find joy in the journey

hawaiian cow

Meatballs:  Mix the following ingredients together and let stand 15 minutes.

• 1 lbs. ground beef
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 5 oz can chopped water chestnuts

Shape into meatballs, roll in flour and brown all sides in 1/4 - 1/2 cup margarine.

Sauce:  Mix the following in a saucepan & heat for 5 minutes or until it thickens

• 1 can pineapple chunks
• 2 cups pineapple juice
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 cup sugar
• green pepper, chopped small

Put meatballs in a 8x8 casserole dish.  Pour sauce over the top.  Cook at 350 for 30 minutes.  Serve with rice.

We looove this stuff -- it's been a long time favorite.  Definitely not the quickest thing to whip up, but it's worth it from time to time.

i'm still alive

I think this is the longest I have ever gone without posting!  And I'm not sure why.  We've been busy, but not crazy busy.  I guess I just haven't been feeling motivated or inspired.  In fact, I had to drag myself into here to post tonight -- my eyes are hurting after 4+ hours of Oscar coverage.  So for the purpose of making my blog feel loved and to ensure that my readers don't completely give up on me, here's a little re-cap of our week.

Scott spent the week in Washington D.C. and had to leave early sunday morning which meant I was left with all 3 kids in church.  Let's just say it was a recipe for disaster.  I brought extra treats & activities for the boys but Anna's world was turned upside-down when she realized she didn't have her dad's lap to sit (and fall asleep) on during sacrament meeting.  I hope I don't have to do that again anytime soon!

Sunday evening my parents & Mason arrived for a visit.  It was nice to have them here for a few days.  We went to OMSI (where they toured the submarine), took my mom with me to Bunco, we also got new pajama bottoms for that Bunco night (it was a pj party theme), got my dad to hang some curtain rods, the boys & my mom & mason saw Bridge to Terabithia (they loved it -- near the end in a sad part Payton turned to my mom and said, "I think I'm going to cry"), my dad took Anna and I shopping for easter dresses (Anna's ensemble will include a little pink satin ruffle purse -- I think it will be another year or two before we add the white gloves . . .I love having a girl!), we spent a lunch at McDonald's where Anna got stuck in the top of the playland tubes, grammer & papa brought magnifying glasses for the boys which Conner used to check us all for head lice (thanks, Conner), we watched a lot of American Idol, and enjoyed 24 with my dad's commentary.

They left Thursday morning which left me just 2 days on my own.  Thursday and friday were just the normal routine and Scott got home friday night.  On saturday Anna and I headed into town for some shopping and left Scott and the boys at home to assemble the new elliptical machine he ordered online.  Through a series of odd transactions & a mass accumulation of credit card points we actually got the thing for free.  Pretty sweet.

Today I taught in RS and I think the lesson went well.  In my planning I came up with a sort-of object lesson to go along with it.  But once I was standing up there and after about step 2 I realized, this is really retarded.  I obviously hadn't thought it through long enough because it didn't make any sense to me!

So that's pretty much what's been going on in our household.  Nothing too exciting for this week -- more of just the same old thing.  I hope I haven't completely bored you with this entry and scared you away for ever.  I promise I'll do better!

And so you don't go away feeling like reading this was a total waste of your time . . . . A quote from Marjorie Hinckley's "Small and Smiple Things" that I bookmarked last night -- it kind of goes along with my lesson topic today.

We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives.  We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us.  We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something.  We have to learn to be content with what we are.

share the love

We had a happy Valentine's Day.  Actually it was more like a roller coaster ride of ups and downs, but we enjoyed our many highs and managed to survive the lows.  (Anna is in a very tempermental stage right now). 

I got to help out at Conner's party at school which was very fun.  The kids were so cute when they opened their Valentine's boxes (they stuffed them with cards the day before).  One after another a kid would come up to me with a card, wanting me to tell them who it was from, then they would either go find that person or yell across the room "thank you ___!"  And then a "you're welcome" would come right back.  This routine continued on and on for about 10 minutes.  It was very cute to watch.

I got the kids new pajamas which they were sooo excited about. Especially Conner because they had short sleeves and shorts bottoms.  Every single night he rolls up his sleeves and the legs of his pants until they can be rolled no further.  He looks pretty ridiculous when he greets us in the morning, so this will solve his problem at least a couple nights a week.  Here's the kids looking sooo silly.  Payton decided to mix & match his new pj's with his current stash.  He thought the bottoms looked too "ouchie."

For dinner, I knew that Scott was going to be home late from work (he had a conference call from 5-6 which meant he didn't leave until 6:20), and dinner is just a difficult time of the day for me with 3 kids bouncing off the walls, including one who thinks she should have my attention at all times (did I mention we're going through a tempermental stage with her?).  So we went the easy route and picked up Burgerville hamburgers through the drive through.  Everyone was happy, well fed, with minimal mess.  Scott and I are planning a nice dinner out this weekend so we'll save the romance for then.

something special for valentine's day

Last year (or maybe 2 years ago), sometime before Valentine's Day this "commercial" aired on SNL.  If you did not see it you are really missing out.  Just watch.

Scott and I laughed and laughed for days after watching this.  It was so perfectly put together and the narration is what soo gets you.  And then for v-day last year Scott did in fact get me a teddy bear holding a heart.  I loved it.  Not necessarily the actual bear (it was donated to Goodwill some time ago), but the joke and how it has lived on.  Humor is just about the best thing in a marriage, don't you think?

And an observation from today.  I stopped by the grocery store at 8:00am to pick up one thing.  During that short amount of time I couldn't believe the number of men I saw coming in and out of the store purchasing flowers, chocolates, and teddy bears (most likely holding a heart).

Well, happy valentines day to everyone!

conner can ski

dad, this was the best day ever

Those were Conner's words to Scott Friday night.  It was an all day father-son bonding extravaganza.  The boys had a total blast and were so happy to spend all this fun time with dad.  So here's what happened.

part 1:  ski

Last year Scott took Conner skiing twice.  He did lessons both times -- one day was great, another day was not as great.  So Scott wanted to take Conner up to the mountain, forgo the lesson, and see if he could just figure it out.

And he did!  (look for a video post later) When they came home Conner was bouncing all over the place and Scott was just ecstatic that he would be able to share this hobby with Conner.  So excited that on Saturday we even went to REI and purchased new skis for Scott to replace the ones he's had for 15 years. 

Scott started skiing when he was 12 years old and it's something he loved doing with his dad and brothers as they were growing up.  But as much as he loves to ski he's not the kind of person to leave us (his family) for an entire day to go skiing by himself.  So to have Conner really enjoy it was a huge deal.  He's just so happy that this will be something they can do together (and hopefully Payton will love it too when he starts lessons next year).

part 2:  monster jam

You read that correctly . . . Monster Jam.  This week Scott won 3 tickets in a drawing at work.  Holy cow the boys had so much fun.  And Scott had so much fun -- he said it was just wild.

Our kids do not know how to use binoculars.

Scott says that he must be a redneck now that he has taken his kids to Monster Jam.

They got home at 10:15pm, totally exhausted from a totally fun day.  I'm so glad that Scott took this day to be with the boys.  He really is a great dad and I love that he remembers to make time for us and always fights for a healthy family life when many other things are pulling on his time.  I know that the boys really appreciate every minute of "dad time" that they get.

valentine's cards

Last week I decided we would get a jump on things and make Valentine's cards for the boys' class parties.  I don't know why the idea came.  Because really, Valentine's day always sneaks up on me and I am never prepared.  Which, you would think that for a holiday that celebrates all that is pink I'd be a little more psyched up about it.  Every year the day passes largely uncelebrated and I tell myself that I'm going to do better next time.  So this year I've made a few baby steps.

I came up with a few ideas for the v-day cards, laid everything out, and told the boys exactly what we were going to do.  So much for letting their individual creativity flow, right.  I call it "controlled creativity".  They got to rip the papers, decide if they wanted to put them inside the heart or on the line of the heart.  And they got to pick their paint colors and stamp it themselves.  I think the cards turned out pretty cute.  They also got to put some stickers on the back -- you would have thought they'd died and gone to heaven.

And I'm trying to get double duty out of the cards by placing a few of them on the mantle for "decoration".  I soo want to add a little decoration for valentines, but Christmas seems to have taken that drive out of me.  (You also must realize that I've still got a "welcome santa" sign on my front door).

And for the first time ever I have little gifts and love notes for all four of my valentines.  Won't they be surprised!

oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

a Ghirardelli recipe

• 1 1/4 cups margarine, at room temp.
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups unsifted flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 3 cups uncooked oats
• 12 oz. bag chocolate chips (we highly recommend using milk chocolate chips)

Cream margarine with sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg & vanilla.

Stir flour with baking soda, salt, and spices; add to creamed mixture.  Stir in oats. Fold in chocolate chips.

At 375, bake 8-9 minutes for chewy cookie, 10-11 minutes for crip cookie.

Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet before transfering to cooling rack.  Makes 4-5 dozen.

better than presents

4 year old boy

Yesterday was Payton's 4th birthday.  Boy, he is getting so big.  At one point Scott and I were watching him play and almost at the same time we said, "he looks so big today."  He's in preschool, he's finally a sunbeam, and now he's 4 years old -- definitely growing up.

Around each of my kids' birthdays I try to get a few good pictures of them.  Payton does not do so well being posed or told to "say cheese."  So I knew I would just have to find a spot with good lighting (this time it was on my bed), let him play, and click away.  I also made him a cute t-shirt (with iron-ons) that says "it's my birthday" with a big "4" in the middle.  Initially he did not like the idea of wearing it, or showing it to anyone so he's wearing his jacket in a lot of the pictures -- trying to cover it up.  As things went on he got more comfortable with it, took his jacket off, and at the end of the day he even wore the t-shirt to bed because he liked it so much.

I did a little q&a with Payton last night and here are some of his answers:

• fav color:  grey -- although every single other time he's told me it is red & yellow
• fav shape:  pentagon
• fav tv show:  wow! wow! wubzy
• fav game:  marble run (inside), baseball (outside)
• fav food:  ice cream (only because he's eating it at the time of questioning)
• fav breakfast:  cheerios
• fav ice cream:  green - he says, "it tastes like strawberries"
• what he wants to be when he grows up:  a Transformer (answer fed to him by his brother Conner)

Payton is a boy of few words -- when he is done having a conversation he let's you know.  But on the other hand some of the funniest things we have ever heard have come out of his little mouth.

He loves his brother and sister and he loves having friends to play with. 

He is a builder -- whether it be blocks or duplos or mr. potato head.

His favorite part about having hot chocolate is when I spray whipped cream on top and he gets to watch "the smoke".

He loves to watch the garbage truck, play in the backyard (even if it's by himself), ride his tricycle (terrorizing Conner on his bike by getting dangerously too close), and watch tv with his baby blanket (called "blankie" or "bungo").

He has a smile and laugh that instantly energizes the room.

Everyday he brings me his shoes, placed side by side, and asks me "is this the right way?" even though I think he already knows.

Everyday I get to hear him yell at the top of his lungs, "Mom!  Can you please wipe my bum?"

He loves receiving attention (you can see it in his eyes and sheepish grin), but often tries to play it off and act cool.

He loves to play games, bath time, family home evening, and snack time.

Happy Birthday Payton, we love you!