Bread of the Month

I made bread today (little pat on the back).  Nothing fancy, pretty much the same recipe as HERE except I added sunflower seeds.  Yum.

For a seriously wonderful and inspirational Bread of the Month blog check out Maren.

Treasure

Yesterday the thought popped into my mind that I should hug my girls, tell them I love them and that they are my treasures.  We were on our way home from the park and Kaia was snacking on "Pirate Booty".  She said, "I love you too, Mom.  I love you more than a pirate loves 'Pirate Booty'."  

I'm a big fan of treasures.  I like stories and movies about treasure hunts in the deep blue sea.  I recently gave a talk at my niece's baptism on the gift of the Holy Ghost and related it to a treasure.  I think part of our purpose here on earth is to recognize our eternal treasures.  The following scriptures lead me to this conclusion:

Matt. 6:21

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Isa. 33:6

And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.

 Luke 6:45

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

 Ex. 19:5

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

 Matt. 13:44

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

Matt. 19:21

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Luke 12:33

Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.

 D&C 43:34

Hearken ye to these words. Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.Treasure these things up in your hearts, and let the solemnities of eternity rest upon your minds.

D&C 84:85

Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man.

D&C 6:3

Behold, the field is white already to harvest; therefore, whoso desireth to reap, let him thrust in his sickle with his might, and reap while the day lasts, that he may treasure up for his soul everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God.

D&C 38:30

I tell you these things because of your prayers; wherefore, treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth; but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.

Hel. 5:8

And now my sons, behold I have somewhat more to desire of you, which desire is, that ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life, which we have reason to suppose hath been given to our fathers.

I finished studying the New Testament this morning.  This scripture made a big impression on me: "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life" (Rev. 21:27).

James E. Faust said, "Even though your works may be known to only a few, they are recorded in the Lamb’s book of life, which one day will be opened to witness of your dedicated service, devotion, and deeds as “instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.” 2 [ Alma 26:3]

And that knowledge is a treasure.

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Weekend Adventures

We were given free tickets to an NBA D-league game on Friday night.  Our friends, the Laws, were there too and our kids were so happy to see them.
Tristan and Amri catching up on lost time.  Cute little buddies.
Every Sunday morning I bring the kids in bed with Adam in an attempt to get everyone awake and happy.  As usual, my plan failed and they all fell back to sleep (except for Tristan who got kicked out of bed by Kaia because he wiggled too much).
Little bruiser.  My grandparents have a rope swing in their back yard with a wooden seat.  Kaia was on said swing and poor Tristan caught the seat in the eye.  Adam thinks it is funny to tell people a little joke when they comment on the black eye: "What do you tell a 2 year-old with two black eyes?....Nothing you already told him twice."  Not funny, soon someone is going to call SS on us.

Saturday night was ladies night at Joy's apartment's theater room.  She showed Twilight and it was so much fun to watch it on the big screen.  I brought my sister, Nell (she wore her "Team Edward" t-shirt) and joined 4 other friends there.  Thanks again, Joy!

Tag and I'm It

5 things I was doing 5 years ago (2004)
1. Birthed a baby girl (Kaia)
2. Baked a lot of bread
3. In the Young Women's and Primary Presidencies at the same time (small ward)
4. Remodeled the sunroom in our house into two of the greatest bedrooms ever (I really miss those rooms)
5. Taking walks with two kids and a Great Dane named Max

5 things on my list of things to do today (well, this is tomorrow's list b/c today is Sunday and I'm resting)
1. Put together an invite list with addresses for the baby shower Lauren and Lisa are having for me
2. Help the girls make bracelets for gifts for upcoming birthday parties
3. Practice the piano
4. Finish putting together my hospital bag and birth plan (only two weeks till my due date!)
5. Set up a time to do sealings at the temple on Friday night and find a babysitter

5 things I would I do if I had a million dollars
1. Tithing/Perpetual Education Fund
2. Buy this house we are in and fix it up
3. More food storage
4. Swiss annuity
5. Get a family car that actually fits all 6 of us

5 places I've lived
1. Thornton, CO
2. Brighton, CO
3. Provo, UT
4. Denver, CO
5. Back to Thornton, CO

5 Jobs I have had
1. I lasted two weeks at a dry cleaners
2. Construction clean- up crew
3. Marriot Center janitor
4. Nanny
5. Mom

5 things I want to be doing in 5 years
1. Enrolling my youngest child in Kindergarten
2. Developing my talents
3. Traveling
4. Genealogy
5. Getting a Masters Degree

5 people I tag
1. Liesl
2. Marisa
3. Stine
4. Darla
5. Brooke

Zoo

I was at a stop light this morning and I watched a family of three struggle to catch a city bus. They missed it at the first stop, then ran across the street and waved it down at the next stop. It made me tear up to see them finally walk onto the bus. Pregnancy hormones are great.
On Wednesday we joined Sierra's Kindergarten class on a field trip to the zoo. It was Sierra's first time on a school bus. I couldn't get a straight answer out of her as to whether she liked it or not. She was hanging out with two other girls, Hanna and Avery, and all they did was whine and complain the whole time. "I'm hungry", "It's too hot", etc. I'm not sure how they survived the day, but here are a few pics to prove that they did.









Spiritual enlightenment HERE

The Vampire Got Me

In 2005 my grandpa summed up a newspaper article he'd just read about a Mormon mom who wrote a book while her baby sat on her lap.  The book hit the top of the charts, along with the following three sequels.  I remember hearing girls say how much they loved the book, that they couldn't put it down and would neglect home and family till they were finished reading, that they were "obsessed".  Knowing I am the kind of reader that gets sucked into books I decided I would wait for a time when I could get away with neglecting home and family.  That time just never seemed to arrive.  Then Adam rented "Twilight" two weeks ago and we watched it together.  After that I decided I needed to just get it over with and read the books.  I borrowed the first book from my sister and was determined to use self-control because it was Easter weekend.  I finished on Monday, borrowed the rest of the series from a friend on Wednesday and finished all of them in a day each.  About 2,500 pages in less than a week.  My eyes are bloodshot, I'm sleep deprived, my children got away with a whole lot of TV watching, and my husband called me a "dork".  

When I told my mom I was reading the Twilight series she said, "Oh there is a lot of controversy as to whether we should read those books or not."  That got me thinking.  I looked up interviews with Stephenie Meyer online to see if I could find out what the arguments were. Then I got sidetracked.  I found a few interesting articles about the rise in Mormon women writers.  Something about our religion, according to this reporter, makes these women very good at fantasy writing.  I agree. There are links between my religious views and popular fantasy themes like good vs. evil, pleasure vs. pain, agency, eternal progression, the idea that we are not alone in the universe, symbolism, the power of a united family, etc.  I'm all for not letting my girls read these books till they are married (instead of when they are 12), but otherwise I'm on the "support" side of the controversy.  And I think my husband appreciates how romance novels affect his wife (I only was grumpy with him for one night for not being just like Edward.  Then I decided that our marriage should and could be every speck as lovey and passionate).   

This is a funny link from a man's point of view of "Twilight":

 http://mormonhusbands.blogspot.com/2008/02/twilight-series-for-dummies-and-totally.html (actually there are a few funny "Twilight" posts on this blog).

Imagination

I'm in charge of Joy School this week and the lessons are "Imagination and Creativity".  We had a great time dressing up in costumes, making "crowns" for snacks, and flying kites outside.  I'm sure it was comical for the neighbors to watch a pregnant lady dressed up as Cleopatra following an elephant, a bee, a princess, a fariy, Supergirl, Batman, and Laura Ingalls Wilder around the park. 

Kaia's First Soccer Game

On the morning of Kaia's first soccer game she threw a grand fit.  She said she hated soccer and wouldn't get out there and run.  I was thinking I would have to plead with the YMCA to give us our money back and take the shin guards back to Wal-Mart.  But once we got there and her coach called her out on the field, it was nothing but fun.  She even scored a goal (for the wrong team) which she proudly states at least once a day.  All the parents on the side lines were laughing so hard throughout the game.  I heard one dad say, "We don't do this for the kids, this is for our entertainment."  The little pack of 4 year-olds would run after the ball, even if that meant running onto a neighboring game.  It was hilarious.  Then at the end there were treats and a bubble stick gift.  I think she'll play soccer the rest of her life :)

Easter

Our Easter festivities started last Wednesday with a playgroup Easter egg hunt.  While moms were setting things up the kids were given Easter pictures to color.  I watched as Sierra carefully colored within the lines, making a beautiful picture she protected and saved to give to her dad.  Kaia on the other hand, put her basket on her head, grabbed a few colors and scribbled like mad, then crumpled up her paper and threw it away.  What a difference in my girls!

The egg hunt began and Kaia was off in a flash.  She is so sweet and was careful to share her winnings with any kids who she felt didn't get enough.

The feast of candy post-hunt.

Tristan doesn't eat things, he stuffs.  Here is an entire peep stuffed in his mouth.



The Easter Bunny visited us on Saturday morning this year.  There was a pair of swimming goggles, a tiny sized Book of Mormon, walnuts carefully stuffed with money, and candy for each kid.  Thanks Easter Bunny! (i.e. awesome daddy)

The Easter feast was held at my parent's house and fun was had by all.  Another egg hunt and a whole lot of food.

Bunny Cake: Can't Live With It, Can't Live Without

This bunny cake mold represents many fond memories from my childhood.  I loved helping Gram decorate the cake: mixing food coloring in with coconut, jelly bean eyes, little candy eggs here and there, etc.  Eventually the cake mold ended up at my Aunt Jane's house and when her kids were grown she passed it back to me.  Honestly I'm surprised this thing has survived so long.  Surely by now someone would have destroyed  it due to it's frustrating design flaws.  It seems to be against the laws of physics to prevent cake from errupting out of this thing during the baking process and no matter how you oil and flour the pan the precious cake is going to stick miserably.  One year I was in charge of a Young Men's/Young Women's combined activity.  I thought it would be fun to have a cake decorating contest.  I asked my friend, Brenda, to make a few bunny cakes and I'd make egg shaped cakes.  I think she ended up making 7 of these beasts and I'm surprised she didn't throw them all at me during the activity for asking her to do such a miserable task.  But if there is one thing I learned in cake decorating class, it is that you can hide all baking mistakes with frosting (and in this case lots of coconut helps too).
We invited Gram and Pop (or as Tristan says "Grammy and Poppy" b/c Pop calls him "Tristy") over to join us in cake eating.  Everyone was happy.  And so I will let the cake mold live to see another Easter and try again next year.

Bread of the Month (minus the bread)

I missed out on the Bread of the Month challenge for March. I thought about it, I even went as far as to borrow "The Bread Bible" from Gram. As I looked through the complicated recipes for Focaccia, Ciabatta & something else that looked delicious with a crazy name that I can't remember, I thought "I can't do this!" Spending time in the kitchen has been a challenge for me lately. So I've decided to replace Bread of the Month with a craft. Sierra received a great pair of cargo pants from my sister Grace as hand-me-downs. Unfortunetly, the day before we got said pants, Grace fell and tore a hole in the knee. I sewed and patched the tear and Sierra wore them for a few months. Then one day she also fell and another tear appeared right below the first. I decided it was time to retire the pants, but they were too cute to just throw away. Somehow the idea popped into my mind to make purses out of the pockets. And this is how it did it:

I cut out the pockets and sewed pink felt on to be the inside lining. I saw my mother-in-law adding the edges to a quilt once and used the same idea here.

Then I used my Costco Singer's fancy stitching to make this pretty little border.  I've been looking for an excuse for years to use this stitch.
This was a very forgiving project, which is great for me because I honestly can't sew a straight line.  Once the bags were done I hand stitched on some ribbon for a shoulder strap.
Add a little sass and that's all you need for some great purses and some happy girls.  Do you have any cargo pants in need of a new career?

10 Things I'm Grateful For Today

1. A package that came in the mail yesterday from our beloved friend, Karen, in Michigan.  She sent the shirts the kids are wearing in the above photo, a beautiful ruby red dress for baby #4, a hand crafted scrapbook with pictures printed from my blog of our Christmas in Washington, and more.  Thank you, thank you, Karen!

2. Silence.  Adam took the kids to the gym tonight and I've been able to lounge around on the bed without anyone jumping on my head or belly (there is a jumper in my belly, but she's very sweet and gentle in her movements as opposed to Tristan).

3.  http://scriptures.byu.edu/  I use this website every day.

4. Sunshine.  Even though it has been cold and snowy the past few days, the good old Colorado sunshine always comes through, even if just for a moment.

5.  The excitement about our sprouting seeds and our SFG.  We are going vertical this year, I can't wait to post pictures.

6. This house we live in (which I can't convince Adam that we should buy, but we are both happy to rent).  The driving factor behind that is living next to Gram and Pop, of course.

7.  I got teary eyed listening to a song today (Adam turned on the "Mama Mia" soundtrack for the kids to dance to.  There is a slow song on there where the lead actress is reminiscing about her daughter going off to school and time slipping away too quickly.  It reminds me of how much I need to cherish my time with each of my kids).

8. Tristan learned how to climb out of his crib last night, now making bedtimes and nap times a nightmare.  I'm grateful Adam is smart enough to suggest using the safety door knob cover to keep the little guy in his room.

9.  Being a "stay-at-home" mom.

10. Getting a $150 baby swing for $34 at Kohl's yesterday during one of their huge sales.  Yeah, Kohl's!