Yes, it's true!
Adding another star to the family.
[Exciting news that will be even more exciting when I don't feel so crummy.]

A Recipe

I'm kicking off the cool Fall weather with a favorite recipe which happens to the best pumpkin bars I've ever had. A friend from Arizona was kind enough to share this recipe with me. Absolutely delectable.

Pumpkin Spice Bars

2 cups flour
1 cup oil/applesauce (I go for the oil)
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin

Mix together and pour into a greased 11x17 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Cool and frost. (Even better frozen!)

Frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup butter
8 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla


Chandler tried to convince me to let him have some for breakfast. I said no, but from the looks of the pan I think he did anyway I guess they complement apple spice oatmeal fairly well.

Today was the day to tackle the 6 boxes of peaches on my dining room table. As of now I have 4 down and 2 to go. I ran out of lids, so I get a reprieve until tomorrow. I think canning is like child birth. You forget how horrible it is until it's time to do it again, but in the end it is all worth it. How's that analogy?

Have you ever neglected the syrup boiling on the stove for so long that it turns into rock hard candy/caramel-like substance? Lucky.

(after most had been emptied down the drain)

Yes, I wanted to cry. And then, when I turned on the water in the pot it splattered all over. Hot, messy, instantly hard spatters. I hate splatters.
Not only did I neglect the syrup on the stove, I neglected the children. No lunch. So they snacked: on dry Corn Chex, caramel corn from Sunday, cheese sticks and whatever else they could reach. Meanwhile, they had an I Love Lucy marathon all afternoon. Before that though, I asked Chandler to give Kate a bath. With strict instructions to stay by her the whole time because children drown all the time in bath tubs. That was news to him. I scared him into watching her closely in the bath. I thought I'd bought myself at least 30 minutes of Kate-free time. No such luck. Not 8 minutes later and she was back under foot. Pulling the stuff out of the cupboards. They even got her dressed. I just knew all boys were colorblind. Shirt is backwards too. I should mention that Brian took her along to Carson's soccer practice, which was all fine and dandy until I asked if she got out of the car. Of course he told me. I couldn't leave her inside! Oh my goodness. So there's the explanation for those who saw her, it wasn't a fashion statement afterall.
Then this evening as I'm upstairs getting out of the shower, Chandler rushes in telling me that Kate burnt her fingers. Sure enough. She opened the oven while our gormet frozen pizza was baking and burned her fingers. Brian was running cold water over her little fingers while the aligator tears fell. We then remembered what my Home-Ec sister taught us. Mustard for burns. That did the trick for sweet Kate. All better now. So file that away for a day you need it. Miracle cure, seriously.

I feel better now. Good night.

Lunch

What do you do for lunch?

Do you make lunch on at least 4 separate occasions like I do most every day?

1. Chandler's lunch in the morning
2. Baden's (1st) lunch at 10 am
3. Lunch for Carson at 11 am before going to Kindergarten
4. Lunch for Baden (2nd) and Kate after Carson is dropped of at school and before nap

I'll usually reserve my lunching for during naps which makes for 5 lunch times!

Is this one of those thing that I need to "enjoy" because I'll be sad when I don't have to make 43 lunches a day?

I don't think so.

Can't we just skip from breakfast to dinner?

There's got to be an easier way.

Can you help me?

What do you fix for lunch?

I need your ideas.

Do you like lunch?

Family Life Line

Every once in awhile I read or hear something that encourages me to keep on keeping on. Earlier this week I received a gem in my inbox on family prayer. I know there is a protective power in prayer both spiritual and physical, that our families need and are blessed by. I know that as we kneel in prayer each morning before the boys head out the door for school and pray that they will make wise choices, will be watched over, that they will learn and understand what they are taught, I am comforted and know that they each are as well. Read the following story and you will likewise be encouraged to keep on keeping on.

James E. Faust, "The Lifeline of Prayer," Ensign, May 2002, 60-61

"The Savior told us, 'Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed' (3 Nephi 18:21). In our day, the Church urges us to have family prayer every night and every morning. . . .

"Family prayer is a powerful and sustaining influence. During the dark days of World War II, a 500-pound bomb fell outside the little home of Brother Patey, a young father in Liverpool, England, but the bomb did not go off. His wife had died, so he was rearing his five children alone. He gathered them together at this very anxious time for family prayer. They 'all prayed . . . earnestly and when they had finished praying, the children said: "Daddy, we will be all right. We will be all right in our home tonight."

" 'And so they went to bed, imagine, with that terrific bomb lying just outside the door half submerged in the ground. If it had gone off it would have destroyed probably forty or fifty houses and killed two or three hundred people. . . .

" 'The next morning the . . . whole neighborhood was removed for forty-eight hours and the bomb was finally taken away. . . .

" 'On the way back Brother Patey asked the foreman of the A. R. P. Squad: "Well, what did you find?"

" ' "Mr. Patey, we got at the bomb outside of your door and found it ready to explode at any moment. There was nothing wrong with it. We are puzzled why it did not go off" ' (Andre K. Anastasiou, in Conference Report, Oct. 1946, 26). Miraculous things happen when families pray together."

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Afternoons around here

What's that Baden? You want to watch a movie in your closet? With your blankets and your kangaroo? And you want me to turn the lights off and shut the closet door?
Mmm, let me think about that for about a half a second.

Ok.

Goodnight...
(said really quietly, if he even has the slightest inkling that I intend for him to sleep, he's out of there in no time.)

18 months




















Strengths:
Climbing on top of the table
Getting exactly what she wants
Feeding herself
Napping
Weaknesses:
Diaper changes
Sacrament meeting
Getting out of the bath
Sharing
Likes:
Dolls & stroller
Play kitchen
Shoes
Outside!
Dislikes:
Keeping clothes in her drawers
Getting off the table
Coming inside
Brothers bugging her

GO COUGS!

We'll be in Seattle tomorrow to cheer on our Alma Matter.
I'll be the first to admit, I don't watch much of the game. I'm more of a people watcher.

How well do you know BYU football?
Better than these folks?

Proof

(my sisters and I, August 2008. I know what you're thinking. How did she [me] get so short?)

A blast from my past emailed me tonight. She'd looked at my blog, but didn't see much proof that it was mine because pictures of me, on my blog are lacking. So this is me all dolled up.

And this is me, after canning 60 quarts of tomato juice in 2 nights. How's that for keepin' it real?

And just for you Katy, comments open...