1st day of Kindergarten!

Tommy isn't thrilled at all.... no, not a bit! He insisted that he ride his bike to school, so I rode with him. When we got there, I walked him up to his class' line and he said, "Mom, stay right there, don't go anywhere!" Sorry, bud, I can't stand in front of the school for 3 hours!

Deceptively Delicious

One of my awesome sisters, Melissa, (who is 'coordinator of preventive cardiology' at the U of U hospital), bought me this amazing cookbook for Christmas in 2007. Jessica Seinfield is the author and she gives ideas on how to basically hide vegetables and fruits in your recipes. I was super excited to use it, but 2 days after that Christmas was the day we found out Matthew had died, so needless to say, the project of learning new healthy recipes went on the back burner for me.


Until... a couple of days ago! I pulled it out again and started reading. The more I read, the more I got excited about trying the recipes out and cooking more healthy food for my family. I didn't have a lot of the vegetable purees the cookbook called for, but I did find the recipe for this chicken that calls for a pineapple puree:

Please believe that these looked better than this picture! I remembered that I had some frozen sauce for my Mandarin Chicken in the freezer. This is a sauce that I finally figured out I am the only one who likes it! (Just ask Shauna, I made the chicken for her family once and her girls didn't like it, either!) So, I whipped up this chicken, marinated in pineapple, tomato, and peppers and covered in coconut and whole wheat bread crumbs. Everyone, even Tommy, loved it! (For those of you that do not know Tommy, he is my toughest critic and a very picky eater.) Putting it on a skewer made it extra fun.


I was very encouraged, so the next morning I made these muffins:


I admit, these wouldn't win at the 4-H fair event- not a great muffin top! I need to work on the mixing. BUT, they have pureed carrots, banana, peanut butter, and whole wheat flour (freshly ground) in them! Super healthy and very filling! These were a 'no' for Rebecca, but I scored a winner again for Tommy! Again, I have to prove that these were good- here's Tommy enjoying his muffin:

I think having more vegetables wet his appetite for even more- at lunchtime, he actually grabbed a celery stick and ATE IT! I tried to get a picture for proof, and I think you can see a little bit of the green stuff by his mouth... it's true- he ate a celery stick!

So, after that I was hooked. I went to the grocery store and bought cauliflower, broccoli, squashes, spinach, sweet potatoes, and beans, brought them home and commenced steaming and pureeing them! Essentially, making baby food. I've had fun since then sneaking these items into scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese! Anyhow, I just wanted to recommend the book, some of you probably already have one. So far the recipes are really outstanding and very kid (and husband) friendly! The extra veggies and beans and fruits in the recipes make everything moist and delicious! One more thing I took a picture of are these: chocolate chip cookies (with a whole can of chick peas in them!)... my family actually liked these better than the regulars we make! Happy cooking out there!

Bargains make me happy!

Okay, you know what I'm going to say when you see a picture like this, right? Yes, I've joined the ranks of couponers out there. I got all these items above at Target with a $20 bill. Some were free and some were not on sale at all, so it balances out! (Oh, and there should be one more banana- Allison ate one on the way home!) I had another awesome shopping day at Smith's when they had double coupon day, now that was exciting! I took Rebecca with me, and she was worn out by the time we were done- we were there all morning! I'm still a beginner, with only 2 coupon trips under my belt.

I must say about couponing, though, a couple of things:

1. Couponing is not for the faint of heart. It takes time, effort, and organization- oh, and more time. I could never do this if I were working. It is not easy to coordinate getting "free" items, but I am grateful for awesome websites that help me out in this area.

2. The feeling you get when you feel like you got a good deal is awesome- probably could become highly addictive. :)

Speaking of deals, I went school shopping for Tommy a couple of months ago at the West Jordan D.I. Look at these handsome shirts I got for $3 each! I think they are really nice and of course, you can probably already tell that he's going to look like a mini-John. (Not that he didn't already, right?) I went for the shirts with a collar, because I heard a fashion historian lady speak on BYU TV and she said that if you wear a collar, you carry more clout. (Who knew?)

1st day of 4th and 6th grade

Check out Allison's new "eyes"! She got contacts on Saturday. It's been a little traumatic, but she's doing great with them! I love my cute girls!

Allison came home and said they had a 6th grade meeting and the 2 women teachers sang them a song about B.O. Basically a reminder to all students to SHOWER everyday and WEAR Deoderant! Wow, elementary school is changing for us!

Happy Birthday sweet Rebecca!

Becca turned nine today. That's right n..i..n..e..! She is turning into a very sweet, creative, talented, amazing little girl! I can always depend on her to help me in whatever I may need. She is the best at finding things... and in a flash! We love you so much, Becca!

We had a big birthday extravaganza this weekend, starting with a surf 'n' swim party at the wave pool in Layton. We took a few girls from our new neighborhood- (and these cupcakes above, mixed, baked, and decorated by Becca!- are you supposed to have the birthday girl do that?... I'm not sure if it's proper, but she went ahead and did it while Tommy and Alli and I were at the store getting a gift! She loved it.) Anyhow, we took our little party to the pool and were extra relieved to get into the water! It was soooo hot! So, I did not catch any photos, because I was in the water too.

Rebecca had crepes for her birthday breakfast, and had them in bed! One with scrambled eggs, one with cream. Just cream, we ran out of strawberries! Then, we played "Bullah, bullah" and sang to her to find her gifts. You know that one, it's just the soft and loud game.



Her favorite gift (and the one I was most excited to get her!) was this:

A violin!! (rental... that is!) She played it all day and even gave us some performances in our family theater (more on that later) and played some notes for us! We think she's going to be a natural!

Have you been to...?

...the Thanksgiving Point Gardens? Oh my goodness, this place is AMAZING. We have never been there before, we usually hit the farm or the Dino museum, but thought we'd take advantage of the $2 Tuesday and our last free week before school begins to see this place. We're so glad we did, the kids and I loved it! If you're able to, go next Tuesday for the last $2 day of the season. Admission for adults is normally $10! We don't want to give away too much, but here are a few pictures from our adventure. Above is the "Butterfly Garden."
The girls were really thrilled with the lily pads.

The Italian Garden

Looking down at the waterfalls

Me and Alli in the "Secret Garden"

Why can't my kids take a good picture when I do? Oh, and that's a very beautiful.... Sprite bottle on my lap!

The majestic waterfalls

Lots of hills make for lots of rolling!

Maybe we'll go again next Tuesday and see you there?

A week to remember

It all started on FRIDAY night: dinner with all my sisters and their families!

Melissa, Emilee, me and Lindsay- I love my cute sisters!
SATURDAY- stop at "Cove Fort Days" and had a wagon ride

Play at Piute Reservoir

...and roast some hot dogs on the beach

I had to get a picture of this- Tommy had many firsts this day and this was one of them- eating a hot dog and a bun, together, at the same time!

MONDAY and TUESDAY: little trip to Brianhead- just John and me!

Getting ready for our ride in a Ranger.... this is the only way to see nature!

Cedar Breaks was cool... my eye infection, not so cool. Had to wear the shades to hide it!

WEDNESDAY- Back home to play with cousins!

You can't tell that these kids love these babies, no, not at all!

Being goofy with Jack and Lucy

WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY: The Suncrest 3 Nephi pageant!

Tommy adored his Nephite sisters. (Yes, they are wearing just a little bit of makeup!)

We're so glad that Great Grandma Plewe was there!

Thanks for inviting us to take part in this awesome project Grandma and Grandpa! These two are the reason that the pageant got started!

The behind-the-scenes man (always wearing black). John worked so hard to make sure the pageant had sound and lights! This is very important in a pageant done outside and at night! Thanks, John- you did a wonderful job!

The proud mom (also a behind-the-scenes person!)

Free and fabulous pageant this weekend!

This Friday and Saturday

August 14 and 15 at 8:30 p.m.

"The Savior Among His People"

Free pageant at the Suncrest chapel in Draper

Depiction of 3 Nephi events

Samuel the Lamanite, the persecution of believers, the Savior's visit in the Americas

Take the Bangerter Hwy. exit off I-15 and follow the road east

Up, up, up the mountain- you will see the chapel at the top!

After

Remember my before shots? Well, it's not perfect, but our yard is looking much better now! I'm very grateful for two great helps in this modern world: weed wacker and weed spray!

Thank you!

Thank you to all that supported my friend and his family, if only with your prayers. Bryce has had serious complications and the cancer is so aggressive, that they have decided to bring him home until the end of his life. Our hearts go out to their family, we are so sorry.

P.S. Bryce passed away Wednesday night, August 5. We know he is in a wonderful place now, but we do worry for his cute wife taking care of 4 little ones on her own! We will keep you in our prayers, Ginger!

Filling in the gaps (of July)

We wanted to fill in the gaps of my blog with more awesome things we did this last month! We got to hang out with Miss Mataya......

....and meet little Miss Jane.

Tommy used part of his birthday money to buy a "Littlest Pet Shop" for his sick big sister.

4th of July!! John spent a lot of time teaching the kids "monkey in the middle." Kissing the baby goodbye. These are my little nieces- Chloe couldn't get enough of Lexi!

Girls unite! They are so outnumbered by the boys, these girls need to stick together!

Visiting the planetarium before we went our first ever protest. John and I went to the "Tea Party" on Capitol Hill.

Us at the 4th of July Kaysville parade. We like the Davis county crowd!!

We live in such a beautiful area! John and the girls are in Ogden Canyon here, it's so gorgeous!

24th of July- hiking and picnicking at Brighton with the Ryans.....

I'm sorry, we're city people.... oops!

This was our tour guide. We had to feed him lunch first....

Cool little spot in Highland! Next to the city offices, the kids loved it! The river and the rocks were the coolest!

Wet, again! My sister treated us to a free day at Lagoon, courtesy of her stake's tickets. 4 rides, ice cream, splash in the water and a walk around Pioneer Village!

My cute sister Lindsay, taking pictures for her blog!

We weren't counting on this "little" companion to help us pick apricots. Okay, this was a little shock after living in the Salt Lake area for the last 5 years. We stopped at a roadside place that had the sign "APRICOTS" and thought we could just buy them at a table or something. Instead, we met a man sitting in a little shack who told us to grab a bucket, pick the apricots, and oh... the goats really like little girls, they'll probably come with you!

Alrighty... they were a great help, trying to eat them! We were laughing the whole time, and we got 10 pounds of apricots for $6.00! You know me, I love to get a great deal and we made a lot of yummy apricot jam!!

That's almost the end... but not quite. I have to end on a Thomas Ryan quote of the day. Tommy was sent to a time out (for various offenses) and was trying to come out of his room a little too early. When I asked him to close his door and stay in for a while longer, he said, "But Mom, I listened to the Holy Ghost!"

"Oh, and what did the Holy Ghost tell you?"

"He said, 'No more time out!'"

How is a mother supposed to stay mad at this kid?