Factotum

I've Moved

2009-04-28T06:44:00.003-06:00

Hey readers, no worries. I'm still blogging, just at a new site. Come join me at Kailadoscope

New Name, New Site, Same Blog

2009-01-22T15:02:00.005-07:00

With all the change happening in our life, I thought a new blog name was in order. From here on out, I will no longer be posting under factotum, but kailadoscope. So sound your bell, change your link list, call your friends, do what ever you need to do. Factotum is getting upgraded.

Columbus Indiana...who knew?

2009-01-22T08:32:00.012-07:00

We have a home (a rental), and now it even has Internet!

Since it's been a while, let me put your minds at ease by saying this--we're in love with our new town. Here are a few reasons why:

It just happens to be the mecca of child fun. Infact, Nick Jr. Family Magazine selected Columbus, Indiana as one of the ten most playful towns in America, for the quality of its park system, unique architecture and its cultural offerings for kids.

Columbus, Indiana is ranked 6th in the nation for architectural innovation and design by the American Institute of Architects

Smithsonian Magazine called Columbus a "veritable museum of modern architecture."

AND...

In the November/December 2008 edition of National Geographic Traveler, Columbus Indiana (city of 40,000 residents) is ranked 11th out of 109 historic destinations worldwide by National Geographic Society's Center for Sustainable Destinations. Columbus scored 78 points in the annual survey, placing it 11th on the list, higher than any other U.S. destination. Read about it here.

Needless to say, you should Definitely visit us!

A sampling of what we see every day:

This is our courthouse. Almost makes me want to go to court. . . almost.

This is our bridge (Noah has to go under it every day on his way to work)

We're all getting pretty sick of seeing these red birds EVERYWHERE

On a sad note, Alex has strep throat. Pardon me while I get back to being a mom. I'll post more tomorrow, maybe I'll even include a video with Oliver's new trick...
P.S. Gabby started school. Are you just aching to know if she likes it?

To be continued.

(Could there be a bigger cliff hanger?)

Between Worlds

2009-01-06T19:33:00.002-07:00

I'm using Uncle Ernie's (a Lifferth Uncle) Mac with a very small, 21 inch screen (you're welcome Grandpa Wes) and am discovering that I love the sleek look, but really--are they so much better than a PC? I can't even figure out how to open two screens, which is why I have no picture in this blog post, sigh.

By the way, we're now Hoosiers. Unfortunately we're also homeless (while still being home owners). Explanation: we're still waiting on the Utah estate to sell, and are simultaneously waiting for our apartment to be ready for us in Indiana (it's been vacant since the second, but is apparently in need of some painting and repair). We've been living in a Holiday Inn for the last week. Tonight, we're staying with Noah's uncle and aunt as the small living space was starting to get to us. It's nice still having family around. We really feel at home and are being pampered like you wouldn't believe.

We're finally starting to adjust to the time change (which is 2 hours later). Gabby and Alex fell asleep tonight at 8:30 PM Indiana time so we're hoping for happy children tomorrow. I've been trying to keep them busy so we don't have to spend too much time in cramped quarters. So far we've gone to Chuck E. Cheese's (which has "way funner games than the Orem one"), we've also visited the only GAP/ Old Navy/ Banana Republic warehouse in the world, and as you can imagine, it was AWESOME. Today, I took the kids to open gym at a gymnastics place. Tomorrow, we're getting together for a play date with someone from our new ward, and we may also hit a children's museum in the area that has an over sized bathroom with a toilet you can actually slide down--is this Heaven?

Hope all is well with those of you that we left behind (we do actually miss you all, and we REALLY miss having our own place--Hope you're enjoying it Bridgett and Rory)!

Form Follows Function

2008-12-10T21:14:00.010-07:00

To Gabby, school is a holding facility where you're forced to sit down ALL DAY soaking up lessons with the expectation that you'll be able to regurgitate them on demand. In addition to reading and math, Gabby has been learning about weather anomalies and seems to be really holding onto these lessons. Today, I picked Gabby up from school and was informed that "one time, a volcano blew up so fast [and this REALLY happened mom] that the people in the city couldn't run away from it and THEY ALL DIED. And later, people came to the city and it was all buried in dust--with people buried in it too--from the volcano. Are there any volcanoes in Utah Mom?" Thank you public education, because every six-year-old deserves to know about Pompeii.

Anyway, as I was saying . . . school is a holding facility. So why not create a school that conveys this message, where form follows function. Well, in Indiana they're way ahead of us in this regard. Below, is where Gabby (my child who already dreads schools that are aesthetically pleasing) will be attending elementary school when we move.
Noah and I had heard rumors that this elementary school resembled a prison, but we weren't informed that this particular structure resembles NOTHING BUT a prison. It's actually one of the top schools in the area (I'm big on schools so we're making sure to move into the area with this school, so I can't bag on it too much since it's our decision). I will say this though, it does look sturdy.

Wii are lucky!

2008-11-22T20:29:00.004-07:00

For those of you who don't know Noah, you're probably unaware that he is THE luckiest man ever and I'm not exaggerating. If you know Noah, you already know this.

Fact: Before marrying me Noah paid for his schooling, housing, and food from gambling winnings, never bringing more than $20 of his own money to the casino. His biggest win: $900 in one day. He has since stopped gambling for moral reasons.

Fact: he married me, 'nuff said.

Fact: in the three years he has worked at Intelliserv (a company that employs roughly 250 people), there have been three annual parties with drawings for prizes (usually 10 available, one being "the big prize").

Fact: In the past three years, Noah has won "the big prize" every year--year 1: a Garmin GPS unit, year 2: a digital camcorder, year three: keep on reading.

Fact: Gabby and Alex have been saving their money for a Wii this year.

Fact: Gabby has employed the services of a fellow classmate to pull her teeth out at school (two to be exact) in order to get money from the tooth fairy for the Wii. She is currently working on another tooth and wiggles it until it bleeds.

Fact: Alex has become potty trained with the main motivation being $50 added to the Wii fund. We have not had any accidents since he started, not even bed wetting.

Fact: Yesterday marked mine and Noah's eight year anniversary (more on that in a later post) and was also the night of Noah's third big company party. The main prize of the evening--a Wii.

Fact: People teased Noah before the drawing saying, "haven't you won the main prize every year? You better not win the Wii." Noah simply smiled knowing deep down inside that the wii was his.

He was right.

Guess who's laughing

2008-11-18T21:15:00.004-07:00

It has only happened twice

Both times in the same place

With the same two cute kids with him.

But I got it on film...

Wet Toilet Explained

2008-11-18T20:43:00.002-07:00

This morning Gabby informed me that the toilet was all wet. "Why would the toilet be wet?" I wondered briefly, but then my question was put to rest as I was met by a proud Alex who informed me that this morning he "peed like Daddy."

I'm glad Noah has better aim.

Miracle

2008-11-17T21:25:00.007-07:00

Something truly amazing has happened that I never thought was possible. I enjoy running. I don't know if it's because of my awesome stroller that makes me feel better than everyone else, or if it's the sexy brown stretchy pants I wear, or the over sized T shirts. It's for sure not because I'm fast.

As of late, I've been making my jogging more meaningful by running to Macy's and doing grocery shopping or buying other needful commodities (today we were in desperate need of printer paper and a watch battery). I make sure to get in the line with the same checker every day (don't worry Noah, it's a girl) so I get the little nod of approval "wow, you're really dedicated." I shrug as if it's no big deal, then I pull out my debit card and flex my biceps while sliding my card in the reader.

As I return home, I make sure to sprint by the houses belonging to people I know and then I work out my neighbor's probable internal monologue, "Hey, is that Kaila? Didn't she just have a baby? Wow, she's really booking it! Those are some awesome stretchy pants!"

So I don't know what it is exactly that has me hooked on running. It must be the stroller.

P.S.
Noah I miss you. Bedtime was far better tonight than it was last night so you can come home as planned. I took your advice and let Gabby be the leader tonight (except I overruled when she said she wanted to play UNO 60 times). Oliver laughed in the bath again. We went and saw Madagascar 2 and we showed our house.

Enjoy the quiet nights and peaceful mornings until you come back. Love you.

Mmmmm, Ice cream

2008-11-15T19:52:00.004-07:00

I let Noah pick the flavor this time (it's peppermint).

Lazy Saturday

2008-11-15T15:41:00.004-07:00

Today I'm being lazy. I slept in. The house is a mess. I'm ignoring the laundry. I'm blogging. And it feels good.

Last Saturday though, I wasn't lazy, so that makes up for today right? Last Saturday, I started the morning off with my third 5K. Noah snapped the picture BEFORE I ran and I wore makeup. I'd say it's an improvement on my last 5K picture.
Then Gabby and I went to Color Me Mine and made a princess mirror (Gabby loved it). Now I totally want to buy a ceramics kiln for the craft room in our next house.

Now I'm going to unlazify myself. I'm going to pick Gabby up from a birthday party. Then I'm going to finish the laundry I started last night (I'll probably have to re-wash the clothes in the washer or they'll smell like mildew). Then I'm going to do the dishes that are stacked in my sink. Then I'll make the beds with clean sheets. After that, I'll sit down to dinner with my family and enjoy french dip sandwiches, followed by putting my angels to sleep. Then Noah and I will...

... eat ice cream

Then again, maybe I'll just ignore all of the above except the ice cream.

Finally

2008-11-12T21:30:00.004-07:00

It's been two weeks, which means that the three-year-old Alex gets a light up light saber, $50 will now go in the Wii pot (the kids are saving up) and I now have only 1 child in diapers (my wallet is happy)!

Botticelli Babe

2008-11-07T13:42:00.005-07:00

I've been feeling frustrated that after running 2 miles nearly every day that my body is insisting on keeping the muffin top (I think so far my bum is the only part of my body to recognise that I've been running). Why can't the Botticelli body be the ideal any more? I'd stop traffic with my thighs, and everyone would applaud Noah for making enough money to feed me so well.

The sad truth is that the beauty standard has changed. Even Venus (the goddess of love and beauty, pictured above) would be a plus-size model. But in my opinion, Botticelli had it right. I'm certain he used only post-partum women for his models (check out those birthing hips) and in all honesty, what is more beautiful that a woman whose body was able to bring life into the world?

I am proud of my body, for its ability to deliver three beautiful babies into this world, and for it being so considerate as to leave me with stretch marks for each one--my own little tattoos. I'm proud that my body can sustain the life of my littlest baby. I'm proud that my body is strong and I can move furniture with my husband so we don't always have to call on the neighbors for help. I'm proud that I can run 3.1 miles while pushing a stroller and still have a bit of energy left over when I'm through. Now if only I can convey this message of body-love to my daughter who will soon be taught by friends and the media that Kate Moss is now the ideal--so help me God.

By the way, I'm still going to run and eat well, but I want my children to have a healthy ideal, not one that can end in tragedy.

Scary Cute

2008-11-06T16:08:00.003-07:00

Halloween is over and the candy is out of my house and at Noah's work. I do think next year I'll adopt the strategy of my friend Mirjam in order to deal with all the candy--she buys her kid's Halloween goods from them so they can get a toy instead of a sugar high.
Gabby scared us a little by how cute she was in her BYU cheerleader costume. In the picture below, Gabby is seen with Jacob the neighbor boy, who was a football player. Ahh.

Alex finally decided he wanted to dress up for Halloween, after purchasing two other costumes (a dragon and spiderman) that he refused to wear. On October 30th, Alex announced that he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear. I was worried Target would be sold out, but we got lucky--there was one left, just Alex's size (and it was on sale--double bonus). After our purchase, Alex insisted on being called "Buzz" and flying everywhere (I had to help out, apparently the wings on this costume are broken).

Oliver--who by the way weighs in at 14 lbs now (98th percentile for his age)--lasted about five minutes in the pea costume.
And Gabby ate a warhead.
Hope your Halloween was as awesome as our. By the way, have you seen this?

In The Know: Has Halloween Become Overcommercialized?

2008-10-30T13:55:00.002-06:00

Last night, we took the kids to Hee Haw Farms in Pleasant Grove. Here are some adorable pictures of our adventures: In the first picture, my inner self is saying "work it Gabby, work it"

Gabby again--can't get enough of her
This captures the spirit of the corn maze for me--my kids having fun together (well worth the money in my opinion)

Noah tried to avoid being in any pictures . . .

But I got him in this one.

Noah's Mistress

2008-10-28T21:46:00.005-06:00

If you hadn't heard, Noah picked up a mistress this last spring. Gabby and Alex have really taken to her as well--she's more adventurous than I am and goes places I wouldn't dream of going. Oh and she's black.

We took the Mistress to the dunes this past weekend--even my baby brother Mish (aka Michael) came along which made my kids even more excited. We camped out (Gabby, Oliver and I ended up in the car at 4:30 AM because it was so cold and apparently I'm a wimp--the mistress had no trouble being out in the cold). I was pretty tired, but suddenly Gabby became quite chatty, although I have little recollection of what she said at 4:30 in the morning.

Alex was just happy to play baseball . . . kind of.
And then the mistress died just like that--right in the middle of all of the fun. Noah's now thinking about leaving her in Utah and picking up another one in Indiana.

Noah's two cents: We had a lot of fun and rode the sand rail ("the mistress") for a few hours. One of the oil lines shook free from its routing path (now you know it's Noah saying this and not Kaila). It ended up touching the exhaust pipe which melted a hole through it. Now it's making awful noises.

Crafty Kids

2008-10-23T23:25:00.004-06:00

Gabby's piano folder has recently become inadequate due to the fact that she passed off the first level and now has more books (that's right, Gabby is now in Alfred 1B and will soon pass up her own mom's piano abilities). So there has been a need for a music tote bag. A few days ago, I even went to the local music store to purchase one, but they didn't have any I liked. And then it occurred to me that Gabby would probably have way more fun making her own bag. So off to the craft store we went to purchase a plain tote to stencil and paint.

I made a stencil of a treble clef and some notes and Gabby used her artistic prowess to apply puff paint.

Alex got to paint a manly blue apron.
Tote bag/ blue apron painting was a success, with the exception of:

Two blowouts (Alex applied to much strength which led to puff paint disaster)
Alex let his creativity wander off the apron and onto my table (my own fault for not first lining the table with news paper)

A Funny Joke

2008-10-23T15:56:00.003-06:00

I just spent $40 on THIS.

Okay, it's really no joke. Maybe I should have laughed at the pharmacist--do you think she would have lowered the price?

Bathroom Cleaning Fails as Disciplinary Tool

2008-10-21T13:39:00.005-06:00

Noah and I are re-working our disciplining tactics due to the fact that time-out is NOT working--you heard me Super Nanny! And I don't like spanking (it doesn't make sense to me to spank a child that just hit someone in order to teach them not to hit). So we're using manual labor as a way to instill a work ethic in our kids and get the control back, particularly at bed time. Yesterday was manual labor day, take two.

Enter Gabby: As sweet as she is, that girl can throw one mean stare and last night it resulted in her having to scrub the bathroom floor. I warned her that if we had any more disrespect, it would result in her having to clean the toilet too. She got right to work and really didn't put up much of a fight until it was all clean and I told her to put the scrub brush away. "BUT I WANT TO CLEAN THE TOILET TOO!" I surprised myself by responding with, "not tonight Gabby, you can clean the toilet another time." But Gabby persisted. "NO, I WANT TO CLEAN THE TOILET RIGHT NOW!" At this point, Noah jumped in and questioned why I was arguing with that. He handed Gabby the toilet brush and she went to work.

Guess Who's Smiling

2008-10-19T20:25:00.002-06:00

That's right, it's Oliver (who by the way is 2 months old tomorrow)!
Yes Gerber, here's your company's new face.
Off topic note: Here's what we did this weekend
You're probably wondering what we're doing tomorrow. We're canning applesauce and pie filling with Emily. I'm sure you'll hear more about that in a later post.

5K Success

2008-10-18T20:51:00.003-06:00

The "Run for Nie Nie" 5K had a really good turn out--thanks to everyone who showed up (Shala and Pat, Wes, Sara, Noah and even little Oliver who got pushed to the finish line by me). I met my main goal, which was to run the entire distance and sprint at the end while pushing the stroller (we weren't given our finish times, but I'm sure I beat my last one). Noah did awesome, he didn't take first place, but he got a heck of a lot closer than I did. I forgot my camera or I would have posted another delightful picture for your enjoyment, instead you get to look at a picture of a headless runner. enjoy.

Feeling Fallish

2008-10-16T20:23:00.002-06:00

Autumn has arrived and as I mentioned in a previous post, we got ourselves some sweet pumpkins. The kids had a crazy good time painting them on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Observe:
Good parenting at work: Noah puts Alex in his finest Church shirt for painting.
After picking our tree of its apples, we were left wondering what one does with 500 lbs of apples. Here's what we've come up with so far: 1. make apple pies 2. make apple juice 3. give them away 4. look at them in our carport while thinking "Holy %$#@ that's a lot of apples" 5. desperately search on allrecipes.com for new ways to cook with apples (apple pancakes with cinnamon syrup pictured below).
Any more suggestions?

Why We Don't Have Cable or Dish

2008-10-15T18:03:00.004-06:00

When Noah and I first got married, we were both in school and didn't want to make the financial sacrifice to pay for cable TV when we could barely afford food.

Enter firstborn, Gabby: Noah and I are still in school, we have one more mouth to feed, a house to finish fixing up, and a lack of money. Result: we spend a lot of time with family eating their food, and we still don't subscribe to TV.

Enter second-born, Alex: Noah has graduated and is making decent money (Kaila is still in school), and the house is finished. We still don't have cable or dish--why? Somewhere in its absence we realized that it was nice not having Gabby bombarded with advertisements (she still doesn't know what McDonald's is, to which I am proud). On top of that, at night when the TV could have gone on after a long grueling day, it didn't, which meant that Noah and I got to play a lot of Boggle. There are definitely times when we miss it, however hotel stays are so much more fun because TV is an added bonus. By the way, as of late I've discovered that television bores me. At one point, I had the option of watching TV or sitting in a quiet room with Oliver. I went for the quiet room.

Common questions (okay, not that common):

Q1. How do you watch conference? A. It's called the Internet.

Q2. What about "The Office?" A. Well, we used to have to wait for Noah's brother or sister to buy the season, however Rory let us in on this awesome website called Hulu that lets you see all of your favorite TV episodes just a day after they air--and it's legal! You really should check it out.

Q3. Don't you miss your kids telling you they HAVE to have a certain toy because they saw a commercial about it? A. No.

Q4. Aren't you worried that your kids will be labeled as "those weird kids whose parents don't let them watch TV?" A. We let them watch TV, we just make sure we don't get any reception. Also, we let them watch movies and thanks to friends, we're aware that Gabby HAS to know who Hanna Montana is (we've rented the "movie" which is really just a collection of episodes from the television show). And Gabby now has a Hanna Montana shirt so everyone at school knows she's with it.

Q5. What do you do with all the money that must be lying around since you don't have to pay the TV company? A. We fix up the house.

More questions? You may leave them in a comment.

A Taste of Indiana Real Estate

2008-10-13T16:35:00.005-06:00

Here are two of our favorite houses we're looking at in Indiana:

Noah's one request is that we have a three car garage in our next house (for a man who loves tools and projects, our current one-car carport has been near unbearable). And ya know, I kinda wana give the man what he wants--he's given me everything I've wanted, I mean have you seen my kitchen? It's "fricken awesome" as Alex would say (by the way, I hate the word "frick"--who ever taught him that has now lost speaking privileges around my kids).

House #1: This house has 2975 square feet, was built in 2004 and has 4 bedrooms.

Below is the kitchen (duh). Not great, but I can handle it for the cost: $169K--yeah. Beat that Utah. House #2: 4016 square feet, Tudor style (love that). Built in 1971. It has 4 bedrooms, a 3 car garage and . . . A POOL! Although to be quite honest, pools scare me (especially when they don't have a gate around them) I almost drown in one such pool twice as a child.
Cost of house #2: $245,000.

So are you moving to Indiana too now?

More on the NieNie Race

2008-10-12T18:42:00.004-06:00

The 5K will begin and end at 1460 N. 1500 W. in Provo (Rotary Park). Registration will take place starting at 8:00 AM on the morning of the race (Saturday, October 18th). There is a suggested donation of $10 a person or $20 for a family. You can run, jog, or walk. For more information, go here.

I'm Dreaming of a White...Halloween?

2008-10-12T10:22:00.006-06:00

This is what we woke up to this morning:

Yes that's snow--in Mid October again (this happened last year too). What ever happened to global warming?

We were just getting into the Halloween spirit by visiting the Pumpkin patch last night (Alex was cold and tired, so he wasn't feeling it too much).

I try to comfort Alex who just wanted to go home. Usually the camera produces automatic happiness in my three-year-old, but not last night.
Well, here's to a happy Hallomas.

5K for Nie Nie

2008-10-10T10:33:00.003-06:00

Forget about what I said in this post--I will not be running the Halloween fun run. I just found out about this 5K for NieNie where all proceeds go to Stephanie and Christian's recovery fund. Both Noah and I will be running in it. You've got just over a week to prepare, so I suggest you start jogging now.
Oh, and I also added a video of Alex watching Nelly the Elephant. Go here to watch it.

Oliver's Chins

2008-10-09T21:50:00.003-06:00

Oliver has grown a little in the last six weeks. Oh, and you can now officially call me Bessy.

You may think the double chin pictured above is yawn induced--wrong.
Also, in the spirit of Halloween, Gabby decided to go with the Jack-O-Lantern look this year by losing one of her front teeth (I helped a little by brushing her teeth vigorously, thus causing the tooth to fly out of her mouth and catch air).

Apparently we have a Singaporean tooth fairy. Gabby was left ten Singapore dollars, which at the rate the American dollar is dropping will probably be worth more than ten U.S. dollars by morning.

Indiana

2008-10-09T13:28:00.005-06:00

Home of: Indiana University (the nation's top music school), really fast cars, the nation's most affordable housing, and soon to be our new home.

Word leaked out at Noah's company that we're skipping town for [literally] greener pastures. Noah was offered a job (two actually, he got to pick and went for the professional leadership training program) with Cummins--hence the immediate house fix-ups. By the way, our house is on the market so if you'd like to buy it, email me.

Noah starts on the fifth of January, so we've got a few months left in Utah. More updates on this later . . .

Alex's Favorite Song

2008-10-08T22:39:00.005-06:00

When the chorus repeats, just visualize Alex laughing hysterically because he simply cannot contain himself.

Why You Should Have Married a Manufacturing Engineer

2008-10-06T22:16:00.005-06:00

Noah wanted me to make apple pies during conference over the weekend, and I agreed on the condition that he peel the apples. He made record time, peeling enough apples for six pies in less than ten minutes (it would have taken less time, but he had to perfect his technique):

Noah now thinks he could peel the same amount in three minutes. Beat that Martha Stewart!

Announcing My Next 5K

2008-10-02T14:01:00.007-06:00

This could be you:

The next 5K I will be running in will be the Halloween Fun Run on Saturday, October 25th at 7:00 PM in American Fork (starting line at 454 N. Center). Here's the link. Grab your running shoes and come along. I'm going to try to beat my time and YOU while I'm at it!

By the way, I'm compiling a list of awesome running songs for Noah to put on my MP3 player (I know, he does everything) and I wanted to get some ideas. Carol posted her list here. So far, my list (to add to Carols) includes: So What --it's a good angry song (Pink), Pork and Beans (Weezer), Black horse and the Cherry Tree --killer beat (KT Tunstall), High School Never Ends (Bowling for Soup), Smooth Criminal (Alien Ant Farm), and Lose Yourself--yeah, I know it's in Carol's list, but I'm in agreement that this is an awesome running song (Eminem).

So what are your favorite running/ angry songs (they're synonymous in my book)? Just so you feel free to share, know that my own mother's favorites include Centerfold (J Geils Band) and the Hallelujah chorus.

Before and After (this post could also be called "Ode to Noah")

2008-10-01T16:05:00.012-06:00

These last few weeks, Noah and I have been going crazy trying to get everything on our house finished (i.e. Noah has been working like a mad man on the kitchen and I re-painted the orange in Alex's room and have been doing some serious deep cleaning).

So now I'm going to go a little HGTV on you by showing you the before and afters . . .

Living Room Before:
Side note: the furniture in the before pictures belongs to the previous owners.
Living Room After: I painted the walls in Candle Bark from Kwall, Noah put up knotty Alder molding, refinished the floors and banister, took down that awful light fixture and replaced it with a ceiling fan. I faux finished the doors to match the dark stain. The curtains and zebra print pillow are from Target, the other two throw pillows are from IKEA.
Kitchen Before:
Dining Room (adjacent to kitchen) Before:
Kitchen/ Dining Room After: Noah made my kitchen dreams come true--he ripped out that weird dividing wall, put in an island, replaced the oak cabinets with posh knotty Alder (yes they're supposed to be two-toned), replaced all the appliances with stainless, installed a chimney hood vent (from IKEA), tiled the back splash, tiled the counter top with granite, and put cute nobs and handles on all the cabinets. Yeah, Noah pretty much wins the best husband award (Noah, you just won yourself a $239 toaster!)
Master Bedroom Before: I don't think they used it as a master bedroom before though. . .

Master Bedroom After: By the way, that duvet cover was $35, and the shams were $1 a piece (I didn't realize until after that one is Euro sized and one is standard) all from Downeast home. The lamps are from Target.

Bathroom Before:
Bathroom after: Noah put in new black and white tile on the floor, replaced the cabinet and sink, replaced the moldy bathtub, replaced the toilet (we like the kind that can handle 20 golf balls in one flusk), re-sheetrocked and tiled a new surround around the bath tub, and replaced the ugly shelves with new ones (and got rid of that ugly metal thing that held them up). I bought cute baskets and the shower curtain from Target, and found the awesome red trash can at TJ Max. My job can be so hard some times.
Boy's Room Before:

Boy's Room After: I painted the top with a khaki color, and the green is "providence olive" from Kwall. The crib bedding is from Pottery Barn (couldn't find a deal on it, but some things are worth forking out the dough and I loved those monkeys enough to do it). The hanging chair is from IKEA (the kids absolutely love it, though I think it is probably the world's most uncomfortable chair for an adult)
Gabby's Room Before:
Gabby's Room After: I've already blogged about Gabby's room here so I won't go into much detail. I painted her room 3 times--if you're ever painting a room pink, pick a pink that looks almost white or you'll have to close your eyes every time you enter the room.
And there you have it folks.

Alex's Super Power Wardrobe

2008-09-28T10:38:00.003-06:00

Alex has recently become concerned with his appearance and no longer allows me to pick out his clothes (I thought it was just a girl thing). He has named his favorite shirts according to the super powers he gets when he wears them:

Super Power Shirt #1: "fast shirt"

Ability: enables the wearer to run at lightning speeds, also goes well with a red hat.

Super Power Shirt #2: "Basketball Shirt"--this shirt could be deceiving because there is no indication of it being remotely connected to basketball, but Alex saw through it and was able to discover its power.

Ability: Wearer is able to jump high, run fast and shoot baskets with absolute precision (up until now, only the NBA was aware that these shirts even existed)--look out Michael Jordan! Note: this shirt should not be worn with the red hat.

Super Power Shirt #3: "Fighting Shirt"

Ability: See invisible bad guys, sword swiftness, gun shooting accuracy, and increased cockiness (note: wearer may say to his grandma, "I want to fight you"). Wear with caution, not with the red hat, since it already has a hood. I was unable to find Alex's "jumping shirt," it's probably in the wash, but you should see how high Alex can jump when he wears that!

For Your Viewing Pleasure

2008-09-28T10:14:00.004-06:00

For those of you who don't know, I ran a 5K yesterday (pregnant Michie some how talked me into it) so I'm feeling pretty awesome--yes, I just had a baby 5 weeks ago. My time was 37:52 but I did it! And now, I plan to run one a month. I'll keep you posted on when and where those will be, just in case you're inspired to try it out too.
The picture below is simply awful, but also rather funny. Apparently I'm not cute when I finish a race like some people.
And just so you don't think I'm lying about our fantastic toaster, here's proof (look at that perfectly toasted piece of toast). If you're ever feeling hungry and happen to be in the neighborhood, you are more than welcome to join us for a scrumptious piece of toast.

My Toaster is Better Than Yours (and Bridgett's)

2008-09-24T23:31:00.004-06:00

This blog is dedicated to my husband.

Yes Bridgett, this toaster is even better than yours.

There was a time when Noah and I would laugh at the mere existence of a $400 toaster (the price has recently come down to $239, probably because no one was buying them), but no more. Why you may ask? Because today I purchased one. You're probably thinking, "wow, Noah and Kaila must either be really rich or Really stupid." Well, rich we may or may not be, Stupid . . . not today!

Today, the bargain gods shined down on me yet again and I got that blasted toaster for all of $5 in the non-working section at Down East Home (they are currently having a tent sale). I brought it home to Noah who had it working in 2.35 minutes.

If you too would like to have a toaster better than everyone else (including Bridgett), you can purchase yours here, but I'm afraid yours will cost more than mine did.

Friends and Friend Aftermath

2008-09-22T15:53:00.007-06:00

Gabby and Alex have been having a hard time getting along lately (I chalk it up to school--it's way too long), which is why I was so happy to see this:

Gabby and Alex coloring on THE SAME COLORING BOOK and enjoying each other (Gabby even let Alex color on HER page and vise versa). Because they were having such a good time, I ignored the state of Gabby's room (see below).
We had had friends over the night before and let the kids (all 8 of them) go crazy in the back rooms while the adults enjoyed a real conversation. Notice the slanted curtains and the freshly alphabetized playhouse--all evidence that the kids had fun.

Special off-topic note: there is another fundraising effort going on Tuesday (tomorrow) and Wednesday to help out Stephanie and Christian. If you're interested, go here.

Sack Lunch

2008-09-21T10:41:00.004-06:00

After seeing the lunch menu at Gabby's school (comprised mainly of the brown food group, i.e. corn dogs, chicken nuggets, french fries, potato chips, etc.), I decided to pack lunches for her. We're now entering the second month of school and I've been clean out of ideas, aside from the quintessential PB&J, so I went on a hunt for ideas and this is what I found: The Lunch Boxes and Snacks Cookbook (chalk full of colored pictures, which I like in a cookbook). So far it hasn't been a let down. The ideas are great and Gabby has been excited about her lunches, which was the whole point of getting the book.

Why I care about having creative lunches for Gabby: Well, because I remember when my mom would send jack-o-lantern sandwiches with me to school (a sandwich with a face cut out showing the orange cheese in the middle).

A Letter to Oliver

2008-09-18T22:32:00.009-06:00

Dear Oliver,

Even though you've got a receding hairline and baby acne all over your face and the back of your neck, I still think you're handsome.

Love,

Mom

Jump Rope, Carnival and No Carpet

2008-09-18T22:32:00.007-06:00

We discovered after having a few too many collisions that a living room in not the place to jump rope, particularly when the weather is so nice outside!
A happy jumping boy.
Today we enjoyed Gabby's school carnival. Our favorite activity was building and launching rockets (above, Noah helps the kids build their paper rocket)
Gabby's rocket went farther than anyone else had prior--that's what happens when you have an engineer for a dad.
And this, well I couldn't resist snapping this shot. We ordered new carpet about a month ago, but it's been on back order, scheduled to arrive this last Monday. Noah decided to take up all the carpet in preparation for the installers coming. I just got a phone call today saying they won't be installing it until next Friday. So tonight, Noah grabbed the most comfortable seat in the basement (the pink hippo chair) and watched a documentary.

Prayer Answered

2008-09-16T20:58:00.006-06:00

The answering of last night's prayer for more patience came in the form of a disposable camera that Gabby brought home from school with the assignment to photograph 2 different patterns. Sounds easy enough. So we found our patterns on 1) a piano keyboard and 2) Gabby's curtains. Mistake #1: I pulled the camera out in front of Alex (the "budding photographer"). Fast forward 5 hours. Alex is for some reason getting into Gabby's back pack. I inquire why. Alex evades the question. Mistake #2: I don't think Alex is up to any mischief--it's so unlike him. Mistake #3: Noah and I fail to notice Alex shooting away (17 pictures total--finishing off the role of film). The camera is supposed to be returned to school tomorrow so other kids can have the opportunity to capture patterns on good old fashioned film. Crap.

My question: How in the world did Alex figure out how to wind a film camera in order to take 17 pictures?

And now I'm off to the store to purchase a new disposable camera and get cash to pay for developing the film.

Noah's first blog post ever!

2008-09-15T22:12:00.011-06:00

Kaila told me I had to post about my travels last week. I've never posted a blog before so let me know if I mess up. (Am I supposed to spell a lot of words incorrectly like everyone else?)

Last week I went to Japan (twice), Singapore (twice), Indonesia, and Malaysia. Here are a few points:

I like Singapore airlines, everyone gets their own tv, 80 movies on demand, and every 20 minutes they offer you food or drinks.
This was great because I spent 38 hours last week on a Singapore plane and another 4 on a Delta plane
Tylenol PM works great, I'm not sure the Indian guy appreciated me leaning on him for 7 hours though
At the Singapore airport they have a sign that says "Welcome to Singapore, Drug possession is punished by Death"
Everything is illegal in Singapore
Singapore is clean
Singapore is not a city in China, it's a real country (the country would fit in Utah Valley with room to spare). It is also basically one city
I climbed the second highest mountain in Singapore, more than 300'!
If the metal detector beeps on you in the security line in Indonesia, the guard will just wave you on without getting up from his seat
Indonesia is one of my favorite all time places
No, I didn't see the two tall buildings in Malaysia
No, I didn't see the tsunami in Indonesia
The final bill is always twice the advertised price in Singapore
Japan is pretty much the same as it was last time I was there
Kaila has NOT been to any of the countries I went to last week
I'm glad Kaila can handle the kids for a week

A few pictures

I ate almost all of this

A common house

3rd busiest port in the world

The entire country of Singapore is under construction.

A nice place to stay

HOLY SHIP!

Tantrum

2008-09-15T10:56:00.004-06:00

Just so you can feel my pain, here's a picture of Alex throwing a tantrum (taken while miniature golfing after Alex putted his last shot and couldn't get his ball back--the tantrum escalated when I pulled out the camera, but I couldn't resist).

For more pictures, visit flickr.

Gratetful

2008-09-13T14:37:00.002-06:00

Today I'm feeling very grateful, and I just wanted to share with you why:
1. After hearing that there was a tsunami warning in Indonesia while my husband happened to be there, I'm grateful that the tsunami didn't hit (I'm also grateful for cell phones so I was able to talk to Noah--in Indonesia--and tell him not to play in any big waves).
2. I'm grateful that Noah is home and I got to plant a big kiss on his mouth the second I saw him.
3. I'm grateful that this morning when the kids woke up at 7:30 AM, Noah was there to put a movie on for them so I could sleep in a little longer.
4. I'm grateful that when Alex started throwing tantrum at Gabby's soccer game that Noah was there to escort Alex to the car for a time out.
5. I'm grateful to have an amazing husband who shares my love of traveling, who built me a house, renovated another house, who let me have a green kitchen even though he hated the color, who likes the same movies and music that I like, who is down right HOT, and who assisted in giving me 3 beautiful children (and lets face it, they're really REALLY beautiful).
6. I'm grateful NOT to be pregnant (sorry Gretchen, just 2 more weeks right?)
7. I'm grateful that I am able to fall asleep again (and get a deep sleep until I'm awakened by a starving Oliver).
8. I'm grateful that I no longer feel like I've been riding a horse for the last 9 months.
9. I'm grateful for everyone who helped me (or who offered to help, or who called to check and see how I was holding up) while Noah was away.
10. I'm grateful that my car is running and that I didn't get any flat tires while Noah was away (No, I still don't know how to change a tire despite who knows how many attempts on Noah's part to teach me).

Bubble Calendar

2008-09-11T21:52:00.003-06:00

I was looking at Designmom and found what I want for Christmas--a buble calendar, that's all.

Score!

2008-09-11T21:23:00.002-06:00

Since Noah's not here to share the bargain high I had today, I'm sharing it with the blogging world.

I've been on the hunt for a double jogger now that I've got that fun postpartum "muffin top" to get rid of yet again so I've been checking classified adds. Can I just say that double joggers are not an easy commodity to come by in Utah, but this morning the bargain Gods shined down on me. I logged onto ksl and saw the stroller pictured above (the BOB Sport Utility Stroller) for $75. To make sure I was getting a good deal, I googled it and what do you know, the retail on it is $429 new (this stroller is only 1 year old). The reviews call it the "BMW of joggers"--yeah! I phoned the seller (just two minutes after it had been posted) and left the house immediately to purchase it (on my drive to pick it up, 3 other less fortunate bargain hunters called on it).

That made me happy, as a good bargain often does. Another thing that made me very happy today was talking to Noah and realizing that because he will be gaining a day on his return trip home, he will arrive tomorrow night, not Saturday as we had originally thought! I think I shall do my hair tomorrow, and what the heck, I might even shave my legs. This has been one LONG week!

Going Solo

2008-09-08T23:02:00.006-06:00

So Noah skipped town on Friday for work and is currently enjoying the sights in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia--poor guy. All the while the kids and I are having all the fun. Here's the rundown of what we've been up to:

Alex has taken up photography and managed to get a few head shots of me after having my chest be his primary focus (like father like son eh?).
Gabby--looking striking as always (photo courtesy of Alex)
The budding photographer
Gabby kicked some serious tail at her last soccer game--scoring 2 of the 6 goals on her team, one of which was a "tricky goal" because she shot it through an opponent's legs! Way to go Gabby!
Oliver captured in a rare moment of distress (courtesy of Alex). Generally Oliver believes in keeping it simple: eat, spit up, eat some more, poop, get changed, poop again, go to sleep and repeat.

Feeling inspired by NieNie, I'm making a point to try to enjoy the small moments of motherhood more and let my kids be kids--it's not always easy.

Example 1: my first day without Noah, I ventured to target to purchase a gift for a nephew. Alex apparently was not there to shop for his cousin, but for himself--he spotted a toy jack hammer which he ardently insisted that he needed. I responded (nicely) that he could have it when he went on the toilet for 2 weeks straight. "But I need it!" I did not cave, and neither did Alex. I then got to enjoy exiting Target with a screaming child (not a soft scream, but a blood curdling scream that caused every other shopper to look in my direction as I exited the store). All the while, I'm thinking to myself, "enjoy this moment, enjoy this moment, enjoy this moment . . ." Somehow, we made it out of the store alive, but I must say the enjoyment was lacking. I then got to listen to Alex scream with as much gusto as he had in Target all the way to my mom's house (a 15 minute drive). I fear that Oliver is now deaf after sitting next to Alex on that drive. When we got to my mom's house, I yanked Alex out of the car, held his cheeks together and said sternly (with a little fire in my eyes I'm sure), "don't EVER do that again!" I then assured him that I loved him and gave him a hug (that was hard when all I really wanted to do was paddle his little behind).

Example 2: Bedtime--the dreaded hour in the Lifferth home. I know some parents find this the most endearing time of the whole day. For me and Noah though, this is what hell is--an eternity of putting the kids to bed. It generally starts out just fine but somewhere between Alex playing copycat while Gabby's reading the scriptures and Gabby pushing Alex during the prayer it goes awry. So Sunday night rolls around (day three without Noah) and I'm exhausted and want the kids to just put themselves to bed (and desperately wanting my best friend back from Singapore). When the kids started acting up, I tried with everything I had not to lose it, but I'm afraid I kind of lost it. I got mad at Gabby, who really gets the brunt of the blame since she's the oldest and we expect more out of her. I felt bad and tried to think of ways to do better. I started thinking, "it would be nice if it were February and I could send her flowers at school or heart attack her room or something" and then it occurred to me that I didn't really need to wait for February. So I gathered up some red card stock, cut up hearts and wrote messages on them (see picture above). When Gabby woke up this morning, she didn't mention the hearts until I asked her if she noticed them, to which she responded that she had. I thought maybe she didn't really care about them until after school when she started asking me if I had to take them down, "only if you want me to" Gabby then said "I like them up there." I caught her reading some of the messages to herself tonight too. Oh, and bedtime tonight was actually a good experience (not perfect, but better) and I'm chalking a lot of that up to the fact that I think Gabby believes a little more that I really do love her. So, I'm calling my September heart-attack a success and planning future love assaults for my kids (Alex was a little jealous that he didn't get any hearts in his room).

1st grade update: Gabby is doing worlds better. She no longer cries about going to school and tells me it's a lot better and that she's no longer scared. Thanks for all the prayers and advice!

Balloons for Nie Nie

2008-08-27T22:18:00.004-06:00

Saturday August 16th, Tragedy hit someone I've known for a good part of my life. I knew her as Stephanie Clark, her married name is Staphanie Nielson, the blogging world knows her as Nie Nie . She, her husband and flight instructor Doug Kinneard were in a plane crash (for the news report you can go to ksl). All three were able to get out of the plane. Doug passed away shortly after due to injuries. Currently, Stephanie and her husband Christian are in critical condition (Stephanie has burns over 80% of her body and Christian has burns over 30% of his).

Despite the major event of this last week (having a baby), I have not been able to get Stephanie off my mind. I check her update every day, I've been reading the back logs of her blog (which are truly inspirational--there's a woman who is madly in love with her husband and who adores her 4 kids and her role as their mother). It's caused me to reevaluate my own life--how can I be a better mom and a better wife?

The amazing thing about this has been the community and the blogger response. This last Saturday (3 days after delivering Oliver), I attended a balloon send-off in honor of Stephanie and Christian where people put wishes in balloons and sent them off (a Nielson birthday tradition).

Tomorrow (which officially starts in less than an hour) has been declared by Designmom (and hence the blogging world) as Nie Nie Day where numerous bloggers are holding silent auctions with the proceeds going to the Nie recovery fund. I've posted a button on my side bar where you can link to a donation site. You can also visit Nie Recovery to find out other ways of helping or to find out about the silent auctions. The family is asking for prayers and fasting, but as the medical bills will be well into the millions, all donations are welcome.

If you're feeling the need to do some good, here's one great opportunity!

Note: I've posted 3 blogs today, so to read about our newest addition Oliver, or about Gabby's first day of 1st grade, scroll down.

Gabby's first day as a First grader

2008-08-27T21:58:00.003-06:00

Gabby wakes up at the crack of dawn for the first time in her life and gets her hair done.
Meanwhile, Alex makes "Batman" with his tortilla.
After eating Gabby's favorite breakfast of scrambled eggs and sausage, we're ready to go.
Noah joined us on our walk to school
Gabby finds her desk, and I leave my daughter in the care of the school system for a full day.

Update: it has now been a week and a half and Gabby hates school (I thought it was just kindergarten, and that with a new teacher things might improve--nope, they got worse). Gabby now cries every night before going to bed because she's scared she won't be able to find her teacher after recess. We had to pick her up early last Friday when we got a call from her teacher saying that Gabby was having a hard time. I ate lunch with her on Monday and walked around with her at recess and now she would like me to do that every day. It's so hard to see Gabby go through this--I'd love to say, "okay Gabby, first grade really doesn't matter. Just stay home with me." The saddest thing is that during recess, Gabby doesn't really play with the other kids (she's usually so social, this surprised me) instead, she tags along one of the "moms" that monitors the kids while they play outside. Any ideas? Do I switch schools? Do I home school and risk that she'll become one of those socially awkward kids? Or do I just wait in hopes that things improve (this is where I'm at right now though I don't know how long I can last)?

Look what I did!

2008-08-27T21:06:00.005-06:00

The day I thought would never arrive finally did. On August 20th, we welcomed Oliver Wallace Lifferth (all 9 lbs 5 1/2 oz of him) to the world at 8:14 PM. Noah probably won't like that I'm posting a picture of Oliver when he's covered in goup, but I am in love with this picture so I'm posting it. This was taken right after my midwife handed me my HUGE baby. I was just in wonder that I'd been carrying him for the last 9 months--I don't care what anyone says, even though he's my third, the miracle of it all is still indescribable. I keep tucking him up in a ball trying to visualize exactly how he did fit in me--no wonder people thought I was expecting twins (note to readers: don't ever ask a woman if she's expecting twins, and don't ever say "you look like you're ready to have that baby any day" when she's only 7 months pregnant)!
This is my awesome midwife Cathrine who delivered Oliver and prevented me from tearing, even though I delivered a 9 lb + watermelon.
The proud and very brave dad Noah who got to witness another miracle, when he'd rather have sat in the lobby and been invited in after it was all over. Not once did he say "oooo gross"
Gabby falls in love with another brother (I think she's forgotten that at first she really wanted a sister).
"I like this baby" says Alex
We now have a family of 5--wow that sounds big!
Check out those cheeks! That was one tough head to push out-- my babies insist on coming out with beautiful ROUND heads and refuse to cone (great for pictures, bad for delivery).

The things I don't want to forget about delivering Oliver:

Helping to pull him out (I know that will probably disgust a few, but it was amazing)

My worry when the midwife said the cord was loosely around his neck.

Being handed my son for the first time and being worried because he wasn't crying and he was a little purple--after the nurse sucked out his nose and mouth though, he let us know that he had a good set of lungs.

Noah's concern that he was a little purple

The sound of his first cry and how it relaxed every nerve in my body.

The nurses all placing bets on how much he weighed after we got our first look at him (8 lbs 10 oz or under was the general consensus)

The gasp of everyone in the room when he was placed on the scale and the numbers read were 9 lbs 5.4 oz

Noah holding his second son and being so proud of his role in the whole thing (Noah liked to remind me every time I'd whine about being pregnant that when he was doing his part, he didn't complain)

Being able to watch the Olympics while he was born (we don't have TV at our house, so that was an extra bonus)

Telling Noah my new bra size when I got fitted for a new nursing bra and having him say, "can I tell the guys at work?" I said no.

Oliver's needs

2008-08-07T14:27:00.007-06:00

So Oliver (the unborn child in case you were wondering--yup it's a boy) will be here in less than two weeks and I'm getting ready. I have all the boy-appropriate newborn clothes put away in the drawers, we'll be getting new carpet hopefully before he comes home, and the crib is set up--the only problem being that I got rid of the bedding that Alex and Gabby both used when they were in the crib (the dog being primarily responsible). Solution: get new bedding. What do you know, Pottery Barn recently came out with the cutest crib set I've seen from them in a long time. I've decided to pretty much re-do Alex's room (the orange is a little bright) and basically rip off the Pottery barn room (paint and all). Luckily, I still haven't bought the bedding I was originally planning on getting Alex, so I'll get him either a baby blue bedspread that matches the blue in the crib set I'll be getting Oliver or go wild and go with orange (I do love orange in boy's rooms, but I've learned that less is more when it comes to paint).

The other thing I did in preparation of our coming addition was to buy Oliver a coming home outfit (most, if not all of his clothes will be hand-me-downs from Alex, but I like bringing my babies home in something special. The Gap, which was my first stop didn't have a great selection of newborn clothes--I wanted something comfortable and baby-like. So, I headed to Gymboree (my new favorite kid's clothes store) and came across this cute monkey themed pajama with matching hat (not to mention it really goes well with his crib set). I was sold (and so was the outfit).

So, I think we're pretty much ready--we're aiming to have this baby tomorrow on 08/08/08 and the weather at least is on our side, looking rather stormy. So if the altitude when we were camping didn't put me into labor, maybe the change in barometric pressure will.

More Updates

2008-08-07T13:53:00.003-06:00

So while there has been a whole lot to blog about, I've remained silent, partly because things have been so busy, and partly because Noah has forbidden me to blog about certain things until a future date. But here's the low down on the things I can discuss:
Pictured above is Uncle Bud's cabin, I use the word "cabin" loosely. Bud owns pretty much an entire mountain along with 5 buildings. Check out our shabby accommodations below.
Yeah. This is why I'm willing to drive 6 hours one way being 7 1/2 months pregnant at the time (by the way, my induction date is set for August 20th--less than 2 weeks away).
Noah and Alex went 4-wheeling (Noah took me for a mild ride as well)
Gabby shows off her motorcycle skills to her crippled cousin Jack
Gabby turned 6 (and starts 1st grade in just over one week). If you're worried you missed a big party, you didn't--we went pretty low key this year, giving me a valuable lesson: party or no party, the end result is the same--Gabby still turned six and had a smile on her face.
We went camping at Yuba lake with some of our favorite people--thanks for the invite Jen! We had a blast until the wind came up while we were sleeping and kept collapsing our tent. Luckily, I don't sleep much anyway, so I was able to hold the tent up a good part of the night. Over this last weekend, we went camping again with cousin Cody and his wife Ream at 10,000 feet, in hopes the elevation change would put me into labor. It didn't, but the kids did catch some fish so it wasn't a total loss.
Gabby (wearing a shirt I think I shall now retire) and her catch.
Alex, who nervously held onto the line with the flopping fish at the end, may not look nervous, the only reason being that my camera came out and he had to do his famous head tilt along with a killer smile.

Summer Update

2008-07-01T10:54:00.007-06:00

Well it's been an eventful summer to say the least, and we're not even half way through. So starting from the most recent event . . . Island Park:

We ended up bringing an old high school friend of Noah's (along with his wife and their kids)--the Lifferths all bailed, but we had a blast anyway, that is until the trip home, which will go down in infamy. . . but I'm getting ahead of myself . . .

The picture above is of Gabby and her new best friend Anna--they were inseparable through the whole weekend.

This picture was taken at Big Springs--the starting point for the Snake River.
Turns out Alex is allergic to mosquito bites--his eye nearly closed up completely. Alex would walk around with his mouth wide open just so his eye wouldn't be closed.
The main cabin.
We went off roading and played in the mountains for a bit.

Here's where the story gets interesting: This is a picture of our new car that we bought one month ago (1996 Lexus LX-450--the Lexus version of the Land Cruiser), also the car we took to the cabin. On the way home, we decided we wanted to take the scenic route through Jackson Wyoming. 10 miles out of Jackson, I notice that our car's engine temperature is in the red. We pull over, let the steam out, fill the radiator with water from a nearby river and then start our journey again. We were able to go roughly 8 miles (assuming those were down hill) before the car would over heat and we'd have to repeat the process of pulling over, filling the radiator with water, giving the car a break, and continuing on our way. It took us 5 hours to go 100 miles, and at that point we were in the middle of Wyoming where the biggest city has a population of 400. At this point, Noah called his uncle who lives 2 hours south of where we were stranded (in Lymen Wyoming). Noah's uncle offered to pick us up and tow our car to his house where we could stay the night. We tried to drive more on our own so we wouldn't have to use Noah's very gracious uncle, but at that point, our car was overheating every 5 miles and had also developed a bad shimmy. We were picked up at 10 PM and arrived in Lymen at midnight (12 hours after we had left the cabin on what should have been a 5 hour drive home). The following morning, Noah's selfless dad drove the two hours to Lymen and picked us up. Through all this, miraculously, our kids were incredibly good, and I didn't even drug them. We must have had angels in the car with us. I'll tell you though, I've now got huge respect for Mary, who rode on a donkey 9 months pregnant (I'm only 7 1/2) on her trip to Bethlehem--we were in a luxury vehicle and our accommodations that night were far better than a stable (not to mention I didn't go into labor).
This is a picture of Noah, who has removed the engine from our car and is in the process of rebuilding it. Turns out we blew the head gasket and bent a rod. On the bright side, once it's put back together, we'll virtually have a brand new engine.

On a lighter note, the pictures below are from our trip to California where we went to Lego Land, Disney Land, Grandma's house and the beach of course.

Lego Land: Noah and Alex ride on the train (Noah loved the ride, as you can see).
This is Alex (again at Lego Land) on a Go Kart track, where he caused numerous traffic jams.
This is our group: Noah, Step-brother Sam, his wife Emily, My dad, Step-mom, Step Sister Christie and their kids (I'm not in this picture--I have a policy of avoiding every picture I can when I'm pregnant).
Noah sees the Disney princesses for the first time (he's a big fan)
Gabby and Cousin Hazel on the tea cup ride
Mickey and the cousins.

Gabby catches her first wave. Noah also went surfing (not body boarding) and was able to stand up a few times. Even I couldn't resist riding in a few waves, despite my massive belly--I went for the body board, I figured 7 months pregnant is not a good time to biff it on a surf board.
Alex for the most part just enjoyed throwing rocks into the beach, although he did get knocked down a couple times when he got too close to the surf.
This is Gabby and Alex at their Great-Grandma's ranch in El Cajon (San Diego County) California (they're looking at the horses).

Calling all Lifferths!

2008-05-20T12:55:00.003-06:00

Spread the word: Noah and I have reserved my family's cabin in Island park, Idaho from June 19-22 (Thursday-Sunday) and we're again inviting all the Lifferths to join us. The cabin sleeps about 22 on beds (more can of course take the floor). We had a great time last year and hope you can make it.

Island Park top ten:

Go rafting or tubing on the snake river (a 2 minute walk from the cabin)
Go 4-wheeling or dirt biking
Go to Yellowstone (20 minutes away from the cabin)
See Wildlife
Go to Bear World on the way there or back
See Big Springs (the starting point of the Snake River)
Go hiking
Do nothing
Play Guitar Hero, and Karaoke Revolution
The cabin is free

I need to get a count so we can make meal assignments and figure out sleeping arrangements so if you'd like to come, comment with your email address so I can send you directions on how to get to the cabin along with any other information.

Old Faithful at Yellowstone pictured above

This is a picture of the main building of the cabin taken this last January. There are two other buildings on the lot: a bunk house and a "honeymoon sweet."

Pictures

2008-05-18T11:56:00.004-06:00

The picture above was taken yesterday (May 17th) at our favorite park in Orem. They always have the prettiest flowers there.
This is Alex at that same park.

As promised (though a little late), this picture and the one below were taken during our Cinco de Mayo party--thanks to the Gauses' for putting on one sweet party!
Gabby cashes out on the pinata droppings.
This picture and the one below were taken during Gabby's spring break when we went to Moab. Note to self (and others with dogs): dogs aren't aloud on the trails so next time burrito stays home.
The one down-side to the trip was that we failed to recognize that 2 adults, 2 kids and a dog do not fit comfortably in a two-man tent. I've never felt so claustrophobic! About half way through the night, I ended up sleeping outside. Needless to say, when we got our economic stimulus money, the first thing we went out and bought was a 6 man tent and two cots.
Cousins Paige and Charlotte (and their parents) came to visit for a week and we all took a trip to the zoo (the picture above is of Paige and Gabby). Alex balances on a ball at the zoo with Grandpa's help. For more pictures, visit flickr.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

2008-05-05T16:00:00.005-06:00

So one of my all time favorite days to celebrate is cinco de Mayo. I don't really know why we celebrate it, but nothing beats a party with a pinata, some good mariachi music and Mexican food! Some of our friends host the party every year--this year, we're bringing the pico de gallo and the tres leches cake (recipes below). I'll post pictures of the event tomorrow so you too can feel the spirit of Cinco de Mayo. A whole lot of Pico de gallo:

8 lb Roma tomatoes (about 20)
1/4 C garlic salt
2 oz minced garlic or to taste
juice of 4 lemons (or limes)
3 jalapenos (leave seeds in 1/2), finely chopped
1 bunch of cilantro (cut off bottoms), chopped
4 medium yellow onions, finely chopped

Seed and finely chop tomatoes. Add garlic, lemon juice, jalapenos, cilantro and onions. Serve with chips.

5 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 Cups white sugar, divided

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 cups milk

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x13 inch baking pan.
Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside. Cream butter or margarine and 1 cup of the sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla extract, beat well. Add the flour mixture to the butter or margarine mixture 2 tablespoons at a time, mix until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

Pierce cake several times with a fork. Combine the whole milk, evaporated milk, and condensed milk together. Pour over the top of the cooled cake.

Whip whipping cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup of the sugar together until thick. Spread over the top of cake. Be sure and keep cake refrigerated, enjoy!

Baklava

2008-04-01T18:14:00.005-06:00

One of my all time favorite deserts is baklava. Recently my sister and I made it for the first time and it was surprisingly easy. I found the recipe at allrecipes.com (my favorite recipe sites are: allrecipes, recipezaar--both allow you to sort recipes by rating which ensures you'll select a winner, therecipelink is also good if you're looking for copycat recipes--let me know if you're aware of any other good sites). Here's the baklava recipe:

1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough (available in the freezer section at most grocery stores)
1 pound chopped nuts (I used 1/2 lb pecans and 1/2 lb walnuts, pistachios are also a good choice)
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.

2. Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.

3. Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.

4. Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

5. Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

I'm Over Fast Food

2008-03-24T18:00:00.002-06:00

I just finished reading Fast Food Nation (Noah recommended it to me) and I don't think I'll ever look at food the same again (particularly fast food). If you haven't read it and you're a frequenter of McDonald's, Wendy's, etc. or if you have any children who participate in the school lunch program, or if you purchase your meet at grocery stores, I suggest reading it. It it really going to change how my family eats. For one, I will do everything in my power to avoid eating at fast food restaurants (with a few exceptions--gosh I wish I lived next to an In-N-Out), Gabby will be sporting a sack lunch to school starting next year, and I will only purchase free-range beef (available at health food stores or directly from ranchers--for those of you in Utah, I found a great website that tells you where your nearest free-range meet packing ranch is located here). I'm still trying to find a good place to buy chicken . . .

Has anyone else read this book and been outraged???

Oh Baby

2008-03-13T18:41:00.003-06:00

If you haven't already guessed it (or been told) . . . I'm pregnant. By the way, the above picture is not of my belly, I just thought it was cool/ creepy and thought I'd include it in my blog. I'm 17 weeks along (due at the end of August).

Weird Pregnancy: I've prided myself on being a pretty tough pregnant girl, but this pregnancy is getting the better of me. My first trimester was pretty normal, I was tired and would feel sick after I ate. The weirdness began pretty much right when my second trimester began (isn't that supposed to be the honeymoon trimester?!) Now I share this not to get pity--so no need to share condolences, my main purpose in sharing the following is to maybe get pointers from people who have had similar experiences, or to give tips to those that might encounter these problems in the future. Here's what's been going on (and why I've completely given up on blogging until now):

I went 2 solid weeks without sleep (I couldn't nap, and couldn't fall asleep at night). I see midwives and they were completely at a loss as to what was going on. I talked to nurses and OB's and no one had a clue. My midwife first had me try Unisom, which did nothing, then she wrote out a prescription for Ambien, which did nothing for my sleep but caused me to be an emotional wreck the following day. I tried warm milk, taking a hot bath before getting in bed, I even resorted to acupuncture, which also did nothing. I ended up cancelling all of my voice students because I was non-functional and in process of doing this, spoke to a mom of one of my students who lo and behold had the same problem in one of her pregnancies. She told me it was my thyroid and that I needed to get on iodine. After hearing this, I went back to my midwife and had them test my thyroid. It came back normal. I asked if I could try iodine and was told it could cause goiter in my baby and not to take any. All this time I was losing sleep and getting a little closer the edge every day. Then someone in my neighborhood told me I should try getting a vitamin B shot. So I again went to my midwife and was told that the shot would only give me more energy and wouldn't help me sleep. I called my student's mom again and told her what was going on. She then gave me the name of the doctor that had helped her with this same problem 15 years ago--he was still in practice. I immediately called the doctor and as fate would have it, someone had canceled their appointment that day so I was able to get in just hours later. Dr. Remmington (based out of Provo, Utah) sat down with me for a good half hour going over all of my symptoms. He told me my thyroid may be normal, but that the hormone receptors need iodine in order to function (if the receptors aren't working right, your thyroid is basically useless), and that certain forms of iodine are perfectly safe to take when you're pregnant. He put me on Lugol's iodine drops. Next, he had me get a vitamin B shot, informing me that sometimes the B shot can help with sleep. He also gave me a sample of Lunesta and an herbal supplement for sleep (neither of which I've taken yet). That night I didn't sleep, however the following night I did. For 4 nights straight I was able to get to sleep, but then the insomnia started up again. I saw Dr. Remmington again and was told that sometimes the B shot lasts only 4 days--they gave me another shot and again I slept. So as long as I get a B shot every 4 days, I sleep.

The second major problem I'm having is that my heart won't stop racing. My resting heart rate is consistently over 100 and I get winded doing simple things like walking up the stairs. At my last midwife appointment (yesterday), my midwife couldn't tell the difference between my heartbeat and the baby's, so I had to go in for an ultrasound. All is well with the baby, thank goodness, despite all this craziness. It's possible that my iron levels are low, which can cause your heart to race, so I had my blood drawn and I'm waiting to hear the results. My midwife also referred me to a cardiologist, just to be on the safe side.

Today I'm feeling pretty good. I had a good sleep last night, and I'm feeling like I'm finally getting on the right track to getting these issues solved. Noah's been amazing through all this and is continually cleaning up the house, or taking the kids so I can rest to mention a few things. I'm also feeling really grateful for good insurance now that I have three doctors taking me on.

Has anyone else had any of these things happen during pregnancy???

Alex's Room

2007-12-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

So my mind hasn't really been on blogging lately. Noah had the laptop for two weeks on a business trip which really stunted my writing, but on top of that, the holidays just equal craziness in my life (craziness that I don't necessarily mind).

During my blogging break, I painted Alex's room (I'm doing a skateboard theme, yeah I know he's only two but this kid loves skateboards), so I'm going to share some of my inspiration, though I won't post the actual room until I'm satisfied.

The main inspiration came from the magazine Domino, which I subscribe to and the room included which is pictured above. The walls are painted with Benjamin Moore Calypso orange and Providence Olive. I even purchased the lantern (which really makes the room) at Ikea for a mere $7. When I finished painting, Noah was a little worried about how vibrant Alex's room was (it is very bright, especially for such a small room but when I'm finished, I think it will be really cute).

Currently Alex still sleeps in his crib, but we'll be moving him up to a bed before too long (Ikea has a simple white bed similar to the one above with drawers for $179 that I've got my eye on)
As far as bedding goes, I love the camo duvet cover above (available at PB Teen) that will really bring out the khaki color on his wall, and lessen the orange.
Another thing I'm going to be doing to tame down the walls a bit (and make them a little more geared towards Alex) is paint skateboarder silhouettes, like the one pictured above, on one wall (I'll be painting 3 silhouettes, with the center one just slightly bigger than the other two, it being directly above Alex's future bed). To do this, I'll be enlarging the pictures with a projector (courtesy of Santa), outlining them with a pencil and then carefully painting them in white.
I love these skateboard shelves (available at PB Teen, though I'll probably just be making them myself and save roughly $45 each)
I'd love to put this bed-side table in the room (available in orange, also at PB Teen), but alas at $250, something truly dramatic would have to happen with our budget in order for us to spend that kind of money.
To top the room off, I'm going to have a couple pictures of Alex (on a skateboard) put on a canvas (you can send pictures into Pottery Barn Kids, however I'm sure I can find a less expensive alternative--I'll keep you posted).

Halloween pictures and Christmas Preview

2007-11-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

I now get all of my kid's pictures taken at Target. They recently switched to a hand-held SLR camera and the pictures are fantastic, not to mention affordable ($3.99 with a coupon per sheet for color pictures, $15 for specialty pictures like black and white or sepia)

This is a great shot to show off the dress I made for my little princess

I love this shot with Gabby looking at the details in her dress (those took a long time)!
This is our little cowboy Alex (I managed to get him to wear the whole getup by bribing him with chocolate--see his left hand)
While we were there (and since Gabby's hair was all done), I had them get the kid's Christmas pictures as well.
I love the simple portraits--without the crazy backdrops and props. Less is more when it comes to kid's pictures, at least for me. I'm a big fan of the black backdrop.
This picture just captures Gabby and Alex's relationship.
This is the picture we'll be including in our Christmas card this year. I'm trying to be on top of things and actually purchased the cards last month from Downeast Home (the cards are originally from Gumps). For more pictures, visit flickr.

Little Black Dress and More

2007-11-01T14:02:00.000-06:00

I was browsing on Designmom today and came across the new launch on her site, "marketplace" where vendors give discounts to designmom readers. Anyway, one of those vendors is shabby Apple--super sleek styles that cover you (we can't all have plunging necklines, some of us have stretch marks). Currently, they're giving 10% off your next purchase (until January 1st 2008) if you're a designmom reader and their prices are pretty reasonable to start out with. The dress pictured above is $96 ($87 with the discount).
This is another dress I'm quite fond of that I could wear while teaching voice and it's only $62 ($56 with the discount) and what do you know, we're now in my birthday month!

Anastasia and Alex-The-Kid

2007-11-01T13:32:00.000-06:00

Halloween is over and I'm pretty sure it was a memorable one for my kids (at least Gabby, Alex cared about one thing and one thing only--candy).

We started the day out at Target where I got the kid's pictures taken (I'm milking that Anastasia dress for everything it's worth after all the effort I put in it). Following pictures, we rushed Gabby to school, at 1:15 she was in her school parade. After school was out, we went and saw Aunt Bridgette (below) who works at American Family Insurance.

We probably could have ended the whole event after our visit to Bridgett's work. Note to self: insurance agencies have LOADS of candy, regardless of holidays and are very willing to dump their load on your kids.
Following the successful stop at American Family Insurance, we made our way to the mall for indoor trick-or-treating (I've taken Gabby there just about every year since she was born because it's warm, and there are so many kids which makes it really fun).

We then visited Grandma Maggie, following which we hit our neighborhood streets. Noah took the kids out first and hit the jack pot by jumping in on another ward's (not ours) trunk-or-treats.

When the evening came to a close, the kids were unable to fit all of their candy in our largest pot. I had Noah take it to work today and only leave a few items for the kids so they wouldn't go into sugar shock.

Survived Another One

2007-10-30T22:11:00.000-06:00

I didn't get a whole lot of pictures from the party (we had 14 kids show up, that probably has something to do with it--how on earth do you keep parties a secret from the entire neighborhood?!) Overall, I'd say it went pretty well. It was awfully chaotic, but what kid's party isn't? My mom reminded me of my own 6th grade birthday party where I invited my entire 6th grade class (30 some odd kids in one modest house), which right there makes my mom a candidate for canonization.
This has to be my favorite picture from the party. Note to self: tie ribbons from the tree (or swing set) before the kids arrive. It's no easy task to do it with 13 eager kids waiting for their turn.
Kids everywhere--I nearly lost my head (and forgot a few essential things, such as plates, napkins, the apple and orange slices, the carrot sticks, and giving the kids a glass of milk to go with their cupcake--all of which I had, just forgot to pull them out).

What I would change: I would go with about 6, maybe 7 kids next time (stick with either the neighborhood friends or the school friends--not both). On top of the chaos, the games (we did the "guess who's the ghost" game and the cotton ball relay race ) were nearly impossible because of the limited space and the kids not all being familiar with each other.

What went well: I think the kids had fun and it was a good memory for Gabby. Decorating the cupcakes was a success (they didn't all turn out like the pictures in the Martha Stewart magazine but what kid is going to stick to a template when there are bowls of different candy lying around)? The party favor pumpkins turned out really cute and were super easy. I put a homemade carmel popcorn ball in each which filled the bag, but were easy on my budget. Overall I spent about $30 on the entire party--not bad!

By the way, Gabby's costume turned out so well! You got a hint of it in this blog, but I'll do a whole post on it tomorrow when her hair is done up.

More on the Halloween Party

2007-10-18T09:32:00.000-06:00

I need to get a picture of the mummy invitation that I mentioned earlier. The one pictured above seems easy enough (I'm all about easy after the baby shower) and very kid friendly, after all, this is a kid party.

As far as what to do . . . I like to start kid's parties off with a craft (keeps them quiet and they can work on it as the other kids trickle in). I'm thinking play dough creatures would be a fun, unisex activity (and it would be in line with my budget if I make the play dough myself).

After all the kids finish their creature, we'll do a cotton ball relay race where the kids are in 2 groups and race to transport cotton balls ("ghosts") from one bucket to another using a spoon.

And then it's on to the donut on a string game (or bobbing for apples--is that sanitary?) where I'll hang donuts on a tree by a string and have the kids eat them without using their hands (this is one my mom did at my birthday parties and it was always a favorite). I'll probably use mini-donuts to avoid an immediate sugar high (Gabby is quite sugar sensitive).

Following the donut game, we'll have the snacks I mentioned in a previous blog along with apples slices, oranges and carrot sticks.

If I have time, we'll do "pin the hat on the witch" or something like that.

I still haven't decided exactly what to put in the party favor bags, but I'm thinking along the lines of a craft to do at home, a glow stick, and maybe one treat. I'm planning on having the party last 1 1/2 hours.

This Season's Must Haves

2007-10-11T15:34:00.000-06:00

I was glancing at designmom today when I came across this fantastic website with sleek jackets and I stumbled upon the new items which I must have . . . are these not the coolest coats (I know I should choose one, but can't a girl have two coats--plus the ones she already has)? for $113, the houndstooth jacket, and for $83 the belted jacket are yours (or mine). I've already emailed Noah and reminded him that my birthday, anniversary and Thanksgiving (which I believe merits a gift) are all falling in the same week next month. The website with this jacket and more covetous ones can be found here.

Halloween 2007

2007-10-01T14:09:00.001-06:00

For some reason or other, I get really into Halloween. This year, I think I'm going to have a kid's Halloween party (since Gabby has a summer birthday, it's great way to meet her school friends).

Jen showed me the cutest invites (I'll get a picture of them and post some time) where you wrap the envelope in gauze, and hot glue two eyes and a little spider to it, thus creating a mummy. The insert was really cute too.

As we all know, Martha Stewart is the queen of Halloween. I recently purchased her Halloween magazine and found all sorts of cute ideas. Last year, we made the alien cupcakes--they turned out really well. I think this year, I'm going to try the mummy cupcakes for the party (to go along with the invites of course)

And of course there must be ice cream right? Directions for the jack-o-lantern oranges are here.
These pumpkin treat bags are another idea from the great Martha Stewart that I'll probably use for the party favors--love it! Of course, I don't know that I want to give out candy in the bags (there's a little too much of that going around on Halloween anyway, who needs more). I'm thinking maybe a popcorn ball, or pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (those aren't too sugary). any ideas?

This year, Gabby has decided to be Anastasia, so yesterday we went out and purchased a pattern (Simplicity #9902) and are using the sleeping beauty pattern, but we're altering a few things so it ends up looking like the dress in the picture above (I might have bit on more than I can chew on this one). For the record, I'm saving no money making the costume myself--fabric alone was $25 (and it was 40% off) and the pattern was an additional $8 (regularly $13). You do the math!

Good Reads

2007-09-27T22:34:00.000-06:00

Adrea sent me a link to this awesome website called Goodreads. I've even got Noah hooked on this website--it's a great way to see what you're friends are reading, and what they like or didn't like. Check it out.

A New Blog for Waistline Watchers

2007-09-27T22:13:00.000-06:00

So since 2 blogs isn't enough for me to do, I've decided to add a third (and because I'm so good at keeping this one current). I didn't want this blog to become a weight loss blog and nothing more, so I now have a blog that is strictly about what I'm doing to lose the pounds, so if you're in the same boat, check it out at http://www.shrinkers.blogspot.com/

Meal Plan

2007-09-25T13:19:00.000-06:00

Tuesday
Breakfast: smoothie, makes one serving (5 points)

1/2 C frozen raspberries
1 small banana, peeled
2/3 unsweetened pineapple juice, chilled
1/2 C ice
2 Tbsp low-fat plain yogurt
3 tsp wheat germ
1 tsp honey

Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Pour and serve immediately.

Lunch: 2 bread sticks at Chuck E. Cheese (4 points each--yikes)!

Dinner: Taco Soup (6 points in 1 cup)

1 lb hamburger
1 onion
1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can of corn
2 14.5 oz cans red kidney beans
1 14.5 oz can tomato sauce
1 pkg taco seasoning

Brown meat and onion. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes. Top with grated cheese, fresh tomatoes, shredded lettuce, sour cream and tortilla chips or Frito's (none of which are accounted for in the points).

Weight Watchers

2007-09-24T13:43:00.000-06:00

So I finally threw my hands up in the air after being unsuccessful in trying to lose my Alex weight on my own--it's hard when you're not spending those extra calories nursing! After talking with one of my friends in my neighborhood who lost her baby fat at Weight Watchers (and witnessing many other people losing weight there), I joined. Tomorrow will be my two week bench mark. In the first week, I lost 5.8 lbs, so there's something to this!

Disclaimer: the picture above is not me--should I admit that???

I'm going to start posting my meal plans, mainly so I get it done, but also to help anyone else who is in the same boat.

I'm on the points program so I can eat anything I want, I just have to account for it. Weight Watchers also has a Core program where you don't have to write everything down you eat, you just limit your foods to a list they provide.

My personal points goal for each day is 24 (plus you get an optional weekly points allowance of 35). It's probably copyright infringement if I go into the details of how you figure out your points allowance, so just joint Weight Watchers to figure it out--to join there's a $30-something fee, and then each week is $9- $12, so it's quite affordable. I looked into LA Weight loss a year or so ago and I think it was roughly 7 times the cost of Weight Watchers.

To figure out the point value, you're given a slide ruler card where you line up the calories, fiber and fat grams and then are given a point value. It makes it really easy if you're eating from a box, but gets a little trickier if you home cook most of your food (which I do). If you're eating out, try to look up the nutrition beforehand so you don't go overboard (most restaurants and fast food joints put the nutrition online). For those of you who home cook, I found a great website that calculates the nutrition from the recipe you enter at about.com:health.

Meal Plan:
Monday
Dinner: Soup in a Pumpkin, makes 11 cups (5 points in 1 cup)

1 well shaped pumpkin, about 12 lbs
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 C celery
1 C carrots
1 onion
3 cans cream of mushroom soup
3 C milk
1/2 lb cheddar cheese
garnish with fresh parsley
croutons (not accounted for in points)

Cut out top of pumpkin, clean out seeds, rinse and drain. Place pumpkin without lid on a cookie sheet at bake at 350 degrees for 1-1 1/2 hours or until tender.

Sauté mushrooms, , celery, carrots, and onion until tender. Add cream of mushroom soup and milk. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add cheddar cheese just before serving.

Place pumpkin on a serving platter, pour soup into the pumpkin. To serve, scrape tender part of the pumpkin in the soup and top with freshly ground pepper, croutons and parsley.

Kindergarten

2007-08-28T14:19:00.001-06:00

Gabby started kindergarten today so I thought I'd do a little ode to motherhood going too fast.

I was relieved that I got a good night's sleep last night, because Sunday night I hardly slept at all in anticipation of today--not because I knew I would miss Gabby for the 3 hours she'll be gone every day now, but because suddenly all I could think of was "we need to get Gabby one of those GPS tracking phones," so I know where she is every minute she's away (we're now looking into one).

My little girl is growing up. Gabby woke up this morning and told me exactly how she wanted her hair done. After getting plastering it to her head, Gabby practiced the piano and we made our way to piano lessons (which Gabby started last week and absolutely loved).
After piano, we met Noah at Wendy's (Gabby's choice) for her pre-kindergarten lunch.
This is Gabby in her classroom. She was so at ease--I didn't want to leave but she kept acting like she didn't need me there. Gabby found her desk, sat down and looked on (rather annoyed) as I shot picture after picture. I didn't lose it until we were out of the classroom (I was grateful for my sunglasses), but once we were gone, the tears started to fall--everyone tells me that once your kids are in school the years go by even faster, but they're already going too fast!

Now I'm home, Alex is asleep and my house has never been so quiet (I don't like it quite as much as I thought I would).

The Baby Shower

2007-08-21T09:39:00.001-06:00

The baby shower is over--hallelujah! Here's a summary of how it turned out:

This is the invitation. My father-in-law did the cute illustration of the baby and they turned out really well I thought.
Last minute, we decided to make creme brulee french toast (instead of quiche) and it was a hit! We were first introduced to this recipe during our 4th of July celebration we had at Noah's Uncle Bud's cabin. It is super easy, all preparation is done the night before (all you do is bake it the morning you intend on using it), and it's so tasty! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
6 (1 inch thick) slices French bread
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon brandy-based orange liqueur (Grand Marnier or orange juice)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Mix in brown sugar and corn syrup, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Remove crusts from bread, and arrange in the baking dish in a single layer. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla extract, orange brandy, and salt. Pour over the bread. 3. Cover, and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove the dish from the refrigerator, and bring to room temperature.
5. Bake uncovered 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until puffed and lightly browned.

We topped the french toast with sliced fresh strawberries (no need to add sugar), and sliced almonds.

My sister-in-laws made these booties (which are a royal pain in the neck to make) for our party favors. They turned out great! We filled each bootie with Hershey kisses wrapped in toole. The pattern for these is below. Here's how to do it: We printed the pattern out on 8 1/2 x 13 card stock, folded them using a bone folder so the creases were well defined, punched small holes for the laces, glued them together with a hot glue gun, laced them up with thin ribbon, and used a make-up sponge to antique them with dark brown ink.

We had the shower in my backyard. under the only tree that provided shade.
This was the table. We served our guests the french toast and orange juice/ water, then they dished themselves the fruit, bagels, and cream cheese. I finally got to use my table cloth I got for my wedding 7 years ago and found a plastic cover for it at Wal Mart in the fabric section of all places (you don't want to spill creme brulee carmel on your best table cloth). We bought the flowers at Costco. Rather than play stupid games, we just visited at ate. Things turned out really well.

What I've been Reading

2007-08-10T12:03:00.000-06:00

Like I said in my last blog--this summer (well, July and some of August) I have filled just about all of my spare time with reading (not blogging), so I thought I'd share with you the books I've read just in case anyone's interested.

I of course read Bonds that Make us Free (July's book of the month), which again everyone should read. It was absolutely incredible. Just out of curiosity, has anyone else finished it yet?

I read Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour, which Bruce recomended to me. I wouldn't call it a fast read, but I found it completely fascinating. It goes into the details of the unrest in the middle East while following its author, Chacour (the first Palestinian to earn a degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem who believes that Jews and Palestinians can live in peace), as child through adulthood.

Next, I found Khaled Hosseini's latest book, A Thousand Splendid Suns at Costco and had to buy it after what Wendy said about it being better than The Kite Runner (is that possible?). It was again another book I could not put down. Up until reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, I had never cried while reading a book, but this book broke me--it was absolutely heart wrenching, possibly more so than The Kite Runner. The book goes through the lives of two women whose paths start out very differently but become entangled by circumstance. It is not a feel good kind of book, however it had a profound affect on me--when Noah and I lived in China (2001), we bordered Afghanistan during the time that a portion of this book was written and I was completely oblivious to what was happening so close, and to how different my life was in comparison to the women I neighbored. It sure made me re-examine a few things. It was a brilliant book, though I still prefer The Kite Runner, however I am so glad I read it.

After A Thousand Splendid Suns, I took a bit of a break from the life-changing novel and read some fun no-brainers:

Harry Potter VII: Just because: who didn't. It was fun, filled a lot of the gaps that some of the previous Potter books hadn't and it brought into question for me--why are these books such a big deal? I mean, don't get me wrong, they're fun and J.K. Rowling got a whole lot of kids reading, but what is it about this story that made it a world-wide sensation? It's honestly beyond me.

Twilight: this is the part of my summer reading that I'm honestly embarrassed by. After a bunch of people told me that I had to read it, I picked it up (again at Costco). The premise is that a girl falls in love with a vampire (I know, I know, I go from reading Khaled Hosseini's brilliant novels to a mild harlequin romance novel). To be quite honest though, I was hooked! I am quite the sap apparently but I could not (and did not--ask Noah) put it down until I had read it and bought the next book in the series, New Moon (which I also couldn't put down and stayed up till 5 AM to finish). Apparently these books are quite the national sensation (the author, Stephanie Meyer, who graduated from BYU, was interviewed by Good Morning America, will be featured in People Magazine, the books are #1 national best sellers and Twilight is in discussion to become a movie). You can download excerpts here to see if you're as much as a sap as I was. The third book of the series came out just last Wednesday, Eclipse (finished that one in a day as well), and every book store in Utah Valley (but BYU--thank goodness) sold out in the first half hour. At Barns and Noble, they had even sold books that had been reserved for months (there were a lot of unhappy people). So, if you're up for a supernatural love story that will not make you a better person, but will keep you entertained (and slightly on edge), look no further.

Hello Again

2007-08-09T10:26:00.001-06:00

We've had one crazy summer so far and I've pretty much occupied every spare second I've had with reading, as opposed to blogging (sorry). Here's an update: we went to Noah's uncle Bud's ranch / resort for the 4th of July.
This is a picture of Gabby and Alex with their cousins, Paige and Charlotte taken at Bud's "gold mine".
This is Uncle Bud's train (plans are in the works to build a railroad that circles part of the property).
Gabby had her 5th birthday--she changed her mind about the whole pirate party thing when Jacob got on her bad side by playing with other kids when school got out. Instead, she went for a princess party just so he wouldn't come (she's a bit spiteful for a five-year-old).

I made my first fancy cake--yes it's supposed to be tilted-- (I got the recipe and instructions from the Whimsical Bakehouse Cookbook--highly recommend it)
We had quite the party (Gabby had about 8 friends, and an additional 4 girls from mine and Noah's Sunday school class that came to help out). Yes I know the rule that suggests you invite however many kids that your child is old (5 in Gabby's case), but with all the kids in our neighborhood, how do you avoid hurting feelings? I thought this picture was so cute of Gabby opening her present--she had quite the day! for more pictures, visit flickr.

Yellowstone and Bears, My oh My

2007-06-27T09:09:00.000-06:00

Noah throws up (or sneezes) Old Faithful
A herd of elk were hanging out at the village in Yellowstone--pretty cool!

Alex says "Hello" to the goat in the window at the Bear World Petting zoo
This pig liked to be scratched and would squeal when you hit the right spot.
In the Bear World disclaimer, they warn you that they're not responsible for damage done to tires or cars--Rather than cause apprehension, Noah became hopeful, and would have gladly purchased a new $30 tire in order to see a bear rip ours apart.

Can you Guess Where Noah Fertilized?

2007-06-27T09:00:00.000-06:00

Noah recently fertilized our lawn with a bag of fertilizer he picked up from his Grandmother's house. A few days later, we had these lovely stripes in our yard. Does anyone know where to find Summerizer fertilizer so we can un-zebrafy our lawn?

Now if only we'd written "Lifferth Rocks" or something, but stripes? C'mon!

Thanks Design Mom!!!

2007-06-25T21:43:00.000-06:00

In case any of you missed the comments a few blogs back, I won an awesome designmom giveaway! By the way, if you still haven't checked out designmom or sk*rt, you're totally missing out!

So back to the giveaway: Alex got this way cute shirt (I've already had complete strangers ask where I got it--totally cute cut, simple design, great color and fabric)!
I won this belt for Gabby--so cute!
I also won this three-tiered felt cake. Now I admit I was a bit skeptical about how fun decorating a felt cake would be (I knew the kids would be excited, but thought it would only last a few minutes and then they'd move onto a different, more generic toy). I was wrong. Even Alex my two-year-old totally loves decorating this cake--whenever I want him to stop hitting his sister, spitting his milk out at people, or knocking things down, I say, "hey Alex, go get the cake." And he stops what ever havoc he's creating and he and Gabby enjoy a quiet activity together. Hallelujah! Thank you Designmom and Twinkle-kids!

Utah Parade of Homes

2007-06-25T17:07:00.000-06:00

Last month I went around to the Parade of Homes in Utah Valley. These pictures are some of the highlights (I'm finally getting around to blogging about it).
I love the glass in the door frame (and the blue was nice--might try that color in my bedroom, it's Jet stream from Shirwin Williams)

My 5-year-old, Gabby just about flipped when she saw this pink bed, super cute! And I now know what I'm getting her for her birth day in July--on the bedside table is a little fairy tree-house from Toy's R Us for $59, or at Amazon for $47.24 (I think I'll go with Amazon).
Love, love, love this room! The green is "Pansy green" from Shirwin Williams. Also love the shelf with the decorative china, and the cute bedding (Pottery Barn?). Maybe Gabby will get sick of pink and I can do something like this with her room.

This light was so cool--I've never seen anything quite like it. It's available at Z gallery for a mere $150 (yikes). If you haven't checked out Z gallery, it's a great site, especially if you're rolling in money.
What's sweeter than a nursery in a turret with clouds painted on the ceiling and a chandelier hanging over the crib. Note to self: get a turret.
I thought this was an innovative idea--make a bunk bed into a club-house with a trap door (probably not up to fire code, but safety should come second to creativity right?)

Hanging the sheer fabric in this way really makes this room look bigger than it is, cute!
Also loved this bench with the upholstered picture holder above it. Great way to fill an empty wall!
This was probably my favorite idea from this year's Parade of Homes--check out the towel rack above the toilet--yup it's two skateboards. You can bet I'll be using that in Alex's room (who knows if he'll ever have his own personal bathroom). Plus, I just love those colors for a boy.

One of the Most Life Changing Books I have EVER read!

2007-06-20T23:19:00.001-06:00

I started reading this book last week and have been completely blown over by it! It honestly may have changed my life. Every couple should read this, everyone who thinks they're a victim of their circumstance should read this, everyone who thinks they are incapable of change should read this. Seriously, EVERYONE should read this!

So the book of the month for July is C. Terry Warner's Bonds that Make us Free. It is available on Amazon, or at any major bookstore. Read it, you'll be so glad you did!

Kaila's got a new blog

2007-06-11T10:37:00.001-06:00

My step-brother, Sam, recommended starting a voice studio blog to be linked to my webpage so prospective students could get a sense of the type of teacher I am, and my current students get get regular updates and images to go along with concepts they're learning during lesson time. I've now posted a few things on my new blog (no worries, factotum will remain up and running--my new blog is strictly business, factotum is my anything goes blog so I don't want to give that up).

Sk*rt's Official Launch

2007-06-11T10:28:00.001-06:00

My Aunt Gabriell (a.k.a. the design mom), along with two other top bloggers, launch their new website last week. If you haven't heard of digg, you're so not with it, but here's what it is in a nutshell: basically anyone who registers with digg can post an online link to an article, video or whatever. People vote on them by clicking on "digg it" and the top hits (or the most popular) make it to the first page. Digg is mostly geared toward men, so Gabrielle and these two other bloggers came up with sk*rt. Go check it out, it's pretty awesome!

Another Day, Another Party to Plan

2007-06-06T20:38:00.000-06:00

While I'm still in the process of planning the baby shower for my sister-in-law, Julene, I've got Gabby's 5th birthday party to plan (Alex is also having a birthday but since he's only turning two I'm not bothering with a party).

Party Theme: Since Gabby has discovered that boys are twice the fun as girls (well, some girls still ranks up there with the boys but they're the exception), we're doing a Pirate party to accommodate her boy-friends.

Invitations: I was so inspired by the lemon head baby-shower invitations featured on Oh Happy Day it got me thinking about cute, unconventional invites for Gabby's party. So here's what I'm thinking--a message in a bottle. I'll put a little sand and sea shells in the bottle, along with a pirate map-style invitation (the one pictured is from Miracle Munchkins--although I want my invitations burned at the edges and kind of antiqued), top the bottle off with a cork and you've got yourself a can't-miss party.

What to do: my good friend Mirjam had a great idea when she did her son's birthday party by having them go on an elaborate treasure hunt where they got clues from neighbors and even a near by police station--how cool is that! While on the "treasure" hunt, the kids had to perform different tasks such as playing a soccer game. The treasure ended up being in a neighbor's backyard that the kids had to dig up. Check out her blog, she recently did the cutest Fairy tea party for her daughter Anouk--It made me wish we weren't inviting boys to Gabby's party.

I know the Oriental Trading Company tends to have mostly junk, but their party stuff is actually quite fun--and inexpensive. I love having crafts at my kid's parties, mostly just to fill up time so decorating pirate hats would be great ($9.95 for 12).

As for what to eat--what do pirates eat anyway? coconuts and whiskey? I might have to forgo the whiskey and settle on cake and ice cream with a tropical fruit tray or something. Ideas would be great!

After the pirate hat decorating, the treasure hunt, the eating of cake and opening presents, I might just pull out a slip-and-slide and have the kids "slide the plank." I'm also open to suggestions in the activity arena (nothing too elaborate)

Party favors: Oriental Trading Company also has little treasure chests ($12.95 for 12, which, again ain't bad). I'll probably put a little bag of those chocolate coins with the nasty chocolate inside (kid's don't care--it's a temporary sugar high to them) and call it good.

The Kite Runner

2007-06-01T10:21:00.001-06:00

Finally, the long awaited discussion on The Kite Runner! I must say, for weeks after reading it, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I tried picking up other books but they all seemed bland to me after reading such a well crafted novel. I read the book in a total of about 2 days (Noah was a single parent during that time--sorry Noah).

So what makes it so great? I acknowledge that it's not exactly a feel-good kind of book (although I love the redemption of the main character at the end), it has some rather graphic imagery and some difficult subjects. However, you can't help but become captured by the characters, scenery (much of which brought me back to the portion of China where Noah and I lived shortly after getting married--we bordered Afghanistan) and the themes (friendship, betrayal, lies, escape, and finally redemption).

Do you who have read the book agree that it was an incredible book, or did you hate it?

Being a Super Shopper

2007-05-14T13:18:00.000-06:00

Today I'm finishing the shopping secrets I have discovered as a result of being a "starving student" for all of 7 years.

First off: a word on yard sales. I used to be so against them, thinking that all you could buy was junk. I have since learned some tricks of the trade.

1. Even in Utah you can find some great deals--like authentic Dooney and Bourke purses (I bought a funky red one that looked brand new that I love for $30--new they're $250-$300). You can also find great handbags (including Dooney and Bourke) at T.J. Maxx, but stick to the clearance section for the best deals.

2. Find descriptions of yard sales at craigslist or a local newspaper (ksl for Utah is great)--these are also great when you're looking for a particular item to purchase (boats, pianos, and everything else--just be sure to barter with the seller by cutting the price so low it's almost insulting)!

3. There are some great tools out there to find the optimal yard sale neighborhoods without driving all around (rich ones of course). Check out zillow (also a great tool when you're buying a house to scope out neighborhoods).

Some other great stores in Utah are NPS (a very hit-and-miss store, but usually hit). This is the place they send things when they fall off of UPS and FedEx trucks (or get lost en route). You can buy groceries (nearly expired), shoes, wedding dresses, Ann Taylor clothes, and most recently I bought a $3000 treadmill for $300 (it has a small crack in the front end but it works great!) NPS has two buildings, an everything building and an industrial building (that's where the best deals are). When you go here, take a cell phone with Internet capabilities to make sure you're getting good deals, sometimes their prices are way over what they should be, but on the other hand, some times they're way under.

Other Utah stores we've liked are the RC Willey clearance center (if you're on the clearance side, tell the sales person you'd like 10% off and you'll get it)--all our stainless appliances are from RC Willey clearance or the Maytag clearance store.

The Vocal School Graduates

2007-05-10T12:20:00.000-06:00

I've completely revamped my website (and gave my studio a whole new name entirely). "The Vocal School" (which you'll notice no long exists) ended up sounding too lofty for just being an in-home studio so I ended up going with "Timpanogos Vocal Studio" which I am liking much more. This time around, I didn't use Microsoft Office Live for various reasons including the following: you have to choose one of their templates (which is great for beginners but I wanted something a little more professional), and it's only free during the "beta period" what ever that means--I was never charged but I didn't want to be taken for a ride later on. Instead, I went with godaddy.com which I pay for ($4 a month). I designed my website using NVU which is free and then I got a free web template from Interspire. The pictures are from Stockxpert, which I puchased for $1 each (so I'm legal). I am no computer whiz, but somehow I managed doing it almost entirely on my own (Noah did help me get out of a few ruts). So if you've been looking at designing your own web page, it's not so bad.

More on Where to Shop

2007-05-08T15:32:00.000-06:00

disclaimer: I know appearance isn't everything; however, I do like dressing my kids in nice clothes (I'm still working on giving my wardrobe a much needed lift but it of course comes second to my kids, as does everything).

So where do I shop for cute, high quality clothes and still feel like I'm getting good deals? Gap clearance, and recently Gymboree clearance as their clearance selection and pricing has greatly improved. The thing with both of these stores is that at full price you end up paying way too much (for me at least), but wait a few Weeks and the clothes will most definitely make their way to the clearance isles; granted you might miss out on getting the coordinated hat, shirt, skirt and underwear, but at least you can still sleep at night. The Children's Place is also fantastic for deals, but stick with their Spring and Fall collections (the designers change seasonally and the Spring and Fall designers are the best).

For my own clothes, I again love T.J. Maxx and Ross, however when I really want something nice, I'll go to Ann Taylor--now they have some awesome sale racks! I was there just a few weeks ago and just about went crazy when I saw all the winter clothes marked down (some of which you can totally wear in spring). Lesson: by clothes off season--especially kids, that's where the good deals are.

Where to Shop

2007-05-07T16:16:00.000-06:00

I am one avid bargain shopper--but not the kind that will settle for junk to save a few bucks. I am of the mind set that if there's something I can't currently afford, I'd rather have nothing until I can afford the very thing I want. Example: my living room is rather sparse right now and is lacking a coffee table/ ottoman and a console table--for which I already have the lamps. Now here's the thing--I had an end table and coffee table but moved them to my basement living room because they don't really go with my decor anymore, but I'd rather go without than go with something I don't feel looks fantastic. I'm now saving up until I can go out an purchase a nice black ottoman and a black console table (I don't think furnishing are ever worth going in debt for so that's out of the question and don't even get me started on renting furniture--blah)!

I would venture to say that I have relatively expensive taste, however I can never justify spending unreasonable amounts of money for items that will surely go out of style within a year or two (I'm quite certain Noah would back me up on this one). So how do I go about getting high quality products at super deals? I learned how and where to shop (there are some benefits to having little or no money for a space of time).

If you like name brands and you don't mind sifting through some junk, I highly recommend Ross, T.J. Maxx, and Burlington Coat Factory you can always find Ralph Lauren products at a fraction of the price at Ross and TJ Maxx, fun home accessories at Burlington Coat factory (in addition to coats and average priced baby furniture and supplies). I recently bought a pair of authentic Gucci sunglasses at Ross for $30 (more than I usually spend on sunglasses, but I have a hard time turning down a deal like that when the original price is $200). I bought Gabby a pair of Ecco shoes for $15 (regular price: $65)--I tend to buy all shoes at the above listed stores, because for the same price of Payless shoes, I can get nice shoes that will last (that alone makes it an even better deal than paying slightly less for cheaply made products). Toys are another thing that you can always find Ross and T.J. Maxx (some at Burlington)--they often times carry specialty toys you can only buy from certified toy stores such as Red Balloon, but again it's hit and miss (but usually hit).

I'll continue this conversation tomorrow--feel free to leave your comments of where you bargain shop.

My Almost-Finished Kitchen

2007-04-20T09:19:00.000-06:00

I wish I had pictures of the "before," but Noah recently dumped our computer and I don't know where the back-up disk is but here's a summary of what we had prior to taking these pictures: where the island is, a wall once was (no cabinets on it, just a totally non-functional wall that made the kitchen and living room look small), the cabinets were a 1980's oak that were falling apart and the walls were papered in a country/ fruit & flower theme (not my favorite--that was the first thing to go). By the way, what do you think about the green walls? Noah still needs to get used to them.

The cabinets are in knotty alder, which I love but didn't think we could afford. Home Depot originally quoted us at $6000 for oak and maple. We ended up going through a Utah-based company for $2000 less with the Alder. Thanks Jeff!

We still need to get the stainless hood vent for above our stove (see picture below). Noah's thinking he can make it and save us a few hundred dollars, I however am a bit skeptical.

this is a more updated picture, only now we've put the crown molding up on the cabinets. As you can see, it's not quite finished.
This is a view from the living room. We'll be paining the entry high-gloss white some day (we're a little burned out right now).

The Vocal School

2007-04-17T11:32:00.000-06:00

I've recently created my own web page for my voice studio (one of the reasons I've been a lazy blogger). I created it with Microsoft Office Live, and at least for the time being, It's free. I really know very little about creating websites, and the beauty of Office Live is that you really don't need any know how. So go check it out at www.thevocalschool.com

Fool Proofing the Baby Shower

2007-04-16T12:43:00.000-06:00

I pretty much couldn't love these baby shower plates more--they're modern, simple, and totally cute! They are available at showerherbaby.

If I don't go with a nesting theme, I might go with a pampering theme (I'm not going to tell guests what to bring as gifts or anything), but it would be fun to make scaled-down diaper bags like the ones above for party favors and fill them with lavender and small bars of soap that resemble diapers, or just candy (not both because no one wants candy that tastes a little like lavender when it shouldn't). The bags themselves will be pretty easy to make (you can purchase them for $15-$17 each, which is a bit much when I'm expecting 20-30 people), I'm not so sure about the hanger, that's going to be a trickier matter--anyone know where I can buy little hangers?

If we play any games (which I am oh so wary about), the prizes could be a massage (my neighbor gives them out of her house so I'm sure I could arrange a gift certificate), little spa kits (this could get really expensive), nail polish (that wouldn't be too costly), etc. So what do you think--nesting theme or pampering theme? Still no word on if the baby is a boy or a girl, but I'll take any ideas you have on invites. Less is more in my book, so nothing that's going to overwork me too much.
I know this is so dorky of me, but I'm already trying out recipes for the brunch and I found a definite winner: Lemon Dipped Blueberry Muffins--I've already made them twice this week and finally had Noah take them to work with him so I'd stop eating them. Here's the recipe:

1 3/4 C flour
1/2 C + 1/2 C sugar divided
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg, well beaten
1/3 C vegetable oil
3/4 C milk
1 C fresh blueberries washed and dried (I used frozen and that worked great too)
2 tsp grated lemon rind (1 lemon)
2 Tbsp butter, melted
juice of 1 lemon (the recipe calls for 1/4 tsp lemon juice, but I preferred a lot more)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, mix the flour with 1/2 C of the sugar, the baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center. Combine the egg, oil and milk. Add to the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Toss the blueberries with 2 Tbsp of sugar and the lemon rind. Fold into the batter. Fill muffin papers or greased muffin pans 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

While the muffins bake, prepare the topping by mixing the melted butter and lemon juice. Dip the warm muffins in the butter mixture, then in sugar. Note: I forgot to take a picture of them last night, and couldn't find a picture to do them justice--just know they look even better than that picture.

Makes 14 muffins.

Some Last thoughts on The Measure of a Man

2007-04-12T09:19:00.000-06:00

Hopefully everyone has had a chance to finish The Measure of a Man because I'm ready to move in, but first, some last thoughts . . .
Reading this book has given me immense respect for Sidney Poitier and his role in narrowing the racial divide--not that we're finished, but we're leaps beyond where we were, and I do think a large part of that is due to Mr. Poitier.

I loved the passage on page 125,

"If I were asked for an evaluation of myself, I would readily admit to my sins, such as they are, to my weaknesses, my frailties, my shortcomings. I do that all the time, and the reason I can do that and not be ashamed is that I'm willing almost always to try my best. And when I fall short of my reach for something after having tried my best--even when I fall so short that my attempt winds up in sinful behavior--or when my weaknesses tug at my ankles, I accept that. I mean, I accept that failing, but I can't accept my sinfulness, my weaknesses, my frailties unless I've really tried to reach above them."

I would say that the only things I really had a problem with in this book were two things: 1) for being as self respecting as he is, I was often surprised with his frequent use of the "F" word and 2) I had a really hard time with the portion of the book when he discusses leaving his wife because he fell in love with another woman. I know this happens all the time--especially in Hollywood--but I just ached for that woman! I'm now seeing friends of mine going through divorces because their husbands (I'm waiting on seeing any wives do this but I know it happens) fell out of love with them and it truly makes me mad because in most cases, there are young children involved. Don't get me wrong, I will be the first to admit that divorce has its place, but come on! Falling out of love is not something that just happens, it's a choice (sometimes two-party). I was, however, impressed with the stance Mr. Poitier took on his divorce--he in no way glorified it, he showed the rift it put between him and his children, and I think put it in a light where you could see that it was one of the big regrets of his life. Going back to the quoted passage, I think it is one of those flaws he cannot accept but that he is continually trying to move beyond and I appreciated that.

Now onto the next book . . .

I picked this book up yesterday and have had a hard time putting it down. Here's a brief summary by the New York Times Book Review:

"This powerful first novel . . .tells a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love. Both transform the life of Amir, [a] privileged young narrator, who comes of age during the last peaceful days of the monarchy [in Afghanistan], just before his country's revolution and its invasion by Russian forces. But political events, even as dramatic as the ones that are presented in The Kite Runner, are only a part of this story. In The Kite Runner, Kaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence--forces that continue to threaten them even today."

The Kite Runner is available here or at any major bookstore.

Planning a Baby Shower

2007-04-09T09:15:00.000-06:00

I'm going to be hosting a baby shower for my sister-in-law some time early-mid summer (she's due in August). You might think I'm jumping the gun a bit, but if you knew the kind of showers I'm up against, you'd know I'm actually a little behind already.

So I'm thinking about doing a brunch because: 1) brunch foods are pretty 2) they're relatively easy to prepare and 3) they include some of my favorite foods such as the crepes above (with a host of filling options), German pancakes with the buttermilk syrup or raspberries and powdered sugar . . .

You can't go wrong with quiche for a brunch.

I'll probably do a test brunch for the Sunday school class Noah and I teach so I can work out the kinks ahead of time.

This nesting theme would be fun and it could work in conjunction with a brunch. I love the party favors--who wouldn't want a nest filled with candy coated almonds at their place setting? This theme would have worked perfect for a spring shower, but it also works for the summer, not to mention that now is a perfect time to buy all things egg themed because they're now on clearance.

I think these napkin holders are so cute.

I love this idea from Martha Stewart with the herb garden centerpiece. Find directions here. Not only are they cute for a shower, but they're perfect for a window garden (I use a lot of fresh herbs so I might do this for me and then use them as center pieces at the shower--in conjunction with egg decor of course).

Why I Hated Happy Feet

2007-04-02T10:00:00.000-06:00

So if I have any readers left after my month + of lazy blogging (with good reason too, which I'll explain in a later blog), don't bother seeing Happy Feet (this is no April Fools either). I decided to take the kids to the movie when it was playing at the dollar theatre. Right from the get go, I didn't like it. It starts out with a female penguin strutting around, walking seductively (I know it's a penguin, but apparently they're capable of more than we thought)--I honestly felt like covering my children's eyes and had to remind myself that this was Happy Feet, not Prettty Woman. Then the singing starts with the male penguins singing such songs as "lets talk about eggs baby," now I know the real lyrics--isn't this supposed to be a kid's movie??? Dispite my better judgement, we didn't leave (I didn't want to waste my $2). Along with being quite suggestive, the movie became one huge political statement--"aliens" (a.k.a. humans) steel all the penguins fish, choke one penguin with a six-pack holder, and then we see "Shammoo" with huge harpoon gashes in his side. And this movie won an Oscar? What the . . .

Pancakes with Buttermilk Syrup

2007-03-21T22:35:00.000-06:00

If you've every been to Magleby's restaurant in Utah for breakfast, you'll appreciate this recipe (assuming you liked the buttermilk syrup they put on pancakes and french toast). This may not be the exact recipe, but it's certainly reminiscent to it (and every bit as good). The pancake recipe is from The New Best Recipe, the syrup is courtesy of Kako.

Buttermilk Pancakes (270 calories in 1):

2 C buttermilk
2 C unbleached all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1-2 tsp vegetable oil

1. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl to combine

2. Whisk the egg and melted butter into the milk until combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients in the bowl; pour in the milk mixture and whisk very gently until just combined (a few lumps should remain). Do not over mix!

3. Hear a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Add 1 tsp oil and brush to coat the skillet bottom evenly. Pour 1/4 C batter onto 3 spots on the skillet. Cook pancakes until large bubbles begin to appear, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Using a thin, wide spatula, flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown on the second side, 1- 1 1/2 minutes longer. Serve immediately. Repeat with remaining batter.

Buttermilk Syrup (200 calories in 1 Tbsp so watch it)!

1 1/2 C sugar
3/4 C buttermilk
1/2 C butter
2 Tbsp corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda

Boil all ingredients, except for the vanilla. Allow to boil gently for at least five minutes. Remove from heat and immediately stir in vanilla. Serve warm over pancakes, french toast, waffles . . . this can store in the fridge for up to 1 week.

The San Fransisco Report

2007-03-19T21:51:00.000-06:00

I'm finally getting on the ball and blogging about mine and Noah's first weekend without our kids . . . in San Fransisco. The picture above we took (to be dorks of course, cause only dorks take pictures of themselves) on famous Lumbar street and as you can see, I'm getting crows feet--what the . . .
this is a picture of the place we got our sea food lunch
This is the guy who controlled the cable car we were on This is the truck on our way home with my piano in the crate and Noah's boat in tow, I still don't know how the 2 wheel drive truck managed, especially over Donner Pass, which is where the picture was taken. For more pictures, visit flickr.

Back in the Groove . . . Hopefully

2007-03-14T20:37:00.001-06:00

If you haven't already guessed, the last few weeks have been abnormally chaotic, hence my slacking in the blogging arena.

Update: My new kitchen is in! We decided to go for granite tile instead of the slab to save a little money, time and energy and so far it's looking pretty sweet (it's not completely finished, but it's functioning and after 3 weeks without a kitchen, that's a blessing in itself). We've still got a few things left to do (Noah's going to make me a stainless steel hood vent to save $600, we've still got to tile the back splash and finish the elevated bar on the island). I'll post on the kitchen when it's completed which hopefully won't take too long.

In regards to this month's book, Sidney Poitier's The Measure of a Man, I've decided to extend the book into April because quite frankly I haven't had much free time available because of all the remodeling going on. For those of you who are on the ball and have begun (or finished) the book, feel free to leave your comments to get the rest of us excited about reading the it!

Back to Reality

2007-03-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

Noah and I got back from San Fransisco early Sunday morning and I'm still struggling to get back to my regular regime, partly due to the fact that we've completely ripped up our kitchen and are in process of putting the new one in.

Our weekend getaway was awesome, even if most of it was spent in a car. I got to see San Fransisco for the first time and the weather was beautiful. We walked around the city for a good five hours--walking from the piers to the cable cars, to China Town, up Lumbar street and back.

We got fresh sea food at Fisherman's wharf and discovered that fresh oysters are slimy and mucous-like. Noah discovered that he is more allergic to fresh shellfish than to non-fresh shellfish (he reacted almost instantly but after about an hour he was fine).

I got my dream piano and am so happy with it I can't wait to start teaching voice lessons (just a few). I did feel a little guilty about having such an awesome un-birthday on Noah's actual birthday and was quite relieved when he happened upon a sailboat for sale that was in excellent condition and priced at about 1/5 of what it would have cost in Utah (yay Noah)! Speaking of Noah's birthday, I let the cat out of the bag regarding the surprise party (I'm no good at surprises) to ensure he got what he wanted. We've now decided to go to my family's cabin in Island Park in a couple of weeks with some friends (I still need to contact them) to celebrate.

Birthday Dilemmas

2007-02-28T16:52:00.000-07:00

Noah is turning 30 years old on Saturday and I'm facing some dilemmas: First of all, we're not even going to be here this weekend--I found my dream piano (Yamaha Disklavier) and we're going to California to get it. You know you married an amazing guy when he builds you a crate and volunteers to drive 28 hours (there and back) on his birthday to pick up your piano--what a man! Originally, Noah was going to go it alone, but we have since decided to leave the kids with family and have a fun weekend to ourselves in San Fransisco.

Dilemma #2: My kitchen is gone and the remnants are taking up the space in the living room so even if we were here, I couldn't cook Noah dinner and we certainly couldn't invite anyone over. Our new cabinets arrive Monday and will hopefully be in by next Saturday; however we don't yet have our counter top. Do I dare invite people over next weekend to celebrate?

I'm going to go ahead and start planning a surprise party (Noah rarely checks my blog so I think I'm safe making this public). First of all--any ideas? I'll keep you updated on what I come up with but I'd love some suggestions.

Broiled Salmon with Mustard and Crisp Potato Crust

2007-02-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

This is probably the best fish I've ever had/ made and I'd venture to say that Noah would agree with me. It's from my now favorite cookbook (which everyone should own), The New Best Recipe.

Broiled Salmon with Mustard and Crisp Potato Crust:

3 Slices high-quality sandwich bread, such as Pepperidge Farm, crusts removed.
4 oz high-quality potato chips, crushed into rough 1/8-inch pieces (about 1 cup)--I used Kettle chips and they were fantastic
6 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 whole side of salmon fillet (about 3 1/2 lbs), pinbones removed and belly fat trimmed
1 tsp olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
ground black pepper to taste
3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
Heavy duty 18" wide foil

Adjust one oven rack to the uppermost position (about 3 inches from the heat source) and second rack tot he upper-middle position; heat the oven to 400 degrees.
pulse the bread in a food processor until processed into fairly even 1/4-inch pieces about the size of Grape-Nuts cereal (you should have about 1 cup), about ten 1-second pulses. Spread the crumbs evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and toast on the lower rack, shaking the pan once or twice, until golden brown and crisp, 4-5 minutes. Toss the bread crumbs, crushed potato chips, and dill together in a small bowl.
Increase the oven setting to broil. Cut a piece of heavy-duty foil 6 inches longer than the fillet. Fold the foil lengthwise in thirds and place lengthwise on a rimmed baking sheet; position the salmon lengthwise on the foil, allowing the excess foil to hang over the baking sheet. Rub the fillet evenly with the oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper to taste. Broil the salmon on the upper rack until the surface is spotty brown and the outer 1/2 inch of the thick end is opaque when gently flaked with a paring knife, 9 to 11 minutes. Remove the fish from the oven, spread evenly with the mustard, and press the bread crumb mixture onto the fish. Return to the lower rack and continue broiling until the crust is deep golden brown, about 1 minute longer.
Transfer the salmon to a cutting board, remove the foil and serve the salmon from the board.

I like to serve salmon with asparagus and herb roasted potatoes