Quiet....baking in session

On Saturday, I decided to bake some cookies. I wanted to give some to my Beehives on Sunday. Then, I also wanted to take some to my family Easter egg hunt. So, I started baking.

Then, Amanda came in and wanted to use cupcake maker kit that she received as a bday present. So, she started baking.
Then, Sydney came in and wanted to use her cake making/decorating kit that she received as a Christmas gift. So, she started baking.

Then, Brandon came in and wanted to help me with the cookies!

We all donned our aprons and cooked away. It was a fun afternoon! And when all was said and done, my family got some cookies (that made up for the cake, right Rog?), but I didn't have enough for my Bees. We have almost 20 girls now? Anyway, I had run out of frosting and decided that the Bees would be fine without cookies......it's the thought that counts, right?

Friends in high places.....

Yesterday, Sydney came home from school and didn't say a word. She just giggled and giggled and giggled. I asked her what was up. She started digging in her backpack and proceeded to pull out a paper which stated that she was selected to have lunch with the Mayor this Friday! She's so cute. She got picked last year, too. But, she still so giddy about it!

We are proud of you, Sydney!

Addtion: I wanted to add what Sydney's teacher wrote about her and why she was picked. "She is a well-behaved, great student. She does her best at school and is friendly to others. She overcame her fear of giving her oral animal report in front of the class last week. Even though she was tearful and afraid, she showed bravery and a willingness to do something that was hard for her, even though I gave her the option of just reading her report to me alone. She did a great job! She is a wonderful young lady and I am happy to have her in my class!" Karen McKinnon - 2nd Grade

Random St. Paddy's...

An update on Sydney's report: She wasn't completely without drama, but she did deliver her report and did awesome! Brandon and I were able to go see her. We were so proud. We immediately texted Daddy and let him know she did it! At the beginning of the month, we took our YW to the General YW offices for a tour. We had 2 of the board members show us around, speak with the girls and then take us to Sis. Dalton's office where this picture was taken. They also got to go to the YW Board room, sit around the table and also say the YW Theme. A really fun night....so I wanted to post the picture of some of our girls in the General YW President's office.


Now-I was trying to make St. Patrick's Day at little more fun than I usually do. I had acquired beforehand some treats that the Leprechauns could leave our kids. However, on Tuesday night while Mike was flying home from Denver and Sydney & I were partying with the Arvy's at Litza's for dinner and later PTC for a play, Amanda found said stash and proceeded to eat (and share) the 'gold' (rolos) and Lucky Charms with Brandon. Well, needless to say, the Leprechauns didn't visit that night and our kids were a little bummed when they heard that the Leprechauns had visited Harwood's and Francis'. Taye and Zoe came with cool St. Paddy's necklaces and told us how they found green pee in the toliets. Oh well, maybe next year.


I did make dinner semi-fun though. I dyed the eggs green.

The girls in our house loved it.

The boys (which includes Daddy) not so much.

Brandon told me, 'I am NOT eating that' and I had to make him a boring, normal-colored egg.
Sydney made the shamrock toast!

Now, they don't really go with the green eggs, but I also made guac with chips and later



brownies with mint chocolate chip ice cream!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Shout-out to a great Daddy!

I just witnessed a very precious moment and I wanted to record it so that someday, Sydney will be able to look back and remember. Syd has to give an oral report tomorrow (Monday). They have been working on an animal report for about a month.

Friday, she came home and asked me if she could fake sick (this is our straight A student talking!) on Monday so she wouldn't have to give the report. This continued all weekend long. She is worried that she'll be so nervous that she'll break down and cry. This has happened to her in Primary for talks and prayers, but not recently. Even a couple of weeks ago, she played a memorized piano piece in the recital without a problem. But, this report (which she just reads aloud), is throwing off her groove.

The kids were in bed tonight, when we heard Amanda call for us saying Sydney was crying. Sydney was in the middle of a panic attack! I went in and started trying to calm her down. Then, my wonderful husband pulled her into our room and sat with her, dried her tears, talked about her 'world record' which comes from a video about Chad Hymas that Mike brought home to discuss this past week. (Really inspirational stuff) He calmed her fears.

For about ten minutes, I got to witness the tender care of a Daddy to his little girl.

He prayed with her and then tucked her into bed.

She was ready to go to sleep and could face her day tomorrow.

Luckily, I get to be there to see her give her report. Mike would be there, but has a plane to catch. But, I feel like he did more to support her tonight.

He gave her courage.

Wonderland....

We had a nice family outing today. We took the kids to see

Alice In Wonderland.

We weren't able to get any tickets for 3D (sold-out and truth be told, I hate wearing the glasses), but we did get into a small theater to see it in non-3D.

Still quite an adventure!

Amanda and Dad were going to go skiing today, but she woke up with this killer cold our family is dealing with. She even had a little fever. But, we figured if we give her Motrin, she would be able to sit in a theater and watch a movie just as she would watch tv at home. She's a trooper...

I know the kids like it better when Dad comes to movies because he gets them treats.

I am too cheap. I get them treats, but not like their Dad. Today, he got them Pucker Power tubes. They are 12 inch tubes that you fill up from a carousel of colored sugar....kind of like pixie stix.

The tubes were quite pretty when they finished the filling process.

The kids were in heaven! Dad is the best!

The movie was good! It kept everyone's attention for the entire show! Brandon thought a few parts were a little scary. We'll see if he has any nightmares. But we had fun.

I love taking the kids to movies!

We hit Iggy's for dinner and got to watch the Jazz game on the big, big screen which amazed the kids. They kept looking for their buddy, CJ Miles.

I could tell that we wore them out because our car ride home was pretty quiet!

Great day with my awesome family!

Go Jazz!

For the past few years, Mike's company gets to have a kid's basketball clinic with a Jazz player. This year, they were lucky to be on the actual Delta Center court! (I know it's a different name now, but it will always be the Delta Center to me)
Mike spent FHE with the kids teaching them some basics so they would be prepared for the big day. They had a great time and didn't want to stop playing bball with their Dad!

They started with some warm-ups. Amanda is in the black pants with pink stripes, Sydney is right next to her in the brown pants. (Brandon was too young to participate, but did get a shirt, picture and autograph from CJ).

Their Jazz player was CJ Miles and Mike said he was really cute with the kids. (I had to miss it because I was teaching). Amanda got a high five from CJ because she's left-handed like him!

Amanda Dribbling....

Sydney waiting her turn to try a lay-up...Sydney had a killer cold, but still wanted to go. She did great!Look at little Syd under that TALL basket!Sydney doing more drills (she's on the left with her back to us). Amanda's lay-up attempt

Sydney's free-throw. She said there is a nail on the floor that the players line up to shoot the basket and CJ showed it to the kids.

Amanda's free-throw attempt

That was fun!

Picture Time!

Brandon got to have his picture taken!

Our cute kiddos on a NBA Basketball Court! Thanks, Baileys!

A Joyful Noise!

I had my annual (sometimes semi-) piano recital on Friday night.

l to r: Morgan, Keturah, Amanda, Dillon, Casey, Nick, Suzie, Sam, Alaina, Nate, Steph and Missy in front.

Usually, I try to have it at the library so the kids can play on a baby grand, but this year I couldn't get there to get it reserved. It was much easier to do it at the church....and so I did. Having at the church also meant I could serve refreshments and gave me time to visit with my student's parents. The library charges more $$ if you bring food.

Another thing I tried this year was dividing my students into 2 groups for 2 separate recitals. This worked out nicely. Each recital was shorter and the room wasn't too crowded. All my students were ready, but some suffered from nerves and struggled a little. It was really neat to see their determination in getting through their performance and they played beautifully!

l to r: Braydon, Maddy, Lindsey, Sydnie, Matt, Preston, Allie, Rachel & me (my Sydney as well as Dallin, Marissa, & Megan Barlow missed the picture)

I didn't have too many beginning students this year. So it was really fun to see how each student had improved in the past year.

I'm a foodie!

As I was making spaghetti and breadsticks the other night

(Daddy was gone, so it was psaghetti night), I started to think about how far I have come in the cooking dept.

Not the spaghetti, mind you, but the homemade breadsticks are illustrating my point.

I told this story to my Beehives last week as I was teaching a lesson on

sharing work in the home.

When Mike & I were first married, our main dinner every night was baked potatoes. We would also go out a lot (my favorite dinner still is going out). I remember distinctly the day that Mikey asked me if we could maybe have some meat in our dinners!

To tell you the truth, it never crossed my mind!

I didn't learn how to cook before I got married. I could bake. I make killer cookies.

But, not real, nourishing food. My cute Mom told me once that she was sorry she didn't teach me to cook.

No worries, Mom.

I could have asked.

I have been able to take a little food journey for the past little while and I'm really enjoying it! I'm obsessed with Food Network.

I read food blogs constantly.

I'm always looking for something new to try.

I dream about 'plating' food so that my family goes, 'Ooooo, Ahhhh'

Ok, not really. But it's nice to feel appreciated!

I have made a very strong effort to make dinner every night. I also explore different recipes. Some work, some don't.

But, I do feel we are getting some family favorites.

The most fun has been how interested the kids are in helping me!

Whenever they ask, I make sure to let them help me with everything, even though it can make a mess. Sometimes, I enlisted their help. Like the other night.....

The other night, I was busy teaching piano (as usual). We were having spaghetti-like I said, Mike was gone. He doesn't like spaghetti, so it's not on the menu when he's around.

I wanted to have homemade breadsticks. So, I called in the girls.

I told them that they needed to make the breadsticks for dinner. I gave brief instructions and then went back to teaching. After a few questions, they were able to make the dough and get it ready to rise for an hour and a half.

When the dough was ready, I told them how to make the breadsticks and get them on the baking sheet. They even brushed them with melted butter and sprinkled parmesean cheese over the top. They smelled so great baking and they tasted even better.

The girls did great! I'm also liking the confidence they are building. It's so fun to have them in the kitchen with me. Especially when we all wear our aprons.

Brandon loves to help me, too.

I think that it will help them to appreciate all the work that goes into making meals. I can also send them off into the big world knowing that they will have a few recipes under their cooking belts (or under their cute aprons!).

Cute kiddos!

The other night, Mike put his ski helmet and goggles on Brandon. He loved it and ended up wearing for hours and also the next day!

Sydney also wanted her picture taken. Hi Syd!

A cheesy dinner!

Last weekend, we decided to use our gift cards from our generous grandparents and go to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. It was Valentine's Day weekend, but we thought if we went early enough we wouldn't have to wait long.

Wrong!

We arrived at 3pm and had an hour and a half wait! We waited, of course, because we had driven 30 minutes to dine there.

We walked through the mall and Mike & the kids got some new things.

We had a great dinner and enjoyed each other's company. While we were waiting for cheesecake, Sydney decided to entertain us. She put her napkin in her headband and started to dance in her seat. Her antics ended up cracking all of us up!

Amanda tried so hard not to laugh, but Sydney won out!