Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Pixy Stix

I finally made these large pixy stix. They are so easy and fun and super quick...with a cricut it is quick. I taught the Yound Women to lead music last night and these were the special wands to help.

Baby Ball

This is how Logan likes to play soccer!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Good Bye Trampoline

Our brand new trampoline (the kids got for Christmas) was a victim of yesterday's crazy storm. We watched this tragedy blow around our yard, up against our fence, then finally making it over to our neighbor's yard. Crazy!! I had no idea the force of the wind here. I mean REALLY....a trampoline jumping the fence??? Michael was out of town working and couldn't get home due to all the flooding. Some friends came over and somehow got it back over the fence. The legs were all bent up, twisted, and broken. They dragged it over on the side of our yard so it wouldn't blow again.....so much for a fun Christmas present. We are super ticked!

Sad huh????

Friday, January 15, 2010

Is this really happening to me???

Jillian brought home a sweet little cold from our trip to Utah. She is a handful when she is sick. Tantrums galore!! She coughs and coughs and keeps everyone up. I did barrow a humidifier from my friend which was MAGIC!! The cold was quickly passed to Mallory, who was delighted to skip school for a day. The next target was my sweet baby Logan. I just hate when babies get all stuffy. I bounced the humidifier back and forth between all the rooms. I really do need 3 or 4. I soon started getting a fever and all the cold symptoms, and then Micheal. Love family closeness.

I have been so busy I haven't slept much, with sick kids and all. Michael has been busy with all his investigations...working on his days off! After 1 1/2 weeks of feeling like crap, I broke down and went to a doctor. I really should have known better. A good doctor where we live...Right. That would be like asking for a good school. NOT HERE! NO WAY!!

I went to a dumb walk-in clinic with Jillian and Logan. Here again, I should have known better. While I was signing in, Jillian starts freaking out. We get settled down in a chair and she says she has to throw up. I jump up and drag her to a bathroom, leaving Logan all by himself in a room of sick old people! I ask myself "Is this really happening to me."I was glad that she at least told me. How embarrassing would that be if she threw up in the waiting room??? So we waited for an hour and she kept throwing up every 15 minutes. I finally broke down and could not take it anymore. It was the worst thing ever. I got my copay back and left, feeling sick and not being able to breath...now having a sick little girl.

Micheal came home and watched the kids while I went to another walk in clinic, that I find out bills as urgent care. I just love that. Guess we should just start getting to our deductible for the year! Anyway, I end up getting 2 shots in the rear and tons and tons of scripts. I have bronchitis and pneumonia. Then he tells me to rest for a few days...does he know I have kids??? I am feeling a little better and can breath now...kinda important.

This morning I was changing Logan's diaper and I walked away to get the diaper rash cream. He has had a bad rash since his last round of antibiotics before Christmas. When I got back I saw blood dripping all over him. There was blood all over his legs that he had smeared and all over my white carpet. I am thinking he was rubbing his rash and irritated it enough to start bleeding. So another call to the doctor, begging that I don't have to go in and for a phoned in prescription.

I guess when it rains it pours. Please can we be healthy now? We need sleep!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Virtue Value Project

So this is what has been eating up my time...
For the Value of Virtue, the project is to read the entire Book of Mormon. So instead of handing my girls a piece of paper with a reading schedule on it, I decided to make them their very own Virtue book. These are the cheap composition books from Walmart. Me and a few other leaders covered them and added ribbon. I wanted each month to have a section, so we did 12 months times 29 books!! I didn't do the math until it was too late. We were working like crazy. So in the beginning of each month there is a reading schedule, then a few pages for their thoughts and things they need to write for the project.
It was a busy week trying to get these together, but the girls loved them and I know it will help them be that much close to getting their medallion.
Onto the next project...

Soccer has Begun!

We started soccer last week...and now we are super BUSY! Jillian is so cute playing soccer. It is perfect for her. She has high energy and isn't scared to steal the ball. This is her first game. Mallory and I stopped counting the goals they made somewhere around 13. The Dragons are AWESOME! Mallory started too. Hopefully pictures to come. She did win her first game too. We were excited.
I love the bright sunny day and green grass in January.



Go #4

I love the tunnel after the game. I don't think they knew about it. They kept running through it until the parents got tired of standing around.

Utah trip

We took a trip to Utah after Christmas to see Michael's family. We left after work and planned on staying the night half way. We decided to keep going. It was still early and we didn't want to unload the car. That is such a pain. So we ended up having to drive through snowy roads that we are not used to. It was crazy...we got in just after 1:00 am. I guess that was the start of our messed up vacation schedule.

The girls were so excited to see snow, I think they forgot that snow=freezing cold. We got them all bundled up and Jillian could only take it for a few minutes. Mallory stayed our for a little bit longer but not much. I guess we are Arizona desert people!



I love Jillian's face her.

Jillian and Elie had so much fun playing together. I wished they lived by each other. They would be quite the team.
NEW YEARS
We stayed through New Years and partied it up!! They kids had tons of fun running crazy with all the cousins that they haven't seen in almost 2 years.



My poor Little Logan was so thrown off schedule. I think one night he woke up from his nap at 11:00pm, had dinner then went to bed at almost 2. I am SOOO thankful for a schedule, even if it means getting up early everyday.

My New Year girls



I guess we had too much fun in Utah. We got home and have all been sick since...we are still not feeling good. I had fun going to Robert's, Cafe Rio 3 times, and seeing a couple friends. We needed more time to get to see all of our friends. We even drove by our old house...it looked a lot smaller than we remembered!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Yummy Chili Verde

I have been wanting to make homemade Chili Verde for a long time. I looked at a lot of different recipes and combined a few together. It turned out better than I thought, and everyone loved it. Michael said it was better than any restaurant food he has had, and we have had super good Mexican. I will be making this again.

Chile Verde Recipe
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds tomatillos
5 garlic cloves, not peeled
2 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed, chopped
2 Anaheim or Poblano chiles (optional)
1 bunch cilantro leaves, cleaned and chopped
3 1/2 to 4 pounds pork shoulder or I used a loin
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
2 yellow onions
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 Tbsp of chopped fresh oregano or 1 Tbsp of dried oregano
2 1/2 cups chicken stock (depending on how many drippings you get)

Brown pork in hot oil and lots and lots of seasoning, with a little cumin too. Put all drippings with meat in a crock pot.

Peel the husk off the tomatillos, cut in half, rub with oil. Place cut side down on foil lined cookie sheet. Also put on 5 big UNpeeled cloves of garlic, and 2 Anaheim peppers. Broil for 7 minutes on high, or until the vegetables are browned. Cool the peppers in a bag, making it easy to peel the skins right off. Put tomatillos,peeled and seeded peppers, and peeled garlic in a blender. Add 2 seeded jalapenos, and 1 bunch of cilantro to blender and blend. Add to crock pot.

Saute 2 onions and more garlic in a pan until tender. Add to crock pot.

Cook in crock pot all afternoon, or all day if cooking on a low setting. I added a cup or 2 of chicken broth. I had lots of drippings so I didn't add the full amount. Just make sure that the liquid is almost covering the meat. It will reduce while cooking.

I made Bajio sweet rice to go with it. We put it all in tortillas and had burritos. YUMMY!