Finally...

Okay all you non journal writers out there. You know how it feels when you know you should be recording your life as it flies by and the longer you wait, you feel more and more guilty until you never want to think about it again - well, that's how I have been feeling. There is so much I could have put on here. In fact, I am so nutty, I write blogs in my head as my days go by but they never seem to make it to the computer.


So, there is no way to catch up on the past many months. Lets just say that I was pretty miserable and had enough problems at the end of my pregnancy that my childbearing years have probably come to a close. I have my wonderful Matthew - our caboose - who will be fine at the end. He is doing great and we are happy to have him in our family. I will post a picture of him here.





Here are few more pictures of highlights of our summer so far. We went camping, I cut of the tip of my finger with a hatchet. My finger is growing back now just fine. We had an awesome family reunion at the cabin, and we went to the cabin with Ryan's brother Jared. This weekend we are going with some friends. And then school is starting up again. Jacob turned 6 a few days ago, Cameron turned 4 a month and a half ago.


Time flies.....

















A patch of snow that the kids found on a hike up the spruces. They had a snowball fight! We got to go to Lagoon as part of an american express thing on Cameron's birthday.











My lego cake I made for Jacob's birthday. Basically, a 9x13 cake cut into thirds and then one third cut into half again. The bumps are large marshmallows cut in half and frosted. The cake was a hit!











Can I say sibling rivalry? Check out Matthew's face on that picture above... I think he senses it!

















Swim lessons this year at our awesome outdoor pool!!!


Okay, one last picture.


This last picture is of the black widow and her TWO egg sacs we found when cleaning out the garage. To give you a size reference, the egg sacs were the size of small marbles...





Good thing we had a neighbor whose son in law was visiting and had been to scout camp. He used the-hairspray-and-match-to-torch-the-spider-to-death method. It worked. All I know is there were several fireballs coming from the corner of my garage and then he picked up the egg sacs and squashed them. I had the creepies for days!




And what does Matthew think of all of this? Answer in the poll in the left margin!


My vote is...


He thinks... "what kind of crazy family did I come to?"


I hope it is a fun crazy family at least!

Stress Stress Stress

Most days have some element of stress in them. Then I have days of overwhelming stress. Today is one of those days. And while I am musing about the source of my stress, I thought writing would be helpful. So here we go... Why am I feeling such huge stress today?

Could it be….

The capes I have to get done from start to finish and get mailed today, not only the busiest day of the year at the post office, but on a Monday which I am advised to avoid year round by my friends at the post office. (they are my friends now because I see them all the time.)

The last minute project for Brandon that he can’t procrastinate another day? This would be to make an Egyptian food and bring it for the class. It was actually due 1 ½ weeks ago... but like I said about the procrastination. Now we chose a recipe that shouldn’t be too stressful – If I didn’t have about an inch of milk left in our last milk carton. (I didn’t realize I was out of milk until this morning). So, we are going to have to head to the store to get the milk and little cups, THEN get the stuff made and taken to the school before 12:00.

Our house smells like the fish we ate last night for dinner. Normally this would be unusual, but we didn’t get around to doing the dishes last night. Waking up to a fish smell when you are pregnant… wow. Nothing to make you feel better!

I forgot to take my pills last night before going to bed. The effects are pretty immediate.

Before I take a shower I need to go digging for my laundry. I have had to do this for about a week now, as well as the rest of my family. My kids need help finding socks, Ryan and I don’t have garments. I am out of pants. My laundry has been in the process of getting done but I haven’t had the time to finish and then sort it. And in the process, it looks like I haven't done anything because the laundry multiplies while we all sleep.

My bathroom that I will shower in that hasn’t been cleaned for about a month… (I can’t believe I am admitting this.)

My boys’ sideburns that desperately need to be trimmed. I had to help Brandon try to tuck his behind his ears now for two mornings in a row. Ryan had 2 job interviews last week with “wings” as I call them (side of hair long and flowing).

While I am at the store – should I get the milk, butter and bread that we are totally out of? How about the shampoo Brandon said he is completely out of? (Of course he doesn’t tell me until the moment he is all the way out. Typical male.) Can I allow myself to buy this a Maceys or do I HAVE to make a trip to Walmart?

Rachael’s first dance recital is tonight. She will want everything perfect. :)

All the little things… the girls activity day pictures I was supposed to have turned in yesterday, that I stayed up too late last night, that Jacob took 20 minutes in the bathroom “brushing his teeth” to tell me he can’t put the toothpaste on the toothbrush. You know, kid things.

By the way… Jacob’s constant question he keeps asking me (besides what day is it, is it a Nintendo and TV day, and is what he is eating healthy or not healthy) is what does Lode in Lode Runner mean? Does anyone know? I keep trying to put him off and tell him I don’t know because I don’t play that game. But he keeps asking.

Crazy Crazy Crazy

Just wish me luck! And then come clean my bathroom and do my laundry! :)

The truth about bovines

Well, blame my schedule I guess... I haven't written for some time. Life is busy and only going to get busier! Ryan and I and the fam went on a trip to Washington State to visit his family, many of which live in a little city called Cheney. While there, I learned how I have been lied to my entire life about a very important subject. Not only have these tales of falsehood come from books, movies, family and even TEACHERS, but they are ingrained in even the youngest of children. Hang on to your buttons... what I am about to reveal may be shocking to many of you.

Did you know a cow cannot be male? Yes, that is true. A cow is only female. I know I know... sounds fishy, but it is true. You may wonder how this is possibly correct when obviously more cows are produced all the time. (biology... 7th grade) However, I learned that in the species of bovines, female bovines are called cows. You milk them, they have babies. If you want a male bovine, you want a bull or steer. The difference between a bull and steer is that a steer is a fixed bull. (Meaning he can't reproduce) When ranchers (very different from farmers, but another story) have their fields of bovines, they have many cows so those cows can produce milk and make more cows, and only ONE bull. That is because at a ranch, bulls are very um... territorial and well - polygamy is practiced in those fields in abundance. The rest of the bovines that are born, kept, and male, are fixed so as to not encroach on the "king bull's" territory. Those are the source of meat we eat. (raised and then sold for hamburgers and steak and roasts - YUM!)

Another interesting fact - You can tell the type of cow and the milk it will give by the coloring of the cows. Now my in-laws explained this complicated system to me and the only thing I can remember is that holstein cows are black and white and they produce milk with higher cream content - used to make ice cream and stuff. But there are actually 3 kinds of cows that produce 3 different kinds of milk and are used for 3 different types of food - from the milk we drink to the ice cream we eat. And I asked what happens if there is a mixed breed (like only half holstein cow half another kind). That question obviously had never been asked before and after getting odd looks they told me that doesn't happen. Hey - why not? If you can have mutts and mixed breeds of all other animals, why not cows and steer? But I guess that doesn't happen in the world of bovines.

So I thought about this subject for a long time. Why do they call all bovines cows when we are little? Did I only learn about female bovines my entire life? Now that the knowledge has settled in, I was teaching nursery today and we were singing Old Mac Donald had a farm. I picked a 'bovine' (aka cow) to sing about next and had to stop myself. Will those nursery kids understand if I give them a lesson that Old Mac Donald actually had a bovine and we sing it that way? How do we know that he only had cows and not steer too? Do steer not moo? It's a sexist world if you ask me. And now I have to contribute to it! But when opportunity arises, I will be sure to explain the difference and do my part in correcting this wrong that those of us average intelligence have been told. Think about that next time you pass a field of ... bovines!

"Going" to eat jelly bellies

Okay, so I like Jelly Bellies. I like them because there is all this variety of taste in these little pieces of candy. It is fun to open a big Costco size container and grab a handful and see what you get. My problem is that I enjoy eating one at a time to experience the flavor burst - which is usually a mystery. BUT I find myself getting anxious reading email or listening to the kids fight and will find myself popping 3 or 4 in my mouth at the same time. Now this normally wouldn't be a problem if they were all fruit flavored, but I think a few minutes ago, I ate a coffee, cinnamon, cherry, and peanut flavored together. It was definitely a flavor burst - but not necessarily a pleasant one. So I think to myself - okay I will eat these two red ones together. BAD IDEA! Red is one of the worst ones to guess on. I ended up with cinnamon and either apple or cherry (the cinnamon was a little strong) in my mouth. So, back to being forced to eat one at a time in case of a mishap or poor choice in flavor combinations.

Brandon told me a few months ago how a lot of the kids in his grade were going on dates. I was pretty surprised to hear it because hey - if your mode of transportation is a scooter, bike, or skateboard, how much fun can you really have? And hey, do parents really let their kids disappear for hours without wondering where they are? (probably)

So after asking him further about it, he was saying he heard lots of kids asking if someone of the opposite sex will "go with" them. I think he assumes this is a date (which he knows is not allowed). I remember that phrase being used in middle school, but I was 14, not 11. So, today he told me that this girl came and told him he should ask her friend to "go out" with him. I asked him what he said and he said it was right after school so he said he didn't know and ran to the van to ask me what he should do. See, the problem is that I think he really does like this girl, and is totally confused at what it means to "go out" or "go with" a girl. And he should be. I asked him what that would mean. Does that mean that if he was "going" with this girl he would be expected to hold her hand or call her on the phone? Do I want girls calling Brandon on the phone? (NO NO NO!!!) So we had a chat about how it really would be better to just get to know this girl and be good friends. Plus if it didn't last (I chuckled inside because - yeah like it would last) how awkward it would be to break up and then you wouldn't want to talk to her and it would just ruin things. Hopefully I have enough influence to keep him making the right decisions. If not, then let the games begin! I will have Brandon so busy at home he won't have time to think about girls. (he he he - evil laugh) :) What has this world come to if these kids are doing these things this early!

Yummmmm!

Okay, so tonight was one of those nights... Ryan came home at 6:00 as Brandon was leaving for scouts and I had been doing capes all afternoon so I hadn't had time to cook anything. I love breakfast at dinner as long as it is hearty and filling enough to get through bedtime. I pulled out one of my favorite breakfast recipes and remembered how much I love it, and so I decided to post it to all my bloggers. By the way, it was given to me by a good friend Labretta Woodland, who is a fantastic cook.

French Toast

Toast:
2 eggs
1/2 c. french vanilla coffee creamer (liquid, not the powder) Well worth buying this ingredient!

1 TB vanilla

Make french toast - you know the drill.

Syrup: (the best part!)
1/2 c. real butter
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. buttermilk (or milk soured with lemon juice for a couple minutes)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter over medium heat. Add sugar and buttermilk; bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add baking soda and vanilla, then stir. The syrup will begin to froth when the baking soda is added. Make sure not to make the syrup to soon before the toast is ready or it will loose its froth. (You can reheat syrup in the microwave)

So, if you want to impress a visitor, or make a special dinner, try this recipe. We call the syrup "butter syrup" and my kids LOVE it!