If any of you doubted the Pristine condition in which I keep my children, I give you, this: And as further proof, this:
(If you cannot tell, these are dirty, lil' handprints all over my master bath wall.)

Building, Digging, Swinging

(Notice the dirt in the smile wrinkles.)
(She's not a prissy girl, is she?)

Les Crepes

And here begins our Week of Food Posts as prescribed by Rachael. I thought I would start off with the traditional French crepe (pronounced krep, not kreyp). (Oh, and if anyone knows how to insert a circonflexe, please, let me know.) I got this recipe my freshman year of college from my friend, Eric, who had just served a mission in France. Traditionally, they're cooked using a dowel rod to turn them, but I'm not that talented so I use a spatula and my fingers.
The recipe:
Mix ingredients, in order and one at a time, using a wire whisk.
4 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 c flour
2 c milk
1/4 c oil
1/2 c sugar
1/2 t salt

Let sit 1/2 - 1 hour.
If I'm lucky (like I was on Saturday) the batter comes out nice and smooth. If it doesn't, just pour it through a fine metal sieve to take the lumps out.

Pour the batter onto a heated, Teflon pan to cook. I usually use about 1/3 c of batter at a time. Turn the pan to get the batter to cover the bottom and make a thin circle. The trick is to slowly peel the crepe away from the edges so that it doesn't stick. Plan on some burnt fingers. Oh, and the first crepe always comes out awful so just eat it as you make the others! If your Teflon plan has seen better days (as has mine) then pour a teaspoon of oil on after every few crepes. I actually came up with a method where I would turn the pan upside down and let gravity help me as I peeled it away with a spatula. I commented that any self-respecting Frenchman would frown at this. The Rocket Scientist promptly responded with, "Any self-respecting Frenchman is already frowning!" (There's your French joke for the week.)

After your crepes are cooked, you're ready to fill'em. We used (not-so-French) vanilla pudding and sugared strawberries. But PLEASE do not roll up your crepes. Nothing is more American than rolling a crepe. It should be folded in half, and then by thirds to make a nifty lil' triangle to hold in all the good stuff. Bon appetit!

My Favorite Times of the Day

When I get BACK from running.
Getting in the shower.
Lunchtime.
When the kids go down for afternoon naps.
When Daddy comes home.
Bedtime for kiddos.
Bedtime for me.

Some Last Week Pictures

Cooking with a crock pot just her size
Playing with all of Mommy's office supplies
Not going to sleep
Discovering Mommy's calendar is pretty strong

bits & pieces

giraffes pouting
climbing
grabbing
playing

Another Birthday Picture

I really think this is the last one. Really. Cute Girl with the roll-up, cloth,travel chalkboard her Great-Grandma made for her birthday.

Early Morning Productivity

I have felt incredibly productive of late. Well, at least in the mornings anyway. This sudden change seems to have corresponded with Conference. I love Conference. Twice a year my life gets a kick start.
The Rocket Scientist and I performed our post-Conference discussion on what in our life needed changing/improving and we decided that I needed to get up at 5:45. (Notice that was an I, he already did that.) Together we would read our scriptures, say our prayers, and then I would repeat that on the personally side while he got in the shower. And then I would take care of my kiddos so he could get out the door on time. It used to be that my sweet husband would take care of the babies while I was lazy and slept in til 6:30 or later. But no longer. And good thing, too, because with the sun coming up early, so do my kids.
With this new little routine, I get the kids and I dressed and fed by seven o'clock or so, then I get to go running. Love running! I'm currently using our bike trailer that converts into a jogging stroller. If we can keep this up I'll eventually get a new jogging stroller, but that's in the future.
And in the past few days I've gotten even MORE productive. Can you believe that? My current reading material is a finance book by Jean Chatzky called Make Money, Not Excuses. I love her books and I love playing with money. Her books have more than just financial advice though. This book is targeted directly at women, and the reasons they don't deal with their money so it has a lot of good "just life" advice. One part I read yesterday talked about making to-do lists. I liked her approach at it - simple but effective. I've always made to-do lists, but mine don't work quite as well as hers. So I switched to her way and I've liked it. I feel so productive!

...That is until about 3:30, when my kids turn into little monsters. Then it's all-bets-off 'til Dad gets home.

I just love them.

Today so far

Today I'm slightly bummed because my Wednesday Scrapbooking Buddy couldn't come. Jennifer's cable man was a little too late and took a little too long. Oh well. The best part about her coming is that my children somehow, spontaneously, miraculously, unexplainably... behave. Crazy, I know, but it's true. She must have some magic about her that makes my kids turn into little angels. I gotta get me some of that.
As for the days plans, we haven't really done much. Handsome Face only slept for half an hour. Cute Girl has repeatedly told me 'no' and then run. (Where's Dad when you need him?) But they're all in bed now! Hallelujah! And I did go running, everyone's been fed, dressed, gone to the bathroom, and had their teeth brushed (even me!). Now it's off to tackle the to-do list. Or maybe I'll just crawl into bed and read. Yea, that sounds much better than cleaning the kitchen.

ok, I'll go clean the kitchen.

Bye-Bye!

Look what Handsome Face likes to do. And you can enjoy my mother's and my lovely conversation about his anemia.

Finally, these are the concluding picture of Cute Girl's birthday. The cart that was finally received. And here she is wearing her cute new dress from Grandma.

A Tribute

... to the chubbiest cheeks in the world.

The Rocket Scientist builds a playground

Last week our playground was delivered and the boys started putting it together on Boo's birthday. The Rocket Scientist was a little over-confident and thought they could knock it out in a day. I just laughed.

Here are some pictures from the construction thus far. First day at work.This is Fritz. He came with the help.

Here's the Rocket Scientist. Can you believe they trust him to make things that blow up? Oh, and that other guy is the help. He's our home teacher.

The other night Cute Girl helped her dad put up the climbing wall. She looks very handy, don't you think?

I realized this afternoon that I hadn't posted all week. But we haven't really had anything to post about.
The Rocket Scientist has been doing training all week which is nice because it means he stays home with us until 9:30 or so. He does internet training from home then goes into work for a training class - something about how to make missiles to make things blow up. It's all very technical, I'm sure, and all ends in big clouds of smoke.
Because he's been home during the mornings, I've gotten a lot done. If he's sitting on the couch the kids are content to play among themselves. If I'm sitting on the couch they're climbing up my legs. If he gets up, they don't notice. If I get up, they run/crawl after me. So not fair.
Since I have no new pics of the kids, I'm posting recently finished projects. These are from Cute Girl's room.
Here is a picture that Grandma gave her at Christmas. It has a cute bug and flower border that fits the theme of her room. A month ago, Grandma also sent the stickers to decorate a picture frame to fit her room. So, I finally got a frame to complete the project. Cute Girl didn't like my ideas of spacing so I left her to her own devices. This is what she came up with.

And I finally finished the last magnet board. Hurray! I only bought them in Utah in September, had one finished by Thanksgiving, the other started right after Christmas, and finished just two weeks ago. What can I say, I'm lazy.

Happy Birthday to You!

Cute Girl just turned three! She's so grown-up! Her birthday was a blast! Unfortunately, it started with a trip to the doctor. It wasn't supposed to be bad and she was fine with going because I assurred her that she didn't have to get a shot. But once we got there the nurse informed us that there was a mumps (or measles?) outbreak and she would be getting her MMR a year early. I felt so bad! But she took it like a trooper. She held my hand and was very still. And the nurse gaver her Princess stickers! Oh, and a paddle ball for her birthday too!

That night her favorite nursery leaders, the McNeills, and their son, Dallin, came over for a bbq. Later on our friends, the Garcias, came too. She and Dallin had a rough beginning as they had both just woken up but by the end of the night they were having a good ol' time!

As for birthday loot, well, she got too much. My friend Christina stopped by earlier in the day and gave her a Disney Princess tea party set. Oh, my, the girliness.

Here is the cool horse/train set that Grandma sent.
Opening clothes from Mom and Dad.

Her new cash register! She loves to "play money." She's a very good shopper.
Here she is the next day, using the paint-with-water books Grandma sent.
She also got a stuffed bunny from the Garcia's, a shopping cart from us (which she opened on Saturday because the original had a crack in it which my husband discovered while trying to put it together before her party; it had to go back), a pretty blue dress, a frog on a stick that opens his mouth, and a Finding Nemo cereal bowl, all from Grandma. And she still has at least four more presents coming, most of which are from my sister. Oh, and one great-grandmother sent her a chalkboard placemat and another sent her money which she used to buy baby doll clothes, dress-up shoes, and a bouncy ball. Like I said, she got way too much.

Here's the birthday wishin', candle blowin', Cute Girl Grinin' portion of the evening. She wanted a strawberry cake for her birthday and she had it picked out of the cookbook three weeks in advance. Every now and again she would ask to see the picture in the book. It had strawberry creamcheese frosting. Yum! And I mixed up some vanilla ice cream and her daddy froze it in the backyard. We still have over half a gallon of homemade ice cream in the freezer. It's never going away!

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday, Cute Girl!

Project Picture Frames: Completed

First of all, because it's his room, we'll show a picture of Handsome Face.

Now, on to projects! Here is the first of many projects being completed this week. This one has been in the works for over a year. The idea was to use baby pictures of my husband and me to decorate the nursery. I had my pictures, but it took awhile to find baby pictures of the Rocket Scientist. Then I had to find the frames. Man, I hate shopping for picture frames. They're so expensive and I can never find what I want. I'm still looking for 6x6 frames for Boo's room. After months and months of searching I finally found these cheap white frames at Target. And they're cheap. Hopefully they don't fall apart anytime soon.
I wanted some colored frames but they're impossible to find. I got some once at Target, took them home, and then realized that they only had easels on the back. So back to Target they did go. I finally decided I would just spray paint white ones when I found them. So I did. I chose colors that were in the animal pictures on another wall. I thought they looked nice. I wish the green was a little different, but I painted that board in Utah, long before this room was ever conceived of.
Here's the Rocket Scientist. Isn't he cute?
That's me. My old pictures were 3x5 snapshots, so I got some flowery paisley paper to use as a mat. You can't find 3x5 frames.
And just for good measure, this is the mess on Handsome Face's floor.

Typical Crapo Days

In the middle of messes
Apples and Peanut Butter