Cheddar-Potato Soup

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
6 cups reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups mashed potatoes
8 ounces shredded Cheddar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Hot sauce, optional

Add oil to a large pot set over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they start to soften. Add stock and mashed potatoes and bring to a simmer.
Using a hand blender or regular blender, puree soup until smooth (when using a regular blender, work in batches to prevent messy cleanups!). Add Cheddar, salt, white pepper, dry mustard and hot sauce. Stir to combine and allow the cheese to melt.

Sunday Stuff

I woke up in the middle of the night with little A puking. Poor baby. I'm not sure what caused this, we haven't been around anyone who is sick the last few days. I'm not feeling very good either so I think I have a touch of what she has. I'm doing tons of laundry since the puking never happens just once so I have lots of yucky bedding.

We got up early yesterday evening from St. George. We had a fun visit with Grandmas and everytime I drive away from my family I resolve to visit more often. Thanksgiving dinner was at Grandma C's house and dinner was yummy. My mom was invited along with her husband's daughter and two grandkids and then some family friends so we had a good size group. A kept me busy through dinner and insisted on my plate so I had to eat of her tiny plate which turned out to be good because I didn't overdo it on food. Grandma took the kids to see Bolt and they all loved it and we took the kids to see Santa twice and did a little shopping. I am glad to be home and I'm glad A didn't get sick while we were visiting.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Seeds of Kindness

Last night we had Pack Meeting for Z. We were asked to bring a bunch of bananas to make fruite baskets. The boys all put together a fruit basket with fruit, bread and nuts to deliver to either new families in the ward, lonely or single and sick people as well. While the boys were delivering their baskets the family put together a basket and we are to deilver the family basket to someone we feel is in need of an act of kindness. The kindness theme went along with our FHE lesson a week and a half ago on kindness. The kids have been working on finding opportunites to be kind to others so I really appreciated the pack meeting continuing what we were already working on.

Family Pictures

Cherry Cheesecake Murder

Hannah Swensen and her bakery, The Cookie Jar, bask in the glow of Hollywood glamour when Main Street becomes a movie set. And although tensions simmer as the cameras roll, no one expects the action to turn deadly...until it's too late...
There's no such thing as privacy in Lake Eden, but Hannah never thought things would go this far. Everyone has been telling her what to do ever since she got not one but two marriage proposals. Movie mania soon shoves Hannah's marriage dilemma into the background and even gives her cat a shot at stardom. The Cookie Jar serves as snack central with Main Street rented out for the week. She stirs lots of fresh gossip, whipping up treats for cast and crew, including demanding director Dean Lawrence's favorite--cherry cheesecake.
Everything's on schedule until Dean demonstrates a suicide scene with a prop gun that turns out to be all too real. As filming continues, Hannah sifts through the clues, hoping against hope that the person responsible for Dean's death is half-baked enough to have made a mistake. When it happens, Hannah intends be there--ready to rewrite a killer's lethal script with the kind of quirky ending that can only happen in Lake Eden...

I have really enjoyed this series. I have fallen in love with cozy mysteries and this series is the first cozy mystery I read. The story is predictable and everytime I read a Joann Fluke book I bake and eat tons of cookies. She has some great recipes.

I started this book in June and got sidetracked with a bunch of other books. It's not that I didn't like the book, I just get a little bored with Hannah at times. I wish she would just pick a guy and not keep dragging out the dating of 2 guys. I want to finish the series but I need a break.

Whatever Wednesday

Yesterday afternoon the carbon monoxide detectors started beeping and wouldn't stop. We were unsure what to do so R called the city who told us to call the fire department. I told R that they will respond in a fire truck so be better think it's something before we call them because they will have to respond. We had no way of knowing if there was a problem so we called them and they pulled up in a fire truck (luckily they didn't arrive in full code, that would have been more embarrassing). After testing the house, it turns out that there was a spider next in one of the detectors and all three are tied together so they all went off. So after explaining to several neighbors that everything was fine I finished cooking dinner.

Four out of five of us have colds. I think Z may be getting one, but he's fighting it. I'm afraid we will keep passing it around to each other so I keep telling the kids to wash with soap and use the bug germ around the house. Let's hope it goes away soon.

R drove up to Billings, Montana today to deliver a vehicle for work. On his way back he will stop in Rexburg to pick up a jeep for my sister and her husband. He has been sick for a few days and not getting very much sleep so I worry when he drives (I'll have to share his awful accident story another time). I just hope he stops tonight for some sleep when he starts getting tired. He is trying to make it back early tomorrow so it's a quick trip, I just praying for a safe one. By the way he loves doing stuff like this, I'm not sure why, but he loves driving.

I finally started reading Breaking Dawn last night. Some work friends invited me to go see Twlight with them on Friday. I have enjoyed this series, but it's not my favorite and I'm not obsessed with it. At first I thought I might see the movie but I didn't care very much and then I thought that I should go with them just to see a grown up movie and get away from the kids for a few hours. As Friday approaches, I'm getting excited to see the movie, maybe I'll finish the book by then but I'm not sure that's possible and still do my mom and work stuff.

Last night I went to a meeting for my YW calling. We just got a new presidency a month or two ago so there are a lot of changes. I have been a Mia Maid Advisor for about a year and my understanding was I taught Sunday lessons and came to activities to show support and get to know the girls. The new presidency is making lots of changes and the advisers will be more involved with the girls and with planning activities and helping out. I'm nervous to meet their expectations but I think overall it's great for the girls and getting to know them better. The previous presidency was great and the new presidency will continue where they left off and try new things that will continue to help teach the girls leadership skills and help them continue to develop their testimonies. I'm excited.

Oh, and tonight Tammy brought over the disk of our family pictures. She had to work hard for our pictures and schedule a re shoot because the kids just didn't cooperate very well the first time. The pictures are great. Thanks Tammy! She even made us a cute Christmas Card and I'm excited to get pictures ordered.

Tuesday Things

Yesterday S woke up with a bit of a barky cough. As the day progressed I could tell I was starting to get something and also A started coughing. It looks like our family is getting a yucky cold. S didn't go to school today so I am trying to get my work done while the girls watch cartoons so we can all take a nap in a little while. At least we won't be sick for Thanksgiving next week (I hope).

Dad is still up at the VA Hospital. He has some tests scheduled today and I think he is hoping to go today or tomorrow depending what he finds out from the tests. I haven't been able to go see him since Saturday and I feel awful. It's just really difficult when I can't take any kids. The floor he is on does not allow kids. I was hoping to visit today while the older kids were is school and A was at a sitter but the sickies have prevented that. Maybe if R can come home early today, but I have 2 church meetings tonight so I don't know.

Even though I don't feel great I need to tackle my house. There are still a bunch of toys all over the living room from Z's birthday party. We need to find a place for everything, I just didn't feel up to it last night. So my small goal for today is to clean off the kitchen counter and get the living room picked up.

Next week we are actually going out of town for Thanksgiving. We never go out of town for Thanksgiving or Christmas, we are just to busy at work. I also like being home for the holidays and doing my cooking and enjoying my house. We are going to St. George to see our moms. Wednesday afternnon when work starts to slow down we will leave and then Saturday morning we will come home before the big Thanksgiving return starts for Saturday night and all day Sunday. The kids won't be around cousins or other kids but they'll have fun seeing both grandmas.

Weekly Menu

Monday: Baked Chicken & Corn

Tuesday: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Wednesday: Shredded Beef & Rolls, Carrots

Thursday: Spaghetti w/ salad and garlic bread

Friday: Salmon w/ baked potato

Saturday: Pizza

Sunday: Crockpot Pork Ribs

Family Saturday

My sister and her family spent the night last night. Of course my kids are thrilled to spend time with their cousins. I'm going to go make us all some homemade buttermilk pancakes for breakfast since it's the only thing all the kids seem to eat.

My Dad aslo came back up again from Price yesterday to be admitted back into the hospital. Monday he had problems and now he's back. It sounds like he will be for the weekend so they can get on top of whatever is wrong. I didn't go see him last night because I was watching the kids and didn't want to atempt to go visit with 5 kids by myself.

Today is Z's birthday party. His party is at Kangaroo Zoo and he is so excited to have his party. He will have good friends from church and school and his cousins. I'm sure the kids will love the bouncy toys and have a ton of fun. I just hope I can take a lot of good pictures. We may also try to go see Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Over the years it's become a tradition to go see a movie after Z's birthday party. I think my sister and her family will go home tonight and my kids will beg that they stay one more night. We also need to find some time to go visit Dad at the hospital. I know this will be a day we will need more time to do everything we want to do.

Oh and it's my brother's birthday, he turns 36. We don't seem to have to have a lot of contact with him and his family. I hope he has a great birthday!

Parent Teacher Conferences

This afternoon I had parent teacher conferences with Z and S's teachers. I pretty much knew what to expect with Z's teacher. He is doing pretty good in most subjects and his biggest struggle right now is spelling. Z still struggles a lot with reading which ties into his past speech problems and I think this is also why he has a hard time with spelling. He studies spelling every night and last week he got 4 out of 16 words correct. I need to evaluate how he studies and see what we can do to help him more. His teacher also said he can get easily sidetracked in school so he needs to work on staying focused on what the teacher is teaching.

I knew S was struggling somewhat but I didn't know it was as bad it was. Her teacher first expressed that S seemed to lack confidence and was always unsure of herself. S is having a difficult time with her math facts and is way below in her reading. She hasn't been passing everything off that she needs to. She has a very organized, on the ball and dedicated teacher who teaches a little high and has high expectations of the students. S really likes her teacher and I also think she is wonderful at what she does. I was a little intimidated by her and I think S might be as well. By the time I left I was in tears at how much S is struggling. (I don't think I ever felt this bad when Z was struggling early on with his speech) I just felt like the worst parent and like I should be doing more to help her. Her teacher did suggest math flash cards so tonight we started on them and I am hoping this will help her. We work on reading everyday so I'm not sure what else to do other than continue to encourage and praise her. I have never felt like S lacked confidence but maybe I'm wrong. I'm going to watch this closely and see if I can find any parenting books on confidence to help me. Maybe I just overreacted because I am PMSing but I think that was only just a small part.

Weekly Menu

Monday: Birthday Dinner - Denny's

Tuesday: Honey Dijon Salmon & spaghetti squash

Wednesday: Hamburger Soup w/rolls

Thursday: Honey Mustard Chicken Tenders & Potato Wedges

Friday: Homemade Pizza

Saturday: Lasagna

Sunday: Steak, baked potato, green beans

Monday Madness

Well, I think Z has been happy with his birthday. We woke him up with a little chocolate cake singing "Happy Birthday". I also went to his class this morning and took treats and shared pictures and stories about him. He loved it. Tonight we let him pick his favorite restaurant to go out to eat at and guess what he picked? Can you believe Denny's! This boys loves Denny's. Ever since this time last year when we spent a week in California and every night after we left Disneyland we stopped at the Denny's accross the street and ate dinner, he has loved Denny's. We tired to get him to pick a different place to eat, but he really wanted Denny's. Z was also happy with Mariocart for the Wii.

My dad came up from Price tonight with an infection in his leg from his surgery. He has spent most of the late afternoon and evening in the ER at the VA Hospital. They may admitt him but we are not sure what is going on yet. I was going to go see him after dinner but since he had not been admitted yet and didn't want to take the kids to run around the ER and drive everyone crazy and pick up a million germs so we just came home. He had so many complications after his surgery last year, I hope it's not as bad this time.

Happy 9th Birthday Z!!

Sunday Stuff

I shouldn't be on my blog. I am in the middle of preparing my YW lesson and thought I would take a break. The other advisor has a sick child so I was called last night to see if I could take over the lesson. So I am trying to prepare while I make breakfast and help the kids with a few projects. I will be happy after church to sit and relax and maybe work on some laundry.

I can't believe Z turns 9 tomorrow. Although all the grandmas at church tell me to enjoy my kids now while they are young because they grow up so fast in the mist of little kids I keep thinking these grandmas don't know what they are talking about, I want them to grow up! But with my oldest having a birthday tomorrow I realize the grandmas are right and they do grow up faster than I realize. His birthday party will be Saturday. I'm having a difficult time finding a gift that he has requested so I'm hoping while he is in school tomorrow I can continue my search.

This week is parent teacher conferences at school so everyday is early out at 1:25pm. The kids will love this and maybe one or two of the days we can do something fun. I meet with my kids teachers Wednesday afternoon.

My dad had knee replacement surgery Wednesday afternoon. I have visited him everday at the hospital. Yesterday morning we took the kids up to say goodbye to Grandpa since he was being released to go home. After our hospital visit we went to lunch at the top of the Joesph Smith Memorial Building and then watched the Joseph Smith movie. A was a stinker and didn't take a nap in the movie like I had hoped so I missed the last 30 minutes of the movie which I was bummed about. Not the end of the world, I will buy it on DVD when it is released. We then went home to tackle some house projects and R was finallly able to winterize the trailer and I scrubbed the floors.

Back to working on my lesson!

Sunday Sayings

"Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself. And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in your heart, you are never the same again. It makes the thought of being a basher repulsive.

Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other."
-Marvin J. Ashton, "The Tongue Can Be a Sharp Sword", Ensign, May 1992

What a beautiful thought on charity. I could reread this everyday for the rest of my life and still find things to work on.

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Doddle!

She voted for the D guy!

Last week my kids had an election at school. They had picures of the canidates in the halls and discussed them in class. We didn't really discuss it Thursday after school but today when I was watching election coverage on TV my little S asked if I voted for the D person or the R person. She than informed that she voted for the D guy. I just thought it was so funny that she couldn't remember Obama or McCain but she knew she voted for the D.

I voted!

Monday Musings

I have to admit I don't want it to be Monday. I wanted to sleep in and I don't want to rush around this morning getting the kids ready for school and then going to work with Doodle. I don't want to worry about homework after school and fight with my kids about it. I want another free day. It is Monday, my free days are over until the next weekend. I have lots to get done and I'm making a list so I can remember everything.

My dad is coming up to stay with us tonight. He is having surgery on his knee for a knee replacement on Wedensday and he has doctor appointments tomorrow. I can't remember how long he was in the hospital last year when he had his other knee done. Hopefully his recovery is better for this knee surgery, last year he had so many complications after he had gone home.

A turns 2 on Thursday this week and Z turns 9 next Monday. I have no idea what to get them and we have enough toys and junk around here. I won't do a party for A, just our family but I need to plan Z's birthday party and deliver inviations.

Today my goal at home is to clean up the spare bedroom. Scrub my kitchen and living room floors and put clean laundry away. It would be nice to get my meals planned for the week and go grocery shopping if I find time.

Happy Birthday Sauna!