Quotes of the Day

If you were a fly on the wall at our house yesterday, this is some of what you'd hear:

"Mmmmm!" - Brennan, eating homemade popcorn on the couch with everyone else while watching Nancy Drew. Usually we eat our microwave popcorn while he's sleeping then remove all the evidence before he wakes up. But last night I had a brilliant idea - make popcorn from scratch and just put his vegan margarine on it so he can eat it too. It was delicious, and it made him so happy. He was stuffing fistfulls in his mouth at a time.

"Mommy, can you help me be nice?" - Dallin. I am always reminding him to "be nice." He can be quite a pill at times, but then out of the blue he says something super sweet. Such is the life of a three year old.

"Can you open the closet? I want to play pirate dress-ups." - Tyler. If you want to keep your house relatively clean, lock up all the toys in the closet! It has helped us immensely. If the boys want to play with something, they have to ask me to unlock the closet, get it out, then lock it back up. Then if they want to play with something else, they have to put the other toys away first. I cannot say enough about this.

"Did you put my joke on your blog yet?" -Spencer, who has inherited his dad's and grandpa's love of puns. So here it is: After being stuck in stop-and-go traffic for an hour on the way home Sunday, then finding at the end a car flipped on its side, "Do you know why there was a traffic jam? Because that car was toast!" Don't worry, the passengers were all safely standing on the side of the road.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Aaaaaaaahhhhh! - Hilary, trying to clean the fish tank when the fish jumped out of the net and flopped all around the counter then into the sink, where it would have gone done the drain had it not been for a plate in the way, whew! I had to manage it back into the net without touching it, of course. I guess I was quite a spectacle because the boys jumped around laughing for a good 5 minutes.

"I'd rather stay home with you guys." - Dave, on his way out the door to see Cats. He did manage to have fun. They all rode down in a limo and he didn't have to tell his cat story.

Our Newest Reader

One of the sweetest things is when my boys read to their younger brothers (and cousins). Spencer has been reading to Tyler for years. Now it's Tyler's turn.

Kristen watched Brennan this morning while I was at the dentist (I'm getting my teeth whitened for my birthday. Today they made molds of my teeth, and then next week they'll give me the trays and whitening bleach to wear while I'm sleeping). When I went to pick Brennan up, Eric wanted to come play at our house. It's been fun to see how Tyler & Dallin try to make him happy. They're such good hosts. I don't know what was so funny at lunch, but they were all cracking up.

Tonight Dave is going to see the play Cats with his office staff for bonding, I guess. His doctor said he wants everyone to dress up as a cat (??) or tell a cat story at dinner. Naturally Dave chose to tell a cat story. The one he selected is when mom found our cat Redford dead on the road, then put him in a box and brought him home. When we came home from school, she broke the news to us that Redford had been hit by a car. But before we had a chance to mourn too much, in walked Redford, alive as could be. And mom asked, "Then who do I have in that box?"

Piano Practice

One of the best rules I've made is that the boys can't play their computer games until after they've done their homework and practiced the piano for 30 minutes. So far it is working GREAT! They never complain about having to practice anymore, and in fact I don't even have to remind them to do it. They come up with it all on their own. Plus they don't have to ask to play the computer. They know they're allowed to if the above requirements have been met. I just love to hear them practice. Yay, incentives.

Utah Trip

Ten Things We Brought Home From Utah:

1. Pictures of Uchenna wearing his cap and gown - he earned his PhD in chemical engineering from BYU
2. A very messy rental van full of crackers and granola crumbs
3. Red dirt from St. George for share day at school
4. A leaf from a Joshua tree - also for share day
5. Snow. Just kidding. It already melted. But it really did snow on the way there!
6. Hand stamps from the Dinosaur Museum
7. Pictures of dead animals from the Bean Museum (no, there weren't any pintos)
8. Two huge suitcases full of dirty laundry (I know what I'll be doing tomorrow)
9. Picture books and posters from Grandmother Renee
10. Lots of fun memories of spending time with family

When It Rains It Pours

Why does it always seem like everything breaks at once? Recently our microwave just stopped working. The thing looked brand new (I'm not sure how old it is - it was here when we bought the house). I didn't have time to shop around and research different stores and brands because I was busy getting ready for the primary activity, so I just went to a store, chose a microwave and bought it on the spot (that's not me). Dave installed it that night, which is good because the waiting list to have the store install it was a whole week, and who can go a whole week without a microwave? We barely survived the day. Then we replaced our ailing Saturn, as I mentioned. Then the van started doing funny things, so we took it to the mechanic to get looked at before we go on our big trip tomorrrow. Turns out those funny things meant it needs a new transmission, which we have chosen not to do because it isn't worth it. It's been a crazy day for me, getting ready for our trip and picking up a rental minivan.

Procrastination

The worst part about buying a car, of course, is that I now have to call the insurance company and add it to our policy. It's on my list of things to do today. It was there last week too. If I don't to it today Dave will write in on the white board to remind me. I don't know what it is about making phone calls, but I just don't like to do it. And I like my insurance company. They're very nice whenever I call. I actually called them last week before we bought the car to find out how much more it will cost. Now I have to call and give them the VIN. No big deal, right? But when I have so many other pressing things to do, like feeding kids, doing dishes, changing diapers and checking email, I just don't seem to get around to the phone calls.

Moments of Joy

"Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction."
-Elder M. Russell Ballard, General Conference April 2008. http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-851-37,00.html

I loved that talk! This morning we woke up to all the boys in our bed, snuggling, tickling and laughing and no one asking for breakfast. Talk about a shining moment of joy.

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The interesting thing about this picture of Dallin is that he was really sad at the time. I've discovered a way to help him get happy when he's in a funk. I tell him I want to see his smile, but he's just too sad. Through his tears he tells me to get my camera, and when I take a picture of him he smiles for the camera. That's it! Then he's in a happy mood.

New Car

We bought a new car yesterday! Our Saturn has been a wonderful car for us, but after 10 years and over 200,000 miles, it was time to replace it. The engine still works fine, but the body is just falling apart. The roof leaks, the AC doesn't work, the side mirror is falling off (that would be my fault - I ran it into the side of the garage), and it makes a lot of noise. We almost replaced it last year when it failed smog. We figured it wasn't worth putting money into still. But we didn't have enough money to buy another car at the time, so we would have had to get a loan. When we prayed about it we felt like we should pay the $500 to fix it and then start saving up for another car. So that's what we did, and we're glad we waited.

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After a month of researching, reading Consumer Reports, test driving cars and searching the internet, we found this 2006 Mazda 3 through Craig's list. The owner lived just 30 miles away. She was a super nice, reliable owner who kept impecable records. It is a 5-speed, which is a lot of fun to drive. The only problem is that it's hard not to speed. Thank goodness for cruise control.

Birthday, cont.

Yesterday I made pizza for dinner. Then I got real adventurous and made a pizza for Brennan too. I found the recipe for the crust in my Gluten-Free Gourmet book by Bette Hagman. It's a GREAT book, recommended to me by my pediatric dietician. The crust was super quick and easy, using my gluten-free flour mix - rice flour, potato starch and tapioca flour. Then I used a very thin layer of pizza sauce (sometimes tomatoes give him a rash - not an allergy, just a dermatitis from the acidity), and topped it with slices of soy mozzerella cheese. He loved it! I like to give him the same thing we're eating as much as possible so he doesn't feel left out. A couple weeks ago I made snickerdoodles and all the kids (mine plus Kristen's little ones) were standing around me with their hands up like little baby birds wanting a cookie. Brennan came up with his hands up and that same wishful look in his eyes. It just about broke my heart. I ran to the freezer and quickly defrosted him a couple of his cookies. I need to remember to do that before I start handing out cookies next time, because he wasn't very patient about it.

After dinner we went to Kristen's house for cake. She also gave me flowers. The cake was SO yummy - her delicious homemade chocolate cake topped with chocolate frosting then homemade whipped cream and finally cherry pie filling. I love the combination of chocolate and fruit. Mmmm! Is this turning into a food blog? If I had my camera with me I would have taken a picture of it because it was also beautiful. Anyway, I just love having a sister living right up the street from me. What a great birthday!

My Favorite Orange Pancakes

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp sugar

2 beaten eggs
2 Tbsp oil
1 cup milk
1/2 - 3/4 cup sour cream
grated zest of 1 orange

Preheat skillet. Mix first 3 ingredients. In a separate bowl, wisk remaining ingredients. Combine all together. Pour onto hot skillet and cook until golden brown. Instead of syrup, try squeezing the orange juice onto pancakes and topping with powdered sugar. Trust me, it's delicious!

I'm 32!

Today is my birthday, and I'm having a fabulous day. I'm 32, the same age my mom was when she had me. I feel so grown up, and I like it. This morning I made my favorite pancakes - an adaptation of a Martha Stewart recipe I found a few years ago. Recipe to follow. After breakfast Tyler told me I'm a better cook, now that I'm a year older.

My friend Michelle watched all the kids so Kristen & I could go out to lunch. It was 2:00 by the time we got our food and we were so hungry we inhaled it. We got 2 different panini sandwiches and shared them - turkey, brie, cranberry and apple was one, and chicken florentine - with pesto, swiss, and spinach, was the other. Absolutely delicious!

I've decided to join the local PA/NP society. Dave's been a member for awhile, but he doesn't go to the monthly meetings very often because it's hard to take a night away from the family. They have their meetings at various fancy restaurants around the county and have a wonderful meal at the expense of drug rep companies, who then sponser guest speakers. I decided I wanted to join so that I could go too and we could make a date night out of it. So last night was my first meeting. We ate at an incredible restaurant overlooking the bay and watched the sun set behind the rock. It was a beautiful clear evening, and the food was SOOO good. It was a 5 course meal with oysters & jumbo shrimp, crab cakes, salad, steak, and chocolate cake. I should have driven home because Dave, as usual, started sneezing as soon as we got to the car.

FHE

Last night we had family home evening (we usually have it on Sunday or Tuesday because Dave works late on Mondays, but last Sunday the missionaries came over right before dinner because one of them had severe abdomenal pain and Dave examined him and immediately called the mission president and drove them to the E.R., and sure enough, he had appendicitis, and then Dave left him at the hospital for his surgery while he drove his companion to mom & dad's house for something to eat because of course they missed their dinner appointment, so naturally we couldn't have FHE on Sunday).

Anyway, last night we talked about baptism to help Spencer get ready for his big day next month. During the discussion I mentioned that it's Spencer's decision whether he wants to be baptized, and he looked up in total surprise. "You mean I get to choose?!" he asked. We explained that although we believe it is the right decision, he is the one to decide because he'll be making important covenants. Then he said, "But you and Dad will be rooting for me, right?" What a perceptive kid. We can't make our children's decisions for them, but we try to prepare them and then "root" for them to make the right ones.

Brennan's Snack Options

One of the hardest things about Brennan's food allergies is trying to find quick food for him - snacks and things to pack when we go out. He can eat raisins and grapes, but he gets tired of them. Plus he already has a problem with loose poops, and I don't want to make it worse. But I'm so excited because recently I found some good snacks for him:

1. Homemade no-bake granola bars. I found the recipe for this at: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=257284 a couple years ago. My kids all love them, and they are quick and easy to make. I remembered them recently and realized that I only have to make one substitute for him: sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter. Plus I usually just use raisins or craisins and no chocolate chips - too messy for him.

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2. Nana Banana cookie bars, from the health food store. Most of the allergy-free snack bars I've bought in the past are expensive ($6 for a box of 5) and taste strange. These ones are very soft & yummy - he loves them! And they are only $3 for a box of 5 individually-wrapped cookies.

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3. Sesame crackers from Food 4 Less, of all places. I'm always so happy when I find regular food that just doesn't happen to contain wheat or dairy or nuts or eggs. It's when they purposely try to substitute that things start to taste strange and the price gets outrageous. So I found these crackers in the regular snack isle today, and when I got home, I noticed they don't have any wheat in them! They taste super-healthy, so I don't know how much he'll eat them (I gave him one and he ate it), but at least it's a cracker option that only costs $2/box. That's unheard of at the health food store.

I really don't have time for this

I enjoy reading everyone's blogs so much I want to make my own. The only problem is that I spend so much time reading blogs that I probably don't have time to write my own. We'll see how this goes.

It's Monday morning after a busy weekend (aren't they all?). The kids are in school and Brennan's taking a nap. Life is good. Don't tell anyone, but this is my favorite time of the day. In contrast, my least favorite hour of the week is Sunday between 11:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. This is my "Oh shoot! We have so much to do to get ready for church!" time. Dave sometimes comes home from his meeting just in time to help us get out the door, but not always. Meanwhile, I am running around getting me and the boys cleaned and dressed and fed, the church bag packed, and sometimes (when I'm not thinking clearly), the kitchen cleaned and dinner started. I've been known to lose my temper in the process. I know, not conducive to the spirit, especially right before church. I've got to get better at this!

But Sunday is 6 days away, so now I'm enjoying the quiet empty house.