White Chocolate Macademia Nut Bars

These are a version of the turtle brownies that we served for Samantha's wedding. I decided I would combine the absolutely fabulous white chocolate macademia nut cookie recipe with my awesome and terrific turtle brownies. It turned out really good. The creamy vanilla mixed wonderfully with the sticky caramel and they were totally awesome.

Here is the recipe


Here is what they look like while they're being made.



Some helpful tips:
* I find that melting the caramel in the plastic frosting bag makes it much easier to drizzle neatly as well as not getting sticky, hard to clean off caramel off of spoons and cups.
* Use good caramel. I get mine from a baking supply store near me. I am sure you could use those little plastic wrapped square thingies, and it would probably be just fine, but I think the texture would not be as smooth as the caramel that is made just for this purpose.
* What makes the cookies and bars taste so remarkable is the use of really good vanilla. It's an investment that's well worth it.

A Little Bit of This.... A little bit of that....

Okay, so it's been over a month since I have posted anything to my blog. I blame summer.... yeah, it's summer... and the fact that I had pictures that I wanted to post but Randy keeps taking my card reader to put dumb games on the dumb cards for the kids' dses... but I digress. Here are a smattering of projects that have been occupying me thus far this summer.



I made 50 of these suckers for the 2nd years at camp. I am their certification person. We have 38 2nd years and 8 YCL's plus me plus the 2nd year YCL leader. They were really simple. I modge podged the paper on, stamped the letters LE2 (for League of Extraordinary 2nd years) and then the hardest part was stringing the butterflies onto the necklace. These were made with metal washers that you buy in the hardware store.


This is the flower on the camera bag that I am still trying to put together. It is not stiff enough somehow. but the flower turned out darn cute if you ask me. And I love the fabric. And I will make it work, by hook or by crook..... probably by crook..


These are my absolutely adorable 4th of July Strawberries. I have also spent a good deal of time canning strawberry lemonade concentrate. We also did decorations for the 4th of July because they asked me to decorate at the July meeting formerly known as enrichment and I could not for the life of me find my 4th of July stuff... Here are some of our projects:



Tomorrow I will try to post pictures of our other projects. Ashley and I are obsessed with hair flowers right now, especially since we cut our hair off and our new short hair looks so cute with the flowers. And I have been working on a quilt that has been the wish of the dear husband for many a moon.... Stay tuned...

Ode to My Grandma George

So this blog post will be dedicated to one of the all time greatest people in my life, my grandmother. She was not rich, nor beautiful in a worldly sense when I knew her. She lived in poverty all of her life. She had a mouth like a sailor at times. She was also the most loving person I ever knew, and she is one of the people who probably kept me sane in a very turbulent childhood.
Vera Aileen Batchelor was one of 19 children (I think) When her father died there were still 13 children left at home. She got married at an early age to my Grandpa, John Edward George. She had 5 children, my dad being her third boy. She worked almost all of her life. When I first spent a lot of time with her she worked at the turkey plant that was close to her house. She did what she had to in order to keep her house together. When my dad died, she would take me on Friday nights to give my mom a night off. We would snuggle in her big chair and she would tell me stories and recite poetry. She told me about how her mother would read books while the whole neighborhood would gather to hear her. She made me feel loved at all times, even when I was naughty. She didn't let me off for being naughty, she was firm about what was right and what was wrong, but the love came through just the same. She was like me, an early riser, and she let me invade her quiet time. She liked to make things. She made the dress that I was sealed to my family in. She made little dolls, doll clothes, fridge magnets, she sewed, she quilted, she embroidered and she was an excellent cook. She was always giving me things. I couldn't walk out of her house without some treasure she had given me.
This week I have been canning, and this is something that reminds me of my grandma. She was an avid canner, and she would make the most amazing chili sauce. I have tried to recreate it, but I am still not there yet. I miss her. It's funny, because we have some family that didn't want my mother to take us to Grandma's so much. They drank, (not Grandma but everyone else on that side seemed to) they smoked over there (again not Grandma) and they cussed. They didn't go to church. But my mother understood that we needed all the love we could get and I am proud that she was always good to my grandmother. When my brother Dan got married, Grandma took out her endowments so she could see him get married in the temple. My mother was honored to be her escort. One day, when I see her again, I hope to be able to express to her what she means to me, but somehow, with her loving heart I am sure she already knows.

Epiphany

So I had an epiphany today. (I love that word btw). I was watching 27 Dresses in the coldness of my room. Alone. Without kids. Envy me if you dare. I decided that I like that movie and I don't like that movie for the same darn reason. I am that girl! You know the one that can't say no. That is never upset, only tired. Who lets her wants come last. Who doesn't speak up. Well, I don't know if that is going to change too much, but I know that being a martyr is unhealthy, and I have been working on it lately but not hard enough. I had to do something really unpleasant today. I had to make some people grow up. It was not fun for them and not fun for me. We have been trying to get these people to be responsible for themselves for a long long time. They haven't felt the need to be responsible, even though their bad choices were affecting us more than them. They are selfish people and I am sorry for that. But I realized something after watching that movie. It is not my fault if certain people who shall remain nameless are irresponsible. They weren't taught to be irresponsible by me. And if swearing at me makes them feel big and tough and right, that is just a statement on how sad their lives will be until they grow up. Guess what kiddos, you aren't the only fish in the pond. The other thing I realized is that I need to speak up when I know something is wrong and dangerous. I want my voice on the record next time, even if it still goes forward despite my protests. I need to be grown up enough to safeguard my little family no matter what. And believe me, next time, I WILL.

Missionary mail and Youth Conference and other musings

Ted has been having a good week. This was the first week that he was out of training and officially out on the floor. His mentor, Elder Smith, had him shadow him to show him how to do some of the computer stuff that they need to do. The older folks there are great at the genealogy portion of the program but the young guys do the work on the website and stuff. Other than the Arizona(too hot)weather, Ted has been quite cheerful about the longer hours. I am really proud of him.
The other boys spent 3 days at youth conference. I have to say that I was nervous about Daniel going. He turned 14 on Wednesday, just in time to go. This was his first experience with church dances. He had a great time. He did just fine. Stephen had a good time too, and they had great spiritual experiences. But I still have mixed feelings about church dances. They are so hard on some of the kids. Stephen said he had a friend there that didn't dance at all because he had been turned down by 13 different girls. Now, unless he is a proven abuser, I feel like there is no call for that. I remember being around 12 or 13, and going to a mandatory school dance in Jr. High. I remember one boy who was very socially awkward. Maybe it's because my home is inhabited by the socially awkward, I am more sensitive to this phenomena. Maybe it is because I was somewhat social awkward myself, and still have that sad little wallflower lurking inside. Anyhow, I remember this boy trying so desperately to get girls to dance with him. Not just any girls, either, but the popular ones. He would try dragging them to the floor. No one would dance with him. They probably felt very justified. He was kind of creepy, and extremely embarrassing to them by the way he tried to yank them out to dance. But on the other hand, it would have taken only 5 minutes (at the most) of their time to show kindness to one of Heavenly Father's children. I also remember at that same dance there was a certain "usher" Ushers in my Jr. High were the personification of cool. They had to be in 9th grade (the oldest). To me they were all good looking. One of them asked me to dance. I will NEVER FORGET IT. If at some point in a future here unknown he needed someone to stand up for his character, I WOULD STAND FOR HIM. He didn't have to dance with a geeky wallflower. He could have asked any of the popular girls and they would have been glad to dance with him. He took 5 minutes out of his life to show kindness to an awkward girl.
So I guess, in my rambling way, my question of the day is this: Do we have the right to reject one of Heavenly Father's children just to be one of the cool kids? Or are the cool kids really those who can show kindness and not worry about how cool they appear?

the beautumous carpet

Missionary Mail and New Carpet

Ted had a nice week. It was his birthday and his favorite parts were his cakes. He asked me to make a cake based on the video game Portal. It seems that the computer in the game promises cake, (moist and delicious) at the end of the game. It was black forest cake. Here is my rendition:


His words were, and I quote for all you Portal fans, "This was a triumph!" His brother in Law, Emmanuel also made him a cake for his birthday with a Portal theme:


We had some fun with this that we found at Deseret Book.


How could I help it, with a name like that. Ted had a good day. On the mission news, Ted is now out of training. As of tomorrow he will go from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. I think he will triumph. He rules.

We did get the new carpet in. It is a triumph also. We aren't letting the kids wear their shoes on it. It is beautiful.


This is how it makes us feel:

You're not as clean as you think you are.

Today we tore out the carpet in the living room and the family room. I was so happy. It was like really good therapy. Our carpet has been peed upon by too many dogs, too many times and now I will be able to exercize without gagging.
I started exercising again this week. It has made me very sore. I got obsessed with watching the Biggest Loser on Hulu (watched the whole season in 3 days I think) and it made me get back on the exercise horse. I even ran. I hate running... Anyway back to the carpet.

We have had several vacuum cleaner salesmen in our home from time to time. They always do this thing where they show you how much dirt is in your carpet. I can tell you right now that not one of them ever touched the real problem in our house. Our living room had a layer of fine sand through out the area that gets walked upon constantly. It was amazing. There was so much that you could write your name in it. The back side of the carpet was an interesting mosiac of dog pee. DISGUSTING. I have washed that darn carpet and cleaned the messes as soon as I could, but it just proves that dog pee comes to stay... and stay... and stay-ne. GROSS.

I am so excited to get new carpet tomorrow. The only sad part is that my camera lens died this week, the one I use to take pictures of almost everything. I only have the huge zoom that works right now, so hopefully I can get a decent picture of the newness tomorrow, even though I will have to back way up.

It doesn't get better than this!

I really am supposed to be writing these on Sunday, but I needed the extra time just to organize myself. So much happened on the Elder Teddy front that it took me some time to process.
One of the joys/blessings/curses of having a child that has certain disabilities (or in Ted's case, Autism) is that teaching them to be independent takes awhile. They are usually at least 3 years behind socially, (Aspies, that is) and usually plagued with nerves when it comes to new experiences and transitions. Well, a mission has been a bit of a transition, but Ted has done really well dealing with the stress of it. He has loved going to his mission everyday and learning about his ancestors. He has done well on the floor and on the phone (oh happy day) but this week I had to push him out of his comfort zone once again. It was always our intention that when I got out of school for the summer we would teach Ted how to ride the bus. For most people not that big of a deal, but for Ted and ME it was a big deal. I could easily take care of him for the rest of his life, driving him where he needs to be and making sure he is safe, but he will not grow if I do that. He needs to be able to be independent. So I taught him the bus this week. I really threw him right into the middle of it. Took him to the library on the bus and told him to come home on the bus at night. The first day, he did get a little lost. He got off a mile early. But you know what? It was okay. He had some money with him, and he walked to a Circle K and used the pay phone to call me. He wasn't nervous, he wasn't that upset, and he handled it manfully.... I was so proud of him! He even knew the cross streets of where he was to tell me so I could come find him. The next day he did it perfectly, and I think by the end of this week he will not even be phased at all by it. Maybe I won't be either....

In other Ted news, Saturday was one of the greatest days of my life. He went through the temple for the first time. He is a profound boy, so it effected him profoundly. He said it was an extremely interesting experience. Seeing him come into the Celestial room in his Temple whites was one of the most wonderful feelings I have ever had. The only thing that could have made it better was if all of the family could have been there. Yesterday he got set apart as a missionary so now he is official. This has all been such a good experience for him and I am so happy that he gets to learn all this new stuff and practice changing things up! That's all for this week!

My favorite things

So it's my birthday. So I'm 47. So I'm not getting any younger, and without the use of surgery, I won't be getting any smoother. Just wrinklier.... probably not a word. Don't care. It's my birthday. I thought I would dedicate the blog today to what makes me so strange, or in other words, things I love....

I love:
My family
To study the gospel (yes I am a proud MOLLY MORMON. GET OVER IT!!!!)
To study anything that interests me including and not limited to:
archeology (especially when it involves Mayans, or Incas, or any of those people)
Psychology (I adore brains)
Sociology
Writing and writers.... give me books, lots of books
social welfare, and I mean real social welfare and justice, not just namby pamby catch phrases. I like to study what would REALLY help rather than just put a band aid on it.
Cooking. I love love love to cook. Good food. That explains my body shape.
ART... I LOVE GOOD ART
Music.... oh I am a musical waiting to happen...
and many, many other things
Other things that I am quite passionate about are:
Diet Coke. love it. Can't be without it. Has to be decaffeinated though. Can't do caffeine anymore.
I don't love cake, but I do like pancakes. That's what I had for breakfast.
I love cookies though. and pie. Pie is good. The only good cake has cheese in it too. Just my opinion.
I love seafood. Not all seafood, but most of it. I especially love things that come in shells that I can craaaaccck and peel and eat.
Peanut M&M's
I love to go on adventures, whether they are just to Walmart or whether they are all the way to china.
I love to be artsy fartsy crafty. I am not good at decorating rooms, but I love to play with fabric and paper.
I am a happy traveler. I don't love car trips though. I do like getting there (to new or different places) I love to go on airplanes. I am just weird that way. I also love to come home from a trip.
I love soft beds. I am thinking of jumping on my new bed until it softens up. At least on my side. Dh needs firmness. sigh.
I love sitting in bed and watching TV. I like to fall asleep to TV, but it is no longer necessary for me to do so. I have always had trouble (at least since I can remember) with the falling asleep thing. Too many scary things in the dark. But I am getting better at it.
I love to read. Just about anything. If it is interesting. One of my life long passions.
I love fall weather. I love to crunch leaves. I love the crisp feeling in the air. I love rosy cheeks.
I love snow. I love shoveling it in the fresh morning air that makes me feel so very
I love being hugged and buffeted by my rowdy children. I love to do things with them. I will now discuss a special memory with each one:
I remember when Randy Jr. got his finger slammed in the door at the family reunion. He had to be on my lap as we rushed him to a doctor, and the only thing that calmed him down was me singing to him. Later in his life, he used to sing Armies of Helaman with the cutest vibratto at the end of the phrase, "We have been taught in our youuuuuuttth" was so cute. I miss the innocent little boy he once was. I worry about him and think about him every single day. I don't think he believes this, but it is true.
Samantha Anne has always been one of the biggest joys of my life. I remember climbing up Mount Timpanogus with her. She was the happiest girl that day. She pulled the bigger kids up the hill, unlike her mother, who at that same age would have needed to be pulled herself. She said that her feet never hurt because of all the pretty things to look at. She was the prettiest thing I could see. I loved watching her dance. Loved singing with her. That is the thing I miss most. She has the most amazingly wonderful voice. And that's not just because I am her mother. I miss that. Darn those evil people who took her confidence away from her. There is a special place in.... but I digress...
Ted.... Ted needs a hug. Ted is noble, kind and true. I love the little grin that is almost perpetually on his face. I love the unintentioned jokes that come from Ted. The Tedisms. One of my favorite stories is when he was about 8 or so, we were passing by a friends house and noticed that there were a lot of cops in the neighborhood. I remarked on this and he said, "Maybe they're just looking for the donut shop." Ask him what he thinks of the word Infatuation. I guess there was a Pokemon character that was called Infatuation, and he and his brother were arguing its merits. He said, "Infatuation is a stupid word for love anyway. It sounds like you have gas." I nearly died. I need that boy in my life. EVERY DAY.
Stephen the beautiful, Stephen the kind, Stephen the smelly.... I love my stinker. He is the voice of reason at times. He taught his socially awkward brothers how to have friends. He has always shared his friends with them. He is also the one who looks at me sideways with that evil little grin.... We get each other. I can't help it if he looks like an angel. How did Taylor Swift know???? LOL
Daniel... Danny boy. I love him. He is so interesting. He notices everything. He is very sensitive to how other people feel. Very interesting in an Aspie kid. He is also just a lot of fun to be around. Enthusiastic. Fun loving. LOVING. I hate it when the kids are mean to him. HATE IT. If they knew him, really knew him, they would never dare to be mean to him. He is too good.
Ashley is my evil twin. She plans things. She nags a good bit of the time. She worries. She is too much like me. I love it when she goes off on one of her little speeches about how she wants to be as a person. She is very kind hearted. I love it when she is smiling her clear and beautiful smile. It is an allusive smile that is hard to capture on film. I love her sense of fun. She loves to go and do. She is not content in the life of a couch potato. Even when Hannah Montanna is on. lol.
I love being married. I love my husband. I love how sometimes I find that he has done just the sweetest thing for me. I love it when he wants to discuss things with me. I love how we laugh at the same things. I love that we like the same music. I love that we can usually watch the same movies and love them. I love his kindness. I love his work ethic.
On this day of my birth, I am grateful for my family, those that raised me and those that let me be part of the miracle of their lives. I am grateful that I can learn still. YOU CAN TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS. or at least an old lady.
I love my life. Even the imperfect parts.

Elder Teddy Report

Missionary Moments this week were fun. Ted discovered that on my line on the Lyons side, there is a line that stretches back into the distant past that includes scottish princesses, Old King Cole (I'm not kidding) and goes until 99 AD. On his dad's line he found a line that goes back to Norwegion Kings, Joan of Arc and again, Old King Cole. He was so excited to show his brothers and sisters this fun information. He might even begin to dabble in Mexican/Spanish genealogy and see if Emmanuel's line can hook us up with some Spanish nobility. He continues to do really well. He got his temple recommend signed by both the Bishop and Stake President so we are good to go on Saturday. Oh, and he wore his cute little badge to the Gila River Valley Temple open house that we attended this week. So I will post pictures of him when my drive is up and running. Right now it's not.

On Being a Mother

So today was Mother's Day. We actually celebrated mostly last night as I got my presents and we ate crab. I love crab. I love that they put it on sale for Mother's Day. They must know me. Randy fed into my obsession with cookbooks by buying me a ton of them. I am going to have some fun this summer experimenting. I don't even know which one will be my new favorite. (Although one of them is Alton Brown's cookbook. I am so excited about that one. I am a HUGE Alton Brown fan and have been for years.)
I was reflecting today on a Mother's day that must have taken place about 8 years ago. I had many expectations (not unreasonable to me) of having a relaxing soak in the tub, and then a leisurely getting ready for afternoon church and a nice day relaxing. I can't even remember what went wrong that day: whether it was illness, contention or what, but I do remember venting to my online looper friends about the crappy Mother's day I had had. One of those loopers, who was not able at the time to have children, lit into me about my bad attitude when some people would at least like to be able to have children. I have thought about that experience a lot since then. See, here is my deal. We each have things in our lives that make us happy and sad. We all have trials. My trials are not the same as your trials. Sometimes we have trials that are similar, but because we are different individuals we may not have the same experience in those trials. To try to equate or qualify our trials as better or worse than anyone else's might be doing ourselves a disservice. I mean, sure, she wasn't able to have children which was a huge deal. I get it. But to not even attempt to sympathize with someone having a bad day because you see your life as somewhat worse is not only not fair, but is kind of self absorbed. I think the worst trial we have to deal with in life is competitions and enmity. Trying to say that my day was better or worse than yours, or that my life is better or worse than yours, or that my kids are better or worse than yours is bogus. Life is what we have and it is what we make it. This year I have been trying to look into what it means to be humble, and the first quality you have to develop is the quality of being non-judgmental. That means that you can't say your life is any better or worse than mine, because you haven't lived in my skin. When someone is having a bad day, it doesn't make them feel any better to tell them that they have no reason to complain.
This dear soul has since had the opportunity to be a mother; she has adopted 4 darling children. It hasn't been easy for her. I wonder if she has had a less than perfect Mother's Day yet.... Does she dare complain about it if she does?
The biggest lesson I learned from that experience (my Bad Mother's Day) was not to expect anything from days like Mother's day. That way every gift, token or rememberence you get is like getting a tremendous bonus.
Another thing I have been thinking about is a study they talked about in the news recently that said that parents might be less happy than non-parents. I think this might be bogus. I think non-parents haven't been subjected to the pains of parenthood, therefore, according to the laws of opposition, they might not have experienced the intense joy that parenthood can give. Ashley has written me probably 5 to 10 notes on how much she loves me. Danny told me that my gift for Mother's Day was him. My son, who is in Haiti, and who hasn't really been talking to us for a little while wished me a Happy Mother's Day over Facebook. My Son-in-law sent me a little message too. Even though my hubby is gone to Boston for the week, he made sure that my house was clean for this day. My cup runneth over.

Elder Teddy: New report

A lot of my missionary mom friends out there are having a wonderful day today because they get to hear from their boys who are away. I am happy for them! I remember the days on my mission, calling my mother (hoping to get through the totally tied up phone lines on that day was a joke at times) I only had one out there I think.....yeah, but it was a good one.
I am lucky because I get to see my missionary grow right before my very eyes. It is weird to think that next year he might not be here, but in Salt Lake and working at redeeming the dead up there. He has had a lot of opportunities to work the floor this week. He has been the host, been at the copy center, helped people with computer issues, and hardest for him, worked the phones. He said that the second time was easier because the person training him didn't mess him up so badly that time. The phone thing is a point of nervousness with him, but I am encouraged that they actually used him on the phone and on the floor this week. That must mean that they trust him to help the public appropriately. He says he can't decide whether he likes going to class or working the floor better, because he is finding them both enjoyable.
The other momentous news this week is that we got a date for his temple endowment. It was quite the adventure. The bishop asked us to schedule the date before his birthday so that they can set him apart as a missionary right after his birthday, as this is the official start to his mission. I called and the lady at the appointment desk asked me if he was going on a mission. I told her that he was technically already on his mission, because he was serving at the Family History Library. She put me on hold and then got back on and told me that traditionally, missionaries called to service missions didn't get their endowments out to serve in that capacity. I would have to get the bishop to call and verify that the stake president knew what was going on. I was totally confused by this, I mean, I let her know that the bishop and stake president were the ones that had decided this. So Friday night, which was Stake Temple Night, we went in there, planning on meeting the bishop there and taking him in to talk to them on person (we had set this up ahead of time). The bishop never showed up (we later found out that this was because he and his wife had been asked to do sealings when they had come in... but I digress). Randy got antsy (and me too I might add) and decided to go see at least where to take the bishop when he did show up, and he talked to the lady at the appointment desk (hopefully not the same one but I didn't think so because our results were so not the same). She saw the temple president passing by and talked to him about our predicament, and found out that the sister who had told me to get the bishop to call in was in the wrong, it was not the temple's business to "screen" people before they could get their endowments, because if the stake president saw fit to give them a recommend, that was good enough for the temple. So we got a date, May 22, at 8:00 a.m. Reflecting on this experience has made me wonder at how hard it seems to be for Ted to get the wishes of his heart sometimes. He was really worried about the temple thing. I wonder what kind of strength and fortitude will be necessary for him to develop to live the life that Heavenly Father has in store for him. I am certain he will succeed. After all, he is MY son. Happy Mother's Day.

A smattering of randomness

Things never slow down in the Bell household. Last week was Ted's first week serving as a Family History Missionary, and it was a good one. They released me from Relief Society and let me have one of my favorite jobs, Primary Chorister for the Juniors. Hey I could be Janet and the Juniors.... but I digress. We are in the middle of an exciting remodel to our floors in the house. Randy, my hero, put in some beautiful tile in our hallway, and looking at it, you would never know that it's tile. And of course, next week is finals week so I had a huge paper due, another huge assignment due today and tests, and all that stuff. Next week looks very busy!

First things first, Ted got his mission badge yesterday. He is so excited about all of the new stuff he is learning. They put him on the phones yesterday, which I think made him a bit nervous, but he did it, and that's a huge thing. He has also been working the floor.


Second, about the Primary Chorister gig... When I was young, before the Church switched to the three hour block on Sundays, there was a thing known as Primary that was held in the middle of the week. I was called into service in the Primary when I was 15. I helped teach Sunbeams. I have worked on and off in the Primary for 32 years now. At one time I figured that I had spent more than half of my married life in Primary, which doesn't bother me in the slightest. I have this talent, ability, whatever... to get little kids to love me. I think it must be because I love them. Either that or it's that I smell like cookies. Primary chorister combines this ability of mine with one of my great passions, which is Primary music. I am loving the program song that goes with this year, "I Know that My Savior Loves Me." It has some great words! My favorite line is "The love that He felt for His little ones, I know He feels for me. I did not touch Him or sit on His knee, but Jesus is REAL to me." So powerful. Plus I get to color and be silly!

Third, the remodel. Wow. My husband is amazing. I always worry that we will start some big project and it will never get done and I will have a torn up house forever. This experience has not been like that at all. Within two weeks, even through Fathers and Sons, Home Teachers that insisted on coming over, random drop ins by the missionaries, and our general busy-ness, he has totally retiled my hallway. Look at this tile! Does it look like wood to you? Aren't we clever? The look we wanted without the fuss and fear of hardwood. I am sooooooo happy. My husband RULES!





School has been making me crazy. But yesterday one really awesome thing happened. I finally reached 26 hours in my fitness class which cinches my A. I am obsessed with A's. I don't know if I will get one in Math this time. I have a test today that I feel somewhat unprepared for. We have rushed through the last section and I don't feel like I have had sufficient time to assimilate the knowledge I need for this. (how's that for college speak? I just do that to annoy those who wanted me to promise not to speak like that when I went to college. snicker) I also have had huge English projects due this week and I have finals week next week! Calgon take me away.

The busy-ness will not be ending at finals. I am going to the Gila Valley Temple Open House next weekend with some of my all time favorite people, the Tribes. They will descend on us at around the same time Randy will be coming back from Boston. The flooring people are coming today to measure to put in new carpet! Hallilujah, you have no idea how awful my carpet is. I am still going to girl's camp and that stuff should be heating up this week. The kids are in "concert season" and band and ... and... and.... but it's a good thing, because I like to be busy. Not to mention that in the next two weeks I will move oh so much closer to that 50 year old mark.... Not there yet, but one step closer......

How is our missionary doing?

Well, for those of you who know and even for those who don't, Ted started his grand adventure at the Family History Center this week. He has been working from 8 until around 3 every weekday. It was fun to pick him up and ask him what he had learned that day. I think my favorite comment from him was something like, "Genealogy is exciting, and anyone who doesn't know that hasn't learned how to do it." There were a few insights that we had about this interesting mission experience that is so not typical.
First of all, Ted is learning stuff that most people his age have not interest in learning; he will be a big step ahead when the future as far as knowing how to do genealogy goes. It might even give him some hints as to what he would like to do long term. The other thing that Randy pointed out is that he will be learning things on this mission that he might not learn in any other place or time. I have had it confirmed to me, anyway, that this mission will also help Ted understand how unique and cool his brain is. At one point, someone was looking at some handwritten census records, trying to make sense of them, and Ted, with his thinking in pictures brain, was able to look and see exactly what was written. And this is before he has been set apart.
Second, it is giving him a unique chance to bond with some of the other missionaries, both that are his own age and those who are much older than him. Most young people don't see the value of older people fully. Ted will be in a wonderful place to find out the great benefit our older people can be to us if we let them.
Third, I have learned so much from this experience about my son, about the love of the Savior for him and for me, and tender mercies that are EVERYWHERE!

That is our missionary message of the week. We were at Deseret Book yesterday to get Ted a missionary journal and we saw this stuffed missionary bear called Elder Teddy. Do you think I could pass THAT up? It was a sign.

First project picked for the summer.....

Okay, so I decided on my first project for the summer of creativity. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it???? I actually already knew I wanted to do some sewing this summer(I want to make me some new aprons. I love to make aprons) But I got side tracked today in the Walmart fabric department with this darling fabric that I just had to have for something I saw on this website:
http://priddycreations.com/boutique/index.php?cPath=54%22

Hopefully the link will work, because it didn't work for some of my friends. Anywhooo, I don't want to spend $79 for one of their bags with their fabric. I want to create my own hybrid of this design with some of my own ideas. (what hubris!) So I am going to attempt to MacGyver a bag for me. I am really into thinking I am MacGyver lately. Last semester, I had that nickname in my speech class because I always had handy dandy things like staplers and tape in my backpack. When I helped with a wedding and when I did the last meeting formerly known as Enrichment I had to jury-rig stuff to not make messes and be able to measure for lemonaide. So I think I am the female equivalent of MacGyver, only I don't catch bad guys (not for lack of trying). I just fix things for people or me so that I can function. The fabric of my choice is in the Photo at the beginning of this posting. I am going to make some of my quilty friends help me with it, so hopefully I will be able to have something cute to show for it in the long run......

I was a pedicure virgin... not any more!

Why oh why haven't I done this before???


Samantha and April waiting for their fabulous footsies to be pampered.






I had never done this before, but I have always been curious about it. I have a terrible problem with calluses and peeling feet, and we decided this year for Fathers and sons (which alternately means a date for mothers and daughters) that instead of our usual going to the movie and out to dinner that we would go have a spa day, get a pedicure and go to lunch. For details about our lunch, see the previous post. The first thing I noticed about the nail salon which is one Sam recommended (we (Ashley and I) went with Samantha and April) was it seemed to be a very friendly place. They had a little girl (I think she must have been around 3) who was immediately drawn to Ashley. Soon another little girl, this one aged 10 because she told us, came out and began quizzing us on how old we were. I think she was trying to figure out is Ashley was her age or not. When we finally got to go back for our pedicures, the nice lady asked Ashley if she wanted to sit in the bear chair. Now you have to understand that at 10, Ashley thinks she is nearly grown up. At first she was a little resistant to sitting in the bear chair, but in the end, she gave in to it and she is very grateful she did.




The water in her foot spa changed colors, and there was a little dvd player that attatched to her chair so she watched Bolt while they worked on her feet.



We even made her do the customary the Bear is eating my head pose:



Even sitting on a bear, Ashley is still "cool enough to make them drool" as she told me last night... snicker.



And of course, her toes turned out wonderfully cute and blue!




We had a wonderful time getting the full treatment on our feet. Mine were the worst, because of my callus problem. I especially loved when they cut away all the dead skin from around my nails, avoiding the hangnail problem that sometimes plagues me. The pictures that were painted on were so cute too. Here is a final glimpse of our elegant toes:

http://www.libertymarket.com/

Yesterday we went to lunch at one of my favorite places in Gilbert so I thought I would give them a shout out so that people would realize what a good place to eat it is. It's called the Liberty Market, and it sits on Gilbert Road, right after the many-times owned and ruined Grain Belt. Right by the Water Tower. Yeah. ON the outside, it might no look like much. It's located in a white, kind of industrial looking little building that attaches to the main walk of downtown Gilbert. Inside you have a cozy little bistro type restaurant that serves sandwiches, salads, pizza and pasta, along with various "plates" and I believe they do breakfast too, although I haven't had that pleasure yet. You pick your own seat (heh heh) and then you decide what you want courtesy of plain white menus that you can pick up in a display on the street before you go in. You have to go to the counter to order, where they have a strategically placed dessert case full of oh so tempting goodies. I have mainly had their sandwiches, which are very yummy and very much made for a foodie like me. Instead of boring mayo, they are usually dressed with some exotic, freashly made ailoi (a creamy sauce). Their vegetarian sandwich, called "The Farmer" is very yummy, especially for the addition of the grilled sweet potato. Yesterday, I was with Ashley (age 10), April (age 19) and Samantha (age 21). Ashley had the pizza, which looked like a french bread pizza. The crust (I know because I stole a bite) was extremely crusty, crunchy while at the same time having a chewy texture. It was yum! And the pasta that April had looked heavenly with big meat balls and twisty noodles smothered in sauce and cheese. Samantha's sandwich also looked good. One of the "you better not miss it" aspects of the Liberty Market are their bathrooms. Yes, you read that right, their bathrooms must be experienced! Instead of industrialized bathrooms marked men/women with a few stalls tastefully decorated, they have individual bath "rooms" which I emphasize, because they are each a tiny work of toiletry art that must be experienced. You walk into one and you are transported to the beach, with appropriate music playing. Another shows you a lively mexican street. ONe is covered with recipes for the dressings used on the salads. I even peeked my head into the only one that was gender specific to men (yes I had to look, okay!) which was decorated like a motorcycle shop. So fun!
I highly recommend the Liberty Market and give it a rating of 4 golden spoons.

I am thinking of doing an art book this summer. I am also thinking of writing some original poetry and junk to go in it. Here is my first poem:

Distressing
In crafting
We use a technique
Called Distressing

It usually begins
With taking paper
And crumpling it as tight as we can
To create wrinkles
Then we stretch it out,
To make it flat, but it
Is never completely flat again
Not like it was

We might scrape it against an edge
The side of a desk
And then, to bring out the wrinkles
We stain it
Making brown lines appear to deepen
The wrinkles
To give them depth

We might take a sharp instrument
Or sandpaper’s grit
To torture the edges of the paper
So that some of the pure white
Can show through

We end up with an object unique
For no two papers are crumpled the same
And if it is not a picture of perfect beauty
It is an object
Of Interest


Now all I need is someone to take my picture so the symbolism will show through.

Ninja hugs, Iron Chef and Whipping Cream Hates Me!

Okay, first is last, which is as it should be. One of the best moments of this week was when I confronted Daniel about his habit of all of a sudden coming up and giving me what I had come to think of as Attack hugs. I asked him what the deal was, and he said that they were "Ninja Hugs.... cuz you never see 'em coming." BWA HA HA. Being a Mom is so much fun, and with kids like mine the laughs come a mile a minute.


This is the recipe that I used in our Iron Chef demonstration at Relief Society. I am hoping I get how to do this now and get it where I want in my post, so if it's not where I think it will be, the recipe is what I am talking about. We did Iron Chef Beans and it was really fun. I wish I could make money cooking on TV and talking about it. This recipe is one I stole from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook but I've tweaked it and made it our own. It is Randy, Stephen and my favorite soup. DEEE-LISH! I also provided the food from my own food storage this week for that meeting. I used Home canned chicken, strawberry lemonaid concentrate (that's a new one for me and canning and it is fabulous), My own home canned peach pie filling that I think tastes divine, and all of the recipes (other than the store bought rolls, sigh, not my doing) were stuff you could make out of stuff that you should keep in your three month storage. If you make one meal a week out of your food storage (and replace it!) you can rotate your food storage in a year. True story. So do it.


The final bit is an homage to my battles with whipping cream this week. Last Friday night I ran the kitchen for a friend's wedding. They served crepes, and they wanted me to assemble the filling out of some whipping cream that I needed to whip and some pudding that was already prepared. Well, the kitchen in the place they did their wedding had NOTHING, and I needed to use the one and only bowl they had for it, but it wasn't quite deep enough and it kept spitting whipping cream at me. It wasn't quite the disaster pictured though, but I kept thinking, "Oh if I only had my kitchen aid, this would be so much easier. I could let it run and walk away, blah blah blah..." So on Tuesday for Relief Society, my dear friends gave me some of the left over cream from the wedding to use at the midweek meeting. I brought my kitchen aid, assuring myself that this was going to be a snap. Well, either I am not used to my new kitchen aid, or I really need the spout thing that keeps the food in, because it didn't just spit the cream out, it vomited it out. I ended up having to MacGuyvering the thing with plastic bags to keep it from totally dousing the church kitchen with whipping cream. DANG IT!!! I should have brought my Bosch....

I'm too busy

Busy, Busy, Dreadfully busy....
Much much too busy for me.

This has been a crazy busy week that will feed into a crazy busier week.
Had math test, lots of English homework and notes to type up from Sociology, not to mention meetings that I went to on Tuesday for Relief Society and Thursday for Camp. There was a wedding Wednesday, and a wedding tonight (and tonight I will help in the kitchen). Mixed in between there was an impromptu meeting formerly known as Enrichment meeting about it meeting, along with many calls to make, plans to make, hearts to break and Stephen's long unruly hair to cut. I think that when school is over in May I might just collapse in a heap of trembling flesh.

I also was plagued with insomnia this week. This is how insomnia messes with my life. I am a morning person. That means I get up freakishly early (I give myself permission to be up at 4:00 a.m. okay, so sue me I'm weird)(I got that from my Grandma George who also liked to get up freakishly early) so I usually fall asleep in my pudding by around 8:30-9:00. It is a family joke that I turn into a pumpkin if I am up too late. I am not a good night person. So here is what happens. I fall asleep at my regular time but then I wake up at 2:00 a.m. And I can't go back to sleep. The windmills start turning and churning and I can't sleep so I generally read. This week I have been reading a book by Dr. John L. Lund called, "For All Eternity." He is a marriage counselor, and this was a marriage book, and a darn fine one in my opinion. For my facebook friends, I was following his suggestion when I decided to have a day where I didn't criticize anyone. It was hard but I did it. (and I got that idea reading at 2:00 in the morning, yawwwwwnnnnn) I had to decide what I was going to do when someone at school was smoking where they weren't supposed to. I loathe that. My biggest pet peeve at school is that they have a myriad of smoking places set out around campus, but the silly smokers have to smoke in the no-smoking zone as well. I'm a little allergic to smoke, I have gotten worse as I have gotten older, so it really bugs me when my eyes tear up and my nose runs and my head aches courtesy of my non-courteous smoking classmates. I had to decide that I would think (because you had to be criticism free in your mind as well) "I wish you wouldn't do that" instead of, "stinkin' lousy smoking person polluting my air...." Anyway, what did I learn from this experience? I did tend to have a gentler attitude towards people that day when I was trying hard not to be critical. I don't think my family really noticed much difference because I am a positive person and I don't generally screech tooooooo loudly... although I did almost blow it at one point with them. I removed myself from the area.

It was an interesting experience and I would highly highly recommend that book, even if your marriage isn't on the rocks. Mine is NOT ON THE ROCKS! But I am interested in family counseling so that is one reason I read it. The other reasons is that everyone has things they can improve, even in a nice marriage like mine.

Me, Holidays, and FOOD

Okay, so the first picture is not food that I myself created. But it is danger food for me. I just like chocolate too much. We have too much in the house, and I decided after a very bad choices eating day yesterday that today I am not even going to eat anything at all until I feel hungry. Truly hungry.
The next foods are ones that I actually did and do make. They are a family tradition on Conference Saturdays. Cinnabons. No kidding. I included the recipe cards, but I warn you, these can be lethal. Almost more dangerous than candy. For one thing there is the smell oozing out of the oven as they bake. Then there is the unbelievable silky cream cheese frosting that has to whip for twelve minutes. That's right, you heard me, twelve minutes. AHHHHH so good. So creamy. So easy to dip you fingers in and lick and salivate and.... I digress. There is one cup of butter and one pound of cream cheese in this frosting, not to mention 2 pounds of powdered sugar. It gets EVERYWHERE. (notice the bowl, very sugary) but soooooo darn worth it. Oh so delicious! And then, warm from the oven, you think, one little teensy corner of one teensy little roll can't hurt..... BUT WATCH OUT! The addiction is speaking to you. And if you don't watch out, you butt will be just like one of these rolls, fat, fluffy, and.... well, I think you get the picture. Later I will post pics of our Easter feast that will be shared by the daughter, son-in-law, and friend April who I might as well adopt. Love her. And the recipes too. To all of my foodie friends, Have a happy (burp) Easter, and enjoy conference.

GIRL POWER! Gotta Love it!

Will they ever get too old for this?

My kids think that they are not too old to hunt Eggs. Unfortunately, I am getting to old to want to hide them well. I had around 100 easter eggs that I hid at 5:30 this morning but they were still just as anxious to go and get them. They were also quite enthusiastic about coloring them last night. I tried to talk them out of hunting them: I told them they could have their baskets all full of eggs and goodies and call it good, but that doesn't follow the tradition! They looked at me like a traitor, so I realized that I am stuck hippity-hopping every Easter Saturday until the end of time in order to keep up with family tradtions....
But I admit, with all the grumbling, I love it.
I love that my kids are good at having fun!
I love that they are happy and want to be together!
I love that our family traditions are a big deal to them!
When it's just Randy and me left in a few years, maybe I'll have grandchildren to pass on these family traditions too.

My favorite thing is to share the secret family jokes and smiles with my children.
Family is EVERYTHING to me.

Just a good thought for today...

It will be conference soon. I had a busy busy day, a test in Sociology, going to the gym, worrying about what I want to eat and not losing weight, math, trying to figure out how to teach grown up kids to be responsible... the usual things. I ran across this quote and it helped me and maybe it will come back to me again when I need it again. President Hinckley was my hero! How I love him! So glad that we have so many of his wise words. I am looking forward to the wise words that will come to me this weekend. Enjoy!

Random thoughts at the beginning of another day

Here are some of my assorted thoughts:
I went to a bridal shower last night. It has been bridal season in my neighborhood. There have been 8 different weddings in the last 5 months or so. So fun to see the beautiful little brides receiving cute things to furnish their nests.... But I ask myself, why isn't there a shower say at 20 years to replace all the broken stuff that older brides have lost? I was talking to one of my friends who said she would love to have all the broken stoneware replaced so she could have a complete set. And my bathroom rugs are old and dingy. It would be fun to have some new ones. But I guess we are supposed to be older, wiser, and richer now, so we have to take care of it ourselves.

Thoughts 2. Dear American Idol Judges. You are too old to do this job anymore. You don't know what sounds good. Leave Andrew alone. You have confused him. When he sings like he did last night, don't tell him he needs more rock star persona. He is fine as he is. I loved it. Tell Siobahn (spelling???) not to scream anymore. She doesn't need to. And tell her next time she has a chance to do R&B to do some Aretha for heaven's sake. She already has the attitude. And leave teflon boy alone. If you really don't think he should be there, the less attention paid to him the better. I don't think he is as bad as you think he is. And don't tell Crystal Bowersox what to do to improve. She is perfect. And Ellen, I know you can be funny, I know you think you are being funny, but don't you notice that some of your strange off the wall comments are getting nervous titters instead of appreciative belly laughs? That's because people don't know what to do or where to look in a trainwreck of this type. Stick to your pointless observations unless there is something truly witty you would like to share. Okay, I'm off my soap box now. Predictions for tonight? Even though Siobahn was the worst one last night, I predict that teflon boy will lose his non-stick coating and go home tonight. It's getting tougher every week.

Finally, Doncha just hate pointless assignments? I had a big one yesterday where part of it was trying to find an internet discussion group that had more than 10 messages that were about anything substantial. Most of the ones with more than 10 messages in any given topic had been infected by the evil porn spammers. I hate evil porn spammers. I don't want to see your naughty pictures, and your messages have no business on a discussion group that is supposed to be about the Constitution. I will not be sorry to see them burned out of existence. The majority of the people in the world would rather not be bothered with your nastiness. Go hide back under that rock you crawled out from under and leave the rest of us in peace.

Have a good day, and don't let the evil porn spammers get you down.

Saturdays are usually busy for me and yesterday was no exception. It starts early with Weight Watchers first thing at 7:00 a.m. I go to that meeting because it's early so usually no one plans stuff for me during that time, and because I like Bob, the leader. He is funny, and wise and NOT PERFECT. It's his imperfections and struggles with maintaining that make his so approachable.
We bought the 5th Fablehaven book Friday night and they told us that the author, Brandon Mull, would be signing books the next night, and that at 9:00 they would be passing out tickets to expedite the book signing. I came home, worked on a recipe for my recipe files and headed off to get the tickets. I should have gone earlier because they did them according to letters of the alphabet, and I got I... but more on that later.
I came home desiring to commit a random act of cleanliness on my fridge, which has been cluttered and gross for a while now. Didn't happen. Samantha and Emmanuel decided that for Dad's birthday we should all go to "How to Tame a Dragon" at 11:30. She told us that she was going to go at 10:30, because it is the opening weekend and she was worried about getting in. We got there at 10:30, but they weren't there. (snicker) It was a good thing, because we forgot our movie cups so we had them pick them up. The movie was AWESOME! Why is it that when Hollywood makes children's movies anymore they are witty, and deep, and great but when they make normal movies they are vulgar, and crass, and shallow???? Can't they do both kinds of movies good???? I would give "How to Tame a Dragon" 5 stars. Loved it. Want it on Blue Ray. It's one you could watch several times with the kids and not get annoyed.
When we got home I had to leave right away to a shower for a young lady in our ward who is getting married in 2 weeks. It was a pantry shower, and they had asked for a recipe card, so I didn't give her my usual Digital Recipe book; I will be giving her that for her wedding I guess. It was fun to shop for a few things that she might need in her pantry. I got to thinking about how there are so many things that we should have in our personal pantries when we are preparing to get married. A little patience, a little humility, a little humor... I think that one thing this little bride appreciated about her future husband was that he valued her not only for her physical beauty, but for her spiritual depth. If everyone looked for that in a spouse, there would be better marriages out there, that's for sure.
After coming home from that enjoyable shower, I finally got to commit an act of cleanliness for my kitchen. I not only cleaned out my fridge, but I cleaned another nasty area and did a thorough job of the counters. I love having a cleaned out fridge. All the old nasty stuff is gone and everything else looks great and is easy to find. Another thing that you find out when you clean out your fridge is what you really have. No more guessing when making the grocery list. I could be all deep and analougous and relate this to how repentance does the same thing for our soul, but I will spare you. Draw your own analogy. I dare you.
After the fridge was properly cleaned, we set out to enjoy our visit with Brandon Mull. Because we were letter "I" we ended up waiting for just over 2 hours to get our 2 seconds of time with him. Ashley took advantage of the time by having her face painted and making a mask. I love Brandon Mull's writing style. He has flawed characters, moral lessons to be learned, and good action and fun. I am only on chapter 3 because of my busyness, but I am sure I will finish it by the end of the week and have a proper review. So far it's action packed.

Today I am not feeling like the nice mother, I am feeling like the bad mother. I have been sick for over a week, and my house looks terrible. I had the bishop come by last night when I was out and I feel so ashamed of how I let things go. I can be so organized with my schoolwork, but the housework has me floored today. I am trying to implement a program of committing a "random act of cleanliness" everyday, but there is so much to be done that the task seems overwhelming. Then, after trying to straighten up at least the living room a little, clean a part of my family room that desperately needed it, and spilling slime green spinach soup (it sounded like a tonic yesterday) all over my freezer, I came in here for a moment to breathe... and I hear my Ted out there vacuuming, straightening and helping out in his own way. That's when I feel like being a mother is the best job in the world.

The other day, when it was rainy and stormy, I once again had it clearly manifest to me how the Lord can answer even simple prayers. I don't like driving in the rain, especially lately because I need new windshield wipers. Besides that, my van is extremely top heavy and gives me the feeling that it will be toppled over in strong wind. Add to that the little cold bug that I have been fighting for the last week, and knowing that if I miss any school I will get hopelessly lost in math... well I needed some help to get to school. So as I got into the car, I asked that "The winds and the waves would obey His will" and that I might have a calm commute to school. And I got one! And if I had any doubt at all about who was the one who smoothed my path, Brother Petromalo (institute teacher) had this quote on the board.
"If we would advance in holiness --increase in favor with God -- nothing can take the place of prayer. Give prayer -- daily prayer, secret prayer-- a foremost place in our lives. Let no day pass without it. Communion with the Almighty has been a source of strength, inspiration, and enlightenment through the world's history to men and women who have shaped the destinies of individuals and nations for good."
President Ezra Taft Benson, (God, Family, Country, pg. 8)

Another little glimmer of light that I can only catch when I am humble enough to pay attention!

To Blog or Not to Blog

So I thought I needed a creative outlet. I had forgotten about creativity in the time that I have been going to school, being totally swamped with schoolwork, I decided I would try this out for awhile and see if it will help me feel more fulfilled in that direction.

For today, the funniest thing at school today was how my English Professor was talking about being unbiased, all the time trashing people who oppose the health care bill, characterizing them as people who throw money at handicapped people when they try to voice their opinions, spit and curse at black senators and the like. I was disappointed in her. She didn't qualify it. Those people are wrong in their actions; the rudeness in this country has gotten quite out of hand. On the other hand, not everyone who opposes the new health care bill are gun toting, violent conservatives who are just waiting for their chance to be rude to those that don't oppose it.....