It happened!

This isn't a good picture, but Jeff finally put up my pot rack!

I now have a bit more cupboard space for all those other things I seem to collect over time.

Yeah for handy husbands! (It only took him a year - hee hee!)

Book of the Week

The Boxcar Children was one of my favorite books as a child. Sammi just finished it and liked it as well. This is a great read for elementary age kids. I also read it out loud to my 5 year old.

This is a series, but I liked the 1st one the best. Happy reading!

You can get it here for cheap!

All together

This weekend, all my brothers and sisters were here for my sisters wedding. Here's a picture of us all together with the newlyweds.

I thought I would post it and give you a peek at the Thomas family. Here we all are!

In order from left to right;
Brent, Eldon, Glenn, (new brother-in-law) Clark, Melanie, Melissa, Heather, and Linnea

The "Blush"

This is Meredith. She is the cute mother of 2, a great decorator, and a very good friend.

But there is something else you may not know about her...you see,

Meredith has a "Blush" on my brother Eldon.

What is a "Blush" you ask? Well it is a Blog/Crush.

I knew she read my brothers blog regularly, but I just didn't know how far it had gone.

Late Saturday night, Jeff and I invited ourselves over to Meredith's house for a bit. (I brought cinnamon rolls, so they let me in) I proceeded to give Meredith a run down of my day and my sisters wedding.

Somewhere in the conversation I mentioned my brother Eldon, and she perked right up and I noticed her breath caught in her chest.

"Eldon?" she said. "He's here... in MESA?"

Then she got all silly on me and I snapped that picture.
I have tried to reason with her, that it will never work out.
But I am afraid that as long as Eldon keeps blogging, she will just keep on blushing!

Get out and walk!

We were headed to my parents house for dinner today, and we couldn't take the suburban because it was out of gas. So we crammed the kids into the back of the truck and off we went to grandmas house.

That was the longest 30 minute drive of my life. What did we feed these kids? They just wouldn't stop pestering each other. They giggled, poked, tickled, cried, made rude sounds, and more, the whole way there.

Finally Jeff and I had had it! We kicked them out of the car a few blocks before we got to grandmas and made them walk the rest of the way.

We thought it was a good idea until we turned the corner and someones irrigation was overflowing into the street. They had fun splashing their way to grandmas house.

Aren't we the meanest parents ever... hee hee hee!

Flashback

Did anyone else have a "Kevin Bacon" flashback while watching high school musical 2?

Book of the Week

My pick for the week is definitely Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer. It is the third book of the love story between Bella and Edward the vampire.

I know, I know - vampire? What can I say? I loved it!

You can get it here.

Can you spare a square?

Okay, so we're at the movies with our friends the Pomeroy's, and Becky and I decide to use the restroom before the show.

So we're right next to each other in the stalls just like in the video clip.

Becky starts the whole, "Can you spare a square?" thing. I start laughing and teasing her back saying, "I just can't spare a square... no square to spare".

I finish up and proceed to the sink to wash my hands. I am waiting and waiting but Becky hasn't come out of the stall yet. What the heck is she doing anyway?

When she finally emerges, she didn't have the nicest look on her face. Apparently, she wasn't kidding and really needed a square.

Being the airhead that I am, it never crossed my mind that she really needed some. I thought we were just being funny and showing off our knowledge of Seinfeld episodes.

Becky had to reach under the stall and get her own square because I wouldn't spare. She's forgiven me and I promised to always spare a square in the future.

Sorry Becky.

High School Musical Magic!

Allison is dressed as Sharpay, Mckenna is sporting the "Wildcat" colors, and Nathan is just happy to be here!

Yes, it's true! We had a High School Musical party tonight, complete with Pei Wei takeout, party favors, balloons and streamer!

We're cheese balls and we're okay with it! As you can see from the picture, the girls were thrilled. But Jeff and Wayne enjoyed it the most I think!

While walking around the track this morning with my two friends, the topic of food came up. This recipe is for you Becky!

Yogurt and Bran Biscuits

1 cup bran flake cereal
3 Tb. Milk
2 eggs beaten
½ cup flour
½ cup wheat flour
½ cup sugar
2 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 Tb. Grated orange peel
3 Tb. Butter

3 cups mixed berries

2 cups vanilla yogurt


In a medium bowl, stir bran flakes, milk, and egg. Set aside to soften. In another bowl mix flour, sugar orange peel, baking powder, and cinnamon. Blend in butter with fingers. Add bran mixture and stir only until moistened. Grease cookie sheet and pat dough to a round. Bake at 400* for 15 to 20 minutes.

While that’s cooking, mix the mixed berries and yogurt together. (I love the mixed berries from Costco, or you can use just strawberries – anything works)
When the bran biscuit is done, cut it like a pizza.
Place one wedge on a plate and top with yogurt/berry mixture, and serve.

This is my family’s favorite breakfast and they beg me to make it. It’s sure to be a winner!

Dinner in a snap!

I made this for dinner the other night. It was really good and my kids liked it too. You can cook it on the grill instead of the broiler. It took me 20 minutes, start to finish.

Give it a try!

Thai Chicken Satay

2 large limes

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/3 cup chunky peanut butter

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced

1 Tb fresh ginger, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 Tb soy sauce

3 Tb brown sugar firmly packed

1 Tb Asian sesame oil (I used plain sesame oil)

4 chicken breasts cut into thick strips

1 small head romaine lettuce

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced

1. Place 8 bamboo skewers in cold water to soak until ready to use. Grate 1 tsp zest from limes and squeeze 1/4 cup juice. In a glass bowl, whisk together the lime zest and juice, vinegar, and peanut butter until smooth. Stir in cilantro, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, and sesame oil. Reserve about 1/2 cup of mixture in a separate bowl for use as sauce. Add the chicken to the marinade and turn to coat. Let stand at room temperature for at least 10 minutes, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 hours.
2. Preheat broiler. When ready to cook, remove the chicken from the marinade, discarding the marinade. Divide the strips among 8 skewers, threading the strips on lengthwise. Place the skewers on baking sheet and place under the broiler. Cook, turning once, until seared on the outside and opaque throughout, about 6 minutes total. Divide the lettuce, cucumber slices, and chicken skewers onto plates. Drizzle with some of the reserved sauce and serve, passing around additional sauce at the table.

Book of the Week

THE GREAT BRAIN

This is one of my favorite series of children's books by John D. Fitzgerald. There are 8 books in all. If you have kids, this is a must read! I just finished reading the first book with my kids and they can't wait to start the 2nd. You will love the stories about 2 Catholic brothers growing up in Mormon Utah. It is out of print but you can still get them here.

Did You Know?

Did you know that despite what they tell you at the cannery, you don't want to can white flour or sugar. I don't know why, but it makes it taste funny. I have tried to use it anyway and hide it in a recipe. I doesn't work. It just makes it taste gross.

Here's what you need to know.

Purchase some 5 gallon plastic food storage buckets. They sell them here, but you might be able to find them locally for cheaper.

Buy your sugar at Costco in the big bags and store it in the buckets. You don't even need to seal it, because bugs won't get into sugar.

Do the same thing with white flour. I have 4 buckets full of white flour, and I just keep them rotating. They are in a closet close to the kitchen. I keep a plastic container full of flour in the pantry. When it runs low, I head to the closet to fill it up again.

Trust me on this one. You will regret it if you can these two items. Buckets are the way to go!

Good Luck!

Good Taste

So it's the morning of the first day of school and Nathan wanders into the kitchen all groggy eyed. I cheerfully tell him he can have anything he wants for breakfast--a smoothy, pancakes, french toast, scrambled eggs, bagel and cream cheese, cereal - whatever he wants!

(This is his first day of kindergarten)

He replies with his eyes half shut, "Ya know mom, I think I will just have an omlet with vegetables - and don't forget those red things (tomatoes)."

He's a funny little man, with good taste!

Six Wives of Henry VIII

This book reads like a novel. If you like history, you will love this book. It made me so grateful to live in a time when I get to pick my own husband. Definitely a good read!

You can get it here for only $4.50 including shipping.

Flip Flop Cake

I love this flip flop cake. It's such a cute idea! The recipe is here.

Why I Love My Dog

I was out jogging this morning with my dog, Rusty, in the desert behind our house.
All the sudden Rusty bolted and took off to my right.
I looked up and not more than a 100 yards away, were two scraggly coyotes.















Immediately Rusty took off after them. I kept running as I didn't want to go anywhere near them. I kept looking back to see what was happening.

Eventually Rusty chased them off a good distance and stopped and looked at me. I called to him but he wouldn't budge. He parked himself there right between the coyotes and me. He would look at them, then back to me and so on.
As soon as the coyotes were out of sight, he bolted back to my side and we were on our way.

What a brave dog he is. So what if he's afraid of water and Nathan's cap gun.
He's brave enough for me!!

My Samantha

I wanted to introduce to you one of my favorite people in the whole world

SAMANTHA TAYLOR LEE

age 11

One of the things I admire most about Sam is that she isn't afraid to be who she is.

She knows what she likes and what she's about and is so comfortable with that.

I admire her intelligence. She is already too smart for me and I can't help her with her homework anymore. She is a deep thinker and I am frequently amazed at her ability to really look deep into something or someone.

Sammi likes the familiar. She like routine and stability. But I love that she is fun loving enough to put up with her crazy mom and dad who are always egging her on to ride the scary roller coaster, or the little motorcycle, or something else that she would rather not do.

I admire her independence. Sam was born mature. She loves responsibility and you can count on her when you really need her help. She likes to be trusted to make decisions and is willing to live with the consequences of her actions.

I could listen to her sing all day long. She is a fabulous performer and has incredible stage presence. She is so brave on stage and never seems to be nervous in front of a crowd.

I admire her goodness. She has such a beautiful spirit and is drawn to things that are good, lovely, and praiseworthy. She likes to organize and make things pretty.

Most of all I love being her mother, her parent, her guardian, and her friend.

-I love you Sammi-

Patterned Napkin Rings

This is such a simple idea, yet I never would have thought of it. I love these homemade napkin rings. I want to use this idea for our next ward party!
Way cute.

The instructions are here.

Thanks Martha!

Book of the Week

If you are one of those that started the Harry Potter series but haven't finished, well hurry up!

I loved the 7th and last book. JK Rowling did and excellent job of wrapping it up. For those of you who have read it...what did you think?