Just Because I am Me

Question Update

2012-01-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

I really appreciate all your suggestions (and support) for my next cookbook. I will be making two cookbooks. One, I'll put up on Blurb again. It will be similar to the first in that you can buy it through blurb, all printed up and pretty. The other cookbook will be in pdf format, and will be available to purchase through download. It will be cheaper, but will be electronic. You can keep it on your computer, ipad, or phone. If you would like, you can take that pdf and email it to a copy store, and have them bind it for you so you have a hardcopy.

Both will have the same recipes in it, but the formatting will be a bit different, to account for the different programs used to make each. The books will contain the recipes I have posted on my blog since making the first cookbook, and some new recipes as well.

Sound good? I'm excited.

Milky Cereal

2012-01-24T15:39:00.000-07:00

The day has come. The day when the baby of the family decides he can no longer live another day of his life without having his previously dry bowl of cereal receive a makeover in the form of M.I.L.K.

Milk poured over cereal. My nemesis. The creator of my queasiness. The instigator of dry heaves. The reason I cannot be in the kitchen when people are eating breakfast cereal. The slurping. The sogginess. The sound of half chewing/half sloshing. The inevitable drink-the-crumb-infested-flavorified-milk from the bowl after completion of cereal eating. The smell. Oh, the smell. I find it disgusting.

This week, Mr. Kimble decided he needed milk in his bowl of multi-grain cheerios. Besides the fact that to me, cheerios is the worst offender of cereal-breath, merely witnessing this life-changing moment was bittersweet. I love that he is growing and changing and learning new things. However, I'm now grieved that I can never have post-cereal kisses from him e.v.e.r. again. Not if I want to remain in good health.

Ah. Milky cereal breath. This combines two things I never eat, and never ever together. Milk and cereal. Most of the world does, however. I understand that. I accept that. But you will never find me running one of those cute little college town eatery places that only serve endless concoctions of cereal and name-your-flavor milks. Nope. Not for me.

But for my big boy...my baby...who is not only eating milky cereal in a bowl, with a spoon, but he is sitting at the table instead of his high chair. I still love him...even if he chooses a life of milk and cereal sogginess.

Facebook Funnies 2011

2012-01-21T15:46:00.002-07:00

So I thought I'd entertain you with a few (more than a few) facebook posts from throughout the year. They are in reverse order, starting with most recent and going back through the year. I also started a dream recap series, which includes a few highlights from the dreams I remembered having, upon wakening in the morning. Hope you enjoy!

I got a call from The Husband, as I was out running errands. I told him I couldn't talk right then, and ended the call. When I called back, to tell him I was next in line at the post office and that's why I couldn't talk, he breathed a sigh of relief. His first thought was that I had been kidnapped; held hostage by a big ugly man, and was forced to act nonchalant, even though I was under duress. What a protective husband I have! (and what an active imagination he has too!)

Felt strangely validated when my sister, who is a new mommy to her first baby boy, called me up last week and asked "how on earth do you ever get anything done?" Ha!

Thinks it's curious that The Man In The Yellow Hat can afford an apartment in NYC and a house in the country, but only one outfit for himself and no clothing for his monkey-son.

We had tacos for dinner. Kennedy said "No lettuce for me. Lettuce makes me wiggle and I just want no wiggling tonight."

Somewhere in this house is a brand new bottle of pomegranate dishsoap. According to the evidence left behind in the grocery bag, it is also oozing it's contents. You would think we could find it; that it would be obvious. A soapy trail...something. Nope. Wherever Mr. Kimble took it, it's hidden amazingly well. Perhaps he should be a magician for Halloween, then he could "Abra Cadabra" it back to my kitchen, because I need it

Today we saw Kimble throw the missing bottle of dishsoap down the stairs. We all stared at him perplexed, because we looked EVERYWHERE in the house, and couldn't find it (see previous post) then just like that, he had it in his hands and chucked it down the stairs. I really think he IS Houdini.

"I just keep getting more hair on my arms and legs mom! Guess being a 4th grader changes everything." -Keaton

Kimble ate the nose of my styrofoam head model. Now she looks like voldamort.

I sent Kennedy to school with a cute headband on, and she came home with it across her forehead like Rambo. Which way do you think she wore it for her school pictures? We shall see!

When asked Kolby if he was a good boy while I was gone to parent/teacher conferences, he pulls out a used sacrament cup and says "Yup. I just filled this up and drank it, so all my sins are gone now."

Woke up an hour late, to get the kids off to school (7:04am instead of 6am). Got the kids out the door at 7:12am, and thought we did good until I heard Kennedy shout back "I only brushed my top teeth, so I could be faster, Momma!"

This morning The Husband made waffles for everyone while I took a HOT shower and used up all the hot water. Fair trade?

This Morning's Interrupted Dream: I was adopting a baby (and breastfeeding him...how talented am I?) and realized his name did not start with a K. So while chatting with my good friends Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, together we went through a list of suggested K names. By the end of the dream, I still didn't have a K name, but with Katie and I wearing matching overalls, I was completely satisfied with the progress we had made.

I texted the husband saying "I love you more than you love Spaghetti" ... only when I looked at what the auto correct put in, it said " I love you more than you love your ghetti". So funny.

Kennedy brings me one of her library books this morning and says "Momma, I'm just gonna look at this book during scriptures, because I don't really listen to you when you read them anyway."

Kolby actually did his homework (1) fast, (2) by himself, (3) without a fit, and (4) with a happy attitude. I'm amazed by what a fabulous mother I must be.

Overheard Kennedy saying to Keaton "You have to listen to momma, because she's older than all of us...well, except for Kamy. She's the oldest of all."

I called to Kimble, because I hadn't heard him for a few minutes, and he didn't reply. So I went looking for him. He was in his crib, curled up almost to the point of sleep, and was sucking on his binkie. I guess he wanted his binkie bad enough to figure out how to climb into his crib. At least he followed my rule of No Binkies Out of Bed. What an obedient boy I have.

When I asked Keaton to do his chores, he replied "but mom, I just want to be like most Mormon men and just relax and do nothing after church."

Right now Kennedy is snorting like a pig while dragging a laughing Kimble down the stairs on his belly. Kolby is doing everything BUT his chores. Keaton is bench pressing our kitchen bench for exercise, and the husband is watching cycling on TV. What's happening at your house?

Kennedy is outside cutting the grass with a big knife. Instead of stopping her, I sit and watch.

Last night, as I was sewing, I was listening to 60's music and singing along. Kamy came over and said "What kind of music is that? I guess back in the olden days you didn't have that great of music to listen to, like we do now."

Kolby liked his birthday present so much, that he slept in them. Who knew rollerblades and flannel pajamas make good bedmates.

One of Keaton's classmates was wearing one of my headbands today; I guess her mom bought one from me at the farmer's market. He told her all about how his mom makes "amazing headbands of all different colors and also makes some famous chicken enchilada dip". To that last comment, I raised my eyebrows and he said "Well, you do!"

The Husband came home early and found me napping. Guess I lost all my credibility about what I do all day.

This morning's dream: I was kidnapped by Danny Davito, who took all my money and my car, then told me to go into this Panda Express type of place to order some orange chicken. I ordered the "kidnapped special" hoping they would rescue me, but the guy was just annoyed that he had to make a special order. Then this other customer asked me to sign her yearbook. I'd never met her before, but signed "What a great year, right? Help me. I'm kidnapped!"

The husband torched the huge black widow in our window well.

Before we left for Kamy to get her "middle school shots", Georgie gave her a pep talk. "Now Kamy. Be brave! I know you can do it! It's just a shot. Don't cry!"

Today's interrupted dream: I flew to Chicago to meet up with my boyfriend, Robert Pattinson, where we were starting to watch a movie in a theater. The seat next to him had a carton of eggs, which he was trying to protect. Midway through the movie, everyone except Robert got sucked into the movie via this crazy black goo that warped us into the screen. Robert was left with his eggs, wondering how to get us out again.

Kolby just asked me if I was a Pre-Teen. Maybe he was trying to tell me I needed to act my age.

"Do you know how Heavenly Father makes us?" Georgie asked me. Before I could reply, she said "He makes a seed and plants it, and it turns into a human plant."

Kimble handed me a rock. Only, it wasn't a rock, but a large clump of soiled kitty litter.

Kamy just said "Mom, what if I grew up and married a lion? That would be a problem, because I'm an omnivore, and he's a carnivore, and that would cause lots of fights."

Folded a weeks worth of laundry, and only had two pairs of boys underwear in the mix. Something's not right.

Kolby told Kennedy to listen to him and she replied "of course I will because I am in love with you."

Kamy said "Mom, people in France kiss with their tounges!"

While eating her sandwich at the reservoir, Kennedy said "If that eagle swoops down here and eats my food I'll kick it!"

Today's interrupted dream: I was flying like a bird, using special crayola markers as power and fuel, searching for a special rock, hidden in a crevasse, that would make me all powerful, but my plans were being thwarted by Barbara Walters, who was flying behind me with her own set of magical markers. So I grabbed her markers and threw them away, and punched her in the face, but she only managed to gain momentum.

During the dinner prayer, Kennedy said "...and please bless Satan, that he'll be a good boy".

Keaton: "I can't wait to get to heaven so I can ride a Tyrannosaurus Rex!"

At the zoo, Kennedy kept running from winged insects. Keaton said "Come on George! Are you scared of everything that flies? Kennedy responded "Yes. Everything...except Jesus of course."

As The Husband and I were at the store, getting fixin's for our BBQ, the kids (at home) thought they heard someone trying to open the garage and break-in (the 30 mph wind is furious today!) and so they prepared themselves. Kolby got a golf club. Keaton got a chainsaw. Kamy got a homemade bow (a stick with a robe sash tied to it) and Georgie hid in a laundry basket.

Kamy told me that she speaks dog.

This mornings interrupted dream: My mom was trying desperately to blowdry my hair, even at my persistence for her not to, as I was arguing with my husband, who turned into Nicholas Cage mid dream, that I would NOT play Jane in the new Tarzan movie.

Keaton's math joke of the day: "Man, I feel so bad for the multiplication numbers that have to carry the 1. Must be so heavy for them..."

Kennedy just asked the question for which there is no verifiable answer. "What is a hot dog made out of?"

With exuberance, Kennedy popped her head around the corner and said "For my birthday, I really want a windmill. Oh, and I just don't like cheese in my pocket!" Then she skipped to the potty.

Kennedy had a black ant crawling on her. She said "The ant is tickling me. Does that mean it's pooping?"

Mr. Kimble has discovered the joy of splashing in toilet water. I am saddened by this grievous turn of events.

Mr. Kimble is getting rather forceful with his kisses. I think I need to teach him how to be a gentleman.

Changed Kimble's massively disgusting diaper this morning, and Keaton helped. Afterward, he said "That was just horrible, mom. I don't think I'm cut out to be a babysitter. There's just too much stuff that happens with diapers."

Yesterday afternoon, Heath and I watched as Kolby stood on the sidewalk corner. When a jogger passed by, he lifted up his arm and said "Expelliarmus!" When he came back inside, we asked Kolby what he said, for we couldn't hear him, we just guessed because he always says that. He said "Uh, I said....hey." I think we like our version of it better!

We were woken up by Kimble, standing in his crib, with empty milk bottles strewn around him as if they were discarded beer cans. "More" his cry seemed to say, as he lay back down with a belch and a nod.

When sent to bed, Keaton proclaimed: "I got a letter from the President of the United States today. He said that all kids can stay up and NEVER go to bed!"

Kolby's birthday is one month before Keaton's, and according to Kolby, that means he's older than Keaton. It's a source of frustration for Keaton, and today, during lunch, I overheard him say with the utmost seriousness, "Now Kolby, according to all my calculations, I will always and forever be almost two years older than you." Kolby looked at Keaton and said "I think you got your calculations wrong."

Kolby went outside to play, after school, instead of doing homework like we always do. To justify his disobedience, he said "But mom, today we learned what the word 'socializing' means, and I was just doing what I learned at school! Homework, right?"

Georgie is obsessed with getting her ears pierced. She keeps pulling back my hair and saying "Hmm...mommma. Those are some pretty nice holes you got there."

Came home from the gym to find The Husband cleaning the house. He never looked so good!

After calling Georgie "Sweetie", Keaton said "Mom...you don't usually say that. It was nice. Good job learning a new word!"

This morning, Georgie said "Momma, when I grow up, you are going to be a grandma, and then you will die. When you die, can I have your pretty lipstick?" Oh, such a tender moment.

Keaton said at dinnertime: "I just can't imagine what heaven is like. I mean, all the beautiful mountains and forests and deserts. Caves and oceans and all the cowboys. Must be amazing."

Last night at dinner, Georgie announced to us "I have a love life". When pressed for details, she was demure.

Keaton just got home from school and said "Man, I'm never using the boys' bathrooms at school. That have these weird "number one" toilets that go all the way to the floor."

Kimble's Activities

2012-01-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

Kimble loves peanut butter. In fact, he loves it so much, that he can't be bothered by masking the taste. For example, before, he loved peanut butter sandwiches. Now, if I put it on bread, he gets mad at me. Straight out of the jar is preferable for him, but he gets in trouble when he gets caught. This week, I caught him sneaking fist fulls of peanut butter, and as soon as he saw me, he put his hands up in the air for surrender.

Tools. If there is a tool to be found, Kimble has it. Pliers. Screwdrivers. Hammers. Drills. Knives. No matter how hard I try to keep these things out of reach, Kimble finds a way. He doesn't really do anything with them. He just likes to hold it.

Kimble wants to write all over the walls and doors. He can't resist any clean surface.

Although he likes to have a fork when he eats, he still doesn't mind when I feed him his dinner.

Kimble yells or grunts his preferences. He still doesn't use a whole lot of words, and tries to get away with just grunting his request. He is very specific in his demands, so if I interpret his grunt the wrong way, he gets very upset.

Escaping the house is Kimble's most desirable request. Then, once outside, he will run away from you every chance he gets. This happened the other day, and he ran into the street before I could catch him. I'm so thankful the car in the road stopped when they did, or Kimble would have been hit.

We switched Kimble's crib into a daybed, and he transitioned beautifully. He can climb in and out of his bed, and he loves it. We don't have any toys in his room, so there is nothing for him to do except go to sleep, when we put him in his room. He takes a two hour nap everyday.

Kimble has two blankets that he loves. They are both very soft. He likes to carry them around throughout the house, and often drags them around like Linus off of Charlie Brown. Kimble also likes us to wrap one around him, and put the other over his head. He looks like Mary, when we do this, but he loves it.

We know when Kimble is up to no good, when he's pushing a chair throughout the house. He'll push a chair through three rooms, just to get where he wants to be, so he can climb up on it and reach whatever he wants to get. When we take away his chair, he gets very upset.

Kimble doesn't like to wear pants, so most of the time, around the house, he only has a shirt and a diaper on. If we put pants on him, he almost immediately pulls them off.

He hates it when I brush his teeth.

He can't be bothered with conversation or loves, when his favorite show is on. He'll ignore you, or grunt his displeasure, if you get in his view of the tv. He loves Backyardigans, Curious George, and Dinosaur Train.

Kimble discovered baseball hats the other week, and now loves to wear them. He looks pretty cute.

Denver Dynamites

2012-01-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

A week or two ago we had the opportunity to join our fellow Mended Little Heart families for an evening of indoor soccer. The coach of the Denver Dynamites (part of a professional indoor arena soccer league) is part of our heart support group, as he is an adult survivor of CHD and is currently on the heart transplant list, awaiting a new heart. He organized a fun event for our families to go to.

The evening involved us participating in the pre-game show, as well as halftime. Before the game, we all stood out on the field and shook hands with each of the team's members. Kimble can't resist a high-five, so he happily held up his little hand and waiting until the team players came over to high-five him, and then said "Yeah!" each time. So cute.

Next, The Husband sang the National Anthem to kick start the game. How was my husband picked to do this, you may ask. Simple. I volunteered him. A few months ago, at one of our meetings, it was discussed that this event might happen, and Chuck (the coach for Denver Dynamites who is part of our heart group) asked if there was anyone who was good at singing. My hand immediately went up and I motioned towards The Husband. "He does! He has an amazing voice. But I warn you, if you hear him sing, you might just fall in love with him. Just a bit." So it was decided that Heath would sing the National Anthem, which he was happy to do because he loves singing as much as I love hearing him sing. Here's a picture of him singing. I have a video, which I keep trying to upload. I'll try again after I post this post.

Then we settled in to watch the game. The indoor arena was surrounded by tall plexiglass that you could see through, but was quite solid. The players played off the wall, throughout the game, as the ball bounced, seemingly, right towards you.

Kimble tried to make a getaway one time, and ran straight for the field. However, the deceptively-invisible glass wall stopped his progress dead. He recovered quickly enough, and we kept him in our arms most of the time after that.

After the game, we got a group picture with both teams. It was a fun night, and we were happy to be so involved in the entire process.

Question:

2012-01-13T14:08:00.002-07:00

So I've been really researching another venue for my next cookbook. I love blurb, but the cost is really high. Just so you know, my first cookbook is priced at almost 30 dollars, and I only get a few dollars of that. I really want to make my next book much more affordable, while still being able to earn enough money to cover our medical costs for Kimble's surgery.

There are plenty of sites out there that will make 'fundraiser'-type recipe books. These are usually spiral bound books, with a design on front, and something an office store would bound. There are no pictures included. It's all on type-written paper and thus, is printed in black and white. Pictures don't look good when photocopied in black and white.

I'd really like to include lots of pictures, because I think a good picture can sell a recipe. That being said, it restricts the type of recipe book I can make.

Do pictures matter to you? Would you rather have one of those fundraiser-type recipe books, or would you be willing to pay more and have a nice print book with lots of pictures?

Edited to add: What if I had a blog post, which I kept linked on the sidebar, that had a picture of each of the recipes that were in the book? That way, people could still see what it looked like, but the recipe would be in a cheaper book?

Goals for 2012

2012-01-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

I feel so strongly that I'll accomplish my goals (resolutions) this year, that I feel the need to proclaim them out loud. After all, isn't there some statistic which states that a resolution written down, or said out loud, has a greater chance of getting accomplished? Related to that, I believe that less than 10% of resolutions are actually accomplished. I want to be one of the few who succeed.

So, in no particular order, here are my resolutions.

1. Lose 30 more pounds through eating right and exercising.

2. Say prayers and read scriptures daily.

3. Be a more loving wife and a more patient mother.

4. Become an extreme couponer (I'm so excited about this) and thus build up my family's food storage and save money.

5. Create photobooks for my kids, for Christmas.

6. Make another cookbook (after finding a venue to provide the lowest cost) before Kimble has his next surgery.

7. Successfully start a garden in our back yard.

8. Clean out and organize the garage so that at least one car can have a parking space.

9. Take lots of pictures...including pictures of these three cute boys!

Liquid Reeses

2012-01-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in December that I made the most delightful ice cream topping. It's so amazing, though, that you won't want to limit it to just ice cream. Use it as an apple dipper, or as a spread over toast or pancakes. Fondue it or simply eat it by the spoonful. It is so so good.

I'm a lover of chocolate and peanut butter. Preferably together. This sauce not only marriages the two in a completely sinful way, but the flavor clones my favorite weakness: Reeses.

Yes. I'm telling you this: If you have ever gotten a jumbo box of Reeses peanut butter cups for Christmas, simply because your Dad knew how much you loved them...If you've ever told your kids that the entire bag of mini Reeses are gone, but then secretly ate the last dozen while hiding in your locked bathroom...If you've ever told your kids that it's the law that they must give you all Reeses acquired during Trick-or-Treating...If you've ever ridden your bike three miles to the country store, just to spend your pennies on some Reeses, and then ate them all before you even left the parking lot...If you've ever gotten a Reeses blizzard at Dairy Queen and dug through it all, eating all the Reeses chunks and leaving the ice cream...If you've ever found yourself mid-diet, and wake up having dreamt about dancing Reeses wearing ping pong balls dangling around their luscious chocolaty ridges like a ballerina's tutu...then this is the sauce for you.

What? You mean you haven't had any of those circumstances happen to you? I guess I'm the odd one out. At any rate, if you love chocolate and peanut butter even a little bit, then you will LOVE this recipe. Plus, it's super easy to make. Give it a try. You'll be back for more.

Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Sauce

1 14 oz can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter

approximately 1/2 cup of boiling water

In a saucepan, over medium-high heat, add your sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and peanut butter. As your mixture heats through, it will be easier to incorporate. Make sure you are stirring often (almost always) so your mixture doesn't burn.

In a separate pot, bring your water to boil. Once it is boiling, remove from heat. After your chocolate sauce is all heated through, it will start to be a bit gummy and thick. At this point, add in your water a little bit at a time and stir through. Your sauce will begin to thin out nicely, and once you've added enough water to get your desired consistency, you are done! (You may or may not use all the 1/2 cup of water. It's an approximation, and purely dependent on how thin/thick you want your sauce.)

I poured my sauce into jars and distributed them amongst friends. If you are only making this for yourself, then consider halving the recipe...although you will be left with half a can of sweetened condensed milk, which I don't often have a use for and thus I hate to see it wasted. I'd much rather have an extra few jars of this sauce, in my fridge. But that's just me.

This sauce tastes amazing if it 's poured over vanilla ice cream (or your choice of flavor) and eaten while it's hot and oozing over the cold ice cream. Just lovely.

If you are curious, this sauce, which I've deemed Liquid Reeses, it came from Nigella Lawson, a Food Network Chef, who's primary culinary aim is to see comfort food richly bubbling away at her stove top. I thank her, immensely, for this prized addition to my recipe collection.

Pancakes For Dessert

2012-01-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

I saw these amazingly tempting Pomegranate White Chocolate Pancakes on Pinterest, and decided that sometime over the Christmas Holiday, I would make them for my family. We made them Christmas Eve morning, and they definitely met our expectations. Although there isn't any oil that goes into the recipe, and the sugar is only a few teaspoons for the whole recipe, they definitely feel like you are splurging on a dessert. The white chocolate chips help with the richness of the pancake, and you don't even need syrup to go on top.

Don't be afraid of seeding a pomegranate. The trick is to cut it in quarters, then get a big bowl of water. While submerging the pomegranate quarters under the water, simply invert the slices while breaking away the connective structure an releasing the seeds with your fingers. Because it's underwater, it doesn't damage or pop the seeds. Then, the connective white parts will float to the top and the seeds will sink to the bottom. Easy. Plus, you won't get pomegranate juice staining your fingers, kitchen towels, or counter tops. One pomegranate will yield enough for this recipe, and I even doubled the recipe for my family, but still only used one pomegranate-worth of seeds, while still having enough leftover for garnish (not necessary, but nice for the picture!).

White Chocolate Pomegranate Pancakes

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup low fat milk (I used buttermilk with excellent results)

1 tsp pomegranate juice

4 tsp brown sugar

1 cup oats

1 cup wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup pomegranate seeds (approximately)

2/3 cup white chocolate chips

Seed your pomegranate. When first cutting your pomegranate, you'll have some juice that comes out from cutting through some seeds. Reserve that juice (and intentionally make more juice if you don't have enough) and add it in with your wet ingredients, as listed above.

Combine together your wet ingredients and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine your dry ingredients (oats, flour, baking powder and salt). Combine the wet and dry ingredients together and stir well to combine. (At this point, depending on your altitude, you may need to add more milk or more flour, to get it to a good pancake batter consistency.)

Stir in pomegranate seeds and white chocolate chips. Coat your griddle pan with cooking spray or butter, and pour about 1/3 cup of batter onto griddle. Flip over when underneath side is nicely browned. Serve with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of seeds for garnish.

Again, I doubled this for my family, and just used one pomegranate-worth of seeds, and it was plenty. Also, since it was so rich and filling, my kids only ate one each, which provided for some great leftovers for the next few days of breakfasts (or desserts).

Yesssss!

2012-01-05T14:29:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken Christmas Eve. I was sitting down on the floor and whenever I sit on the floor, Kimble takes that as an invitation for me to be his soft cushiony chair. So he turned around and walked backwards until his calves hit my legs and then he plopped his little diaper-bum into my lap. As often as this happens throughout the day, I still love it each time. It's like our little ritual.

Georgie (ok, so I still call her Georgie most of the time. It's so hard to change to her real name!) saw the same opportunity to snuggle, and climbed on my lap as well. She really is a love-bug.

So with my two babies on my lap (which isn't uncommon) The Husband had the camera, and told them he was taking a picture. Kimble immediately says "CHEEEESE" and then gets so excited that he kicks back his head and tenses his arms with fervor (I love that word. Reminds me of the movie 3 Men and a Little Lady. So many great fun quotes in that movie.)

It's like he's saying "YESSSS!" I love his little expression in this picture.

I just wanted to thank everyone for their kind words and effort to post a comment just to help me feel better. Most of you have been readers for a long time, and for that, I thank you. It's a really neat feeling for me to know that there are people out there who have a vested interest in me and my family.

I thank you for your support and hope that all of you who are dealing with your own struggles can understand that you have been blessed in so many ways. So many times, when we were undergoing some of our hardest moments, we realized just how many blessings we had been given.

I have a few more recipes to post, from my December cooking quests. Stay tuned for that.

A New Year

2012-01-04T16:40:00.000-07:00

I can't understand why I've been in a blogging funk lately. I love to blog. I just feel like I haven't had anything to blog about. The CHRISTmas service kept my blog busy last month, but I should have had many more posts about our regular activities. I didn't even take any pictures on Christmas. Crazy.

It's hard to admit to myself that maybe I'm a bit down. I hear that's common, especially after the holidays are over. There are probably things that attribute to this, more than my emotional well-being. I worry about a lot of things. I am constantly trying to figure out how to make things work better.

For example, I manage our household finances. This isn't to say that The Husband isn't capable. It's more that I've always run the finances, and so I continue to do it. I like doing it. But with that, comes the constant worry of making sure things get paid on time; balancing the bills so nothing gets left out; making sure the bills are scattered evenly through the month so we aren't stretched too much during one pay period. One reason I started selling things on Etsy was to help pay some bills. Now, the holiday season is over. The Farmer's Markets won't begin until spring, and I'm worried about finances. So that's one thing that I'm focused on, but don't have a solution to. (One thing I'm working towards is becoming a super coupon-er! If any of you have great websites and tips, I'd love to hear them.)

Another thing that worries me is Kimble's health. Yes, he is doing great right now. I try not to think that things could change for the worse, but it is always a possibility with heart patients, and most especially withe Kimble. He'll have more testing later this year, in preparation for his next surgery this fall, and it worries me. It worries me big time. I don't know how I can handle him going through another surgery. It takes so much out of me. I feel selfish for saying that, but the anticipation, the worry, the ups and downs, seeing your sweet baby sedated and ventilated and intubated and monitored, his scar open and swollen again, hearing him whimper and hurt...and so much more. I know he has it worse than me, but from a mother's perspective, it's just about the worse thing you can go through.

I tell myself everyday, that he will have another surgery. He will make it through the surgery. He will do great with the recovery. The truth is, that I don't know that. Being positive is one thing, but it's completely out of my control. I've always felt like Kimble's life here on earth was temporary. We are blessed to have him in our family (forever), but the earthly time with him may be short. I hate that. I don't want to have my time limited with him. And maybe I won't. The Husband feels differently, in that he thinks Kimble will have a strong and LONG life. I really hope so.

I've gotten re-committed to being healthy again. Time off for the holidays not only made me feel like a big fat blob, but it made my happiness suffer a bit. If anyone reads my fitness blog (linked on the right sidebar) I've gotten back in the habit of eating right and exercising, and actually made resolutions. I'm ready to work hard to get my reward. Watch it happen.

So with school starting again tomorrow, I think I'll have some quiet around the house to re-focus. I should have more things to blog about. I hope to not feel so down.

I've also contemplated making it so that my blog doesn't allow comments. Reason being: I hardly get comments. I L.O.V.E. hearing from my readers, but on days I don't get any comments, I take it personal. Maybe people just don't comment much anymore. At least, I tell myself that, but then look at other people's blogs and see that they get tons of comments. I don't think I'm alone in this feeling. It's always nice to get feedback, and reassurance that people still care about you. I know people read my blog. I see the numbers. So maybe by not allowing comments to happen, I won't get any expectations about comments. Maybe. We'll see.

For now, feel free to share your thoughts. I love hearing from you. Oh, and please give me couponing tips if you have them!

Day 31 CHRISTmas: Quarters

2011-12-31T18:08:00.003-07:00

Today we had planned to leave quarters by the candy vending machines in the mall. We had hoped some kids would get a fun surprise when they realized they could get their own jumbo bubble gum, instead of asking their parents for quarters! However, we arrived at the mall too late, and it was closed up early for the night. Guess there aren't any parties going on in the mall on New Years Eve.

So we drove to the nearest gas station that had a vacuum machine, and we left three dollars worth of quarters right next to the slot. Hope someone enjoys having a free session!

After we were done, the kids automatically asked "What's our service for tomorrow?" I told them we were done with our month-long service, because tomorrow is a new month. "Oh", the kids all sighed. "That's too bad."

We will continue to do service for each other, and look for ways to serve others, but it won't be as documented as our month-long tribute to CHRISTmas was. It's been an amazing month, and I think we accomplished our goal to bring CHRIST back in CHRISTMAS.

Thanks for following along, on our journey. We sure loved it, and hope it brought a smile to your face as well. Happy New Year!!

Day 30 CHRISTmas: Hospital Donation

2011-12-30T10:52:00.002-07:00

(Sorry for the blurry picture. Cell phone camera.)

Having been frequent in-patients at the hospital, we know that sometimes your day requires a pick-me-up. Tests...X-rays...bloodwork...constant monitoring...etc, it's especially hard when you are a child, and sometimes don't understand why you can't just go home. Sitting in your hospital bed, day after day, isn't much fun.

So today, we put together four sets of jumbo coloring books and crayons, and donated them to the Pediatric Wing of the hospital that we were at last year, with Kimble, when he had his lymph node infection. We told the receptionist that we didn't have anyone specific in mind, and didn't know how many kids they had, but that we would like to offer these gifts to some of the patients in that wing.

She told us that coloring books/crayons are a hot commodity in the hospital, and they are always struggling with keeping up with the demand. She assured us that they would be well received, and thanked us for the wonderful service we were doing.

Each day, we are so thankful that Kimble is healthy and strong. We know that mishaps happen, and we could find ourselves back in the hospital again next week. But as for now, if we are able to help other kids that are undergoing their own health struggles, then we are happy to do it. Even if it's just to bring a book, or a coloring book, or a toy, or a blanket; that small act of service on our part is multiplied with gratefulness by the child who receives it.

Day 29 CHRISTmas: Doctor's Office

2011-12-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

We had some toys that Kimble didn't need in his collection, so instead of giving them to a thrift store, we gathered them up, sanitized them in a tub of bleach water (as seen above) and got them ready for a new home. We brought the box of toys, which included blocks, trains, chunky toys, superheros, and wild animals, to Kimble's Cardiologist. There, in his office waiting room, we placed the toys on the shelf, for all the patients and families to use during their time there.

Since we are there often, we've noticed that besides the train table, the office waiting room didn't have anything else for the kids to play with. Now, there is enough toys for many kids to enjoy time after time. We really enjoyed this service, and the office staff was very grateful (and surprised) at the donation. We also gathered up some books to donate, for the kids to enjoy too. We had chunky picture books for the babes, and chapter books for the older kids.

Day 28 CHRISTmas: Plant Starters

2011-12-28T15:45:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, a friend gave me a pot full of aloe vera starters. Her cactus plant grows like crazy, and she is always trying to find friends to give a plant a home. Last year, she gave us a few plants, including the big aloe plant you see in the left of the picture above. It came in handy, when Kimble burned his hands this last year.

I thought this would be a good service for today. We divided up four sections of the aloe plant, and placed them into our lovely transport containers (read: plastic cups). We nestled them in the soil nice and good, gave them a drink of water, and set off down the neighborhood to find new homes for the aloe plants.

We told the new plant owners that the aloe is great for burns, among other things. They like sunlight, but not directly. They could feel free to re-pot it and add soil at their convenience. It put a smile on everyone's faces. It's nice to get a new plant.

Day 27 CHRISTmas: Two Extra Kids

2011-12-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

On this day, before the sun came up, our service began. We got a call in the early hours of the morning, from my friend, saying she was heading to the hospital to have her baby. We watched her two older kids for most of the day. They had a great time helping with chores, eating lots of snacks, and playing games with my kids, and were thrilled when news came that they had a new baby brother. They left about 3pm, when their daddy came to pick them up. It was a good day.

Day 26 CHRISTmas: Freshly Baked Cookies

2011-12-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

Today we made a big batch of chocolate chip cookies for the police station. All the kids, minus Kimble and I, went with The Husband to deliver them. Kennedy got the honor of holding the cookies.

As I was making the cookies, Kennedy said "Why aren't we giving the policemen some donuts?"

Day 25 CHRISTmas: FireStation

2011-12-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

As much as I like to remain in my Santa Pants all day long on Christmas, I changed my clothes into a pair of jeans (which felt tight....too many helpings of potatoes!) and had Keaton and The Husband accompany me down the street to our Fire Station.

Hot from the oven, was a loaf of of Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake, to offer to our Firemen in thanks for their service. I actually made two loaves, with one intended for the Policemen too, that share the building. But upon inverting the loaf to get it out of the pan, it sort of fell apart. Darn it. I knew I should have bought some of those disposable loaf pans.

Anyway, I couldn't bring them crumbles, so I left that loaf at home (which was immediately gobbled up by all the kids, and The Husband, who proclaimed it his favorite bread ever and couldn't stop eating it...) and wrapped up the non-crumbly loaf to give away. We'll just have to do something for the Police Station tomorrow.

Keaton practiced what he would say, the entire drive over. "Our family has been doing service everyday this month. Today, our service is for you. Thank you for working on Christmas." It was really cute to hear him work so hard to get it right. Once we got there, we rang the buzzer, and the door was immediately opened by four Firemen, who saw Keaton standing there with the loaf and they said "Oh, you brought us a present, eh?"

Keaton, overwhelmed, just nodded his head. "Is it cake? Did you make it all by yourself?" Keaton shook his head "no", still lip-locked.

We stepped in. The Husband said "That's the best bread ever. Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake, and it's hot from the oven." The Fireman took the loaf gingerly, because it's delicate and hot from the oven, and he said "Thank you!". We nudged Keaton, which brought him out of his stupor, and he finally gave his intended speech. The Firemen listened carefully, and with sincerity, thanked Keaton again and wished us a Merry Christmas. It was pretty cool.

This service thing is really making me happy.

Christmas Eve!

2011-12-25T17:21:00.000-07:00

As per our tradition, we took our Christmas Eve picture. It was a delightful feeling to put on the Santa Pants that I've been wearing for the past 12 years (we didn't have them the first two Christmases) and have them be nice and loose on me (much different than the tightness of last year). I really hope next Christmas finds me needing to buy a much smaller size, because they are falling off me. I hope.

Here is a picture of the kids. They are getting so big!

Day 24 CHRISTmas: Gift in a Jar

2011-12-25T17:08:00.000-07:00

Today we made some delicious Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Sauce. I'm tellin' ya. It was like liquid Reeses. So amazing. UH-MAZING! It can be used as an ice-cream topper, or an apple-dipper, or shoveled in by the mouthful (which was the option we chose).

Kolby and The Husband went with me, to deliver these jars to the women I work with at church, in Young Womens. I'm so grateful for such wonderful leaders that inspire me to do my best, as we teach and direct such a great group of girls.

I hope they enjoyed this sauce as much as we did. (I still have two jars in the fridge...waiting for me to devour them!)

Day 23 CHRISTmas: Going Postal

2011-12-25T16:56:00.001-07:00

Today we delivered two loaves of Cranberry Orange Bread to our local Post office. Kamy walked in and waited her turn to go to the counter. Once there, she explained that we were doing daily service for the month of December, and that they were our service for the day. "Enjoy the bread", Kamy said with a wave goodbye. I think the worker was a bit surprised that we didn't want to mail a package or get a book of stamps. Just a thank you for your hard work. I hope it made their day brighter.

We also made sure to give our local mail delivery person a goodie as well. She happened to bring up a package, to our door, and so I gave her a bag of chocolate (most women like chocolate, right?) and I thanked her for her work and wished her a Merry Christmas. She was surprised, but left with a big smile on her face.

Day 22 CHRISTmas: Laundry

2011-12-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

I planned this one with a friend. I told her to have lots of laundry ready for us to fold. The girls and I got there and saw only one basket of clothes. So we folded that, and then looked around for more service to be done because the laundry was done too quickly. We also vacuumed and swept before we left. When we got home, we had about six baskets of our own laundry to fold...which wasn't nearly as much fun as doing another person's laundry.

2011 Christmas Card

2011-12-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

Top Three Happenings of 2011 for Nunnelly Family

Heath: Bike commuting to work. Celebrated one year anniversary as a Federal Employee. Lost 20 pounds...and still going.

Shaina: Lost almost 30 pounds…and still going. No hospital stays for anyone. Summer travels visiting friends and family.

Kamy (11): Getting her ears pierced. Moving up to Middle School. Playing with friends and cousins this summer.

Kennedy(6): Losing two teeth. Starting Kindergarten and learning to read. Going by her real name instead of Georgie.

Keaton (10): Becoming a Webelo in scouts. Attending two cubscout day camps this year. Wrestling with Daddy.

Kolby (8): Getting rollerblades for his birthday. Being baptized. Going to cubscouts.

Kimble(2): No surgeries this year! Learning to walk, run, and do flips. Saying ‘hi’ to everyone he sees.

We didn't mail out our Christmas cards this year. Instead, we are sharing them through email, facebook, and the blog. Hope you have a lovely CHRISTmas and a happy New Year!

Hot Cocoa Cookies

2011-12-21T17:13:00.001-07:00

This year a friend gave us a year-long subscription to the Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine. She knows how much we like to cook! We've enjoyed making recipes from the cookbook all year long, but there was one cookie that required immediate action. The Hot Cocoa Cookie. I brought it to a cookie exchange a few weeks ago, and it was G.O.O.D.

Hot Cocoa Cookies

1 stick (4 oz) of butter
20 oz chopped semi-sweet baking chocolate bar (divided)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
25-30 marshmallows

Directions:
In a pot, over medium heat, melt 1 stick of butter and 12 oz of chocolate, chopped. Continuously stir until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

In your mixer (or use beaters if you don't have a mixer), beat together the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla for about 2 minutes, or until smooth. Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture until it's well incorporated. Add the flour mixture in two batches, mixing on low until well combined. Place bowl of dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or until you are ready to use it (within 48 hours). (I live in a high altitude, and so I added an additional 1/2 cup to 3/4 of a cup of flour. The mixture should resemble a thick brownie batter. Once dough is chilled, it is a lot more firm, so don't get distressed if it seems too thin.)

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out about a tablespoon of dough and roll it between your palms until it is the shape of a ball. Arrange about 12-16 balls of dough on the cookie sheet and then flatten a bit with your fingers.

Bake for 10 minutes. Tops should be just starting to crack.

While your cookies are cooking, slice your marshmallows in half and chop your chocolate into 1 inch chunks.

Take one marshmallow half and one chunk of chocolate, and press it into the cookie, with the chocolate chunk going inside the cookie, and the marshmallow resting on top.

At this point, I flattened the marshmallow against the cookie, then sprinkled some slivers of chocolate on top of each marshmallow.

Put the cookies back in the oven for an additional 2-3 minutes. This will cause the chocolate inside the cookie to get nicely melted.

Remove cookies from oven, and let them rest on the pan for about five minutes. Then, carefully remove cookies from pan using a spatula, and place on a cooling rack. Cookies are best eaten when warm. The marshmallow is ooey gooey and the chocolate is rich and soft. It really does taste like hot cocoa in your mouth.

It could get a bit precarious to eat, with all that melt-in-your-mouth-and-all-across-your-fingers chocolate coming at you every which way, but that is what is so good about it.

Once the cookies are cooled, the chocolate center becomes a bit more solid, and a bit more user-friendly to eat. Hope you enjoy. Give your kids the leftover marshmallows to eat. They'll love ya forever.

Day 21 CHRISTmas: Playgroup

2011-12-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

It seems like we've been doing a lot of cleaning-type service lately, so we broke the mold by having a playdate for the kids. We invited anyone who wanted to, to drop off their kids for 2-3 hours while the parents got some last minute errands/Christmas shopping/grocery shopping/napping done. We had seven kids dropped off, and all of them had a blast playing together.
After a few hours of playtime (in which the house was so quiet with them playing together, that I actually crocheted a hat in the blissful silence) we all made lunch together. I put Keaton in charge of peeling and slicing the apples (he loves to use the apple-peeler-corer-slicer) and Kolby helped me with the grilled cheese sandwiches. The other kids helped distribute water and goldfish (the cracker variety, not the fish) and all the kids ate their lunch together.

(12 kids ate 16 grilled cheese sandwiches, 10 apples, and half a bag of goldfish crackers.)

I really enjoyed the service today. It helped my kids have something fun to do, and it benefited the parents who needed to get their things done as well. Win Win.

Day 20: CHRISTmas: Sanitizing Work

2011-12-21T16:05:00.000-07:00

Today we went to The Husband's work to clean and sanitize his desk, mouse, computer, phone, and surrounding area. Then we cleaned each of his coworker's areas. We brought Lysol wipes and used them like they were going out of style. The kids had a great time visiting dad's work, and all of the coworkers love seeing the gaggle of kids we have.

Mr. Kimble was too tired to clean, and instead, took a nap on the window ledge.

When we left, we cleaned all the door handles we could find, as well as all the buttons on the elevators. We walked down the stairs, and with each kid armed with a new Lysol wipe, we cleaned the handrails. It's hard to tell, but you can see the dirty towels that resulted in a clean railing.

It was fun for the kids. Most especially, because they got a reeses treat off of dad's workdesk, when they were done cleaning.

Day 19 CHRISTmas: Cleaning!

2011-12-20T08:46:00.001-07:00

Today brought us over to a friend's house who is about to have a baby any day now. (Her and my sister are due the same time, but since I couldn't drive 13 hours to my sister's house to clean her house as well, we offered our services locally.)

The kids were happy to help clean someone else's house, and got their chores done at home quickly so we could get over to our friend's house. Here they are, with their cleaning scarfs on, ready to head out the door. (We used our own cleaning props, to make the photo more fun! Why? Because service is FUN!)

Once we got there, the kids dove right into to picking up the floors, putting away laundry, sweeping, vacuuming, mopping, and wiping things down. I was so impressed by how focused all the kids were at helping. It was really great to see. (I cleaned the kitchen...because cleaning the kitchen is my favorite chore.)

Keaton even loved mopping so much, that after dinner, he asked to mop our own kitchen. That's my boy!

Day 18 CHRISTmas: Hosting Dinner

2011-12-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had another family over for dinner. We made Lasagna Soup, with salad and garlic bread. We were happy for the company, and the kids enjoyed playing with each other. Sometimes after our late church, it is a struggle to get dinner made quickly, especially because everyone is so hungry from hours and hours of church. We had things planned, so we got dinner ready pretty fast. Our friends told us later, that despite trying to get their own dinner going in the crock pot before church, they didn't get anything prepared. So it was great that we invited them to dinner. I'm always happy to feed people!

It was fitting to do service for this family, because EmilieAn is the one who first told me about the month-long CHRISTmas service that they do as a family. I was happy to hop on board, and it's been so rewarding for our family. We told them that they were our CHRISTmas service for the day, and they all thought it was cool to be the recipients of the type of service that they've been focusing on as well.

Also, I can't resist posting this picture of Mr. Kimble in his church attire. So cute!

Day 17 CHRISTmas: Giving Tree

2011-12-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we grabbed some tags off a Giving Tree at our church, which contained the ages of two people for which we would provide a Christmas present for. We turned in these presents today, so they could be added to the other presents and sorted for each needy family. We loved being able to contribute to a "secret santa" for this specific family. Afterall, the year Kimble was born, and having just gotten home from a difficult hospital stay, someone had done the same thing for us. It was so meaningful to us, to know that other people were thinking about us and helping to make our holiday a special one.

One other thing we did for service today, was to contribute two groups of items that were being auctioned off at our church Christmas Dinner Party. It was in effort to raise money for the cubscouts, and all of their activities for the next year (which will include the day camps that my boys love going to). I put together two sets of baby baskets, containing flannel blankets, krinkle toys, chenille burp cloths, and corduroy bibs. They both sold for a good amount, and so we helped provide for future scouting activities.

More Meatballs

2011-12-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

Here is another recipe I found on Pinterest, and then tweaked to my liking. Meatballs and mozzarella cheese wrapped in biscuits, and dipped in marinara sauce. Sounded great, but I wanted to go further. I made my own meatballs, wrapped them in garlic bread, and topped it with a breadcrumb and Parmesan cheese topping...and then dipped it in marinara. Sounded good to me!

Meatball Stuffed Garlic Bread

20 Rhodes Rolls, thawed (or you could make your own bread dough)

20 meatballs (store-bought or handmade, but make sure to pre-cook them if they are handmade)

8 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into diced cubes

1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1/4 cup melted butter

Garlic salt

Directions:

Thaw your rolls on a greased baking sheet until they are pliable (or make your own dough and form into balls). In a separate bowl, combine your Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, and breadcrumbs together. Pre-cook your meatballs, if applicable.

Using your fingers, flatten out a roll. Place a meatball in the center of the dough, with a cube of mozzarella on either side of the meatball. Form dough around the meatball, enclosing it.

(When I first made this, I cut the meatballs in half, and only placed half inside each dough ball. However, once it was cooked, I had much more bread and not enough meat, so I have since placed a whole meatball in the dough ball, and it works out great. You can use store bought meatballs if you want, and simply defrost them if they are the pre-cooked kind, or you can use a homemade meatball, just make sure you cook them first before you begin this assembly. I have two meatball recipes that are fantastic. Swedish Meatballs or Italian Meatballs.)

After your dough roll is enclosed around the meatball and cheese, dip the top into your melted butter first, and then your breadcrumb mixture. The butter helps adhere the breadcrumb mixture.

Place seam-side down on a greased baking sheet. Continue until all the rolls are finished. Then, sprinkle the tops with garlic salt.

Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes. The tops should be a nice golden brown, and the undersides will be nicely browned as well.

Break open your roll and see the yumminess inside! Dip in marinara sauce and enjoy! This makes a great dinner, or a perfect party treat!

This recipe may remind you of my Chicken Pillows. If you haven't tried those yet, I completely recommend it!

Chicken and Corn Chowder (crock pot!)

2011-12-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm on Pinterest. I love it. I only discovered it a few months ago, but it has inspired me with new recipes, new crochet patterns, new crafts, and new ideas for many parts of my life. This recipe was one that I put on my "crock pot" board. It was quite simple to put together, and tasted great. We ate it with chips, because it was quite thick. Almost like a dip. I'm sure I could have thinned it out with some chicken stock (as you can add if you like) but we liked it being scoopable. For all of these busy holiday days, this was a great meal to put together with very minimal effort.

Creamy Chicken, Black Bean, and Corn Chowder

3 chicken breasts (frozen is fine)

1 can diced rotel tomatoes

1 can black beans

1 cup frozen corn (or you can use 1 can of canned corn)

1 packet of dry ranch dressing (about 3 Tbsp)

1 Tbsp cumin

1 Tbsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt and pepper

3 Tbsp dried onion flakes

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup water

Put all ingredients in crock pot (stirring the cream cheese into the rest of the mixture) and cook on low 6-8 hours. Once cooked, shred the chicken and then return it to the pot. Serve.

Meatballs for a Crowd

2011-12-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

For Halloween, I tried to make my kids some Rats Baked In Blood & Intestines, what was essentially a different name for Spaghetti and Meatballs. I tried to form the meatballs to look like rats, but I guess I'm not artistic enough with food, and they just looked like really big meatballs.

It was a bit disappointing to look at the sad-almost-but-not-quite-a-rat meatballs, but when we tasted them, we were in heaven. The meatballs were so moist and delicious, having been baked in the sauce, and coming from a family who has spaghetti on a weekly basis, everyone was thrilled at the new recipe.

The spaghetti sauce is amazing. The Husband was disbelieving at first (who considers himself a sauce-making master), but when he tried it...he couldn't get enough. It's a great sauce, and considering the fact that I even liked it (I don't like spaghetti sauce), that should sway you.

Ok, so don't get turned off when I say that the recipe calls for 4 pounds of meat. Yes, I know that is a lot for an average family, but hear me out. It makes a lot of meatballs, but that just means that you cook once, eat twice (or three times or four). Making a freezer meal isn't really that complicated. You are already doing the work of mixing the meatballs. Simply follow my directions on how to freeze the rest of what you don't need that night, and you'll thank me when you go to use them at a later date. Already done! Yay. I'll post instructions for freezing them at the end of the directions.

Another option for these meatballs, is to serve them at your next party or get together. They'll go fast, because once you get a bite of one, you'll keep coming back for more. So much better than any store-bought processed meatball. Seriously. Let's get cookin'.

Meatballs and Spaghetti Sauce

Meatballs:
2 pounds ground pork
1 pound ground hamburger
1 pound Italian sausage
1 1/2 cups diced onion
3 eggs
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup regular Italian-style breadcrumbs
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp dried parsley

Mix everything together until it is thoroughly combined (I use my kitchen aid mixer). Scoop out a meatball-sized amount, roll between your palms until it is a ball, and place it on a well-greased casserole pan (or any oven-safe pan that has high enough edges to keep the spaghetti sauce from dripping over). Continue until all the meatballs are rolled out. For me, this made approximately 52 meatballs.

(If you are freezing the meatballs, simply line them on a greased cookie sheet and place in the freezer until they are completely frozen (a few hours), then remove from pan and store in a double-lined Ziploc Freezer Bag until ready to use. You may bake them directly from the freezer, after placing on a well-greased baking pan, using the temperature stated, but allow for extra cooking time because they are frozen. You can also freeze the spaghetti sauce separately in a Ziploc bag. If you want the meatballs baked with the sauce, simply thaw the sauce and pour over and around the meatballs before baking.)

Make the spaghetti sauce (see recipe below) and pour over and around the meatballs.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 25-35 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve with spaghetti noodles.

Spaghetti Sauce:
2 (28 oz ea) cans of Crushed Tomatoes
1 jar of your favorite Spaghetti Sauce
4 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp each of salt and pepper
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped

Mix together until well incorporated. Taste sauce and adjust for seasonings if it needs more for your liking. You can pour desired amount over meatballs, and bake until the meatballs are done. This makes the meatballs so nice and juicy. Or, you can heat through in a saucepan, and serve when hot. This sauce freezes well, in a double-lined Ziploc Freezer bag for up to six months.

Day 16 CHRISTmas: Teacher Appreciation

2011-12-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day of school before the kids have their Christmas break (for almost three weeks!). We wanted to show appreciation to the kids' teachers for all their hard work. Besides the normal Teacher's gifts that are great to give, I wanted the kids to add something a bit more personal, so I had them each write a letter to their teacher. The letters included things that the kids liked about their classes, and what their teachers did to make everyday so special. They also included things they liked about their teachers.

They enjoyed writing these letters, and I hope their teachers enjoy reading them. Today, the kids all went to school, with letters in hand and a smile on their faces. (Kamy has a cold sore and a canker sore, and so her smile was withheld.

Day 15 CHRISTmas: Plate of Cookies

2011-12-16T07:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight Heath went to visit all the families he Home Teaches (through church). He needed six plates of goodies to bring. So I made three different types of cookies for him. I'm actually surprised I had the ingredients for three different batches. Normally we don't have stuff for goodies unless I intentionally buy ingredients for a specific thing. Tonight I made some lemon crinkle cookies, pomegranate butterscotch chocolate cookies (the recipe called for chocolate chips, but as soon as I dumped them in, I realized they were butterscotch chips...however, it was a great combination and tasted great), and fresh cranberry oat cookies. The Husband delivered them all to the families, and there were even enough left over that the kids got to partake as well.

Day 14 CHRISTmas: Squirrels and Vacuuming

2011-12-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

What do squirrels and vacuuming have in common? They were both service opportunities for us today.

For the past eight months, we've been trying to 'relocate' the squirrels that have found residence in our attic. There must have been a family of them, because each time we would catch a squirrel, another one would be seen and heard in our attic. We borrowed a live trap from a friend. We also purchased a high-frequency thing that's supposed to annoy vermin so that they stay away. Didn't work.

So we have been battling this family of squirrels for a while now. No matter what we did to keep them out of our attic, they still made their home there. Finally, the traps started working. We baited them with cinnamon toast crunch and a bit of maple syrup. They couldn't resist. One by one, we caught the squirrels. The Husband and the boys would drive them out into the wild, and release them. Yesterday, we caught our final squirrel. The boys gave him service by helping him find a new home.

The other service was done by The Husband. In preparation for a baby shower that I was hosting, he vacuumed the entire house. This takes over an hour to do (I know because I've done it many times) and although we vacuum parts of the house everyday, it isn't usually ALL done everyday. He did the stairs and the corners and the crevices and the neglected areas that the kids don't do. The floor felt deliciously fluffy and clean. Thanks babe!

Oh, and do you see that vacuum? It's a SHARK. We bought it on Black Friday (livin' large, I tell ya) because our current vacuum, the DYSON, sucks. I mean, it sucks so bad that it doesn't suck. We bought it almost four years ago, and it has never been fantastic. It was a huge disappointment, because I know many people who love their Dyson. Don't know how we got a crappy one, but we hate it. Hate it hate it HATE it. It never picked up anything. Purely mediocre. So, in anticipation of Christmas, I asked for a vacuum. I'm nothing if not practical. Last night, I started vacuuming with our stupid Dyson, and it quit working. I mean, it turned itself off mid stroke, and never regained life.

That's it. Dead Dyson. We didn't even mourn. We simply chucked it in the garage and got out the new-intended-for-Christmas-but-now-is-as-good-a-time-as-ever vacuum. That's when The Husband took over and he loved it so much, he just kept vacuuming and vacuuming. It was awesome.

Irish Beef Handpies

2011-12-14T09:52:00.004-07:00

Months ago, I came across this recipe and thought it looked good. I really do enjoy making new recipes, and seeing if they are a fit in our family. Many times, I'll plan our menu for the next two weeks, only to have each day filled with new recipes to try. Many of them don't make the cut, but we always enjoy the challenge. The kids really like "new recipe night" and like to contribute their feelings on the meal. If we get a thumbs up from the kids, we know it's a keeper.

This next recipe originally came from Martha Stewart. I came across it while looking at another of her recipes. Linked on the bottom was a suggested "if you like this, you might like..." type of thing. So I looked at it and it seemed like it would taste good.

In fact, it was very well seasoned and I didn't even mind that it had hamburger in it (I normally use ground turkey). The kids liked that it was a little handpie that they could hold and eat, and The Husband liked the fact that I could make up a batch, freeze them, and he could take one to work whenever he wanted to. All good things. Let's make some together!

Irish Beef Handpies

3-4 Tbsp oil

1/2 head of cabbage

1/2 pound of red potatoes, scrubbed and diced

1 onion, diced

1 pound ground sirloin

1 cup shredded carrots

3 Tbsp tomato paste

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp salt and pepper

1 cup water

3 9-inch pie crusts (store bought or hand made)

1 egg (for an egg wash)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium sauce pan, add oil. Once heated, add your diced cabbage and diced red potatoes. On medium-high heat, spread out potatoes and cabbage in a thin layer. Cover your pan with a lid and let them cook until they get nice and browned. (You will need to stir/flip them every few minutes, and you will notice them getting more browned with every flip. Keeping the lid on between stirrings will help steam-cook the potatoes as they are getting browned.)

Once your potatoes and cabbage are nicely browned, remove them from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, add in your diced onions, shredded carrots, and ground meat. Cook together until meat is no longer pink and veggies are soft and translucent.

Add in your tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, seasonings, garlic, and water. Add in your potato/cabbage mixture. Stir to combine. Cover with lid and simmer for about 15 minutes. At this time, your potatoes will be nice and soft and everything will smell great. Take a potato masher (or a fork) and lightly mash your mixture. This will make sure there are no big lumps of potato mixed in, and as you can see in the picture with the big chunk of potato, I skipped this step. Oh well.) Take pan off heat and let cool about 20 minutes.

Roll out your pie crusts. I used store-bought crusts, and after rolling them out, I took a knife and cut it like I would draw a tic-tac-toe board. Since the crust was in the shape of a circle, the four corners were like triangles, and the middle squares were...squares. It didn't bother me to have some pockets be squares,and others become triangles. If this bothers you, feel free to cut squares and re-roll the pie crust to get additional squares. You could also use a circle cutter (or a glass cup) to cut out circles. Regardless, once you have your shapes cut out, you can begin filling your handpies.

Depending on the size of your pie crust shapes, scoop some filling onto the center of half of your shapes. You should have enough to give yourself a good bite of filling, but not too much that you can't close the crust around the edges, and leave about 1/2 inch space around the borders. I used about 1/3 of a cup of filling for my pockets. Make an egg wash (one beaten egg with 1 Tbsp water, beat together) and using a pastry brush, brush the edges of the crust.

Take another pie crust shape (one that matches the shape you have) and place it over the filling. Match each edge and press softly (the egg wash will help it adhere). With a fork, press alongside each edge to give it a nice decoration. Brush the entire top with more egg wash, and place on a greased baking sheet. Using a knife, cut a few slice marks along the top of the handpie to help with ventilation during cooking. Repeat all steps with remaining filling and pie crusts.

Once finished, place cookie sheet in oven and bake for about 12-15 minutes, until edges are golden brown. Since the filling is already cooked, you are really just cooking the crust. Once they are out of the oven, let cool for a few minutes before eating.

I like to slice them in half before serving. The kids like them this way, and it helps the insides to cool a bit before eating.

If you want to freeze these, prepare pockets up until the point you would bake them. Line them on a well-greased cookie sheet and place in freezer for a few hours. Once they are frozen, remove them from the pan and wrap them individually in aluminum foil, then store in a ziploc bag in the freezer.

To bake, simply remove them from the foil and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, until they are cooked through and the crust is nicely browned.

While making this, I thought it would work just as well in 'chicken-pot-pie' format, meaning you could place a bottom layer of pie crust in a pie pan, add all your filling, and then top it with another pie crust. Crimp the edges of the crust, make some slits for ventilation, and then brush it with egg wash before baking. (375 for about 25-30 minutes). Slice and serve. Or you could eliminate the bottom crust, and just top it with one crust. That way, you won't have to worry about extra filling not getting used because you run out of pie crust, or if you are just looking to simplify your life, this would be an easier version.

Whichever way you choose, I encourage you to try this recipe. I think you'll like it. FYI: We doubled the recipe for our family, and after using up all the pie crust for the little hand pies, we still had filling left over, which we just ate as it was, for leftover lunches. Yum.

Day 13 CHRISTmas: Holding Doors

2011-12-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

Today I had a lot of packages to mail at the post office. I brought Kolby with me so that he could do our service for the day. He stood at the door and opened it for customers coming or going. It was especially helpful for all the people who were holding lots of packages. It worked out great only having Kolby with me, because nobody needs five kids holding one door open. He opened the door for about 25 minutes, and it was very busy!

While I was in the long and slow line at the post office, I witnessed another act of service. One customer didn't have enough cash to mail her package. She was going to have to leave and come back another time. Instead, I saw another customer make up the difference, for the amount, so that the package could be mailed. Good service in action. I loved being witness to that.

Day 12 CHRISTmas: Russian Tea

2011-12-13T17:05:00.002-07:00

On this day, we made some yummy Russian Tea and brought it hot and fresh to our neighbor's house. We told them what it was, and that it was made with Tang, and the guy said "Didn't know Tang was still around!"

Growing up, we had Tang all the time. It was pretty much the go-to drink for all our family reunions. We kept it in those big cooler jugs that football players dump on their coach at the end of a game. Sometimes, we wouldn't finish all the Tang during the campouts at the rec center. Weeks later, as my siblings and cousins were out exploring, we'd find the tang still in the container, and we'd help ourselves to cups and cups of it. There is question about whether Tang can ferment and become alcoholic. Then again, maybe we were just wild and crazy kids acting like we were drunk. Who knows.

Anyway, we make Russian tea by mixing up a few quarts of Tang. We add some lemon juice, some cloves, ginger, maple syrup (our secret ingredient) and a dash of cayenne pepper. Heath through and serve.

We think Russian Tea is super. You should give it a try.

6 Years Old

2011-12-12T18:48:00.000-07:00

We interrupt the CHRISTmas countdown to bring you a birthday post. Little ~~Georgie~~ Kennedy had her birthday last week. She's been counting down her birthday for about 10 months. Almost daily, she'd tell me what she wanted for her birthday present; what she wanted for her birthday treat; what her favorite meal was so we could make it for dinner; and what she wanted to do for the party she was going to have.

She has never had a birthday party, so I wanted to do one for her. However, with the holidays, and my crazy busy schedule, we didn't have a lot of time to really plan it. So with time getting close, we asked a few of her little friends to join us for a night out of pizza and a movie.

Georgie had five girlfriends who got to attend our little evening out. I took them to a Spy Kids movie at the dollar theater, where they all watched in rapture while eating popcorn and drinking juice.

Then we went out for pizza, where all the girlies filled up on pizza and breadsticks and dessert pizza and brownies and pasta and more pizza and soda. Yum. After that, Georgie opened her presents up, and we took pictures with each of the girls.

This all happened the night before her birthday because we had plans the next day to go to our Mended Little Hearts Support Meeting. We didn't want to miss it because....Santa and Mrs. Claus showed up to read a story and spend some time with all the kids that attended. We even managed to squeeze in our traditional family birthday picture, with Santa and Mrs. Claus included!

We rushed through her present-opening a bit, because of our tight schedule, (which is why there are no pictures), but she was thrilled with her gifts. She got some princess play rings (jewelry rings), some new church shoes, an art toy for her to spend hours and hours coloring and drawing princesses, and she also got a play castle tent that she set up in her room.

Little Kennedy (whom I still call Georgie most of the time) is very sweet and loving. She is such a girly girl. She loves helping out around the house and doing her chores. She loves playing with Kimble and helping him get snacks out of the pantry. She likes to play outside and prefers to ride the scooter, verses her bike, because she doesn't like the training wheels (even though she can't ride it without them). She is loving school, and often calls me her teacher's name. She is really a happy girl. We sure like having her in our family.

Day11 CHRISTmas: Grandparents

2011-12-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

For our service on day 11, each of the kids wrote a letter to their grandparents. We will include these letters with the gift we are sending them for Christmas. We don't get to see them very often, and it's important to me that the kids know and love their grandparents, and that their grandparents know that they are loved and are part of our lives. Besides, it's always fun to get a letter in the mail.

Day 10 CHRISTmas: Positive Remarks

2011-12-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

On this day, we took some time to share what we love about each other. We went through every single person in the family and made positive comments about everyone. It was really great to see the kids' smiles, with their faces beaming, as we told them the things we love about them.

Sometimes for me, it's hard to make sure all the positives outweigh the negatives. I get caught up in making sure the house is clean, that all the kids have done their chores, that everyone looks nice and well kept. I often forget to make sure to throw in positive comments throughout the day. It was a good lesson for me, to see the change in my kids' behaviors for the rest of the day. This is something that definitely made a difference. (Have you ever tried to squeeze 7 people into a self-portrait?)

I wrote down some of the comments, as the family was saying them. It was great to hear all the wonderful things we thought about each other.

Said about...
The Husband: I love that you teach me cool karate moves (then said child demonstrates a sweet kick in the air). You tickle me and wrestle with me and it's so fun. You like us and play with us. You take us on bike rides. I love that you play games with me. I like the daddy/daughter dates we go on. You teach me good things. You show your love for me in everything you do.

Momma: I love that you always cook us good food. You take me to farmer's markets and I like helping you sell your things. You love me. You do my hair pretty. You buy me stuff and make our birthdays so fun. You love me and our marriage and family. You make yourself so pretty. You are responsible with our finances. You are creative and show me how to serve others with a happy attitude. You help me with my homework. You make sure we have nice clothes to wear. You are a good mom.

Kamy: You are so helpful and sweet and kind. You are dependable and I can count on you to choose the right. You love your siblings and always try to help them and share with them. You trade beds with me when I ask. You are nice to my friends. You are responsible. You love playing with Kimble. You are so pretty.

Keaton: You tell funny jokes that make me laugh. You are hilarious. You are sensitive to others' feelings and needs. You like to play with everyone. You tell the truth. You are always so complimentary about the food we eat. You are a happy boy. You like to play-fight with me. I like to give you hugs.

Kolby: Your smile makes me smile. You are really good at playing and pretending with me. You are a happy person and a good boy who tries hard. You love your brothers and sisters. You are fun to tickle with. I like it when you play with me. You are fun to laugh with. You are kind and you enjoy play-fighting with me.

Kennedy: You are my snuggle bug. You love to give kisses and hugs. You like to be my helper. You are bright and sunny. You like to serve. You play so great with Kimble. You smile like a princess. You help me do my chores. I love that you are so happy and kind and sweet.

Kimble: You give the best tight hugs and squeezes. You climb and play and wrestle with me and I love it. You are a healthy and strong boy who makes us happy. You are sensitive to all of our feelings and our owies. You like to tackle me when we wrestle. We love having you in our family.

Day 9 CHRISTmas: Toilets

2011-12-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

Last week, The Husband decided what our service would be for Friday. We arranged it with the right people, and looked forward to it (in a weird way). We planned on cleaning toilets; but not just any toilets. Specifically, the bathrooms in our church building.

Every week, someone in our congregation signs up to help clean the church building. Although there is a building coordinator who is over this, it is a way for all of us to do service. After all, serving each other is something we do best. This cleaning is normally done on Saturday mornings. In order for our service to be two-fold, we did the cleaning Friday afternoon. That way, we not only taught our kids about how to do some great service for the people who attend church in our building, we also did some service for whoever signed up to clean the building the following morning. I hope we put a smile to their faces, when they realized that the bathrooms (which were pretty stinky) were already done for them!

Day 8 CHRISTmas: Donations

2011-12-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we took a big pile of clothes, coats, books, toys, shoes and electronics to our local thrift store. The kids and I have been gathering up these items for a few weeks, by going through all of their closets, dressers, and toy bins. The same with my clothes too. It always feels great to declutter, and get rid of clothes that still have some good wear to them, but don't fit us anymore. We shop a lot at thrift stores, so it's nice to support that for other shoppers as well. Here's a picture of some of the things that we took. Kimble helped.

Day 7 CHRISTmas: Garbage

2011-12-08T07:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was garbage day for most of my neighborhood. Ours is today, because we have a different service. At any rate, there were lots of empty garbage bins decorating the street. I sent my kids around the block (and some of their little friends went with them) and they politely asked people if they could do service for them by returning their garbage bins to their side yards.

Some weren't home, so their garbage bins were left as they were (we didn't want to go through people's gates if they didn't give permission) but everyone that was home gave permission for the kids to do this service.

However, even with the fact that they said "service", most people tried to pay the kids. They earned upwards of three dollars (which I made them return to the people and stress that it was done in service).

Day 6 CHRISTmas: Santa Letters

2011-12-07T07:52:00.001-07:00

You may be wondering what writing to Santa has to do with the spirit of CHRISTmas, but I assure you, there is service to be found!

Last month, and our Mended Little Hearts parent support meeting, we discovered a little something about the Make A Wish Foundation. Located at every Macy's store is a special red mailbox. If you bring your stamped envelope, addressed to Santa Claus at The North Pole, and drop it in, Macy's will donate $1 dollar to the Make A Wish Foundation.

Even better, this Friday (Dec 9) is a double donation day. Macy's will double the donation, at $2 dollars per letter. (If you follow the link, they even have a Santa Letter form you can fill out and then print off.)

Help make a child's dream come true. Have your kids write a letter to Santa and drop it in your Macy's mailbox. Such a simple act of service could help change the life of a special little boy or girl.

Here are my kids' letters. They are all ready to go in the envelopes, ready to be mailed. (I couldn't find Kolby's this morning, but will add it to this post once it's discovered.) We explained to the kids, as they were writing the letters, that they were contributing 10 dollars to someone's wish. That's pretty cool. I know many of you have a handful of kids yourself. Think about the difference we can make, if we all work together. Again, sometimes it's the simple things that make the most impact.

Day 5 CHRISTmas: Dinner!

2011-12-06T07:33:00.001-07:00

Today we brought dinner to a family that is going through some health issues. We made chicken enchiladas, refried beans, and Spanish rice. We made some for ourselves as well, and it was soooo good. If you haven't tried these recipes before, I encourage you to put it on your menu soon. They are both on my favorites list. (Keaton and Kolby were helping me deliver it, and Kimble was playing peek-a-boo.)

Growing up, I'd often come home from school to find my mom hard at work in the kitchen, preparing a meal for someone else. It would always smell so good and we all knew that a lot of thought and effort went in to making it. Sometimes there wouldn't be enough of the meal for us to have some too, after we brought it to the family in need. I'll admit that after smelling and seeing all the delicious food, it was a bummer that we didn't get to eat it. Again, most of the time we ate the same thing, but when you are feeding another family, sometimes there just wasn't enough to go around, despite all the effort to make enough.

I try to teach my kids the same thing. When we are serving others, by bringing dinner, it's important to go the extra mile. I try to make the best meal possible. I try to go above and beyond, because when it comes to service, you always get more out of it than the ones you are serving. I know that others do the same thing, because we have been on the receiving end of meals and service quite a few times, especially when Kimble was little and going through surgeries. What goes around comes around. I'm so glad my mom taught me through example, how to serve others, and I'm always happy to bring dinner to a family in need.

Day 4 CHRISTmas: The Spirit of Giving

2011-12-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, the kids had fun decorating the tree. While going through the ornaments, I came across one that had a message attached to it. It must have been given to me at a church meeting, years ago. I can't remember the details, but the message is inspiring, and very timely since we are doing 31 days of CHRISTmas. I thought I would share it with you. It's a quote from our Prophet, President Monson, and is taken from the December 2008 Ensign. (To know more about my church, go to LDS.org for more information.)

"Giving, not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas spirit...The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world's busy life and become more interested in people than in things. To catch the real meaning of the "spirit of Christmas", we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the "Spirit of Christ"."

On Sunday, for our service, we looked for ways to invite Christ into our family. We spoke softly. We were reverent at church. In fact, the kids were so reverent at church that I didn't ask them once to be quiet. There were no fidgeting. No talking. No coloring or playing. They all sat still and listened to the speakers and testimonies for the entire hour. Then they jumped up and went to their primary classes without playing around. I was so impressed by them.

We came home from church and during dinner, I read the kids this quote, and then we discussed what it meant. Afterwards, we snuggled together in my room and enjoyed watching the First Presidency Message on tv. It was a great day, and I'm so glad we made the effort to invite Christ into our activities throughout the day.

Day 3 CHRISTmas: Vacuuming

2011-12-03T18:13:00.001-07:00

We thought it would be fun to go to someone's house and offer our cleaning services. Because I'm the type of person who wouldn't like someone to just show up, I decided to call a friend the night before, and ask if the girls and I could come over the next day to sweep and vacuum their house. She was more than willing to let us come, and since their family was leaving for the weekend, they dropped off their housekey and said "Go for it".

So today, when the boys and The Husband were out finding us a Christmas tree, the girls (and Kimble) went with me to clean house. It's actually more fun to clean someone else's house, than your own, as the girls discovered. With the family being gone, we didn't worry about how long it took us, and we didn't have to work around people. We just picked up a bit, emptied the dishwasher, washed the dishes that were in the sink, swept and vacuumed the entire house, and we enjoyed every minute of it. I think this is a service we might have to perform twice this month.

Day 2 CHRISTmas: Serving Each Other

2011-12-03T18:12:00.002-07:00

After struggling a bit with our Day 1 of CHRISTmas, we figured we'd do some "in-house" service. I told the kids to each find something to do for another person, and that we'd report at dinner time. However, it ended up that by dinnertime, most of us hadn't done a specific service yet. While discussing it over dinner, we realized that we had served more than we thought.

Kamy did Kennedy's chores for her, which included wiping down and cleaning all three bathrooms.

Keaton and Kolby helped gather up a bunch of garbage that we had in the garage, and took it to our dumpster.

Kennedy helped her daddy clean the kitchen.

The Husband made dinner for everyone.
I cleaned Mr. Kimble's room and put away his clothes.

Kimble smiled for the camera.

So after discussing what we did, and feeling good about our service, we decided to do more. The Husband really wanted to make some Russian Tea for us all, so while he was at the store, he picked up some specialty hot chocolate mix, which he delivered to a certain family and told them to stay warm on this chilly night.

While The Husband was out with the boys, Kamy went downstairs with Kimble and set up a car track for him, and helped him vroom his cars around the track. He loved it.

I spent the time after dinner cleaning the kitchen, which was Kolby's chore. He hates doing the kitchen, so I thought I'd bring him some cheer and surprise him when he got home. He loved having an evening off from housework.

Day 1 CHRISTmas: Cleaning Carts

2011-12-02T16:18:00.001-07:00

Yesterday began day one of putting Christ back in Christmas. Every day this month, we will do a service for someone. There are many things that could be done, and we are having fun coming up with different ideas.

To fulfill our first act of service, I waited until all the kids were home from school, and then we set out in the frigid temperatures (we got a cold blast this week) to our local Safeway. Once there, each of the kids stood at the entrance, with Lysol wipes in hand (which we brought from home) and they eagerly waited for patrons to grab a cart. Once they were cart-committed, one of my kids would walk up to them and say "Excuse me, but may I please sanitize your cart handle, so you don't get germs?"

It seemed like a great idea. Many people don't think to clean their cart handles, and this is how germs are spread around so quickly. Since having Kimble, I never just grab a cart anymore without completely wiping it down. Most stores now have sanitizing wipes at the entrances, and it takes just a few seconds to wipe away the germs.

However, people didn't appreciate our service very much. Most people tried to avoid us. Many said "no" when my kids politely asked to wipe down their handle, to which the kids would look at me with concern and say "why do they want to keep the germs?" The few who agreed, seemed suspicious of what we were up to. Finally, one man came up to us and asked us what organization we were with, and what we were selling. We told him we were simply performing an act of service, and trying to keep people healthy during this flu season.

"Hmmph", he said, as he walked away.

Another person, after letting Kennedy wipe her cart, turned to me and said "What's your suggested donation?" No donation. Just service.

It was at that point, that I realized what we must look like to people; that we were trying to get money donated to us, and that perhaps by bringing all my kids, the sympathy factor would go up and people would be much more willing to donate.

So we left. It was unfortunate that we were met with so much speculation. I really thought it was a great service to do. We will really have to think hard about what type of service we perform for the public. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea.

Big Boy Hair Cut

2011-11-28T18:17:00.000-07:00

After the Space Derby, we all came home and The Husband began cutting the boys' hair. It was right before Thanksgiving, and they were all pretty shaggy. I convinced The Husband to cut Mr. Kimble's hair too. I've given him many trims with the scissors, but his hair was just growing wonky. Half was curly and half was straight. The front sides of his hair hadn't grown in yet, and it was starting to look like he had a mullet. So even though I knew by the end of the haircut, he wouldn't look like my little baby boy anymore, we went ahead with the haircut. Above is the before picture.

I held his head and face while his daddy used the clippers. For a (barely) 2 year old, he did quite well, and didn't really mind the sound or the feeling. He only fidgeted because he didn't want me to hold him still. So after a dum dum sucker (left over from Halloween), he sat still a little better. Heath does a great job with cutting all the boys' hair, and cutting Kimble's was no different.

Although Kimble's hair is a bit patchy, due to lack of growth and not from a bad haircut, he looks pretty good with his new hairstyle. He sure looks different though. He's getting grown up. (sigh)

Space Derby

2011-11-28T18:07:00.000-07:00

The boys enjoyed their space derby last week. It had been cancelled and postponed a few times, so they were excited to finally have it happen. After helping to cut their spaceship-rockets at a friend's house, we left it up to them to decorate them. The boys worked together to create U.S.A. ships, with flags and patriotic colors throughout.

Here is Heath, helping to wind up Kolby's rocket. 100 twists of the rubber band, then you lock the propeller in. After fitting it in the little contraption that held the four that were racing against each other, a lever got pulled and off shot the rockets!

It was so exciting to watch, even Kimble got into it.

Here is Kolby, watching with pride as his was about to be raced!

Unfortunately, that is is as far as Kolby's rocket went, the first time around. Perhaps it just malfunctioned a bit, or didn't get wound up enough...but it was sorta funny to see all the other rockets shoot past everyone, and see Kolby's get fizzled out four inches from the start.

Keaton didn't have to wait long for his turn. He was so anxious to see how his rocket would do.

Mr. Kimble stopped watching the rockets, and pigged out on cheese puffs for the rest of the night.

Yay!! Keaton came in first one round! You can see his rocket suspended on the wire behind him.

After another few tries, Kolby's rocket did better, and he even placed second one round!

We all enjoyed a fun night together. I'm glad they get these experiences in cub scouts.

Pumpkin Love

2011-11-28T07:39:00.001-07:00

I have to say, I've never been a huge pumpkin fan. I have always gagged a bit, whenever a pumpkin pie gets too close to my senses. Even opening a can of pumpkin filling grosses me out. But, if I can get beyond that, then anyone with the same feelings about pumpkin pie should here me out. This next recipe is super good.

While at my cousin's house a few months ago for the Balloon Festival, Allen and Monique made all of us a big batch of pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes. I was sure that I would simply feed some to Mr. Kimble and then have something else for myself, but I tried them and liked the flavors. Just like my Pumpkin Roll, I'm finding that even though I hate pumpkin, there are things that you can make with it that completely changes the taste.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes

3 c. pancake mix (whatever brand you have where you just 'add water')

2 cups oats

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flax seed
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/4 cup canned pumpkin

3 1/2 cups water

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix everything together until it is well incorporated. Heat up griddle; grease the pan with a little butter or cooking spray. Using a ladle, or a 1/3 cup measuring cup, begin forming your pancakes. Flip over when underside is golden brown. Repeat with remaining batter.

This batch of pancakes makes about 24 good-size pancakes. We topped off each pancake with a spread of peanut butter, and a drizzle of syrup. The pancakes are very rich tasting, with the addition of the chocolate chips, and they were filling too.

Each of my boys only had one pancake, and then they went off to play in our church's Turkey Bowl, Thanksgiving morning. We put the extra pancakes in a Ziploc bag in the fridge, and had them for the next few mornings. Mr. Kimble, especially, loved them. You can also freeze the extras, and have them when you want at a later time.

Black Friday Special

2011-11-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

If you are considering buying anything from my shop on Etsy (Krinkle Kut), then this is the weekend to do it. Not only will I ship out items as quickly as possible, but through Cyber Monday, each order will receive a free skinny headband (colors may vary from those seen in picture). I just put up lots of new items, so feel free to take a look!

I also have some new rolled flower headbands up for grabs, including these two.

As well as dolls and other baby items. Come take a look!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

From our little Pilgram to yours, hope you have a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Ranch Potatoes (Hashbrowns)

2011-11-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

I'm a country girl. Growing up on a ranch, we often had cookouts with all the extended family. My great grandfather and grandmother would man the cooking stations, as they made country fried steak (we call it cube steak), biscuits, and gravy. All of this was cooked in dutch ovens over the fire pit, and they had it down to a science. Everything always tasted so good, but my favorite thing ever...the one thing I left lots of room for on my plate, was a big serving of ranch potatoes.

The anticipation of these ranch potatoes started days before, when a handful of grandkids would peel bags and bags of potatoes. We were a large group of people, so we needed lots of food. I remember sitting outside, with a potato peeler in one hand and a chunky potato in the other, with a milk bucket in front of me, to deposit the newly peeled potatoes. Some of my siblings or cousins were always there too, for it took quite a number of us to peel 60 pounds of potatoes. Most often, this chore was met with grumblings and complaining, but I remember being happy that I could do it. First off, peeling potatoes for a cookout meant that we got paid! Sometimes I even had a whole five dollars that I would get. Awesome. Second, I knew that peeling potatoes meant I would soon get to pile my plate with all the ranch potatoes I could eat. It was a good thing.

Learning how to make these delectable dishes was passed down to each generation. Even after we moved away from the ranch, we would still have our ranch cookout meals. Every year that we went camping as a family, we would always have this meal as well. I still love cube steak and gravy, and it's one of the rare times I buy steak. I love love love eating our family's biscuts, but unfortunately that is something I haven't yet perfected how to make. However, there is one thing I can do really well. That is, of course, ranch potatoes!

These are well known by the name of Country Fried Potatoes, or Hashbrowns. We call them Ranch Potatoes, and here is how you make them.

First off, you need enough potatoes for your family (make extra, because these are so good and you will want enough to satisfy every one's intense desire for M.O.R.E.!! Peel the potatoes, rinse them, and dice them up into small bite-size pieces.

You will need a deep dish frying pan that has a lid. The bigger it is, the better. You want as many potatoes layering the bottom of the pan as possible, so you get some nice browning color. If you use a soup pot, only a small amount of potatoes will ever get browned. For Ranch Potatoes, you need some nice crispiness throughout ALL the potatoes. The more browned, the better. Thus, you need a big pan, with a lid. Having a lid is necessary. If you cook these potatoes without a lid, the outsides will brown too quickly and the insides of the potato will still be undercooked. Ok, so Pan + Lid. Got it?

Next, you need some vegetable oil. You need enough to coat the bottom of your pan, plus a little. I used about a quarter of a cup of oil, maybe more. When your oil is heated up in your pan, add in your potatoes. Thoroughly stir your potatoes. You should find that there is enough oil still on the bottom of your pan, and your potatoes should be nicely coated with oil as well. If not, add more oil now. Oil is essential to crisping up your potatoes, and having them not stick to the bottom of your pan.

Seasoning: Now is the time to season. I use a healthy amount of seasoning salt, lemon pepper, and black pepper. Potatoes need to be seasoned well, so don't be afraid to shake shake shake. You can always add more seasoning at the end, if you find that you didn't add enough now. After you season, stir again to thoroughly combine. Make sure the potatoes are nicely spread out along the pan, place your lid on the pan, and begin the anticipation.

Your heat should be on medium high. Don't make it too hot or it will burn before it's done. Likewise, if your heat is too low, you'll never get your potatoes browned. My stovetop burner was on 8. Now, watch the clock. About every 4-5 minutes, you need to stir/flip your potatoes.

You will start to see some color, after a few flippings. That's what we want. Now, place the lid back on and don't touch for another 4-5 minutes.

Oh look, more color. Nice beautiful potatoes. Make sure to keep the potatoes spread around the pan, so they can get browned! Put lid back on and wait some more.

Oh, now that's good. You'll notice that the potatoes are starting to feel softer, with each flip. That is the key to using a lid. It steams and fries the potatoes at the same time. Genius. Put the lid on and cook some more.

Ok, now we are getting serious. All of that lovely browning is looking good! At this point, your potatoes should feel nice and tender, when you are flipping them over with the spatula. If your potatoes are cooked through, you can keep the lid off now, but we still need more cooking time in the pan, to get more browned and crispy.

Oh look at those beauties!! One final round, and they should be done. Another couple of minutes, and the underside of these potatoes will be nice and crispy. Then...you are done!

Remove your ranch potatoes into a bowl. If there is a lot of oil left, you can drain the potatoes on a paper towel before transferring to your serving dish. Taste a nibble, and see if you need additional seasoning. Now is the time to add more, if needed, because it will stick to the oil on the potatoes.

Now, eat the perfection. Yum. Ranch Potatoes are a good thing. Just remember that these bad boys can be served any time. Besides breakfast, serve them alongside hamburgers, or some baked chicken, or with a steak. They taste excellent with gravy as well. If you want to go the extra mile, you can cook up some bacon, and use the bacon fat to cook the potatoes in, and then add the crumbled bacon at the end of the cooking process. Delicious.

Ah-Mazing Tacos!

2011-11-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

Almost a year and a half ago, I was sitting in the library at The Children's Hospital, while my sweet baby was having heart surgery. After using the computer to update friends and family, I found myself needing an occupation, so to speak. Sitting around, letting your mind wander, thinking about all the possibilities and outcomes of such a life-threatening surgery...it isn't good. So I looked around for something mindless to do. Something that wouldn't require a supreme amount of focus, but still something to pull my thoughts from the surgery.

I saw some magazines, and picked out a foodie magazine that had a lot of recipes. I flipped through some pages, found some recipes I thought we would like, and made copies of them. The "librarian" let me use the copier, and when she saw that I was copying recipes, she said "Oh, did you find a great cookie recipe? You need to make a batch and bring it in for all of us." I remember staring at her, and thinking "Lady, my baby is having open heart surgery. Making cookies for everyone is the last thing I'm capable of doing right now." But instead, I mumbled something like "nope. no cookies" and went on my way.

The recipe I am posting today came from that magazine, although I have no idea what magazine it was. Because my family loves tacos, and we have them weekly, I thought they would enjoy this twist on an old favorite. Introducing: Grilled pork tacos with summer corn & nectarine salsa. Yum.

Grilled Pork Tacos with Summer Corn & Nectarine Salsa
Pork:

2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp olive oil
4-6 pork chops
1/2 tsp each of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cumin

Lay out your pork on a cutting board, and season both sides with the listed seasonings. Put pork chops in a Ziploc bag. Add in the lime juice and oil, and manipulate the bag a bit so that the juice and oil work it's way around the pork chops. Marinate for at least 10 minutes, or up to three hours. After it has been marinated, grill pork until done. Let stand for 5 minutes and then slice into thin strips.

Corn & Nectarine Salsa:

1 1/2 cups of corn kernels, toasted or grilled
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
zest of 1 lime
2 tsp olive oil
1/5 cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup diced ripe nectarine
1 Tbsp diced jalapeno
2 tsp honey
1/4 cup red onion, diced
salt and pepper, to taste

If you are using fresh corn on the cob, grill the corn after you grill the pork, and get some nice color on the corn, and then cut off the kernels from the stalk. If you do not have fresh corn, you can use frozen kernels. Simply place them on a cookie sheet, and using a drizzle of olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper, mix thoroughly, and then place under the broil. Stir every few minutes until your kernels are browned a bit.

In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients listed above. Season to taste. Depending on how ripe your nectarines are, you might want to add additional honey. I also added additional lime juice. (Tip: if you make this out of season for nectarines, you can substitute peaches.)

Assembly:

I use corn tortillas for my tacos, but they must be softened with some oil as they heat, otherwise they crumble up. To do this, simply use a small saucepan or a griddle. Put some oil in the pan. When it is warmed up, place tortilla on pan. Flip over when tortilla is soft. If you want a bit more flavor, wait until it's golden brown and then flip over to cook/heat up the other side. Once you have enough tortillas done, begin assembling your taco.

I placed the pork strips on the tortilla, followed by some grilled cabbage shreds that I warmed in a pan and sprinkled with lime juice and a dash of olive oil. Then I topped it with the corn & nectarine salsa. Absolutely delicious. The lime flavor really comes through, and the meat is so tender. The salsa adds some crunch and flavor that makes it so unique and different from your normal tacos. I think adding chunks of avocado would make this dish over the top. I hope you try it. (PS: We served this with a side of my amazing Refried Beans.)

L.A. Lasagna

2011-11-21T19:16:00.001-07:00

A few years ago, when The Husband and I had our little vacation in Hawaii, we ate at a little known place called Planet Hollywood. We shared an entree (because we were still on a budget) and after knocking each other's forks away so we could get more of the goodness, we decided we'd better find a way to recreate this dish at home. May I introduce you to L.A. Lasagna.

These are like yummy Italian egg rolls disguised as lasagna. Inside is a mixture of sausage, onions, ricotta, mozzarella, and yummy seasonings. Then it gets rolled up, dipped in a tempura batter, coated in panko breadcrumbs and then fried to a golden brown. By using marinara sauce as a dipper, you get one amazing entree, with plenty to go around. Let's get started.

Meat Filling:

2 Tbsp oil
1 pound Italian sausage
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, diced fine
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup tomato puree
4 oz Parmesan cheese
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 Tbsp fresh basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

Saute onion, bell pepper, and garlic in olive oil for about 4-5 minutes. Add in meat and cook until meat is browned. Break up meat so it is nice and fine. Drain off any grease. Return meat to pan and add tomato puree, tomato sauce, seasonings and herbs. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add Parmesan cheese and simmer an additional 10 minutes. Refrigerate mixture until it is cool (about 2 hours). Stir in breadcrumbs. Set aside.

Cheese Filling
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Mix all ingredients together until well combined. Set aside.

Additional ingredients:
1-2 packages of egg roll wrappers
4-5 cups of prepared tempura batter
4 cups Panko bread crumbs (Do not substitute other breadcrumbs for this step. It must be Panko!)
egg wash (1 egg plus 1 Tbsp water)
Vegetable oil (enough to deep fry in)
2-3 cups of your favorite marinara sauce

Assembly:

1. Take one sheet of your egg roll wrapper and position it on your counter top. Spread some meat filling evenly across the sheet, leaving 1/2 inch around the edges. Using your fingers, spread some of the ricotta mixture across the center of the sheet (about 1-2 Tbsp). Brush the edges of your sheet with the egg wash, then roll up the egg roll like a taquito, leaving the edges open. The egg wash should seal it closed when done rolling. Repeat with additional ingredients until you have a lot of 'egg rolls' ready for the next step. (Don't stack on top of each other or you will end up with them sticking to each other and tearing.)

(Tip: After making the first few, you get a feeling of how much filling to add, in proper amounts, to have it roll up nicely. I've tried to adjust the recipe so you have the right amount of filling needed, but if you run out of , say, the meat mixture before you are done using the ricotta mixture, don't worry. I do too. Just use the remaining amount in another dish, or mix it in with some spaghetti noodles, so you don't have anything wasted.)

2. In a bowl, season Panko breadcrumbs with a little bit of garlic salt. Prepare your tempura batter. Make sure your oil is heated up and ready to fry (approx 350 degrees). First, take one roll and dip it in your tempura batter, then roll it in the panko breadcrumbs until it is completely coated. Dip each end of the roll in the tempura batter, then seal it with more breadcrumbs. Place in hot oil and fry for about 8 minutes (turning once halfway through) until it is a nice golden brown. (I fry about four at a time for two reasons. 1. My cooking pot isn't that big, and 2. You want your oil to maintain its temperature.) Remove roll from oil and drain on a wire rack. Continue cooking the remaining rolls.

3. For presentation, cut each roll on the diagonal, and serve with marinara sauce.

If you find that you have way more lasagna rolls than you know what to do with, you can freeze them. After you have rolled them, place them on a greased cookie sheet (side by side but not touching) in your freezer. After about four hours, remove from sheet pan and store in a double-lined Ziploc bag. To use after freezing, simply place them back on a cookie sheet so they aren't touching, and thaw in your fridge for 24 hours. Then follow the remaining steps of the cooking process (Dip in tempura, then in panko, then fry until golden brown.)

The instructions may seem long, but the outcome is well worth it. Plus, it makes a lot, so most of you would make once, eat twice. I hope you give this a try. We all love it, and since it's something we don't often make, it's a nice treat.

Brisket

2011-11-20T20:13:00.001-07:00

You may have noticed a lack of recipes, on my blog, that contain red meat (or fish for that matter, but let's not get off topic). Red meat and I don't really get along, so it's not often that I buy it. We eat mostly chicken, turkey, and pig in our household, but there are times when red meat is intentionally purchased, and gets consumed in my household, though these times are few and far between.

There was one such opportunity last month, as The Husband and I were perusing some cookbooks that I had checked out at the library (livin' large, I tell ya), when he saw a recipe he wanted to try; a recipe for a brisket sandwich. A sandwich. Huh. (He loves sandwiches, and I don't.) Well, I probably scrunched up my nose in indifference, as I moved on through my cookbook, and marked my own desirable recipes. Then, a few days later, as I made up our grocery list/menu, I conveniently left out this recipe, and gathered the books to return to the library.

Oh, but The Husband was on to me. He said "You got my brisket sandwich recipe out of that book, right?" No. I did not. So, I wrote down the recipe quickly, and included the necessary ingredients on my shopping list, and then returned the book to the library. I don't even remember what the book was called, so I can't even credit this properly. I'm just glad I wrote down the recipe, because It.Was.Good.

I made it. I ate it. I liked it. Now I'm posting it.

Brisket Sandwich

2 Tbsp oil
1 Brisket cut of meat (about 5 pounds)
Salt & Pepper
4 cloves of Garlic
1 cup beef stock
4 stalks of celery, cut in chunks
1 onion, cut in chunks
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup dijon mustard
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 bay leaves
1 tsp paprika
1 dozen crusty sandwich rolls

Heat oil in a pan over the stovetop. Add in garlic and cook a minute or so to incorporate the garlic into the oil. Season meat on all sides generously with salt and pepper. Brown meat in oil for a few minutes on each side. By searing the meat, you caramelize the outside layer and promote some great flavors as it slow-cooks afterward. (Tip: If your piece of meat is too big for your pan, or your for the crockpot, you can cut the meat in three sections so you can handle it better.)

In your crockpot, add the remaining ingredients. Mix gently to combine everything. Then, place brisket, and any oil drippings that may be leftover, in your crockpot, and position it into your mixture. Cover your crockpot with the lid, and cook on low for 9 hours, or on high for 6 hours. (You can keep it cooking longer, if necessary, if you aren't ready to eat yet, or you have a bigger piece of meat that requires longer cooking time.)

You will know when your meat is finished if it falls apart as you pick up a section. To serve, remove meat from liquid, and let sit for about 10 minutes. Then, shred meat using two forks (or whatever method you want). You can use some of the cooking liquid to pour over your meat, if you want, to keep it nice and juicy.

We served the brisket on a hard roll (I got a packaged dozen or so in the bakery department at my grocery store) and we also spread a little mayo on the bread. This is how we ate it, but you can add other things to the sandwich, if you so choose.

I was really surprised at how much I liked the flavors of the meat. The ingredients all worked together to create a really amazing taste. Give it a try. I think you'll like it. (If you find that you have a lot of leftovers, the meat can be frozen in a double-lined Ziploc bag. Simply thaw in your fridge for 24 hours before re-heating.

CICU Staff

2011-11-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

As we were walking around the hospital, we got a chance to see some of our heroes again. These doctors made all the difference, in Kimble's life and our life, and we always get so excited when we see them. We approach with hesitancy, because we are sure that with so many patients, they won't remember us or our specifics, but we are always surprised by the recognition they show, and the happiness they have for Kimble's progress.

First up, we saw our doctor Jesse, as he was leaving his shift and heading home to his family. He was with us the night Kimble had his post-surgery problems, and after emergency surgery, had a terrible night of teetering between life and death. It was Jesse's cool and calm leadership that kept Kimble alive.

We love Jesse, and were very happy to see him. He loved seeing us as well, and even chatted about some specifics to Kimble's case, that proved he remembered us very specifically. It helped that he and a team of doctors earlier in the day were just discussing that very night (almost two years ago) as they went over some research studies that Kimble was involved in.

We also saw Dr. Adel. He did all my prenatal ultrasounds, up at The Children's Hospital, and he also did all of Kimble's echocardiograms with all of our stays up there. He knows Kimble's heart with as much detail as our surgeon does, and he also was happy to see us and see Kimble doing so well.

Again, Dr. Adel discussed some specifics of Kimble's heart with us, that demonstrated we weren't just another patient to him. That is one thing I've always love about Dr. Adel. He is so personal about his work and how he relates to not only patients, but to their families as well. He is an amazing man, and we were so happy to talk with him and discuss Kimble's future surgeries, which when the time comes, he'll be part of our team of doctors again. Oh, and he also taught Kimble how to 'fist pump', which he mastered a few minutes after this picture.

Going into the CICU, when I delivered blankets, I saw Dr. Campbell again. He has done all of Kimble's open heart surgeries, and is a man I trust with all of our lives. He was watching another post-op baby at the time, but took a few minutes to discuss Kimble with me. I had to remind him a bit about Kimble's case (which isn't surprising considering how many surgeries this man performs) but he also remembered us and discussed a few things about Kimble's future surgeries. In discussing the possible reversal of Kimble's Glenn, we learned that it is a surgery he does not too often, but probably every 2-3 years. He'll be on board when we come back in about a year, for another surgery. It was great talking with him, and Heath loved seeing him again.

Dr. Shannon Buckvold was another doctor that took care of us during both our stays at the hospital. She discovered the swelling around Kimble's heart, just as we were ready to be discharged when he was a newborn, and thus we stayed another week to watch those levels, and ultimately have it surgically drained. If it wasn't for that detection, Kimble could have had some serious problems once we got home, or possibly have died.

She was also with us when he had his surgery at 7 months old, and since she knew his tendency to swell, she aggressively managed his post-op care and he recovered beautifully and quickly. She is a super smart woman, and we are proud to be connected with her.

Touring the CICU, we also saw many nurses and other staff who took care of Kimble (and us) during our many stays there. We care about these people so much because they do something for us that we can't possibly do ourselves. They have the knowledge and experience and the gentleness needed to be the caretakers during a very tough time in our lives. I'm not sure they understand how much gratitude we feel for them. With all their patients, I'm sure the details of our lives escape them, but they will never leave our hearts. We love all the staff in the CICU and the CPCU.

We know that when we go back for another surgery, we will be in the best of hands. Despite all the heartache and struggles we had, we love this place, and especially the CICU, and feel it a privilege every time we go back...for whatever reason.

Donating Blankets (Year 2)

2011-11-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

Last week we met up at The Children's Hospital to deliver blankets again! It is such a rewarding experience to be part of something much bigger than ourselves. Every time we go to this hospital, it feels like we are returning home again. There is such a feeling of reverence and gratitude and love that overflows with every breath you take.

Many people are interested in what we are doing. As you can imagine, our families, plus kids, plus bags and bags of blankets...it tends to create some commotion. I had one lovely lady come up to me and ask me what I was involved in, as she pulled her two daughters in a wagon, with one daughter having a hospital nightgown on, and the other simply spending time with her sister. I told them our short story, of how we and two other families had babies born with congenital heart defects, and after spending a lot of time in the hospital, where we witnessed so much love and service, that we wanted to give back as well. Thus, every year, on our boys' birthdays, we donate all the blankets we've gathered through the year, to all the patients at the hospital.

The mother beamed up at me, and with a smile said to her daughter "Maybe you'll get a blanket tonight, sweetie!" The young patient gave a little whoop for joy, then settled back down in the wagon with her sister, as they continued their field trip around the hospital.

I am so serious when I say that every blanket makes a difference. I have no idea what this young girl was going through, but they were all so happy to receive a simple blanket. A blanket to snuggle with when she is alone in her hospital room. A blanket to keep her warm at night when the chill from the windows breaks through. A blanket to squeeze tight against her chest when she's being brave and undergoing testing. A blanket to let her know that people care about her. Or, unfortunately sometimes it's a blanket to take home as a reminder of a child's life.

That last reminder, is what our friend Tabitha holds dear. This next picture was taken last year, as our husbands donated blankets to the CPCU. There, they met Tabitha, who was awaiting her son's open heart surgery that was to happen in a few days. They had already been in the hospital for a few weeks (if I remember correctly) and Tabitha's family was still in New Mexico.

We got to know Tabitha and learned about her sweet baby Logan. It wasn't more than a week after our blanket drive, when we heard that Logan did not survive the surgery. Our hearts went out to Tabitha and her family. What a heartbreaking experience to forever change her family, and in a much smaller way, our families as well.

This year, our blanket drive was in honor of Logan. Tabitha worked hard to collect blankets as well, and together we donated 324 blankets. The number was significantly lower than last year, but we succeeded in our original goal, which was to give every single patient a blanket.

It was also a fun time for the kids to be together again. We try to get together about every six months, and so it's frequent enough where they all remember each other, and the friendships are starting to develop between our older kids. The boys don't really know what's going on, but they tolerate each other just fine. Teresa and I teased that getting a picture every year, with the wagon, was going to be fun to compare how they grow. When they are teenagers, they won't quite fit in the wagon anymore, and by that time, they'll be bench pressing them. So funny to imagine...and I hope it comes true. I want these boys to be the best of friends, and have each other in their life forever.

After we took pictures of all the blankets, we loaded them up in wagons again and delivered them to the volunteer office, where the staff is always eager to get donations (of any kind). From there, they will be washed and then delivered to the patients throughout the hospital. Here is Kennedy, helping to gather blankets.

While the moms are delivering blankets to the CICU, the kids entertained themselves by making a wagon train, and touring the hospital. They had a great time. Kolby even managed to find a hideout that kept him in the 'missing' status for a while. I wasn't too worried, as I know how Kolby can be, but when he 'got lost again' a few hours later, and had Derek with him (Julie's son), things were stressful for a bit. We were glad to finally discover their hideaway (a little room that had video games in it) and made sure they knew that information on whereabouts was a necessity in such a public place.

We took our wagonload of reserved blankets and made our journey to the 3rd floor, where the Cardiac ICU was. It's always emotional for us. We each have intense memories of our time there. The sights; the smells; the lighting...everything triggers our emotions.

One grandmother was with her newborn granddaughter. It reminded me of when my mom came to visit Kimble. She was delighted to pick out a blanket for her grandbaby, and thanked us many times over. I don't know about the other moms, but accepting thanks doesn't seem right. I'm just the middle man, so to say. I help collect these blankets, but it is all of you, and all of our friends, and all of our church congregations that give us the blankets. So I extend the thanks to all of you. Thank you for supporting me in this amazing project. It is so meaningful to me.

After donating the blankets, and letting the husbands have a turn talking to people in the CICU (more to come on that in the next post) we let the boys have cupcakes, to celebrate their birthdays. We love having them together again!

We decided to let the dads show off their boys, and their matching shirts. My sister Sharon sent me the vinyl, and I ironed it on their shirts. The shirts had cute little robots on the front (with big hearts across their chest)...

...and on the backs of the shirts were their names, with the number 2. It's not easy to get three toddler boys to sit still and show off their shirts!

They each got to wear some fun neckties as well. I sure do love these boys!

I'm going to make a bigger effort to get more blankets to donate this next year. I already have a few that were donated a bit too late, to start next year's tally. If you would like to donate a blanket, please contact me. Such a simple service has a chance to influence a child for the rest of their life.

Medically Speaking

2011-11-15T12:01:00.000-07:00

Last week Mr. Kimble had two doctor's appointments. One with our Pediatrician and the other with his Cardiologist. First, we'll discuss the Pediatrician appointment.

Things seem pretty normal with Kimble's growth pattern. He weighed in at 26 pounds even, and was 33 inches tall. This puts him at 25th percentile for both height and weight. He's following his growth curve nicely, and for a cardiac baby, is doing quite well with growing big and strong. He does well physically, and seems to be able to do the same things as other kids his age. The only area of concern seems to be his speech, and thus he is a bit behind in that department. However, I don't think that's necessarily related to his cardiac issues. All my kids seemed to take until they were closer to 3 years old, to begin communicating. Although Kimble happily talks (babbles) and has about 15 words that he says, he is delayed. The doctor left it up to me to get some speech therapy for him, through the school district, if I so choose.

Other than that, he got good scores all around, and is very healthy. Go Kimble!

The next day, we saw his Cardiologist. As always, we have an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) to measure all his flows and velocities and measurements and volumes. We do this at every appointment so that we can see, from visit to visit, if his heart is growing or if any problems arise, such as narrowing in his arteries and valves.

Dr. Brames continues to be optimistic about Kimble's heart growth. He said we see a tiny bit of growth since the last visit. His right ventricle is handling the bloodflow without difficulty, and all his pressures seem good. He actually said there is more blood flowing to the lungs via the pulmonary valve (which comes from the right ventricle) than through his re-directed superior vena cava (which was surgically attached to the pulmonary artery en route to the lungs during his last surgical procedure, called The Glenn). This gives us proof that his high pressure/low pressure bloodflows are capable and aren't creating a stressful heart. All good news.

The plan for Kimble? As of right now, we go another four months between visits, unless something comes up. Kimble's energy levels seem good, but we are encouraged to let him test his limits a bit more. There was question, lately, that Kimble seemed to run out of energy during a simple walk around the block on Halloween. Because he could have simply been a decisive 2 year old who didn't want to do what I wanted him to do, we don't really know if his energy failed him. So we are just going to let him run around more, and see if his body can handle it. Toddlers with heart issues present in different ways. Some do have more energy than others. Something to keep an eye on, for sure.

Something came up during our discussion, that has been brought up before. With Kimble's right heart doing well and growing, there is a possibility that the next surgery he will have, will be a reversal of The Glenn. What that means is, they will unattach the superior vena cava from his pulmonary valve, putting it back where it was, and letting the bloodflow from the top half of his body go back into the right heart after it's done with its cycle, and let the right ventricle pump it to the lungs to get oxygen, before coming back to the left heart to begin it's cycle through the body again.

The trick seems to be whether his tricuspid valve will be able to handle the blood flow volume and pressures. That faulty valve (with the defect being that it is unformed and with a very narrow opening) has limited the amount of bloodflow that was able to get into the right ventricle, which caused the right ventricle to not form. Then, because his pulmonary valve didn't form either, there was no way for the blood to escape the right side of the heart via the pumping chamber. This was all discovered en utero.

Anyway, it seems this tricuspid valve is really the instigator of Kimble's defects. What a troublemaker. So that little deformed and narrow valve is where our focus is. Will it grow? Not really. Our doctor compared it to a door frame. If you have a faulty door frame, you can't (in this instance) make the door frame bigger, but you can try to help the door swing open better. The tricuspid valve has three leaflets, if you will, that open and close as the blood goes through it. Those leaflets are faulty, and in a patient so young, can't really be fixed.

Dr. Brames seems to believe that if we reverse the Glenn, that simply the sheer volume of bloodflow might stretch out his valve a bit, and that because there would be no other place for the blood volume to go, it would become better functioning through force, essentially. The right ventrical seems to have grown enough to handle the entire body's bloodflow (hopefully) and the pulmonary valve, although it's not a valve per say, is working well. All of this will be discussed in the near future, and will be finalized after some cath lab testing and 3d MRIs, which will happen about this time next year. Until then, we have this idea to nibble on, and pray that all will turn out well.

Kimble turns 2!

2011-11-06T10:03:00.000-07:00

Mr. Kimble is 2 years old! He is full of spunk and personality. He likes to get into things and still throws everything down the stairs. He doesn't mind when I feed him at meal times, but he also likes to use a fork and feed himself. He wants to drink out of a cup by himself, and likes to watch 'dee-dah' (tv) in the mornings, while snuggled in my bed.

We just quit using the beloved binkie, and after only a few days, he is doing fine without it. He has two blankies that he loves, and he is always trying to sneak outside if someone else goes out the door. If you let go of his hand while outside, he will make a run for it, and doesn't understand street danger yet. He really likes getting into my sewing stuff, climbing on the kids' bunk beds, and throwing things into the toilet. His favorite food seems to be meatloaf, and he loves to drink water just as much as I do.

He hasn't learned to say No yet, but he will shake his head no. His vocabulary is growing, but he is still behind in his speech. He says something that sounds like "whats'at?" and he says it for everything. He has two medical appointments this week, one for Pediatrics and one for Cardiology. We'll update you about those findings, later in the week.

After we sent the kids off to school, The Husband and I took Kimble out for some fun. We stopped first at Target, to get his birthday presents. This may be the only year we can get away with doing it with the birthday boy, so we took advantage of it. I had some sort of car track in mind, for Kimble, but we also browsed a bit, and looked for what Kimble showed interest in.

When we were done shopping, we took Kimble out to lunch. We ended up at Chick-fil-A, where we shared some lemonade and chicken nuggets. Yummy. Kimble watched his daddy dip some chicken into sauce, and from then on, he had to have his chicken dipped too.

When the kids got home from school, we took our traditional birthday family photo (normal and silly) and then had some dinner!

We chose to have pizza for Kimble's birthday dinner, and he ate two pieces, crust and all.

Then it was time for presents! Miss Jennifer made Kimble a portable racetrack, and some airplanes to play with. So fun!

We got him some rubbery dinosaurs, which he immediately roarrrrred as he played, and also a fun car track for him to zip his cars down and around.

We also got him some train cars, to fit on his existing wooden train track. I think those might be his favorite. He loves fitting them on the track and making them go down the little incline.

After some fun time with toys, we blew out the candles and had some cake, which Miss Jennifer made for him in the form of a racetrack. He loved dipping his fingers in the frosting and then sharing it with everyone.

We left him to his own devices, after serving him with cake and ice cream, and he sure enjoyed every crumb.

After getting cleaned up, he enjoyed some love with Miss Jennifer and Mr. Dale, and in the picture, they are roarring with each other. So cute.

Our Mr. Kimble is a whirlwind of activity and motion. He's always on the go. Happy 2nd birthday, sweet baby boy!

Two Years With You

2011-11-06T09:54:00.000-07:00

What a happy day for us. Mr. Kimble turned 2 years old, and I'm not quite sure what to think about it! In anticipation of his birthday, my mind kept turning back to those significant life-changing moments.

I thought about the night before he was born. I spent the entire night with my mind racing through all the possible outcomes the next day would bring. Then, the next morning while waiting for the amnio to begin, I couldn't stop going crazy with possibilities.

I thought about labor and delivery, and those two minutes I had to hold him before they took him to the NICU. I remembered the night nurse telling me he had a fussy night, and I remember feeling so annoyed at her that I wasn't allowed to hold him.

I remember the lifetime of moments we had at The Children's Hospital. All the goodbyes we had to say. All the emergencies we went through. All the stroking of cheeks and whisperings of love.

I remember his first smiles. I remember the rejoicing we had when he could breastfeed again after his clef lip surgery. I remember bringing my baby home after his third heart surgery, and finally making his crib set for him, because now I knew that he would live to use it.

I thought about his first birthday, and our reunion with his heart baby friends as we delivered over a thousand blankets to the patients at The Children's Hospital.

I thought about how just a month later, we found ourselves back in the hospital, with Kimble suffering from a serious infection, and being the recipient of another donated blanket.

I thought about the special times Kimble and I share, in the middle of the night, when he wakes up and just needs some cuddling. I feel him breathe against my chest, and he puts his head over my heartbeat, and we just hold each other. I love those nights, and it's during those times that my mind often journeys back through what we've been through with Kimble.

I hope he knows how much we love him, and how blessed we are to have him in our family. He has taught us patience, love, faith, hope, service, humility, happiness, and so many other attributes that reflect our Savior.

It's been an amazing two years with you, baby boy. Thank you for making us a better family.

As of Late

2011-11-02T19:10:00.000-06:00

Last week we realized that the last Harry Potter movie was playing at our dollar theater. This was a moment the kids have been waiting for "all their lives". So to support their most deepest dreams and desires, I surprised them with a night out (on a school night, no less). They each got to pick out a candy from the dollar store, we bought a big tub of popcorn, and settled down to watch the movie...in 3d, which is something that was brand new to all of us (except The Husband). Here's a picture of the kids after the movie. They really did have a great time.

Kennedy loved the glasses so much, that no amount of dissuasion would convince her to take them off, even in church the next day.

As we left the theater, I took this picture of Kimble and his daddy, walking back to the car. I love how it's distorted and blurry.

The next day, I sat down to finish my sewing for the holiday craft fair I was going to the next day, and discovered that my sewing machine was possessed by a demon. It only sewed backwards, didn't sew in the position I told the needle to be in, and wouldn't respond with any of the other things I normally used. I was beyond frustrated, and upon talking with friends, realized that it probably needed a tune-up, as well as some circuit tweaking with the internal computer.

I lamented my woes to The Husband, and being the fixer that he is, he sat down and said he would fix it. I scolded him and told him not to, but he went ahead and dissected my machine. I was sure I would never sew again, especially when he would hold up some metal thing and say "Uh, you don't really need this in the machine, right?"

Alas, he got it all cleaned out, dismantled the whole thing, unplugged all the internal wires and plugged them in again...and wouldn't ya know it? It was fixed. It's soft whirring and proper needle placements made me act extra lovey to The Husband, who replied with a "I told you I could fix it." What a good man.

Today I experienced a first with Mr. Kimble. He pooped in the bath tonight, which is something he's never done before. It reminded me of a time when I was a little girl, and my sisters and I were being watched by our older cousins. They had about three of us in a bubbly bath, and were washing us, when one cousin thought she saw some poop in the water. We got yelled at "Who pooped in the bath? You are old enough to know better!" We all denied the charges, and yet they had us all get out so they could fish the poop out. Turns out, the "poop" was just a bar of brown soap. "See. We were telling the truth!"

Although Mr. Kimble's poop was the real deal, I didn't get upset at him. It just happens at the wrong time, sometimes.

To finish things off, here's a picture of my three elementary-aged kids, on wacky hair day. We had no fun-colored hairspray to make them happy, but having spikey hair for the boys, and 17 ponytails for Kennedy, seemed to satisfy them enough.

free shipping!

2011-11-01T11:51:00.000-06:00

If you are interested in my etsy store, I'm offering free shipping on your order. (US only, sorry to the international friends!)

enter FREESHIP when you check out!

Spooky Feast

2011-11-01T11:30:00.000-06:00

Per the tradition we started last year, I had fun coming up with this year's Halloween spooky feast. For our appetizers, we had ear wax on q-tips, followed by some pumpkin vomit. The Husband did a great last-minute job carving a sick-looking pumpkin and making the best guacamole ever.

We had dog bones to eat, along with our main dish, which was supposed to be sewage rats with intestines...

...but my rats didn't come out looking like rats, so I borrowed this picture from the website, to show you. I made up my own recipe for the meatballs and sauce, and it was so good, that I'm going to make it again and post the recipe (using normal-size meatballs) so stay tuned for that.

For dessert, we had witches fingers (again...the kids love them) and bloody rat cupcakes (I'm not sure if I'm just not a rat maker, but these cupcakes didn't quite turn out the best either. oh well.).

After the feast, we went around about two blocks worth of houses, to let the kids trick-or-treat. Kimble got tired after one block length, and after pushing him in his stroller another half block, we just came home and he went to bed. He sure liked holding out his hand for candy, though!

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Halloween Trunk-or-Treat

2011-10-30T08:25:00.001-06:00

Our church Halloween party was last night. While I was working at a craft fair all day, I instructed The Husband to search through our dress-up box to find costumes for the kids. I felt bad that we weren't really in the spirit of Halloween, and didn't ever figure out costumes for the kids. But then again, I hate to waste money on costumes when we have creative minds and can come up with something that would work. So, here's the rundown of what my kids were for our church Halloween party.
Kimble was a cowboy, with pants two sizes too long for him. He ditched the hat as soon as this picture was taken. Kennedy was self-proclaimed Cinderella, wearing her church dress and glass slippers.

Keaton was a jedi warrior, so powerful that his light saber was invisible. Kolby was an unhappy jedi warrior, teetering towards the dark side.

Kamyren was a geek. She wore my great grandfather's suspenders, which were given to me after he passed away. I love those suspenders.

Heath and I were "just woken up" and "not a morning person". I sewed up these eye masks just before we left (he wanted the pink one!) and we spent the evening in our pajamas and slippers (most comfy Halloween I've had yet!).

All together, we were a mismatched group, but we had a great time.

Snow

2011-10-27T07:41:00.000-06:00

We had a storm that rolled through here yesterday. For about a week, it was all the newscasters were buzzing about. "Big Storm!!" "8-12" inches!" "Crazy Commute!" "Probable school closings!" So the hype was there, and we all prepared. We found all the winter coats in the garage. Hats and gloves. Scarfs. I planned this amazing soup and rolls for dinner. We were ready.

Wednesday morning, we woke up and the kids expectantly looked out the window. Snow? Inches? It looked like the grass had dandruff. Barely a dusting. So disappointed. The kids all got ready for school and I sent them out the door...bundled up for nothing.

A few hours later, it started snowing. Then it kept on snowing. For the rest of the day, it snowed, and it was beautiful. Big feathery snow crystals falling fat and happy to the ground. When the kids got home from school, there was enough to play in, and make snowmen, and throw snowballs, and watch in wonder, under the protection of an umbrella.

Even though we didn't get as much as our northern neighbors did, in our old neck of the woods, we were happy that it ended up being a lovely snow-filled day. Tomorrow, it's supposed to be back up in the 70's. Bye bye snow. We'll have you stick around another time.

Earn Your Rewards

2011-10-26T09:07:00.000-06:00

As of late, we've been talking with the kids a lot about our personal household goals. We had a great family home evening lesson a few weeks back, about how to make our home more happy. My goal was to always have a soft voice, and to smile more. Each of the kids picked goals they wanted to work on. Kamy chose to do things before I ask. Keaton chose to answer me the first time I called him, and to be more quick about doing required things. Kolby chose to have no fits, and to have a happy attitude regarding his chores. Kennedy chose to not whine anymore, and Kimble needs to work on not throwing things down the stairs. :)

We set up rewards and also discipline. The kids came up with it all, made charts, and were really excited about it. In fact, for days and days after, while enjoying the transformation our household had, the kids kept coming to me and commenting on how happy they were that we all made goals, and were working on them. It really has been amazing.

Another goal we had, as a family, was to earn rewards. The kids all love playing on the computer, but unless their chores and homework are done, the answer has been no. However, there was an opportunity that I saw, and put it to use. For the kids to play on the computer, or do activities that I deem are "extra", they need to earn it. Sometimes it's an extra chore (like organizing the pencils/crayons/markers/scissors/coloring book mess that seems to get bigger with every homework hour. Sometimes it's reading longer than the required 20 minutes (for Kolby, this has been great.). Sometimes it's helping me make dinner. Whatever it is, if they do it, they get to pick their reward, and it's usually playing a game on the computer (although it has to be educational).

Last weekend, Keaton came to me with a plan. He told me he'd keep his room sparkling clean, everyday, if he could get out his nice train electric track (which we got as a gift during our military days, and normally stays put away because it's more like a collectible than an everyday toy). So he cleaned his room, then got to set up the train. The boys were so excited to play with the train, and I was so excited that they were understanding the whole "you reap what you sow" mentality.

Good behavior and good attitudes get you far, in our family.

Blanket Drive Deadline

2011-10-25T14:47:00.000-06:00

We've been working on blankets, around here. The deadline for our blanket drive is in a few weeks. If you would like to donate a blanket, and want to know more about it, please look on my sidebar, for two links about why we are doing a blanket drive, and the specifics about types of blankets accepted. You can also email me, for info, and to get an address to send them to. kamyrensmiles@hotmail.com

Thanks for your help!

After The Balloons

2011-10-22T08:48:00.000-06:00

After the balloon festival, I stayed home with the babies so they could take a nap, while our cousins went to their football game (My cousin Allen coached the game and his son Carter played in it) and the rest of the kids played happily with each other. Then, after lunch, we went out on a hike, to visit the local petroglyphs. The above picture shows all the kids, minus the two little ones, as we began our hike.

We didn't last long on the first hike, realizing that we weren't seeing any petroglyphs. We were in the wrong place. So we loaded up everyone again, drove a few miles down the road, and started another hike.

Keaton is showing the first petroglyph that we found. An animal of some sort. Fun!

We kept on hiking up the stairs and around the narrow paths, the kids jumping from rock to rock and overall making the adults very nervous on the steep climb, but they all had a great time.

Once we got to the top of the plateau, having seen very little petroglyphs, we took a group picture, let the kids teeter on the edges of the cliffs (more like called them away from the edges of the cliffs) and then headed back home so the men could go to a church meeting together, while Monique and I made bracelets!

After the men's meeting, the adults met up to grab a bit to eat before going to a LATE-night movie. We had to celebrate The Husband's birthday, afterall! I was already exhausted, and spent much of the movie trying to sleep, but I'm glad we got to go out and spend time with each other, and with Allen and Monique.

Balloon Festival

2011-10-21T07:17:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, we ventured down to New Mexico for the weekend, to visit with my cousins, and to see the balloon festival with them. After a late night of driving down there, and visiting with our lovely family, we woke up bright and early to witness the 7am liftoff.

Hundreds and hundreds of balloons (I wish I knew an official count) ascended into the air one after another. We could walk right up to the balloons, touch them, take pictures, then applaud as each one lifted into the air. It was really fun to see all the neat shapes and colors of the balloons.

This balloon was the first one we came upon, and after they filled up the balloon with air, they turned on the burners and we all watched as the parachute rose upright. So cool to be so close!

Kimble wasn't quite sure what to make of it all, but he enjoyed the morning watching all of the balloons fill the sky.

The view is even better when perched atop your daddy's shoulders!

This cow was massive. Massive, I tell ya. We were right next to it when it lifted, and it was like an eclipse happened, it was so huge in the sky!

My cousin has four kids, and their oldest is aged just between my two boys. They had an amazing time together during the weekend.

Here are all of us, heading back to our vehicles. At this point, it was about 10am and we had tons more to do that day, namely celebrate The Husband's birthday! More to come.

Youth Dance

2011-10-16T11:06:00.000-06:00

Youth dances, in our church, are highly anticipated events. From the age of 14 to 18, boys and girls get an opportunity to mingle, socialize, and dance with each other in a safe and happy environment. It was something that I looked forward to every month or so, growing up, and last night, I got to experience it all over again, only with a different perspective...as a chaperone. An adult chaperone. (I'm an adult. When did that happen?)

I asked The Husband to be my date, and he anxiously agreed. He, too, remembered fondly getting dressed up in his silk shirt, ready to attend his youth dances. We didn't feel awkward or silly when we were youth. We don't remember behaving in any other way than with supreme coolness. Yet, watching all the kids at the dance last night, we couldn't help but chuckle and think "Oh, maybe I wasn't as suave as I thought I was."

Nevertheless, all the kids seemed to have a great time. As we danced and mingled right along with all the kids, we overheard things being said, like "So, is this your first dance?" along with replies like "Oh no. I've been to soooo many...like three or four."

We watched young boys gather the courage to walk across the room and say "Would you like to dance" to an eager-faced young woman. We watched little groups of teens dancing in tight circles on the dance floor. We watched people posing for pictures as they danced YMCA. We watched new love take roots, with a stroke of a hand or a nervous smile.

With all that vividly happening before us, and with all our happy memories of past experiences, The Husband and I looked at each other and mutually agreed that we liked the place we were at now. We have lifelong and eternal love. We don't have to worry if the other person likes us. We will always have a date, and never have to worry about standing alone along the sidelines. Even when he steps on my toes while dancing, I'm still so glad I have this man in my life.

Drawings From School

2011-10-09T11:21:00.000-06:00

Kennedy has been bringing home some great papers from school. I love looking through her folder every week, to see what she's been up to. Here's a few to share.

Apparently Kennedy wants to be an Artist when she grows up. I love how she drew her artist pallet. She drew herself with her little leg bent up (she is so girly) and big red Xs for the eyes, although I'm not sure why she did that one. Maybe it was her inner artist coming out.

They discussed the story of the Three Little Pigs at length. Kennedy obviously preferred the house made out of bricks, and I love how the roof looks!

I'm really not sure about the next picture. What was she trying to draw, anyway? As for the "My hair is crazy" picture, this was done on the day they had "Bad Hair Day" at school. Love it!

How do you get to school? Kennedy answered that question "My feet walked today".

One of her homework pages was to cut out items from a magazine that began with those specific letters. M is for Milk. S is for Spaghetti Sauce. T is for Toothpaste. Apparently Kennedy's teacher doesn't know that R is for Rachael Ray!

What do you like to eat? Kennedy likes to eat salad. Who knew?

The splash pad is at our local park, where tons of gallons of water sprays from different sprinkler-type equipment, providing hours of fun for summer-loving kids. It seems to make Kennedy a bit crazy, according to the picture. So crazy, that beneath the hot sun and lovely rainbows, Kennedy is a bit tired. School is tough, afterall.

I love collecting these drawings from Kennedy. It's so fun to see her creativity.

Think Christmas

2011-10-04T17:44:00.000-06:00

This is a doll ready for adventure. With extra long arms and legs, she's perfect for climbing, swinging, jumping and hanging on to the hand of her owner. Just listed on Etsy. More dolls to come.

Making Things

2011-10-03T12:10:00.000-06:00

Besides all the items that I've been selling at my Farmer's Markets, and at Etsy, I've been creating a handful of other things, like this bracelet. Lovely bead-wrapped goodness. It's four separate bracelets that I wear together. Love Love Love.

I also made Mr. Kimble some little-man ties. As luck would have it, he is too big for his white button-down shirt, so he is modeling it shirtless. If only all of us could look so good in a tie!

By the way, this little heart baby is not so much a baby anymore. He'll be 2 next month!

This adorable chocolate and pink corduroy OWL rag blanket is spoken for. One of my friends saw that I was making it, and before I was even finished with it, claimed it as her own for a baby shower gift. Not to worry. If you are drooling over it as well, I will make more and post them on Etsy.

What have you been making? Feel free to post a link so we all can admire your work!

Keaton's 10th!

2011-09-29T11:31:00.000-06:00

Keaton's birthday was this week. He is now officially a double-digiter. It started the night before when we made cookies for his class at school. Apparently he has been preparing his classmates for "my mom's famous chocolate chip cookies...which are the best you've ever had" and so we made them together, and I just hoped that they would live up to his hype!

The morning of his birthday, I sent him to school with 30 cookies to share, which everyone seemed to like (thank goodness). We had spaghetti and meatballs for his birthday dinner, then came our family picture, which is tradition whenever we celebrate anyone's birthday. First normal...then crazy.

After that, I realized that I didn't wrap any of Keaton's birthday gifts. So I sent him on a scavenger hunt, around the house, to find his three gifts (which apparently was the best part of his birthday, when I asked him later what his favorite was...). He ended up with a basketball, a soccer ball, a birthstone necklace (which he's been asking for for months) and a pair of rollerblades so that he can race Kolby around the block.

Since we aren't cake people, he chose to have root beer floats for his birthday dessert. I shoved ten candles in the icecream, and Keaton loved how big the flames got.

Keaton is a very helpful and tender boy. He loves scouts, riding his bike, and helping others. He has peaked his interest in reading lately, and thus he reads every night, in his bed, before he goes to sleep. He likes to watch "dino dan" on tv, rollerblade and bike around the neighborhood, and is intent on making sure that everyone at school has a friend to play with. I love my sweet Keaton. Happy 10th birthday!

Lately

2011-09-28T15:52:00.001-06:00

...I just joined Pinterest. Why didn't I know about this before?
...Based on Kimble's latest obsession with "coloring", I have another lefty on my hands. That makes 4 out of 5 children, in our household, that are lefties. Which one is the odd man out? Take your guesses.

...I got more corduroy fabric to make more bibs. I love my corduroy bibs (I have one posted on etsy, but will post more).

...Speaking of etsy, I got my first (3) sales this last week! Hooray!

...Farmer's Markets are almost done for the season. It was a lot of fun and am excited to do it again next year.

...At yesterday's market, outside a local elementary school, one boy bought one of my bowties. Then, all his friends bought bowties. I sold about 14 bowties, all to a group of 5th grade boys, who wore them proudly around their necks. It was a sight to see.

...I love that Fall programming is in full swing on tv. Now, to get a minute to watch it all before it fills up my DVR!

...Kennedy wants to be called Georgie again. Even though I mostly still call her that, she wants to be known by Georgie at school, and when I told her she needed to be Kennedy, she started bawling.

...I really want to get back in full swing at the gym, but I just hate to leave Kimble so much.

...I listen to '80s music and Oldies music on my phone, via Pandora, when I'm sewing.

...I have lovely friends who are supporting me by buying my handmade items. It means the world to me.

...I feel like I can never keep up with laundry.

...We are going on a quick weekend trip, to New Mexico. Excited.

...Today was picture day, for my grade-school kids.

It's A Zoo!

2011-09-26T20:14:00.000-06:00

Last week I had plans to take Mr. Kimble to the zoo. We were going to meet up with two additional friends (and their mommies) and have a fun morning before nap time. That morning, The Husband decided to take the day off work, and after discovering our plans for the day, he decided to join us, seeing as how he had never gone to our zoo before.

We enjoyed the giraffes, who seemed to scoff us once they discovered we had no tasty leaves for them to eat.

Kimble enjoyed riding on Simba the statue, after seeing the real Simba frolicking around in his/her habitat. Then we took a stroll through Australia, where we couldn't find any wallabies to play with, but saw a little alligator going for a swim.

This bear statue seemed a nice place to get a group picture. Kimble was scared of him, and didn't want to pose for very long.

We saw big bears lounging in the sun, and Kimble was intrigued by all the fish swimming in the little bear lake.

I've never seen this Moose do anything but sleep. This day was no exception. It was a perfect day, afterall, to stroll around and sight see. We may have to suggest this to Mr. Moose the next time we see him.

Over at the primate habitat, we discovered that Kimble weighs the same as a black & white colobus (whatever that is).

Then The Husband couldn't help but frolic with the wildlife one last time, before we headed home for nap time.

I'm so glad Heath ended up coming with us. He doesn't often get to spend so much (day) time with Kimble. I think they both had a great time.

Water in the Window Well

2011-09-25T10:45:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, we had a massive Wednesday night storm that didn't let up until the next day. It was such a forceful rainstorm that caused flash floods throughout our area. Right about dinner time, Kolby shouted to us in a panicked voice "There is water coming in our basement through the window!" So we went downstairs and noticed that water had accumulated in one of the basement window wells, and was about 1/3 of the way up the window.

The Husband immediately took the boys outside with him, in the torrential downpour, and plopped them down inside the window well. Armed with pitchers, they started dumping the water out of the window well like you would if your canoe was capsizing.

As Kennedy and I were inside, soaking up the water with towels and trying to prevent more water from coming in, we watched Keaton and Kolby as they tried valiantly to dump out as much water as they could. Keaton is just a little bit taller than Kolby, and he could barely get his pitcher of water up over the side of the window well. Kolby, on the other hand, would scoop up a pitcher full of water, then try to throw it out over the side. Most of the time, half the amount of water just fell back inside because he couldn't quite get it over. It was actually funny to watch. Amidst the worry of our basement flooding, I was actually laughing while watching the boys.

The Husband scraped enough dirt and rocks away from the side of the window well to prevent any more dumpage, and then he pulled the boys out and got in the well himself, where the made extremely good time getting the rest of the water out of the well. It was a sight to behold.

It was discovered that the water didn't overflow from the top, but rather through some busted seam along the inside of the window well. We have plans to secure those leaks, and hopefully it won't happen again.

Unfortunately, we woke up the next morning to find another window well had overflowed as well, creating another saturated mess in the morning. The joys of home ownership, eh?

As an interesting note, the first window well to overflow was the one that housed a black widow spider, which we morbidly watched day after day, as it grew bigger and bigger. The skeleton of her dead lover stayed on display beside her web, as a trophy of her power. After about a week, The Husband torched her with our BBQ lighter, and she was finally free to join her beloved, in the afterlife. As the boys were knee-deep in water, emptying water from the well, I was happy to remember that the black widow spider was no longer extending her death bites to anyone/anything that crossed her path.

Light Saber Wars

2011-09-22T19:22:00.000-06:00

Mr. Kimble LOVES to play with light sabers now. He giggled and giggled when we were playing, and it was so fun to watch. Missing socks....missing pants...blurry photos because he was moving so much....it's all good. We had a fun time together today.

Mr. Kimble's Latest Accomplishments

2011-09-19T08:00:00.001-06:00

My Mr. Kimble is growing so big and learning new things. Here's a quick list of his latest accomplishments.

1. Kimble isn't such a little baby anymore. He is getting bigger (seemingly) every day. I keep trimming his hair regularly, but you wouldn't know it. With half of his hair curly and the other half straight, it's hard to keep him looking nicely kept, but we are trying. He has also matured so quickly that he is sporting a mustache now!

2. Kimble must be looking at the developmental papers that I have to fill out for his regular checkups. "Can your child make a stack of three blocks?" Check. Yes he can, although he prefers to stack cans from my pantry.

3. Kimble's list of words is growing. He can say please (peeese), thank you (day-du), mamma, daddy, da-da, vroom, rharrr, tv (de-dah), choo choo, yum,whoa, wow, hi, uh-oh, cracker, bubble, up, I, you, yeah, and car. He says thirsty, more, milk, and all done in sign language. Oh, and he says "Cheese", as demonstrated in the picture.

4. Kimble feeds himself when he's hungry. His preferred snacks are graham crackers, apples, pretzels and dry cereal.

5. Kimble likes to play with toys while bathing. He loves the water babies that Kennedy left in the bath one night.

6. Kimble puts himself to sleep. Whether after his lunch, or in his crib, he goes right to sleep. He loves his binkie, and has started climbing INTO his crib so he can have it between sleeps. He also likes to carry around his soft blanket. Kolby is the only other child of mine to get attached to a blanket (which he still keeps in his bed). I think it's sweet, and definitely encourage it because his binkies are chewed down to almost nothing and he should have something that soothes him.

Other accomplishments: Kimble now walks down the stairs. Sometimes he'll still slide down on his belly, but that's for fun and not out of necessity. Kimble can follow orders now, if I ask him to get his shoe or find his sippy cup or go sit down at the table. He'll bring me the remote control, if his show is over and he wants to watch another one. He is really learning and understanding well and although he is still behind with his speech, I think he'll catch up pretty quickly.

Bad Hair?

2011-09-17T19:47:00.000-06:00

Bad Hair Day at school. An event deeply anticipated all week long. Kennedy was so excited with the outcome.

By the time she came home from school, you would never had known it had been ratted. It was long and straight and seemingly combed through. Oh to have such hair recovery.

Volleyball

2011-09-15T19:44:00.000-06:00

Kamy is participating in intramural volleyball for about 8 weeks (her very first official sport!). Every day she has practice after school, and the bus brings her home at about 6:20. It's a long day without my girl, and I miss her a lot! I can't wait until the month is over and she gets to be home after school.

Last week, she had her first game. Since The Husband was still at work, I loaded up all the kids and we went to watch her play. Here she is, taking her very first turn at serving.

Watching the 6th grade girls play their first game was interesting. No one really went after the ball. Most of the time, they watched it bounce on the ground right in front of them. The only time someone scored points was when serving those previously mentioned balls. Only once per game did we actually get a volley, where it came back over the net to the team that served it. The shock of it usually caused the ball to land on the ground, not hit back over. However, it was fun for the girls, and it was great to see all the families that came out to support them. The kids even had a great time cheering Kamy on.

She has about four more games to go, and they are getting better and better. I hope by next week's game, to see some good volley action!

A Glimpse of the Future

2011-09-14T07:36:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I caught a glimpse of the future, as ~~Georgie~~ Kennedy tapped me on the shoulder and said with a mumbled voice "Look at me, Momma!" Wow. Suddenly I saw a crotchety old lady coming 'round the corner of her porch,shaking her fist while balancing on her crooked cane, and yelling at the disobedient children who keep playing on her lawn. Don't you think she'll make a lovely old lady? Ha!

Kolby's Baptism

2011-09-12T09:22:00.000-06:00

Kolby was baptized yesterday. Don't let the pictures fool you. He was so thrilled that his turn had finally come!! I was so proud of Kolby.

He really is such a sweet boy, this Kolby of mine. He wants to please others and do things for people and he has done quite a bit of growing up lately. Sometimes I just look at Kolby and think "When did he suddenly change?"

Kolby was baptized by his Dad, who also gave the talk on baptism. Later in the program, Kolby and Dad sang a song together, "I love to see the Temple" and it was so sweet to watch. I'm happy that my kids have such a strong example of fatherhood in their life, just as I did/do.

After the baptism, we dished out rootbeer floats,which is a tradition in my family, stemming from my childhood, to have rootbeer floats following a baptism.

I'm glad for all of the friends who came down to share this experience with us, and for the friends who sent well wishes, and for all of our family who would have been here if it was possible. It was a great day, and I'm so glad that Kolby could be such a great example of choosing the right.

Lost Tooth

2011-09-10T11:03:00.000-06:00

Kennedy (5 1/2) lost her first tooth this morning. She's been showing me her loose tooth for about a week, every morning, and today was the first day it seemed likely that it could be pulled.

So because she is still little and in my control, she let me get it out. It only took a minute or two and then it was out! She was so excited about it, as she has been longing and yearning to be in the exclusive Tooth Fairy Club for years.

She put her tooth in a baggie, drew a picture of the Tooth Fairy giving her money, and then went outside to play, with a "Now I'm a big girl, right momma?" called over her shoulder.

I'm happy for my big girl. It's a big day when you lose your first tooth!

Bobcat and Bear Unite!

2011-09-09T18:28:00.001-06:00

I now have two cubscouts in the family! Last week, Kolby FINALLY got to go to scouts with Keaton. He's always desperate to do anything Keaton gets to do, so waiting these two years for scouts just didn't seem fair to him. Oh, how excited he was that the day had finally arrived!

Kolby got welcomed to the pack and took his first cubscout oath.

That same day, Keaton earned his Bear rank, and got to advance to a Webelo. Here he is, with his bear buddies, getting ready to cross over. (He's the one without his bear neckerchief because somebody didn't keep track of it and we couldn't find it in time.)

I'm glad these two boys are close enough in age to do things like this together. I can only imagine how much fun day camp will be for them next year.