A No TV Pledge

Before I had kids, and even when Matthew was really little, I always told myself I would not be "one of those moms". You know, the ones that (shhhh!) let their kids watch a lot of TV. But then, there got to be so many of them (kids, I mean) and I felt overwhelmed at times, and so I used the TV to buy me some quiet time (gasp). And, I'll be the first to admit it: it's gotten a little out of control. The amount of daily TV-watching that goes on with my kids is practically criminal. I'm picky about what they watch, but let's be honest...TV is TV.

So, I decided to put an end to it. I WILL take back my kids! Instead of TV, we will be doing cheap projects together.
Today, we made flannel boards. I went to the store and got two 11x14 stretched canvases, some pirate ship flannel, and some craft felt. Then, we stretched the flannel over the canvas boards, and I cut shapes out of the felt.

Can you believe that this has kept them occupied for FOUR hours?!!
Much better than TV, if I do say so myself! The really great thing about the flannel boards is that it's an activity that they can play with again, and again. And, we can use other mornings to make more shapes to add to their collection, too. It's the project that just keeps on giving.

Matthew made the top two pictures, and Ethan did the last one. He's really not satisfied until every piece of felt is on his board.

You should give it a try. They've had so much fun coming up with different uses for all the shapes, and they've even come up with whole stories to go along with their scenes. Amazing.

Let's Eat Cake!

Well, we're beginning to run out of boy-themed cake ideas. We've done baseball, trains, pirate ships, racetracks, Superman, the Wiggles...what's left? Bugs. Boys like bugs, right? So, that's what I did for Justin's cake. My friend, Kristen, gave me a tasty and easy fondant recipe, and I sculpted creepy-crawleys to adorn Justin's cake. Yum.

This is Justin's wide-mouthed super excited face.

Finger lickin' good!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Little This! (that's what we call him)

Justin turned ONE yesterday! Here are a few pictures of him opening presents in his Handy Manny PJ's. Check out that concentration. Isn't he cute?

It's so nice to have brothers to "help" you

Stay tuned. A few (million) more pictures to come.

Not So Much a Want...More of a Need

Yes, we're back here again...speaking of the deep longing I have for a Kitchenaid mixer, that I now NEED.

Let me tell you a story:

This story is of a blissful newlywed couple, married less than a month. Both the husband and wife attended school during the day, and in the evenings, they would cheerfully prepare dinner together. On one such evening, the young wife was grating cheese.
She was grating cheese for burritos - her new husband's favorite dinner.
She was grating cheese on one of her new wedding gifts: a snazzy cheese grater picked out from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
She was shredding cheese and laughing and joking with her husband. They were so happy.

OUCH!!

The cheese the new bride was shredding had taken a funny turn as she grated, and she grated her thumb...a large chunk off the top of her thumb. "Hurry!" she pleaded to her husband, "Get the neosporin and bandaids...I'm bleeding EVERYWHERE!"

"Where do we keep those?" the concerned husband asked.

Then the wife remembered, they didn't have any.
There was no first aid kit of any kind in their new little apartment. The husband had to run out the door to go get said items from Walmart and left his new wife in pain, bleeding over the kitchen sink, anxiously awaiting the return of her husband.

...fast forward 5 1/2 years.

The wife developed a rather large scar on her thumb as a result of that incident, and her husband banned her from grating cheese ever again. This system seemed to work. The husband would grate the cheese when needed, and the wife's thumb remained safe...except when the wife was impatient and decided to just grate the cheese herself...

Last night, the wife was making pizza for dinner. Her husband had had a long day and was relaxing.
The wife took pity on her husband and decided to just grate the cheese herself.
She took out the now not-so-new cheese grater.

De ja vu, it was happening again!

The cheese took another funny turn and the wife again, grated her thumb. This time, bandaids were found in the house (having three kids in tow will do that to you), and all was well...

...except the wife now longs more than ever for a gloss cinnamon Kitchenaid mixer...with the cheese grater attachment.




You see, she needs it. She needs it for her safety.

The Student Health Center: Our Home Away From Home

I wish I was joking about that title, but I'm not. Between Justin's physical therapy, regular doctor visits, and my injured finger, we've become quite familiar with the Student Health Center. Sometimes walking into the Student Health Center feels like walking into Cheers..."where everybody knows your name..."
Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but some of the nurses do know who we are.

Well, in keeping with our recent string of bad luck, we had to take James into Urgent Care yesterday. He was innocently doing his homework, when suddenly, the right side of his face (including his teeth) went numb. Then his head erupted in a massive headache. I'd never seen him in so much pain. It was scary. I decided that we needed to take him in to the doctor. And, to make things a little more interesting, the Urgent Care closes at noon on Saturdays (don't even get me started), and this all went down at about 11:15am. Getting my dying husband along with our three kids (two of whom were also sick) all packed up and in the car, and to the Health Center before it closed would be a small miracle (we live 20 minutes away). Did I mention that it was snowing heavily and that the roads hadn't been plowed yet?...yeah, it was that kind of day. Luckily we did make it, with exactly 3-1/2 minutes to spare. Whew!

While we waited for our turn to be seen, James was miserable. Not only was the pain excruciating, but he was nervous that it was a serious problem, given that half of his face was numb...

...it turns out it is a severe sinus infection. Who knew something that simple could cause such problems? The doctor said that it was a little weird that the pain and numbness hit all at once, but I guess it's not totally unheard of. He's on an antibiotic now...the same stuff you give your kids for ear infections. I guess when you're pushing 30, they give it to you in capsule form. I was a little disappointed about that. The though of having to give him the bubblegum flavored stuff in a syringe was rather amusing.

Anyways, crisis averted. Happy Valentine's Day.

While we at Urgent Care, Ethan decided to spice things up a bit. I let Matthew go to the bathroom by himself...one of those single-occupancy bathrooms...since it was literally 5 feet from where we were waiting. Ethan tagged along because the two of them are practically inseparable. A couple of minutes went by, then an alarm went off. "That's weird," I thought to myself. Then I noticed the red light flashing above Matthew and Ethan's bathroom door. Then Matthew suddenly appeared, looking very guilty, shouting "Ethan did it! Ethan did it!" I rushed into the bathroom, and sure enough Ethan was standing there, emergency cord in hand, not looking guilty at all. "Look what I did!" he exclaimed proudly. Then a nice nurse poked her head in and said "It happens all the time." I was still embarrassed.

...Is that three yet? Have we hit three bad things happening yet? I am confident that this week will go much smoother. :)

Happy Sunday!

It's Beginning to Get Comical (the number of things going wrong)

So, you can add this to the list of things that have gone wrong lately:

Our credit card number was compromised. We received an email a little over a week ago that there was some suspicious activity on our account, so we were automatically issued new cards and everything is fine. I knew which charges were fraudulant (and thankfully it wasn't for large sums of money), but I didn't know what had been purchased or from where...until today.

The mail was delivered as usual, except today we got a package. How exciting! Don't you just love packages? I do, unless they're not really for me, then it's just disappointing. This one was from Proactiv Solution...topical washes and creams to treat acne.

Hmmm. I didn't order this. At first I though it was some sort of sick joke. Let's face it, I could probably use the stuff, and have thought of ordering it myself before. But for someone else to do it for me?

Then, I noticed the name on the package. Definitely not my name. And, since this is a rental house, I thought, well maybe one of the previous renters ordered it and used this address by mistake. I decided just to return it, and that would be the end of it.

But, something kept bothering me. Suddenly I remembered that our credit card number had been compromised, and I thought maybe this is what they bought. But who would be stupid enough to not to change the billing address to the shipping address? Probably someone who is dumb enough to think that they can get away with this sort of thing in the first place!

I opened up the package, looked at the invoice, and sure enough they had used our credit card. Well, it's all been taken care of. Our old account is closed, we've been credited the money, and all is well.
Anyways, even though it's a little bit of a pain to make all the necessary phone calls, and sign all the necessary documents, I do get some satisfaction out of knowing that whoever tried to rip us off didn't get their Proactiv Solution after all.

Whoever you are, I feel your pain, I do. But next time, use your own $19.95 plus S&H, and leave me out of it!

Dreaming

Apparently when I get stressed, I want to spend money. Probably not the healthiest solution. :)

Recipe(s) of the Week

Okay, I've been a slacker blogger lately, so I'm making up for it. I'm posting a whole menu of recipes, plus a bonus soup recipe. I don't have pictures of the dishes (slacker), but trust me, they are as beautiful as they are delicious!
The first three recipes all come from my fellow MBA spouses and are found in the MBASA cookbook.

Pork Chops With Cranberry Balsamic Sauce

Ingredients:
4 pork loin center-cut chops, 1-inch thick (about 2 lbs.)
lemon pepper seasoning
2 T. butter
2 cloves garlic, cut into thin slivers
1 (14-oz.) can chicken broth (1 3/4 c.)
1/2 c. dried cranberries or cherries
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

Make it:
Season chops with lemon pepper seasoning. Cook chops in nonstick skillet for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned on both sides and 170 degrees. Remove chops and keep warm. Heat 1 T. butter in skillet. Add garlic, and cook until tender. Add broth, cranberries, and vinegar. Heat to a boil. Cook over medium heat 10 minutes, or until sauce is slightly thickened and reduced to 1 cup. Stir in remaining butter. Serve over chops.

Notes:
When I made it, the chops browned faster than they were cooked on the inside, so I would recommend medium heat or slightly lower.

I used 4 cloves of garlic...because I like garlic

When I cooked the sauce, I think it took closer to 20 minutes before it thickened and reduced.

Baked Carrots

Ingredients:

1 2-lb. bag baby carrots

1 c. boiling water

1/4 c. butter

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1-1/4 c. brown sugar

Make it:

Put carrots in a 9x13 pan. Combine ingredients and pour over carrots. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour

Notes:

For our taste, I would cook the carrots just a little longer than an hour to achieve slightly softer carrots

Sour Cream Potato Mounds

Ingredients:

6-7 med. russet potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 (8-0z) pkg. cream cheese, cubed

1 c. sour cream

1 T. parsley flakes

1 1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1/4 tsp. paprika

Make it:

Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain. In a large mixing bowl, mash the potatoes. Add the cream cheese, sour cream, parsley, and salt. Beat until smooth. Preheat the oven to 350. Coat the bottom of a jelly roll pan with oil and heat it in the oven. With a large ice cream scooper, spoon potatoes onto the hot pan in large mounds. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake, uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until heated through. Serve immediately.

Wisconsin Potato Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

1/3 c. celery, chopped

1/3 c. onion, chopped

2 T. butter

4 c. diced, peeled potatoes

3 c. chicken broth

2 c. milk

1-1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Dash paprika 2 c.

(8 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese

Make it:

In a large saucepan, saute the celery and onion in butter until tender. Add potatoes and broth. Cover and simmer 12-15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Allow mixture to cool slightly. In batches, puree mixture in blender or food processor. Return to pan. Stir in milk and seasonings. Add cheese and heat just until melted. Garnish with croutons and parsley (optional).

PS If anyone knows how to fix it so that there isn't so much space in between the lines, let me know. It switched format on its own halfway through, and I don't know how to get it to stop. The perfectionist in me is REALLY annoyed!

Okay, We Get It: We're Being Tested

James was rear-ended on the way to school this morning (thank you snow). He was stopped behind another car at a stop sign. The car behind him didn't brake in time, plowing into James and causing James to run into the back of car in front of him. Thank GOODNESS no one was hurt!! The black tread from the top of our bumper popped off, half of the back bumper is cracked, the trunk door is dented (though it's hard to see in this picture), and the back bumper on the right side is out of alignment with the side of the SUV. Arg.
Again, thank goodness no one was hurt!
Things have gotta start looking up, right?

Things I Learned Last Week

1) A slice of Grandma Sycamore's Honey Grain Bread, toasted, slathered in (real) butter, and drizzled with honey goes a long way to relieve stress...especially if you're curled up on the couch, hair pulled up, in your PJ's, wearing cozy socks, wrapped in your favorite blanket and watching your favorite TV show...most especially if the kids are in bed.

2) It helps to have good friends offer amazing insight, a listening ear, and shoulder to cry on.

3) The Bishop is inspired. Even if he shows up unannounced on a Tuesday night, and you have to move piles if toys, your mate-less sock stash, dozens of jackets, and stacks of the Wall Street Journal just so that he has a place to sit down, and then asks you to speak on a topic that doesn't excite you, during the hardest week of your life since moving into that ward, in church the next Sunday - which was only days away.

What I learned about the blessings of the Sabbath is exactly what I needed to hear...especially this past week.

I found this story especially inspiring:

***

As a busy young mother, I was running on empty. I had an energetic 13-month-old daughter, a home business, and a husband who was a student and worked two part-time jobs. We were also the resident managers of a storage facility. The spiritual reserves I relied on to carry me through my busy days didn’t seem to be deep enough. I just didn’t have enough in me to do all I needed to do.
After months of disorganized attempts to run my business and household, I finally turned to Heavenly Father in prayer, asking for His guidance in becoming better organized. The answer came, clear and simple: Keep the Sabbath day holy.
Although I felt I needed more time to spend on household duties, I obeyed the prompting and put aside my weekly projects for a day. I soon gained a testimony of the blessings of the Sabbath. As I kept the Sabbath day holy, I felt a new strength to do what was required of me during the other days of the week. Our home became more peaceful, and we were even blessed financially.
I learned that Heavenly Father knows what all of us go through on a day-to-day basis and that we can feel overwhelmed by the many demands on our time. He set apart one day for us to replenish our spiritual reserves by attending Church meetings, studying the scriptures, writing in our journals, visiting those in need of encouragement, and serving others in the manner in which He directs us. This day is not a punishment but a blessing that enriches our lives.
I began to view this commandment in the same light that I look at the commandment to pay a tithe: When I give my Sundays entirely and unselfishly to Heavenly Father, He blesses the efforts I make the six other days.

***

You become eligible for tremendous blessings if you keep the Sabbath day holy. ALL is promised to you. ALL.

4)The Lord knows what we need, and when we hit our lowest point, he's there to pick us up and give us back our hope.

5) James WILL get an internship. I know he will.