K and her BFF

This is how I found Kendall and our dog Penton this afternoon - all snuggled up under the kitchen table.  Penton loves to lay in the afternoon sun under the table or near the back door and Kendall just can't resist her.  Thank goodness Penton is tolerant of Sissy because she doesn't let the poor dog rest.  Penton is our German Shepherd/Australian Cattle dog pound puppy who is over 10 years old.  I was afraid she'd be getting to the point where she'd want some peace from the kids (and most days I think that's what she'd like), but Penton seems to enjoy the attention.

Two of My Favorite Appetizers

At happy hour last night, one of my friends ask that I share the recipe of the corn dip that I had taken.  It's from one of our dear friends who we met while living in Jax.  The Meeks are some of the sweetest people in the world.  Matt is in the Navy, currently on deployment while Lori is home working and taking care of their three beautiful children.  We are selfishly hoping that their new orders will send them Cali so we can have a better chance of seeing them again, but we'll see what the Navy decides for them.

This is Lori's Corn Dip recipe...It's so simple, easy and delicious...just not very healthy.

1 large bag of frozen shoepeg corn

2 blocks of cream cheese - I choose to use the neufchatel because it's a tad healthier

1 stick of butter

1-2 tsp. cumin

1/2 jar of jalapeno juice plus 1/2 jar of chopped jalapenos

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a medium sized baking dish - I split mine into two dishes so I had one to take and could leave one home for Andy.  Allow corn to thaw or defrost in microwave.  Combine cream cheese and butter and cook for 30 sec. in microwave or until soft.  Mix well (I use my hand mixer) and then add cumin, jalapenos and juice.  Mix with corn and pour into baking dish.  Bake until bubbly on the outside edges and hot in the middle - unfortunately I can't remember how long this took and Lori's directions do not say.  You can also microwave this recipe.  Make sure not to over cook or the dip will not be creamy.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Another good appetizer that I enjoy taking to parties is one from my dear cousin Jon's wife.  Laura brought this to our house for a New Year's Eve party back when we lived in the 'Ville and she was kind enough to share it with me.  There is a similar one in the Taste of Home cookbook, but I like hers so much that I've never tried any others.  She calls it Texas Cavier.

6 roma tomatoes, chopped fine

1 green pepper, chopped fine

2 jalapeno peppers, chopped fine

1 can shoepeg corn

1 can black eyed peas

small can chopped black olives

8 oz. conatiner feta cheese, crumbled

1 bunch green onions, chopped fine

garlic salt (sprinkled once, lightly, over all ingredients)

8 oz. Italian dressing

Mix together and enjoy with Frito's Scoops.  

This is so delicious and has lots of veggies and color!

I love sharing recipes with friends and family.  That way when I make the dish, it helps me to stay connected with them.  With our lifestyle or should I say, Andy's job, we move around so much that it can become rather difficult to develop strong, lasting friendships.  As soon as you are starting to develop a relationship to that point, we up and move.  I am so thankful for all the friends I've made along this journey.  Some will remain close to my heart and others were great company for that chapter of our lives.  It does make sending out Christmas cards more expensive and overwhelming, but we are thankful for everyone we've met and the impact they've had on our lives.

If any of you have a favorite recipe you'd like to share with me, please feel free to email it to me.  Click here  to send me a recipe.  I love trying new things!  I'm planning on creating a family and friends recipe book (and idea I got from MOPS this year) and that way I can look through it and get some yummy ideas as well as take a walk down memory lane.

Enjoy!

Oh What A Night!

Late December back in '63!

What a very special time for me!

As I remember, what a night!

Oh, what a night!

You know I didn't even know her name.

But I was never gonna be the same.

What a lady, what a night!

I wish my night was as good as the song, but alas, it was just the opposite!  I went to happy hour at one of a friend's house with the girls and sadly, that was the only happy part of my night.

Once we finally got both the kids in bed, there was a quiet before the storm.  Andy spent some time jammin' to tunes downstairs (his normal activity associated with drinking beer on the weekends).  I had a sinus headache so I settled in bed with a movie upstairs.  I got too tired waiting for Andy, so I finally fell asleep.  Can't imagine why I was so tired - oh wait, that's right, the kids have been waking me for the past week or so!

Around 11:30 pm I awoke to K's screams.  Not just I want my Momma type scream, but wake the #$*& up and come get me type of scream!  I walked into her room and almost got knocked over by the odor!  She threw up in her bed, on her blankets and stuffed animals, over the railing of her bed and all over the floor!  Poor kid had it in her ear and all over the side of her head!  I picked her up, took her to the bathroom and stripped her down then woke Andy to help (thank goodness for me he was home).  Not to get too graphic, but it was red grapes that she had earlier that evening.  Skins and all!  YUCK!  Andy scrubbed her crib and floor and stripped the entire bed while I bathed her and then took her downstairs to get her some water and snuggle.  I also washed her bedding.  By 1 am she was ready to go back to bed.  Andy had set up her pack-n-play in the guest room until I could get her crib back together.

If that wasn't bad enough, I couldn't fall back to sleep, so I crashed on the sofa while trying to fall asleep to an episode of Band of Brothers from On Demand (because we all know how bad the options are on t.v. in the middle of the night!)  About an hour later, Riley wanders downstairs in tears.  When I asked him what was wrong, he said "I need you Mommy."  UGH!  I love that my children need me, but I wish they would just need me during the daylight hours!

Then at the crack of dawn, which thankfully occurs much later out here than back east due to our location in the time zone and the mts., Kendall was up crying to get out of her bed.

I'm hoping that tonight is much more peaceful...Momma needs to sleep through the night for at least one night!  Oh the joys of motherhood!

A Work Of Art

Today was the first time Kendall didn't use crayons as a mid-day snack!  The result is this masterpiece below.  I know you are all very impressed with my daughter's artistic ability!

A Morning From Hell

So yesterday I had Bible study at church at 9 am.  I was able to get up & showered before my darling teething daughter awoke moaning and crying.  I got the kids fed, clothed, myself presentable as well as getting the kitchen cleaned up, etc. before heading out the door at 8:50 to drop Riley off at school before heading over to church.

Silly me for thinking I could do the same today plus make a breakfast pizza for MOPS at 9 am!  Well, the morning started with said daughter waking up way too early.  Andy was still in bed because he had to go ride a train last night and got in after midnight so we had to be quiet and go downstairs.  I got her fed while prepping the ingredients for the pizza - shred cheese, chop parsley, cook & crumble bacon, etc.  Then my darling son woke up...in the foulest of moods I've seen.  He was mad that I made him go back up and make his bed and get dressed prior to coming back downstairs - even though that is his routine every morning!  He came down about 5 min. later crying.  I asked what was wrong and he said he couldn't put his comforter on correctly.  Let me correct that, he whined about the comforter.  So I made him ask for help politely and we went upstairs to remedy the problem.  The next thing I know he's back downstairs, still in his super hero jammies, pouting on the steps.  He didn't want to get dressed because "it's not fun."  To make a long story short, he ended up getting spanked to start his day.  Then we had to wash his face because of all the tears, and after that, he was fine!

As I mentioned, Kendall is teething.  She's got a full set minus her two year molars.  The kid is 18 months old!  She shouldn't be getting these now, but my daughter got all of her other teeth early so I shouldn't be surprised!  She's been clingy and whiny for the past week plus.  That makes getting much of anything done around the house next to impossible.  She constantly wants to be held or she'll cry her little heart out.  I was able to sneak in a shower while her favorite furry friends were singing her favorite tunes on the t.v.  Andy was up and about by this time, but he wanted to rush off to work because he's going to take tomorrow off to help around the house.  I got myself cleaned up, got the pizza in the oven and was in the middle of drying my hair, when Riley comes into my room, followed by his little sister.  Riley looked pretty distraught.  I asked him what was wrong.  He asked me how a poopy diaper got into his room.  I was trying to remember if I had left one out in a hurry this morning or last night, but then I turned around and saw my naked daughter and we knew exactly where that diaper came from!  Of course when she's naked, she LOVES to be chased!  Once I finally caught her, I got her cleaned up and dressed.  Then I looked at the time and realized it was time to take Riley to school.  I wasn't dressed, my hair wasn't dry and the pizza still needed at least 10 more minutes in the oven!

We took Riley to school, came back, and finished up getting ready and headed off to MOPS - much later than planned, but we got there.  Thank goodness Kendall was better today for the nursery staff than she was the day before at Bible study.  I'm so lucky that MOPS is a place where I can go and everyone there understands the kind of morning I had because they've had them too.

Here's the recipe for the breakfast pizza I took today:

1 single crust pie pastry - I get the pre-made kind
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked & crumbled
2 c. shredded swiss cheese
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. sour cream
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley

Roll pastry to fit a 12 in. pizza pan.  Bake crust at 425 for 5 minutes.  Sprinkle bacon and cheese over crust.  In a bowl, beat eggs, sour cream and parsley until smooth.  Pour over pizza.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until pizza is puffy and lightly browned.

This is my standard dish that I usually take for MOPS (or m2m) meetings.  I cut it up like a pizza into small pieces and serve it on a large round platter.  Enjoy!

Italian Chicken

Don't have time to cook dinner, but want to put something delicious on the table? Try this recipe for Italian Chicken!

8 Chicken tenders

8 oz Cream Cheese

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 c. Italian Dressing

Mix cream cheese, soup and dressing in a separate bowl.  Place chicken in crock pot and pour mixture over top.  Cook on low 5-6 hours.  Serve over rice.  

YUMMO!

Her Hand In The Cookie Jar

For some reason our daughter has discovered she LOVES getting into the pantry...This is where I found her this morning.  She was digging into a box of "cu cu's" aka cookies/teething biscuits that she still enjoys!

When she realized I was behind her, she screamed "NO!" and gave me a dirty look.  I think she was interested in privacy for doing her business more than getting a cookie!

I told you, God gave me her to make me laugh!

Gingerbread Pancakes

So I picked up a new cookbook over the weekend.  It's supposed to be a gift for someone, but I may have to break down and buy one for myself because there are too many recipes that look too good to pass up on!

I made Gingerbread Pancakes for the family yesterday.  Man, were they good and made the house smell yummy at the same time!

Here's the recipe:

5c. flour
1 Tbsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
2 2/3 c. water
1 1/2 c. molasses
1 c. butter, melted
4 eggs, slightly beaten

Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt.  In a separate bowl, combine water, molasses, butter and eggs.  Gradually add molasses mixture to flour mixture, blending until smooth.  Cook on hot griddle.

This is a Mormon (or LDS as they go by out here) cookbook, so the amount of pancakes you will have when you are finished is MORE than enough for any family I know.  I put our left overs in the freezer for those mornings when we're running late and the kids want pancakes.  You could easily cut this in half and still have plenty.

Enjoy!

Doppelgänger Week On FB

For those of you not on Facebook, lots of people are posting pictures of celebrities that they have been told they look like.  There are some really good ones out there!

Well, here's mine:

Yes, Kimberly Williams Paisley as Annie Banks in the movie "Father of the Bride" from the 90's.  When I first got married, and moved to Albany, everyone was telling me how much I resembled her!  

I know this one is black and white.  I don't have my scanner hooked up yet.  It's so funny when people see pictures of our wedding - I get questions like, "What were you, like 17?"  Ha!  No, but looked and felt like it!  In the famous words of Truvy from Steele Magnolias, "Honey, time marches on and eventually you realize it is marchin' across your face!"  Boy does that apply now!  

Here's another one I've heard before, but not nearly as often as Kimberly Williams Paisley.

This is Elisabeth Shue - remember her from Cocktails with Tom Cruise?  Or how about the Karate Kid?  Back To The Future?  Leaving Las Vegas?

When I asked Andy his opinion, he agreed with Kimberly Williams Paisley and then added this one:

Melina Kanakaredes from CSI: NY

If you ask my sister-in-law, she'll suggest Julianna Margulies from ER (and now on The Good Wife).  This one I don't see at all except curly hair.

As for my handsome hubby...there was a time where he got called Lyle Lovett!  Not because of his nose, but because he had let his hair grow curly on top.  This was back in the mid-90's.  Now I'm not too sure who he looks most like.  Any ideas?

Feel free to share which famous person you think Andy and I look most like in the comments section!  I'd love to hear your opinions!  I'd also love to hear who you think you look most like!  

God Knew What He Was Doing...

At the local grocery store that we go to, they often give the kids stickers and/or balloons.  This was the first time I let Kendall have a sticker (usually she just eats them!).  She thought she'd amuse me (and herself) by placing the sticker on her face!  It was on her forehead, her chin, her eye and eventually ended up on her nose.  This girl keeps me laughing for sure!  God knew after dealing with all of Riley's idiosyncrasies, that I would need a child to make me laugh and he gave me just that!  

Yesterday I left Kendall watching "Play With Me Sesame" on the t.v. in my bedroom while I took my shower.  When I got out, I expected (or rather, had hoped) to find her still there watching her favorite furry monsters.  No such luck.  I walked around the upstairs and found her with a silly pink hat with bear ears on her head, standing on Riley's stool at his sink holding his toothbrush.  She turned at me and said "Ra Ra's!"  I know she was thinking about using it and Riley would have FREAKED out if he knew she even considered it.  She looked so cute with her hat on crooked, toothbrush in hand, trying to be a big kid like her Ra Ra.

She brings me so much joy in a completely different way than Riley does.  When she's feeling well, and when she's finally got all of her teeth we'll all be happy, she's a goofy, lovable, snuggable little girl.  She loves to flirt - ask Kevin, he'll verify that!  She loves to snuggle her momma and hang out with her brother.  And when Daddy walks through that door every night, she shrieks with delight!

I really need to walk around with my camera on and ready at all times with this one.  Today I missed two fantastic shots of her.  The first one she was lying down on the floor reading herself a book...TOO CUTE!  And the second one was about 5 minutes before the shot above.  She got herself down on the floor and face to face with Penton (aka Ga Ga) and gave the dog a kiss.  It was so sweet, but do you think I could get her to do it again so I could capture the moment?  No Way!  But she does enjoy her doggie very much!  I often find the two of them in this position.  Penton has a good deal of tolerance, thank goodness!  Kendall just loves animals, but especially doggies.  Anytime she sees on she screams "ga ga!" over and over again!  Her latest is to tell you what a cow says..."moo" of course!  But if you ask her what a horse or a dog or a pig says, they also say "moo!"  ;)

It's hard to believe that 18 months have flown by.  So much has happened in her short little life!  We're starting to see more and more of her personality  with each month.  Riley still has her labeled as a "bully baby" and as much as she's not a baby anymore, she's still quite a bully - at least with her brother and the dog!  She's been exploring her independence and starting to show some defiance.  Little did she know that Momma's ready for it.  She HATES getting her fingers flicked and that has become her punishment.  Oh the drama afterwards!  But within minutes, she's off to the next thing!  Now I just have to mention getting her fingers flicked or make the motion of it and it's usually enough to avoid an incident.  Isn't the toddler stage great!

Caught In The Act!

Both of our kids enjoy our new pantry as much as I do!  It's large (finally!) and you can actually walk into it.  I have placed most of the kids snacks on the lower shelves so Riley can go in and get himself something to eat without bugging me all the time...Well, look who else decided to help herself to a snack?  She loves climbing up the step stool to pick out what she wants!

What A Week...

We survived the first week in our new home.  I wish I had some pictures for you, but that would require me to know where my camera is right now!  I will find some time once the clutter has found a new home.  We have most of the stuff out of boxes, but now I'm finding that I have to sort through our "junk" and decide what goes and what stays and where it's new home should be...all while managing the family and the household chores solo.

Andy spent the entire week on a business trip.  I think he was secretly hoping that everything would be magically be in the proper place and there would be nothing left for him to do...SORRY CHARLIE!  This was the week that Riley decided to challenge me with disobedience, not sleep well at night and Kendall would wake every morning at 5 am.  On top of the normal every day stuff, we had to call a plumber and an electrician out from the builder to fix a few things...leaky shower head, drain pipe, no breaker for the dryer...you know, stuff that never should have gotten through any type of inspection.  We also had some guys come out to pick up our dining room table and sofa table because both had scratches on them.  In about 2 weeks, they should be returned, looking good as new.

Both kids rooms are starting to come together.  Riley and I have come up with a plan for his room.  We're going to paint it a light blue to go with his bedding and then in either black or red vinyl, we're going to cut out the names of railroads with my cricut and place around the top of his walls - sort of like a border.  Then we'll hang his traffic signs on the walls.  It should look pretty awesome whenever we get it finished.

Haven't decided what to do with Kendall's room.  It was decorated in a beach theme for her nursery in Jax, but that just doesn't feel right here in the west with mountains and snow.  We'll most likely keep that stuff until we get her new furniture and redecorate then.  She'll most likely end up with pink walls again and continue with the green accents.

It is so wonderful to be in our new home.  To cook meals and have the space to spread out to do it!  We fired up the grill three times this week!  We were internet-less this week as well.  I was surviving with just my iphone - thank goodness for that or I would have been lost!  Isn't it funny how we come to depend on it for everything?  I don't own a phone book anymore because I search for everything online.

Hopefully we'll get more done tomorrow - today was spent running errands most of the day so not much got accomplished around here.  Oh well.  At least we got to spend time together.  We're so thankful to have Andy home next week before he leaves again.  I'll try to get some pictures soon for all of you who've been asking!

Playroom Ideas

I can't wait to start decorating the new house...especially the kids' playroom!  I've had some ideas floating around in my head for awhile.  I want to wait to see how everything fits into the space before I do anything.

I found these adorable storage units at Ikea and think this may help with all the toys and clutter.

Aren't they awesome!  The bins slide all the way out so we can take them to wherever the kids are playing and then return them full of toys afterwards!  They come in different combinations and bin colors.

I also want to see if there is room for a table and chairs in the playroom.  If so, I was considering getting one of these:

The two above are plastic so they'd be lightweight, but don't know if they could hold up under Kendall's weight because I know she'd end up crawling on top of them to dance!

This one would match with the storage units I want to get and it's a small size.

These can be painted or even...mod podged with some fun paper!

I want to create something to hang the kids' art work on the walls.  I was thinking of stringing some wire and decorating some clothes pins to attach the artwork to the wire...Still haven't worked out all of those details, but the idea is still forming in my head.  It would look something like this below.

I'd love to create some type of dress up section in the playroom as well.  K loves to look in the mirror at herself.  She does this in my bedroom all the time.  I've looked online for full length mirrors for kids, but have yet to find something I really liked, so I may end up making something myself.  When K's nursery was decorated in the beach theme, my plan was to make her a surf board mirror this past summer...I may be able to somehow adjust that idea for the playroom.  I think I'll hang a row of hooks low on the wall so the kids can get their stuff down themselves and put it on.

I found some ideas on a blog today of an incredible playroom. Riley saw the pictures and now he's decided that we need to have this playroom.  It's in a basement and it's typical of a playroom that you'd find out here in Utah...it's actually in a home out here and created by a local builder.

What kid wouldn't love a slide coming out of their own two story playhouse?

Their very own tree to climb in the winter or on rainy days!

This is something like what I would like to try to do...have a dressing area.

Check out the first floor of the playhouse!

Complete with all the accessories for a tea party!

This is the second floor of the playhouse.

I do plan to have a reading corner in the playroom.  I'm planning to use the kids new Pottery Barn chairs to designate this area.

Then later on, I found this idea...These are actually beds, but wouldn't it be cool to have your own clubhouse/indoor tree house in your playroom?  Riley went nuts over these too.  They are made in Paris and are WAY over priced.  But, Daddy is pretty handy.  Maybe we could convince him to make them?  Yeah, right.  Once upon a time, he would have loved to have made these for his kids.

So as you can see, my brain's been in overload with ideas for the playroom.  I have to keep in mind that the playroom isn't THAT big and I need to scale things down.  We've got our big Radio Flyer spring horse as well as the kids' kitchen that also need to go into the playroom.  R's going to keep his trains and legos upstairs in his room.  K's going to keep her doll bed and wardrobe up in her room when my parents ship them out here for her birthday.  (They were my mom's that I also played with as a kid - I'm just going to paint them white to match her furniture).

I'd love to have a craft/artwork area, but I might be safer just having the kids do that stuff in the kitchen where I don't have to worry about crayons on the walls, paint on the floor, etc.

If any of you have ideas to share, I'd love to hear them.  My plan is to also put a verse on the wall in vinyl - a chance to use my new cricut!  We've narrowed it down to a few, but haven't made a final decision.  Feel free to vote for your favorite or offer another possibility!

Matthew 19:14

Jesus said, "Let the little children com eto me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

3 John 1:4

         I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Zephaniah 3:17

         The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

Lamentations 3:25

         The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.

Jeremiah 29:11

         “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Proverbs 22:6

         Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it.

1 Samuel 1:27

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.

The Final Walk Through

Yesterday we spent two long, but exciting hours taking the final walk through of our new house.  Riley and Kendall took a bag of toys and were content to play and RUN all over the new house.  They don't know what to do with all that wide open space!

Thankfully there wasn't too much on the list of things that need to be completed. The last of the shutters need to be installed on Monday, some paint/stain touch ups, a couple knobs needed replacing, a drawer needs to be fixed, a pendant light hung, a stereo wire needs to be replaced, etc.  All minor and easy stuff.

This who process of settlement is frustrating though.  We've now been pushed back to Tuesday afternoon because of the holiday on Monday!  This means we'll be lucky to get the keys by Wednesday night.  There is a good chance we'll be sleeping here Wednesday night instead of at the new house like we'd hoped.

In the past 4 states that we lived in, you were given the keys to your new home after all the settlement papers were signed.  Here in the great state of Utah, they process all of the settlement papers, and then process the financing.  This can take the better part of two days to complete.  How frustrating - at least to someone who's desperate to get out of a cramped space and into a beautiful new home.

New Family Favorite Recipe!

I have a bunch of recipes saved on my hard drive that I have gotten from recipe exchanges on Facebook as well as some I got from blogs...Can't remember where this one came from, but it is as delicious as it is easy so I thought I'd share.

Garlic Chicken

4 Servings

1 hr. 20 minutes  (20 minutes prep)

4 chicken legs-thighs, skin removed (don't use boneless) 

4-6 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered (about 5 inch size)

salt and pepper 

12 garlic gloves, peeled

1/4 cup butter 

1/4-1/2 cup honey 

1.  Place chicken in a 13x9 casserole dish with 1/4 cup melted butter 

2.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper

3.  Place potatoes between chicken pieces.

4.  Place garlic cloves between chicken and potato pieces.

5.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes.

6.  Remove from oven, pour honey all over chicken and potatoes.

7.  Set timer for 5 minutes.

8.  After timer goes off, baste the chicken with the pan juices and reset the timer for 5 more minutes.

9.  Repeat basting four more times for a total of 20 minutes.

Both of my kids cleaned their plates tonight!  Riley was skeptical at first, but once he bit into the chicken, he couldn't get enough.  I think I may try it with breast meat next time.  I'm not a big dark meat fan.  I also used red potatoes and did not peel them first.  Hope your family enjoys this as much as mine did!