An Exciting Day!

Yesterday was the last day of school (8:00-9:30 is considered a day?) and to celebrate we decided to make rootbeer. We have a sign that says “Free Rootbeer BYOC” (bring your own cup) and all of the neighborhood kids come and hang out on our front lawn and we have a fun time chatting and drinking rootbeer. This year we had kids show up with their cups right after we added the dry ice. I had to send them away for a bit, but I was glad to see a little ‘business’ because it didn’t look like we’d get much with this going on in front of our house all day:

The city is putting irrigation water lines in and yesterday happened to be our day. But we had something exciting to watch (although noisy!). And to keep instep with our exciting day, they cut a power line in front of our house because it hadn’t been marked. So we got to watch them work a little longer. And of course, to keep instep with the exciting day, I had a loaf of corn bread baking in my bread machine during the power outage as a requirement assignment for a cooking class I’m taking. Needless to say it didn’t actually turn out that great and I get to do it again. (that’s exciting right?)

Anyway, we were able to get a few kids come for rootbeer. One neighbor doesn’t quite get the idea that it is free and wants to pay for it. My response? “Do you think I can drink all of this rootbeer by myself? No? Then you’ve got to help me.” It ends up being a pretty good deal for all of us!

The next exciting bit came later when Tess was looking out the back door saying doggie, doggie, doggie. I was a bit surprised she remembered having a dog because it’s been two months since we got rid of Vea. Soon however, Cache who was reading on the couch, sat up and said, “We have a dog in our back yard.” Sure enough. . .don’t know how it got there because the back yard is fenced and both gates were shut. But somehow it did. Thankfully it was a very friendly dog and Cache was able to go out and read the phone number on the tag. I called it and got the recording “If you know your party’s extension you can dial it now.” That was the end of the recording. So I called the police and they came to pick it up. Did you know that if you find a dog in your back yard you have to give your name, fingerprints, social security number and your birthday? I’m kidding. Just your name, address, phone number and birthday but I thought that was weird. The sad thing about this whole thing was Caleb, our animal lover, was at a party and missed the whole thing. He would have loved to play with a dog for an hour, even if it was ugly.

The last {oh so!} exciting thing that happened yesterday was I finished up the Primary Program and it wasn’t even June 1 (the due date). There will be a few minor additions and changes before it happens, but the bulk of the hard work is done. YAY!

Happy Birthday, Cache!

I can’t believe it was 15 years ago that Cache was born! Where has the time gone? I’m pretty sure it was just yesterday. . . .but I guess that time flies when you are having fun!! And what fun it has been. Cache is a great kid. So quirky. So smart. So diligent. So funny. So good. And because he is typically a very quiet kid anywhere else than at home, I decided to post a side of him most of you will never see.

♦One morning after having fondue the night before, I found “Clowns are not normal.” carved into the leftover hardened chocolate.

♦Cache thinks there should be a new branch of study. . . Ichthyologytheology: the study of the religion of fish.

♦One morning I woke up to this photo enlarged full size on my desktop:

♦A couple of years ago, Cache decided it would be cool to only wear BYU T-shirts. So for school that was all he bought. Last year he was going to buy 5 Fully Invested shirts and put the days of the week on each one to wear for the football season, but at the last minute chose all different shirts. (still BYU) I don’t think anyone at his school questions his allegiance to BYU.

♦He hates the word syrup. He thinks lin is a much more fitting word. He refuses to ask for the syrup at the breakfast table and will not pass it when asked for as syrup.

♦On Saturday we took the boys to their favorite store of all time: Smith & Edwards Surplus Store. It was a reward for them each reading the Book of Mormon. (That was their choice of reward!! but that’s a whole other story.) They had a dollar amount they could spend so they each got a cart and filled it up with things they wanted and then at the end they narrowed it down to meet the dollar amount. So what do you think was the very first thing Cache put in his cart? A 20 quart popcorn bowl. Along the way he also picked up a length of rope, a chemical suit, chemical gloves, a Russian hat (which he wore all over the store; as you can see in the picture), a package of instant towels, 20 glow sticks, a padded seat for his bike. . . Just funny, quirky stuff.

♦He is very on top of daily celebrations. We are often asked to celebrate things like National Check Your Batteries Day, Navajo Code Talkers Month, Respect for Chickens Day, National Hairball Awareness Day. He’s got very boring non celebrating parents. Poor thing.

♦I mentioned Velspar in this post. But it deserves more mentioning. Cache and his friends were too late to actually fill out an application for Velspar to run for a student body officer. But, they decided, Velspar (which I’m told is really a house plant) could still campaign. So he and his buddies made posters and fliers and hung them all over the school. Some of them even made and wore T-shirts advertising Velspar. Unfortunately, Velspar was discovered by the principal, who went to the teacher in charge of the elections. This teacher, who I guess figured out who would do something like that, just laughed. But Mr. Principal removed all of the posters and fliers. Velspar, however garnered a good handful of votes!

So, to give back all good times he gives us, I’ve typed up clues for him as to where he’ll find his birthday presents (thanks for the idea, Dave). Here is a sampling: (I know the font is hard to read, but Cache is into fonts too so I chose one he'd like; but you can click to enlarge for easier reading)

I'm a lucky mom to have such awesome built in entertainment! I hope he has a great birthday!

PS. . . Cache bought that Russian hat and keeps telling us all how cool it is and how jealous we should be!

Another PS. . . Tessie has croup :( . But we've caught it in the early stage so hopefully it ends with just croup and not the other things croup sometimes brings.

Ode to 18 months!

I don’t know if 18 months was as heralded with the other kids as it has been with Tess, but we have been counting down to the get-to-go-to-nursery milestone for quite some time. Trunky I tell you! But she is quite energetic and so we are glad to be able to pass that off to someone else for a few hours. Bless those nursery leaders!!

If you’ve ever read a book similar to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, you know what life is like with Tess.
Tess: “Want cracker.”
Mom: Hands over a cracker.
Tess: “Want water.”
Mom: Gives some water.
Tess: “Want Play Dough.” (she pronounces it dee-doe)
Mom: Gets out play dough.
Tess: “Want ball.”
Mom: Makes a play dough ball.
Tess: “Want snake.”
Mom: Makes a snake.
Tess: “Want smell.” Puts it to her nose trying to trick mom that she is just smelling it when really her mouth is wide open ready for a bite.
Mom: “No, Tess, we don’t eat it.”
Tess: “Want cracker.”

And this is only in a 30 second time frame. . . . it goes on all day with books, drawing, going for walks, playing in the back yard etc. It is one want after another. I anticipate the day when she learns another verb. One of my favorite stories of Tess so far is from one night at supper. Tom had taken a bite of his food and I was still cutting hers up and he said, “Mmmm, this is good.” Tess said in a demanding voice, “I want good!”

So with that longish introduction, I’m going to add pictures and a bulleted list of Tessaisms for documentation (aka brag post :). You are welcome to click that little X at the top, on a link, or the back button if you don’t want to endure.

• Tess is very popular at church. Everyone loves her and gives her so much attention. Surely, this couldn’t have to do with the fact that she walks right up to people and stares at them until they talk to her; she goes up to some people and grabs their legs for hugs. And she is snatched away by kids of all ages—girls and boys. Often we have to go find her.
• She loves books and magazines. While she'll sit through a story every now and again, she'll sit with you for very long periods of time looking at and talking about the pictures.
• She knows all of her body parts and says all of them except leg, foot and fingers.
• Keeps hair dos in much better now that I put them right back in after she pulls them out . . . but, she will not leave anything ‘pretty’ in for long. She always pulls those out and hands them back to me saying “pretty”.
• She says each of the boys’ names. Cache: gash; Caleb: Bee-dub; Chandler: Nan-ner. She starts asking for Nan-ner everyday about 2:00. He comes home at 2:30.
• She’s a dare devil. Loves to go high in the swing, slide the slides and climb the ladders—all by herself, mind you.
• Some how she knows when a touchdown is being made on the Playstation football games. She throws both hands into the air and yells “nouch down!”
• She still wears a size 2 diaper and wears a lot of the same clothes she was wearing last year. The other day she needed new pajamas so I bought her some 9 month ones. . . plenty of room!
  
• She loves to be on the go. This is the understatement of the century. She asks all day “want bye”, "want go", “want out”, “want nan” (van), “want droller” (stroller), "want bike".

Okay, that is enough . . . I typed up a bunch more, but I’ll just bore the grandparents with those :).

I'll close with these pictures. . . they pretty much sum up our busy little Tessa! (Julianna, please don't look at these pictures, you'll think I'm a bad mom.)

ETA: We just got back from the 18 month check up. . .and thankfully we have a laid back doctor because she actually lost 1 oz. since her 15 month appointment. That brings her grand total weight to 16 lbs. 8 oz. The doctor said everything points to her being very healthy. . .it's just that if she get does sick it can become risky quickly. So hopefully she keeps up the good health! That's a long 3 1/2 lbs. 'till a forward facing car seat!

More Projects

Been super busy lately trying to work on my classes and I'm actually making quite good progress (yay!). And this time of the year is busy keeping up with all the end-of-the-year school stuff. But I've been able to squeeze in a few projects. Some I can't show because they are my handmade gifts for our family reunion, but I will show them later. And then I've done these: two marker boards and some quick butterflies for Tessa's room.

The Gift of Prophecy

I enjoyed the rare opportunity on Sunday to attend RS for Mother’s Day. The lesson was on gifts of the spirit. The teacher had a few sisters present and one of them talked on the spirit of prophecy. She talked about the misconception that the gift of prophecy is given only to those we sustain as prophets, seers and revelators. She talked about how many of us also receive it. She read this scripture from 2 Nephi 25:26

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

She pointed out that because we teach of Christ and of His saving and redeeming power, we are also prophesying that He will do just that. As she read it, though, my thoughts were taken a different direction. I was also given the impression that we experience this gift often and in other ways than what she mentioned, we just don’t always label it as such. Often it comes as an impression or feeling of something you should do. While you don’t see the outcome (what we conceive as the gift of prophecy), you know with a surety that you should act according to those promptings. And so we act knowing blessings will flow in the Lord’s timing. Is this not a manifestation of the spirit of prophecy? Then an experience was brought to my memory as an example in my life of a blessing of this gift.

We had been looking at homes for quite a few weeks without any success of finding something to meet our needs. One night while looking online at homes, a new one was listed. It was at the very bottom of our price range—in fact the least expensive we had looked at. It didn’t have a picture so we got in the car and drove by it. We decided that we wanted to look at it so we called our realtor and he made arrangements for us to see it the next day. When we looked at it, Tom really felt like this was the house for us, but I wasn’t convinced—in fact, I knew it wasn’t what I wanted! I wanted a bigger kitchen! I wanted main floor laundry! I wanted something a little nicer! Why spend so much money on something that you didn’t love?!? Later that day however, I was folding clothes and I very strong impression came over me that we should make an offer on that house. It was so undeniable, that I knew I must obey. We put an offer together. But apparently so did others. Over the next few days we had to revise our offer a number of times. Though this process was quite nerve wracking, we remained confident that this was the house we were supposed to be in. To make a long story short, our offer was finally accepted even though we never came in with the best offer. Our realtor who was close to retirement said he’d never ever seen that happen.

When we met with the owners to get the keys we were filled in on their side of the story. The wife, Sharon, was living in Kentucky helping their son and getting a place secured for them to live. Larry stayed to sell the house. When so many offers came in so quickly, he was very overwhelmed and didn’t know how to respond. After reviewing the offers and discussing it, they decided to go with the highest offer. After they got off the phone, however, she had the strong feeling that they should accept our offer instead. She hurried and called her husband back and told him to accept our offer. He said, “I’ve learned that when she gets those feelings, I just do what she says.”

At the time I didn’t know why we should be in this home, I just knew it was where we should be. The reasons may not all be apparent now either, but we have received blessings here that we could not have received any where else. I feel that the spirit of prophecy doesn’t depend on seeing everything . . . just enough to get you to take a step. What a wonderful blessing!

Lucky Me

My parents are in Alaska for the week and I so get Jonny. All week I'll get to see cute things like this happen spontaneously. Doesn't get too much better than this!

Recipe 5: Beef Benihana

Tom gets the credit for finding this fabulous recipe. It truly is one of our family favorites and I’ve shared it many times—including in a cookbook our Relief Society made. For this book they handed out cards to write the recipes on. And grumbling a little that I couldn’t type them up, I wrote a few of my favorite recipes long hand. When the book was published, this recipe had a new name: Beef Benihand. They obviously couldn’t read my writing! Thankfully the name was all that was mistranslated. The new name has stuck at our house, but you are welcome to call it whatever you like :). Beef Benihana
1 TBSP sesame seeds
1 onion, cut into thin wedges
½ lb. mushrooms, sliced
2 medium zucchini, cut in thin strips
1 lb. boneless beef sirloin, cut in 1/4" strips
2 TBSP oil
6 TBSP Teriyaki sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper

Toast sesame seeds in skillet until brown. Remove. Heat 1 TBSP oil for 30 seconds. Add beef; stir-fry until done. Remove with juices. Add remaining oil. Add onions; stir-fry until they start to soften. Add zucchini and mushrooms. Cook until tender-crisp. Stir remaining ingredients together to make sauce. Add meat, accumulated juices, sesame seeds and sauce. Heat. Serve over hot rice.

Recipe 4: Contest Winning Brownies

We got this recipe out of the Reader's Digest as a winner of a brownie contest. Which brings me to a burning question that I've had for a long, long time. It has been burning at least since I got my other brownie recipe out Seventeen magazine back when I was a teenager. It was also a contest winner. So here's my question: how does one actually judge a brownie contest? Think about it. Everyone has a brownie recipe. And they all think theirs is the very best. So a contest is announced and loads of people send in their recipe. A cooking team is put together and they bake up these heaps of brownies and the tasters walk in and eat away? And after about 7 brownies even in small portions, they all have a tummy ache and they never want to look at another brownie ever again. So how is a conclusion ever drawn? Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

However, I am extremely grateful for these brownie tasters because that way a non brownie connoisseur like myself can land a great recipe with little experimenting! I just always feel for those testers every time I make brownies.

And today, I'm actually posting my own photo. When I made these for the first time, the amount of marshmallows made me laugh so I grabbed my camera. You'll just have to imagine your own final product:).

1 cup soft butter
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
Mix together. Add:
4 eggs. Stir.
Add 1 ½ cup flour
2 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ cup chopped nuts

Bake on a 1” greased cookie sheet @ 350 for 20 minutes. Cover with 1 lb. marshmallows (yes, one pound!) Bake another 3 minutes. Frost when marshmallows are cool.

Frosting:
1 2/3 cup powdered sugar
½ cup butter
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup evaporated milk

Beat together until smooth.

A few notes:
Real butter makes these much, much better.
1/3 cup of cocoa in the frosting is a little much for my liking. I cut it back by a few TBSPs. But if you like quite chocolaty, go for it!

Recipe 3: Won Ton Salad

I have to laugh because this is Caleb and Chandler’s absolute favorite thing I make—they even order it for birthday dinners. While it really is a great salad, I just wouldn’t think that it would top all ‘guy foods’! It is definitely chick food and would make an excellent Mother’s Day dinner—but obviously it just isn’t for girls. I highly recommend it!

And hopefully this picture makes it obvious that I pirate my food pictures. . .I’m much too practical to be fancying something up like this (and I could never eat it with chopsticks). (Nor are those onions marinated and that is an absolute must with this recipe!) But it was the closest picture I could find --and it makes it look really good!

½ head read leaf lettuce
½ head green leaf lettuce
4 chicken thighs, grilled or broiled then chopped
½ cup slivered almonds
2 TBSP sesame seeds
20 won ton wrappers

Dressing:
½ cup sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup rice vinegar
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt
½-1 red onion thinly sliced (put in as much as you like)

Combine ingredients for dressing. Whisk together. Marinate onions a few hours or overnight.

Cut won tons into strips of 6. Fry in oil 2-3 seconds each side. Just before serving toss everything together.

Enjoy!

Recipe 2: Granola Bars

This is one of our favorite Sunday afternoon treats--so easy and everyone loves them. You can play around with the ingredients to get them exactly how you like them--a little chewier, crunchier etc. If you like them gooier, add a little more of the 'glue': brown sugar, peanut butter, corn syrup and honey. Another thing you can do is substitute raisins for mini M&M's, chocolate chips, other dried fruit, coconut. . . . whatever you want. Our favorite is a mix of dried blueberries and cherries (from Costco) and I always add more than called for. This is an awesome, versatile and yummy recipe!! And I always double it. Always.

2 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup + 2 TBSP brown sugar
1/2 cup + 2 TBSP crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup + 1 TBSP corn syrup
1/4 cup + 1 TBSP honey
1 tsp vanilla

1. In a large bowl stir rice, cereal and raisins together. (If you are using chocolate, add them last as they will melt.)
2. Combine brown sugar, honey and corn syrup in a small saucepan and heat just until boiling over medium heat. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until smooth. Pour over the cereal.
3. Press into a 9x13 pan. (unless you double it too, then put on a cookie sheet)

P.S. These freeze quite well. . .easy, fast addition for the kids' lunches.
P.P.S. I don't ever measure out those extra 2 TBSPs of the 'glue'. . .I totally eyeball it. Works out every time.

Recipe 1: Kung Pao Chicken

The first time I made this recipe I was less than thrilled, but Tom really liked it. I knew it had potential because it had a good basic flavor, but it needed a lot of help. I got online and looked at pictures of Kung Pao at Panda Express—theirs had vegetables and I knew that would help immensely with both looks and taste. It did. But the sauce amounts weren’t right and the flavor still needed a little umph. After a few more tries, I discovered the secret is the ginger. I increased it quite a bit from the original recipe and it helped so much. But I also learned that more doesn’t make it better. In this recipe I actually level out the ginger when measuring it—which I never ever do when cooking. And now after a number of tweaks, I can finally declare it good. If you like Chinese food and don’t mind following a recipe exactly and spending a little time in the kitchen, this recipe is for you. If that doesn’t describe you, head to Panda for your Kung Pao fix.

Kung Pao Chicken

3 boneless chicken breasts or 5-6 thighs
4 TBSP oil
½ cup peanuts
8-14 dried hot chili peppers, with the tops broken off
1 red bell pepper; largely diced
1 zucchini, cut into bite-sized wedges
3 ½ tsp minced fresh ginger
3 green onions with tops cut in ½” pieces

Bowl 1 Marinade:
½ tsp sugar
4 tsp cornstarch
¼ tsp salt
4 tsp water
4 tsp soy sauce

Bowl 2 Sauce:
3 tsp sugar
3 tsp cornstarch
6 tsp water
6 tsp soy sauce
2 TBSP red wine vinegar
4 TBSP chicken broth

Cut chicken into small pieces. Make mixtures. Pour marinade over chicken and let stand 30 minutes. Reserve sauce until cooking.

1. Heat 1 TBSP oil in wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add peanuts; stir and cook until lightly toasted. Remove peanuts and set aside.
2. Cook red pepper and zucchini in 1 TBSP oil. Stir fry until tender-crisp. Remove from pan.
3. Add 2 TBSP oil in skillet over medium heat. Add chili peppers. Stir-fry until peppers just begin to char, about 1 minute.
4. Increase the heat to high. Add chicken mixture; stir fry 2 minutes. Add ginger; stir-fry until chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 1 minute.
5. Add peanuts, vegetables (including green onions), and sauce mixture to skillet. Cook and stir until sauce boils and thickens. Serve over white rice.

A few notes.
~We like more peanuts---about 1 cup.
~Be very exact on measuring the ginger. (okay, already said that. . . but it is important!)
~The peppers are what give this dish the kick. We like a fair amount of heat so I use about 12. (also, the spicier it is, the more rice you need with it and in this way I can have enough for left overs—and it is way yummy the 2^nd day; Tom likes it with just one chili pepper left in over night, I like mine taken out. Leaving them in overnight will give it even more kick.)
~Following the steps exactly makes a big difference; I actually use the timer on this. If the cooking takes longer than the suggested time, your heat is not high enough.
~The coloring is a little different than you get in a restaurant—I think they may put a little coloring in it. I tried a little red once and it looked a little closer, but I decided not to bother with that issue. The flavor is awesome!

Email me at my real or fake address (chart@utwire.net) if you want the recipe in a printable version--on my copy, I have the marinade and the sauce mixtures side by side so I can easily make them at the same time because they are so similar, but blogger wouldn't allow me that option.

A story

I woke up this morning feeling strongly that I needed to post this little story. . . As most of you know, I used to be a single mom with my three boys. When Tom and I were engaged, discussions as to whether or not I should continue to teach were frequently held. While I wanted the opportunity to be able to stay home, I didn’t think it was right that 100% of the financial responsibility for the boys be put on Tom (we don’t get any child support). Tom was willing to support me in whatever I wanted to do, but he encouraged me to stay home. In my mind, however, it really wasn’t right to put that on him. It made me feel like I was shirking my responsibilities. It made me feel guilty and demanding. I wrestled much over that issue.

At the time we were both Primary workers and one Sunday during sharing time in his ward, this line from The Proclamation was read: “Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.” As it was read, the spirit testified to him that it would be the best thing for our family if I took that role. In my Primary, that same day, this line from the Proclamation was read: “By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families.” And the spirit witnessed to me that I needed to let Tom provide for us and that financially things would work out. As we discussed this that evening on the phone we both knew what the best answer for our family was. We both felt that those lines from the Proclamation were not read coincidentally, but as an answer to how we should begin our family together. And looking back almost four years later, we are so thankful for that guidance—it has brought so many blessings into our lives. I am so thankful for that divine document that has led me to many correct decisions.

Next week will be a recipe share on my blog. Check back for a few fun new recipes :).

The Weather

It seems that numerous blogs I’ve read lately have given mention to the weather, and while I can’t be quite sure on this, I’m willing to guess it is mostly because winter is swallowing up our much anticipated spring and not because there is not much else to say. And so as not to be left out of these cyber discussions, I’ll add my own little tidbit: While I didn’t take this picture on May 1^st, I might as well have because this sums up the scene that morning (except that by May 1^st my lovely little tulips had had enough of the cold and had frozen up and wilted). Not only because it was May 1^st was the snow unwelcome, but I was also heading off to Women’s Conference that morning instead of staying home in my cozy little house (which of course we are still heating instead of opening the windows for a delightful spring breeze). And, because it was May, I refused to take a coat even though Tom strongly urged otherwise. Cache told him that I wouldn’t need one because I’d be kept warm by a spiritual high. So with that I was able to scoot out the door. I went with Sally and my mom and despite the chilly weather, it was quite enjoyable. We went to some very good sessions and I’m anxiously waiting for them to be posted for download—some that I couldn’t attend and others to listen to again. I came home with some notes that I hope to revisit often. I’ll post a few of them over the next little while. Until then, I hope you enjoy a little weather more like spring.