"Snap.....the job's a game"

Old Disney movies like Mary Poppins inspire me. I love the part where Jane and Michael have to clean up the nursery and Mary Poppins shows them how just a snap can get the job done. I shared a room with six sisters and in those days we generated some severe storms with all the clothes, books, toys, and treasures. We snapped our fingers repeatedly hoping our toys would come to life and the room would be cleaned effortlessly. It never worked but I’m about ready to give it a try again. If I snap my fingers hard enough this house will be sold and may be able to pack its self up.

In the meantime though I have enjoyed a bit of a distraction. A very talented friend organized a sewing service project group to make “Goods 4 Girls”. One of my nieces and I got to participate remotely by attaching all the snaps to these goods. We got the job done in no time with the use of my industrial snap press and we giggled as we tried to keep the little boys from asking too many questions. It was fun to use the press as it actually reminded me of the same type of tools I would help my Dad use for reloading bullets. It was even more fun to spend some time with my niece. But best of all was the joy of doing something for someone else.

Someone had to hold the babies

Becca took this picture of me when she returned from wake boarding and tubing with the kids. I'm not a huge water sports gal so I gladly volunteered to stay on the beach with the infants and toddlers. It was no problem with the help of the moby wrap. I also got to finnish Becca's book while she was off.

2008 Tie Dyes!

We finally got to it! To make it especially fun this year we added a few new colors to our collection including chartruese, bright green, strong navy, and caribbean blue. They were bright and added just the right amount of contrast. Just like last year all supplies were purchased from dharma trading co. I especially like the quality of their boys t-shirts but did not have the best luck with last year's dresses for Maryanna and Clara. Instead, Becca and I have been working all year on collecting and saving all sorts of old stained white clothes that were tie dye worthy. Some were from garage sales and others just old hand-me-downs. Even the dirtiest of whites are worth saving when you are a tie dye addict. This year's theme was "nothing goes home white". Becca put herself to sleep one night just trying to count how many we did - I'm guessing 30+ but I'm sure Becca will correct me on it later.

For the most part we are happy with the results. One problem we faced was running out of the key secret ingredient, Sodium Alginate Thickener which prevents bleeding of the colors. So we did mostly tied scrunches with random color application - that is our no fail technique.

Here is the process:
1. mix dyes (Becca and James especially enjoyed this mad scientist part)
2. dampen garment and then twist, fold, scrunch, tie or sew in any design you wish
3. soak in soda ash
4. carefully apply dye (Becca had to tie dye her sweatshirt after this process)
5. wrap in plastic and let stand over night
6. wake up early (that is easy to do when you have tie dyes waiting - it feels like Christmas morning) and start rinsing and untying your creations
7. Run through a rinse cycle, hang dry and enjoy the color!

There is actually a bit more detail to the process but no need to bore you with the details. If seriously interested though please email me and I'd be happy to share. One more important tip: it is not a good idea to do tie dying when there are 12 young children awake and running around (see Bear Lake lowlights). It is a good activity for kids when there is a higher adult to child ratio if not wait until they are asleep or > 8 years old.

Bear Lake Olympics

The kids missed the last week of the Olympics but found their own type of competitive fun jumping, flying, diving, and somersaulting across the 4 matresses up top in the kids quarters of the Bear Lake farm house.

It reminded me of all the fun us sisters had growing up and sharing room - at one time there were six of us together. We would do all sorts of tricks off the bunk beds and jump from matress to matress. The most fun was riding the crib matress down the stairs! I'll have to keep this all in mind as we go to look for a new house. No need for several bedrooms - just one that can accomadate several matresses.

You just can't buy this type of fun anywhere - not even at Disneyland.

Back to Bear Lake

The kids and I spent another week up at Bear Lake. This made sense since we just started showing our house. Becca met us up there and we brought a few cousins along with us. In total there were 12 kids 8 and under. It was a great time and I'm starting to really like it up there in Idaho. Besides playing on the beach here's what made the week memorable:

Highlights:
-Tie dying!
-Climbing trees and swinging on the tire swing
-Becca's cooking
-Watching old movies
-Meeting up with our neighbors the Plumbs at the Oregon trail museum
-Reading Twilight over Becca's shoulder
-Oma and Opa's visit
-Inflateable kayaks

Lowlights:
-Maryanna getting into the dyes
-Maryanna locking herself and a cousin in the bathroom and then eating hand soap and spreading it all over the bathroom
-Becca and I trying to disassemble the doorknob
-Dead animal smell coming up from some vent
-Going to the Mt. Pilier grocery store with 7 kids (2 of which were overtired and screaming)
-Misquitos
-Strong winds that blew our chairs and umbrellas over
-Forgetting to pack my kite

Inner Beauty

Anyone can stage a beautiful picture. That is what I tell myself as I flip through Pottery Barn catalogs and Domino magazine. That is what I thought as I cleared junk and clutter away for my house photos. The pictures turned out great and are now listed online along with the mls. The pictures themselves display a very beautiful home.

But what makes our home great cannot be captured in a photo. It is the life and energy and love that percolates 24 hrs. a day – it is the echo of laughter, running feet, and cries that need comforting . Even when not perfectly clean our home swells with this inner beauty. From the words of the hymn that I sung each week with my own family growing up,“There is beauty all around when there’s love at home”. I may leave behind my granite countertops and marble backsplash but the real beauty in my home will be packed up and transported with me no matter what style of dwelling we choose to settle in.

I know a few of you have expressed concern for me leaving the home I have worked so hard to remodel, especially my kitchen. Here are a few more of my thoughts: any kitchen covered in fingerprints is not a beautiful kitchen no matter what the colors and finish. I just may take this chance to celebrate the reality of the childhood years in an outdated kitchen. Now if my bagelsand baguettes start to burn…. that is a whole ‘nother story because a well calibrated oven is another type of inner beauty worth living with.

For more on wordful Wednesday check out this this blog. I know it is Tuesday but I'll be far from any internet connection on Wed.

Babies wearing babies

Well I guess she technically is not a baby anymore but it is still kind of funny to watch her play and complete all her kid tasks with her baby secured to her. This mini hot sling was whipped up the night before Maryanna's birthday and presented with her new bike. I knew she would need two hands to ride it just like I do for laundry. Now Peter wants me to make him a camo or sports fabric sling for carrying his favorite stuffies.

Keeping the house clean

Last Saturday I went garage saling and bought an 8 man tent, a 5 qt. seasoned dutch oven, an ice cream maker, and a waterproof body glove baby carrier. When I returned home Paul gave me a very concerned look and suggested we have our own garage sale. I admitted I was in denial.

Now that the sign is up the reality of our move is finally sinking in and I am in full force scrubbing walls and starting to pack boxes. It is very difficult to keep everything in order with the kids up and running around. They seem to always "find their fun" digging through the bags and boxes I have labled D.I.


Today was especially hectic because our painter did not show up, we had an Elder's Quorum picnic that Paul was in charge of, and it was Maryanna's birthday. We celebrated her birthday along side breakfast by adding whip cream and candles to french toast. After the singing and unwrapping were through I spent the next hour frantatlically on the phone begging painters to come by and help us out. Meanwhile Paul was picking up moving boxes off Craig's list and then headed over to Toy "R" Us to find the pedal that was missing from Maryanna's new bike. Nobody was watching the kids. They were getting into some over ripe bananas and the mash was all over the kitchen in no time.

I decided they needed a distraction, a confined area, a place they could mess up no problem.....the 8 man tent! That is where they spent the majority of their fun for the day and that is where they will sleep tonight. It was enough entertainment thay I was allowed to clean out kid stuff without them knowing. I'm glad I did because I found one of those over ripe bananas in the bottom of Maryanna's backpack - this move just may generate enough stress to help me drop the excess baby weight.

It is now 12:22 am and I am back to add to this post. At exactly 11:55 pm Paul was downstairs watching the Olympics and packing up books; I was sweeping up the kitchen. Next thing I know there is a whoosing sound and screaming from the backyard. James comes running full force into the house, fast enough to dodge the sprinklers! The other kids weren't so lucky, our poor little birthday girl was soaking wet and disoriented when Paul rescued her. The other two boys were quite concerned about their wet blankies and stuffies. I became concerned about the mess I now had to not only clean up but also dry out. So maybe the 8 man tent was not the best idea but hey.....maybe I won't have to bathe them tomorrow morning.

It's Official

We are one step closer to our relocation to LWNVWUKY MICHIGAN! Family, friends and the beautiful mountains will be missed but we look forward to this chance return home to our roots.

I have officially put away my cuisinart and crock-pot so I don't know when I 'll have a chance to make the Sweet n' Spicy pulled pork again. The recipe is originally from my good friend Missy and is sure to please a crowd of any size. I've made it for family gatherings of up to 50 people (actuallly I doubled it that time) and also just for our small family, then eating it for several meals in a row. I actually think it tastes better as leftovers with the time it gives for flavor enhancement. So before I pack up my recipe binder here it is- Enjoy!

Sweet & Spicy Pulled Pork
3-4 lb. pork roast (I just get the ones from costco and have put up to 6lbs. in at once)
1 cup brown sugar (a bit too sweet for me...I only use 1/2 cup)
3 cups salsa (this is not an exact science - I just use what I have on hand green, mild, medium, hot)
Salt to taste (Sometimes I don't add any - I just forget but the flavor is still good)

Put in a crock pot and let cook on low for 8-10 hours. Then shred pork with fork.

Dressing
1 packet of buttermilk ranch dressing
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise (I tend to replace this with plain yogurt because of my egg issues)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1-2 bunches of Cilantro
1/2 cup salsa verde
Jalepeno (I use 1/4 or omit it for children)
1 medium garlic (sometimes I use 4!)

Mix in a blender for a few minutes

Trimmings
Tortillas, Lime and Cilantro rice, cheese, black beans, etc.....

The key is the Lime and Cilantro rice! Just squeeze a few limes into some long grain white rice and add some salt, bit of butter, and chopped cilantro. But don't forget to have your art supplies ready for the morning after.

Cryptography is fun!

James and I are taking an online cipher decrypting course together. I don't know who is enjoying it more. Today we learned about simple substitution ciphers and so I thought I'd have fun answering the inquiries from my previous post.

Here is the key: FLY TRAP shift 12

GQKP QLTH WYUC LWNV WUKY

Here is the clue just in case you have the time for it or you can pass it on to a young and curious little boy. If not I'll post it in a few days along with that recipe for the sweet and spicy pulled pork.

The Pocket Kite

Kite flying is fun....
The clouds are our friends
They want to dance, sing, and play
Hide n' seek,
Tug of war
So we free the line more.

Kite flying is liberating...
With feet firmly planted
We let go of troubles
Throw them up to the sky
Let hands greater than ours
Shrink them down in their size

Kites flying is soothing....
Our sights set high to the sky
A tiny string lifts us
An arm's reach to heaven
It rocks us and carries us
Craddled by sky

Yes kites are fun but so is playing with words. Especially for someone like me who is in need of some emotional purging. Change is a' brewing but more on that later. This post really started out regular but turned into a poem - and it felt good! What I meant to say though is I love kites and collect them like I do "wear your baby gear". The the pocket kite is one of the easiest ones to fly - even for kids. I suppose if I run out of words for blogging one may just find me flying it at the playground with my kids everyday before we move. Kite flying reallly is liberating, fun and soothing - kind of like blogging except instead of throwing my line out to the sky I just throw my thoughts out into cyper space.

Arts and Crafts at the Beach

10 am - 6:30 pm is a long time to spend at the beach so we literally "mixed things up a bit" with this activity. I think the original idea came from family fun but Emily was the one who planned and executed it, she is great at coming up with memorable activities for kids.

Here's the process:

Tell the kids to go on an adventure to collect things from the beach. We found bottle caps, shells, rocks, sticks, straws, ponytail holders, pens, pieces of plastic, and grass.

Dig out a small shape in the sand and decorate with found objects. We also did foot prints and hand prints. James wanted to be different and designed fruit - one apple and one banana.

Mix plaster - this was not an exact science at the beach. The mixture hardens up pretty quickly so you have to pour into your molds fast.

Wait...and play on the beach - we waited about 2 hours.

Dig them up and wash them off.

Carefully transport them home. I had a pile of footprints, hand prints, fruit, and faces sitting up top on my dashboard. We now have them resting in our front garden bed.

I'm sure my kids will be begging to do this again the next time we visit the beach. In the meantime though we maybe able to just do it in the back of our car because not only is it full of "found objects" but there are piles of sand!

Early Morning Adventures in Idaho

By William

Last week we went to Idaho and stayed at my Oma and Opa's farmhouse. One day we woke up early. Maryanna, mommy, and I went in the back fields looking for owls. There were no owls. I think the owls had somehow fallen to sleep. In the fields there were lots of animal sounds like cows and loons. We saw very long grass and it got us wet. There were a lot of mosquitos and we didn't want to get bitten by them. I told my mom I like exploring nature except for one thing, the misquitos. I also said I wished I had a farm house like this right on Bear Lake in Idaho.

Our "coolin' off" Adventure

Our a/c is still out! We are waiting on a part so instead of lagging around in the hot house I took the kids up to Bear Lake.Becca and Emily met us up there with their kids. It was a great sisters/cousins time! More pictures, stories, and details to soon follow.

Never go to the Garden Center on an Empty Stomach

We did not get our garden in until the first week of June. That's o.k. though because UT's spring was unusally cold. Paul worked hard on weeding out our back and preparing the soil. He even arranged for a small wall to be built across the back to create a second terrace that would allow for more crops. This increased our planting space to almost 300 sq feet! This was all I could have wished for - this was my "baby gift" from Paul after Henry was born.

Once the space was prepared I headed to the Garden Center and picked up several plants including zucchini, squash, watermelon, orange peppers, yellow peppers, red pepper, pumpkins, fresh herbs, and several types of tomatos. I even got a few bags of seeds hoping to enjoy some fresh corn, beans, beets, and carrots later in the summer. I was so hungry though that I couldn't resist the little tags that read "asian eggplant" and "armenian cucumbers". I have a thing for ethnic food and my mouth watered and stomach growled as I thought of the delicious spicy fried eggplant I use to eat during the six months I lived in China. I also couldn't help but think of my favorite falafel complete with armenian pickles from Mazza. I grabbed a few of these plants and added it to my cart. I thought "what the heck- I do have the space for it, why not experiment".

It was a great week of the big and little working together when we planted our garden. The girls digged in the garden like it was a massive sandbox. The boys talked to their little seeds and plants like babies and watered them faithfully. They even illustrated little plastic signs where their "babies" rested peacefully. We memorized the scripture D&C 6:33 and talked about the great reward we would enjoy for all our hard work. I repeated the scripture over and over to my children as they began to complain about the weeding. The garden was sure to be all I had hoped it to be.

Unfortunately we have some issues with our soil and apparently there are several hungry birds and rodents around. All that has survived is 4 stalks of corn, a few tomato plants, and a handful of pepper plants. But that is not to say that they are thriving - what is thriving though is one watermelon plant, my asian eggplant, and armenian cucumber! How random! I don't know even how to prepare them, I don't know if anyone will like them let alone eat them. Any ideas? Any recipes? Anybody want some? I've got more than I know how to consume.

In the meantime I have plans for a super compost pile that should solve the problem for next year's crop. Im also glad we didn't invest up to $70,000 on our garden as other families have. Besides the money spent on the soil, plants, and retaining wall, I am only reporting a $20 loss on a pair of light up sandals that Peter thought to "plant". I don't suppose they will yield up any reward but I believe the real reward was the time we enjoyed working together as a family.

Ensign Peak

"This is the place" to go when your a/c is broken. Yes, it has almost been a week that we have been enduring intierior temps reaching mid - to high 80's. It's so hot that I don't want to cook...James made some quesidillas for lunch and spilled a bit during the process. The poor cheese was melted on the floor before I could sweep it up. The boys have now offered to help me build that solar oven I've been talking about.

We also had plans to meet up with some out of town friends and thought to spare them from the heat so we met up at Ensign Peak. Both the view and the breeze were refreshing. Maryanna's soaking it up and licking it in -the girl is full of life and looks as if she's ready to take flight. This was her very first hike free from Daddy's back and though it slowed us down a bit she enjoyed the freedom as well as filling her pockets with rocks. The boys played "I Spy" up top the peak and said the city looked like an ant village. They also laughed in the wind as my haircut took on new life.

The hike itself was actually very quick and easy but I still couldn't help but think of the pioneers because 1. they never had a/c and 2. they navigated up these rocky paths with several young children as well. We also encountered one snake along the way and I thought that may have been a frequent occurance for those brave pioneers.

As we headed down the sun began to set and we passed several young couples on their way up. I was quite amused by a hopeless young boy carrying his date up on his back....all because she chose to wear a pair of red hot stilettos like these. But I'm not one to mock the silly things one does in the name of teenaged love. I think my Paul is still just as love stricken because he was quick to run back up to the top of the peak when I told him Maryanna left her Sigg there. Free from the baby backpack he was quite quick. Infact, it took me almost as long to load up and buckle all the kids in the car.

We finished the night off with a quick 7-11 stop and offered Maryanna her first slurpee as a reward for good hiking. Unfortuantely she dumped it into Henry's infant carseat. I think we'll stick to just hiking and Siggs full of water next time.