bands (to wrap diapers and hold layers.)

Roll diapers from top to bottom and secure with rubber bands.
Place rolled diapers around your core. 3 times for bottom layer, 2 times for middle layer and 1 time for top layer.
Hide rubber bands with decorative ribbon.
Decorate outside with small baby item.

You're done! What a cute idea! I'm so glad I found plan-the-perfect-baby-shower.com for this great gift.

A big day for Sheridan!

2008-10-07T16:29:00.003-06:00

Today, while Bryan & I were at Gamestop, Mark worked with Sheridan on her bike riding. She has been resistant, to say the least, because she has a bike trailer that goes behind Mark's bike and is way more fun! Luckily, Mark took video of this major event! And don't worry; when mom got home the helmet law went into action! Congratulations Sheridan!

Fall Break is Here!!!

2008-10-04T10:18:00.003-06:00

I love school breaks! And fall break is finally here! Two weeks of no school, no volunteering, no getting up early and finally, getting to hang out with the kidlets! I do believe I am as excited, if not more, than the kids. I have some free or low cost things to do with them, too.

I saved up all of those free coupons we got for participating in the local library's summer reading program which include swimming, ice skating, free ice cream and more.

The Denver Zoo is free next Tuesday and on the 18th the Denver Zoo and Denver Botanical Gardens are free.

Add in going to the library, $1 Tuesday at Baskin Robbins, and $1 Movies and we are set!

Now, I get to count down to Christmas Break! WooHoo!

Tackling Holiday Decortating

2008-09-30T18:27:00.003-06:00

Today, for Tackle it Tuesday, I got out my Fall decorations. That may not seem like a big deal, but all of my decorations are in a small space in my basement. The fall stuff is inevitable at the bottoms of all other decorations, which means everything must come out to get to what I need. The display above is something I put together a couple of years ago. I got the idea from Southern Living magazine. I tried to find the tutorial online, but couldn't. Here's what I did:

I used:
Carvable craft pumpkins from Joann's
fall decorations
hot glue gun
kitty litter
wooden skewers

My husband used an exacto knife to cut faces into the smaller pumpkin.

I hot glued fall flowers, straw and twigs with leaves to make arms and legs and hair. We put a hat from a vacation on the boy head. Now we had two cute pumpkin kids.

In the larger pumpkin my husband cut a hole in the back and we put kitty litter in the base to make the pumpkin kids heavy so they wouldn't blow away.

With the skewers we stuck the heads onto the bodies.

We made these 3 years ago and they are as cute as ever!

And that's what I did for tackle it Tuesday! for more go to:http://www.5minutesformom.com/.

The Bryan and Sheridan Show

2008-09-26T21:47:00.003-06:00

Tonight our ward had a talent show. My kids decided to tell some jokes. So, I put together a little skit for them and I must say, I thought they were too stinking cute. Feel free to tell me if you agree!

Make Ahead Meals and Meal Starters

2008-09-24T14:56:00.005-06:00

I've really been looking into freezer meals and freezing meal starters. I love this idea. As I said in a previous post, I've been freezing cooked and seasoned ground beef and sausage. I also freeze leftover chopped onion, bell pepper and celery for future use. Now I'm branching out.

My son likes meat and cheese sandwiches. If you use Miracle Whip, you can freeze them.

I'm also going to cook chicken pieces, like chunks and tenderloins to speed up my cooking.

I can season and freeze chicken that I may want to cook later on the grill.

You can cook and freeze rice!

Cook your rice as usual. Allow to cool, then place in refrigerator. After the rice is chilled in the fridge, transfer rice to freezer bags or containers, and freeze as usual. Allowing the rice to chill will avoid the problem of mushy rice when you thaw it. I got this tip, along with some great recipes, from http://www.momsbudget.com/.

These are just a few ideas that really work for me!

Skipping Christmas

2008-09-24T08:35:00.003-06:00

Have you read the John Grisham book "Skipping Christmas"? This couple decide to skip all of the holiday hoopla and use the money for a cruise. Well, we have decided to do something similar. I will still decorate, but without a tree, just the sit around stuff we already have. I'll send Christmas card, but unlike in the book, that doesn't cost $300. And Mark's kids, our grandson and nephew will still get a gift, but we aren't getting anything for each other or the kids.

We want to go to Disneyland at Christmas and we are asking Santa for Disneyland passes. He's a good guy, he'll see it our way. Sheridan's birthday (her 8th) is on New Year's Day and we'd like to be in Disneyland on that day. As if the gods at Disney heard our hopes for this trip, they are offering a free pass if you come on your birthday. Surely, we were meant to do this!

Every spring I look at last year's Christmas haul and think, "I never see them playing with that". Last year's Christmas ends up as this year's garage sale fodder. So, I thought taking a trip would be more meaningful. The kids will still get gifts from grandparents, aunts and siblings. So, they will still have stuff to play with for a day and never look at again. We still don't know if we can swing it, but it's definitely what we are trying to do this year.

Freezer Meal Swap

2008-09-20T09:49:00.005-06:00

I am participating in a freezer meal swap on Monday. I will take home 5 meals ready to freeze and then pop into my oven when needed. I love this idea. I am taking Cheddar Beef Enchiladas. I got this recipe from my friend, Heather, but it came originally from Taste of Home. These enchiladas are terrific! And they are mild for my family, but you can easily kick it up a notch if your family prefers.

Cheddar Beef Enchiladas

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 cup water
2 cups cooked rice
1 can (16 ounces) refried beans (I use dehydrated and reconstitute)
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
10 to 12 flour tortillas (8 inches), warmed
1 jar (16 ounces) salsa
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

Directions:
In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in taco seasoning and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Stir in rice. Cook and stir until liquid is evaporated.

Spread about 2 tablespoons of refried beans, 1/4 cup beef mixture and 1 tablespoon cheese down the center of each tortilla; roll up. Place seam side down in two greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dishes.

Combine salsa and soup; pour down the center of enchiladas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake one casserole, uncovered, at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted. Cover and freeze remaining casserole for up to 3 months.

To use frozen casserole: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through and cheese is melted. Yield: 2 casseroles (5-6 enchiladas each).

Now, the frozen casserole instructions came straight from my recipe, but for the sake of space, I individually wrap each enchilada in foil and put in a freezer bag. I can either freeze the salsa/soup mixture in a separate freezer bag or mix it later when I am planning to cook my casserole. I add my additional cheese at this time, as well.

Just one more time saving tip:

I get ground beef in the jumbo size packaging and brown it (along with all my favorite seasonings-garlic, onions, salt-n-pepper) all at one time. Then I separate it equally into freezer bags. One or two bags worth I continue cooking with taco seasoning and make sure I mark the bag accordingly.

I do this, also, with sausage.

Organizing my rubber stamps

2008-09-18T20:18:00.006-06:00

I have a ridiculous amount of rubber stamps. So much so that I can never recall exactly what I have. Case and point, I borrowed a stamp set from a friend only to discover during this organization process that I already own it. So, my Stampin' Up demonstrator and good friend, Tina showed me what she does to organize her massive stamp collection. It's genius! I stamped each set onto paper, color coded my paper, put paper in spiral photo binder, color coded the end of each stamp set box, then put each stamp set into color coded baskets.First, stamp each stamp image onto paper. If it's an alphabet stamp I just put the first few letters on the paper.
Next, add the name of the set on the paper. I then figured out how many sets would fit into my baskets and color coded my paper. Now, slide your paper into your spiral photo binder.
Next, color code the end of the stamp boxes. It's hard to see, but notice the purple circle on each box.
I have placed a matching color coded circle on the outside of each box.

Now, I have a binder that tells me exactly which stamps I have, and a color coding system to let me put my hands on them right away. I also know right where to put them away when I am done. Brilliant! Thanks, Tina, for another great Stampin' tip. To learn more great Tina Tips go to www.tina_tribett.stampinup.net.

OUCH!

2008-09-18T20:18:00.003-06:00

So, today, my little guy stepped on a yellow jacket nest. He and Sher were over at a friend's house playing and he stepped on it. They were all over him, in his clothes, everywhere. He was very lucky, he only got stung 4 times. Which is very fortunate, indeed, 'cause his clothes were full of them. The neighbor called, we get over there and he's standing in his jockeys crying about how he's never going outdoors again. The other kids are crying. I felt so sorry for my neighbor.

After a bath and benedryl all is well. Sher had to take "a relaxing bath", too. She was just "too stressed out". They are all tucked away in bed, now. Hopefully, by tomorrow they will forget that whole "never going outside again" thing.

my favorite place in the house

2008-09-15T08:19:00.003-06:00

I like things organized. I like baskets. I like sharpie markers. With all that, I have the best medicine closet around! Yes, I said closet. I have two linen-type closets upstairs. Since I'm not a lover of lots of clutter, I don't have a lot of linens. One extra set of sheets per bed, some beach towels and a couple of extra blankets along with our "throw-up bucket" and upstairs vacuum all fit nicely into one closet. The other closet is dedicated to being our medicine closet. I really got tired of everything getting lost the old way I kept our medicine. I was at my friend,
Suzanne's house (best friend since 7th grade) and she sorted all her medicines and kept them in plastic baskets. When we moved, I took that idea with me. I have several categories:

cold
flu
congestion
misc. med supplies (thermometer, med. droppers, etc.)
teeth (toothpaste, tooth brushes, floss)
misc. med (all the little bits that don't fit in a category-ear wax remover, eye drops, antibiotic ointment, peroxide, alcohol)
shoe repair (extra laces, polish, shoe brush)
Band-Aids

I have more, but then I just start to look anal.

I keep an overnight kit for each kid. It has the basics, toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, shampoo, body wash, plus band aids, sunscreen and Q-tips.
I keep a separate first aid kit. It has all we need for minor emergencies. It's easy to spot and easy to travel with.

I didn't take a picture, but I also have extra shampoo and conditioner in a basket on the bottom along with a basket of shower gels and lotions.

Everything is easy to see, easy to find and easy to keep inventory of. I know just when it's time to restock a certain category. It's also easy to go thru and take out expired items. I hope this idea helps you organize your home.

The Smartest Thing My In-laws Ever Did

2008-09-13T10:06:00.004-06:00

As I said earlier, my father-in-law passed away last week. He died late Wednesday afternoon and the viewing and funeral was on Friday and Saturday. Lots to do without a lot of time to do it. My Mother-in-law was of no help. She was barely functioning. She just couldn't contribute. So, it fell to Mark. Luckily, years ago Mark's mom and Dad wrote out all the funeral preparations they could think of. It saved the day. Here are some things they had decided previously in the event of their death:

They wrote their life history. This was a great help in putting together a eulogy.
They had a list of family members and their addresses and phone #. Again, a huge help when notifying family.
They listed people they would like to participate in the services such as pall bearers, prayers and speakers. Not everyone was available, but Mark knew he was asking people that meant something special to his father.
The funeral arrangements were prepaid. That means the casket and other basic arrangements were already done. The only things to pay for were things you could not plan for such as police escort, cost of announcement for paper and extra cost to have grave opened on a Saturday. Huge help cost wise and planning wise.
The announcement was prewritten. Only info that you couldn't know in advance needed to be added.
Song to be sung at the services.
Favorite flowers for the casket, plus list of additional flowers needed.
Will, safety deposit box key, VA information, bank info and insurance info were all added to the packet.

Funerals are no fun. If it is the funeral of a spouse, the living spouse will probably be too distressed to think clearly. Planning ahead is a useful idea to whomever is doing the legwork. This is something Mark and I are going to do ourselves.

Not all trips home are happy ones

2008-09-12T21:13:00.010-06:00

Papa Singer with Bryan 30 June 1999. (Yes, Bryan was that huge on the day he was born.)

Papa Singer at age 17 in the Navy.

We went to my Father-in-law's funeral this past week. He was 81 and a sweeter man you probably won't meet. He's been sick for some time, but he was in rehab to build his strength to come home. He aspirates (stuff gets in his lungs) and he developed pneumonia. They put him in the ICU and on a respirator. Their goal was to make him strong enough to take him off the respirator. By that time they had his living will on file, so once he was off the respirator he was not going back on. They felt he could come off but within a few hours he was in distress and his lungs were filling up again. By the next afternoon he was gone. Luckily, Mark went to FL when he first went into ICU so he was there in the end. He was there to make all the final preparations and to be there for his mom and sister.

The kids and I left on Thursday, the day after he passed away. I expected Mark to be able to handle all that needed to be done. But the guy that surprised us all was my son, Bryan. He's all of 9. He was the rock that my mother-in-law needed. At the viewing her was by her side, holding her hand as she first view the body. He sat with her for 2 hours as people came to pay their respects. He sat next to her at the funeral holding her hand and stood behind her at the graveside with his little hands on her shoulders. He politely greeted ward members he hasn't seen since he was three. And when his little sister stood in the doorway of the funeral home, unsure if she could/should come in, he walked over, put his arm around her and guided her to papa's coffin hugging her tightly when she cried.

Now, I'd love to take credit and say we have raised a wonderful boy, but the truth of the matter is, we can't take responsibility for how he behaved. No one told him what he should do. He just knew. He can be as dorky (if not dorkier) than the next nine year old, but when it's crunch time we know he will come through. And we couldn't be luckier or happier to have him.

Jesus Said Love Everyone. . .

2008-09-02T19:52:00.003-06:00

I was cruisin' around this blog and that blog. Looking for recipes, craft ideas, this and that. I came across a few that mentioned Mormons. Some written by Mormons some just about Mormons. I have to say, it just made me realize how much I love the Church. I love the gospel. I love Heavenly Father. People can write about this "truth" or that "truth" about Joseph Smith, what the Bible says about the Mormon faith, or whatever. Good for them. Really. I don't waste time with all the rhetoric, I just keep on cruisin'. I mean, I still need ideas for dinner tomorrow night.

Moroni 10:4
And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

That's what I did and that's how I know. If you want to know more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints go to http://www.mormon.org

keeping school memories

2008-08-31T23:04:00.003-06:00

Each year I make binders to keep my kids school papers. Above are the covers of this year's binders. The materials I use are:

cheap 3 ring 4" binder with a front you can slide a page down
cardstock
stickers
pictures from the first day

I put together a scrapbook page and let the kids decorate with stickers. Inside I put things worth keeping:

special test papers
funny writing stories
artwork
awards
report cards
valentine (I laminate them keep them all together)
yearbook
class picture

I also scrapbook pictures from:

field trips
programs
field day
holiday parties

It's a great way to keep all the school year memories together in one place. At the end of each school year I place the completed memory book in the top of the kids closet.

Chore Dice

2008-08-29T14:14:00.004-06:00

I just found this craft on the FamilyFun Magazine website. I love their site! This craft is for "Chore Dice" . You make a set of large dice out of heavy cardstock and write a chore on each square. You can even put "Free Day" or "Trade" on squares. I use chore charts (and yelling) but this seems to be a fun way to get chores done. I'm going to give it a try!

Here are the instructions (there is also a template for the dice on the FamilyFun Magazine website):

Supplies Needed:
Paper
Scissors
Pen or pencil
Glue

1. To make each cube, transfer the pattern shown here onto stiff paper or card stock.

2. Next, write one household chore in each square.

3. Cut out the shape and fold along the dotted lines. Dot the tabs with glue and form the paper into a cube, pressing together the tabs and faces to secure them in place. Let the glue dry. Repeat with more cubes for more tasks, if needed.

4. Now, just roll the dice and see who gets to pick up the doggy doo!

2008-08-26T17:14:00.004-06:00

Today I made these cute little "cook marks". Like book marks, you can use them to keep the place of a page in your recipe book. Now you will always know where that tried and true recipe is! Here's how I made them:

I took red cardstock and a scallop circle punch to punch out two scallop circles. (my tools are Stampin' Up)

I used green cardstock and a 1 3/8 circle punch to punch out one circle for background.

I used white card stock to stamp my design (I used the tart and tangy set from stampin' up) then I punched out my design with the 1 1/4 circle punch. To get the two-toned effect I used markers to color the stamp, "huff" on the stamp to warm and stamp on paper.

With adhesive I stuck the green background circle to one red scallop circle. I stuck the white circle with my design on top of the green.

Using dimension dots I stuck the large paper clip to the back of my designed scallop and backed with the plain scallop.

And that's it! I'm done. Thanks, Tina, my wonderful Stampin' Up demonstrator for this fun, easy and useful tutorial. Now, what recipe will I use my "cook mark" with? Here's one of our family favorites and it's super easy:

Fiesta Fry Pan Dinner

1 pound ground beef or turkey
1/2 chopped onion
1 tea taco seasoning (or one envelope)
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 sliced zucchini
1 (141/2 oz) stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 cup frozen corn
1 1/2 cups uncooked instant rice
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

In a skillet, cook turkey and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in taco seasoning, water, zucchini, tomatoes and corn; bring to a boil. Add rice. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 min or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with cheese; cover and let stand until cheese is melted.

Yield: 8-10

YUMM-O!!

funny kid story

2008-08-22T08:22:00.005-06:00

I was at my kid's school yesterday. As I was walking down the hall to leave a little guy started walking beside me. He looked at me and said, "I'm just going to lost and found". We both ended up at lost and found at the same time so I asked him what he was looking for (his jacket-yes, already chilly enough in the am to wear a jacket) and what color it was (green). So, we looked but it wasn't in the lost and found bin. So, I asked him if he wore it on the playground at recess before lunch.
Kid: "Yes"
Me: "Well, my kids forget their jackets on the playground sometimes, would you like me to go look for you??"
Kid: "Well, I'm right here, but could you go look for my jacket???"

"It's good to be green"-Kermit the Frog

2008-08-19T12:33:00.006-06:00

I use hairspray. Aerosol hairspray, at that. I know I should use Non-aerosol, really I do, but cute hair is at stake. At 41, it's really the only thing I have going for me and even that is hit or miss. I also know that the abuses we inflict today will be our children's problem.

So, I've made a decision! I don't want my kids to have to fix the ozone layer and worry about the landfills, too! I have started taking my own totes and green bags to the store with me. If I forget, I ask for paper and take those back to the store to reuse the next time. It's not a huge thing. And I have millions of miles to go if I want to be totally "green", but it's a start. And hopefully, with this small start I will look for other ways to do my part.

If you are considering going to green bags, Joann's has a great one that is about the size of a brown paper bag and cost $1! But also look around the house for tote bags that aren't being used.

The thing I love about blogging. . .

2008-08-18T20:46:00.004-06:00

One of the things I love about blogging is going to someone's blog and clicking on a different blog from there. I have gotten soooo many wonderful ideas, recipes and stories. I love Tip Junky and Pioneer Women. Today's Creative Blog took me to I'm a Betty, Are You and I'm an Organized Junky. Of course, I always start out at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven which belongs to my friend and got me started blogging in the first place. I love to learn new things and searching thru blogs is a great way to do it!

Our Little Zoo

2008-08-17T19:56:00.004-06:00

If you've read my profile, you have seen that we have 3 cats, 1 dog and a fish. Buzz aka Buzz Lightyear Space Kitty was our first pet. He was a stray about 3 months old when Mark's mom gave him to Bryan who was 5 at the time. He still loves the outdoors and is not a dog lover. He took to hanging around a neighbor's house last fall. 2 months later, because of his microchip, they discovered he was ours. We've had to go to the neighbor's house several times to retrieve him. They kept feeding him and letting him inside-and they didn't have a dog. A sweet deal for Buzz.
We got Anneliese (full name "Princess Anneliese" from Barbie's The Princess and the Pauper) for Sheridan about a month later. Like a princess, she has taken to being domesticated very well. Last September she had about enough of our new dog and started hanging around a neighbor's house (yep, same neighbor as above. My sister suggested spray painting our address on the side of our cats). 8 months later we see her in their house on one of our Buzz searches. Turns out, she jumped in the back of the husband's boat-the day he was moving to Denver (and taking the boat) for 8 months. He thought he found her in Denver. Fast forward 8 months and we see her in the neighbor's window. She had just returned, in the car this time, 2 days before.
This is the cause of all the cat angst. She's a year and 9 months. She's a border collie with something else mixed in. We sprung her from the CO prison system. Actually, the prisons in CO do dog training with rescued dog. They use it as a way to teach a skill. Spring spent all of her time with her inmate. She was house trained (but not throw up trained) and had other basic training skills. So, we stashed a file in her dog biscuits and got her out of there. She is very sweet, has a nervous tummy and wherever I am, she will be also. We got her the Saturday before Mother's Day (along with a new carpet shampooer-refer to the nervous tummy comment). She thinks cats are FUN!
This is Snowball. We adopted him from a local rescue when we were sure Anneliese was gone forever. (haha on us). That was in April. The next month we got Anneliese back. Snowball is the sweetest kitty. He is not at all intimidated by the dog. The dog chases him and he chases the dog. The dog sleeps with me and so Snowball sleeps with us. He is very cuddly. He also has a blue eye and a brown eye.

Could not get a picture of our beta fish, Hinckley, but our last fish, Shelly, died. So the Monday after the funeral for President Hinckley we got our new fish. The kids thought "Hinckley" would be a good name. The cats love the fish. Uses the fish bowl for a water bowl.

Happy Birthay to My Guy!

2008-08-14T17:26:00.005-06:00

It's finally here. Mark's birthday. "Arrive Alive at 55" was a highway safety slogan years ago and it's what mark has done today!! WooHoo! And he's old enough to remember that slogan. Here are a few other things that Mark is old enough to remember:

When phone #'s were a name and a number such as--evergreen1953
Listening to comedy albums such as Jerry Clower, Andy Griffith (before Mayberry) and Flip Wilson.
Watching the Lone Ranger show on TV.

Here are a few things of interest from 1953:

Dewight Eisenhower was President and Richard Nixon was Vice President.
The Yankees won the World Series
The Detroit Lions won the Pro Football Championship
John Lattner from Notre Dame won the Heisman
New York adopts the first 3 color traffic light.
From Here To Eternity with Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Cliff, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed premiered. (It went on to win an Academy Award)
Queen Elizabeth II is crowned in England.
The FCC rules that color TV can go on the air.

Here are a few prices from 1953:

New House---------$9525.00
Avg. Income--------$4011.00 per year
Harvard Tuition----$600.00 per year
Movie Ticket-------$.70
Gas----------------$.21
Postage------------$.3
Milk---------------$.94

Other people born in 1953:

John Malkovich
Kim Basinger
Rick Moranis
Tony Blair (British Prime Minister)
Mary Steenburgen

Music in 1953:

The Doggie in the Window by Patti Page
Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes by Perry Como
Where is your Heart by Percy Faith
Rags to Riches by Tony Bennett

Movies in 1953

Peter Pan
The War of the Worlds
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Shane
How to Marry a Millionaire

All in all, 1953 was a pretty good year.

Pictures of My Guy!

2008-08-13T08:02:00.007-06:00

Mark and I at the Juarez Mexico Temple. We were attending a sealing for friends in TX, but it also fell on our anniversary.This is when he was deployed to DC. He was commander of an ADA Battalion out of FL. His battalion manned avengers that were set up around the Nat'l Capital Region. While he was deployed in TX he was coincidentally the officer who planned and oversaw the development of the NCR mission. He's been to the Bush compound in Kennebunkport, Camp David and the Bush Ranch in Crawford TX. He has stood on the Bush's back porch at the ranch.
Army guys always know what they are doing and where they are going.
This is in the Botanical Gardens in Albuquerque NM. It was when we were deployed to Ft. Bliss in El Paso TX.
This is at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs CO. There are some really great red rock formations that just seem to come out of nowhere.
This is when we first moved into our new house in CO. After living in a 40 ft camper for 17 months and then a TLF for 2 months we were very excited to move in.
After many years, Mark completed his degree in military history. Notice the tassel on his army hat. This was when we still lived in Florida. He had worked that day and didn't know his diploma had arrived in the mail.
This is Mark and his dad. His Dad is 81 this year. This picture was taken at a Family Reunion for the Durrance family which is Mark's mom's side. It's held in Sept in Lake City FL. Mark's dad is a great guy with a lot of history to share.
This is while mark was still in DC. Loads of bike trails in the DC area.

Mark and I have had a lot of wonderful memories in the past 16 years. I really look forward to the next 16. He's a great guy with a wonderful sense of humor. He's very intelligent and not bad to look at, either. The kids and I are really lucky to have him.

A great FHE game

2008-08-12T16:19:00.004-06:00

Last night was FHE and we played a game that I got from http://www.familyfun.com/. It's called "Memory Lane" and if you put that in the search all the how-to instructions will come up. It's basically a game to get to know your family better and reminisce about things you have done together. It takes a little work to put together, but it's worth it!

It has memory cards with customized questions, the game board has points of interest specific to your family and everyone has treasure boxes with their game pieces in it.

Have fun!

10 things you may not know about My Guy:

2008-08-12T16:05:00.006-06:00

He was on Romper Room as a kid (so was I).
He tried to burn down his neighborhood by setting a pine tree on fire.
He was a bag boy at Winn Dixie Supermarket as a teenager.
He can shoot rubber bands over an LSM machine and hit his target.
He was kicked off of Romper Room for pretending to fall out of his chair.
He got tapes he made for 2 girls mixed up and in return got a "dear John" letter from both.
He found a rifle shell when he was a kid and "was trying to blow up the neighborhood" according to his mom. It was in his pocket. He has it in for his neighborhood...
He will fight to the death over the difference between "vanilla bean" & "french vanilla". He only likes "vanilla bean".
He is an arm-chair military channel and history channel commentator.
He cries every time he hears "Green Hill Far Away". Maybe it's my singing.

My Guy really is "My Old Man"!

2008-08-11T08:25:00.003-06:00

Mark turns 55 on Thursday. Quite an acomplishment as for several of the last 16 years I have threatened to kill him in his sleep for snoring. So, I will spend the next few days talking about him. Today is just a general history:

He was born in Jacksonville FL @ St Vincent's Hospital (interesting fact: all 4 of us-mark, me, bryan and sheridan were born in the same hospital-the paint was still pretty fresh when mark was born there, though).

He grew up in the westside area of town and attended Nathan Bedford Forrest HS.

He went on a spanish speaking mission in AZ. His mission area stretched all the way to San Diego.

Has a degree in military history. Ask him anything! Go ahead! Ask!

Worked for the Post Office for 20 years.

Was in the FL Nat'l Guard for about 25 years before switching to Army Reserves for the past 4 years.

Loves living in Colorado!

Is currently waiting for me to get ready to go to the gym! So, that's all for now.

You can jar breads!

2008-08-10T18:30:00.005-06:00

Just as I promised yesterday, here are the instructions for jarring breads, cakes and so on! I got the following information from my mother-in-law who got it at a Relief Society Enrichment Mtg.

Breads, cakes, muffins, cornbread, brownies, cookies, cinnamon rolls can be sealed in jars. You must be very sure to boil all your jars and lids to be sure they are free from bacteria. Jar foods are cooked in canning jars WITHOUT THE LIDS in your oven.

The food will slip out of the jars easily if you use the straight sided “jelly jars” but any kind of mason jar will work Using a pastry brush, grease the insides with shortening (no Pam or Baker’s Secret) fill it ½ to 2/3 full with your batter or dough and bake as usual.

Let your breads raise in the jars and then bake. Some foods rise more than others, so practice with these amounts so you don’t waste space in your jars. If it bakes too high, cut the top of your bread or cake off before sealing the jar. Just be sure your jar edge is clean and your lids are hot!

Immediately after the food is cooked, place your heated lid on the hot jar and tighten with the ring. (Use hot pads!) Within a few minutes, the lid will “plink” and the food will be sealed.

This food can sit on your shelf with no refrigeration or freezing for several months.

Enjoy!

Bread for a year

2008-08-09T10:08:00.005-06:00

How much stuff do I need to make one loaf of bread everyday for a year?

Here's the recipe:
2 cups white wheat
1 cup water
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbl shortening or applesauce
1/4 cup sugar or honey
2 tsp yeast

Warm the water and add the yeast. Set aside. Mix flour, salt and sugar. Add the yeast and melted shortening and
knead until smooth and elastic. Shape into a loaf, place in greased pan or jars, cover and let raise until doubled. In an oven, bake at 350 degrees 25-30 min.

Total for One Year
61 #10 cans white wheat
23 gal of water
4 2/3 containers of salt
19 # shortening or 23 qts of applesauce
46 # of sugar or 74# of honey
5# of yeast

Now, if you want to know how to store bread in mason jars, just check back tomorrow for instructions and recipes.

(I got the above idea from a food storage fireside)

Bread recipe-for one year

2008-08-09T09:47:00.004-06:00

How much stuff do you need to make a loaf of bread every day for a year?

Here's the recipe:

2 c white wheat
1 c water
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tb melted shortening (or applesauce: 2 Tb)
1/4 c sugar (or honey)
2 tsp yeast

Warm the water and add the yeast. Set aside. Mix flour, salt and sugar. Add the yeast and melted shortening and
knead until smooth and elastic. Shape into a loaf, place in greased pan or jars, cover and let raise until doubled.
Bake in solar oven 45 min. or until browned. In an oven, 350 degrees 25-30 min.

Total for One Year
61 #10 cans white wheat
23 gal of water
4 2/3 containers of salt
19 # shortening or 23 qts of applesauce
46 # of sugar or 74# of honey
5# of yeast

Above are the minimum ingredients you should have in !

The smells and sounds I love

2008-08-08T13:52:00.002-06:00

An unusual occurance-it was raining this morning. A slow, steady rain. It does rain here, but it usually whips thru and is gone. Just enough rain to make your car look yucky. But not this morning. So, I lay on my bed listening. I love the sound and smell of rain. That's something I miss about the South.
So, I thought about other sounds and smells I miss from the South; I miss the sound of happy, wet frogs when the rain is over. I miss the lightening and distant, rolling thunder. I miss the way the sky looks over the ocean when a storm is rolling in. I miss the steady patter of an all day shower that says, "grab a book and a blanket".
It's not just the sounds of rain I miss. I miss fresh cut grass that smells of sunshine and summer. I miss the sound of crickets welcoming twilight. I miss the salty, thick smell of the ocean. I miss the smells of spring-a morning chill with the promise of warmth, honeysuckle and magnolia. I miss "ya'll" and "fixin' to".
So, yeah, it's hot and muggy and there are mosquitos that can carry off small children. But I do miss the South. I do miss the sounds and smells of home.

Making the school week easier

2008-08-07T08:24:00.005-06:00

I don't like stress or disorder. I like planning and organization. Just the mention of The Container Store and I'm giddy. So I translate all that into making my school week easy. Here are a few tips of things I do to make it so:

Sunday we choose our week's worth of outfits. They can choose and I approve. This includes hair stuff and socks.
Our school puts out a monthly lunch menu. We check that out on Sunday and decide which days we are making lunch and which days we are taking lunch.
We have a getting ready routine and we stick to it.
Backpacks are ready (with all paperwork and a snack) the night before and by the door. I alway have a rain jacket and light sweater in their backpack. If it's winter we put our coats with our backpacks.
I look thru backpacks daily to see if there are any papers to sign or money due for anything. I can also retrieve wayward homework papers, etc.
Lunches are prepared the night before.
Water bottles are filled when they get home from school and place in fridge. They don't use their school water bottle except at school. That way it's always ready.
I have a weekly family chart that I can put in our weekly activities so everyone (my husband) knows who's doing what, when.
I have a daily duties chart for the kids that I customized @ www.dltk-cards.com so there is no confusion as to what they need to do every day.
We changed dinner time to 4pm, so homework and piano is due right after dinner.
7:30 is scripture time, followed by a snack, followed by brushing teeth, followed by prayer. They hit the sack at 8pm but can read (or write in journals) until 8:30. Lights out by 8:30. (Sheridan makes it to 8:02)

We try very hard to stick to above plan. It reduces the arguing and confusion. Every one knows what is expected of them. We do have to make occasional adjustments-basketball practice will be right after school-but it all seems to work for us. And hopefully, it will teach the kids better time management and organization skills.

It's here! Back-to-school day!

2008-08-06T08:45:00.004-06:00

It's finally here. the 1st day of school They look really happy to be going back, too. Actually, Bryan is. Sher would be home schooled in a heart beat. If she thought she could hang out in her pj's all day and hang with me she would. Her husband will thank me one day for forcing her to behave like a rational human being.

My kids are so stinkin' cute. You would never know that Sheridan has been having panic attacks for the past 3 days. And note her way-too-cute matching brown polka dot lunch tote. It is adorable. So, we went to the back-to-school aka give-us-your-money night without too much of a hitch. I was going to cut back on my volunteering this year but before I could get out of there last night I had signed on for doing Thursday folders (again) and helping in the library (again) and being over picture day.

We got off today without a hitch which was nice. Bryan had trouble falling asleep and was still up at 10pm but got up this morning easily enough. (In case you are wondering, I fixed the hair sticking up on the back of Sheridan's head. We are growing out bangs. Today Mark and I have a relaxing day ahead of us. We are going to the movies! Woohoo! He wants to see the Dark Knight and I want to see Mama Mia. I wonder who will win???

I have had an easy, trouble free back-to-school morning. I hope when your kids start you have one, too!

Greetings from a more comfortable Colorado!

2008-08-05T11:57:00.003-06:00

If you notice from my weatherbug temp. gauge, the weather is back to Colorado Wonderful! Hopefully, all those over 90 days are behind us!

We are also in the final hours of counting down for back-to-school. WooHoo! I have really enjoyed my summer, though. I love when my kids are home. Mainly, because I am lazy and like to sleep in. Do you remember what is was like when your children no longer needed you the SECOND their eyes opened??? Better than Christmas morning. They make their own breakfast, can turn on the TV if they want. Anything short of a fire is alright with me. (That would call the fire dept. and I would no longer be able to sleep in, now would I??)

Tonight we have back-to-school night which translates into "bring in you bazzion $$ in school supplies and bring your check book for things we forgot to put on the school supply list".

I do enjoy the earlier bedtime that comes with back-to-school. I have about 20 episodes of "bones" and "house" that I haven't watched, yet.

The thing I don't like about school time is the hurry, hurry, hurry that comes with it. That's why I like easy dinners. One of my favorites is from the Martha Stewart Show. It's super easy and yumm-o!!!

Lemon-Roasted Chicken

Prep: 15 minutes

Total: 35 minutes

Serves 4

1 chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds), cut into 10 pieces
6 garlic cloves, smashed
2 lemons, quartered
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Set a large saucepan of water to boil.

On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss together chicken, garlic, lemons, oregano, and 1 teaspoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Roast chicken, skin side up, until golden and cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes.

This is what we are having for dinner tonight. Feel free to tell me what you are cookin'!

Ahhhhhh! A moment to relax.

2008-08-04T09:16:00.003-06:00

Well, 5 gallons of milk and 6 loaves of bread later, our house guest have returned home. We really enjoyed having them and the kids now want a larger family (sorry, guys! That ship has sailed.) and my dog is mopey without her friend Buddy. But now we are back to our normal lives. Of course, school starts on Wednesday so relaxing will be to a minimum. We have already done our school supply shopping, back to school outfit and shoe shopping and put money in the lunch money account at school. Now we need to buy lunch foods and snacks.

I am trying something new this school year since my husband's schedule is so wonky. I am going to have dinner @ 4pm. My kids get home at 3:50 and mark goes to work most days at 4:45, so I thought this would be a good way to have a meal as a family and cut out the after school snack. It will also force me to come up with a meal plan before 6pm!! Most of our school activities are later so we would have dinner done before scouts and karate and gymnastics.

Anyway, it's worth a go! I'll let you know how it turns out!

If it were my church. . .

2008-08-02T10:23:00.002-06:00

I love my church. I love Heavenly Father. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. That being said, if it were my church, I may change a few things. I came up with this idea after having to get up at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning to take my friend's kids to church for a Temple trip. That's when change #1 came to mind.

No church activities will start before 10am.

Sacrament should start at a reasonable hour. 8:30 am is not that hour. Again, 10am comes to mind. I also think the time should end in "ish" (i.e. 10ish am) since we all use that anyway. Then we won't feel bad when we arrive at 10:15.

And lastly, when my name comes up for a major calling the bishopric should really listen to the little voice in their head that is saying, "SERIOUSLY???".

Of course, I say all this in jest. Write them off as the ramblings of a tired woman. And I will more than happily be at church with a smile on my face. Sometime around 8:30ish. . .

Figuring out a years supply of foods you eat

2008-07-31T11:41:00.004-06:00

So, you may have the flour, wheat & sugar in your food storage, but how do you make sure you have enough of the foods you eat all the time. We all have those recipes that we rely on-our family favorites or ones that are easy to make in a hurry. Find one of those recipes.

Mine is Parmesan Chicken. It makes 7-8 cups

Here's what I need to make this recipe once-
1 pint of chicken (it's already cooked)
1/2 pound uncooked spaghetti (4 cups cooked)
1 jar Ragu
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
3 cups water
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs.

Cook spaghetti in water. Layer spaghetti, chicken, ragu, bread crumbs, cheese and bake @ 350 until bubbly.

If I make this recipe once per week for a year I would need to have:

52 pints of chicken
6 #10 cans of spaghetti
52 jars of Ragu
5 pounds of Parmesan
5 pounds of bread crumbs

This is a good way to insure you have food you will actually eat and enjoy in your food storage.

Turning outgrown jeans into a cute skirt!

2008-07-30T17:34:00.011-06:00

Turn your daughter's outgrown jeans into a trendy no-sew denim skirt.

CRAFT MATERIALS:
Old jeans
Scissors
Masking tape
Glue
Time needed: About 1 to 2 Hours

1. Start by cutting the legs off the jeans just above the knee and setting the scraps aside. Use scissors to open the inner leg seams. Then, open the front seam to one inch below the zipper (A), and the back seam to about 7 inches below the waist.

2. Cut denim triangles from the scraps to fill the spaces in the front and back of the skirt. Use fabric glue to attach them in place. Secure the seams with masking tape until they dry.

3. For a hem, turn the skirt inside out and fold the edge to your desired length. Glue it in place, and again use tape to hold it while it dries.

Family fun Magazine

My brain is scattered, but I can now breathe!

2008-07-30T17:10:00.002-06:00

Well, having 5 kids around my brain is a little scattered but we are having a great time and enjoying having our friends around. Our dogs are loving playing together. And who am I kidding-my brain was always a little questionable. Yesterday, I finally went to the doctor for my sinuses (sp??) I have been putting it off for quite sometime for the sole reason that I did not want to be weighed during the evaluation. Sad, huh? Couldn't take the fact that I could NOT breathe any longer. And it felt like I was being constantly hit in the cheeks with a hammer. She said I probably have allergies and scheduled allergy testing for me. So, I got some good drugs and a nasal irrigation kit (quite gross, but works) and I can now BREATHE! Which means I can now sleep! Now, I will have to come up with some other excuse to avoid doing housework. My arm has been bothering me a little. . .

Getting 'em up and out the door

2008-07-29T10:50:00.002-06:00

It's just a few more days until the kidlets are back in school. I got this from a magazine, Family Fun maybe, and I'm going to give it a go this year. It is a way to keep the kids on schedule without all the yelling, harping and inevitable crying:

Make a Let's Get Going CD

Figure out:

Each morning task
The time you want to allow for the task
pick songs or song snippets to go with the task
burn songs on CD
play each morning

As an example, I allow a few minutes wake up time so I will play "in the leafy treetops" by Brett Raymond.

Next, it's get dressed time so I play 15 min of salsa music to get the blood pumping,

Next, breakfast for 20 min so I chose instrumental Hawaiian music.

Next, 10 min for teeth brushing and bed making so it's another instrumental piece,

5 min for getting backpacks, lunchboxes and jackets on so I choose The William Tell Overture

and lastly it OUT THE DOOR which is "This Kiss" by Faith Hill

Only time will tell if this is effective. There may just be yelling, harping and the inevitable crying with music playing in the background. Maybe I should incorporate the Rocky theme. . .

One crazy week

2008-07-28T19:48:00.003-06:00

The kids just finished camp. Bry had 4 days of cub scout camp and Sher did 4 days of gymnastics camp. They were exhausted every day and went to bed early. I. LOVE. CAMP. Now, we are watching my friend, Tina's 3 kids and dog. I am not equipped to have this many people around all day. Now, my dog and our visiting dog, Buddy, follow me around all day. Feeding 5 kids is CRAZY! By the time you finish fixing and cleaning up behind breakfast it's time to start lunch. How much bread and milk do you have to keep on hand for this many kids??? My cats are hating us right now. Meanwhile, I got a new, cute haircut. Don't know why I thought I should mention that. It really has nothing to do with having house guest. Mark and I are actually getting a taste of what it would be like to have a full size mormon family instead of our economy sized one. You have to start baths sometime after lunch if you want to get one yourself with a) hot water and b) before midnight. But the kids are great, helpful and lots of fun. Very well mannered, too, which I hope rubs off on my two. Mark takes them all for walks on the golf course in the evening so I have a few peaceful minutes. I found a new blog called ThePioneerWomen.com that has some great recipes if you want to give it a look. All my people are back and ready for FHE. Now I have to figure out a FHE treat. . .

Food Storage Tip-Bottling Butter

2008-07-26T16:38:00.003-06:00

Does powdered butter sound super-yummy??? If not, here is a tip for bottling butter. It's easy, fast, and real butter!

Butter bottled (Google “bottled butter”) Real butter is best but margarine works too. Heat pint jars in the oven @
250 for 20 minutes. Heat lids in boiling water for 3 minutes. Slowly stir and melt the butter in a pan. After it has
boiled for 5 minutes, stir and then scoop the butter into the hot jars. Use a funnel to keep butter off the rims. Place
the hot lid and ring on the jar and wait for the “plink.” Shake jars several times over the next 15-20 minutes. The
separation will stop. While still slightly warm, put the jars in the refrigerator. Check every 10-15 minutes, shaking jars
each time. Eventually the butter will harden. Leave in refrigerator for one more hour. Bottled butter can store on your
shelf for at least 3 years.

Happy Canning

Jen's Contest

2008-07-26T15:43:00.003-06:00

This is a homemaking contest put on by my good friend Jen. Feel free to visit her blog at http://rtheyallyour.blogspot.com.
Good Luck!

Sheridan's 1st Grade Musical

2008-07-26T11:13:00.004-06:00

Food Storage Tip: Using gelatin to replace eggs

2008-07-26T10:18:00.002-06:00

Gelatin is less expensive than eggs and can be stored indefinitely. Works well in any recipe.

1 tsp. gelatin=1 egg
1 oz gelatin=12 tsp or 12 eggs
1 pound gelatin=192 eggs

making an egg: combine 1 tsp of unflaovred gelatin with 3 Tbl of cold water and stir until dissolved. Add 2 Tbl plus 1 tsp of hot water and stir. Decrease liquid called for in recipes by 1/4 cup to compensate for water from egg mixture.

Would you rather use real eggs and store them as well???

Rub warmed mineral oil on yhour hands and coat the entire surface of the fresh egg with the oil. Replace egg in the egg carton with the point down. In cold climates they can be stored in a cool dark place for one year but I just keep mine in the fridge.

If you have any unique food storage tips you'd like to share let me know!