One week

In the time period of a week the following things occurred.
4 Christmas parties, getting the card table back from the neighbors (when they weren't home),
preparing soup for a crowd,
salad for a crowd,
pulled pork sandwiches for a crowd,
and purchasing pizza for a smaller group (This does not include Christmas eve or Christmas day which was a turkey and ham etc etc with bread bowls for traditional cheese soup), The other meal days don't count.  Don't forget the multiple trips to the grocery store.

I also didn't get school off.  Had two days of classes including a chapter test which I didn't do as well on as I thought even though I passed. I drive to Kaysville to school.

Made 24 loaves of banana bread, where 8 didn't turn out when they didn't come out of the pans.  They also spilled into my oven for the first time ever and fragranced  the house with essence of banana smoke.
 Made 3 batches of toffee.
Did 24 situps each night thinking it would balance out after I ate the toffee.
Negotiated getting in and out of the driveway between 3 to 4 power company trucks trying to find the reason, my next door neighbors power was out.  The break was under our driveway by the wall. :)
Blue stake came in and sprayed the snow with orange and yellow festive lines.
They brought in a digger and put a 5 ft hole in the driveway.

They had an emergency in Provo and left the cement blocks out, put up some orange and white striped cones, and strung the cones with yellow caution tape. I debated about draping the area with tinsel and lights, but ran out of time. The main hope was that the Mail Nazi would still deliver. Apparently it was all too much for him, because we had a different mail man for the a few days.  I know this because we actually had our mail brought up to the house.  I almost passed out from shock.  What a great Christmas present!
(One of my sons said the Mail Nazi had actually shaved his beard and was sporting a Hitler mustache. I have not yet been able to confirm this.)
I put together 24 bag gifts for the Young women and delivered the laurels. My counselors delivered theirs(Game of Uno with a poem off the internet about UNO (You know) you are a daughter of God etc etc. I threw in some lip gloss for the Laurels)
Put together the loaves of banana bread with bottled jam.  Made tags.
Ryan delivered them dressed in a santa costume I made for Matt when he was in 4th grade Halloween parade. (I used red maternity capris with a red adult sweatshirt so it be could stuffed.  It is edged in fake white fur and it used to have bells for buttons. We still had the beard and hat.

He was on his way to deliver a gift to one of the young men leaders.  I think its a toy pig on a swing... And a pez candy dispenser...

 I spent a lot of time going to Walmart, Kohls, Shopko, Costco, Michaels, Ross dress for less, Barnes and Noble, Smiths market place, Target. Best Buy, and a variety of other places over and over again.

Received my mom's birthday and my sister's christmas presents. Stil haven't mailed them :)

Picked up the little brother and sister of one of my young women at daycare and brought them home. Made sure they got fed.

Received the news that a friend we know well passed away on Christmas eve from an accident with a 4 wheeler. He was a counselor to Dan when Dan was the Elder's Quorum President years ago. He was the Bishop in the ward he moved to. There are 3 general authorities in his ward.  Elder Hales, President Ukdorf and one other, I can't remember which one.  Elder Nelson I think. He was also an excellent Ear Nose and Throat Doc.  I was going to be seeing him for my throat. It's a great loss to their family and the whole community.

I worked on a talk for Sacrament Meeting for yesterdays meeting. I worked on a lesson for the Laurels on Goal setting.

I discovered mice in the dog snack cupboard.  Killed two with one trap. Set more and have been cleaning everything last thing in the cupboard.  Still not done.  They ate all of his small snacks. YUCK!

All the boys went sledding up at the Golf Course here on Christmas day.  Ryan took a bad spill and broke his right collar bone. This was about half an hour after Grandma, Grandpa, and Austin left to go back to Provo.Chris recorded the whole thing on video for posterity.  Dan took him to the ER at the closest hospital. I was working on my talk, but the only thing I could do was wring my hands and pace.  Should have gone to the hospital.  Ryan has been in terrible pain even with the morphine shot. He's doing a little better.  Today we will see the Orthopedic doc.

Put some color stuff on my hair while I took a bath and worked on my talk on Saturday.  Forgot how long it was in.  My hair is now black.

Pulled a large glass pan of yummy potatoes out of the frig to warm up.  The pan had cracked in half some how.  I cut my finger trying to remove it carefully. Burned my arm on the oven. Broke the glass lid to my crock pot when I was pulling pork. The frig in the basement has a leak and the water is under the pergo flooring in Chris's bathroom.  It sloshed when you walk on it.  Dan was twisting under the sink next to the frig to turn off the water and twisted his stomach into a knot and had some killer cramping pains. It knocked the energy out of him and he felt so rotten he had to lay down for a while.

Attended 5 meetings on Sunday.  Gave my talk. Gave my lesson. Dan's brother invited us all up to his cabin an hour's drive away for dinner and some kind of talent show.  I opted out and stayed home.  They had to leave one hour after I got home from meetings. Yes, I am a party pooper.

Some dogs belongs to some members (huskys) got loose again today and attacked Benny.  I was trying to beat one of them off with a shovel. They had him by his neck. He shook for 30 minutes afterwards.

Oh and we've almost hit the neighbors dogs about 4 times this week alone.

Someone did a 12 days of christmas for me and made my year :)

That's about it.  The rest is normal boring stuff like laundry. You know, the boring stuff.

So how did your week go?

Mission experience

Matt performed a musical number with two other missionaries in Long Island NY when he was there.  I wanted to try and get the video to transfer, but I don't know how.  You can go to my facebook to see it I hope. The link is below.  It's a beautiful  version of If you could Hie to Kolob and they made it up and practiced it once before they performed it...

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/home.php?ref=home

Halloween

Youngest getting ready to head out and scare everyone. If you can't figure out what he is... he's the Joker from Batman.

 Our neighbor made a Harry Potter dementor and after it was nice and dark he rang our door bell and flew it in front of the door to scare the daylights out of us.

We had lots of goblins come to our door. Neighbors and people who drive here from different parts of the valley to trick or treat.  Lots of hispanics...para el dia de los muertos.

It's snowing

Ok, so I haven't written in a while.  Let me review the last few months.  Naw, there's too much. Let me sum up: I lost 8 lbs on a no sugar diet.  Went off diet, gained pounds back eating candy. I'm in the middle of the second final for my spreadsheets class.  I cut my hair off.  If you haven't seen my facebook, here is a photo with Mr. Magoo glasses.

We are currently going through the H1N1 illness or some kind of flu close to it. 3 boys have been sick or are currently sick. That's pretty much it except that it's snowing and I'm making grape juice. Bye for now

Haven't written for a while. Don't feel like it.

School starts Monday.

I've been listening to 10,000 miles. It's one of my favorites even though I don't listen to it much because it makes me weep. Went to a funeral today. It seems appropriate.

Got my har cut

It was two or three inches below my shoulders this morning. ..this afternoon its above.

Another photo

Yesterday in Sacrament meeting, a member passed this photo that came in their newspaper yesterday. It was a different Salt Lake paper, one we don't take. We were very surprised and appreciative. I remember when this happened during the game. This makes 3 newspapers. We're amazed.

Here's some pics

This was in the paper this morning

This is extra

We lost

WX took 2nd place in the State Soccer Championship Finals. Soccer boy got his picture in the Salt Lake Paper, but I can't get the image to print from the scan. He played his heart out. They were tied 0-0 going into the second half. I'm very proud of him.

State Championship Soccer Finals today

Today, Soccer boy will be playing in the State Championship finals for his High School at the Real Salt Lake Soccer stadium. I thinks he's nervous. I'm nervous. Win or lose, they have had an amazing season. GO WILD CATS!

What happened to april?

I guess I should update my blaaag. The weather is considerably better since I last posted. The grass is green. The flowers are blooming. Lots of changes since the last time.

Except my weight. That's about the same. Ok, maybe a little higher.

I am exercising,...it's just the brownies in between times... My brain thinks that if I only have just a little smidgen, it won't hurt. It's amazing how an entire pan of treats can disappear one centimeter at a time. When the boys ask, "Who ate all the brownies?" the words, "I don't know" seem to tumble out of my mouth. I've even mastered a look of incredulous amazement and have hinted at possible perpetrators including the dog. Poor Benny, he gets blamed for everything. (he he) Holy Moly, I'm goin to h-e- double toothpicks.

In other news, my hubby is home reinventing himself. There are some advantages to this. Gasoline savings for example. Access to the refrigerator. Extra office chairs as well. Several un-named sons have been seen rolling down the street in them. And of course, another culprit to blame the missing brownies on :)

I looked out the window and what did I see?

White stuff falling on the apricot tree....

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a... lion?

btw, soccer boy didn't win after all that. he's very sad. Won their soccer game though...

Pay off

Zoolander made it past the preliminary round of voting! It's down to 8 people now. I guess there were a bunch of people running. He may not make it, but hey, he made it to the final 8, right?

I have the Mother of all headaches. Too many late nights. Last night I was painting stars and moons on a cub scout space derby. I need to finish with the suns and he can put the fins on. The derby is tonight. I've been working on getting "My Life's Journey" book put together enough to show at the Stake YW leadership meeting tonight. We're giving our ideas on what we're doing to each ward. We've got our New Beginnings Theme "Constant as the North Star" with the star book for lesson handouts, a star necklace, etc, Our 'This and That' book for our life skills how to's , and our Personal History book that I already mentioned. No time for anymore than that.

This is our little star book. It holds 4x6 cards (or pictures, it's actually a mini photo album, holds about 36) I cut the stars on my cricket out of silver vinyl. Peel and stick. Very easy. We make our handouts to that size. They will have a fun little record of cool quotes, pics, and lesson reminders for the year. We hope they will use the little book and not throw handouts away. We presented all this at New Beginnings.

This is the necklace we gave each girl for the year. When you buy in bulk, it's amazing how inexpensive it can be.

This is the Personal History book or "My Life Story". There are 3 sections. First, Year by Year, two page spreads on each year of life. Left side has a typed Year in the News column. Right side has a column for special events for that year in the girls life. The rest of the space is for a few pictures. (We didn't want to overwhelm them)

Second section is Ancestors: Where I Came From with geneology charts, places for pictures of family members etc and stories of their lives.

Third section is the Spiritual things: Certificates like blessings, baptism, partriarchal blessings, YW recognition etc. We in our second year of working on this book. I also think they should put a copy of their birth certificate and future marriage in this section. If you want more details, let me know.

I will probably include either another section or add to the last section for other achievements like camp certificates, school certificates etc. Individual personal progress recognition.

I don't have a pic of our "This and That" book, only individual pages so far. Still putting that together...

Gotta run. Have a missionary assignment to take care of, primary lessons to distribute for sunday, and phone calls to make. Love to all

What some mothers will do.. round 2

Hello again. Just an update on yesterday. The poster fell off the wall. Yep, should have used duck tape. ( I thought we weren't supposed to use duck tape. sticky residue and all that)

Last night after 4 hours of preparing for a dinner for the Senior Citizens in our ward for the YW/YM, and running cub boy to scouts, zipping over to Soccer boy's game for a little bit, I got home at 9:15pm to make another Senior Class campaign poster. He wanted Zoolander.

What that means? Taking enough photos in 9 different shirts-- with the same expression in all of them and reviewing...

Soccer boy snickering, "That one is stupid"

Me, "It looks fine"

Soccer boy, "Let's take another."

"click"

Soccer boy, "That one I look like a dork"

Me, "I thought that was the idea."

Soccer boy, "let's take another."

"click"

Soccer boy laughing, "That one is funny"

Me, "You look like you've been zinged by a cattle prod."

Soccer boy, "I like it."

Me. "Ok then, next shirt!"

Here is the final product...


Don't know how he got them to stick to the wall since he left before I found the duck tape....
Good luck Zoolander man.

What some mothers will do for their children

6:45 am this morning. High School lobby area. Where to put the posters for Senior Class officer campaign? Hey! How about above the vending machine! Everyone goes there. Everyone will see it! "Check it afor Checketts!"

Problem. How to reach the brick above the vending machines. A passing teacher offers a chair. Still can't quite reach. Soccer boy won't climb up on vending machine. Doesn't want to get dress pants dirty.(game day: nice shirt and tie etc). Friend says dust on top is narly, and won't do it either.

Mom says, "I'll do it!" (wimps!) Mom uses arms to lift upper body up and realizes as she's suspended on edge of machine, that she's not as young as she used to be, or as thin. Hanging by pectoral muscles feels like positioning for a mammogram. She makes a desperate swing with one leg, remembering that the pair of levi's she's wearing are a bit on the too tight side, but manages to get a knee up (with grunts and much effort) and plants her bum in the a plume of dust on top. Unfortunately for her son and his friend it is not without exposing her religion, a midsection tire, and heaven forbid, a possible plumbers crack.

The boys may need a therapist after what they witnessed, but hey, Mission Accomplished !

It's snowing again

My missionary was in a car accident this morning. He is fine.

I'm a little rattled, however.

I tired

2 talks and a lesson. Done. Great times. Glad it's over.

I spoke at one of my YW's baptism on Saturday afternoon. Very happy day. A long time coming. Can't express feelings.

I spoke in Sacrament meeting the next day. Missionary Mom talk. Easy. Glad it's over.
Taught YW lesson in class. How to appreciate your parents :)

Looking forward to relaxation class on YW activity night. Hope I don't fall asleep and snore on my yoga mat.

Daylight savings in force now. Set the clock wrong and was 10 minutes late to Correlation meeting this morning at 7:30am. Hope I was tucked in and sort of put together. Reminds me of a few weeks ago when we had a ward temple night. My neighbor and I were hurrying to get changed into our regular clothing after a wonderful evening. We walked side by side out towards the prayer rolls where I stopped for a minute to add some names. The next thing I knew she was calling my name. I turned to look and she turned her back to me. There, exposed to all the cute little temple workers was her backside with her dress and slip caught up completely in the waistband of her nylons. I choked back my laugh, we both started laughing so hard I had to plug my nose to stifle my giggling. I was leaning over the prayer roll desk, trying to gain my composure, but I was laughing so hard I was crying. I guess some cute little matron stopped her before she went out into the foyer. "Sister, oh Sister! Don't leave yet!" The more we talked about how she could have possibly gotten her entire skirt caught including her slip without feeling the bulk in her waistband, the harder we laughed. This is my neighbor who repaints her house so often, we joke about her rooms getting smaller with all the layers. This is the neighbor who accidently sprayed her pizza pan with pledge instead of pam. And who walked around town with the fly of her pants open. She also managed to get herself locked behind the gate in one of the canyons when she came back from a hike too late and had to spend the night in her jeep (they high centered it on a boulder trying to go around the gate and had to back it down and stay overnight. Her husband was with her) She provides the neighborhood with endless stories and big laughs. Oh that everyone could have a neighbor like that...unless that neighbor ...is you.

How's the saying go?

If you teach a fish to eat.... no that's not it.

If you teach a girl to knit, she'll knit her own scarf, no that's not it..

If you help a frustrated girl with her scarf...

(finished scarf given back, this was yarn)

Another girl will follow....

And another...

And another....

And another...

(this one is no dummy, she has ordered two scarves)

Additional life skill: If you push the right emotional buttons, the YW Pres will give you a pretty scarf to wear to school. This skill can be applied to parents, friends, and future spouses...

The Purple Hippo is gone

We no longer have a purple hippo hanging on our house (courtesy of the neighbors)


We seized the opportunity, when other unsuspecting neighbors were gone, to share...


They came home just before we finished. Hubby and soccer boy hid behind the hippo, while youngest and I ran like the grade school pranksters that we are. :)

Those are green shamrocks we added for March and the hippo came off a 24th of July Float of Noah's ark last year. In case you were wondering...

Life Skills

In YW we are learning life skills this year. Last week we made bread by hand and sent the girls home with their own bread pan with bread dough ready to bake. This week we learned how to knit scarves. They all went home with their own knitting needles and a scarf in progress. Next week we have individual class activities. I'm trying to figure out what we are going to do-- learn to make jam... or maybe homemade pies. Maybe we'll just watch American Idol.Hee!

No time to write

Sorry so lazy. Trying to think of what to write. I could tell you about the missing valentine candle... or the episode when the missionaries came to teach one of soccer boys friends and sat on some gum that had been mysteriously left between the cushions on the living room couch... I was mortified by that one. But I believe as it turns out that the stories are connected and the theif who took the candle and chewed the gum are one and the same...

See if I ever trust him to behave himself again!

I was so excited

It was like Christmas with a new toy and I could hardly wait to get home to play with it. I had driven out to Kaysville in between snow storms to pick up my precious treasure. A new cookbook. I had tasted two fabulous soup recipes, a bread recipe, homemade carmels and a cheese/artichoke dip recipe over the holidays all from the same book. I stopped by the store to pick up a few needed items and headed home to create a masterpiece. I was feeling giddy as I texted my husband to tell him what I was making: Roasted Chicken and wild rice soup.

I tossed and flipped chopped onions, celery, carrots, and mushrooms into the pot with the finesse of a hopeful gourmet artist. I added chicken stock, milk, spices and salivated as the aroma wafted through the kitchen. The table was set with matching bowls and plates. Dad wasn't home yet, but soccer boy was starving. So I put out the soup and spoodled it out. The boys were seated and prayer given. I cautioned them about how hot it was at first and to blow on each spoonful. I took my first spoonful and savored each drop as it melted like butter in my mouth. Ummmm.

I looked around. Nobody was eating. I said, "What's the matter?"
Soccer boy, "It's too hot."
Me, "Blow on each spoonful."
Soccer boy, "That takes too long."
Cookie Monster, "It looks weird."
Me, "It's just chicken a rice, nothing you haven't eaten before."
Youngest, "What are those little black things?"
Me, "It's just the rice, it takes wonderful, try it."

They poked at their bowls and ate rolls.

Cookie Monster, "What are those green things."
Me, "Spices. Try it, it's really good."
Cookie Monster, "It looks weird."

In the time they took to whine, I finished my bowl, and announed something to the effect that they could cook their own dinner from now on! I may have been thinking a few choice names like 'ungrateful little snits!' (Snit being used in some foreign countries as a cross between a snot and a little sh... well never mind. Not to be confused with me being in a snit...).

I usually have a pretty thick skin. You sort of have to as the mother of 5 boys. It growth thicker and thicker with each birth til it's like the walls of El Morro in San Juan Puerto Rico. I think they're around 10 feet thick or so. Somehow, this time, there must have been a crack in the wall and they got to me, right in the heart. Even the tears flowed.

When Dad got home and expressed his enthusiam for the soup, I heard his tone change after a bit and the boys got a lecture. I heard random words like 'ungrateful', 'spoiled', 'more appreciation', 'your mother worked hard'. I would have giggled if I hadn't been so blurry eyed. I was in the office playing spider solitaire on the computer at the time. He came and found me with my leaking eyes and gave me a big hug and kiss and told me how incredible the soup was. He patched my boo boo right up. :)

So, if any of you would like the recipe, here it is:

Roasted Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

1 (6oz) Box Uncle Ben's Long Grain
& Wild Rice Mix
1 T. Olive Oil
1 1/2 C Red Onion, chopped
1 C. Celery chopped
1 C carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg. mushrooms, quartered (I didn't use a whole pkg, and I cut the pieces smaller to try and hide them)
1/4 C. Flour
1/2 t. Tarragon
1/4 t. Thyme
2 C water
2 T. Cooking Sherry
2 (15oz) cans chicken broth
1 (12 oz) can evaporated Milk
3 C chicken, cooked & shredded (I used a store bought roasted chicken (yum)

Prepare rice according to package directions; set aside. Saute onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and mushrooms in olive oil for 6 minutes. Add flour, tarragon, and thyme, cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add water, sherry broth, and milk. Return to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in cooked rice and chicken. Cook until heated through.

You don't need the sherry for this to taste good. Grandma, it would be easy to replace the flour and use some regular wild rice without the wheat gluten in the uncle bens mix.

Let me know how it goes with your families...!