april. 2013
the best homemade caramel popcorn you’ve ever had, and then you take half of it, and put belgian dark chocolate on it. then mix it back in with the caramel, and you’ve got the best moose munch ever! expect a few pounds of weight gain, because you can’t walk away!
march-april. 2013
going gluten free and dairy free has never been easier. we have replaced our flour with delicious gluten free flour and other mixes to make whatever is needed. we make yummy cookies, waffles, cupcakes and other foods with our flour, and you can’t tell. the gluten free bread mix we make is absolutely mouth-watering. dairy also just makes my stomach mad, and after watching the documentary foodmatters and other food documentaries, i am ever more convinced of our family eating less dairy.
authentic foods-delicous flour and mixes
chebe bread-easy mixes and good
daiya cheese-pricey, but can last a meal or two if you use it for added flavor, and not as a thick layer of cheese. my kids love this cheese, as do i.-so yummy!
almond milk is our favorite-the girls love the chocolate almond milk, and i cook and bake with the regular-no sugar added. silk brand is non-gmo too!
brown rice noodles are our favorite! the lasagna noodles are delicious too. this was such an easy and healthy lasagna, throwing in a little zucchini to add a little more yummy!
april. 2013
our little madison has been through so much in her life. we are grateful to have her. we have been to children’s frequently over the past nine months, getting all sorts of things tested in her little body and mind, to see where she is at. we had her hormones tested, which was a six hour iv test, where they would inject hormones, and see how her body would respond. her body responded really well. so even though her bone growth is 3 years behind her age, her hormones are still doing what they need to do. she will grow for an additional three years after her peers, which is good news for her.
she will be going in for surgery in july, for a pharyngeal flap-to bridge the back of the throat, so when she speaks, her throat will close like it should, so she will be able to speak more clearly and project more loudly. i also feel, as she has also mentioned, that she will feel better about herself. i’m not looking forward to another surgery, but this will be the beginning of her new young woman life.
we go to speech therapy once a week, and after a session last week, we decided to go get a pedicure. it was awesome, i don’t know why i don’t do it more often. she wanted one also, and paid for it with her money. it was a fun day with her.
april. 2013
i have been extremely blessed having a husband that is fully supportive in all we do. homeschooling has been “our” decision, and he and i have never looked back. we absolutely love it, and all that it means and time it provides our children…
so the other day when he was working from home, he heard the girls doing their exercise cd, and he came up to join them. what an awesome dad! and, the girls and i had fun doing a taxonomy lesson, and learning about classification…what better way than sorting shoes into phylum.
homeschooling is so great-and when we go places, sometimes the girls get opportunities to do things they otherwise wouldn’t get to do. they got to go behind the counter and enter in colors to mix paint, and do the whole process. they loved it.
march. 2013
i had it with the same looking shelf and bookcase that we’ve had for years and years. i vintaged them up, and hope we like the look for awhile. also a mirror from pottery barn that was also mahogany wood-painted it. and then, we got the girls’ rooms painted before the two week mark also. we pushed through, and now can enjoy the house.
march 31. 2013
some friends gave us this idea, and it is now our new tradition. we do baskets and egg hunting on saturday, and then focus on the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. we did a big easter egg hunt with families in our ward a couple weeks before Easter, and then had our Easter weekend with close friends. it was a lovely day, and we enjoyed relaxing on the Sabbath.
the greatest hard boiling egg tip-put eggs in muffin tin…cook at 350degrees for 20 minutes. easy, yummy!
march 1. 2013
when we moved to colorado, we found a home in the mountains that was huge and beautiful, but the catch was, it was a good deal because they were leaving it on the market, and you would have to show the home, and if it sold, then you would have to vacate. but the owner told us it had only shown about 3 times in the last year and a half. so we figured, let’s try it!
well, the home probably ended up showing about 30 times in the year we were there. so, i guess he rounded down by a lot. it’s something i wouldn’t do again, but i am glad we got to spend time on that side of the mountain and get to know people in our ward over there, and where things are. the owner ended up foreclosing, and we didn’t want to hang out wondering when to leave. so we left right at the year mark. packing a 7,000 square foot home, four kids, two garages, and a partridge in a pear tree, we packed, and moved across the mountain.
the move went really well, a few hitches of course, but we made it. the Lord blessed us with a beautiful home, in a beautiful part of the mountains, and the timing was absolutely heaven sent. our children are absolutely amazing-we unpacked the house in a day and a half. (minus the school room and Jarom’s stuff). we had things hanging on walls and decor up by week 2, so we must be getting good at this! three moves in three years is the most frequent we’ve ever moved. we would like to stay here for about two years, and try to get a job abroad. we’ll see how our dreams play out.
feb. 14. 2013
we wanted to do something a little more than buy a stuffed animal or toy for our kids this year. those end up going in bins…and then end up going into the next garage sale. so we surprised the girls, and took madison, cam, and nadia out-which is special for us. we went to a music store, and rented violins for camden and madison, who have wanted to play them for a long time. they were so excited! while at the music store, we found the most awesome ukelele for alex. she got one for Christmas, but it wasn’t what she had really wanted. so we scooped up the instruments, and headed to lunch together…yardhouse-yum! we then headed up to alex’s charter school, where we caught her at lunch, and surprised her with her new uke. she was so excited! and i actually picked a uke that she absolutely loved! it was a fun day. and my honey, sent me my fave flowers- ranunculus. nadia did get a toy, which has proven to be a good choice-wooden food which she loves to play with. it was such a fun and enjoyable day with my sweet girls!
