Surprise!

After weeks of top secret planning, tonight was the big night......

Emma's Sweet Sixteen surprise party.

She had no idea.

I've been busting my tush for days getting ready for this.

Total surprise.

Rocco was not thrilled with everyone yelling "Surprise! and having his Daddy quiet him right before Emma got here.

Sweet baby boy, I am sorry you had a rough start.

Friends of Emma and Kate came to the party, only these three were on time, the other three were here a little late, but we're still so glad they came.We have a small ward and so all of the girls get to know each other pretty well.

 Emma's big gift was Rock Band for the Xbox (we have it for the Wii, but now that we have an X box, the kids wanted one for that system, too.

They all got into it- even Dad took a turn at the drums.

 Dad sure knows how to rock out to some Taylor Swift.

Move over, John Bonham. Art Olson is gunning for your job......
**DISCLAIMER**
He was not actually playing Taylor Swift.

 It was so great to see everyone and to celebrate Emma's big milestone.

 Rocco loved the bucket of army men and kept throwing them over the couch at people and hiding them in the room. I think I'm going to get a big smile on my face every time I find one as I clean up there.

 So Happy Birthday, Em-Monster.

Here's hoping it's a good one.

We love you, Kid, but your dad is going to kill any boy who keeps you out past 11:00.

So Good

Busy busy busy days ahead.

I have about a bajillion things to do today.

I started baking for a family get together this weekend and finally made those lemon cream cookies I'd been drooling over since seeing the recipe on a blog.

What blog?

No idea now. I just spent the last 20 minutes scrolling through my blog roll and google searching it and it isn't coming up. I'm bummed that I can't link you to somewhere awesome, since I lost the link myself.

But I did swipe the recipe.

These were out of this world yummy.
**UPDATE**
The recipe was found at http://www.stephanieskitchen.com/
Thanks, Jenny for the help!!
*****

The recipe is really easy but rolling them into balls got super sticky- so sticky you couldn't do more than three cookies before it was just a globby mess.

The trick is to dust your hands with powdered sugar after each cookie is rolled into a ball.

Trust me on this.

That part is a little bit of a pain but ooooh these are the best cookies I have ever made and I make some great cookies.

Lemon Cream Cookies

( you want to make these, I promise)

makes about 2 1/2 dozen

1 box lemon cake mix

1 large egg

zest and juice from 1 large or 2 small lemons

1 8oz container of cool whip

powdered sugar

Mix the dry cake mix, egg, lemon zest and juice together.  The batter will be crumbly. Fold in the cool whip until well combined. The batter will be sticky. Cover with saran wrap and chill for an hour in the fridge.

Scoop the batter into ping pong ball sized balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet or one lined with parchment paper. I pressed them down a little before baking.

Bake at 350 for 8-11 minutes until the edges are lightly golden.

Share with the family before trying one yourself, or you will decide sharing is for wussies.

Did I mention these are soooooo good?

Layout

This is  Kristine's oldest daughter, Sabrina.

She and her husband were able to finalize the adoption papers on Sabrina and her two sisters just last month and they doubled their family size--- something we can relate to in this home. :)

Kristine is like a sister to me and she will be me best friend forever, she is a person I know I knew in the pre-existence and I am so happy that on top of her boys, she now has a house full of girls to love and care for.

They are all lucky and blessed to have found each other and I'm excited to see what the future brings the family.

We love them all so much and isn't Sabrina the most beautiful child you have ever seen?

Monday Muffins

Even though my back and head are killing me today, it's been too long since I spent any quality time in the kitchen.

I've been itching to make these lemon cookies I just got a recipe for, but decided to make some healthy and yummy muffins instead.

They're made with Wheaties and I added a jar of apple pie filling that I canned 2 years ago, making them super good with big chunks of soft, sweet apples in them.

Here is my recipe, it made just over 2 dozen.

---------

2 1/2 cups Wheaties cereal (generic is ok)

2 cups buttermilk (or 2 cups milk + 2 TB lemon juice)

6 TB vegetable oil

2 eggs, beaten

Soak these ingredients in a bowl for 5 minutes

then add:

2 cups flour

2/3 cups packed brown sugar

2 TB baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 quart home made apple pie filling or 2 cups fruit of your choice

Mix it all together and put into muffin cups.

Before baking, sprinkle with:

1/4 cup melted butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

3/4 cups rolled oats (I added wheat germ and flax seed)

Bake at 400 for 25 minutes (took 28 for me)

I also tossed in some flax seeds into the batter because it adds a little more texture and nutrition to the muffins.

Now which of my wonderful neighbors am I going to surprise with a plate of these?

Hollywood Connection

Yesterday we had a family activity at Hollywood Connection- a local skating rink/ mini golf/indoor amusement park. Parker had to work, but the rest of us went and had a great afternoon riding the rides, roller skating and spending time together.

Zane doesn't smile.

I hadn't been on skates in years, the last time we took the kids we made it about 10 minutes of trying to skate with Grey, Jane and Roe before we gave up and just did the rides. This year, they all started off wobbly and falling but they are older and were able to figure it out and by the time we left, all 3 of the little kids were skating on their own. Romy was even skate dancing to Justin Beiber and Katy Perry.

 One of many wipeouts

 Look Ma...no clinging to the wall for dear life!

Proving he is a child of the 80's....Matt's jeans are tucked into his skates.

We split up into 2 teams for mini golf, Mom and the little ones and Dad and the big kids.  Dad's group invented their own game that was more like minigolf hockey.

 Ticked off Greyson at having to stop for a picture.

 Minigolf hockey.....

Still, no smile from Zane

The kids enjoyed the rides, and the spinny balloon rode made Mom just about puke. It was a really fun day.

 Balloon ride

 Bumper carts

 

In the evening, I worked on my lesson for church and Matt worked on the basement. After my lesson was ready I did a scrapbook page. LOAD starts in about a week and I think I am ready.

I also finished the last of my facebook gifts. I had one person sign up who was a single guy and I decided a birdhouse was just a little too girly for him, so I made him a picture holder that was a little more masculine, his holds 2 pictures.

He Sleeps

Last night while Matt was doing this......

I was doing this.....

LOAD starts in February. I can't wait!

Also, the one of the books I'm reading- The Gift- is driving me crazy. The second book in this series is not as good as the first one and the first one didn't blow me away.

 Patterson tries to write in the way teenagers speak, and right now, I'm not feeling it. I think he needed to try a little harder and let go of the teenage cliche's he relies on too heavily.

I'm putting it back on the shelf until summer when I have the patience for it and instead am going to start reading this tonight instead:

Make a Little Birdhouse In Your Soul (or your kitchen)

I can't pass up the chance to add a little TMBG to my blog whenever possible.

First I want to start by saying thank you to my cousin-in-law Lisa Dunham for the sweet card you sent me. I have been pretty down in the dumps lately and when I opened that today it made me cry that you were so thoughtful and sent me a little pick me up. Thank you for being in my family. :)

(Hey Lisa, if you want another cat, I have grown to hate Wrigley....I mean, he's a GREAT CAT and he looks like he'd fit right in with your family......)

The first week of January, my friend & neighbor Mindy had a facebook status that read something to the effect of "the first five people to respond to this post will get something hand made by me in the year 2011, the only rule is that if you respond, you have to re-post this status and pay it forward."

I thought it was a cute idea and Mindy makes cute stuff, so I claimed one of her coveted spots and reposted it. In about 15 minutes I had my victims, I mean friends to make crafts for and I've been thinking about what to make ever since.

I wanted to do something different and I came up with the idea for these cute birdhouse picture holders.

I am crazy happy with them.

I know some of those who are getting these - okay- only Nicole http://rubberduckiecreations.wordpress.com/

reads my blog-- the surprise will be which birdhouse you get.

 I'll mail them out next week.

I might have to make some for myself, I really think they turned out as cute as heck.

What I'm Reading

My perfect husband got me a Kindle for Christmas.

It was one of those things I didn't know I needed until I had one.

I don't know how I lived without it.

Love my Kindle.

 If this invention causes all of the libraries to close---eh, that's fine with me.

I owe the library 74 cents anyway from the last time I went there back in 1991.

Cool screensaver, eh?

I just finished my first full Kindle book, Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran.

She writes historical fiction and I enjoy her books a great deal. I could have gone without some of the explicit things in The Heretic's Daughter, but this one was pretty good. Her next book comes out in February.

 I am going to start reading this today:

It's YA fiction, the second in the series and I should have that finished in a day or two.

I am so glad that a few years ago my doctor sat me down and had a frank talk with me telling me that if I didn't find ways to relieve my stress, I would not live to see my kids grow up. Okay, that part was scary and hard, but it gave me permission to replace some of the things I felt I had to do with things I wanted to do.

I started to eliminate some of the crap from my life (Matt, I love you, but your ex wife is your problem, you deal with her.) 

I simplified things (Goodbye, Cub Scouts, it was real and it was fun, but I wouldn't say it was real fun.) 

 I added things that allowed me to relax more (Oh yeah, I know how to read.)

 I had missed reading for fun so much and felt guilty if I wasn't reading either something church related or something self help-y. I think I got the most self help by giving myself permission to read for the sake of enjoyment, not to fulfill some duty.

So, if you need me, I'll be hanging out with Whit and Windy, for another dose of "I Was a Teenage Wizard and Then the World Ended"

My Boring Talk

Sunday I gave a talk along with my good friends Earl and Betty.

Earl suffered a heart attack just yesterday and while he's going to be okay--what a scare. Hang in there, my sweet friends. I love you both so much.

Please keep him in your prayers.

Anyway- here is the talk I gave.

 I'm just blogging it for my posterity because 100 years from now I am sure my great great grandkids will all still be reading my blog......

My topic was on the sacrament.

I swiped this picture off the net, I would NEVER take pictures in the chapel.

(Okay, I've totally taken pictures in the chapel, but only when the kids were being funny in sacrament meeting.)

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters.


Without going into any details, it’s been a rough couple of weeks for me. We had a great holiday and almost as soon as it was over, a wave of hard things dumped itself on the doorstep and I found myself struggling to feel the spirit and to know what direction to take. All the happiness and security I had felt over Christmas, kind of evaporated and I found myself weighed down, feeling despair and completely unsure of what to do next.


To deal with it, I reverted to my typical go-to weakness and shut the doors and hid in my house waiting for something to make me feel stronger and to make me feel like I could conquer the tasks ahead. I shut out everyone and continued to let my trials stew in my head and I grew more and more frustrated as the solutions did not come.


Before I knew it, I’d missed two weeks of church in a row and was promptly talking myself out of a third.


Like a ship at sea without a compass, there I was drifting with no ability to get myself back on course, using the methods I was choosing. As things got harder, stubborn me just went back and forth between fighting the current with all my might and just giving up and letting it take me where it wanted to. Nothing I did was making me feel better.


I am blessed to have a good husband and good friends who love me and who are not afraid to tell me that when my ship is lost at sea, to get moving and look at the map. People who remind me that I know where to find the help and strength and inspiration I need and who empathize with how hard it is sometimes, but who remind me that I do not know the way to go on my own, and without direction from my Savior and my father in Heaven, I will stay lost and stuck.


I forced myself out of my comfortable yet miserable little hole and started to once again do the things I knew would bring me closer to the Lord, and closer to the Light. I stopped focusing so intently on my trials and once again tried my best to focus on Him. One of the first steps was to get myself back here and partake of the sacrament.


As I sat in the meeting- last weeks meeting, still heavily burdened and halfway till trying to tell myself it was okay if I just went home I decided I’d just stay for the sacrament, and then I was bolting. Now, I’m not sure who picks the songs we sing, but last weeks’ song before the sacrament was longer than usual. I noticed the priests had the bread and water ready and we still had two versus to sing and as we sang, I realized that I needed those extra two versus. I needed them because as is sometimes the case with all of us, I was there, but not really THERE during the sacrament service. My mind was elsewhere and it was becoming one of those ordinances that we do before the kids get to color and open the fruit snacks.


As we sang the song I looked over at the young men passing and my heart turned. No longer was I thinking about my problems, I was looking at the young men. I was looking at Nate and at parker and thinking about how proud I was at both of them. Each week those two boys perform this ordinance with reverence and respect and since Parker is my kid, I know it’s not his favorite activity in the world, but he knows it is his duty and he honors the commitments he made to the Lord to fulfill that duty. I am sure Nate does the same thing. I remember growing up and being a peer to some of the boys blessing the sacrament and noticing how the spirit they carried themselves with affected the whole meeting for me and if they were joking and rowdy, the spirit was off for me.


I looked over at the Deacons and teachers passing the sacrament and thought about something we’d discussed while visiting teaching at Kristi’s’ house about how in about 2 years we will have enough young men to pass the sacrament without the help of the Elder’s quorum. I looked over at Dominic in his white shirt and sincere and serious expression as he reverently passed the bread and the water, I looked over at my own son Zane, a head taller than most of the adults, but he also had the same reverence and was excited at the idea of seeing n a few years “my” group of cub scouts passing the sacrament. Knowing the blessings my home has had having young men participate in the sacrament ordinance, I am excited at the prospect of seeing Joseph and Chase and Alex and Dillion and Greyson and Ryan all wearing their white shirts to pass the sacrament. Your families will be blessed by your service as will the entire ward.


As my mind started to stay in the place it was supposed to be during the sacrament, all of the solutions to my problems did not come to me. There are some hard things before me that I really have no idea how I am going to get through, but as I had my head and heart in the right place, the words of the blessing on the sacrament stood out “that we may always have his spirit to be with us.”


That was what had gone so wrong in the recent weeks when I had decided to just hide when things got hard. I didn’t do anything to drive out the spirit, but I missed out on the opportunity to ensure that I would always have his spirit with me. I needed that spirit with me in times of sunshine and in times of rain and when I blew off the sacrament either by not being here or by not getting myself in a the right frame of mine or soul, when I just went through the motions, I missed out on the blessing of ALWAYS having his spirit with me.


When the Savior was giving his final instructions to the desciples in the Bible, he told them that after he was gone, he would be sending a “comforter” to them.


In John 14:16-19 it reads:


16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;


17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.


18I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.


19Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.






That comforter is that spirit, that light of Christ the Savior promised those who will keep his commandments and it comes to us through the Holy Ghost.


Sometimes when it’s time for the sacrament I use that as a time to do a little self check and I ask myself “am I really worthy?” and if I have sins I need to repent of, I embrace that opportunity to vow to try harder and stop doing them.


I sometimes stay so focused on that aspect of the ordinance that I forget WHY I do all of that- it is so that I can always have his spirit with me. When I partake of the sacrament I renew that promise that the Savior gave to all of us and whatever dumb things I may have done in my weakness to drive the spirit out, I get that cup refilled by partaking of the sacrament.


How I love the words of one of my favorite hymns:


I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord


No tender voice like thine can peace afford


I need thee every hour, stay thou nearby


Temptations lose their power when thou art nigh


I need thee, oh I need thee.


Every hour I need thee.


Oh, bless me now my Savior I come to thee


Life can be so very, very hard. The adversary is pressing on our souls and on our families every hour of every day.


It is often hard to know which way to go, what is wrong and what is right and which battles to fight in life. I do not know how those who do not have the Holy Ghost do it. Sometimes I’m barely hanging on by my fingernails when I have so many blessings and so many places I know I can turn to for answers.


We all have trials in our lives that seem so impossible to solve, even with the support and resources we as latter day saints have an abundance of.


Some days success is just not quitting. Actually, some days, success is giving it another go after we did quit.


Having the spirit with you does not mean the path will always be clear ahead of you and you will leap confidently into the darkness knowing you are safe. Having the spirit means you trust that if you act in faith, knowing you have done all you can and you feel the Holy Ghost- then whatever hard thing you need to do, it is the right thing and it is the thing that will lead you into the arms of your heavenly father. It will refine you so that you can dwell in his presence, when all of this is through.


Having the spirit gives you the confidence to stand when the ground beneath you seems to be crumbling and having the spirit is that thing that makes the difference between life’s lessons being things we learn and grow from and things we carry with us like scars and burdens we cannot seem to shake.


I cannot move forward without the spirit. My well runs dry when I turn to my own understanding or to the world. I thirst. The way to refill my cup is to partake of the sacrament. Partaking of the Sacrament is a necessity in order to feel my Saviors love for me and to invite those blessings of comfort, clarity and peace into my family.


My problems are still there. I’m still pretty stressed out, but I know it will be okay. Not easy, not what I might want, but it WILL be okay. I know that my father in heaven loves me, that he has not abandoned me and my family and our needs are not only still known, but he’s working on it. He is helping us and he is guiding that ship that feels so lost at sea. I am not so far from the shore as I supposed, help is not so far away as I told myself when I chose to withdraw.


The blessings my family has received through preparing for and partaking of the sacrament are without measure, the greatest for me being that blessing of always having his spirit to be with me and even if I don’t have that strong confirmation and burning in my heart every week, because let’s face it, there are weeks when you just get through it so you can take the kid who is rolling on the floor and pinching his sister out in the foyer and you don’t get much out of it, but those weeks, the blessings are still given to you, you still get that boost and that extra dose of “I am here for you” from the Lord that comes to surface when right you need it.


How blessed we are as a people to have this opportunity to reconnect with the Lord each and every Sunday. How blessed we are to be able to say to him each week “I will try harder and thank you for the sacrifice you made for me “ and our Savior in turn gives us that thing we always need, his spirit. How blessed we are to know that every week our children, even if they don’t realize it, are making a direct connection with our father in heaven and every week he s also giving them a heart shot of just what they stand in need of from him as they go and face such a different world than we did each day. Those things we don’t realize our kids are dealing with, the Lord knows and sustains and supports them as well as they partake of the sacrament, too.


I am so thankful for the atonement and for this ordinance. Thankful that all I have to do is get myself here and these blessings pour upon my family and upon my tired and weary soul and I am thankful that some weeks, things happen that are just out of the routine enough that I stop and realize the miracles and the grace around me.

I Know We Need To Get A Room.....

 On Saturday morning, Matt and I went to the temple. We hadn't been since October, and it was just too long. I was so tired though I struggled to stay awake during the session.

Those comfy chairs will do that to a person sometimes.

It was so nice though to go and attend with my sweet husband, I love him so.

Going to the temple always makes me feel more connected to him.

 I can't believe I didn't know he was my Happily Ever After until date #2. It's hard to imagine there ever was a time when Matt and I were not together, we're a perfect fit and the idea of forever is so much more exciting with him as a part of it.

Today in Sunday school, we discussed eternal marriage and talked about why we value it. 

Our eternal marriage has been the most influential, most wonderful thing in my life, outside of the gospel.It's been a good thing for our children to experience and share with us.

 They know we love each other, they know we support each other they know that we may have our trials, but that we choose to face them as a team, hand in hand.

I like to think that we're setting a pretty good example for the kids, and making up for the mistakes of our past when we didn't have relationships that we would ever want our kids to repeat.

Thanks, Matt for all you bring to my life and for all that you bring to all of us in this wacky family.

I will love you forever.

Please feel free to vomit now, Readers.

 If it's any consolation, I was planning to do a "100 things I love about Matt" post but this History Channel show on the Little Ice Age that we're watching right now is distracting me, so you only have 2 paragraphs of mushy & a smooch picture today.

Did you know that in the 1800's when the mini ice age hit Europe, the Catholic church told people that potatoes were food of the devil and many people chose to starve rather than eat one of the only crops that grew at the time? Also they believe the Vikings died off because they thought the native Eskimos were beneath them and savages, so rather than learn to fish in the ice like the Eskimos did, they also starved to death.

Good heavens, mankind is determined to learn things the hard way.

Of course, I'd rather starve than eat fish too, so I guess I'm part of the problem.

Martha Has Nothing On Me

I'm so close to being done with painting the kid bedrooms, I can almost imagine myself with clean fingernails again.

One of the gross things I have discovered while cleaning out the rooms and painting the walls is that my boys are truly nasty beasts. Along the walls at the head of the bed in both big boy rooms there is a big stripe of filth.

Greasy dirty boy head and foot filth.

After scrubbing that crud off the walls, I realize they are just going to do it again because, let's face it, teenage boys are grody.

I'm too cheap to invest in read beds for them, they will just break them. They've broken beds in the past. I have learned the "don't buy children anything nice" lesson.
While trying to come up with a way to keep them from grossing up the new paint, I had this spark of inspiration.

Back in my house in Arizona, we put laminate down on all of the floors. The person who installed them ordered 11 boxes too many- just enough to cover his own kitchen and was shocked when I didn't just let him take him the extra boxes when the project was done. He'd opened all of them, after all, so they couldn't be returned. I loaded up the laminate and took it with me to Utah, stunned at the dishonesty he had.

We had enough to do the kitchen floor before I sold the house in Eagle Mountain and still had 2 boxes leftover.

Laminate is easy to wash filthy kid head and foot grease from.

I know this because we have it on the floors here and every day I wipe kid scuz away.

So, I clicked a few boards together, shoved the bed against the wall and...

viola!

Cheap-o headboard.

No nails, no glue, I just put it against the wall and the bed holds it in place.

If I was fancy I'd do some sort of trim, but these are for teenage boy bedrooms. I'm just lucky that he black filth stripe plague will be gone from my home forever now.

This is the kind of thing Martha Stewart would have thought up if she were not really an alien.