believe it or not

I'm pregnant. totally joking. sorry. Believe it or not, stuff has happened around here since we visited Grandma Young. Spring break being one of them. I'll be honest, I was dreading it a little bit having the kids home all day for a week. When they are used to being at school all day, I find that they get bored at home and it also makes my routine harder. Grandma's to the rescue. I'm not even sure if I had all 4 kids for more than 2 nights. And it was also wonderful to sleep in!! We had a good time and all agreed that we can't wait for Summer.
we stayed up late, went swimming, played outside all day with friends, and went to the book store but here are the highlights, our favorite things we did.

This was the most fun my kids have had all year. They thought pushing their own carts through the store was the coolest thing ever. "Mom is this what it feels like to be a Mom?" "Mom, can we go back to that one Smith's with the small carts? please?" They wanted to go back every day. I personally was in fear for my ankles the entire time.


We headed up to SLC to visit the Church Museum. They have a great kids area and it's free!


Cloe was pretty good at Mexican dancing

Brody and Sage built a tower

and then destroyed it.

The cousins and Ryan's Christ painting in the background.

On the last day of Spring Break April 16th, I ran the SLC half marathon. It was a great race with a little too much excitement for my liking. We were told to take Trax to the start line. I got to the stop at 6:20 am, the train never came until 6:55. I got to the starting line at 7:15 and the race started at 7! But we had chip timers so it didn't really matter, just very nerve racking. And I had to stop to go #2. I hate that in a race. Great course though and I beat my last half marathon time by 15 minutes.

This wasn't during Spring break, a little impromptu egg hunt with some friends.
Cloe took 3rd place in the 200m race out of the 3rd graders at the Hershey track meet.
On early out Friday we went to Hee Haws spring farm. I don't recommend it. They are much better at doing Fall farms :) But the kids still had a lot of fun, especially holding the baby animals.

enough of the blender already!

So there hasn't been a whole lot of noteworthy action going on here but there have been photo worthy moments. BTW, the kids are all in bed but I can hear Abbey and Cloe giggling, I can't bring myself to go up and make them stop, it's kind of sweet, I hope they are always good friends.
I ordered a belt for Charlotte's pump and she was so excited when it came in the mail, they also included a free headband. The belt has two pockets that close with velcro and it is so much easier to stick her pump in the belt rather than having it hang off of her pants and trying to keep the tubing all tucked in.
The kids get out at 1:00 on Fridays so we took a trip up to Bountiful to visit my Grandma (their great Grandma Young).
It was a loooong drive home. Lots of stop and go traffic. (if you're a little confused, that is my neice)

In the spirit of spring, I started some spring cleaning. Actually I got sick of my food storage being unorganized. This is the laundrey room on the main floor, we don't use it because the dryer hook ups are gas. Since it is sort of hidden, I never finished unpacking/organizing it when we moved in. I was making dinner the other night and needed white beans. I knew I had them but couldn't find any, that's what kicked my butt in gear. I had a lot of white beans once I organized it all.
much, much, much better. It's hard to restock when you don't even know for sure what you have :) And can I just mention that i love my food storage. My grocery bill is so much smaller and cooking is so much more convenient.
Since the weather had been so nice, I planted all my cold weather seeds in the garden and got the rest of my seeds started in cups. I love my garden. I check on these cups often to see if anything is sprouting.
The days had been so nice that Charlotte and I enjoyed or afternoons outside letting the baby chickens walk around.
of course she doesn't let them walk very much, she prefers to always be holding one or pulling it in a wagon or giving it a ride on her bike or scooter. And they tolerate it so it is partially their fault.
72 degrees and the kids were selling juice on the corner then BOOM, we wake up to this the very. next. day.
it was gorgeous but I just wasn't feeling it. It didn't feel right in April.
and thats that. I've been training for a half marathon that I will be running next saturday. Next week is spring break for the kids. I'm looking forward to the break and hopefully some fun activities. If you're doing anything around here, give us a holler, we'd love to tag along :) I would love to be going on a cruise with the family buuuuut, that's not gonna happen. but here's to dreaming.

mexican night

I'm telling you, I often think while cooking "this is good, I should post it to the blog".
This is a good dinner to eat if you have leftover meat or it can also be meatless. I have only made it with leftover meat but I'm sure boiled chicken or slow cooked meat would be good. This is the closest I have come to making restaurant enchiladas

Red Enchiladas
1/2 onion
3 garlic cloves
lbs chicken (I sometimes use a roast from sunday dinner)
salt & dash of cumin
1/2 a bag of Guajillo peppers. (that is the brand. they are dried whole red peppers found with the mexican food)
cilantro
tortilla's
cheese

get all the seed out of the peppers. Heat some oil in a pan and quickly grill/sautee' the peppers, don't burn them because the sauce will taste burnt. It's a quick frying.

in a blender add:
peppers
1 c. H20 (or broth from boiled chicken)
onion
garlic
salt, cumin
some cilantro

blend that all up and clear your sinuses.
in a baking dish spread a thin layer of sauce. Fry the tortillas quickly but don't fry them stiff, then spread some cheese and meat in the tortilla and roll it up like a enchilada and place in baking dish. Once your pan is full put another layer of sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle more cheese.
Put it in the oven, I'll let you choose your temp and time since I I don't have it written down, I just put it in and keep an eye on it.

These are good served with spanish rice. This recipe is from my cousin Sydney.
2 T butter
1 small onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 c rice
1.5 c chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes ( I prefer to chop the tomatoes even smaller, I don't like chunky tomatoes in rice)

melt butter in large skillet, one with a lid and add the onion. Sautee until translucent. Add the rice and garlic and toss to cover with butter. Reduce heat to med-low and cook, stirring constantly until rice is golden 2-3 minutes. Add chicken broth and tomatoes and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender.

last week or all about charlie

Ryan got older on the 15th
he wanted bread pudding for his cake and I finally mastered it. So delicious.
Charlotte got an insulin pump! I am still figuring it out but it is so much easier than shots. The meter that I use to check her blood also communicates with the pump so I have given her a dose of insulin while driving down the freeway, so cool.
We went for a lunch date after our 3 hour training appointment and one on one time with my kids on a date is my favorite. She was so cute, she started dancing to a song and told me "this is my favorite song" and she was totally serious.


That same day was St Patricks day, not the most eventful holiday but we were still payed a visit by a leprauchan. He left the kids a note with a luckey $2 bill.


green pasta, green salad and I made mint "oreos" (not a huge fan of mint oreos)

Brody earned this gun but I was really trying to capture Charlotte's reaction when the insulin is "delivered" through the pump. The pump vibrates and so the first few days she was always surprised when I gave her insulin

Our baby chickens aren't so little and fluffy anymore. Charlotte still ask to hold the baby chickens all day and has recently started sending them down her slide and also loves to take them for rides on her bike or scooter.

my Grandpa

On Wednesday, March 2 my mom called me worried because my grandpa had had bad diarrhea and was having a hard time breathing and asked me to drive up to Bountiful with her. I have to admit I was a little hesitant because it was dinner time and it didn't seem like anything to worry about but I went and shortly after, we got the call saying that he had passed away. It was completely unexpected and a total shock for the whole family. He was so healthy. I was glad I went with my mom because although he had already died, it was comforting to see my cousins and aunts at the hospital and to sort of say "good bye" to grandpa. The funeral was the following Monday and all the grand kids had a chance to say something short about grandpa, I was proud to always have such a good looking Grandpa, now you know where I get it, and my kids always referred to him as "Grandpa with the big muscles." I feel like my feelings towards him are so cliche' but he was a good example of so many positive traits. I know he loved me and my family and I know that he was proud of me. He was very giving and I wish I had inherited his organization skill. I always enjoyed talking with him and felt like his favorite because he would write me letters when I was living in Italy. But come to find out, he made everyone feel like his favorite. I miss him a lot, I think that comes with his death being so sudden. I love him and can't wait for the day when I can see him again. I have to admit that one thing I do like about going to a funeral is the reminder of how precious life is and how important it is to be prepared. It always makes me reflect on my own life and how I want to be remembered and what type of person I am.

My Grandpa served in the Navy and always flew a flag at his house. There is something about the American flag that always makes me emotional. As soon as we arrived at the church and I saw these flags I got choked up. Seeing flags out on patriotic holidays also gets me emotional, and hearing the National Anthem makes me teary eyed.

dinner

I am a huge believer in family dinner. For the obvious reasons of bringing the family together and talking and having that intimate time together without distractions but I also believe in the importance of well cooked dinners. Made with as many fresh ingredients as possible, made from scratch, full of flavor and smell. Harmony and peace and love abound in a house where dinner is being cooked and served. I love when my kids say "mmmmm, smells good, what's for dinner?" I also really enjoy cooking and baking, it is one of my hobbies. I think it would be awesome to be a chef in a restaurant, a good restaurant. I took some cooking classes while in Italy and it was so fun, I've thought about doing it here but haven't found one that really strikes my interest. I need to just do it because I love when friends teach me a new recipe and we cook together. So on that note, I think I might occasionally post some of our favorite recipe's around here. Sometimes when I cook, I think, "I should post this to my blog, it is so good", but then I worry that we might have different taste....
My kids love this recipe. I try to plan the week out so that a lighter meal follows a night of a heavier meal and I try to have a night or two that is meatless. Tonight was meatless.
Lentils with Spinach over Rice:
3/4 c lentils
1 cup water or so (that is another reason I don't post, I don't really measure)
3 T olive oil
clove of garlic
1 can tomato, or fresh ones chopped
1/2 a lemon juiced or some squirts of lemon juice (see, I'm bad measuring)
2 handfuls of spinach, I always end up adding more after it wilts
1.5 tsp salt

bring lentils and H2O to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in O.O, garlic minced, tomatoes and salt cover and simmer 10-15 minutes. Start cooking your rice, I prefer mine cooked on the stove, my rice cooker hardly ever made rice just right. Add spinach and lemon juice. Simmer while the spinach wilts and serve over rice or pasta.

Let me know if you try it, if you've never had lentils you'll be surprised at how tasty they actually are.


While I'm at it, can I also add the importance of a good breakfast for your kids? Since diabetes education, I've learned that cold cereal isn't the best way to start your day. I'll throw in a breakfast recipe we enjoy once in a while as well. But don't get me wrong, we do have cereal, it just isn't the first option and it isn't colorful.

the replacements

charlotte has a designated shoe box that she is allowed to carry the baby chicks in. with supervision of course and they are up high now where she can't reach them. These ones should make it.


Notice we bought 3 this time. If she pulls the same stunt we will have one leftover. Just thinking ahead.

bedroom redo

Like I mentioned before, I was redoing the girls room for their birthday. Well Cloe's birthday was Friday and Abbey's was Sunday so Friday was devoted to finishing it. I did all the painting by myself so it took forever because I couldn't do it while the kids were asleep and it was so hard to do it while Charlotte was awake. Baby chicks and Abbey having the day off on Friday, kept Charlotte busy enough for me to finish. After getting the first coat down, yes the paint included primer but light blue over navy is tough work, it looked messy and I wasn't liking it. After the second coat, loved it. It is a big room so the walls feel a little empty, that will be a slow process to add decor to them but I have some ideas.

Here is the before

and the finished project. would you be surprised if I told you Ryan doesn't really like it? It's amazing how different our taste is.

I'm not stoked about the curtains. It was 4.99 total at Ikea but I didn't realize they would be so sheer. But they work for now.
I picked this fabric out and my mom the seamstress made them (I know, they are just pillow cases, but I'd rather not). The pillows inside were in the "as is" section of Ikea for 59 cents.
Cloe's bed
Abbey's bed

9. seriously, she's 9!

Birthday's aren't too eventful on a school day but she had fun and felt special. Her menu was pancakes, home lunch, and pasta with fish. For her party she originaly wanted to go to build-a-bear workshop but I convinced her to go cross country skiing. Her cousin and friend (polygamist friend is how I seem to describe her) from school came. It was snowing but we had a lot of fun. We came home for lunch and chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Now, stop growing.

a day late and a buck short

a post from Cloe's blog today:



My chicks
Just a few minuets ago, Charlotte killed both of my sweet sweet baby chicks! There names where pip and lady. I had to throw them away and I couldn't bare hearing the crash they made hitting the bottom of the trash can. I'm so sad, I'm crying right now! Luckily, my mom said that tomorrow we will get maybe 3 chicks but of course, we will get more chicks.

She posted this shortly after the incident and I think it's cute that she felt the need to write down her feelings.
Here are some pictures from their short life, rest in peace little chickies, for tomorrow you will be replaced. (and carried away in the garbage truck because it is trash day)




Charlie and I bought them at IFA on Thursday and I'm surprised they weren't loved to death before today. They were held constantly and also pooped constantly. Charlotte went downstairs and tried to carry both chicks at the same time and one of them is (was) pretty active and I'm assuming it tried to climb out of her hand and she ended up squeezing them to death. Her shirt had tons of poop on it and their necks were limp in her hands. I about puked. blech. Brody was instantly crying hysterically and CLoe wasn't too phased. I wasn't thinking at the moment so I told Cloe to go throw them away. She first went for the kitchen trash and I told her no, outside. Of course she came back in, in tears. "I gave them one last kiss and then I could hear them thud at the bottom of the trash and it made me so sad". I felt like such a mean mom for making her do that. It build character. And tomorrow they will be replaced and soon forgotten.