What I have been doing

I have been busy trying new things and developing talents. I made this mac & cheese concoction the other day. I made my own cheese sauce with half sharp cheddar and half Monterrey jack, added sweet turkey sausage, and some diced tomatoes. I served it with corn. Brian and I mixed the corn in and it made it just right. Sounds weird but I was using what I had on hand.

I seem to have an abundance of grocery bags. I use them for garbage bags in the bathroom and in our room. I also use them to dispose of Lexi's diapers. I got tired of not having a place for them so I made two of these holders. I used burlap and cut up woman's stocking. I also used freezer paper to make a stencil and then painted the word on them. I think they are pretty neat. I will be doing more freezer paper stencils in the future.

I forgot to take a before picture of this chair. This was a little metal folding chair that we saw at a thrift store. Ellie was taken with it and it was only two dollars. So I picked it up and then spray painted it and then mod podged a piece of scrapbook paper on the seat. Ellie loves it and I like it too.

I made this boppy cover all by myself. I took a cover that I had and used that for a pattern. I sewed my first zipper. It took me awhile to figure that out, but I did it and I was so proud. I gave this to a friend who blessed their son last Sunday. He is so beautiful!

I made this two days later. Another friend of mine had her first baby last Saturday. She really wants to work on breastfeeding. So in supporting that decision I made her a cover. I really like mine. I got the directions from this website.

I have a bunch of other things that I am working on. I will share them when I am done. Mikey is growing and just started clicking his tongue. Ellie might be on the verge of potty training. Alexis continues to love her grandmas and all the activities. We miss our family very much and we love you.

Celebrating Love, Snow and the Year of the Tiger

For Family Home Evening last week we talked about the two greatest commandments. We read Matthew 22: 36-40. We made Valentine votives out recycled baby food jars, old tissue paper and mod podge. We put battery operated tea lights inside and then attached the scripture on a heart with ribbon. We gave them away today to Grandma Val (It's her birthday!), to a few of the widows from our ward and an older Brother in our ward. He was so giddy to receive a Valentine. He said that he hadn't gotten one since he was a little kid. Brian and I liked this service project and will be doing it again next year (a new family tradition).



Brian took me to see Leap Year. It was cute. He also took the girl's and made me this Valentine. If you click on it you can see it larger and read it a little better. It brought a tear to my eye and touched my heart. I love my family!!!


For the girls I made these felt cupcakes. My first attempt. I think it turned out pretty well. Lexi saw the box and asked if she could have one. I said go for it. She tried to be careful to take one out and then she went to take a bite and was sad to discover that they were fake. I then gave one to Ellie. She took a bite and glared at me with her signature pout. It was funny.



We took time to celebrate the snow. Brian really wanted to take the girls sledding. I stayed in the van with Mikey other than taking the photos.


We had company on Friday and of course I had to try a new recipe. I made Easy Raspberry Chicken with Coconut Rice. It was so yummy and our company asked for the recipe. I love when that happens. There wasn't any leftover because Brian kept piecing on it after we had finished dinner and our company had left.


Happy Chinese New Year!!! This is the year of the Tiger. Grace bought Alexis a jacket and Ellie an outfit that I thought would be great to wear today to celebrate. Thank you Grace. Brian and I wore red for the New Year and for Valentines.


Kung Hei Fat Choi!!!

Burp Rags, Thai Food & The Black Plauge Song

I made these burp rags for a friend. I gave them as a gift at her shower. I am going to try to give only handmade gifts from now on. It makes me feel good and accomplished. Plus I plan on recycling as many materials as possible. My next projects will be to make Brian some slippers and Mikey some bibs and blocks.



In our culinary adventures, I tried to make Pad See Ew. It is a Thai dish that we like to order when we go out to a Thai restaurant. It turned out alright. I would love to go to Thailand and have someone teach me how to cook some of their dishes.






Ellie was playing Ring Around the Rosey with some friends earlier in the week. She loves this dance song. She can get some pretty good air on her falls too. This was this evening while Brian was out and about doing his Priesthood thing. I sang the song over and over and over and over. Brian had a good giggle when he watched this. I hope you do too.

From Friday to Today...Hooray!!!

On Friday while Brian was gone the kids and I built a fort. I was thinking to myself "you know, I haven't built a fort in ages" so I did. Ellie loved it!!! I called Brian (I don't remember where he was) and asked him to bring home some pizza and to have his camera ready. He so good. He did and started a new tradition. Once a month we will have Fort Friday.





For Family Home Evening we talked about how Jesus loved us so much he created the Earth and all it's creatures (lesson from Behold Your Little Ones). Then we made bird feeders. I cut out cardboard letters. I had everyone spread the letters with peanut butter and then we dipped them in a bird seed mix. We also made feeders by emptying orange peels and then putting seed inside of them. I hung the feeders up the next day on the clothes line and in the tree.


Ellie was compelled to grab handfuls of seed and drop it on the table and then swing her arms fast so that the seed went everywhere. When I decided to this activity I knew it was going to be a mess, but Ellie really got into it. I think that in the spring we will take a bin outside for a sensory activity that both Ellie and Alexis can enjoy (I guess the birds and squirrels too).




Today marks the halfway point of winter. We are so much closer to Spring now. Brian invited Justin Torrence and Eric Petty (my former Seminary students) over to play the Wii and to jam out to Weird Al's Greatest Hits.



So to celebrate us getting closer to Spring I made Melting Snowman Soup. Really it is just Potato Soup. I also made banana bread using this recipe.



Also today is my mother's birthday. It is so hard to be away from family. I am so grateful for the technology that has been made available to allow us to talk over the internet. Alexis looked forward to this all day. I made a Better Than Anything Cake, we got Nana on the computer and then we sang to her. It was great!!! We love you Nana!


Alexis and Ellie enjoying the cake for Nana.

What's For Dinner?

I had Alexis work on writing while I prepared dinner. I got this exercise from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I have been getting a lot of great ideas on keeping Alexis busy and away from Ellie while I need to do other things. They are also challenging and fun. If you want to see more check out Lexi's blog.


Today I made Turkey Mini Meatloaves. This is the second time I made them. The first time Brian had no idea that there was zucchini in it. This time he knew and ate them anyways. I think he even had three. He says he doesn't like zucchini so I have to hide it some how. We are not bad about eating veggies. I just like to change it up and it gets Ellie to eat better and more varied foods.

You can see the steam coming off of the plate. Yum. Of course we had to have potatoes so I made pearls. Brian loves potato pearls even though he was raised in Idaho.


I thought that this was funny so I took a picture. This is Brian eating the rest of the pearls right off of the serving spoon wearing his Ricks shirt. Feel the Idaho love.

Family Home Evening Monday

For Family Home Evening we made a Disney World savings bank. We did this to announce to Alexis that we are planning on going to Disney World this year and to start making our family aware of saving. This will probably be a mistake when we are tired of hearing about it later. Oh well. That is Alexis sorting her crayons. She didn't want to color or decorate. This kept her at the table and a part of the activity.


Mikey and Daddy going over the quarters to save particular ones. (I love my boys)


Ellie checking out our work before we put it on the oatmeal container.


The girls putting in the money. Ellie worked on this a long time. She really enjoyed putting the money in the slot. This is a great pincer grasp activity.


I made my own potpourri. It didn't turn out like I wanted. The scent is not strong at all but it looks pretty and reminds me of summer.


I was craving something sweet and salty. I went to the pantry and grabbed the stuff necessary to make rice crispy treats plus some extra stuff to throw in. I added crushed pretzel sticks, cashews, and chocolate chips. It hit the spot. I am happy just thinking about it.

Moments From Our Week

I like to have Mikey in the kitchen with me when I am working in there. I think he likes it too. One morning when I was doing the dishes I heard giggling behind me. When I turned around this is what I saw. Ellie likes to make Mikey laugh and he likes to laugh at her. It is a good thing that they are close to the same size or Mikey would be having a hard time having his sister on his lap. (The little pieces on the floor are pinto beans from Ellie's pouring exercises.) This moment makes me smile and fulfilled as a mom.


I made a bunch of wheat berries to try to use our food storage. I found this recipe and I really liked it!!! Instead of milk I used Vanilla Almond Milk and omitted the almond slivers in the end. I also used golden raisins instead of regular just because I like them better. Like I said I really liked it. It says it serves four but Brian and I almost ate all of it ourselves. It certainly makes for a hearty winter's breakfast.


This is Ellie's new favorite spot in the house. It is under the table in our kitchen. She fits so well and it makes for a great hiding spot. She is coloring a baking sheet I got at a thrift store with chalk. I am going to re purpose it to be a little chalk board. It will work great for Alexis and Ellie. I am excited!


This is Brian grilling Hawaiian Teriyaki chicken for me and our guests on Saturday. It wasn't as cold as it has been in awhile. Sometimes you just need a piece of summer in the grays of winter and BBQ does the trick. It was tasty and our guests (who are Hawaiian) were impressed. They were also excited that we served rice. I was perplexed...why wouldn't we serve rice? It's plate lunch meat.

Hmmmm....

I love to cook. It is soothing. However, I do not enjoy the sounds of a crying Mikey, a screaming Ellie and a laughing Alexis while I do it. I cook despite the chaos because I like to eat and I love to watch others enjoy my food. Today I tried a new recipe: Zucchini Rice Casserole. You can find the recipe here.


It calls for zucchini but Brian doesn't care for that vegetable so I used yellow squash. I don't like jalapenos so I used a different pickled pepper. I like this dish. It is a little spicy but it was just what a cold winter day calls for. Earlier in the day I made rice crispy treats with chocolate covered preztle fish for our Family Home Evening treat.


After dinner I didn't feel like a lesson and the kids were driving me crazy. So while I held Mikey and calmed him down, I sang songs with Brian. Then we ate our treat and watched Two Brothers. It's a movie about two tigers. It was a nice movie. Ellie and Alexis liked it. Alexis laughed at the tigers and for some reason it compelled Ellie to dance. It's been a long day and Mikey is crying again. oh well....

Trying to be Deceptive (Evil raised eyebrow)

Last week I tried a Deceptively Delicious recipe. She is all about pureeing veggies and adding them to her dishes. I made the Mac & Cheese 1 recipe. Brian and Alexis liked it. Ellie not so much (but Ellie doesn't seem to eat anything lately). When I told Brian that there was cauliflower in it, he was surprised. Anyways, I will try some of the other recipes.



Today I made one of Brian's favorite dishes that his Mom makes: Sweet and Sour Baked Beans. He even had her teach me how to make it while we were in Hawaii. It turned out well. We had a dinner party for a family whose father was baptized today. I also made my Grandma Doty's Scalloped Corn as a side dish (Love you Grandma. Happy Birthday!!!). Good food and good company. (I cut my finger preparing the garlic. We have really sharp knives.)




Umm .... unfortunately our camera is out for repairs and the flash is not working on the one that we have so the picture does not do my dish justice and the one of my corn is really bad.