Bloody Nose

Lila woke up in the middle of the night last night with a disgusting bloody nose. She gets them every now and then, but this one was bad. Lots of blood everywhere. I got her cleaned up and back to bed and hoped we were done with that. Turns out, we weren't. This is her after she woke up from her nap. Blood was dripping out of her nose and mouth faster than I could catch it.

It bled for a good 15 minutes after she came down, before I could get it to ease up a bit. Poor girl. She doesn't seem to care though, just wants to make sure I wash her sheets from last night and the sleeping bag she was napping in. I haven't checked the sleeping bag yet, but she says it is "Gross, blood, Eww."

She's still happy though. (She looks like a little vampire)

Edited to Add: Just checked her room...it looks like a crime scene. Blood everywhere, bloody hand print on the dresser, blood spots on the bed rail and door handle. Gross, gross, gross. I do not want to clean this up ( I will, of course, but yuck).

We Are Missing Uncle B.J.

Thought I'd throw up a few more pictures from when B.J. came to visit. The kids are really missing him and they talk all the time about what they would be doing with him if he were here, or what things they are going to do next time he comes. It is very sweet to hear.

Family Home Evening -- Weeks 17 & 18

Last week we talked about the Scriptures...again! We made a goal to read at least one chapter a day as a family and in the last week we actually read 10 chapters. The kids are loving it. We are really taking our time to explain what is going on and they are loving the "story" of Lehi and Nephi. I really feel like they are getting it!

This week we started off family night with a lovely dinner on the back patio. I made Lentil Tacos with a recipe from my Sister-in-law Julie. They were excellent!

We are taking a break right now to put the little kids to bed and then we are going to act out Nephi and his brothers getting the brass plates from Laban. I think the kids will enjoy it.

And...the recipe for Lentil Tacos.

1 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove ( I used 2)
1 tsp canola oil (I used olive)
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
1 Tbs chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
2 1/2 cups chicken broth ( I used vegetable broth)
1 cup salsa
12 taco shells
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce ( I used spinach)
1 cup chopped fresh tomato
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
6 Tbs sour cream

1. In a large non-stick skillet saute the garlic and onion in oil until tender. Add the lentil, chili powder, cumin, and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 25 -30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Uncover; cook for 6-8 minutes, or until mixture is thickened. Mash lentils slightly.

2. Stir in salsa. Spoon about 1/4 cup of lentil mixture into each taco. Top with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and sour cream.

Brother and Sister

First of all...who taught my baby boy how to stand up? If I could freeze him in time, I would. In a heartbeat! This however, is his new found joy. He loves to pull up and stand. He does it on anything and everything. He loves digging through the toy box for things to chew on the most.

His other new passion is the dollhouse. He is obsessed with it. He has knocked it over and pulled it over on himself too many times to count, but he doesn't care. He plays with it all day long. Lila is thrilled to have a buddy to play with her...even if he does eat her babies.

Crazy Idea

I got a crazy idea today while L and G were napping. I decided to clean out the pantry. It was bad...really bad. The before picture doesn't do it justice because I had already emptied half of it out before I took the picture and also because it isn't full since I need to go shopping on Friday. But, it gives you the general idea. Oh and picture crumbs...lots of them...pretzel crumbs, chip crumbs, miscellaneous crumbs...you get the idea. The bottom was completely filled with crap. Water bottles and cardboard, my stand mixer, a bag of potatoes, and that box filled with stuff we were using when we painted the house. We still haven't finished the last little bit of painting and touch-ups, so we left the box here where we could get to it.

The mess I produced with my crazy idea. Again, after I had cleaned the shelves and replace about 1/3 of the stuff.

The top shelf is my food storage shelf. We don't have near as much as we need, but we are getting there little by little. My .40 cereal and oatmeal make a nice addition though. We do have more than in the picture, I just hadn't put it all up yet.

The basket is full of dry beans and rice. I have a few cooking/baking items. I have cans of the things we eat regularly. I also have some boxed things like Mac n' Cheese and 3 cases of Ramen Noodles. There is probably enough for us to eat for a week or so. There is lots of rice and beans though that would last longer. I also like to keep my regular pantry food stocked pretty well and consider it a little bit of food storage too. For instance we might eat 3 cans of black beans a week and I would buy 3 every week, but there are 12 on the shelf, so that helps a little.

The cereal and oatmeal and stacked to the ceiling.

All done...until I go grocery shopping on Friday ( it does look a little bare, so even though it will be a challenge to fit it all in and organize it, I'm excited. I love a full pantry.)

p.s. That one crooked can on the bottom shelf is driving me nuts. I had to get up and go fix it when I saw the picture.

Lately

This is what Little G has been up to lately. He has an obsession with the kitchen floor and more specifically the kitchen table. Maybe he knows that is where he might find some yummy food.

And did I mention putting every crumb, scrap of paper, water bottle lid, or small toy that he finds into his mouth. Yeah, he does that a lot.

He also crawls over to the wall and reaches up on it and try to put his fingers in the outlets. Most of them are covered, but there are a few that are missing one. He knows which ones they are and usually makes a beeline for them. Smart kid.

His favorite game is when his big sisters crawls around on the floor and he chases them. He's a pretty quick little dude.

He's been crawling for about a month, but is just now getting adventurous enough to leave the family room. It's really cute and annoying at the same time.

I Planted My Garden

Doesn't it look great? Now I just have to figure out how to keep the deer out of it. My Dad said I could cut Jackson's hair and sprinkle it on the ground around the garden and that will keep them out. Hopefully it works.

I planted

Roma Grape Tomatoes
Romaine Lettuce
Red Bell Peppers
Green Bell Peppers
Sugar Snap Peas
and
Strawberries

I wanted to plant a lot more, but I ran out of room, so that will have to do for this year. If I'm successful then I will have to expand next year.

Caribbean Black Bean Soup

I'm in the process of making this and it is smelling fabulous! It looks like it is going to be a keeper, but I'll let you know for sure after I try it.

This is about half way through the cooking process. I had just added the sweet potatoes.

Here is the recipe.

1 pound dry black beans
2 Tbs vegetable oil
2 medium red onion, chopped
4 jalapeno chiles, seeded and minced
2 Tbs minced, peeled fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp dried thyme
8 cups water
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2/3 inch pieces
1 Tbs dark brown sugar
1 bunch green onion, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
2 limes, cut into wedges

Directions:

1. Place beans in colander and pick through, discarding any stones or debris. Rinse beans with cold running water and drain. Transfer beans to large bowl. Add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight. Drain and rinse beans.

2. In 6-quart saucepot, heat vegetable oil over medium heat until hot. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add jalapenos, ginger, garlic, allspice, and thyme and cook, stirring, 3 minutes.

3. Add beans and water; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 1 hour 30 minutes.

4. Add sweet potatoes, brown sugar, and salt; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until beans and sweet potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes longer.

5. Transfer 1 cup bean mixture to blender; cover, with center part of cover removed to let steam escape, and puree until smooth. Return to saucepot. Stir in green onions and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.


FYI: I didn't have the ingredients, so I improvised. I hate cilantro, so I left it out. I also left out the allspice, thyme, and ginger, just because I didn't have them. I will get some to use next time. I used light brown sugar instead of dark and a yellow onion instead of red. We'll see what happens :)

And the verdict is: Good. Different, but good. I went pretty heavy on the lime juice b/c to me, it made all the difference. The big kids aren't hungry, so I'll have to wait until dinner time to get their reactions.

Family Home Evening -- Weeks 15 & 16

No pictures and only a few details. Week 15 consisted of lots of bonding time with B.J. (I count that...families are important :)

Week 16 consisted of a miniature lesson about the Holy Ghost. We had gone to a Baptism the Saturday before and this was the perfect chance to follow-up on what they learned from it and to expand on it.

Nothing fancy or exciting...no cool crafts or treats...oh well. They didn't even notice.

We'll see what I can come up with for this week.

Nap Time

Saturday afternoon we came home from Mom's house and Lila was exhausted. She had fallen asleep in the car and stayed asleep while B.J. carried her in. This NEVER happens. She usually wakes up as soon as we turn the car off. The two of them took a nap on the couch and it was adorable. Lila wasn't sure about B.J. for the first day or two, but by the end of the week they were best friends.

Is this sweet or what?

Slumber Party

On Uncle B.J.'s last night the kids had a slumber party downstairs and watched "Alice in Wonderland." At first it was just the big kids, but Lila soon realized what was going on and stood in her room crying " I want E.J. I want E.J." So, we let her sleep downstairs too. She actually slept with B.J. on the couch all night. I'm sure he wasn't very comfortable, but he doesn't complain.

They love their Uncle so much, and I am so glad he is so wonderful to them. They have had the time of their lives this week doing all different kinds of things with him.

Easter Clothes

Mok sent the kids adorable Easter clothes this year. On Saturday we went to a baptism for our old friend and neighbor Kadin and the kids were so excited to get all dressed up. We were in a hurry so I didn't get to take any close up pictures of the dresses, but trust me, they are gorgeous.

I included all 4 pictures I took because they show just how difficult it can be to get four kids all looking and smiling at the camera at the same time.

G was obviously not in a picture taking mood.

LC with a super cheesy smile.

J looks fa-fessional :)

Graduate School

I am so excited to share our latest news. We found out today that Ryan was accepted into the graduate program at The University of West Florida. He will be getting an MSA in Leadership (at least I think that's what it's called. I'll have to ask Ryan when he gets home.)

The journey to his Masters Degree has been pretty long and very frustrating. I don't know how much of it I've shared on the blog, but here is a recap. He graduated UVU in Dec. of 07 and in the summer of 2008 he decided he wanted to go back to school and get a Masters degree. He found a program at Utah State that we thought would be a good fit. He took all the tests, went through their ridiculous admission process and several interviews and they told him that he didn't get in for the winter semester, but if he would take one more test, he would get in for the summer term.

He did what they asked (i.e. paid more money and wasted more time) and then they didn't let him in again. I don't want to get into the specifics of it, but it was ridiculous and insulting. We were so upset that we had wasted all that time with them when we could've been finding a different program and applying other places.

At that point we had really hit a stumbling block and just didn't know how to proceed. In November of 2009 my Aunt Janie came out to visit and we discussed the situation with her. She knew immediately what we should do and where he should go. West Florida. She has a Masters Degree and a Doctorate Degree from West Florida, and both of my parents got their Masters Degrees there also.

Turns out they had the perfect program for Ryan. It was a different direction than he had originally wanted to go, but he was so excited about it and we knew it was the right fit. Right then we understood why things had happened the way they did and we were grateful he didn't get into Utah State. So, we began the application process. We finished it up in Feb. and the deadline wasn't until April 1st, so we had a long wait ahead of us. Which bring us to today.

We can't wait to get started with this. We are both looking forward to the challenge and appreciate the opportunities this will give us.

ETA: No, we don't have to move. It's an online program.

Pirate Island

So, first a confession...I stole these pictures from Jess's blog...all of them...in this order. Really I just wanted to copy and paste her whole post because it was adorable, but as S says, "You are not allowed to copy-cat other peoples books" so I will write my own. (Which might be quite similar to hers. At least she loves me :)

We went to Pirate Island for J's birthday/to hang out/just because and it was pretty cute. The food was not so good, but not unbearable. The decor was nice and the big kids seemed to really like it. Unfortunately, this little gal was not a fan. She was just sitting in her chair and we looked over and she looked like this. Jess took a picture because it was so funny.

A split second later she looked like this.

She sat in Jess's lap for awhile and was finally able to calm down and eat when the food came.

Unfortunately at the end of her meal she got scared by the lights and noise again and almost choked. But she didn't, so all's well that end's well.

These three are so funny. Of course B.J. was yelling, "No paparazzi" and J immediately covered his face. He told S to do it and she just smiled bigger for the camera.

After dinner we played at the arcade and the kids loved it. Then came the rough part. B.J. went home with J & J to spend a couple nights. My kids were okay initially, but last night was hard. They both cried and cried for B.J. and said how much they missed him. They keep asking why can't he just live with us here. It makes me so sad for them, but I'm glad that he is able to come for visits fairly often. We sure do love him.

(Thanks for the pictures Jess and thanks for remembering your camera. I have only 1 picture of B.J. and the kids so far. I need to fix that this weekend.)

Baked Potato Soup

From food, snow, garden

3 tbsp. butter
1/2 of a large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
6 baking potatoes already baked and skinned and coarsely chopped
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 oz.)
6 cups milk
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
1 cup cooked millet or white quinoa (optional)
Cracked black pepper (optional)

You start off by making a roux.

1. Melt your butter, add the onion and garlic and cook until onions are clear. Gradually have your flour out and add it to butter- whisking as you go. When you’ve added all the flour (will be clumpy) gradually add milk, whisking as you go again until all the milk is added. This is your Roux.

2. Let cook, stirring as you go for about 5 minutes- then add potatoes and grain (millet or quinoa). Let simmer until it thickens (about 15 minutes) then add the bacon, sour cream and 1/2 the cheese as well as the salt.

3. Let simmer until you’re ready to serve (add pepper and garlic powder to taste) then top with a dollop of sour cream, green onions and cheese.

I got the recipe from this website: www.soggycheerios.com

I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. The kids ate it up and Lila had two big bowls. I will say it is VERY filling. Also, I think mine looked better than the picture here (which is from the blog I stole the recipe from).

Birthday Boy

Jackson has spent his 7th birthday with his best buddy in the whole world...Uncle B.J. B.J. timed his visit perfectly and we have been so excited for him to get here. Ryan and I took the two older kids to the airport yesterday to pick him up, and the kids haven't left his side since. They camped out on the living room floor last night and watched movies. They've played Lego's and Wii. B.J. got Jax a new Wii game and Sunny a new movie, and we went to the Aquarium today.

We have to pack as much as possible into his visits since we only get to see him couple times a year. Now on to some facts about the birthday boy.

He sure has come a long way since April 5, 2003. That was one of the best days of my life, but also one of the scariest. I am so thankful for the good health that Jackson has enjoyed since his surgery. We pray everyday that it will continue.

Jackson is an awesome big brother. He takes care of all the kids and makes sure things run smoothly in our household (this is a nice way of saying he is BOSSY!)

Jackson does GREAT at school. He is ahead of grade level in all of his subjects and his teacher can't say enough nice things about him.

Jackson has lots of friends and loves to play with them all the time.

Jackson especially loves reading, basketball, baseball, and football.

I think he is one of the cutest kids around. Happy Birthday Buddy!

Asparagus Omelets

I bought some asparagus last week without knowing what I was going to do with it. Today, Mom gave me a cute little vegetarian cookbook for Easter, and I found the perfect recipe. It was super simple. Just cook the asparagus for about 5 minutes. Mix up some eggs and a little bit of cold water. Pour the egg in the pan and when it is cooked (about 3 minutes) add cheese and asparagus.

The verdict is: Really good.

Even I could eat it with no trouble. The kids did great with it. Lila ate all the omelet part and a little bit of the asparagus, but she didn't complain, so I'm happy with that. Baby Griffin got pureed asparagus mixed with apple sauce and was happy as a clam.

I have so many new recipes that I can't wait to try. I'll let you know when I find good ones :)

Sunny Learned to Ride a Bike

She finally learned how to ride a bike. I say finally because she has been on the verge for almost a year. She wouldn't let us help her at all. Today while Dad and Ryan were out working she was riding in circles in the garage and then she came inside and announced that she had learned to ride the 2 wheeler by herself.

She is so proud to be riding a bike and so proud to have taught herself.

(Just for the record she does have a Princess bike, but it has a flat tire, and this little blue one just works better.)

So far both of my kids have learned to ride a bike at 5 years old. I was also 5 when I learned. I'm pretty sure Ryan said he was 7 or 8...good thing they take after me :)