No Worries

There are a few of you out there who worry about me when there is a long pause between my blog postings. This is just a notice to let you know that I'm ok. Well, in a manner of speaking.

As much as I hate to do this, I am going to have to take a little break from blogging on a semi-regular basis (if that is what you call my previous blogging habits).

The reason? I am in the beginning stages of writing two, rather large, rather ugly, research papers.

The problem is not the papers per say, but it is that fact that I should not be in the beginning stages of writing them at this point- and so that is why I must put blogging on the side burner for a time (unless something really huge happens around here- like Erik buying a new truck! )

So please don't worry about me, unless you want to, and in that case you can bring me lots of sugary treats to help keep my energy and spirits up while I research and write. :)

May your weeks ahead be full of happy things and lots of sunshine! See you!

Weekend Wrap-up

The weekend is over *sigh* and a new week has begun.

Here's a look back at some of what happened around here.

* Dinner Group. We hosted our first ward dinner group this weekend. Lots of laughs and interesting conversation over yummy soups, salad, rolls and dessert. Glad our turn hosting is over though. :)

*Car shopping. Nicole needs a car. Let me rephrase that. I need Nicole to have a car. So we went out car shopping this weekend and found one that she really likes. But now Erik is having second thoughts thinking that maybe he should just get himself a new vehicle and give his car to Nicole. This might seem like logical thinking, but it's where we started several months ago. After many, many months of looking, Erik couldn't decide on what vehicle he wanted, so it was decided that it would be easier to buy a more inexpensive car for Nicole instead. We'll just call this the gray cloud that hung over the weekend. :)

*Lots of sunshine. Even with the gray cloud, there was still lots of sunshine and warmth. Spring Fever has hit hard around here. I have a little one who wants to wear shorts, sandals and short sleeve shirts every day. Tomorrows temps will only be in the upper 40's though. Ahhh. Spring in Utah.

*Nicole's talk. She was the youth speaker in sacrament meeting on Sunday and did a really great job! She doesn't get nervous at all. How would that be? She received many nice compliments and was even asked for a copy of her talk- nice job girlie!

*Time spent thinking about girls camp. I'm the Young Women's camp director this year and never having been in charge of anything like this before I will admit it is freaking me out just a bit. It's on my mind quite a bit. I'm trying to figure out where to start- and once I've done that, I'm sure things will be just fine. :)

*Hamburger Helper. *Gag* A week or so ago, I went grocery shopping with Erik. He saw a package of HH and said, "That looks kind of good." (In his defense, he was hungry at the time.) As for me, I'm always looking for easy dinners, so I grabbed the box and fixed it up for dinner. Let me just say that I have learned that Sunday dinner should not come from a box. Especially not one with a chubby glove smiling at you. Nasty!

*Priesthood Preview. I can't believe Isaac is 11 months away from receiving the priesthood. We attended our ward's PP night last night and they did a great job getting the boys excited for this next stage in their lives. Perhaps a little too excited. Isaac and his buddies were bouncing off the walls by the end of the evening. Maybe it had something to do with the brownies and ice cream.

*Chocolate chip cookies. The weekend ended with a batch of ew-ie, gooey cookies (feel free to use my descriptions for the catalog Tiff!). Nothing says farewell to a great weekend better than chocolate chip cookies and ice cold milk. Am I right?

And that about wraps it up. So, how was your weekend?

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

It is day two of warmth and sunshine around here. Tomorrow, well that's another story. Welcome to spring in Utah. But we're not talking about tomorrow, we are talking about today.

Here are some things that are adding to the brightness of an already perfectly sunny day....

* All the kids that I have seen wearing the exact same green shirt today-my kids included. Thank you Old Navy!

* The fact that the band-aid on my finger is also green, well, that just makes me smile.

* The text my hunny sent me- something about how he's been exercising his thumbs all day so that he can give me a good pinch when he gets home....

* The new little plants that are popping up out of the ground as we speak.

* The phone call with a friend today- it's always so nice to hear from a friend.

* The St. Patrick's Day treats sitting on the counter waiting for my kiddies to get home.

* The front porch that is calling my name. "I'm coming porch, just a sec!"

* No class today- It's Spring Break!

* The hilarious but truly awful music video I saw on my friend Mindy's blog today. Wow! You should stop over and take a peek.

I hope the sun is shining on you today too! Happy St. Patrick's Day friends!

What's the best news you've heard lately?

I FINALLY got my acceptance letter to the nursing program! The funny part is that I'm slated to start Fall of 2014! It's not the date that's important to me though. It's the fact that I am on the list! I did it!

So what's the best news you've heard lately? I want to hear!

Prom Twenty ten

The dress,
the shoes,
the glittery toes,






























the waiting,













the pinning on the boutonniere,



the date for the evening.

A night to remember!

Morning Stories

Each morning as I hear the pitter patter of little feet coming down the stairs, I look forward to that first glimpse of a face that I love.

The puffy eyes that are still clinging to the sleep that moments ago was theirs, the hair that only a night of laying on a pillow can produce, and the first sweet words that will be spoken by the crackly voice that is just waking up.

This morning, it was Ian who first greeted me. I could tell the instant I saw him that something was not right.

As I hugged him, taking in all the sights that I love about that first morning look, his lips began to quiver.

A bad dream.

I asked him if he wanted to talk about it. He said he couldn't remember it but then in the next breath, it came out full of detail and horror. "We were lost", "bad men", "I escaped", "my family was dead".

I hugged him even tighter and tried to calm him with "it was only a dream", and "we're all ok, nobody has been hurt".

I hate bad dreams. But as awful as they are, I love how they cause my children to seek me out as soon as they wake, looking for comfort that only a mother can give. It's one of those moments that makes me so glad that I am a mother, that I have children to comfort, and that I have people who need me.

Most mornings, my children have no stories to tell- and I'm glad for that too. But I am always ready, just in case, with arms to hold and words to comfort in those first early minutes of a new day.

Interested in Lunch?

Last week I saw a recipe in a magazine that called out to me. I tore it out, looked at it every day and salivated.

Early this morning, I went grocery shopping and gathered the few ingredients that I needed to make the recipe, along with the rest of the weeks groceries. Then I patiently waited for lunch time to arrive. Maybe 'patiently' is the wrong word to use.

Does this not look divine? I give you, "Lemony Egg Salad with Basil and Capers". Talk about a mouthful. I do believe the credit goes to GHK (but since I ripped the page out of the magazine, I can't quite remember which one it came from now. Oopsie).

And now I will share how to make it with you.


Directions: Place 4 eggs in a pot and cover with cold water. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and let sit for 15 minutes, covered. Drain the hot water and run cold water over the eggs until they are cool enough to handle. (So nice of them to warn us of that danger!) Peel off the shells and chop the eggs into medium dice. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk (don't you love that word, whisk!) the juice of one half of a lemon into 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise (low-fat works great!). Stir in one stalk of finely chopped celery and 1 teaspoon capers (I am currently having a love affair with capers- so I added a few more than 1 tsp. Shhh.). Add eggs to the mixture and season with salt and pepper. Fold mixture gently, until eggs are thoroughly coated. Arrange on toast and top with finely chopped basil (the 'finely' part was hard for me to do- OBVIOUSLY). And my toast is NOT burned as my husband might think. I do enjoy me a good piece of burnt toast every now and then, but this bread is pumpernickel.

And there you have it my lovelies. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Lest We Forget

I love 5-year-old artists. I love their attention to detail- everything from the indents in your ears to the color of your skin. Ian was drawing a picture during church last week and when he handed it to me, I was a bit surprised. He must have seen the look on my face because he quickly explained that the dark brown faced man he had drawn was "tanning". The detail! :)

Whenever he draws pictures of our family, he is always careful to draw us as accurately as he can. He usually draws his mom and dad with longer legs and arms than the rest of the family (the tradeoff? we have smaller heads), he tries to draw just the right amount of hair that each of us currently has (which can be tricky around our house), but lately, he has added a new detail. Our ages. Just in case we have forgotten how old we are.

He kindly labels each character he has drawn, and then puts their age next to it.

I am absolutely thrilled with the age he has given me. I don't have the heart to tell him he is a few years off. I'm afraid it would squelch the budding artist within him.

So for as long as he continues this practice, I am forever 32 years old. And that is an age I can live with.

Puzzled

Nicole was asked to Prom last week- in a very puzzling way....































It took us quite awhile to figure out what he was trying to say....






And once again- dress hunting began!

Can we come back soon?

At this moment, I am sitting in the waiting room at the IMC hospital. They have amazingly fast internet. I have never read through my daily blog reads (today there were 53 of them!) so fast. I mean seriously fast. Even my ability to comment was remarkably faster! So I am wondering, when I will get to come back? Not that I want to put any of my family members through a medical procedure or have them become ill enough to require a visit here- I'm just saying. This is truly amazing.

When I get the bill for this day- I will not cringe quite as much as I usually do. It was worth it. It was a good day to decide to lug my laptop around.

And in case you are wondering who the lucky patient is? It's Erik. He's fine. Just having a minor procedure done. All is well.

It's About Time

This morning, before the sun was even up, Isaac had gotten himself dressed (a chore of mine), put his contacts in (another chore of mine), done his hair (yes, my job too), and had whipped up a batch of Sally Lund Bread (I PROMISE. I'm telling the truth!).

When I got home from dropping Nicole off at school, he was sitting at the counter eating a warm square of lemony goodness with a huge smile on his face. So proud!

It's nice to know your 11-year-old child really can make it without you- that he doesn't actually need his mother to pick out his clothes, dress him, do his hair, put his contacts in, and make his breakfast for him.

What will I do with all my new free time? Oh! That's right. Clean up the mess he made in the kitchen. :)

Hello March

How does the saying go....in like a lion, out like a lamb?

When it comes to the weather, I'm happy to report, a lion it is not. We are enjoying a few days of 50+ degree weather. Welcome 50's. It's so nice to have you.

As for the health index at our house- it's definitely lion-like. Intestinal flu that won't go away for several family members, croup for the youngest one,migraines, doctor visits, sleep issues, drugs, drugs, drugs. So in that regard, March's reputation is holding true.

But I have hope. Things are going to get better soon.

Winter is winding down, spring is just around the corner. And with spring comes new hope. And hope is good.

(The best thing about a new month? A new calendar page to look at. Don't you agree?)