Ups and Downs

A quick weekend summary:

Friday:

• Bought our house
• Packed all our belongings. Again.

Saturday:

• Loaded the moving truck with boxes from our storage unit
• Unloaded the moving truck with boxes from our storage unit
• Loaded the moving truck with boxes from our apartment
• Unloaded the moving truck with boxes from our apartment
• Drove to a church party
• My car broke

Sunday:

• Determined it would be impossible to get locked out of our new house now that we have a garage door with a code
• Went to church
• Came home from church
• Discovered that the door to from the garage into the house was locked and we didn't have a house key
• Tried to not get upset or freak out
• Discovered that we had forgotten to lock our front door--Phew!

Are we really ready to be homeowners?

The Breadsticks

A.K.A. How Can Something Be So Delicious AND So Simple, At The Same Time?!

My mother-in-law uses frozen Rhodes dough for this. I hardly ever have that on hand and I usually decide to make this on Sundays, so I can't just run to the store and buy it. So, here is the easiest dough recipe you will EVER find.

1 1/2 C. warm water
1 T. yeast
2 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 C. flour (It usually ends up being closer to 4 1/2 for me. What's up with that? I don't know.)

Dissolve yeast in warm water; add sugar. Then I let it proof (or sit and get nice and bubbly) for 5 min., or so. Add remaining ingredients; knead dough and let rest for 5-10 min. Knead again.

Roll dough out on floured surface and cut into 1-inch strips. I use my pizza cutter. It's fabulous! Be careful not to make them very long because they kind of stretch out when you peel them off the counter.

If you're using frozen dough, just thaw it and roll it into breadsticks.

Melt 1 cube butter and pour in 9x13 glass pan. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Be generous! Place the breadsticks inside the pan.

Let rise for 20 minutes, covered. That's right, just 20 minutes!

Sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese (fresh is best, but you can use the stuff from a can if you need to).

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until nicely browned and delicious looking.

This is one of Blake's very favorite things in the whole wide world. And you can whip them out with this recipe in less than an hour. It's a sweet sweet thing.

Those of you who know me know that I am a bit of a health nut. So, trust me on this--Do NOT skimp on the butter. If you're not at peace with using a full 1/2 cup of butter, make something else. As the breadsticks bake, they soak up the butter and end up being nice and crispy on the bottom. A. M. A. Z. I. N. G.

The end.

Turns Out We're Not Really The Strawberry-Picking Types

Friday Blake surprised us by coming home early. Then we headed off for a very spontaneous picnic at the park with some friends (we were already in the car headed somewhere else when they called. We are SO spontaneous like that).

We took a walk around the little lake at the park. Then decided it would be a good idea to let the kids wander down to the water's edge. Apparently there was a sign prohibiting wading and/or swimming in this lake. Oops.

No, we didn't bring the kids' swimsuits (or the camera!). They just jumped in fully-clothed. Actually, the boys all controlled themselves and stayed fairly dry. Kayli was the one fully submerged.

The highlights of the evening included:

1. The fisherman who decided to fish right where the kids were playing and still managed to catch a few fish. Or maybe just the same fish, over and over. Kayli became his special little buddy and was quite interested in the fish he caught. They grew pretty tight as the evening wore on. He was even privileged to get his own personal showing when she got an owie on her finger--complete with the fake cry and all. He was a very nice fisherman.

2. When Bryce got his toe bitten by a fish. I'm pretty sure it was just a sharp rock. Although, not too sharp since we couldn't see where he was injured. I just think it's really funny when he gets scared. He is SO dramatic!

3. When the kids found a lobster in the lake. I bet you didn't know we grew lobsters out here in the middle of nowhere. Some people might refer to them as crawdads, but if you grew up in New England, it's definitely a baby lobster.

Saturday we headed of to the local berry farm to pick some strawberries. We always wanted to do that at the orchard we frequented in New England, but we never remembered until the end of the season.

This year Blake made sure we got there on time. We even went first thing in the morning.

Yay.

The strawberry patch was VERY wet. We expected to find several strawberries already being eaten by bugs and we did. We didn't expect to find even more strawberries growing mold. But we did. It smelled really nice.

And I was so happy when Bryce sat right on one of them. Fortunately, I had my thinking cap on when I dressed the kids for this outing, so there was no worrying about stains.

Bryce was happy for about 4 minutes and then asked to go home. And then screamed to be held by his mommy. And screamed and screamed. Because his mommy wanted to go home with at least one strawberry per person!

I just hope no one woke up that morning looking forward to a nice tranquil morning out at the berry patch. Or if they did, I hope they were long gone by the time we got there.



You can see, we did okay. Even though we had to cut it short in honor of Grumpy Pants. If you look closely, you can see on his face just how mad he was about the whole experience. I love how proud Kayli looks in this picture, though.

My sister's comment from the previous post made me realize that we have not shown off the interior of our current digs. I can't believe I didn't think of that!

This is it:
I'm standing in the kitchen while taking this photo. That means the kitchen is full.

A few things to note as you look out (hopefully, over looking the nasty looking rag on the faucet):

1. Yes, we keep our 6 bikes in our dining/living/family room. It rains too much to keep them outside and the bike garage at our complex is too full. Plus, it got to be a pain to go get them all the time. We like to keep them handy.

2. Remember all the furniture we sold before moving here? Well, we didn't want to buy new until we move into the house (THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). So, we eat dinner off of our card table (a huge Thank You to Blake's parents for getting that for us many years ago. We had no idea how invaluable it would become!).

3. And our TV stand is made up of some of our unpacked boxes that didn't make it to the storage unit.

4. My laptop is on the counter there in the corner because that is where the only phone jack in the house is and we thought we could manage without wireless here. We're re-thinking that. See where the desk is? My laptop cannot sit over there and connect to the internet at the same time. So, our "dining table" becomes my desk. Thanks again, In-laws!

5. Our bookshelf is actually home to all of our house plants, 3 fit ball boxes, Blake's electric drill, and a fancy glass fruit bowl.

This obviously isn't our whole apartment. Around the corner you would find two small bedrooms, a bathroom, and a laundry closet so small we actually have to take the door off the hinge to get the dryer in and out. But it definitely beat the prior laundry situation, so who's complaining?

It's obviously not the worst place in the world. And we do have an amazing view out that back door. So, I try not to complain too much. But I am indescribably happy and excited to be moving into OUR house this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If You Won't Visit

Then I guess I can at least give you the recipe, as there have been some requests.

Onion-and-Cherry-Glazed Pork Chops

4 pork chops, 3/4 in-thick (mine were over 1 in. thick, so I had to adjust the cooking time and temp.)
1/2 tsp. garlic-pepper blend seasoning (or 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. black pepper)
3 tsp. olive oil, divided
2 small onions, sliced and separated into rings
1 T. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/3 C. water
1/4 C. sweetened dried cherries
3 T. balsamic vinegar

Season the chops with garlic-pepper. Heat 1 tsp. oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Saute those babies for 6-8 min., or until browned (and not pink in the middle!), turning once. Pull them out of the skillet and keep 'em warm.

Cook onions in remaining oil in same skillet (don't clean it out first. All of that lovely pork chopey stuff in there makes for great flavoring), covered over med-low heat for 12-14 min. or until onions are very tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in brown sugar. It will melt and coat the onions so beautifully. Cook over medium heat, uncovered, for 3-4 min. or until the onions are lightly browned. And divine.

Meanwhile, stir together cornstarch, water, cherries, and vinegar; add to skillet. (If you hate balsamic vinegar, as I do, do not be afraid. This dish still tastes fabulous!) Cook and stir until bubbly and slightly thickened. Add pork chops to skillet and heat through.

Yum.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the great men out there!

If you were here, we would have fed you this:
That's Onion-and-Cherry Glazed Pork Chops, my m-i-l's excellent breadstick recipe, edamame, and a strawberry smoothie.

I am not a big fan of meat to begin with and pork ranks at about the bottom of the list for me. But my man likes it, so I decided to try this one out. It was super yummy!

Don't make fun of our small plates. It's great portion control.

And we decided against unpacking our large plates.

For a more detailed tribute to the two greatest men I know, see my other blog.

Stay tuned for the report on a yet another thrilling weekend!

Working On My Patience Virtue

I decided to just suffer through it and do a post. Which means I'm in the middle of a bunch of other things because I can't stand to just wait the eternity it takes to upload photos and whatnot.
But before we begin a new adventure this weekend, I have to fill you in on last week's good times.

First we bought yet another bike.

If you come visit, we won't have a bed for you. But we will have a bike. It's that important out here.

Then we headed to another farmer's market. This one is local and was a much better success.




It was too crowded to get a good picture, but you can clearly see how excited Bryce was about climbing inside this firetruck parked at the market.


And some random trains. The kids get so excited every time they hear a train whistle. Which happens about 14 zillion times a day.

What can I say? Life is good here.

The kids have been sort of awful lately. Mainly Bryce. So we've started a new incentive system involving dry kidney beans. They earn them for various good behaviors and then cash them in for different rewards and prizes.

It may sound weird to you, but it was either dry kidney beans or throw them both out the window. I don't think the latter option is legal out here. The people round these parts are funny like that. So, we had to go with the beans.

The funny thing is, we now count beans several times a day to see if they have enough for the reward they want.

If you don't get why that is funny, think about Blake's occupation.

He's an accountant if you haven't been paying attention.

A.K.A. Bean counter (for our slower readers).

Anywho, we let them cash some in for a dollar each before leaving the house. They decided to buy some lollipops with their hard earned cash. It seemed fitting to have them make the actual purchases on their own. I didn't get great photos of either of them. But I still wanted to document it.


That other little boy sure wishes he had some dry beans to buy lollipops with.


I thought it was cute.

This next part is for Grandpa. This is what Kayli wanted you to see.

Apparently, we're raising a couple of Supers here. That's what they call themselves.


Did you know even Supers have to practice their skills? They race around and around this chair. And around and around.

It's my favorite thing for Supers to do.

It makes Supers tired.

They don't know that capes are a bad idea for Supers. Their capes are of the utmost importance to their super-ness.

What happens when we take the whole family shopping?


We wind up with items like "baby bananas" in our cart.

They were purported to be an "intense" treat. I thought they tasted a lot like mommy and daddy bananas.

It was kind of a long week, so we had to get creative in entertaining ourselves.

We decided to visit the butterfly garden at the zoo.


It took some practice, but Kayli eventually became an expert butterfly catcher.

It helps to have these cute little fingers.

Bryce is sort of terrified of bugs right now, so he felt this was close enough.

I tried to pass this one off to him, but it had other ideas.

What do you do when it's hot and humid outside and the kids are unbelievably cranky inside?

Find some cool friends with a sweet double Slip N' Slide

Thank you, Friends!

Does This Make My Bottom Look Fat?

I've always loved this photo.

Someday when she's a famous pianist, I bet she'll use this as the cover for one of her albums.

So, we're still struggling with computer issues. I think we may buy a desktop, but there is no space for it right now. Blake thinks he might be able to come up with a temporary fix, but we're still in the midst of that.

So, even though we had an awesomely sweet weekend, you have to wait. I will give you one little teaser--a part of it involved me swirling an article of clothing around in a public restroom. I think I forgot to mention that that happened last weekend too. There's nothing like dealing with someone else's poop in a toilet that's been used by countless strangers. Two Saturdays in a row.

Seriously?! Didn't we finish potty training several months ago?!

It's a good thing her little bottom is so cute.

Is there anyone left that I haven't grossed out or offended?

Sorry. I really didn't start out intending this to be such a dirty post.

I was just going to say "You're it!" to everyone who enjoyed my last post. If you don't have children of your own, grab some that love you and ask them the questions. It's pretty fun.

I'm looking forward to some good reads while I'm waiting for a computer that works a little quicker than molasses.

Because I'm the Mommy

My sister-in-law tagged me back around Mother's Day, when this was applicable. But I was moving. So, I'm doing it now.

I was supposed to share my 5 Favorite Things About Being a Mom



You know how I am about picking favorites, so I'm just going to share 5 of the things I love about being a mom.


1. Watching my babies grow up. Kayli prepared all last week and then bore her testimony in Sacrament Meeting all by herself on Sunday. I can't believe she's big enough to do that, but she did a wonderful job.

2. Seeing the world in a whole new light. Being fascinated by shadows and ladybugs and dish scrubbers alike. Learning that all rocks no matter the size or the plainness are equally exciting and awesome.

3. Smiles and giggles. And hugs. There is nothing better than these.4. Watching this man be an awesome daddy. Seeing him love and nurture our children has increased our love in a way I never imagined.


5. Discovering that, even though it's hard and I mess up a lot, I really am a great mom. It helps to have such great children who are really good at forgiveness.

Around the same time, I copied this from another friend's blog. Kayli's answers are in purple. Bryce's are the same as the blog text.


What is your mom's favorite food?
Calzones? My mom's favorite food is... brownies and uh, ummm, brownies?
Yummy.
Kayli has it with "brownies".

What is the yummiest thing your mom makes?
Calzones and cheeseburgers.
Frilly dinner.
For Kayli, it pretty much depends on whatever I made most recently. Frilly is a horse my cousin got for Kayli. I have never cooked her for dinner.

How old is your mom?
Uh, I don't know. 15? 17? 18, 19, 20?
2.
Not quite.

What does your mom do all day?
Cleans up. Makes dinner. Talks on the phone. Reads books to us. Puts us on Time Out when we're naughty. Ride her bike.
Kayli Weedle
Kayli is pretty close. But I really don't talk on the phone that much. And I only ride my bike if they're with me in the trailer. I have no idea what Bryce's answer means.

What do you love best about your mom?
Pulling us in the trailer.
Tickle.
Really? At least they're fun things.

What makes your mom really happy?
Listening and obeying. It makes her sad when we get hurt.
When they shares.
If the "they" means him and Kayli, then they are both spot on.

What makes your mom mad?
Not listening and obeying.
If you hit.
Again, they both got this one right. At least I'm getting the message across.

What is your favorite thing to do with your mom?
Play. And ride our bikes.
Play.
What can I say? It looks like I'm a good player.

What is something your mom is really good at?
Playing the piano on the computer.
Cheetos.
I don't know where either of these responses came from. I've never played the piano on the computer and we haven't had Cheetos in months. But I am really good at eating them.

What is something your mom is not so good at?
Doing tricks like we do.
Cheetos.
?

What is your mom's favorite thing to do?
Ride her bike?
This (while crumbling a poptart).
So much for those accurate responses.

What makes your mom pretty?
She's a girl.
A Frog.
Wow.

A-Whoopin & A-Hollerin'

That's how fun the weekend-long festivities were.

As everyone knows, every great birthday celebration starts of with some fabulous presents.

In keeping with her own tradition, Kayli gave Blake one of her own toys, so now they can share it
I love that face


We gave him a few other things too. Mostly, he's getting a bunch of bike stuff to go with his new bike.

Then we went to dinner while our friends watched the kids. Our first real date in 2009!!! We ordered food that was absolutely delicious. Of course, it probably helped that we actually got to eat it while it was still hot.

Simple pleasures.

Saturday morning we decided to check out Kansas City, Mo. No, it isn't particularly close to us. But I'll never confess to you why we chose to go there. Never.

It's a pretty sweet city, really. Did you know it's the city of fountains? There are thousands of fountains there. Maybe not quite thousands, but we did see at least a dozen in our brief little visit.

We started things off with a really lame farmer's market. It was supposed to be a Berry Festival. I hope they forgot. Because if they really meant it to happen, that was the poorest excuse for festivities I've ever seen. The most thrilling part was getting a couple of balloon animals from a girl with a Where the Wild Things Are monster tattooed on her back.

Awesome.

At least we could only improve from here on out. And improve we did. Next we went to the Hallmark Crown Center where the kids got to play in an awesome place called Kaleidoscope.

It's hard to describe

It's basically an unstructured, free-for-all craft room

With really cool art supplies, like paint that dries instantly and glows under a black bulb, foil paper that you can twist into a sword or a torch or a whatever-you-want-it-to-be, blank puzzles, die cuts galore, markers, ribbons, glue sticks, paints, masks, crowns, and things I don't even know how to describe.

Did I mention it's free?

I would have gotten better pictures, but we were having too much fun partying.

We even stopped in at the Hallmark Visitor's Center and saw how they do foil imprinting and how they make die cuts.

I don't particularly care for this Hallmark card character, but the kids thought she was fun to climb on. I'm sure she'd have something sassy to say about that.

Then it was time to take the party outside.

Remember the fountains I mentioned?

This picture is such an accurate portrayal of my kiddos. Bryce takes his time assessing a situation and deciding if and how to enter. Meanwhile, Kayli has already jumped in with both feet and is completely soaked (and having the time of her life).

Those tricky fountains. He finally thought it was safe to go in when they took a little break. He happened to be standing right over one when they came back on. He was not very happy about the water that soared up into his face.

How does this one feel about it?

I don't think there's really any question about that

He eventually decided to give it another (more careful) try and had a good time

But mostly, he was content to sit by us and enjoy some snacks

It was a long day with a lot of driving, but I'm glad we did it.

Yesterday's celebrations were more mellow, it being Sunday and all.

We fed the ducklings

Played Peek-a-Boo

Documented Kayli's accident

I'm not sure how well this portrays it. There was a little tree in the middle there that saved her bike, but someone has since removed it entirely. This isn't quite the angle she came from. She was headed straight for the two concrete things on the left. And it drops straight off at the edge there. It doesn't look terrifying, but trust me, it was!

Then we headed back home for Blake's favorite fresh peach pie. It's his mamma's recipe.
The kids helped put the candles on. He's a little older than 5, but remember, it was a fresh peach pie. We didn't want to bake the peaches with the heat from that many candles.

It was still mesmerizing
Good thing he had some great help

Yeah. It's that good.



Now, regarding the last picture from the previous post: Blake drew that mustache on himself. And it's so nice to know that someone else agrees with me about him looking like Wesley. Sometimes I even refer to him as "Farm Boy". He loves this.

No Extra Charge For Awesomeness or Attractiveness

If my cutie patootie had a slogan, that would be it.

Well, it would.

Happy Birthday Cutie Patootie!

Frustrating

I spent all day yesterday trying to upload some really cute videos of the kids. Well, not really. But my computer tried all day. With no success. Blake thinks it's the computer's problem. Yay.

Basically, we're still here. We're loving it here and managing to stay busy for the most part. We joined a gym yesterday. It's really nice. It's so great to be able to workout every day again. The kids are fighting much less. That is indescribably wonderful. We even had one day last week without anyone spending so much as a second on Time Out.

Whoa.

I know.

My fears of never getting my sweet children back are starting to dissipate.

I think we're all finally getting used to Blake having to work every day. Did I mention that he's home in time for dinner every night? It's AMAZING.

That's pretty much it for now. Nothing too exciting. So, in the meantime, I recommend enjoying one of my favorite posts ever, here.

And then please have a moment of silence for me as I realize how much my little girl is growing up. I miss that chubby face.