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.