Al's Audibles

Family Letter -- 1/23/12-1/29/12

2012-01-29T23:09:00.001-07:00

Well look at me getting this letter done early! It has been quite a week. The first half of the week was very difficult for me. Ada and Kate have been fighting a lot and I just couldn't handle it. Kate has been especially difficult. She is quite the crazy 3-year-old. I was almost at a breaking point on Tuesday night. I was ready to kick this healthy living stuff to the curb. Somehow I resisted temptation. On Wednesday night I told Tyler that I really needed a break from the kids or I was going to go crazy. I was seriously about to have a mental breakdown. Well, Korrin was a Godsend. The next day she called me and said that her girls really wanted to play with Ada and Kate. She invited them over on Friday afternoon. She totally saved the day! Even though the fighting didn't really stop, the last half of the week was much more bearable for me.

Kate had to stay home from school on Monday because she was sick. That night we had a lot of errands to run so we decided to eat dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Ada had been begging to go on a Monday night because they have a magician do magic tricks for the kids. To her disappointment, there was no magician but we still enjoyed ourselves and our food.

The next few days were the toughest for me. I don't really have much else to say about them.

I'd been putting it off, but on Thursday I had to go to Target for some errands and I had to take all three kids. Lyla was an angel but the other two struggled, especially Kate. I was starting to get really annoyed when we all noticed a (not-so-) little girl on the floor throwing a huge tantrum. Ada and Kate quieted down and just stared. This girl was seriously screaming and flailing. Her poor mom was trying to ignore her but then finally picked her up. The girl continued to scream for several minutes and my girls kept quiet on their own accord after that. I must say that I felt much better! Things can always be worse. I went visiting teaching for an hour before and an hour after Target, so it was a long day away from home. It would have been a nice break except that Kate was not nice to my companion's poor little 1-year-old girl. She does not do well with kids younger than she is.

Friday was a good day. I got to go to Ada's kindergarten class to spotlight her. My sweet friend Vanessa stayed with the little girls at home while I went. Since Ada's birthday is in July, she got to be the Star of the Week this week. She got to be the line leader all week and was very proud of that. I made a poster about Ada and talked to her class about her. We read her favorite book, Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog by Dr. Seuss. We also handed out treats to the class. She wanted Skittles, but the only fun-size ones at the store came in a bag with Starbursts also. Well, every single kid wanted Skittles and there were only about six packs in the whole bag! I felt bad turning them all down. I hope they enjoyed their Starbursts. That afternoon is when Korrin watched the kids and Lyla and I ended up sleeping the entire three hours that they were there! It was wonderful. That night Tyler picked up Chinese food for dinner and got a movie for us all to watch. I think this is only about the second time we watched a movie together as a family. The girls wanted The Smurfs. We popped some corn and watched away. It was pretty lame but Ada and Kate enjoyed it. They thought it was hilarious.

Ada was invited to another birthday party on Saturday. This was her first party of someone that she met at school. She had a great time with all her school friends. I forced Kate to take a nap that afternoon because she had been waking up way too early and was not pleasant to be around. Luckily she obliged and it made the rest of the day much better. We all went to our niece Reese's birthday party at Jungle Jim's in Midvale. It was lots of fun for the girls. I got to sneak away for a bit to use up an Old Navy Groupon that expired that day. I wish I could go shopping by myself more often! A little retail therapy is always good for the soul. After the party we decided to go to IKEA to get stuff for the toy room. Morgan and Jordan joined us. We ate dinner there and made some good purchases. I could spend all day in that place! I was originally planning in watching the BYU/St. Mary's game that night but after hearing the outcome I wasn't sad I missed it. Tyler and I were originally planning on staying up until midnight like we did the week before so we could enjoy some sweets (Sunday is our free day for the healthy living contest) but I was just too tired to do it. Kate actually stayed in her bed all night but Lyla had a bad night and kept me up a lot. I'm actually not minding 1:00 church because I was able to sleep in until 10:30 or so today.

Church was good, but it's hard with a baby. Lyla was struggling. She's loud even when she isn't crying. I have a feeling that it will only get worse as she gets older. Dinner was fun at Mom and Dad's tonight though. I made black bottom cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for dessert and they were delish. Dad had found lots of our old books and had us sort through them and take the ones we wanted. It was fun looking through them. I grabbed a bunch and tonight I started reading Ramona the Pest to Ada. I can't wait to read them all! Oh, the memories.

This week looks to be another busy one with the Petersons coming to town. I can't wait!

Little Ly

2012-01-27T12:09:00.013-07:00

Family Letter -- 1/16/12-1/22/12

2012-01-23T22:48:00.000-07:00

Oh, another week has come and gone. I'm getting better at this letter thing--I'm actually documenting a few days earlier than I normally do! Not much happened last week. On Tuesday night I went to a Relief Society activity while Tyler watched kids in the nursery. There was one other guy helping him and there were 19 kids in there! It was a popular activity because a former contestant from The Biggest Loser came to talk to us. She was really cool and said lots of good things. If you want to be healthy and/or lose weight, a diet isn't going to cut it. You need to change your lifestyle. She lost 125 pounds from the show but she still exercises for two hours a day and consumes around 1200 calories to maintain her new weight. She has completely changed her eating habits and is healthier and happier than ever. She looks great!

I actually got out of the house a few times on Wednesday during the day. Lyla and I went to Target while the girls were at school. After they got home, we all went to pick up some prescriptions and to the library. The kids had fun picking out lots of books and I picked up some books for book club. It was nice to get away and the girls were actually really good, even though Ada didn't want to go. She is a total homebody.

On Thursday night, Tyler took Ada and Kate to a Utah basketball game while Ly and I went to book club. I love book club. There are eight of us and we meet once a month to hang out and discuss a book. We discussed 'Mrs. Mike' and then it was my turn to pick the next book. I chose 'Mrs. Dalloway' by Virginia Woolf. I've never read it, so I hope it's good. I stayed out way too late but had lots of fun with my friends.

Ada went to a birthday party on Friday evening so the rest of us decided to get out. We decided to eat dinner at Village Inn since Kate loves pancakes so much. Ada has been invited to so many birthday parties but Kate hasn't been invited to any without Ada also being invited. We thought we better do something special for Kate so she wouldn't feel bad about not getting to go. I would have preferred to get ice cream or something, but Tyler and I aren't eating sweets during the week. The food was okay (really, what can you expect from Village Inn, right?). Kate started getting sick that night, so she really didn't have the best time. Ada had fun at her party, though. They all wore pajamas and had their nails and makeup done, ate dinner, decorated cupcakes, and watched a movie. Something monumental happened that night: all three kids slept through the night! It was glorious. It hasn't happened since, but it gave me a little bit of hope. Kate was doing pretty well at staying in her bed until she got sick. I hope Lyla starts sleeping through the night again soon.

Tyler got a lot of painting done on Saturday. The toy room is coming along slowly but surely. I can't wait until it's all finished. I pretty much sat around and watched basketball most of the day. I did get the bathroom cleaned at least.

Kate informed us on Sunday morning that her ear hurt. While Ada, Lyla, and I went to church, Tyler took Kate to an Instacare-type place to get her checked out. Sure enough, she has an ear infection and is on antibiotics. Besides her ear, she's had a fever and a cough. I really hope nobody else get this, especially Lyla. Kate and Ada can't keep their hands off of her despite the fact that I tell them to a million times a day. I always end up getting mad at them and then they get their feelings hurt. Anyway, we watched some football and were sad at the outcomes of both games. I'm not excited about the Patriots and Giants playing in the Superbowl. I wish they could both lose!

Tyler and I are going strong with our healthy lifestyles challenge, though I've had a harder time doing it this week. I've stayed strong, though. I even turned down pie at book club.

Lyla has always wanted to eat at least every two hours. Last week I started feeding her about 2 1/2 hours and it's gone pretty well. She still cries a lot. She won't take a binky. She likes to use me as one instead or suck on her fist. I tried a few different kinds of them last week but it was to no avail. Ada and Kate were obsessed with their binkies, so this is new to me. At least I won't have to worry about weaning her from one when she's older.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable week. Ciao.

Family Letter -- 1/9/12-1/15/12

2012-01-18T21:57:00.002-07:00

Last week was a pretty uneventful week. Tyler worked on the toy room as much as he could and I did my usual mom stuff. On Monday we watched Alabama kick LSU's butts. I'll miss college football. I did do one thing out of the ordinary, though—I went and played church basketball! Our ward had eight people show up and the other ward had zero, so we did a little 4-on-4 scrimmage. I am sorely out of shape and not very good, but it was fun to run around. I think I'll plan on going again!

Tyler and I have been doing very well on our healthy lifestyle challenge. All of us have been eating much healthier for the most part. The girls have been enjoying lots of fruit. The other day I found Ada and Kate eating handfuls of spinach and lettuce. This isn't uncommon for Ada, but for Kate it's monumental! I have really embraced this thing. For lunches, I usually eat salad with lots of veggies, beans, cottage cheese, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. They're really good! Thanks to Ang for introducing me to them. I made up a muffin recipe by throwing a bunch of stuff together. I didn't measure any ingredients, so I hope I can recreate them sometime. I used a little canola oil, brown sugar, honey, eggs, baking soda, salt, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, oats, applesauce, shredded zucchini, walnuts, and raisins. They were good! Kate ate five the next day! They were good for snacks. I've also been eating fruit or nuts instead of treats for snacks. For breakfast I've been eating either oatmeal or Kashi cereal. A lot less crap is being consumed by the Squire family! I hope we can all continue these habits.

Kate's nights of not sleeping with Tyler were short lived. She started climbing in bed with him again. Lyla still wakes up in the night too, so between the two of them we haven't been getting the best sleep!

On Saturday we enjoyed watching some NFL games (well, at least one game was enjoyable). Tyler kept giving up on the 49ers but I kept telling them that there was plenty of time to come back. That night we went to eat at Five Guys (not healthy, but not against the rules either). It was fun to spend the whole day together.

I taught my first Relief Society lesson on Sunday. The lesson was 'Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself' from the George Albert Smith manual. I was able to use a story from Grandpa Dickson's journal in the lesson. It was from a time he met Pres. Smith. I think the lesson went pretty well. Tyler came to listen and gave me a few pointers that I hope will help. It's nice that I only have to worry about this calling once a month! Sunday night we ate dinner at Mom & Dad's and we brought dessert. Since we only eat dessert once a week now we wanted it to be good. I made Fudgy Cocoa Brownies and hot fudge sauce and Tyler helped me make peppermint ice cream. It was all so good but I felt so sick after I ate it! I guess my body is getting used to less sugar. Perhaps I'll have to eat smaller portions next time.

Kate has taken a new interest in drawing, just like her sister. She can now draw people and draws them all the time. It's the cutest thing! I keep trying to help her learn to write her name but she doesn't seem interested. I think it will come soon. She has a pretty easy name.

I think I jumped the gun when I said that Ada's tantrums were over. She's had some bad moments lately, but at least they're milder and shorter than her former ones. She's a good helper, though. She's been really good about cleaning up after herself.

Lyla is still sweet but fussy. She's sleeping a little bit longer when I set her down at least. I am loving her name more and more. It always takes me a while to feel like I picked the right name, but Lyla's is feeling good! Maybe it's because it's so easy to use nicknames with her. I love calling her Ly, Lyla Ly, Little Ly, My Ly, and Lysqui. I just love her.

Well, it's adieu for another week. Peace out.

Birthdays

2012-01-13T15:02:00.009-07:00

I've been meaning to make this post for MONTHS. So, we all have summer birthdays (except, now, Lyla) and I thought I'd put them all into one big post.

It was a big year for us. It started off with me turning the big 3-0 in June. I actually had a hard time with this! The night before was especially difficult. Well, Tyler decided to plan a surprise party with our families a few days before. I thought I was going to the temple with the Primary presidency. Margo picked me up and on the way, asked me to run into Lorena's to pick up a quesadilla for her because she didn't have time to eat dinner. She gave me money, I ran in, and the lady lead me to the back. I thought that was strange, but suddenly there was a loud 'SURPRISE' and there were all these people I knew staring at me! It was the weirdest feeling! Tyler (and Margo) did a great job. We ate, I opened presents (including a Kindle from Tyler), and Tyler whipped out some cupcakes from Mini's. My favorite! It was a pleasant evening.

The next night we went to dinner with just our little family, and the day after that was my actual birthday. We ate breakfast at Kneaders, went bowling, and went to a family reunion for the Squire family, where we swam and ate pizza. On the way home, we stopped for some Red Mango. Then, to top it all off, Tyler made a delicious (and beautiful) chocolate cake for Sunday dinner the next night. Everything turned out great!

Now, to the girls. Their birthdays are both in July. We decided that they can't have a friend party every year, so we planned a combined family party for them. My grandpa happened to pass away on Kate's birthday, so all my family members were in town and able to join us for the festivities. All the kids went to Kangaroo Zoo and then everyone came to our house for pizza and treats. We decided on a Candy Land theme. I really only had a table full of candy for everyone, but everything else was colorful, from the tablecloths and plates to the rainbow cupcakes and ice cream cones. It was really windy, but fun to have everyone there.

Tyler turned 30 in August. He didn't want a big deal made out of his birthday, especially since I had a small surprise party for him at The Pizza Factory the year before. I made his traditional carrot cake, we ate at Texas Roadhouse with his parents, and he opened gifts. Pretty low key, but fun nonetheless.

Since our anniversary is also in July, our summers are always full of celebrations! Can't wait for this summer!

Family Newsletter -- 1/2/12-1/8/12

2012-01-10T21:50:00.002-07:00

Last week I failed to mention that Kate started going to Primary at church. She gave the opening prayer on her very first day and did a great job. Ada also gave the scripture that day. She recited Jacob 6:12 from memory.

It was nice to get back into the swing of things last week. Ada started school again on Tuesday and I started taking Christmas decorations down. There was a lot of drama that day, however. Ada pulled the Halloween candy out that had been on the shelf for weeks. I told them they could each eat one piece. I later tried taking a nap, but it didn't really happen because Ada and Kate couldn't stop fighting. Ada then came in and asked if she could have more candy. I said she couldn't because she'd already had some and because she and Kate were fighting too much. She kept begging and trying to open a piece right in front of me. I told her I'd throw all the candy away if she ate some. She left the room. I few minutes later I walked out and found both girls happily chomping on candy. I promptly got their buckets and took them downstairs to the big garbage can. When they realized what was happening they tried to talk me out of it, but they had been warned. They were both hysterically crying and I couldn't help but laugh. Lots of craziness then ensued, but things finally calmed down. I hope they learned their lesson!

Tyler and I started a healthy living challenge with most of his family members. We can get a possible five points every day: one point each for drinking 60 oz of water, eating at least four fruits and veggies, exercising for 20 minutes, refraining from treats, and accomplishing a personal goal. My goal is to eat more protein. The hardest thing for me last week was actually the exercising. I went walking with a friend one night but that was it. I've done much better this week so far. I have definitely been eating healthier and I think everyone in the family has also. I'm also trying to cut back on processed foods. We'll see how long we can go, but it's been really good for us thus far.

Saturday was a busy day. We all went to the Utah basketball game at noon. It was a close game that they lost. They seem to be improving--Tyler saw them get their first conference win on Thursday night. After the game, we went to University Hospital to visit Grandpa Bateman. He is recovering from triple bypass surgery. He is still in a lot of pain and can't get much sleep or eat much, but he seemed pretty good nonetheless. Marilyn, for some reason, couldn't stop talking about how beautiful his hair is. I got a kick out of that. As we were leaving, Alan and his entire family (minus Kim, who was working) showed up. It was good to see them, as it doesn't happen very often. We then grabbed some lunch and went to Home Depot to buy paint for the toy room. I picked out a light turquoise for most of the walls and a mustardy yellow for accents. I can't wait to see how it turns out. Morgan and Jordan then came over to hang out. Tyler had stacked all the new paint on the stairs in the basement, and when Morgan looked down to check on Brynlee, she found quite the sight: turquoise paint spilled at the bottom of the stairs! We all ran down and the can had tipped over and lost its lid. All I could do was just stand with my hand over my mouth. While trying to figure out what happened, we noticed Kate wasn't around, but there was crying coming from the spare bedroom. There was a trail of turquoise footprints leading to the room. We're still not quite sure how it happened, but Kate somehow knocked the can over. Her feet were covered in paint and there were plenty of footprints to illustrate it. Oh, what a night! Pictures will be posted soon. We cleaned up what we could but realized that we weren't going to get it out at the bottom of the stairs. We'll probably cover it with a rug until we can get new carpet. We really hate the carpet in our house, so we're not sad about that; we just wish we could replace it in the upstairs family room first! Oh well. We finished the night playing on the xBox Kinect. It's a lot of fun!

There's nothing else really noteworthy from our week. Here's to another eventful week (but hopefully with only good events this time)!

Family Letter - New Years Edition

2012-01-04T17:30:00.001-07:00

Last week was a pretty good week. We stayed home for most of the week. Tyler worked minimal hours and spent a lot of time working on our crawlspace. We are finishing it and making it into a play room. There's still a lot to do, but I'm amazed that Tyler knows everything that needs to be done and can do it all himself. He will probably do everything but the carpet.

Monday morning, Tyler took Ada and Kate to Kaysville to watch 'Puss in Boots' with his family. I didn't feel like taking Lyla to a movie, so we stayed behind and ended up going to Amy & Eric's house with Ang & Hyrum. It was great to see Becky, Seth, the Parrishes, the Hickersons, and the Wolfs. Ang & Hy had to stop by Fashion Place Mall on the way back, so I was able to get in my weekly Chick-Fil-A fix. :)

On Thursday night Tyler and I went to see 'Savior of the World' at the Conference Center. His brother was in it and it was one of the last nights to attend. We really enjoyed the show. Ang & Hy were kind enough to watch the girls while we went. Abby & Scott came over to hang out too. I was a little nervous about leaving Lyla for so long, but she was great. Kate, however, peed on the floor before she went to bed. Later that night, Ada peed the bed. Even later, after Kate climbed in bed to sleep by Tyler, she peed our bed! It was quite the night.

The next day, after watching a BYU bowl victory, Ang & Hy came to hang out one last time before flying back to Houston. Dude & Korrin and their girls hang out also. We ate pizza and hung out. I love hanging out with the Marstons and was sad to see them go. Who knows when we'll see them again. :(

We pretty much lounged around on NYE watching football until our annual party that night at the Spencer Dickson home. Tyler was very happy to see his Utes come away victorious. Abby got sick, so they were unable to join us for the party. They were missed. We ended up snacking, talking, playing Trivial Pursuit, and playing Catch Phrase. It was a pleasant evening. The little girls, however, had trouble getting to sleep and stayed up way too late. The only one who fell asleep (besides the babies) was Kate. Ada didn't get out of her sleeping bag, but she stayed awake as long as the rest of us. We usually try and predict who is going to die in the coming year. Nobody but me really said anyone this time. My prediction was Hulk Hogan. We'll have to see what the new year brings!

I decided to include some updates on the girls since I haven't been good at keeping up on the blog. I haven't really said anything about Lyla aside from her birth story. Here goes:

Lyla

-Lyla is such a sweet baby. Early on she started sleeping through the night. It was a blessing from heaven! Most mornings, she wouldn't wake up until after Ada left for school. I would then feed her and she'd go down long enough for me to work out and shower. Unfortunately, that stopped. She has done much better the last two nights, so let's hope she keeps it up!

-She really likes to be held. This makes it difficult for me to get anything done. I don't mind holding her, though. She is already getting too big! She's always been pretty fussy. I purchased a Baby Bjorn to help me get some stuff done since she usually cries when I set her down. The new swing she got for Christmas also helps for a while. I have figured out how to type while feeding her, though, so hopefully I can keep up the blog a bit better now.

-She loves to smile. She could smile very early on and after about five or so weeks she started smiling a ton. I love it. I'm usually greeted each morning with a huge, gummy grin.

-She puked a ton her first several weeks of life. This made for many extra loads of laundry. Luckily, this has passed. Kate would get really grossed out by it.

-She doesn't poop much, but when it comes, WATCH OUT! Her first blowout happened all over Grandpa Squire. She hasn't had too many since then, but they always seem to happen at inconvenient times, like when I'm hanging out with my friends.

Kate

-Kate has had an interesting time adjusting to having a baby sister. She got sick right when Lyla was born, so she didn't really pay much mind to her (though Lyla got sick at only two weeks old with a stuffy nose and ear infection). I thought that she was adjusting really well, but then realized that she was being extra naughty when I would feed the baby. She would provoke Ada and they would fight every. single. time. It was really frustrating! She has since settled down a bit. She's still my sweet Kate, but three is just a tough age. It's harder for me than two was. One thing that helped her adjust was that she somehow became a Daddy's Girl a few months before Lyla was born. This was a shock because she was so attached to me before. She's not terribly gentle with Lyla and likes to wake her up, but we haven't really had any big problems.

-Kate is LOVING preschool. She gets sad on the days she doesn't have it. She loves her friends there, especially Kayla, who happens to be the only other girl. I've loved seeing her learn new things, like the Pledge of Allegiance, the days of the week, and many different songs.

-She always makes us laugh. She has started to be scared of floaties in the bathtub. She named them morps and will not get in if she sees any. She doesn't want them to touch her. Ada has somehow convinced her that "red ones don't get us". Another thing that makes us laugh is that she refers to her grandmas as 'the grandma with Smokey' (my mom's cat) and 'the grandma that doesn't have Smokey'. She can't seem to keep them straight by their names.

-She has never been a great sleeper and would always get in bed with me at night. I would always wake up and put her back in bed. After she started preferring Tyler to me, she started climbing in bed with him. He is a very heavy sleeper, so she started sleeping in our bed every night. We're working on getting her to stay in bed and she has done okay. Tyler told her that he would pee on her if she slept by him, so now she's scared and just bugs me when she gets up. Hopefully we can end this habit soon!

Ada

-Ada is loving kindergarten. She has made lots of new friends and looks forward to going every day (if she can get out of bed). Her new best friend is Quinn. Today she was so excited to come home and tell me that Quinn has the same shirt and shoes that she was wearing today. She loves learning French and learning how to read.

-She is enjoying ballet more this year than she did last year. Their recital this year will be 'The Sea Fantasy' and Ada was happy to inform me that her class will be clown fish, "like Nemo". Late that day, though, she said, "I wonder if we'll have to wear red noses." She's a crack-up too!

-I am so happy to report that Ada's bad behavior is mostly in the past. She had a really bad episode yesterday (which I'll blog about later) that made me question this, but I'll blame it on the lack of sleep from NYE. She's probably my easiest child now. Phew! It was a long time coming. She's pretty good at cleaning up and obeying. She and Kate still do their share of fighting, but things are going well.

Family Letter - Christmas edition

2011-12-28T14:34:00.002-07:00

Last week was a great week. It started on Monday with Ang and Hyrum flying into town and stopping by for a visit. That night, Tyler wanted to go to the Utah basketball game as a family, but first we stopped to eat at Gourmandise since it was the last day to use our Groupon there. Unfortunately, it was very crowded with people also using their Groupons. The service there isn't the best (read: slow) and they had run out of my top two choices, so needless to say, we missed the game. Too bad for Tyler since it was probably his last chance to see his team win this season. :)

Tuesday night we invited the siblings over to hang out (the parentals couldn't make it). Korrin made her famous caramel corn and I made Swedish ginger cookies. The girls had fun with their cousins and we had fun talking and watching basketball. After the Dicksons left and the girls went to bed, we played Spades with the Marstons and Hewitsons. The girls kicked some major butt!

On Wednesday night we hung out with our friends Rachel and Steele. We'd never seen their new house, so we went over there and enjoyed pizza & pumpkin roll and laughed a lot. We always have so much fun with them. Their sons Ashton and Jackson are the same ages as Ada and Kate, so the kids had fun playing too.

Thursday night was Kate's preschool Christmas program. She was lucky to have my parents, Tyler's dad, and Angie & Hyrum come watch. She was so adorable with her curly hair and red dress. When it came time to say her part, she thought for a minute and said that her favorite part of Christmas was ice cream. Typical Kate! Everyone had a good laugh over that. All the kids looked so cute doing actions to the songs they sang.

On Friday morning the girls and I went to my friend Amber's house for brunch. Kim and Shano were also there. We had fun catching up and seeing each others' kids (and some spouses). I don't get together enough with my friends! That night Tyler and I decided to stay up late to assemble Christmas gifts so we wouldn't have to do it on Christmas Eve. We were up past 1 a.m., but glad we got it done.

Christmas Eve was filled with baking and getting ready for all the Christmas festivities. I made two pumpkin rolls and a chocolate peppermint one. On the way to the Squires', we stopped by my grandma's house to say hi. She had fun presents for the girls. Unfortunately, Kate was a little too tired and decided she liked Ada's gift better, so she had a major meltdown. Good times! We enjoyed our traditional candlelight dinner at Tyler's parents' house and then the kids acted out the nativity. We played the dice game that Tyler's mom always puts together, but she changed it up a little this year and we all enjoyed the change. We also opened sibling and grandkid gifts. It was a fun night. Tyler and I really enjoyed playing Santa when we got home. We just couldn't wait for the girls to see their stuff!

Kate was so funny on Christmas morning. She had fallen asleep in the car the night before, so she wasn't really prepped for what was to come. She was the first one awake and just wanted to go downstairs and play Candy Land. Ada soon woke up and was anxious to go down. We made sure to continue our tradition of reading Luke 2 together before we go see what Santa brought. Ada and Kate were so excited to see their gifts. They love their Barbie house and Ada said it was just what she wanted. Kate preferred to play with that than see her other presents. Lyla got a swing, Tyler got a bike, and I got clothes. Tyler surprised me with an ice cream/sorbet/frozen yogurt maker and had stuff all ready to make sorbet. He then surprised all of us with an Xbox and Kinect! We were really spoiled this year. We then got ready for 11:00 church. It was nice to go to church on Christmas and enjoy musical numbers and testimonies. I played the piano for a flash choir performance (they invited anyone who wanted to come up and sing). After church we went back to the Squires' to open more presents and eat lots of food. Then it was off to the Dicksons' for our traditional Honey Baked Ham dinner. After we ate, my brother read from Luke 2 and we had a little program. The bigger girls each did a talent. Ada sang the months of the year in French accompanied by a dance and Kate sang 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus' complete with actions. Ella sang and recited a poem and Grace sang. Grandma Dickson told a story and Grandma Bateman gave us all a good laugh by singing and dancing to a song from her Kindergarten-teaching days. We then opened presents. Kate's face was priceless when she opened her Olivia house/pirate ship from my parents. Everyone had a great time. We are so blessed to have everything we need plus a lot more and to have family to spend time with.

Family Letter

2011-12-20T18:26:00.001-07:00

My sister started sending out weekly family letters updating us on their lives. I decided to follow suit and post it to my blog. It might bore everyone but it's a quick and easy way to keep track of stuff. Here goes nothing...

Last Monday, Lyla had her 2 month check-up at the doctor's office. She weighed in at 10 lb 6 oz (37th percentile). She was not a happy girl after receiving a few shots. Poor thing. Tyler was able to meet us there and then we got lunch at Chick-Fil-A. That is seriously one of my favorite places to eat. I'd eat there at least once a week if one was close. That night we delivered gifts to the neighbors and then, per Ada's request, drank hot chocolate around the Christmas tree. I tried talked about the nativity story, but it didn't go so well as the girls couldn't sit still and then Kate spilled her drink o the floor. Oh well.

On Tuesday, Ada had her Christmas performance at her ballet class. Mom and Dad were able to come as well as Tyler's mom, as well as, of course, Tyler, myself, Kate, and Lyla. It was cute to watch. Ada is about the tallest as well as most flexible girl in her class. We got sundaes from McDonald's afterward and that night I got to take a break from the children and go to a Relief Society activity. The Woods Cross High madrigals sang and we enjoyed a hot chocolate bar afterward. I just ate the candy.

On Wednesday I got to go to Kate's preschool and spotlight her in front of the class. I read them 'Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog' (one of her favorite books) and handed out M&M's, her favorite candy.

I don't really remember Thursday. I think Tyler was gone that night making visits.

Friday night we got to attend Tyler's work Christmas party. We dropped all three girls off at Mom and Dad's and went to La Caille. It was fun to see Tyler's co-workers and their spouses. The food was pretty good. We were probably the first ones to leave since we had to get back to feed the baby. It was fun to get away for a bit.

I watched the Cougs lose a close one on Saturday and that night we went to a Christmas party for Tyler's dad's side of the family. Tyler's mom made big plans for us to do a flash mob performance of The First Noel. She was really serious about it and told us it would be our Christmas present to her (we did get her something else). During dinner, we all stood up and sang a'cappella and then sat down as if nothing happened. After the party and putting the kids to bed, Tyler and I watched 'The Help' since we both recently finished the book. It had been a while since we'd seen a movie!

Sunday was our ward Christmas program. Tyler sang with the ward choir and Ada got to sing two songs with the Primary. Kate was sad that she didn't get to go up, but she will be a Sunbeam in January so that won't be a problem anymore. She'll be jumping right in on the 1st: she was already asked to give the opening prayer (and Ada was asked to give the scripture). It will be fun to be in there to watch on her very first day of Primary.

Other things of note: we found out that Tyler passed his PE exam, which is a very big deal and a huge relief. I am so proud of him! We also paid off our student loans. Overall, it was a pretty good week!

Lyla's birth story

2011-11-04T16:02:00.006-06:00

I've been MIA lately on the blog. Things have been crazy. Tyler has been super busy with work and such, and...oh yeah, I had a baby. She's 3 1/2 weeks old now, so I better get caught up a bit on here!

My due date was October 14. On the 10th I started contracting early in the morning and was sure the baby would come that day. I was wrong. The contractions tapered and I sort of waited around all day while trying to stay active to get them to come back. Just my luck (as with Kate), they started up strong that night and all I had to do was wait until I felt it was time to go to the hospital. We live about 20 minutes from the hospital and we had to drop Ada and Kate off at my parents' house on the way, so we didn't want to wait too long and have to give birth in the car! I opted to try a natural birth this time. We didn't have maternity insurance, so I wanted to save as much money as I could. I always wanted to try a natural birth and this was just the excuse I needed. I have a few friends who have had success with hypnobirthing so that is the method I chose. I borrowed a book and took a class and committed myself, though all I really cared about was giving birth sans medication. Anyway, we got to the hospital just after 3:o0 AM and I was dilated to a 5. I was wishing that I would have stayed home longer! The contractions were tough, but definitely manageable. I had great nurses who were very familiar with hypnobirthing. I got an IV but they didn't hook it up, so I was able to walk around as I pleased. I just had to be hooked up to monitors for 20 minutes out of every hour to make sure the baby's and my heart rates looked okay. We waited and waited. I sat on a birthing ball. I walked around. I got up to pee a lot. I listened to music and tried to relax. Tyler took a nap. After 2 hours I was dilated to a 6 and three hours later I was still a 6! I was sick of waiting. I went against all hypnobirthing philosophy and had the doctor break my water. There was meconium in the water (meaning the baby had pooped), so they were concerned about her ingesting some. They set up a station in the room to take care of her once she was born. Well, things certainly progressed quickly after that. I knew that things would pick up after that, so I started to get a little nervous (another hypnobirthing no-no). The contractions came hard and fast and I had a really hard time trying to relax. It pretty much didn't happen, although Tyler was a champ trying to get me to focus the whole time. It seemed like there was no break in between contractions. I soon felt the urge to push and the doctor was called back down. At this point I felt like I was going crazy, like I had no control of myself anymore. I was writhing in pain and just started pushing with all my might (yet another no-no). I got SO hot and was sweating like a pig. I started stripping off whatever I could. The nice nurse helped by wiping my face with a cool rag. I pushed and pushed and she wasn't coming out. Finally, her head came and the rest of her soon emerged. Poor Tyler missed it because he was in my face trying to get me to stay calm. I would have felt pretty good about everything, but this was not the end. With my first two births the baby was immediately placed on my chest. This time, because of the meconium, the nurses had to take her to suction her out and clean her off. They had her for a long time. I got to listen to them laugh about all her crazy red hair and her smashed nose while I tried to sneak a peek from across the room. This was tough because the placenta had to be delivered next. This was most unpleasant. The doctor was pushing hard on my tummy and I was again writhing in pain. It took quite a while to come out. Then, I had a 2nd degree tear that had to be sewn up. The doctor got a huge needle and poked me down there repeatedly to numb me up. It took a while to kick in and I was going crazy. The doctor kept telling me in a very serious voice that I needed to keep my bum down and stop moving around. I wanted to kick her across the room! All this was going on and I still didn't get to hold my baby. Finally, she wrapped things up and my sweet baby was brought to me. The nurses were sure right about her hair and her nose! I was so happy that she had finally arrived and the hard part (at least physically) was over. My first impression was that she looked like Kate as a newborn, but now I think she looks more like Ada did. My sister thinks her resemblance to Tyler is uncanny. We named her Lyla Jane. She was born on October 11 at 9:17 AM. She weighed 7 lb 1 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. We decided (because of the lack of insurance) to try and get out of the hospital as quickly as possible. We stayed one night and left the next morning. While I'm glad I experienced a natural birth, I wouldn't do it again!

I just love her to bits. Newborns are the sweetest things. I am overwhelmed with gratitude to all the help we have received. We have received multiple meal offers, gifts, help with Ada and Kate, etc. We have received so much help. I can't believe I had three kids (let along three girls!), but things are going well. Thanks to all who have made this transition easier for us.

7 lb 1 oz

Little angel (with a poor little smashed nose)

I look like I've been through a lot!

Look at that hair!

They just love their sister!

Enjoying the doughnuts from Grandma

First bath

Playing with their new babies that Baby Lyla gave them

Morgan and Jordan

Grandpa Squire

Happy family of 5

Aunt Abby

Trying to catch up on sleep

So tiny in that carseat

Cousin Lauren, who shares the same birthday

Ada this year

2011-09-27T21:37:00.004-06:00

I've been such a blogging slacker that I'm trying to come up with ways I can clump pictures together and make them all relative to a single post. This post is all about Ada.

Ada started taking ballet last year. She really wasn't the biggest fan. I had to force a screaming, kicking Ada into her ballet clothes every week. She got better as the year went on and they started preparing for their recital. They performed 'The Ice Queen' in May and Ada's class got to dress up as mice. She loved her sparkly costume and the fact that she got to wear makeup. It was so adorable to watch her up there. Afterward, she couldn't stop talking about the finale where all the dancers came onto the stage at once. That must have been her favorite part! Luckily, she decided she wants to do ballet again. She started about a month ago and has been much more willing to go each week.

I just can't get over those lashes

Practicing at the dress rehearsal

Ada with her cute friend Ellie

The cutest little mouse

Ada graduated from preschool in June. Her class performed 'The Three Little Pigs' and sang lots of songs. Her teachers decided to give presents to everyone based on what they think they'll be when they grow up. They decided Ada will be an artist and they gave her lots of art supplies. They really nailed that one on the head! She loves to draw and color and spends lots of time at the table every day doing so. It was a cute program and fun to see her with all her friends.

In her new dress, before we left for the program

Ada's class up on stage

Ada with her cute teacher Miss Missy (who is now Kate's teacher)

Ada turned five in July, but we'll do a separate birthday post.

Then in August, Ada started Kindergarten! What a crazy thing! Hard to believe she's that old. She absolutely loves school. She is in the French Immersion Program and I can't believe all the French she was learned already. She knows colors, shapes, months of the year, days of the week, how to count to 16, and lots of random words and phrases. She has already made lots of friends. We went to her school carnival last week and I couldn't believe how many people said 'hi' to her! She loves doing her homework every day but not necessarily being read to for 20 minutes. She walks to school every day with some neighbors and then Kate and I walk to pick her up when she's done. I'm so glad she enjoys school and is doing so well.

The big first day

Lining up ready to start. She wasn't nervous at all!

Here are some random pictures of our cute little Ada:

Weekly Quote 9/25/11

2011-09-26T21:40:00.002-06:00

Oh, my poor, neglected blog! At least I remember this week to change the quote. "I am NOT a bigamist" is from the movie 'Mamma Mia'. Donna says it to Sam after he proposes. Great show, and even better when watched with sisters!

New quote up!

Pacific Northwest Vacay

2011-08-31T13:00:00.002-06:00

Tyler was awesome enough to make day-by-day posts of our Seattle trip. You can read all about it here. Made it lots easier for me, though I'll include a few thoughts:

-Seattle is a cool city, but I wouldn't call it one of my favorites. Downtown was not fun to drive through. Luckily Tyler was the one driving.
-I also wasn't a fan of downtown Vancouver. We only walked down one street, but it was dirty and there were lots of crazy people. Maybe I would change my mind if we saw the rest of the city.
-I wish I would have gotten a picture of the girls on the airplane. It was Kate's first time flying and the first that Ada could remember. They were champs and I think had a good time.
-My favorite part was probably the tide pools. It was a gorgeous site and cool to see all the ocean creatures. Like Tyler, I would love to go back to that area and experience more of the natural beauty.
-I got sick the day we left. A sore throat turned into a horrible runny nose (you know, the kind where you blow your nose every 5 minutes but it still won't stop dripping? Good times.). It sort of wiped me out on the trip, and especially after we got home. Sucked.

When it rains, it pours

2011-08-16T22:28:00.003-06:00

I've always considered myself a pretty lucky person. I've never had anything horrible happen to me or anyone close to me. I haven't had to suffer through many trials. Though nothing tragic has happened (with one exception), this year has been a tough one for my family and others close to me. Somehow, though, almost everything has ended well. I am truly blessed and still feel extremely lucky. Here is a list of what has been going down lately:

-In February, we had a miscarriage scare. Obviously, everything turned out well and we only have about two more months until our baby girl joins us. I have been extremely fortunate in the baby department. No problems conceiving, carrying, or birthing. I am extremely grateful for this.

-Also in February, my sweet baby niece was admitted to PCMC at only a few weeks old and it was discovered that she had bacterial meningitis, a brain abscess, and a staph infection. It was a scary time, but she was a trooper. No surgery or anything serious; just antibiotics through a PICC-line for eight weeks. She has since been a happy, healthy baby.

-My mom's sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. Before she finished her treatments, they found cancer on her spine. She has been extremely positive through everything and apparently has a new outlook on life. She finished radiation yesterday and hopefully is now cancer-free!

-My dad's brother was diagnosed with throat cancer. He had to have an extremely long, complicated surgery which entailed removing parts of his tongue and the roof of his mouth and removing his whole lower jaw (which was replaced with bone from his leg, making him have difficulty walking) among other things. It has been a long road for him and he still can't really talk or eat well. I have learned a lot from him, though. He has always been a really funny, positive person and nothing has changed with this trial. He has learned a lot also. In fact, he was re-baptized into the LDS church after being away for decades. It was such a special experience to attend his baptism and confirmation. He has been such an amazing example to me.

-My best friend's mom was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. This was her second time with breast cancer. It was a hard time for the family but everyone had a lot of faith. Her chemo treatments went well and miraculously she was just discovered (to the doctors' amazement) to be cancer-free! What great examples they've all been. This was truly a miracle.

-A good friend's sister was killed while riding her bike in a hit-and-run accident. I hadn't kept in touch very well with my friend, but I went to the funeral and it was great to reunite with her and meet her baby girl. Her sister was only 24 and it was a huge shock to all. I was so amazed by her family's faith and ability to forgive. They handled everything extremely well and were so composed and positive. I'm grateful for their examples and the chance I had to see my friend again.

-My grandpa died last month. This is the first grandparent I've lost. Everyone thought he was going to die around Memorial Day and we all went to say our last goodbyes, but he stuck around until July (Kate's birthday, actually). It was hard for me, even though he was almost 92 and had Alzheimer's. He was ready to go and I know he's in a happier place. He's had a lot of health problems over the years, but he's always been a happy, funny person. I've never seen him angry or upset. I know it's hard for my poor grandma (who is only 80), but she has been great through everything. The funeral was good and I was able to sing a song with my sisters and cousins that my grandma wrote. Although it was a hard time, my sisters came into town and it was nice to have my entire family together.

-My dad just went in for surgery to remove melanoma from his arm. It was a scary few days, but it was discovered that the cancer hadn't spread to his lymph nodes. They removed the cancer from his arm and he has a gaping wound that will take a while to heal, but we're so glad that everything is well! It makes me that much more conscious about being out in the sun.

It's crazy how all this stuff has happened so close together, but I feel really lucky that things have worked out the way they have. I have learned a lot and I think I'm much more prepared for future trials. I'm grateful for my faith and how it has helped everyone get through everything. I'm grateful for prayer and the Priesthood. Gosh, it's only August, so let's hope that the rest of the year turns out to be very uneventful!

Weekly Quote 8/15/11

2011-08-16T10:00:00.001-06:00

"You're burning the chow!" This is from Disney's 'Robin Hood'. Good job, Shanny! New quote up!

Weekly Quote 8/8/11

2011-08-08T17:54:00.002-06:00

"Tomorrow? But I wanna go home now!" is from 'The Wizard of Oz'. Life has been crazy lately, so there has been a lack of posting. Hopefully I can get around to some stuff this week.

New quote up!

Weekly Quote 7/24/11

2011-07-26T09:44:00.002-06:00

"You're gonna die, clown!" This is from Happy Gilmore. I'm not so much into that type of show like I used to be, but I have to laugh thinking about all the great quotes from it. Sorry I've been a slacker with the blog lately; we've had major computer issues and life has been crazy lately.

New quote up!

Weekly Quote 6/27/11

2011-06-27T20:16:00.003-06:00

"These mashed potatoes are so creamy." is from While You Were Sleeping. Great show. I think my favorite part is when they show the paper boy tossing newspapers and suddenly his bike tips over. Completely random. New quote up!

Potty

2011-06-21T16:42:00.003-06:00

Kate has been officially potty trained for quite a while now. She still wears Pull-Ups at night, but she never gets them wet. It's been quite nice to have no kids in diapers. Unfortunately, we now see a lot of this:

(Those shorts are size 12 months, btw)

There was one week at the beginning where she had several accidents, but that (luckily) didn't last long. The next week, however, just when I thought we were done cleaning up pee, we experienced another accident at our house. Tyler and I had just turned off the light to go to bed when Tyler heard a noise. He waited a minute and then got up to see what was going on. He went in the family room and turned on the light, only to discover a bare-bottomed Ada sitting on the couch in a puddle of pee. She continued sitting there, wide-eyed, until we moved her and got her cleaned up (thank goodness for microfiber). It was obvious that she was oblivious to the whole thing. She must have thought she was sitting on the toilet the whole time! The next morning when I told her what happened, she denied everything. I probably would have been mad at having to clean up another accident if it just wasn't so darn funny!

Weekly Quote 6/20/11

2011-06-20T10:22:00.001-06:00

"How'd you like to hang a stocking on a great, big coconut tree?" is from the song 'Christmas Island'. Yes, my girls still listen to Christmas CD's when they fall asleep at night. This particular song is sung by Ariel and is always in my head. Ugh.

New quote up!

Weekly Quote 6/13/11

2011-06-15T18:30:00.001-06:00

"This is the best. day. EVER!" This is from Tangled. Every time Ada plays on the swing set, she twists around on the swings and yells this at the top of her lungs. I love it!

New quote up!

Easter trip

2011-06-01T21:10:00.009-06:00

We took a trip to the Bryce Canyon area over Easter weekend. I have to note that I originally thought I had plans this weekend, but Tyler wanted to go badly enough that he was going to take the girls by himself! Brave soul! I'm glad I was able to go after all!

We went to Bryce Canyon N.P., Kodachrome Basin State Park, Petrified Forest State Park, Anasazi State Park, and Capitol Reef N.P. It was COLD (and snowed the second day we were at Bryce), but it was lots of fun. The Easter Bunny even paid a visit to the girls while we were on a hike! It was a fun trip and good to get away for a few days. We live in such a beautiful state.

(Stupid Blogger got some of the pictures out of order, but I'm too lazy to fix them. Also, the camera got a smudge on it, so the pictures don't look that great. Oh well.)

Weekly Quote 5/30/11

2011-05-31T15:44:00.001-06:00

"Have you seen a tall, lanky, doofus with a bird face and hair like the Bride of Frankenstein?" is from Seinfeld. Elaine is obviously talking about Kramer.

New quote up!

Weekly Quote 5/23/11

2011-05-24T19:11:00.001-06:00

"There must be SOMETHING good about him." is indeed from Cinderella. I guess that one wasn't too tough! Let's see if this new one is any better.

Weekly Quote 5/16/11

2011-05-17T19:02:00.001-06:00

"Want me to sting her?" is indeed from Aladdin. Genie whispers it to Aladdin when he's talking to Jasmine on her balcony.

New quote up!

Viva

2011-05-13T23:21:00.003-06:00

Our Tucson friends, the Millars, planned on going to Vegas in March for the MWC Basketball Tournament, so Tyler and I decided to meet them there. It was a fun little trip with no kids.

Besides watching lots of b-ball, we did a bit of shopping. Yay for H&M (and horses)!

This is the hotel where Tyler and I stayed. We got a great deal on Priceline. We knew nothing about it, but loved it because it's a non-gaming, non-smoking hotel!

Tyler and The King

This may be the only time anyone will see Sabrina in a BYU shirt. She's a great sport. Tyler and I (and probably Brett) can learn a lot from her! (Tyler gave me that shirt, btw.)

We ended up going to see 'Phantom'. Not the best performance ever, but we still enjoyed it

We ended the trip off right with this humongous piece of chocolate cake from Claim Jumper. We didn't even finish it. It was a little disappointing, or maybe I would have polished it all off myself

Even though BYU didn't win the tournament (and, for Tyler, Utah played terribly), it was fun to see them. The highlight for me definitely was witnessing Jimmer score 52. Best. Game. Ever!

Weekly Quote 5/9/11

2011-05-10T19:28:00.001-06:00

"I HATE orphans!" is not from Annie, but from Nacho Libre. Hilarious movie. I need to watch it again.

New quote up!

Those who have made me a mother

2011-05-07T22:18:00.008-06:00

Happy Mother's Day! I haven't done a post on my children for quite a while and I've had a few requests to do so, so what better day than today?

I will begin with the fetus so we can get the boring stuff out of the way. Not much is to be said except for the effects it is having on me. So far I've had a pretty uneventful pregnancy (minus the miscarriage scare). I haven't really been sick (don't hate me, Shanny). I've had the typical discomforts that I had with my first two pregnancies, namely lots of headaches, a constantly stuffed-up (and bloody) nose, peeing all the time, and fatigue. Things are going well and we'll be finding out the gender on the 24th (unless Tyler can convince me otherwise). I'm in the awkward stage of being too big for my regular clothes but too small for maternity ones. I don't think this will last too long, though, since my stomach seems to be jutting out more and more. One of the nice things about being pregnant, though, is that I can embrace my gut instead of trying to hide it. I feel very blessed to be able to bear children and am excited to meet this new little one.
Here I am at 17 weeks. Pardon the camera picture. There are lots on this post.

Now onto Kate. Oh, Kate! She is a fun one. She gets really grumpy when she doesn't get enough sleep (which happens a lot since she's been getting me up once or twice a night for a few weeks now...also contributing to my fatigue). She can be really feisty when this happens, but one good thing about Kate is that she can be talked out of being mad or disobedient. She can be quite delusional when she wakes up during the night. Sometimes she wanders the house looking for me or saying, "I want my screwdriver!", and last night she wanted her flip-flops on so she could go outside. She likes to tease Ada, but then she is quite a peacemaker and loves to make Ada happy. I'm afraid she is spoiling her sister by always letting her get her way. They play really well together and are currently obsessed with 'Jake and the Never Land Pirates' and all three 'Toy Story' movies. Kate ALWAYS has to be the boy and is always okay with it. In fact, Ada got Barbie and Ken dolls from her grandma and Kate automatically assumed that the Ken was for her. Kate is in the middle of potty training and is doing well. I think we're almost there. She started off well, then had a really bad day, then wouldn't sit on the toilet at all without some serious coaxing. She's getting on more willingly now, but still doesn't tell us when she has to go (except for today!). I feel good about it all, though. Kate is very funny and loves to laugh and smile. She is friendly and cuddly. She gets mad if you call her anything other than 'Kate', even if you call her by her first and last name. She loves to watch shows and would probably watch all day if I let her. I think she's watched a little too much 'Tangled' lately because the other day when I was trying to get her to stop doing something she said, "No! Mother knows NOT best!" Another funny thing she said the other day: "I wanna be a Halloween ghost for Christmas." I love my sweet Kate and am sad that she's getting so big, but I love watching her grow and learn new things.

Finally, the one who made me a mother in the first place: Ada. We've had our power struggles lately, but she is overall a really good girl. I think she mostly has her fits when she's lacking sleep. She is lots of fun and loves to be silly and joke around. We have a few inside jokes where all we have to do is say or sing a few words to each other and we both bust up laughing. Ada is a total daddy's girl and is obsessed with Tyler and anything he likes. She loves preschool and is almost finished with it. She starts Kindergarten soon and will be doing the French Immersion program. We feel really lucky that she got in (maybe I can attribute it to being preggo?). She's very excited to go to the big school. She has been doing much better with ballet, though she still wants to be all done after her recital. I love watching her perform; it's adorable! She seems to be really good at it, but hopefully we can find something that she will enjoy better (I'm crossing my fingers for soccer). She loves to write, draw, and color and is very creative. If she wants something that we don't have, she'll just draw it and cut it out. Ada is really good at cleaning up and she always wants to help me with things. She is still extremely girly and still (after 2+ years) refuses to wear pants. She loves to sing and isn't afraid to do so no matter where we are. She is, however, afraid of bugs. She has loved playing outside lately but will stand on the deck for several minutes crying because she's afraid of wasps, spiders, worms, and mosquitoes. Kate finally coaxes her down to the playground by saying, "It's okay, Ada! They won't get you!" She's pretty hesitant when it comes to "scary" things (she won't go down the big slide at Kangaroo Zoo like Kate does), but she's getting better. Last year she fell off her bike and was traumatized for a long time, but she's now getting much better at riding and wants to ride every day. She's also learning how to swing by herself without being pushed. Ada loves stories and asks for one every time we get in the car. Lately, she's been asking for stories about "naughty guys". She especially loves hearing ones from the scriptures. One day when Kate was refusing to help clean up, Ada said, "Lucifer must really be working hard to tempt Kate." She cracks me up. One day when she and Kate were having a bath, Ada looked down at her chest and said, "Kate, did you know that boys swim with their nipples?" I just love Ada and the fact that she always wants to try and do the right thing. She is smart and sweet and I'm so glad she's in our family.

Proof that she idolizes her father

Today has already been a great day. A special thanks to Tyler for making it so! Also, a shout-out to my mom and mother-in-law for being so great. Love you all and love my sweet kids!

Random goings-on

2011-05-06T12:46:00.000-06:00

I haven't really blogged about anything that we've done this year because we just barely transferred pictures from the camera. We're really good at keeping up with things like that.

In January, my little sister and her family came to visit from Kansas City. The only pictures I got were from the tea party my SIL threw for all the little girls.

All the girls, minus Sally

Korrin, of course, outdid herself on the food

Now all the princesses are there!

Ada got to take home the class "pet" from preschool for a few days. She had fun carrying Annie around and taking care of her. Ada told me that she was the one who named her 'Annie'.

Our family decided to go to the Jordan World Circus in Farmington one night. There were some really cool moments and some very interesting ones. The girls had fun though.

I hope this is the closest I will ever get to a bear

We didn't pay for the girls to ride a camel or an elephant, but they had fun looking at them

Two new babies have come to my side of the family this year. Alice was born in February and Audrey came in March.

Ada holding Alice

Kate holding Alice. She wasn't a big fan of the babies at first, but is slowly warming up to them

The girls with Audrey

The girls finally got to wear the new snow clothes they got for Christmas. They had a blast playing and building a snowman.

More posts to come soon!

Favorite Honey Oatmeal Bread

2011-05-05T21:26:00.003-06:00

Ha! Ya'll thought I forgot about posting recipes, right? Well, here's a good one with a picture included!

Favorite Honey Oatmeal Bread

5 c hot tap water

1 c honey

2 c oatmeal (quick oats are fine)

1 cube (1/2c) butter – straight from the fridge

Mix and let stand in mixer for 20 minutes.

Add:

2 T yeast

Mix and let yeast activate.

When foamy add:

1 T salt

10-13 cups white flour (you can use wheat – and sometimes

I end up using 13-14ish cups today I used 12)

Knead in mixer for 10 minutes. This is a softer dough but not runny.

Let rise 20-30 minutes. Shape into 4 or 5 loaves. Let rise till you can do the finger test – finger dent in dough. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.

I only have two loaf pans, so I halved the recipe and it worked great. This was the first time I'd made yeast bread (I've made rolls, breadsticks, and pizza dough plenty of times) and this was a great recipe!

The luck of the preggo

2011-05-03T12:50:00.002-06:00

Last week when I was catching up on all the blogs I read, I came across this post. That's right, folks, that would be me! I won a $25 gift certificate to Coco Penny, where they sell cute hair flowers. Tyler tells me that being preggo makes me very lucky. When I was pregnant with Kate, I won a bunch of hair flowers from Chloe Reese, I won tickets to Nightmare on 13th (which apparently is open in the spring. It was pretty funny to be there with a bunch of teenagers), and my name was drawn for the cheap tickets to see Wicked in Chicago. Here's to hoping more luck comes my way!

Weekly Quote 5/2/11

2011-05-03T12:48:00.002-06:00

"Great! Now I have guilt!" is indeed from Toy Story. I had to add another Rex quote because Kate lead me astray on the last one. My girls are obsessed with all three Toy Story movies and are constantly quoting them.

New quote up!

Weekly Quote 4/25/11

2011-04-26T22:16:00.001-06:00

"Don't even think about trying to escape." Congrats to my brother, who knew this quote. It's from The Princess Bride. I really need to watch that again.

New quote up!

Weekly Quote 4/18/11

2011-04-19T12:01:00.002-06:00

"I can't do it; it's too fast!" is from Toy Story 2. I should have checked first to see if this is the exact quote, but I decided to trust my 2-year-old on this one. She and Ada quote the Toy Story movies all the time. Rex says this when they're flipping through TV channels to try and find Al's Toy Barn.

New quote up.

Weekly Quote 4/11/11

2011-04-11T16:36:00.001-06:00

"There's always a bigger fish." is indeed from 'The Phantom Menace'. I gotta admit that I'm a fan of the Star Wars, but must agree that the new ones don't hold a candle to the three originals. Way to go, Dude.

New quote up!

Weekly Quote 4/4/11

2011-04-04T15:16:00.002-06:00

"I had a pony!" is indeed from Seinfeld. That show is full of gems.

New quote up!

Weekly Quote 3/28/11

2011-03-28T14:13:00.002-06:00

"What cunning little heels." is from Little Women (the movie), spoken by Amy. Good job, Emily! New quote up!

Partners in crime

2011-03-25T20:49:00.002-06:00

Oh, these girls. They always keep me on my toes. Since I've been extra tired lately, I've had a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. The girls usually wake me up a few times in the morning, but then get busy playing and allow me to get more sleep. They play really well together (when they're not fighting), which has been so nice for me. Sometimes, however, they have a little too much fun. Here are some things that have happened in just the last week or so:

-While at my mom's, they were playing in the front room and pulled some petals off one of her flower decorations. Ada's justification: "We needed something to put in our soup."
-A few days ago I got in the car to pick Ada up from school and noticed that everything was askew. It's not uncommon for them to mess things up in the car before we get the chance to buckle them up, but this time they snuck in the car before I got out of bed and somehow broke the visor off on the passenger side. Big trouble for two little girls.
-The other day I was sitting at the computer while they were coloring at the table and I heard one of them say, "We're coloring Minnie!" I looked over and found them coloring all over a place mat (luckily it was on the back) and having the time of their lives. No more markers that day!
-Yesterday while I was cleaning up the kitchen they went into Ada's room and shut the door. When I went to check on them, I found an open box of dishwasher detergent and Kate scooping it into various containers from the kitchen set. I don't know how I didn't catch them sneaking off with that!

I've said it before, but two is a tough age for me. Kate is difficult in different ways than Ada was. She is extremely messy and loves to get into everything. My sister Angie stayed with us last week and admitted that she had an eye-opening experience dealing with Kate. She witnessed Kate hit and kick everyone because she hadn't gotten enough sleep; she had to deal with Kate playing with her sticky piece of candy instead of eating it; she discovered Kate in a puddle of water in the kitchen as she was trying to get herself a drink from the water dispenser on the fridge. (As a side note, she also got puked on by our baby niece as she was trying to feed her a bottle.) Kate is still a sweet girl and generally very agreeable.

Ada can be an angel one day and a terror the next. You never know what you're gonna get with her. She loves to play with Kate (though she's very bossy) but she also yearns for a friend every once in a while. I need to invite her friends over more often. I can't end this post without this delightful story about Ada: last night we had a tough time getting both girls in bed. We soon got into bed ourselves and as I finally got comfy and started clearing my mind, I heard Ada crying. After trying to ignore it and hope it would go away, I finally got out of bed to see what was up. Ada was standing in Kate's room facing her CD player (which was still playing) and bawling. As I walked into the room, I noticed the floor was wet. The girls listened to the same CD that night in their respective rooms and Ada's ended first. When she heard the same thing playing in Kate's room, she went in there very upset because she thought that we took her CD out to play in Kate's room. Apparently she was so upset that she PEED all over the floor! She got in trouble for being in Kate's room (she was very lucky that Kate slept through it all) and I had to struggle with her to change and get cleaned up so she could go back to bed. I then had to go back into Kate's dark room and hope that my scrubbing and spraying was getting all the pee out of the carpet. What a night!

Lots o' stuff

2011-03-24T14:00:00.002-06:00

It's been quite a while since I've busted out a good blog post. I've totally slacked on my recipe posts, too. I will have to work on that. For some reason, I get in sort of a funk after the holidays end. January seems to be a big let-down for me. February is usually a little better, but this year that was not really the case. Not sure why. Part of it might be that we got a new niece (my sister Abby's first), but she was admitted to the hospital after only a few weeks with bacterial meningitis (in addition to a staph infection and a brain abscess). It was a tough week for all involved, and she's been home and thriving for a while now, but they're not out of the water yet. She has a PICC-line in her arm which helps her receive medication several times a day, and she still has to go to the hospital on occasion for further checks, including an upcoming CT-scan. Poor little baby!

We've had our share of fun this year too, though. Tyler and I recently returned from Vegas where we watched the MWC basketball tournament. Tyler then went to Tucson for the NCAA's. My sister Angie came to visit and stayed with us. I'm watching as much college basketball as I can.

Oh, and one kind of important thing: we're having another baby. Due around October 13. We had a little scare in February (the same week my niece was admitted to the hospital) when we were pretty positive that I miscarried. We felt lucky that we were home when it happened. I was told to take it easy for a while. Parents and friends were very generous during this. Then I had to go in for some tests because I was still getting positive pregnancy tests, and lo and behold--there's still a baby in there! We thought that I lost a twin, but it could have been a clot or something else. We don't know, but either way, we're extremely grateful and feel very blessed. I feel really good except that I'm always tired. I have a hard time getting anything done. The girls are excited, though I don't think Kate knows what the days ahead will entail!

Weekly Quote 3/21/11

2011-03-21T17:29:00.002-06:00

"The tower, the tower! Rapunzel, Rapunzel!" is from Airplane. I didn't get any comments on this one, but I'm sure everyone in Tyler's family knew it. It's Tyler's favorite.

New quote up!

Weekly Quote 2/28/11

2011-02-28T20:38:00.001-07:00

"Christmas is carnage!" is from Babe. The girls watched it the other day and quite liked it. New quote up!

Weekly Quote 2/21/11

2011-02-21T21:36:00.001-07:00

"Are you sensitive? Do you sense things?" is from The Watcher in the Woods, and old Disney movie. It's actually pretty scary. My sisters and I used to love watching this back in the day.

New quote up!

Christmas, anyone?

2011-02-17T21:09:00.008-07:00

I figured that tonight would be a good night to blog about Christmas because 1) Tyler is working late again and 2) There is snow on the ground again. I tend to babble a lot when I blog, so I'll try and let the pictures speak most of the words.

Ada had a preschool Christmas program. It was adorable. Have I mentioned that she loves preschool?

Tyler's grandpa had a party and the girls had fun hitting pinatas, playing Bingo, and sitting on Santa's lap (okay, only Ada had fun doing that)

On Christmas Eve we had the traditional candlelight dinner at the Squires' house and played kid and adult versions of the dice game

Kate, at one point, walked across the prizes to attack Ada because Ada picked the prize that she wanted

Christmas morning was funny. Kate woke up way early and was not happy. We had to wait quite a while for Ada to wake up. Kate finally perked up once she saw all her presents

This about how she felt all morning

We have a tradition of reading the Christmas story together before we go see presents. Kate still isn't too happy

Finally, a smile!

The girls love their "Sleeping Beauty house" that Santa brought

Tyler really likes this present

We made yummy waffles for breakfast, relaxed a bit, and then went back to the Squires' to open presents

We ended the day at my parents', where we had our traditional Honey-Baked Ham dinner and opened presents. The little girls all had fun dancing together and singing

Weekly Quote 2/14/11

2011-02-15T17:05:00.002-07:00

"Time will heal your wound."

"My wound?"

This is indeed from Emma. The anonymous commenter got it right. New quote up!

Random thoughts

2011-02-11T15:11:00.004-07:00

-Jerry Sloan resigned yesterday. I knew he wouldn't be around forever, but I didn't quite expect it to happen in this manner. I'm not gonna lie; I shed a few tears as I watched the press conference and clips about Jerry. I'm a pretty passionate person, especially about sports and the Jazz. I have so many great memories about the Jazz. I remember my dad making me go to bed before games were over and my brother sneaking in my room to give me updates. I remember going to a handful of games, including a playoff game against the Spurs where I got to sit in the lower bowl. I remember when "John Stockton sends the Utah Jazz to the NBA finals" and running around the block with my friend because we were so excited. I remember those two years of the finals, when even my non-sporty older sister got into the Jazz: her ordering a Jazz cake for the family; going to the airport with her to greet the Jazz after they swept the Lakers; her disdain for all things Bulls (even now that she's a Chicago resident). I remember my younger sister crying after the Jazz lost to the Bulls and saying that she didn't think she could ever be happy again. The Jazz were a big part of my childhood and I will miss Jerry greatly.

Here's a picture of Tyler and me with Jerry and Phil Johnson. My bro-in-law somehow scored some tickets to a season ticket holders-only dinner and he graciously game them to us. It was fun to meet Jerry and Phil and get their autographs.

-January is usually a very bleak month, but somehow I kept so busy that it flew right by. The highlight of the month was a visit from my sister's family. We watched BYU games, went to dinner, and had a tea party with the girls.

-Thank goodness for book club. It is a lifesaver for me. Last night was just what I needed; I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time. I love all those ladies!

-Tyler works a lot. Sometimes I want to sell my girls. Thank goodness I have BYU basketball to keep my hopes up. I can't wait to go to the New Mexico game on March 2nd and the MWC tournament the week after that. Then there's the Big Dance. Good times are ahead!

Coconut Cupcakes

2011-02-11T15:04:00.002-07:00

Here's the cupcake recipe we made for Abby's shower:

Ingredients

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
14 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

For the frosting:

1 pound cream cheese at room temperature
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 7 ounces of coconut.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

This makes a ton of frosting, so I halved it and still had plenty for the 36 cupcakes which I got (don't fill the paper liners as much as it says). We also baked these for 22 minutes and it was just right.

I made these again a few weeks after the shower. I wanted them a little more moist, so instead of the three sticks of butter, I put one stick of butter, 1/2 c canola oil, and 1/2 c sour cream. It worked perfectly.

Ballet

2011-02-09T15:55:00.003-07:00

Ada had a little ballet performance in December at the studio. This was the only performance until the big one in May, so we rushed home from Disneyland so she could participate. It was so fun to watch her! She knew all the moves and I was surprised at how flexible she is.

She was so adorable. We go with her cute friend Ellie, who is pictured with Ada above. Ada does such a good job, but lately it has been a joke trying to get her to go. She always says that she likes preschool better than ballet and that she doesn't like ballet. I think she does once she gets there, but I don't know what to do to avoid a serious struggle every week. We've bribed her with a surprise after her concert and she knows that she gets no TV or computer time for a week if she misses. We'll see how it continues, but I am not loving her tantrums every Tuesday afternoon!

Weekly Quote 2/7/11

2011-02-08T08:50:00.001-07:00

"I just want to be alone for a little while." is from Return of the Jedi. Leia says it to Han after she finds out that Luke is her brother. I love me some old-school Star Wars.

New quote up!

Shower food

2011-02-03T21:08:00.004-07:00

When Angie was in town over Christmas break, we threw a baby shower for Abby (who, btw, had her baby this morning. Alice Ann, at 41 weeks, is only 5 lb 7 oz). We invited all the girls from the extended family. We didn't get a great turnout but it still turned out well. Angie is a pro at throwing showers, so we had a fun and easy time putting everything together.

This was the spread:
Angie made cute covers to go over the Izze soda

Korrin brought fruit and we made these yummy kabobs. They were so simple--take a small skewer and arrange grape tomatoes, fresh basil, and mozzarella balls

The yummy coconut cupcakes. I'll post that recipe next week

I don't know what these are called, but they're so easy and so good. Get fillo shells from the freezer section, spoon a little bit of jam in the bottom (my dad's raspberry freezer jam was excellent), place a small square of brie on the jam, and top with a pecan half. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes and voila! (We baked them at 425 but I think the temp could be lowered)

The guests:

Abby, Mom, and Korrin

Kim and Sadie

My cute grandmas

Me and Ang

The loot:

Diseased

2011-02-02T14:18:00.002-07:00

Tyler has a great job. He loves it and says he can't imagine doing anything else he would love more. Probably not too many people can say that I bet. However, he often has to work long hours, which it no fun for me. I'll spare everyone the details and refrain from ranting, but I would like to document an experience from way back in November.

Tyler rarely (if ever) works only 40 hours a week, but one week in November was especially crazy. He got up super early and came home super late. He took on one break--on Thursday he met me and his family members at Jordan Commons to see the new Harry Potter movie (thanks to Rachelle, we got to see it a day before it came out). After the show, he went right on back to work and stayed until 5:00 PM THE NEXT DAY. He put in close to 80 hours that week. Boo.

The point of the post is, Kate was sick that week. Really sick. Her gums got really bloody and sore and swelled down over her teeth. She was feverish and didn't feel well at all. I took her to the doctor and after one look in her mouth he said, "That looks horrible!" He informed me that she had stomatitis. It is a virus, so the only thing he could tell me to do was to mix children's Benadryl with Maalox and swab it on her gums to ease the pain (and she HATED it). He also said to keep her hydrated because she wouldn't want to eat or drink anything. The poor girl was not a happy camper. She wanted to lay on the couch or in my arms all week. She ate only ice cream and popsicles. Luckily she did take the occasional drink, but I learned the hard way not to give her orange juice. Ouch! I couldn't brush her teeth because it hurt her too badly. I hope I never have to relive that week.

This was how Kate spent most of her days

This is a picture of her mouth after it had started healing. It looked WAY worse before

The worst part of the week was when Kate fell off her stool and landed right on her face. She was left with a bloody mouth and a fat lip. When Ada saw the pool of blood on the floor she started to panic. Not a good day.

Weekly Quote 1/31/11

2011-01-31T21:11:00.001-07:00

"This desk set wants to fly." Ben got this one right; it's from Dead Poets Society. This is the first movie I've quoted twice, and I'll guarantee it's not the last.

New quote up!

"Jimmer Fredette is the best scorer in the world!!"

2011-01-27T21:33:00.003-07:00

I have been completely obsessed with Jimmer the last month or so. I've always taken a great interest in him, but this year it has been taken to a whole 'notha level. Since we don't have cable, I haven't seen nearly as many games as I've wanted to. I've made an effort to see as many as I can, though, and will continue to until this unbelievable season comes to an end.

During the first week of January, I brought the radio to the living room so I could listen to the BYU/UNLV game while I took down the Christmas tree. I was so nervous about that game, but it turned out to be not even too close. Before that, I decided that I needed to go to a game to see Jimmer play in person (Tyler offered to take me to the first game they played at the ESA, but I didn't want to pay $30 to see them play Hawaii [we were in California when they played Arizona there]). I decided that it would be much easier to go to SLC than Provo, so I got tickets for myself and my neighbor Michelle (who is also a big BYU fan and married to a Utah fan) to see the Cougs play the Utes at the Huntsman Center. Boy, did I pick a good game to go to! Jimmer is so fun to watch. I seriously can't get enough of him. 47 points? We were able to go to my parents' house to watch the BYU/CSU game and see Jimmer throw down 42. That night I couldn't sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about Jimmer. My sister and her family came to town and we tried to get tickets for the BYU/SDSU game this week but were too late. We had fun watching the game at my parent's house again and witnessed Jimmer score 43. I was SO nervous for that game, but even San Diego State's tenacious D couldn't stop Jimmer. Have I said I can't get enough?

Not only have I been watching games, but I've been glued to the internet reading articles and watching videos of Jimmer. You know you're obsessed when Kate sees a picture of him in the newspaper and says, "Jimmer!" or Ada asks me, "Why do you watch Jimmer every day?" I just can't believe all the national hype the dude is receiving. From interviews on Sports Center to almost daily articles from the national media (espn.com, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, etc. etc. etc.) to articles in Sports Illustrated (and that was before last night's victory). Kevin Durant threw down a cool 47 last night and then tweeted that Jimmer was the "best scorer in the world!!" Lots of people have him as the favorite for National Player of the Year. If he keeps up his scoring average, I don't see how he can't win it. One writer from Boston said that if he played on ESPN as much as Kemba Walker, the choice wouldn't even be a contest. I can't wait until the tourney. March is always one of my favorite times, but this year my excitement will be taken to new heights. Last year I was almost sick before the Florida game, so this year I hope I don't have some kind of breakdown leading up to the games. I've heard people talk about BYU maybe making it to the Final Four this year. I don't want to get my hopes up too high, but I do have enough faith that they'll at least be a Sweet Sixteen team since it looks like they'll finally get a favorable seed. I tell you what, I haven't been this excited about sports in a long time (and that's saying a lot). I'm glad I have something to cheer for since the Jazz aren't doing too well lately. I couldn't seriously go on and on (I could tell you practically anything you want to know about the man from all the stuff I've read), but I'll leave it at this: Jimmer will win National Player of the Year, get drafted in the first round, and have a decent NBA career. I see him being a decent backup point guard at the least. Viva el Jimmer!

Here, here, here are some of my favorites from the last few days (if you haven't already seen them ;) )

Weekly Quote 1/24/11

2011-01-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

"We're too close for missiles; I'm switching to guns." This is indeed from Top Gun. New quote up!

Weekly Quote 1/17/11

2011-01-18T20:38:00.001-07:00

"What are you gonna do? Dice me, slice me, or peel me?" This is from The Truman Show. One of my very favorites! Check out the new one...

Chocolate-Mint Creme Cookies

2011-01-13T21:25:00.003-07:00

I made these cookies for our family Christmas dinners this year. They've become one of my favorite holiday treats to make.

Chocolate-Mint Creme Cookies

1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
3/4 c butter, cubed
2 T water
2 c (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
3 c flour
1 1/4 t baking soda
1 t salt

In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter, and water. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate chips until melted and smooth. Transfer to a large mixing bowl; cool slightly.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to chocolate mixture. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Remove to wire racks; flatten slightly. Cool completely.

Filling:

1/3 c butter, softened
3 c confectioners' sugar
3-4 T milk
1/8 t peppermint extract

Combine ingredients; spread on the bottom of halt of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies. Store in refrigerator.

I like to color the frosting green or red for Christmas. I want to make these sometime and use cream cheese frosting instead of mint to make them like homemade Oreos (only much better than the ones with a cake mix/shortening!).

Zoo pics

2011-01-11T10:43:00.004-07:00

Before we headed to the zoo, we stopped at the beach for about 5 minutes so the girls could touch the water.

Sea World pictures

2011-01-11T10:32:00.004-07:00

Weekly Quote 1/10/11

2011-01-11T10:20:00.002-07:00

"His wealth is quite useless to him, really. He doesn't do any good with it; he doesn't even make HIMSELF comfortable with it." This is from A Christmas Carol, though it's from the movie version with George C. Scott. Surprisingly, I've never read the book. I plan on getting around to it since I've been on a big Dickens kick lately. New quote up.

I have had issues with Blogger lately and have been unable to change the quotes. Sorry it has been weeks! Looks like I'll have to open up a new internet browsers every time I want to change the design now. Boo.

The Land of Disney

2011-01-07T21:43:00.011-07:00

Last month we decided to take a trip to Disneyland. We heard it was a good time to go because the crowds aren't so bad at the beginning of December. Apparently everyone was wrong. It was really crowded, but we had a blast nonetheless. We also drove down to San Diego and went to Sea World and the San Diego Zoo.

Highlights

Tyler:

-having his mom meet us at Disneyland one day to take the girls so we could go on rides. It was so crowded that we only got to go on Indiana Jones together, but it was so worth it
-finally getting a turkey leg (though I don't think it was as good as he hoped)
-getting an awesome score on the Buzz Lightyear ride (like really, really awesome score)
-a hotel within walking distance of the park
-walking on to rides at Sea World
-the ribs he ate at Mimi's Cafe
-Belle, Jasmine, Tinkerbell and Tiana
-seeing the world's largest golden nugget at the Golden Nugget

Alison:

-seeing the girls light up with all the magic and fun that Disneyland has to offer
-being with Tyler for a whole week
-World of Color at California Adventure
-fireworks show followed by "snow" falling over Main Street
-all the beautiful Christmas decorations
-peppermint shake at Chick-fil-A

Ada:

-Soarin' Over California
-Playhouse Disney Live on Stage
-Muppets in 3D
-It's a Small World--all decked out for Christmas
-meeting Minnie and all the princesses
-steering the car by herself on Autopia
-seeing the giraffes at the zoo
-touching the Pacific
-touching the starfish and bat rays at Sea World

Kate:

-Playhouse Disney Live on Stage
-the teacups
-Snow White blowing her a kiss as we ran into her on our way to the bathroom
-meeting the princesses and Tinkerbell
-It's a Small World
-the parade on Main Street
-the Jungle Cruise
-the Pet Show at Sea World. She was thoroughly entertained and quite entertaining to watch!
-seeing the elephants at the zoo
-hugs from Aladdin

Lowlights

Tyler:

-the crowds
-having to share a bed with Kate on the night she wouldn't go to sleep (she slept really well all the other nights)
-not enough sleep
-almost getting in a wreck on the freeway
-getting lost at the zoo. He's usually a whiz with directions, but the map didn't quite fit with the terrain
-Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Ariel
-watching the Oryx drink each others' urine straight from the source (if you know what I mean)

Alison:

-seemingly everything going wrong at our first day in the park: forgetting diapers & wipes, miscommunication with Tyler on the Toy Story ride, leaving my purse on Soarin', etc.
-too many people
-having to wake up early every day

Ada:

-Hollywood Tower of Terror. She INSISTED on going on it, but was not happy afterward. At least she didn't cry
-throwing up one night in the hotel and after we got home
-having to say goodbye to such a magical land

Kate:

-the "scary rides": Pirates, Haunted Mansion, etc. She didn't cry but was very nervous and clingy

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I've always liked Disneyland, but I absolutely love it now that I have sweet little girls. I was so impressed with how good they were the entire trip, even though we drove. I can't wait to go again!

Kate vs Santa

2010-12-30T09:27:00.004-07:00

Encounter #1: the ward Christmas party. When they announced that Santa would be coming, I snatched Kate up and ran to stand in line. As soon as the big fella walked in, she became very frightened. She started yelling for Daddy. We had to leave Ada in line and go find Daddy. Any time we tried to get her close to him, she would scream. No lap sitting, but she did somehow walk away with a candy cane.

Encounter #2: the Lisonbee Christmas party. My MIL's family party actually took place at our church. This time Santa had presents for all the kids. When Kate's name was called, she slowly inched her way over to Santa and reached for her present while standing as far away as she could:

We made her sit on his lap, and this was the result:

On Christmas Eve, we kept asking the girls who was coming that night.

Kate: "Angie and Hyrum!"
Ada: "Santa!"
Kate: "No! I don't wanna see him!"

Christmas morning, Kate woke up before 7:00. She acted like it was any normal morning, but she was super grumpy. Ada slept past 8:30, so we put on a show for Kate and tried (unsuccessfully) to keep her happy until Ada got up. When it was finally time to go downstairs, Ada ran with excitement while Kate kicked and cried. As she saw the spread, however, her eyes got big and she got very excited. She didn't know quite what to think, but she was happy and remained so the rest of the day.

Perhaps there's hope for next year after all.

Weekly Quote 12/20/10

2010-12-21T16:04:00.002-07:00

"You told me you would bring presents and treats,
Cheering my spirit with homemade sweet meats,
Here I sit waiting beside the tree all by myself."

This is from the song "The Christmas Song" by Weezer. I do love me a little Weezer now and again. Sorry I've been such a slacker! We went to Disneyland last week and I've been trying to play catchup since we've been home. I have to apologize to my neighbors for the ghetto gifts (with the ghetto wrapping). I threw them together quickly, and Tyler was making fun of me for them. Shoulda started before I left.

Anyway, new quote up!

Weekly Quote 12/6/10

2010-12-07T21:43:00.002-07:00

"Keep your foot out of my eye...clumsy ox." and "Out of my way, assassin!" are both from Dumbo. They are spoken by the deep-voiced elephant when they're making a pyramid at the circus. This is Kate's new favorite show and she asks to watch it every day!

New quote up! I've been a slacker with the posting, and I probably will next week too. I'll do my best.

The girls

2010-11-22T21:33:00.005-07:00

No, this is not about "those" girls; it's a long-overdue post about Ada and Kate! I keep meaning to post about them and then everything changes. It's crazy! Here is the latest on these two rascals:

Food

Ada: Usually won't eat what I make for dinner, so ends up eating cereal or pb&j more often than not. She does, however, love apples, celery, carrots, broccoli, and tomatoes (phew). She'll even eat lettuce and spinach leaves.

Kate: Doesn't eat much else than honey on toast, zucchini bread, pancakes, and cereal. She could eat pancakes or zucchini bread nonstop. She sometimes eats fruit, but I have a hard time getting her to eat anything healthy. She is a ridiculously messy eater, too!

Temperament

Ada: She is much more mild than she used to be. She is a lot of fun! I'm so glad the hard days are done. She still throws an occasional fit, but all I have to do it throw her in her room and then she's fine. She used to spaz out whenever she didn't want to do what I asked, but now she just sort of sighs and says, "All right." She is impatient and gets bored easily, but I'll take that any day over crazy Ada.

Kate: All I can say is that two is a very difficult age for me. It has made even sweet little Kate pretty terrible at times. She gives in a lot faster than Ada used to, but I still struggle with this one. When she gets mad, she hits or pulls hair. Sometimes she scratches and kicks. I don't know what to do! Suggestions on getting her to stop? She is full of energy. She now refuses to stay in the shopping cart at the store, so shopping is difficult because she wants to run around everywhere. She runs around at church too. She requires a lot of patience (which I don't always have) because she has to do everything herself. She definitely has many sweet moments, though, and is so adorable. She makes Ada laugh all day long. Those two are hilarious when they're getting along!

Funny sayings

Ada:
-She is so silly and makes up silly words all day long. She also likes to make up funny games. She and Kate play one where they start at the couch and then run to hide behind the curtains like they're running from a monster. When they're running, Ada always says, "It's a good thing I cut their shirts off so I can see their belly buttons and nipples." Not sure what to say about that, but it makes me laugh every time!
-She made a Christmas list recently and told me she wanted to leave it outside so it would blow to the North Pole.

Kate:
-She is always full of funny sayings. One day I was playing with her and she pointed up and said, "There's the Palace of Versailles!" I guess she's watched a certain episode of Little Einsteins too many times!
-One time I asked her if she was a boy or a girl and she replied, "Uh, a black boy!" (she was wearing a black shirt)
-While she was eating pancakes one day, she help up a piece and said, "This pancake looks like a Book of Mormon!"
-Once I overheard her in her bedroom singing 'I Love To See The Temple' and when she got to the last line, she said, "This is my Sleeping Beauty (sacred duty)!"

Random

Ada:
-She has a little brood of animals she carries around with her. She gathers them around her plates or bowls whenever she eats so she can "share" with them. Before that, she would do it with a bunch of animal-shaped Silly Bandz.
-She loves to color and draw. She is getting so good. She also writes on her own and tries to spell out words by herself. She usually leaves out a lot of vowels and spaces, so it's hard to tell what she has written. She did, however, draw a picture last month and wrote 'Octobr' at the top. Not bad!

Kate:
-She's learning to use the potty. She has peed many times in it and pooped about three times. I've tried to get her to wear Pull-Ups but she refuses. I can't believe she wouldn't want to wear something that's pink and covered with princesses! I need to get her some real underwear and just buck up. She is eager to go, but often tells me she needs to go after she's already messed her pants!
-She's been done with binkies for a few months. We probably waited too long to ditch them, but I'm glad we finally don't have to worry about that anymore. It wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be.

These girls definitely are keeping me on my toes. As difficult as they can be, I love them to pieces. They make me happy every day and I'm so grateful that they're healthy, fun, sweet girls.

Weekly Quote 11/22/10

2010-11-22T13:13:00.002-07:00

"Grizzly Adams DID have a beard." Good job, Rachelle. It's from Happy Gilmore. I'm not such a huge fan anymore, but that show is full of excellent quotes.

New quote up! Actually, quotes! I couldn't decide between the two, but since they're from the same movie I decided to include them both. They're spoken by the same lady within a minute or two of each other. Best of luck.

Weekly Quote 11/15/10

2010-11-15T14:35:00.002-07:00

"You're willing to take 2/8 instead of a quarter? That's awful big of you." is from 'It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'. I'm so impressed that Shanny got this one! I thought that only members of my family would know this one. It's one of our favorite movies and we used to watch it every Christmas. We laugh our tails off!

New quote up!

Weekly Quote 11/8/10

2010-11-08T16:23:00.001-07:00

"Your aim would suggest otherwise." is indeed from Ever After. Well done, Shan! I used to watch that show quite frequently. It's now been years, but I still love it.

New quote up!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

2010-11-04T21:44:00.002-06:00

This recipe was posted on a friend's blog. Though I really hate the name of these, I'm very partial to pumpkin and cream cheese and just had to try them! I made them for my parents' Halloween party last week (there's a picture on the previous post). I'll post the recipe as it was and then add the changes I made.

2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cups solid pack pumpkin puree
2 eggs
3 cups flour (I use slightly heaping cups in MA)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice (or ½ T. ground ginger, ½ T. ground cloves)

Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly grease baking sheets. Combine the oil and brown sugar. Mix in pumpkin and eggs, beating well. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 tsp. vanilla, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix well.

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets (I fit 12 on an industrial cookie sheet). Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cookies will spread quite a bit, but if they seem really thin, you may need to add a bit more flour. Let cookies cool completely; then make sandwiches from two cookies filled with Cream Cheese Whoopie Pie Filling. It’s usually best to let them sit for a few hours after putting the sandwiches together so the filling can set a little bit.

For filling: Beat 3 egg whites until white, fluffy, and thick. Add 8 oz. cream cheese, softened. Mix until smooth. Add 2 tsp. vanilla, then 4 cups powdered sugar; mix well. Add 4-6 more cups of powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached (total of 8-10 cups). I like the filling to be somewhat thick, so it doesn’t slide out of the cookies when put together.

Yield: 18 pies.

I added lots of extra flour at the beginning, so they didn't spread much. They were super thick and then I loaded them with filling, so it was difficult to fit my mouth around them when they were done! So tasty though. I was a little nervous about a filling with raw eggs, especially since they'd be in the car for a time while I ran errands on the way to my mom's, so I left out the eggs and added 4 T of butter. I kept everything else the same, though I didn't measure the powdered sugar. I just added a bunch and whipped it really well until it seemed about right. I will definitely make these again!

Fall

2010-11-03T13:31:00.010-06:00

Fall has fast become my favorite season. I love everything about it! Here is what we've been up to since September or so:

-Midnight 5k to prepare for the Dirty Dash. I don't like running in the heat, but I love running when it's cool. This 5k was especially nice because it rained for the first half or so. It was my first real race and I beat 30 minutes, so I felt pretty good about myself.

-Ballet. Ada has been anxious to take dance, so we signed her up for ballet with her friend Ellie. I think she looks adorable in her dance clothes. It is so funny to watch these little girls!

-School. Ada LOVES preschool. I threaten to keep her home if she's being naughty, and it works every time. She loves her teacher and all her classmates. I'm so glad she's having a good time.

-Visit from my sisters. They both came to town at the beginning of September. It was so nice to be with everyone! We went out to eat, played games, stayed up way too late, and had a barbecue/b-day party for Abby and my mom. This is the cake that Emily and I created. We were too lazy to add a crumb layer before frosting, so it's not nearly as pretty as we'd hoped.

-The State Fair. The girls got to go twice in one day! Tyler took them in the morning while I went for a run, and then we all went back in the evening. They loved the animals and the rides.

-Air Force Ball. Tyler's dad was in charge, so we went to support him. It was fun to dress up and eat a fancy dinner. Thanks to Rachel for lending me an outfit!

-Baking! I LOVE fall food and I've been indulging in way too many sweets. I'll post the recipe for these behemoths on Thursday.

-Many Halloween festivities! We got to dress up a lot this year. We dressed up for the Ward party, Ada's friend's party, my parents' party (I told my mom I'd dress up if she did. Needless to say, the girls were the only ones who dressed up), trick-or-treating, and Tyler's parents' party. Ada also got to dress up for her preschool party.

Ada's darn wig wouldn't stay put

Tyler took the girls trick-or-treating in the rain. They were so excited to wear their rain coats and boots and to carry their umbrellas, but after a while they just got too cold. Kate's hair was soaked when they got home!

Tyler catching hot dog pieces in his mouth. Eww.

Watch those hands, Judice!

"Is that bad?"

2010-11-03T13:25:00.002-06:00

This is what our Halloween costumes looked like this year:

-I'm Minnie...

-I'm Snow White...

-I'm white trash...

-And I'm Judice!

Don't know what I'm dressed as? Check this out: http://tysqui.blogspot.com/2010/09/judice.html

Happy Halloween!

Weekly Quote 11/1/10

2010-11-01T21:26:00.001-06:00

"Look, my dear! A little frog!" is indeed from Moulin Rouge. I have to admit that I love that show. New quote up!

Weekly Quote 10/25/10 and Super Soft Sugar Cookies

2010-10-25T15:16:00.002-06:00

"Where a rose is a ROSE!" is from Anastasia. It's in the song 'Paris Holds the Key to Your Heart'. I always thought that was such a random line. This dude appears out of nowhere to say it. Props to Rachelle. New quote up!

And, because I've been such a slacker...

Super Soft Sugar Cookies

2 c sugar
1 c sour cream
3 eggs
1 c butter
5 1/2 c flour
2 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
1 t vanilla
1 t almond flavoring
1/4 t salt

Cream 1st four ingredients until fluffy, then add remaining six. Chill 1-2 hours. Roll on floured surface until about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes and bake 6-8 minutes at 350.

This is the frosting recipe I use (it needs to be doubled at least):

1/3 c butter
3 c powdered sugar
1 1/2 t vanilla (I substitute some with almond for this recipe)
2 T milk (I always end up using more)

Weekly Quote 10/18/10

2010-10-18T21:41:00.001-06:00

"Sexy cardi!" is from Notting Hill. I'm pretty sure Hugh Grant's flatmate says it. I love cardigans, so that line has always kept with me.

New quote up!

The Double D

2010-10-12T09:36:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I participated in one of the most fun things I've ever done: The Dirty Dash. It was essentially a 10k with obstacles and lots of mud. It took place at Soldier Hollow, which meant lots of hills. I trained with my friend Rachel. We had lots of fun running three times a week. We trained for a regular 10k, but we were nervous because this was not a regular 10k. How do you train to run in the mud? I pictured myself struggling, being extremely exhausted and barely able to crawl across the finish line. Luckily, this was not the case. Though I pictured myself running the entire thing, we stopped a lot to wait for teammates (or walked up hills to let them catch up) and we had to wait in line for several of the obstacles. Hey, there were 4,000 runners that morning!

We ran with four other ladies (there were five to a team, but the race organizer said I could run with them). We got matching shirts and called ourselves The Sexy Sows. Our outfits were very mild compared to the crazy array of costumes out there. We saw tutus, prom dresses business suits, and lots of guys in tights and/or underwear. There was even a duo in sweaters and overalls running as Mario and Luigi. I'm glad I stuck with a t-shirt and leggings.

The beginning of the race was an uphill dash through slippery mud. After making it to the top, I was exhausted! I still had six miles ahead of me! But I continued on, encountering many more hills in the first mile. Right before Mile 2, we ran uphill into a snow-making machine that sprayed water on us. After that came the hay bales. They were too tall to hurdle, so we had to jump on top and then jump down. I didn't count how many, but there were lots of hay bales. After another long run, we came to the tunnels. We had to crawl through I think three sets of tunnels. Luckily, it was a piece of cake. After another long run we came to the obstacle I was most nervous about: the walls. I didn't know how I was going to be able to climb over a wall! It turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the race. There were three sets of walls that were all surrounded by deep, slippery mud. This is where the real fun started. I covered my face with mud (partly for fun, partly to prevent a sunburn) and went for it. Luckily, there were three different heights of walls and I was able to climb over the shortest one each time. I wanted to finish the race in its entirety, not cut corners or skip obstacles like some people were doing.

The next obstacle was stepping through a bunch of tires, and then it was on to the swamp. We had to jump a creek to get there and then it was wet ground and more mud. It was smelly and dirty, but lots of fun. After lots more running, we had to run up hill to get to the "Slop 'n Slide", supposedly the world's largest slip 'n slide. It was an enormous inflatable slide with five lanes for teammates to go down simultaneously. This was probably the most fun of all. The hill wasn't steep enough for us to slide down the whole way, so we slipped, ran, slipped, ran, and slipped again. It was a blast! Right before the slide is when I saw Tyler for the first time. I was so happy he came and supported me! He tried (and failed) to throw water balloons at me. This was right near the end of the race, so he got to see me finish in all my glory. The final obstacle was a large pit of wet, wet mud. We were told to crawl through to the end. This is where we got the dirtiest of all. When we climbed out, the race was over! It was such a good feeling to be done! I felt good too. We got a group picture, ate some fruit, and then waited in line for the FREEZING COLD showers to rinse off. It was one of the best times I've ever had and I would definitely do it again. Here are a few articles about the event:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700069612/The-Dirty-Dash-is-part-masquerade-ball-part-mud-wrestling-event.html

http://www.deseretnews.com/blog/68/10010194/Reasons-to-run-Running-dirty.html

http://www.parkrecord.com/summit_county-sports/ci_16198010

http://www.standard.net/node/55305

And, of course, lots of pictures!

Bethany made a new friend before the race

Just arriving (and looking very clean)

The Sexy Sows!

Running through mud after the walls

Me climbing over a wall

Rachel and me lookin' good!

Our team after climbing the walls

Can't forget this was a 10k. There was a lot of running!

Bethany and me running to the slide

Rachel getting pegged with a water balloon

The Slop 'n Slide. I'm on the far right

Rachel at the bottom

The final stretch

Slopping through the mud!

The whole team

Climbing out at the end

We did it!

Me, Bethany, Rachel, Sara, Sunshine, Rachael

Waiting to rinse off!

Weekly Quote 10/11/10

2010-10-11T21:17:00.001-06:00

"It is very spooky in here. I ain't playing no games." is from Shrek. Donkey says it right before he finds out Fiona is an ogre.

New quote up!

Weekly Quote 10/4/10

2010-10-04T17:22:00.001-06:00

"Is it Father?"
"No, my hair!"

This quote is from the 'Little Women' movie with Winona Ryder. Good job, Alysia and Kim! New quote up.

Whole Grain Banana Pecan Muffins

2010-09-30T17:07:00.002-06:00

I've really been slacking on the recipes lately! Here's a new recipe I tried that I really like. Even Tyler (who doesn't usually like my healthier recipes) will eat these!
Whole Grain Banana Pecan Muffins

3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. honey (you can substitute 1/4 c. sugar here if you prefer)
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c. mashed very ripe banana (about 2 large bananas or 3 smaller ones)
1/3 c. low-fat sour cream or plain yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. pecans, chopped
1/4 c. packed brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with liners--you'll need about 15-16.

Whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugar, honey (if using), and butter. Add each egg in one at a time, combining completely after each addition but not over-mixing. Add the mashed banana, yogurt, and vanilla. Slowly add in the flour mixture and beat until just combined (don't over-mix).

Divide the batter evenly (so the cups are about 2/3 full) among 15-16 muffin tins. Combine the chopped pecans and brown sugar and sprinkle them on top of the batter. Bake for 23-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack and allow to finish cooling.

Adieu

2010-09-29T12:58:00.007-06:00

Summer used to be my favorite season. Now I'm not the biggest fan. It's too hot and the kids lose sleep every night due to the abundance of sunlight. We did have lots of good times, though. This is how we spent the hottest months of the year:

-Lots of playing on the playground (and having barbecues)

-Planting a garden (but not reaping much)

-Playing in the rain

-Going to Bear Lake with the Squires

-Staying at Scott's cabin with the Dicksons

-Celebrating birthdays (Tyler and I both turned 29. What crazy thing should we do before next summer?)

-Swimming lessons for Ada with her bff Ashton

-Lots of swimming outside

-Riding Ada's new bike (though it was short-lived since she fell off and is scared to ride again)

Though we had a good summer, I'm not sad to move on. In fact, I'm really wishing it would stop feeling like summer -- I'm feeling a desperate need to pull out my cardigans and boots!

Weekly Quote 9/27/10

2010-09-27T15:38:00.001-06:00

Yes, "You pitiful, insignificant fool!" is from The Little Mermaid. I love that show, as do my girls. Now try your hands at this next one!

Weekly Quote 9/20/10

2010-09-20T12:14:00.001-06:00

Such a pretty house
and such a pretty garden.

From the song 'No Surprises' by Radiohead. Love 'em. Sorry I've been a slacker lately. My sisters came into town and then I got sick. New quote up!

Weekly Quote 9/6/10

2010-09-07T09:02:00.002-06:00

At the final moment, I cried
I always cry at endings.

That is from the song 'Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying' by Belle & Sebastian. They are probably my favorite band after Radiohead. Love 'em.

New quote up!

Thoughts on independence

2010-09-03T15:12:00.002-06:00

No, this post is not about freedom...unless we're talking about freedom from a crappy TV contract.

Yes, another post about the Cougs. It's been a while. My thoughts have been obsessed with BYU lately, so hopefully by posting them my mind can finally clear up. I'm sure many people have no interest in this post. If that's not the case, read on!

I don't even know where to start. Okay, so lots of people believe that BYU went independent in response to Utah going to the PAC-10 (I'll call it by its current name in this post). They couldn't handle being "outdone" by the Utes, so they got desperate and made a quick exit from the MWC. I think that the timing of the announcement came because of the Utes, but that is where it ends. BYU has obviously been working for years on the equipment and resources that have made this whole decision possible. I believe that they would have waited around a couple of years to see what the state of the MWC was as far as receiving an automatic BCS bid, but when Utah left the conference they saw this as highly unlikely and decided to get out themselves. Also, maybe they were afraid of losing recruits to Utah. I don't know. Utah is obviously in a better position, being in a BCS conference; BYU just took matters into their own hands and did the next best thing. Some people don't believe this is a good thing, but I'll get to that in a minute. I just want to say one more thing while I'm on the topic of the Utes and the PAC-10: Utah deserved an invitation in its own right, but I'm sick of hearing that BYU wasn't good enough for an invitation. If that is the case, then why was Colorado invited? Perhaps the PAC-10 wanted to improve its ski program? I know Colorado was invited for its own reasons (TV market, ultimately trying to lure Texas, etc.), but BYU fans and others need to realize that the PAC-10 never even considered inviting them and never will. It has nothing to do with athletics and everything to do with religion. I'm not talking about not playing on Sundays either. I sincerely believe that the PAC-10 does NOT want a Mormon school in its midst. Call me crazy if you must, but I know I'm not the only person (nor the only BYU fan) who thinks this.

Moving on...

So BYU left the MWC to become independent in football. They originally had plans to join the WAC in all other sports until Craig Thompson foiled those plans by inviting Fresno State and Nevada to the MWC to weaken the WAC and try to get BYU to stay (he denies this is the reason, but really, does anyone actually believe him?). Many are calling BYU dirty backstabbers because they were trying to make a deal with the WAC behind the MWC's back. I believe that is too harsh. The reason? BYU had previously made it known that independence was an option, so the MWC couldn't have been shocked that BYU was doing something to try and make that happen. BYU had made no agreements with the MWC, unlike, for example, Fresno State, whose president was in cahoots with USU's president and WAC commissioner to get the BYU deal to go through, and then turned around and left within a matter of days. Now the poor WAC is in a sticky situation. I feel terrible for them. You can't really blame FSU for trying to improve their situation, though, and you can't really point fingers at BYU for trying to improve theirs. (Plus, would the prophet really okay a deal that was dishonest or dirty?) It's a gamble as to whether or not this is an improvement, but at least they're free from the awful network known as the MTN. Per a S.L. Trib article last week, BYU brought more money to the MWC than any other school, yet they got the same amount of money as everyone else. BYU now has a great deal with ESPN where they can make more money in one game than they made in an entire season with the MTN. BYU said that money is not the reason they went independent, but it has to have something to do with it. Now the MTN may soon be dead as we know it, so maybe the MWC should thank the Cougars

Something has to be said about the WCC. Many people believe that BYU is selling out on their other sports by making them play in the West Coast Conference. First, let's talk basketball. The WCC is easily strong than the WAC, especially a Nevada- and Fresno State-less WAC. ESPN will now air BYU basketball games. The WCC is thrilled to have BYU. BYU can only help improve the conference. As far as I've read, WCC fans (except for my brother-in-law) are also thrilled to have BYU. It's a win-win. So what about other sports, namely the ones that the WCC doesn't support? I haven't heard any official word on it, but I've heard that they can play in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. I'm pretty sure that BYU would not just let their women's track and field team, who is always on the national radar, just dissolve. Their other sports believe that what is good for BYU football is good for all other BYU sports. They can now have more national exposure as well.

So now, is this going to be a good thing? I believe it is. We already know that they are going to be making more money. Independence might hurt them as far as recruiting goes, but it might help them. They will now have games shown on ESPN, which will give them exposure to the rest of the country. I know my two brothers-in-law who live out of state are thrilled with the news. What about the BCS? It will take perfection for them to get an automatic bid, but that doesn't mean that they can't go to a BCS bowl. They can still be eligible with a good BCS ranking and will have a good chance of being chosen if they have a good schedule. Which leads me to scheduling. BYU knows that it may struggle in the next few years finding "quality" opponents since many schools already have their schedules set. The troubles may continue past that, but they already will be playing Texas 3 of the next 4 seasons and Notre Dame in 6 of the next 10 seasons (though I still question whether or not they are a quality opponent) and they have Boise State in the near future. They will always have a chance to play Utah. ESPN will help BYU with scheduling quality games to improve ratings, so the question may actually be, will they have too hard of a schedule? We'll see how the future pans out. It's a gamble, but I commend them for taking it. It at least will make things interesting. I can't wait to see what the future holds. I only hope that this won't be a distraction to the football team this season, though I don't have super high expectations of this season. This is the youngest team yet under Bronco, so it may be more of a rebuilding year. We'll see. I'm intrigued as to how the two quarterback system works.

I only have one question left: WHY did we get rid of cable a month before the beginning of the college football season!?

P.S. If anyone is still reading, I won't be posting a recipe this week. I'm just not in the mood.

Weekly Quote 8/30/10

2010-08-31T08:49:00.003-06:00

"You're a pacifist!" is indeed from 'Field of Dreams'. One of my favorite movies ever.

New quote up!

Lasagna Rolls

2010-08-26T16:42:00.002-06:00

I saw Giada make these on Food Network a few years ago and I had to try them. It's been a while, but I think I substituted ground beef for prosciutto.

Lasagna Rolls

Sauce:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg

Lasagna:

1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped
1 large egg, beaten to blend
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting water
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella (about 4 ounces)

Directions

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the bechamel sauce.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Whisk the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan, prosciutto, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.

Add a tablespoon or 2 of oil to a large pot of boiling salted water. Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.

Butter a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface, then spread about 3 tablespoons of ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle. Starting at 1 end, roll each noodle like a jelly roll. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the bechamel sauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture. Spoon 1 cup of marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan over the lasagna rolls. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve alongside.

Weekly Quote 8/23/10

2010-08-23T17:45:00.002-06:00

"You draw far too much attention to yourself, Mr. Underhill." is from 'The Fellowship of the Ring'. Aragorn says it to Frodo when they're at The Prancing Pony. Abby, I don't think you should be allowed to comment until later in the week since you always know the answers!

New quote up!

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

2010-08-19T17:09:00.003-06:00

I tried a new cinnamon roll recipe the other day. I saw it on bakerella.com and she said they were the best cinnamon rolls she'd ever tasted. I wouldn't call them the best, but they were pretty good.

I halved the recipe and still had 3 1/2 pans. I made a few small modifications, so I'll post it the way I did it. Here is a link to the original. I have pictures this time! (I took them with my phone, so they're not great.)

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

2 c milk
1/2 cup oil
1/2 c sugar
1 package (2 1/4 t) yeast
4 c (plus 1/2 c separated) flour
1/2 t (heaping) baking powder
1/2 t (scant) baking soda
1/2 T (heaping) salt
1/4 c butter
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
Generous sprinkling of cinnamon

Maple Frosting:

1/2 bag powdered sugar
1 t maple flavoring
1/4 - 1/2 c milk
2 T melted butter
Pinch of salt

Mix the milk, oil and sugar in a pan. “Scald” the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 4 cups of flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1/2 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together.

When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape.
Drizzle 1/4 c melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.
Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Grease cake or pie pans. Then begin cutting the rolls (I used floss) approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans. (I used two cake pans and one 9x13.)
Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.

Viola!

Weekly Quote 8/16/10

2010-08-16T13:05:00.002-06:00

"I'm afraid I obtained these from an obliging field." is indeed from 'Sense and Sensibility'. I'm impressed by everyone who knew it, especially Clark, who seemed to know more about the show than most girls. I went on a little S&S kick a while ago and watched the 2008 BBC movie, the 1995 Hollywood version, and read the book. The newer film is truer to the book, but both are excellent.

New quote up!

Walnut Brownies

2010-08-12T11:18:00.002-06:00

Have you ever wanted a brownie but didn't want to make a whole pan? Here is your solution! This recipe is baked in a loaf pan, so it only yields 8 brownies.

Walnut Brownies

1/4 c butter
3 T cocoa
1 egg
1/2 c sugar
1/4 t vanilla
1/2 c flour
1/4 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
1/4 c chopped walnuts

In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and cocoa; beat in egg, sugar, and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture. Beat on low speed until thoroughly combined. Stir in walnuts. Pour into a greased 8x4x2-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

I like to add chocolate chips instead of walnuts. Also, this may be doubled and baked in an 8-in. square pan for 20-25 min.

Weekly Quote 8/9/10

2010-08-09T14:13:00.001-06:00

"Killer boots, man!" is from Dumb and Dumber. I haven 't seen it in years, but that show is full of gems. Props to Rachelle on that one.

New quote up!

Berry Sorbet

2010-08-05T20:57:00.002-06:00

I first had this at my friend Vanessa's house and I immediately fell in love. She then surprised me on my birthday with a large container all to myself! I had to get the recipe, and I finally made it myself. Heaven on earth!

Berry Sorbet

3 c berries
1 c sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 c water
2 T fresh lemon juice

Pulse fruit, sugar, and salt 15 pulses in blender or food processor until just combined. Turn on and add liquid through the top. Blend until sugar is dissolved (about 1 min.). Strain into a container and chill in fridge for 1 hour. Put in ice cream maker and churn until soft serve consistency. Put in freezer container with plastic wrap under the lid and chill for 3 hours.

You can use any combination of berries but not straight blueberries; there is a different recipe for that which I don't have the recipe for. I've had it with straight raspberries and with equal parts strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. I wish I could eat it every day!

Ada's 4th

2010-08-03T22:17:00.008-06:00

In April, my friend Kim sent me this link as a cute idea for a birthday party. I'm so glad she did, because I couldn't have agreed more! I knew it would be the perfect model for a Minnie party for Ada. Well, shortly thereafter Ada decided that she did NOT like Minnie Mouse. She became anti anything Minnie and only liked Daisy. She tried to make me tell stories about Minnie being mean to Daisy, and Minnie always had to be mean when we played with her Clubhouse toys. This was not good news for me, but I thought that I could still do the Minnie party, just for Kate. Ada could have the Ariel party that I wanted Kate to originally have.

Fast forward to mid-June. Morgan and I went on an adventure to Orem to go to the Disney Store (since that's the only one in Utah). Lucky for me, they had just started having a huge sale. Morgan took the girls out so I could shop, and shop I did. I bought pretty much all of their birthday presents and walked away with three huge bags. I bought a few Minnie things (among other things) for Kate, including a Minnie dress-up (it was short, so I bought it in Ada's size so she could wear it for a long time). I purchased a few Ariel things for Ada, including an Ariel dress-up. After seeing all the Minnie things in the store, Ada decided that she loved Minnie again and wanted a Minnie birthday party. After much debate in my mind, I let Ada have the Minnie party like I had originally wanted and let Kate have the Ariel party. Kate would still get the Minnie dress (the Ariel dress is way too long for her, since it mimics a mermaid tail) and Ada would just wear it at her party.

I got to work early making all the things I could from that cute blog post, but with pink instead of red. It's a good thing, because I was stressing about that party until the second it ended! I had already bought favor bags at Zurchers, but I made almost everything else. This is what the invitations looked like:

I decided to make red invitations for the boys (what boy wants a pink invitation with a bow on it?). I changed them a little bit, but I thought they turned out well.

Now for the big day! Ada had been awaiting her birthday for months. She was so excited that it was finally here. She had swim lessons in the morning and Tyler came home from work to go watch her. Then we got some books from the library and went to McDonald's where the girls could eat chicken nuggets and play at the play place. They had a blast. Then we came home and Ada opened a few presents.

I then got to work on all the party stuff. I was smarter this time and baked the cake the day before. I had to make four rounds, so I decided to try the white cake recipe that failed on Kate's birthday (the crumbs were delicious). With a little wax paper on the bottoms of the pans, the cakes came out well. I cut two smaller circles out of two of the rounds for the ears. I wrapped them up and froze them, which would make frosting them easier the next day. Luckily I learned from the cake disaster incident and didn't put all the batter in the pans. Then I had enough left for a dozen cupcakes, which saved me a lot of time from making a whole new cake recipe for those. All I had to do the day of the party was make the frosting. I learned my lesson and the consistency was much better this time. Phew! Here is Ada enjoying the black frosting (we tried chocolate frosting for the black this time since the black looked more purple last time. That did the trick.):

Here are some of the decorations (the boys got solid red hats with two white buttons on the front like Mickey's pants. Of course in all the mayhem I didn't get a picture):

I was running a bit behind, so I didn't quite have everything all set up by the time people came. That didn't help with the stress I'd been feeling for the last two months!

Here is how the cake and cupcakes turned out:

Very cute! And here's the birthday girl with her cute friend Brielle:

Morgan even curled her hair for the occasion. She looked so adorable!

We all ate hot dogs on pink and black plates and then we went inside for presents so Morgan and Jordan could hide clues outside for the treasure hunt.

Ada got so many great presents and she loves them all! It was funny to watch her, though; she didn't even crack a smile the whole time.

I didn't get any treasure hunt pictures (though I think Tyler got a video), but they got their first clue from Toodles and found subsequent clues throughout the backyard (which were all little poems I made up). The last clue told them that the treasure was in the front yard, but they had to do the Hot Dog Dance before they could claim it. It was cute to watch them all! The treasure was their favor bags. Then we went back to the back for the pinata.

It was actually pretty easy to make. Not bad for my first pinata attempt, eh? Luckily it was an easy shape to make! I also made white, four-fingered gloves out of felt, but of course I didn't get a picture.

It was fun to watch all the kids hit the pinata. They loved getting all the candy at the end.

Then it was time for cake and ice cream.

Overall, I think everything turned out well. At the end, though, I was glad it was over and I slept better that night than I had in months! I'm mad at myself for not getting a picture of all her friends. Brielle, Millie, Keaton, and Ashton came, along with her cousins Ella, Sophie, Reese, and Shelby. Three of her friends couldn't make it. I think everyone had fun though. Ada loved it, so that's all that matters.

Ada loves being four. She is actually starting to behave better, which is such a relief. She still has tantrums, but she gets over them much more quickly than she used to. I think the really hard times with her are finally starting to fade (until she hits puberty, that is). I'm excited for this year. She is learning so much. She loves to learn! She loves to color and draw pictures of herself and her friends or family. She loves to watch movies and play on the computer. Most of the time she loves to play with Kate. She loves to sing songs. She is so cute and fun!

Today she had her four year check-up at the doctor's office. She is doing very well. Her weight is in the 21st percentile and her height in the 50th. (I failed to post Kate's last time: 6th for weight and 30th for height.) The doctor told us that Ada would have to get one shot, which we weren't expecting. I told Ada this while he went to get the nurse. She got a blank look on her face (which worried me), but then she said, "It's not gonna hurt at all!" I was so pleasantly surprised. The nurse came in and Ada watched as she poked the needle into Ada's leg. She didn't even flinch. I was so proud of her! I love my Ada and I'm so lucky to be her mom.