CRACK O' DAWN

So for some reason I thought that it would be a good idea to make the kids dental appointment at 7 a.m. in the morning. Not to mention that we are a good 35-40 minutes from their office. So that put us leaving the house at 6:15. . . hmmm.

We didn't do so bad, and everything was moving along fine and in a timely manner with the boys. Sid got her teeth cleaned and then we waited for the dentist to come check her out and do fluoride or whatever. We waited and waited and then waited some more, and then sid was done and she cried, and cried, and cried. She was DONE, not actually done with her appt, but done emotionally. So we left, and I was fine with it. Her teeth were fine, I wasn't worried about it. Matt was in the car with the boys waiting for us so he could go to work, so I didn't feel like waiting. We were almost complete, ha ha. Is that bad???

So we were on the way to take matt to work, and I hadn't had much sleep or breakfast so I started getting super nauseous(no I am not pregnant, just meniere's)Anyway I was super sick by the time we got to matt's work. So He decided we could all go in to the employee cafe and eat breakfast. I definitely felt better after that. It was really good, and we were able to make it home in time for sid's speech therapy.
Then off to feed a neighbors pets while they are out of town, and then off to RS Presidency meeting.
And then home again, home again, jiggety jig.

And that was my whole day gone, and now my housework and dinner prep is calling my name. Sometimes it feels good to be busy, and most times not, ha ha.

Uncle Paul in Town

Uncle Paul came to visit, and the kids were so excited. Of Course they wouldn't leave him alone, and wanted to be with him constantly. They stood by the door waving until they couldn't see him him anymore it was pretty cute.
The morning before he got here, H came and laid in bed with us and said he couldn't go back to sleep because he was too excited, and he said he couldn't wait to tell him he loved him. sweet boy.

The New Computer

So it has been a few days since I posted, much due to Matt building our new computer. Needless to say he is a programmer and was a little obsessed. I am currently going blind due to the brightness and size of our new monitor. Let's just say it is a small moon currently orbiting our bedroom. . . or would 27 inches describe it better. I am sure I will, I will get used to it. . . right? (I am currently squinting)

Matt Loves It.

I will post again once my eyesight returns to normal, hehehe.

"Maybe" . . .

We are getting ready to get Eth off to school today, and I was making his lunch. It is a little bit of work to get him ready. . . or I should say to get him to get himself ready. So before we leave I ask him "Do you have your lunch in your bag?" He answers "Yes" so off we go loading all four kids in the car, and then picking up one other on the way.
We are pulling up to the school when he says "I forgot my lunch!"

"Well I guess you are eating hot lunch today"

"Will you bring me my lunch and drop it off?"

"Maybe"

His friend says "Whenever my mom says maybe that means No."

I say "I will bring you your lunch and drop it off."

I think that maybe really means no at our house too. Kids are smarter than they seem. I think the only reason I agreed to bring his lunch is because his little friend called me on it. Dakpan ko na!(I was caught)

BYU-I sinfionetta

We volunteered at church to host two girls overnight from the BYUIdaho group touring for two weeks in this part of the country, and it was very fun. We have done this once before last year with a chorus group from Pocatello. I enjoyed having them in our home. One girl AnnaLee Wilcox was actually the little sister of Julene Wilcox that went to school at Madison High the same year as I. Unfortunately she had passed away after having been given penicillin which she was extremely allergic to. She suffered for two years before passing away. It was pretty tragic. I think Annalee had a good time looking through some old yearbooks of mine that she had never seen before. Julene was actually the homecoming queen one year. Its crazy how life turns out after high school.
The funny part was that the girls were totally getting a kick out of the styles back then. It made me feel kinda old. But I am happy with where I am and what I am doing. Life is good.

Treasure Hunting

I love finding good deals. I have been getting excited for spring because that means garage and yard sales. So I felt like I hit the jackpot today when I went to good will and found a mint condition pottery barn kids kitchen cupboard. Not even a scratch, and I paid $19. I also got two huge bags of Lego's for $4, and a few other great items. I have been on a thrifty find high all day, wahoo!!! Squid loves the kitchen and it goes perfectly with the Velcro fake food she got for her birthday. She played with it all afternoon. I think it is so much funner to find a deal or make something yourself. I get so much more satisfaction from something if I have some emotional investment. Its also pretty satisfying to take something that someone thought was junk and turn it into something beautiful. It is pretty crazy the things you can do.

the little one is turning three today...

Squid woke up a little bit like a T-rex today on her fabulous birthday. I think she stayed up too late last night, most likely the culprit. Anyhow, we had a little tea party planned with just a few of her little play friends in the neighborhood. We wanted it pretty small and quiet so the girls could just play and pretend. Two of her friends came and two were sick. I had made them little skirts out of toole and ribbon, and a flower head band to tie around their hair. Squid refused to wear her skirt or headband because Trex was still hanging around, but hey what do you do.
So I finished making the cake just in time to cut it up. Its pretty hard to cut up a cake you spent time on, but its gotta happen. I had way too much fun making the cake.
So we played musical chairs for a game, and the girls really like that. It was fake musical chairs because a chair was never taken out. I got the heads up from my friend Rochelle that small children don't react well to getting out. They didn't know the difference, and they were still excited. Thanks for the tip Rochelle. We sang some songs and they played with the toys and that was the party.

garbage day

So it doesn't happen every week, but maybe every other week. I am lying in bed, but still slightly awake after the hubby leaves for work. In a half comatose state I hear the garbage truck rumbling house to house. I remember that the trash can is still on the side of the house. So I jump up throw on some pants a jacket and whatever shoes are by the front door and run to beat the truck. Today was that day, I have yet to miss the garbage truck. Knock on wood. At this point I only dream of being on the ball and remembering on wed. night and not Thursday morning. Ha, and then at six a.m. I would still be dreaming.
I am sure no one else has this problem of momnesia, forgetfulness brought on by being a mom, ha ha. See you can blame everything on someone else. It is the babies fault I forgot to take out the trash. . . hmmm. . .

Toy Box, Toy Box, Oh how you taunt me!!

So We have this toy box that holds everything that doesn't have a current home. Or everything you don't know where to put. Let's just say its the Junk drawer of the Playroom. Hmmmm... so today I took it on. It has been staring and taunting me every time I walk out my bedroom door. There it sits oozing a pile of toys needing to be sorted and donated or thrown away.
The only problem with taking this on is that the owners of the alleged items are lurking and waiting to pounce on any toy that might need to be saved. Not only that, it is toys that they haven't seen for ages, so they are so excited to find their long lost love. .......
Rule #1- Don't ever clean the toy box with children present.
Rule #2- Don't ever let a child see you dispose of a toy.
Rule #3- If they don't see it again, they won't remember ever having it.
Rule #4- If you are crazy enough to do it in the presence of children, don't disclose the destination of the different piles.

H is our fashion guru

Regardless of what it may look like, H can be very picky about what he chooses to wear. So when he brought me his red plaid shirt and asked if he could wear it, I assumed that is was instead of what he was already currently wearing. Ya, I was obviously wrong. He was so proud of himself and that he buttoned it all by himself, How could I deny him his chosen outfit for the day. He is lovely isn't he. Let us pay particular attention to which button is buttoned to what shirt. . . hmmmm. He is my tender teddy bear.
After four kids I am obviously losing the clothing battle, and perfectly okay with it. If they are happy with what apparel they are dawning, then so am I. I do have my occasional gentle persuasions, but like on Sunday when H wanted to wear his tie even though he was not wearing a white shirt. . . His polo shirt(white and blue) looked fab with his yellow striped tie. I wasn't up for a battle. I chose Peace.

so Just click on this and check it out

http://kuvaton.com/kuvei/loading.jpg


This totally reminds me of my Dad, not that he ever did this, But a large part of my life was watching him on a backhoe working on a job site. And I have seen him in some precarious situations on a backhoe.

Trampoline flashback

So it has been quite rainy, meaning the grass is soggy. I have been worn out telling the kids to remove shoes when they come back in covered in mud. And currently the only attraction in the backyard is our little trampoline. So I moved the tramp next to the backdoor stoop so the kids can skip walking on the muddy grass. Is it safe? . . . probably not.
But it threw me back to when I was a kid and we were living in "Hill's House".(we moved alot so we usually refer to a house by who moved in after us) We had the tramp butted up to the kitchen door. So we could just jump right out the door. Funny thing, all I ever remember about that tramp is when Quinn fell on his back and had his head stuck between the springs. Mom was in doing cub scouts, and Quinn was yelling for help.
The world has definitely changed from the days of no trampoline enclosures, and no car seats. I distinctly remember as a kid riding behind the seat in the storage area of a black El Camino, ha ha. Those were the days. . . care free. I always have grand visions of giving my kids the childhood I had, but we don't live in the middle of nowhere so we will have to think of something else, hehehe

Sunny Again?

So as Sid would say "Sunny Again?"
After a weeks of pouring rain we had a fabulous sunny day. I took the kids to library story time, and then we headed to the park for a picnic lunch and some playground time. It was a good outing since we have been cooped up all week trying to catch up on housework. Its always catchup at our house. I still have high expectations that one day I will be in a maintenance phase of cleaning and not a catch up phase.
Matt got another door swapped out last night(we are slowly replacing doors to panel white doors instead of the flat standard that came with the house). I am so excited, and grateful that he is working so hard on home improvement projects. He put in garage shelves so the garage is looking awesome. We have a little bit more to do and then everything will be off the floor. (anyone who knows me, knows that I love working in the garage and it is my sanctuary, so to have an organized sanctuary is so exciting.) Little by little we will get our home like we want it, it may be 10 years from now, but it will happen eventually. It feels really good to make progress.

Copy Cat recipe for PF chang's Mongolian Beef

So if you are dying for a new recipe to try, here is a good one. The ingredients are not too fancy and the taste is phenominal. If you like chinese food you will love this one. My Hubby found and has cooked this recipe probably three times now. I think he was ready for something new, and you won't see me complaining about somebody else cooking dinner. So he found this recipe on www.recipeczar.com which also has a recipe for avacado eggrolls from the cheesecake factory(that is the only thing I go to the cheesecake factory for). I was a little less excited for the eggrolls after I saw the fat grams and nutritional information. Anyway here is the recipe for the mongolian Beef. You are crazy if you don't at least try it.

Ingredients
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
vegetable oilvegetable oil-->vegetable oil-->, for frying (about 1 cup)
1 lb flank steakflank steak-->flank steaks-->
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 large green onion
Directions
1Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over med/low heat.
2Don't get the oil too hot.
3Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.
4Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
5Remove it from the heat.
6Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4" thick bite-size slices.
7Tilt the blade of your knife at about a forty five degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts.
8Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef.
9Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.
10As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (you may also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil).
11Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking.
12Add the beef to the oil and sauté for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges.
13You don't need a thorough cooking here since the beef is going to go back on the heat later.
14Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly.
15After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour the oil out of the wok or skillet.
16Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute.
17Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green onions.
18Cook for one more minute, then remove the beef and onions with tongs or a slotted spoon to a serving plate.
19Leave the excess sauce behind in the pan.

daddy pushups

So whenever an adult lays on the floor at our house, there is incoming. They run, they jump, and they plop right on your back . Yesterday the two little ones got to go for a ride as dad showed his strength. He said I should title this picture, "Round is a shape, right?" Funny dad.

A Day in The Life

So we started our day off watching a friends little girl, Isabella, she will be here all day. And then we had a play date set up for H so he had his friend Collin here to play. It went fairly incident free. We always pray for our day to be incident free, ha ha. (I don't think poopy diapers count as incidents, or do they?) Then our neighbors and friends the Knowles came by to play, so we had a full day of kids and more kids. What fun would the day be if we didn't throw in a little crazy. The kids helped me roll oat groat into rolled oats for granola. They always have a good time turning the handle to the roller. And we also started a batch of Peanut Butter cookies, but discovered after we started that we were short some eggs so we hunted down some neighbors and borrowed a few eggs. so its almost time for Eth to be home from school, and the day has flown by. We love it when Eth gets home from school, he is fun to be around.
So if anyone wonders what I do all day. Here it is. I squeezed in some dish duty, and laundry folding and washing. I vacuumed upstairs and have started cleaning the loft. Ta Da

Helicopter, Helicopter . . .

Well the big moment arrived. The helicopter came today at school, and the egg drops were loaded. And Ethan's egg survived the drop!!! Can you believe it? I went with Hayden to watch, and Ethan was with his class. He was so proud of himself, and they put it in the display case at school. His straws and glue were a soft cushioning success. It was pretty fun to get to watch. The news camera's were there, and I am going to have to stay up late to see if they got Ethan on there. I am sure they did. I missed the early news, bummer since I am tired and news doesn't start here until eleven. What is up with that? I never watch it anymore. Doesn't he look thrilled? He was super excited, but this picture is forty five minutes later, and he was done. Doesn't the helicopter look like it should be on magnum PI?

The science fair medal

So this morning, my four kids and I got up and out the door by eight to get Ethan's science fair stuff set up. It went fairly smoothly, and we got home without incident which is always a good thing. We had an absolutely gorgeous day, and like every sunny day, Sidney walks to the back door, looks out and proclaims in the most surprised and almost annoyed voice "Sunny Again?" Does that mean it isn't sunny very often? You betcha!

When Ethan got home from school he had a very LARGE medal around his neck. And this wasn't a dollar store medal (apparently our school grows money on the bushes out back). It was solid and heavy, and you better believe Eth was whipping that thing around. Because what child doesn't fling objects on a string around and around. Regardless it did get whipped around and he did hit himself in the side of the head, and I forget how loud a seven year old boy can cry. Yes I said cry and did I mention cry Loudly. Let us compare it to the wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Soon after the pain ceased and all was well, his memory failed him. . . yes it did fail him. I know what you are thinking, "he must have done it again." Nope sorry, there was no more physical pain involved. He starts flinging it around and it slips. Yet no pain was involved, but you would have thought so. This thing sailed up, and up into the sky and then it came down. And where did it land? On the roof of the house. Ethan's arm might as well have been cut off with the screaming and crying that ensued. He instantly thought it was irretrievable. He was wailing, and putting his hands on his face, screaming no! no!nooooooo! I don't want to know what the neighbors thought of the spectacle, but I was trying to hold back my amusement. It took alot of convincing for him to think it was possible to retrieve.
I hope he forgives me, not for writing it now. But for reading it to his new wife in twenty years.
It may be a had to be there moment, I wish I had a video camera. I think I would have won 10000 dollars.

On a side note, Ethan's egg drop survived the ladder today, so tomorrow it will be dropped from a helicopter at the school. He is so proud of himself, and we are proud of him, too. Even if he is a little emotional about his "precious".

window update

I have got sooo many good ideas for my window. I might have to use more than one. First, I am leaning towards using something similar to this picture that Alison sent. I am still trying to decide on a saying so I would love some input. Something classic and inspiring. . . I would love something that you don't see everywhere. Anyway. I have a friend at church that just bought a letter cutting machine so I think I will buy from her once I decide on a saying.

I love new projects.