I was reading in Doctrine in Covenants this evening after a hectic day. I came across a line in a verse that hit me. D&C 67:14 "...continue in patience until ye are perfected." It was just perfect for me right now! I think it is going to be my motto for the new month that begins tomorrow. I will carry on, continue, and try to do it in PATIENCE :)
Last year we had 1:00 church. This year we have church at 9am. Getting to sacrament meeting on time has proven challenging, especially with Ty at morning meetings every week. I have started packing breakfast for the kids to take with us. I have found that skipping a step helps save time. This morning I was up early getting ready. I was so pleased! I was just finishing my hair when Max came into the bathroom and told me he threw up. Then he threw up again....Oh well. Maybe we will make it to church next week :)
Instead of breakfast at church we are picnicking in the living room and watching Wall-E. I really think Max is fine and I am hoping the sickness was just a fluke.
In other news: It is February 28th the last day of the month! No leap year in 2010! It has been a great month. Next month I am planning some spring cleaning to encourage the arrival of spring! Happy Sunday!
Life can get so overwhelming. Kids to love. Kids to clean. Kids to teach. Husbands to love. Husbands to clean up after :) Kitchens...Bathrooms..etc. Scriptures to read. Lessons to plan.
There is always something to be done and something being forgotten. I was reading the new ensign and came across a quote from James E. Faust. He said, "If you have done your best, which you usually do, your humble offering, whatever it may be, will be acceptable and pleasing to the Lord."
I am so thankful for the tender mercies of the Lord and for how much he loves us and recognizes our efforts.
Ty is working 12 hour shifts all weekend! It's just me and the kids at home and we are making the most of it. It is still cold so we are getting a little crafty at the dining room table.
Check out these adorable little plastic beads! Mia is using pipe cleaners to make little bracelets out of them.
Max is coloring pictures of me. I never knew I looked like a giant ball with sticks coming out of my sides, but good to know. I think there will definately be some baking in our future and possibly some fort building. Wish me luck! There is still a lot of weekend left!
I love having something to get me through the moment, the hour, the day, the month, they year....Something to look forward to. Right now we have: warmer weather coming soon flowers get togethers with friends Easter General Conference Mother's Day Father's Day crepes with fresh strawberries The final season of "Lost" shopping for summer clothes swimming at the pool a new swim suit (for everyone in the family...except Zac, who is doomed to wear hand-me-downs forever!) Trying a new recipe Old Navy flip flops smoothies My birthday and chocolate cake ice cream free movies at Indian Lakes playing in the fountains Max's 5th birthday Kindergarten!!! Another season of soccer preschool for Mia Mia's 3rd birthday Zac's 1st birthday One more Halloween at Moss Wright Park Garage sales at Mansker Farms Graduation December 2010! Christmas with my family!
Lots of this list is summer oriented, because I am SO over the cold, but there are great things about the cold too..... Cookie baking layers to cover the squish caused by cookie baking indoor playgrounds playgroup in the gym movie nights with friends
Zackary had rice cereal for the first time today. The kind with apples and cinnamon. He kept pulling my hand with the spoon toward his mouth and then he tried to grab the bowl!
He also took a ride in the shopping cart at the grocery store without his baby seat. We call him our football player. He is a little chunk with a great personality. Zac is almost 6 months old! We love him tons!
We had ourselves a sick day! Conditions were perfect...cold weather, scratchy throats, and runny noses. I got up this morning and turned the heat up, then put on my best looking pair of sweatpants. We had hot chocolate for breakfast. We watched lots of movies and read lots of books. I did lots of laundry and cleaned all of the sheets. We had warm home made bread with butter for lunch. Some of us took naps and some of us covered the floors with blocks and broke things. I am making chicken soup for dinner and we are looking forward to our daddy coming home soon! It was the perfect sick day and I think we are all feeling a bit better because of it. Hoping for sunshine and a return to the world tomorrow!
The ridiculous outfits the competitors are wearing at the olympics Why people eat at Mcdonalds Red Velvet cake Why baby socks do not stay on baby feet My husband's fascination with cables, cords, and wires How the electric bill can get so high when we are still cold
I do understand:
Getting dressed up just because Making a delicious dinner for my sweet husband All things chocolate Baby feet need to stay warm so baby stays happy Ty needs technology I am a SoCal girl and I used to get cold in 70 degree weather
In cupcake form! My mom and I were in need of a most fabulous carrot cake recipe. After a little tweaking I found it! I modified the Silver Palate's Carrot Cake recipe and came up with something pretty awesome!
Carrot Cake
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup butter (I have found that using a butter/oil combination in cakes makes the finished product really moist without tasting like oil.) 2 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 3/4 cup chopped nuts 1/2 cup shredded coconut 1 cup pureed cooked carrots (I cooked a bunch and saved it for baby food) 1/2 cup drained crushed pineapple
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. Stir the flour, sugars, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Add the oil, butter, eggs, vanilla, and mix well. Fold in the nuts, coconut, carrots, and pineapple. 3. Pour batter into prepared pans : I made 18 cupcakes with this batter. I think you could easily make one 9x13 or two smaller 8 inch rounds. 4. Bake cupcakes 15 minutes
I know that traditionally carrot cake is always frosted with cream cheese frosting, but I dislike cream cheese so I stuck with vanilla buttercream. Is there anything happier than an army of cupcakes?
Especially when they are sporting "Dora" cupcake liners.
I didn't think I put very much frosting on these. I split this one open and realized they were very heavily frosted...Oops! Oh well. They are full of carrot, pineapple, and nuts. Perfect carrot cake if you ask me.
Mia is so cute. I love her long blonde hair. I love to brush and style it, even if Mia does not always cooperate. I love how she plays with her care bears in Max's bat cave.
Max is so cute. I love his big blue eyes. I love how much he adores superheroes and knows which guys are good and which are bad.
Zac is so cute. Sometimes a double chin is just cute :)
The Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookie won the million dollar prize at last year's Pillsbury BakeOff. I decided to take the cookie a few steps further toward bliss and added an extra dollar onto my own recipe :) (FYI: my parents called today to say that they were in need of fabulous cookies. I made these just for them. Just hop in the car and drive the four days to get here! I am sure by then these will be gone, but we can make more!)
My Own: double delight peanut butter cookies
1/2 cup honey roasted peanuts (ground in a food processor or blender) 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1/2 cup chopped peanut butter cups 1 roll pillsbury refrigerated peanut butter cookies
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. In a small bowl mix together the peanut pieces and sugar. Set aside. 3. In another bowl mix together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and the peanut butter cups. Roll mixture into small balls (I was able to make 20) 4. Divide cookie dough into 20 (or however many peanut butter balls you were able to make) pieces. Roll pieces into a ball and press down. Place a ball of peanut butter cup mixture onto cookie dough and wrap dough around the mixture. Roll cookies in peanut/sugar blend. 5. Bake cookies for 9 minutes.
It is 55 degrees and we are soakin' up some serious sunshine! I feel like we have been inside our "cave" for months! I am hoping for spring and NO more snow! Our little neighbor Ava came out to play with Max. They had endless amounts of fun with this giant stick. Ahhhh nature :)
Zackary has been an indoor baby for most of his life. I think he will be a much happier little guy after getting some vitamin D.
Mia was loving the warm weather. She ran all over the place and made lots of delicious dirt cakes for the rest of us to enjoy.
I am guest teaching the young women in our ward tomorrow. I am presenting the value for the month; choice and accountability. I have found some great quotes on the subject!
"It requires courage to make good choices, even when others around us choose differently. As we make righteous choices day by day in little things, the Lord will strengthen us and help us choose the right during more difficult times. -Craig Zwick
I love this one! I know that it takes a lot of strength, especially as a young person, to make good choices. I am so thankful for the strength we receive after we have chosen the better part.
"It may make a difference to all eternity whether we do right or wrong today" -Gordon B. Hinkley
Don't we love President Hinkley! This quote puts into perspective the result that one choice may have on our lives and eternities. Our choices should not be taken lightly and it is important to recognize our eternal goals as we make our choices.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I cannot teach a lesson without a treat! I bring them to Relief Society every month, so I will certainly not be leaving the youth out of the deal. I found a recipe for "Compost Cookies" They are similar to other "garbage", "monster", "kitchen sink", cookies that you may have tried but with a slightly different twist. We will see if the Young Women will overlook the name and choose to eat the cookies!
Compost Cookies
1 cup butter 1 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 egg yolks 1 tablespoon milk 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips 1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs 1/2 cup oats
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. Cream the butter with the sugars. Add the vanilla, egg yolks, and milk. 3. Mix together the flour with the baking powder and baking soda, and salt. 4. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. 5. Stir in the mix-ins....chocolate chips, pretzels, graham cracker crumbs, and the oats. 6. Scoop into cookie dough balls using a cookie scoop. Bake 8-9 minutes.
Ty and I took the kids to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green! I have always been a corvette girl and Ty has always been a mustang man, but after our visit to the museum he says he would take a corvette over a mustang!
The first corvettes were made in 1953 and they were all white with a red leather interior. Mia is standing in front of one of the originals. There is a lot of flash in the picture, but I love that she posed for me.
I was born in 1983. There was only one 1983 corvette made. I don't know why, but it was at the museum and I felt special.
Old as I am!
Max was interested in the model cars they had on display. He told me to come see the teeny tiny cars he had found.
Corvettes were made to be race cars. They are designed to be very aerodynamic.
Max is ready to help out during a pit stop at the big race.
Max takes a quick spin.
Ty shows him how it's done :)
At the end of the museum there was a display with different activities put on by the Louisville science center. Max and Mia thought it was awesome. So did Ty!
Zac stayed with me and ate his fingers
This station let you build an arch out of soft blocks. Ty and I were the builders. I was amazed that we actually made it stand on it's own.
We had a blast. I love getting out and having some fun together time as a family.
