A Fun Filled Week

This week is Lehi's City Celebration Week. The Hutchins Museum has been doing fun free stuff all week. On Tuesday they did a fun dinosaur themed day. So, my sister in-law Kristy came with her three boys and we went over to Greenwood Elementary for their free lunch that they do at the school and then headed out to the museum. I stopped by to pick up a few extra kids. My friend just had twins two weeks ago and so I picked up her two girls ages 4 and almost 3 and brought them along with us. They have great exhibits there. The kids found a place where you could buy all sorts of neat rocks and so of course we had to buy a few. Afterwards there was a dinosaur puppet show outside. A little bit on the stupid side for me, but the kids really enjoyed it. Especially when they chucked candy at the kids. It was just about time to go home after that. The cousins were going to a movie with their little boy cousin for his birthday and so the kids and I went home and played baseball with daddy while I made dinner. Wednesday was a hustle and bustle day! First I taught piano and then we piled in the car and I took Nate to library for his little mommy and me class while the girls played at the park near by. Then we hopped back in the car and picked up the two little girls from yesterday AND another little girl that I watch a day or two during the week. We headed back over to the museum for the snake and reptile show. I had 7 kids that day with me!!! PHEW! They had all sorts of snakes, lizards and turtles at the show and the kids really enjoyed it. Maddie especially liked the part with the turtles because she has some as pets. Afterwards we were roasting so I took the kids to Arctic Circle for a little ice cream cone. Then we raced back home so I could drop two of the extra children back home and then drop the rest of the kids off at the library for their class. Nate and I went home and made some quick PB&J sandwiches for everyone and then headed back to the library to pick up the girls. By this time I'm just down to 5 kids. We were going to go to a magic show, but at the library Maddie went through the slip and slide and got completely soaked. Emma and Avery wanted to do the slip and slide as well so we decided to forgo the magic show and go home and run through the sprinklers. But, I needed to head to the store real fast first so we did that and then went home. They cooled off for about an hour and then it was time to get ready for dance. So we piled up in the car again, I took Emma and Avery to dance, headed back home because I forgot something and then went back to pick Emma and Avery up and drop Maddie off for her class. On the way home a friend of Emma's wanted to come and play and so I dropped Emma off at home to change and wait for her friend while I took Avery home. On the way their Avery wanted to stay and play with Emma and the new friend so I took her home to ask...and then brought her back to my house to play. While making dinner the girls walked through the kitchen to go outside to play and Avery said "Oh my gosh it smells so good. I'm going to call my mom and tell her I'm having dinner here." So then of course the other friend wanted to stay for dinner and Emma just thought that was a great idea. So, we had two extra kids for dinner who ended up staying even longer to watch a Strawberry Shortcake movie. Good times! It really was fun. Thursday I taught piano and then we headed back to the museum for some pioneer games and fun. The two little girls that normally went with us were sick that morning so it was just me and my 4 and my sister in-law with her boys. They had fun making rope, playing tug-of-war, going a few train rides, coloring paper snakes and paper dolls, buying marbles and playing outside. But the highlight of that day for me was the cricket race! On the paper it said Cricket races from 1-2pm. So I assumed that meant real live crickets racing. I thought it would be fun to watch. So we headed over there and saw that all these kids had little antennas on and then I figured it out. The kids were racing as the crickets. I signed the girls up, they were on the green team. I learned a little later that part of the race included eating real crickets. "They were baked and flavored and taste like sunflower seeds" they told us. I knew that Emma would never go for it if she knew they were real so I lied and told the girls that they were candy crickets that they had to eat and swallow. I told them if they ate the crickets I would take them out for a milkshake. They were all for it. Emma was in the little kids group and they ran first. She stood there with this little cricket in her hand waiting for the go ahead and I looked down at it and I knew there was no way she was going to eat that. She looked up at me and asked if it was real. I said no, it's pretend it just looks real. She just stood there and looked at it. They said GO! She put it up to her mouth and then started to cry. I took the cricket from her and picked her up. I totally didn't blame her, they looked real and I don't think I could have eaten it. Maddie got lined up. I gave her Emma's uneaten cricket. One of the legs had fallen off and Maddie stood there and looked at it...asked me if it was real...I told her no...she got the GO! and shoved it in her mouth and chewed fast. They had to show that they had swallowed it before they could start "hopping" like a cricket. Well, little did I know that there were TWO more stops they had to make along the way to get ANOTHER cricket to eat. She was such a trooper and ate every last one and hopped all the way to the finish line. When she was done she came and opened her mouth for me and there still tiny bits of cricket on her tongue...almost made me gag! I gave her a big hug and told her I was so proud of her...and then I told her the truth. She hadn't eaten candy bugs but REAL crickets!! She grabbed her throat and said "uuggghhh!!! I just ate real crickets!! That's so AWESOME!!" She was so proud of herself and kept talking about it all day long. I asked her what they tasted like. She replied, "Bacon!" I followed through on my promise and got her a milkshake. Kristy and I took the kids over and Emma could only get a cone because she didn't eat the crickets but she still enjoyed it. She told me "Mom, maybe next time I will eat the crickets. When I'm a little bit older like Maddie. I tasted the leg and I didn't like it. But maybe next time I will and then I can get a shake." "You tasted the leg?" I asked her. "Well, no. I touched it to my lips but then I got scared." She admitted. "That's ok," I assured her, "Mommy probably would get scared to eat crickets too." We packed up in the car, went to the store to get a few items for a picnic dinner to take to dad's softball game. Headed out to Sandy to watch daddy play softball and eat dinner. I realized when I got there that I had forgotten to bring the diaperbag with me. I took it into the house to replenish it and make the sandwiches for the picnic and didn't grab it again. Olivia of course had a total blowout at the game and I had to run over to my mom's to change her. I brought Nathan with me and left the girls to play with the other kids. Nate had his glove and ball with him and wanted grandpa to play catch. They played in the front room while I changed Livvy and my dad threw the ball and hit Nate in the face. Nate said, "oh! Poka da eye!" He threw it back to my dad. They tossed a few more times and then Nate hit my dad in the face. Nate said, "you ok? Ok gampa?" When we left to go back to the game Nate commented about Grandpa hitting him in the eye. When we got back to the game it was over. Ended early because they had finished up the innings. Nathan told his dad right away that he played catch with grandpa and got "poka da eye. I ok." Then he proceeded to pick up his bat, swing, and "run the bases." We headed home (by now it's after 9pm) and collapsed into bed. I'm so mad because my camera is broken and I just haven't had a chance (or the dollars) to get a new one. My sister in-law took a few pics and I'm waiting for those so you can see all the good times we are having! Friday will be a "catch up on the house work because of all the fun we've had" day and then Saturday we start again with a parade, water fun and BBQ. PHEW! Entertaining kids takes a lot outta me...and I wouldn't trade a single minute!

Summer Begins!

I'm always on the look out for some free summer fun and last weekend we had a blast! We went to the Utah Lake Festival at the Utah Lake State Park. I've never been there before but I will definitely be returning soon. Friday was "Free Fish Day" and they offered free fishing in the lake without a license. We brought our fishing pole but did not fish...the line was waaayyy too long. It's ok though because there was plenty to do. They had these little passport books that you had to get stamped from the different booths and then turn it in for a t-shirt. The girls have worn their t-shirts almost every day since. There was free hotdogs, popcorn, cotton candy and apples that we had for lunch. The kids made fish hats, rainbow fish and sand art. They had a little prize fishing pond and ducky races where you squirted your duck with a squirt gun to see who could get to the finish line first. There was a lot of other things to do that we didn't get to but it was fun...hot!...but fun. My camera has not been working very well lately, but I did manage to take a picture of the kids with their crafts. I'll try and retrieve it from my camera and post it here. After the festival we headed out to Sandy to watch Jason play a softball game. His company has a team and they had to do a make-up game because of the weather. Nathan loves to watch his dad play and gets really upset when he doesn't get to go out there and play with him. He brought his little "car bat" (a Lightning McQueen bat) and his ball so he could hit and run the bases like his dad. I have to say though...I think Nathan runs the bases faster than his dad! ;) So, I spent the game pitching to Nathan and sitting on a blanket with Livvy under a tree. We went home and had some pizza for dinner and then the girls and I snuggled in bed while watching the old favorite "Rainbow Brite." We had a pretty fun day and Jason and I decided that we are going to take the kids fishing at least once or twice a month...more if we can find the time. I even have my own fishing pole that I need to get out and dust off. I love making these kind of memories with my kids...and I have a whole summer to do it!

Blackberry Pork Chops

First off, I got this out of the Taste of Home magazine that came this month...so I can't take all the credit. 1/2 C seedless blackberry spreadable fruit (i didn't have this so I just put some fresh blackberries in my food processor and pureed them) 1 TBSP Lemon juice 1 TBSP soy sauce Dash ground cinnamon (go easy on this...I think I used to much and the cinnamon is overpowering!) 4 boneless pork chops 2 tsp steak seasoning (I used montreal but use what you have) 2 tsp olive oil ( I used canola but use what you want) 1 C fresh blackberries In a small saucepan, combine the spreadable fruit (or pureed fruit in my case), lemon juice, soy sauce and cinnamon. Cook and stir over low heat until spreadable fruit is melted. Remove from the heat; set aside. Sprinkle both sides of pork chops with steak seasoning. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook chops in oil over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes on each side. Serve with sauce and blackberries. Now, like I said, I wanted to grill these so you would use a paper towel drizzled with the oil to coat your grill. I also like grilled onions and I felt it added a new flavor and balanced well with the tangy flavor of the blackberries. I caramelized them in the sauce pan with my pork chops this time since my grill was out of order. Some cheesy mashers would be great with this...but I was out of those too! Enjoy! If you make them let me know what you think! (picture will be coming soon)