I have been sick for a very long time. I am still sick so there will still be no new posts. I'm going back to laying on the floor.

Cookies run amok

Cute Girl and I took on the great task of making Easter sugar cookies this weekend. It was a lot of fun, took much longer than intended, and there was one or two incidents along the way. But all in all, fun was had.

I used the sugar cookie recipe from Picky Palates. I'm not a huge sugar cookie fan but this recipe almost has me converted. Sugar cookies are a little labor intensive, so I would recommend making the dough a day ahead. This works our particularly well for this recipe, as the dough needs to refrigerate for at least two hours. It also makes a TON of cookies. Half the dough yielded three dozen. We're putting the other half in the freezer for later holiday use.

Now for the fun part. The cast: flour, marble rolling pin, cookie cutters, dough, and of course, a Cute Girl (she's absolutely necessary).

Right after this picture was taken my beautiful marble rolling pin met an untimely demise. Cute Girl was reaching for it while I got a cookie sheet and sent it crashing to the tile floor. Note: marble rolling pins should NEVER meet with tile floors. Raw cookies. (They're kind of yummy.)
Baked cookie army. (They're kind of yummy too.)
When the Rocket Scientist got home that night, Cute Girl instructed him on the proper way to decorate sugar cookies. We used Kristin's Butter Cream Frosting. It's divine. One of my favorites.

I decorated most of the three dozen cookies (actually, it was 38) while the kids were napping. Cute Girl had helped bake them that morning while Handsome Face took his first nap. This was an all day project!Cute Girl's masterpieces - she really liked the sprinkles.Pretty good cookie, huh? This is what eventually happened to most of the cookies, along with Easter Egg Rice Krispie Treats and chocolates (who doesn't like Reese's Easter Eggs?!). We made up baskets with the Lamb of God videos to give to friends and neighbors. One of the few ways I'm trying to do my part to spread the gospel. I also invited my friend to church on Sunday. We'll see if she comes.

Crazy Kids

So, I've been making a quilt to give to Humanitarian Services. They are in need of quilts at the moment, and this is my way of performing service since I'm a SAHM with no vehicle in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the desert. I've had the material laid out on the living room floor to cut it. One day Handsome Face was left stranded in their while I did some random chore. Next thing, I hear raucous giggling from the other room. He had done this to himself.
Then Cute Girl had to try too.

I think my baby has a cold. He won't take a nap. And he has refused his bottles for days now.
The girl moved my orange juice and the boy dumped it all over the toy room carpet.
The girl won't play unless I am within three feet of her.
I haven't exercised, showered, or done anything productive.
Today, we survive. Today, we hole up in the family room with cheese and crackers and apples and books and watch Pride & Prejudice until Daddy comes home.
There will be no mopping, vacuuming, laundry loading, or dish washing done today. Sometimes it's just gotta be that way.

Post Script: The Rocket Scientist came home at one o'clock today. It was a good day.

Cute Girl's New Game

Life, Recently

Random thoughts, ideas, and happenings from the last week.


This is Handsome Face upside down in his car seat. He was put there to eat his bottle and decided he didn't really want to.

Cute Girl has decided that she is a puppy dog.

During Sunday naps, Handsome Face was in bed yelling "DADADADADADA" at the top of his lungs while Cute Girl was in her bed pretending to sing from her scriptures. The Rocket Scientist slept through it. Why is it that I'm the only one in the house who REALLY wants to take a nap on Sunday afternoon, and yet I'm the only one who doesn't get to?

Handsome Face now does "popping popcorn" by waving his fists during Popcorn Popping.

Handsome Face tried peas this last week and really liked them. Cute Girl had to have some for dinner too. She kept making "grumple" faces when her dad tried to make her eat them (it's not that she didn't like them, she just didn't want to eat). These pictures don't do it justice but it's the best I could do. Once the camera came out she kept trying to smile.

Cute Girl has lots of imaginary friends. I think the count is now up to four. Friend number three is Beast from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. She's never seen the movie but she has Disney Princess Memory. Beast lives in the coat closet. Every now and then she takes my bags and puts them up across the closet doorway as gates. I've never really understood this, but it's her game. So one day she wanted me to pretend to go somewhere with her but I just really wasn't in the mood. So I started suggesting alternatives. First I suggested Gallo go with her but he couldn't for some reason. Same thing with Gauk. Then I suggested Beast. Cute Girl just looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Beast is just a cow." Now the gates make sense.

We no longer watch TV. Now that's not entirely true. We have never paid for television. Recently, we have been taking the physical cable that plugs into the back of the television, attached a piece of foil to the end, and strung the cable around the family room floor to make a sort of antenna. I was finally tired of the cable cluttering up the room and Cute Girl was watching a few too many cartoons on PBS. I was only watching the news on a channel that was difficult to get and Handsome Face would always grab the cable and mess up the reception anyway. So I took the cable off. Now I get online to watch my NBC news segments later in the day and the Rocket Scientist and I watch all our favorite shows online. That's nice because there are "limited commercial interruptions" and we can watch them whenever we want from the comfort of the bed.

Cute Girl has been getting out of bed again recently and therefore she gets locked in again. She's been yelling under the door, "I need my mo-ther!"

Also, about a week ago, Cute Girl was once again locked in her room during nap time. Next thing I know she was out. She had picked the lock with a barrette from her pocket.

Handsome Face has started getting on his hands and toes like he's going to do push-ups. Sorry, no pictures.

For those who didn't know already, the Rocket Scientist has a blog. Find it at nerdcare.blogspot.com

Pizza Night

We have a tradition in our family that every Friday night is Pizza Night. The Rocket Scientist and I have been doing this since the first year we were married. Cute Girl loves this. Pizza is one of her absolutely favorite foods. We make the crust from scratch. The recipe came from my aunt Crystal. We make it all the time so I'm super fast. If I want to push it we can be ready to put the crust in the oven in an hour. It's really not labor intensive; you just have to plan ahead and start the dough about an hour and fifteen minutes before you want to put the pizza in the oven We pile on the veggies so it's super healthy. And if I'm in a generous mood Cute Girl gets to watch a movie while we eat our pizza.

Pizza Crust

In large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup warm water, 1 tablespoon yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar, one teaspoon salt, and 1/4 cup oil. Let sit five minutes.
Stir in 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups flour. I usually use 1 cup of whole wheat flour and then 1 3/4 cups of white flour. Turn onto floured counter and knead until smooth. Let rise one hour. Punch down and form into crust on floured surface. Place on pan or stone covered in cornmeal. Prick with a fork all over to prevent bubbling and brush on olive oil. Top as desired. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

To make it up to you...

Ok, the last post was long and boring, I know. So to make up for it we'll play picture catch-up.
Cute Girl wearing the sticker earrings she got in Grandma's Valentine.

The Rocket Scientist playing with my new iPod before I even had the chance.
Getting help with the twisty ladder.
Just a handsome face
Occasionally we have pictures with Mommy

Food as Thoughts

Rachael had an interesting post the other day that can be found here. I have also been thinking about the same topic lately, as we ready our pantry/kitchen/non-existent storage space for food storage. I had to many rambling thoughts on the matter to leave in her comments, so I am posting it here instead. Hope you're not too bored.

I am of the opinion that everyone should eat healthy but not go crazy. Being of home-grown farm-stock for generations back, I'm a firm believer that you can eat things like fried chicken and biscuits and gravy and still be fit as a fiddle 'cause you're outside pushing a plow all day. But unfortunately, not many of us do that anymore. With fathers spending more and more time at the office, mothers going to work and leaving the kids with sitters, and preschool becoming the new kindergarten so that kids aren't home anymore anyway, the idea of family staying at home and working together has disappeared. No longer are Saturdays spent doing hard labor. Instead we drive around and play video games. And I most certainly am not without guilt. I no longer haul pumpkins, or set strawberry plants, or pick tomatoes, or hoe green beans (I hate hoeing, by-the-way) as I did as a child. And believe me, it shows.

So, since we aren't so active as we, the American people, once were, I think we have to show a bit of prudence in our choice of foods. But I still eat gravy.

In our house I try to server tuna and salmon once a week. Sometimes I throw in tilapia. I don't really watch how many times we eat beef and chicken in a week. I usually just plan meals by what I want to have. But we do have some meals that are sans meat. I just tried one called Tortilla-Black Bean Casserole which comes from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, 12th Edition. Oh, and I usually cut the beef and chicken quantities in half for my recipes.


Every dinner includes vegetables. The website mypyramid.gov does an excellent job of explaining what vegetables should be included in your diet and how much. For instance, did you know that green beans, zucchini, and green peppers are not "green" vegetables? They're "other" vegetables. Green vegetables are really green leafy vegetables and include dark lettuces, spinach, kale, etc. I try to include salad with as many meals as I can (which is not as many as I'd like 'cause salad is a little labor intensive sometimes). I alternate between romaine and red leaf lettuce and I get bagged mixed greens and spinach to add to it. We also eat lots of green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, red and green peppers, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, and onion. When Neil's cooking we throw in asparagus. When I'm cooking, I throw in okra. Yum. And fattening. 'Cause it's fried.

Now, on the organic front, I say if you want to pay for it then it's great. But with milk already over $3 and my non-organic produce bill already being astronomical, I don't think the health benefits that may or may not be all that big a deal are worth the extra money. My dad grew up with dairy cows, my uncle owns a dairy, and I'm just fine with my antibiotic-laced milk. For veggies and fruits, I would be very happy to buy locally or have a garden. Both are difficult in the desert.

Now, if you're my friend at all, you must know that I have no will-power when it comes to sweets. I just don't. And it doesn't matter where they come from - I will eat them. Whether I'm allowed to or not. But I'm getting better. Slowly. I don't buy junk food at the store. That's the one place I do have will-power. I can keep junk from coming into my home but I can't not eat it once it's there. Pathetic, I know. But recently we decided (meaning I decided and subjected my family to it) that no sweets, potato chips, sugar drinks, etc. would be purchased. Not hard since we already didn't drink soda and I was pretty good with all of the other stuff. We (I) also decided that treats would be limited to Sunday or FHE. Anything not consumed is going to be thoroughly wrapped up and stuffed in the freezer or given to anyone who'll take it.

Bread is the bane of my existence. This is because I hate high-fructose corn syrup. It's nearly impossible to buy bread from a regular grocery without high-fructose corn syrup. I did, however, find in Utah that Macey's wheat bread that is baked in-store is corn syrup-free. And it was good wheat bread. Now I settle for whole wheat bread that has that icky, sticky stuff. I am wanting to switch to making my own bread with the wheat in my food storage but I just can't find a recipe I like. Rachael gave me a fabulous, yummy recipe but we don't eat bread too fast and it gets dry and crumbly. Maybe you can help me fix it, Rachael? So if you have good bread recipes I want them. Now. Until then, I think we might continue to buy bread for sandwiches and make bread every now and again.

Ok, I'm sure I could ramble more but I'm tired of typing. And you're tired of reading. If you stuck with it this far.

Happy Birthday to Me

Last week I had a birthday. I was going to let it go by, but Katie wanted to see what we did. Darn those pesky sisters-in-law who remember your birthday.

Mostly it was a day like any other day. The kids were pretty good. I couldn't think of any good reason to stay at home so we all packed up and went to the playground. It was over 80 degrees out and the sun was shining. I know everyone in their snowbound houses are thinking about how great that would be, but let me inform you, that our outside playing is soon coming to an end. Spring is kind of non-existent in the desert, and it will soon be too hot to go outside. Thank heavens our pool will be finished soon.

Love the hair. Static electricity. It's all the rage.





That evening, N came home with a baby-sitter in tow. Yay for going out! We actually accomplished the grand feat of dinner AND a movie in one evening. What can I say? We like to live large. We tried out the ONLY Italian restaurant in our area. We kind of live in the middle of nowhere, and driving into the city is just daunting sometimes. It was really pretty good. I had some delectable lasagna and N had scallops, garlic shrimp, asparagus, and fettuccine. His was kind of yummy too. Then we went and say Vantage Point. I liked it. I think it's a one time movie. The magic is in seeing the story unfold a little more each time the events are replayed. Once viewed, the mystery is gone.

For my birthday, I got a new potato masher and measuring spoons (the garbage disposal ate my old ones) from Handsome Face and the movie Becoming Jane from Cute Girl. We watched it Friday night and I loved it!

After we got home, N informed me that I had another present. It was my Valentine's Day gift that never came in (I had been wondering where it went to). He got me this:

For the full story, please go here.

On Friday, N and I made a birthday cake. Because I wanted one. This is Cute Girl pouting because she wasn't allowed to lick anymore frosting. Ever. (I gave her more after we were done laughing at her forlorn face.)

She tried cleaning up frosting from her lip with her fork but just ended up dragging it across her cheek instead.

And the next day I got my birthday present from N which also did ship in time. I got my new Saucony running shoes and now I'm all set with my iPod to go have a glorious time all alone on the streets of the neighborhood. As soon as I can get someone to watch my kids that is.

Just for Whitney

Since she asked about the stroller, here goes.

This is a Combi Twin Savvy. I like the Combi brand because the strollers are lighter and more compact than the more traditional brands. They fold up more like an umbrella stroller would, but they still have features like cup holders, baskets, car seat attachments, etc. They are lighter (although the double stroller is still a bit heavy, just not AS heavy) and therefore more convenient to carry and put into cars. As compared to other strollers, the baskets aren't as big or as easy to get into. You trade that for the lightness and compactness. Some people also like larger wheels on their strollers, and these don't. I think they've held up well though.

As for double strollers in particular, we chose the side by side rather than the front-to-back. The side by side is easy to push (although with a heavy child on one side, it pulls to that side) and it turns on a pivot, so you don't need extra space to turn around. You do need more sidewalk room than the front-to-back though. We decided we liked the easier to push model better even if we would take up more room. The only time we've had a problem is at the mall during Christmas when everyone was there and the racks were packed in together. If we had a front-to-back model, we would have been able to move straight forward better, but we wouldn't have been able to turn around ever. We mostly use it around the neighborhood, since S is old enough that she usually wants to be out walking when we go places.

My stroller is last year's model. It doesn't have the fancy removable diaper bag. We tried all of the strollers out at Babyies R Us and USA Baby, and then did a Google Product search to find the best price and shipping deal on-line. Whatever you choose, if you can find it cheapest at Wal-Mart online, you can do a free ship to store. Other places will often waive shipping for orders over a certain amount. We got ours from an online baby boutique who just happened to have the best deal. I think the car seat came from someplace else.

You can browse the models here. There are even video demonstrations so you can see how they fold up.

Me, pointing at Cute Girl's dinner, "All of that must be gone before you get any cake."

"Does it have to be in my tummy?"