Friday, March 2, 2012

STRENGTH

I love this boy!  OK, OK.....Young Man!
 He worked so hard for 3 1/2 years and earned his Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do last year.  But his strength is so much more than physical.
 He's such a good kid that honors his priesthood and does his duty.  I love that about him.  He's also a great friend.  He had a friend at school ask about the Book of Mormon the other day.
 He asked Asher if he could have one.
 Asher came home and found a Book of Mormon to put in his backpack.
Yesterday he placed that Book of Mormon in his friend's hands.
(Asher's Baptism photo shoot - 2006)
I'm so proud of this young man!!!!!  He's strong and full of courage.  I can't wait to see all that he accomplishes in his life!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

MY FUNNY VALENTINE

My funny Valentine
 Sweet comic Valentine
 You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable
 Unphotographable
 Yet your my favorite work of art
But don't change a hair for me
 Not if you care for me
 Stay little Valentine stay
 Each day is Valentine's day
Love to all my Valentines!

Friday, February 3, 2012

GOOD FOOD (NOT THAT MY KIDS WOULD KNOW IT!)

Don't you love this boy!  We parked next to this palo verde at the allergist the other day and Kyler thought it was perfect to throw the football through.  Needless to say, it was quite comical.  He did finally succeed and even let me take his photo.  Moving on.....
 I love to cook!  Unfortunately some nights are so hectic and I don't have the time to cook like I want.  While I appreciate easy dinner nights I really like to try a new recipe.  Most of the time the new recipe is mainly suited to my tastes, but occasionally I try one that I think would be a hit with the boys.  This french onion soup was made for me.  I even made it for lunch, complete with a toasted slice of french bread and cheese melted on top in the broiler.  It was delicious!  (and enjoyed without boys complaining about it or asking what else they could eat)
 This next recipe was for the boys.  I've never attempted to make a stuffed braid before.  Most of the recipes I saw were made with crescent roll dough.  That was way too expensive for me!  I made bread dough and put this Chicken & Broccoli Cheese Bread Braid together.  HEAVEN!!!!!  And what did the boys think.....GROSS!  Colton, who normally has a decent palate, explained that he thought meals with chicken and bread didn't taste good to him at all.  Well, who can blame him?  I mean, with disgusting and exotic ingredients like BREAD and CHICKEN who could expect him to enjoy it!!!
 Here's another view of the monstrosity!
Quelle horreur!!!!!!
Look at that broccoli, cream cheese, chicken and mozzarella/provolone cheese.  DIS.GUST.ING!
 Here's what the teenagers dined on.  Kyler chose cold cereal.
 Since I had lots of bread dough left I decided to make cinnamon rolls.  OH MAMA they were good!  Of course the boys found it to be rude not to try these.  I mean I had slaved away on them.  What considerate boys I have!
 This was the best....let me rephrase this....THE BEST icing ever!!!!!  Instead of mixing my powdered sugar and vanilla with milk, I used heavy cream.  It was like ice cream flavored icing.  Again....HEAVEN!!!!!!!  Look at it melted in all the crevices. 
 This batch got a little crazy in the oven.  The center of the rolls baked straight up.
After dinner, one of my sons placed a laundry basket in front of me letting me know what time he would like his laundry ready the next morning.  I clearly let him know that if he wanted his clothes clean, he could clean them himself.  I mean, really....what if the quality of my laundry skills equaled the quality of my cooking skills in his eyes.  I wouldn't want to upset him further in one night.  As a bonus though, he seems ready for college -  eating ramen noodles and doing his own laundry.  
To this son I say "You're Welcome!" 
PROLOGUE:  After enduring the boys dinner manners on Groundhog's Day, my husband decided not to subject me to the 3 urchins tonight.  He's throwing slop at the kids and we're going out to dine.  And to my sons I say "Thank You!" 

Monday, January 30, 2012

ROUTINE

As much as I enjoy the carefree days of a school break, I really enjoy the routine of our school days.  Kyler is the first to be picked up every day.  On the way home we chat...and play "chiquita" (a game of spotting yellow cars and yelling out "chiquita")  At home, Kyler empties his lunchbox and puts it away.  Then a 10 minute break followed by homework.  The goal is to only have his reading left which is what he does in the van on the way to pick up his brothers.  Currently Kyler is reading The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Well, Kyler's 10 minute break is up and it's time to get to work with that boy....Later!!!

SICK DAY

 Yesterday was a sick day for me.  Not fun.  Thankfully, I did get plenty of rest and my fever broke.  (I can't remember the last time I had a fever)  I'm also thankful that I seem to be doing much better today.  Even so, I plan on lounging in my pajamas, reading, napping and maybe watching a movie.  Moving on....the citrus is in full force here in the Valley of the Sun and I'm loving it!!!!  Last week we made the best Lemon-grapefruit-ade ever!!!!  So delicious.  I also wanted lemon meringue pie....really bad, but not the crust part, just the lemon meringue part.  So that's what I did.
 I adore my mini triffle bowls!
(and I was lucky enough to score 4 more of them when I was out thrifting on Saturday!)
 I was so proud of these!
 Too bad my kids didn't like them.....oh wait, that's GREAT...
Sharing is over-rated!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

AFTER SCHOOL EVENTS

The School Science Fair.
We're happy to attend with our kids, but I would like more notice than a few hours!  Oh well.  Kyler and I drove to his school and met Tony there.  We found his class project and got a cute picture of  Ky.
 Here was the first photo.  
That's Kyler!
 This is the real reason he wanted to be at the Science Fair.
Kyler and KJ....his poor teacher!
 Now moving on to the boys FAVORITE after school event:
QT!!!!!!
They begged asked if we could go to QT, today I felt generous.  Not that generous that I paid for it, the boys paid for their own goodies.  On the menu today: 1/2 price donuts (after 4pm....SCORE!) and soda for two of the boys.  Here's Colton's choice.
 Asher's
 And finally, Kyler.
Tonight we went for our first family trek walk.  We didn't go too far, but we'll be back on it tomorrow.  I'll explain more about the family trek we're doing soon.  Happy Tuesday!

Friday, January 13, 2012

YOU BLOCKHEAD!

Have you ever played Blockhead?  There are 20 shaped wooden pieces that you stack on top of each other.  The person who makes the creation fall is the blockhead.  We played it all the time as kids, but I didn't know anyone else that had ever heard of this game!  My mom has saved it all these years and all the grandkids love it.  Kyler loves it so much that when we came across a box at Goodwill....we had to buy it for him.  It was so worth it to see how excited he was when he opened it! 
 The box from my childhood game is a little different, but it was copywrited in 1971.  This vintage box (that's in much better shape than my mom's box) was copywrited in 1954.  Also, the game not only had all of it's pieces, but they were still pretty vibrant for being nearly 60 years old.  My guess is this game has been hiding in someone's house for years before it was donated.
 Tony and Kyler had lots of fun making the blocks look like the photo.  This game has probably been played with more at our home in the past few weeks than it ever was before!  Thank you Goodwill....you make Kyler happy!
 Moving on to what Kyler does that makes me happy...the other night I realized the leftovers were piling up in the fridge.  A quick change to my Wednesday dinner plans and leftovers were on the menu.  I was busy that afternoon and Kyler took it upon himself to "make" dinner for me.   First, he set the "table".  I was busy with projects and our table was occupied, so Kyler set up the four tv trays and went to work.  I love how he put the spoon upside-down. 
 Next, he grabbed all the leftovers and put them on the kitchen island.  Voila, dinner is served!!!!  The gentleman even brought the grape drink to your table for you. What service!
 You'll be happy to know that the table is cleared and one more project is done here at the House of Steve.  A couple of weeks ago, Tony and I reorganized our garage.  Shelves were moved in their new places and lots of rearranging took place.  All the big moving was done, but now it's all the detail work for me.  Yesterday I finished the organizing of the two big shelves of dishes/kitchen items.  Everything's inventoried and ready to go.  So along with our fabulous dinner last night of Turkey Sloppy Joe's and Baked Sweet Potato Fries, we had a fabulous table top.  We used the red gingham dishes, paired with the blue gingham flatware and... 
 a red and blue serving set that was filled with lettuce, cucumber slices, blue cheese dressing and apple slices. Every bit of the fruit and veggies were eaten!
Can't wait to see what dishes I pull out for tonight!