Projects

I am so enjoying the sharing that has been going on lately on the blog. Here is another discussion suggestion for you all:
What projects are you working on, planning to work on in the near future?

I have several.
~I want to make nativity costumes. As I mentioned before, buying them is crazy expensive. I bought a pattern for $1 at a JoAnn's sale last week. I may not follow it exactly, but it will give me a good reference.
~I want to make robes for my kids for Christmas. I thought, I could skip the costumes and just make robes and use them for both, but that didn't cross my mind until after buying both patterns. Plus, I want to use bland fabric for the nativity and fun fabric for the robes. I actually bought a robe for Mikayla last week, so I wont make her one, but Braden for sure and then we'll see how it goes after that.
~I am going to consolidate my recipe books. Thanks Adrienne for the suggestion.
~I have been organizing/cleaning out clothes and toys. I took several things to several places. I took a few of my things to a consignment shop and got $9 in my last drop off. I still have one item waiting to be sold. I took a bunch of stuff to Once Upon a child. They bought a bit less than half and gave me $11. I took a ton of stuff to a twice yearly children's consignment sale. I sold $126. With all that is left I have given some away, have boxes for the thrift store and will save some for the spring consignment sale. I'd like to go through the toy room one more time before I take a thrift shop run.
~A constant project for me is menus. I must have menus for each week for dinners. I need to know what we are having each night and that I have all that I need to make it.
~I'd like to make our home more inviting, so any suggestions for this project would be appreciated. How do you make your home inviting, warm and confortable?
~I've been working on my master Christmas list, so I know what needs to be done in the next two months for the holidays.
~I'm working on food storage, trying to get it all and organize and use it. Mostly I enjoy the buying and the organizing. Fun stuff!
~Finally, Mikayla would like a slumber party for her birthday next month. I've been thinking about this alot. Mike is not really sure he wants to have a slumber party for 9 year old girls at our house. We'll see what happens.

Anyway, I am not working on all of these right this second, but a little here and there over the next two months. What about you??

Personal Progress

I liked Mandy's discussion questions. I have a few questions I wonder about you all, too.

First: What is a normal day/week like for you (especially Andy and his Laura--I have no idea what your normal day-life is like now)? I have classes Monday through Friday. I usually leave here between 0730 and 0800. I get home around 1630. Every day, except Thursday, my classes are: 1000-1100 Nuclear Physics, 1100-1200 Linear Algebra, 1400-1600 FORTRAN (a computer programming language used by engineers and scientists to do calculations and model stuff). On Thursday's my only class is from 1500-1600, though there are frequently other things I have to do: PT in the morning or afternoon, big meetings with all the students, training, and other junk. I try to get all my homework and reading done while I'm at school so I don't have to do it here at home. Once I get home I do what ever Adrianne tells me to do :). Just kidding. We eat dinner, run errands, exercise, play with the kids watch a show or movie, etc. We are usually in bed between 10:30 and 12:00 (notice, time switches to normal time at some point after I get home from work). We go to bed together every night (there have been a handful of nights in our marriage when we have gone to be at different times).

Second: What goals, aspirations, etc. do you have for yourself? I was thinking about this question this morning. I have 3 main topics that I am working on.
1. I want to be the person God wants me to be. I have been working on this for a while, and I suppose I'll always be working on it. I have become better at reading my scriptures the past few months. I have improved from reading almost every day with some days being just a verse before I go to sleep, to reading every single day with some days only reading a few minutes. Part of my improvement has come as a result of another change I've been trying to implement. I try to get the most important things done before I do the less important things. For example, I get everything ready for the next morning (make a lunch and get my clothes and anything else I need for the next day together) before I do anything else in the evenings. I also study the scriptures, work on my calling, and do anything else I'm supposed to do before I can watch tv or do the other things I want to do.
2. I'm trying to do well in school. I'm not trying to be perfect, but I do want to put forward a good effort.
3. I'm working towards being wealthy. Besides our retirement savings, I'm looking at getting into real estate investment. I'm also working on a fantasy novel that I hope to have published (and sold). We pray each night that we will be careful and wise in how we spend our money, and I have been praying for help to write my book so that millions of people will buy it. :) .
What about you all?

Questions for all!

I have some questions for all of you. Feel free to expand on your answers.

**Do any of you have nativity costumes? We act out the Christmas story on Christmas Eve. I've seen in the Deseret book catalog the cute costumes they have for sale. They are simple and plain and $20 each. Do you do this? What do you wear?

We always use baby blanket and towels for our costumes.

**Does anyone do once a month cooking? If you aren't familiar with this term, it just means that you do most of your cooking for the month in one or two days and then freeze it and use it throughout the month. Do you like it? What good sites or recipes do you use?

I have done a bit of this, but not on a full scale. I will divide up packages of meats, make meatballs, taco meats and freeze them. I also have started to double soup recipes and freeze the second half for later. Also, if I make breads, I will freeze the extra loaves. I'm not anywhere close to doing all my cooking at once, but the idea appeals to me.

**Do you have a good chili recipe?

My kids love canned Hormel or other cheap/generic chili. I have to buy about 4 cans and then we eat all of it. I have made chili before but it never is the same as the canned stuff. Homemade has way more chunkies because of the veges and all the beans. One time I put a can of diced tomatoes in the canned chili to make it go further. Braden almost died. "What are these and why did you put them in the chili!!!"

**Have you heard of American Girl Dolls?

Mikayla would like to get one. They are about an 18" doll with one outfit. You can buy all kinds of accessories, furniture, clothes, pets, etc. They also have book series and movies about them. Several of them have names and come from different eras. You can also get one that looks like you and doesn't have a name or specific era. Mikayla has read some of the books and seen some of the movies. We get a catalog in the mail about once a quarter. We look at them and talk about which she would pick if she could get one. Are you ready? They cost $100 each. More outfits are about $25 each. The pets are around $20... She is not getting one. What happened to playing with the $5 barbie doll??? Do your kids want something a bit out of the question like this??

So, now lets start some discussion here and tell me what you think/know/do with all of this stuff. Thanks!

Noah's birthday

Recipes revisited

Hi all~

I have been working on my cookbook project. Here are the recipes I have so far. If this gives you more ideas, please let me know and I will add them. These are all the ones I have from mom.
Thanks!

Carrot Cake
Poppy Seed Cake
Pie Crust Mix
Cardamom Bars
Chocolate Revel Bars
Chocolate Chip Cake
Gay Chess Tarts
Mini Cheese cakes
Frago Mint Dessert
Mississippi Mud Cake
Sweet Potato Souffle
English Toffee
Cranberry Bread
Yummy Potatoes
Fantasy Fudge
Brownies
Caramel Toffee Bars
Mexican Meat Mix
Guacamole
Chinese Chicken Salad
Potato Salad
Hot Chicken Salad
Mexican Chicken Casserole
Poppy Seed Chicken
Chicken Divine
Breakfast Casserole
Chile Rellenos
Cha Cha's White Chicken Chili
Zucchini Jack Casserole
Stuffed Pizza
BBQ spare/short ribs
Frog Eye Salad
Artichoke Heart Dip
Institute Rolls

Dad's new Toy

Dad decided corvettes are too small and too expensive, and Solstices, Skys, Miatas, and other sports cars were too small, so he wanted a honda accord coupe with a 6 cylendar engine in it. After looking and looking, he came across a deal he couldn't refuse, a 2009 Pontiac G8Sedan with lots of extras. Here it is.

Nick and his uncle in the avacado tree

Hello eveyone.

thanks for the your coments. I'm happy be here witht my family and they are happy to have us here. Today I wanted to show everyone, my mons avacado tree.

Nick loves to climb among the giant avacados

Grandmpa and grandma we miss you very much and we're excited for you visit

I blogged!!! Go see!! OH, and comment!!

Nicn and Noah in argentina

Hola familia,hola amor
Aca hay algunas fotos de los chiquitos,

Free $10 gift card

Go to this website and see if any of your local malls are participating in this. I was just able to print a voucher for a free $10 gift card for one of my local malls. You have to go to the mall and pick it up on the day the 18th or 19th of September, but it's free. Let me know if this works for any of you.

There are only 500 vouchers available for each participating mall, but the mall near me still has 365 left. There is a $10 off $75 card and just a free $10 card. Make sure you click on the free card link. Happy shopping!

http://www.shopsmartlookfab.com/GiftCards

We Finished!!!

I know I already posted, but this is a big deal, worthy of two posts in one day. WE FINALLY FINISHED THE BOOK OF MORMON!!! I can't say for sure, but I think it has been about 4 years of reading a chapter a night, then down to 4 verses, one for each of us, having the kids repeat after we read the verse, then up to 5 verses a night, with Mikayla reading her own and Mike reading for Tyson and helping Braden read his. Now three of us read a verse, Braden and Tyson repeat theirs after Mike and Jacob climbs all over the kitchen while we read. Mikayla is just disgusted that we have to start over again. She must have thought when we finished that we would never have to read again!

By the way, today during FHE, disaster child, also known as Jacob, pulled a shelf full of books onto himself, hitting his glued up forehead in the process. No blood this time, just tears. This is a bookcase we have had since Mikayla was a baby. No other child has attempted to climb it or pull a shelf out. I truly fear for this little boys safety!! What is he going to do next?!?!

Books for Kids

Dolly Parton has teamed up with the United Way to offer free books to children under the age of 5. Since you all have at least one of those, I thought I'd pass on the information. My two boys each got The Little Engine That Could in the mail this month and were very happy!
Click here http://www.dollysimaginationlibrary.com/firsttime.php to see if it's available in your area.

Steven Earned his Life Scout

Steven earned his Life Scout after attending Scout Camp last week. Now he has to earn 6 more merit badges and his Eagle Project and he will have his Eagle Scout. Our Scout Leader and our Young Mens leaders have done a great job helping and encouraging the boys to succeed in moving along in the scouting program.

Right now they are at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington at the Washington Jamboree, I think that he will have a great time. Ralph is going to go down tomorrow and spend the night until Sunday. They are going to have a special speaker and Sabbath program for all of the LDS troops down there. It sounds pretty neat!

Let's talk about... FOOD!!

I thought the mention of food might get your attention! Did it work? I would like to start a project of putting together a family cookbook. What I mean by this is a collection of favorite recipes we had while growing up. Things that Mom made for us. Then, Mom, if you could help to tell us if they were family recipes and also help to name recipes that we might not have thought of and ones passed down from both our grandmas. If you all help me collect them, I think we could get a nice little booklet out of it. It would be fun if anyone had a memory to go with it, or wanted to say it was a favorite and if they make it in their own homes, etc.
Does that all make sense? You could leave comments here or email me any suggestions you have.
Thanks in advance, I know you will help out when it comes to thinking about food.
By the way, Mom, this project would fall under a YW value project if you would like to work on it with me....

Food Storage

I just found this cool calculator to help figure out food storage for a year. Now I have to go figure out what we have and what we need. Some friends of ours just got their years worth of food, so I know it is possible. I am trying to get ours, but it is quite a project as you all know. I will learn how to use our wards canner tomorrow. We bought several bags of wheat and some cans a few months ago that we need to put to use.
Our garden is doing pretty well. We are hoping to get somethings canned and in the freezer for later usage. I'll let you know how that goes.
What are you all working on?

A little FYI

For those of you with 7-11's near by:

In celebration of 82 years in business, 7-11 will be offering FREE 7.11-ounce Slurpees at participating 7-11 stores on July 11th (get it? 7/11? heh heh!) between 7:00am and 11:00pm.
More details here
(like many other places, 7-11 stores are independently owned & operated. It might be a good idea to call your local store to ensure that they are participating before making a special trip!)

For those who live by a Chick Fil'A:

Just a reminder that tomorrow (Friday, July 10th) is Cow Appreciation Day!
Stop in on July 10th to any participating Chick Fil’A dressed as a cow and get a FREE meal! Need some ideas for your costume? Click here for the Chick Fil’A “starter kit”.

Don’t want to go out in public in a full cow costume? Simply wear a “cow accessory” (don’t we all have those?) and you will still get a free entree item!

We don't have either of these near us, but I know some of you do so I thought I'd pass it along.

More Mom Birthday Pictures

Happy Birthday to you!

Did Dad just tell Mom how much that necklace cost?

For some reason my computer wouldn't work to put these pictures with the other post...but here they are!

Mom's Birthday

Austin was trying Grandma and Grandpa's present!

Mom and Dad in front of their edible arrangements present.

The surprise birthday dinner for mom. She thought they were just coming over to look at the basement and then we were going to go out. That didn't sound like fun to me, five kids in a restaurant...so we planned a surprise at our house! I think she was surprised!