Success in the kitchen!

It is SO rare that I cook something that is both delicious and healthy, that I actually had to blog about it! Yesterday for dinner I used our wonderful Alaskan ULU knife/board
to make some good chicken stir fry. I got this as a present from my parents a while back and it is wonderful. I highly recommend it to anyone who cooks anything! So, the next time it is your birthday and someone asks you what you want, say, "An Alaskan ULU knife". You'll thank me, I promise. I cut up some broccoli, zucchini, and asparagus that I had in the fridge from our Bountiful Baskets produce co-op that we get every other week. I also cut up some chicken. Then, I cooked them all together with olive oil, some garlic pepper (thanks Susan), a sprig of Rosemary from my front yard that I crushed up, and the juice of lemon from our back yard (aren't I resourceful!). It really was tasty and healthy too!

Well, I'll leave with a few more funny things Josh the Honest has said lately. We were eating dinner and he said, "Do you know what I wish was never invented?" "What?" I asked. "Soup," he replied, so matter-of-factly. We weren't even having soup.

At FHE, we were discussing happiness and things that make us happy long-term versus short-term, so I asked the kids "What are some things that make you happy?" Eden says: "Friends, Family". Teya: "Candy". Josh: "Going to bed without any underwear on".

Oh to live in that head for a day -- what an adventure! He just brought home a stellar report card, though -- all 'exceeds expectations' in ALL areas. I guess we'll keep him!

catching up

It is catch up time on the blog. I know you all so anxiously await my each and every post, so sorry to have kept you waiting!

Here are some fun photos of the kids at a recent soccer day. Our Saturdays are simply filled with soccer, but they love it!




I swear, Teya refuses to smile for the camera -- that is the only pose this stage of her life is going to show. Isn't her new haircut cute, though? I love it. Eden got a cute new cut too. If only she cared about doing her hair in the morning....

Here are just a few ramblings about our life these days.

Dave and I went on a diet together. It's been a week and I've already cheated about 5 times. oops. Dave only lasted 3 days. We were both so grumpy because we were hungry that I'm glad he 'stopped', for our kids' sake. Of course, he did lose two pounds and I lost nothing. Oh, the cruelty. (I guess I did cheat, but still, I work out every day too. that should count for something!)

Speaking of working out, I started yet another class at the gym called "Dance Jam". We learn a choreographed routine to the latest hip songs on the radio. It is a workout! so tiring, but FUN. We are jumping and sliding and popping all around doing these routines to "Hot & Cold" or Beyonce or even Britney. It is tons of fun and a few weeks ago, I got the routine of the day down enough that when he asked for someone to lead the class, I volunteered! I don't have a dancing bone in my body and I'm such a white chick, but I got up on the 'stage' and led everyone in the routine! Can you believe it!

Josh continues to entertain us with his blatant honesty and observations. As were driving home from Stake Conference a few weeks ago (granted, it was hard to hear in the very back where we were sitting), he said, "Well, that was the most boring thing ever!"

The other night after his bath he said, "Sometimes when I get water up my bum, I fart bubbles." Speaking of that certain sound, he has discovered how to make it with his armpit and now walks around shirtless all day so he can have easy access to his pits to make that silly sound. boys will be boys. I guess.

He also told me the other day, "Mom, if you ever get the chance to hold a centipede, DON'T. They are poisonous." Thanks.

Well, my sleep patterns are SO erratic (3 hours one night, 2 hours the next, 13 hours the next -- playing catch up). Yesterday I was juicing oranges (just trying to get rid of them!) and I was so tired that I said out loud, "I'm standing asleep falling up". It made perfect sense to me.

I'm trying a new medicine tonight. Hope it works. Alright, enough rambling.

I'll end with a VERY exciting occurrence in our house: Teya went #2 in the potty! It was during scripture study tonight and so I told her we'd just read loud so she could hear. In between 'grunting', she'd shout out, "Louder -- I can't hear you!". It was so cute and we were so happy for her! Hope it holds out!

now THAT was embarrassing

Okay. It has been a week since this happened, so I can blog about it without cringing.

So, for anyone who knows me, you know I struggle to sleep each night. This is nothing new, but lately I've been in a bad funk and have gone to bed at about 3 a.m. on average.

Anyways, last week one night I went to bed at 5 a.m. and was up at 7:30 a.m. to get the kids off to school. I then got a few things done and by about 10:00 a.m. I was ready to go back to bed. Teya was not feeling well, so she hadn't slept well either. So, we put on her favorite movie and I went upstairs, still in my pj's and went back to bed. Teya kept calling me for this and that (she wanted cinnamon toast. I got back up and obliged; her movie was skipping, I went down and fixed it). Finally, I was actually asleep. I heard Teya calling me yet again, but I chose to ignore it. I could hear that her movie was playing, and just stayed in bed. She kept saying, "Mom, come down here". But, I was asleep. Then, all of a sudden I hear this REALLY loud noise against my bedroom window coming from outside. Over and over again. I first thought the woodpeckers had gotten reinforcements, but then I realized it was against the glass. I opened the blinds to see this pool repair guy standing there with a big ball from our yard throwing it against my window.

I quickly grabbed a sweatshirt and went downstairs. ( I had called for a repair three days earlier and he said he would be there the next day, so I was expecting him a few days earlier). Now, this guy is now a firefighter for the city of Mesa and just does some pool work on the side. When I went down, Teya said, "Mom, I said to come down -- there is someone here". (hadn't caught that part, Teya!). So, I went outside and he said, "I was getting worried! I'd been listening to your daughter calling to you for 10 minutes and I was afraid you were sick or hurt and I was about to come in there and see if you were okay".

I smiled and explained that Teya was sick so we'd been up a lot of the night. He was very kind and having kids of his own said he understood. Inside I was SO embarrassed. After he left (after fixing our pool wonderfully) I began to realize how bad it could have been. Can't you just see the local news headlines, "Firefighter breaks down door to rescue abandoned three-year old, just to find mom sleeping upstairs at 11 in the morning".

bribe gone bad

We are really trying to get Teya potty-trained. Last night we could tell she needed to go #2, so I rushed her into the bathroom and sat her down, and stayed with her, reading her a story, and holding her hand. She won't stay in there by herself. I even bribed her with ice-cream if she went.

Well, 20 minutes later, no luck. So, we got her diaper back on and went to finish dinner. She ate her dinner so well that I gave her a little bit of ice cream along with the rest of us.

About 10 minutes later when she was supposed to be brushing her teeth, she ran to the top of the stairs and cried out, "Mommy, I'm poopy! And I already ate all my ice cream!" and ran back to her room.

What a little stinker -- in more ways than one!