What's for Dinner?

I hate it when the kids ask me that question. Because my answer is sure to result in groans and whines. They asked me last night. I wasn't about to give them the real answer (Cream of Broccoli Soup from scratch). So I made up a new name for the soup and called it Christmas Tree soup. I stretched the truth a bit and said it was potato soup which I magically turned green to be Christmas Tree Soup. Did they eat it? You better believe it. I am a little proud of myself. Hopefully I remember this trick next Christmas too.

Here's the recipe from Martha's Stewart's Everyday Living.... (I halved it for my family)

Christmas Tree Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 med onion, diced

coarse salt & pepper

2 cans chicken broth

1 large head broccoli (3#), peeled, chopped

1 med baking potato, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup lemon juice

Saute the onion in oil, season with salt and pepper. Cook until soft. Add broth, broccoli, potato and 2 cups water. Bring to boil and simmer until tender. Puree soup and return to pot. Stir in cream and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper.

(my changes: for a half the recipe use 2 cups water and 2 chicken bullion cubes for the liquid and keep the full amount of cream!)

Idaho's Davy Crockett

The camera loves this man. If I had to post every time he was in the newspaper since we've moved to pocatello, you guys would be very tired of listening to me. The newspaper picture doesn't do his red long underwear much justice as the top is tied around his waist. But he looked good! There were some great Wild West costumes for this half marathon, one guy dressed like a civil war soldier, some cowboys and some cows. Even a saloon girl or too.

I am signing up for a 5K mud run in soldier hollow which is supposed to be fun. www.thedirtydash.com. There is plenty of time to train... it's not until june 2011. Sign on up!

Happy Halloween!!

I can't remember what Mike was having them say to make them smile during pictures.... It was about boogers though.
Zombie Eliza
Vampire Ian
Creepy Family

I took 200 photos to get 5 half way decent shots. I had the camera on the tripod taking 10 photos in a row, so we can make flip books of Eliza trying to wriggle out of my grasp and pulling faces at Ian. If we lived in DC.. we would have these fine people take our photos. Until then.. It's my high school yearbook/newspaper photography skills we are dependent upon.

I can't stop shopping....

In my fridge I have 5 1/2 2# blocks of Tillamook cheese. That's 11# of Tillamook. I also have 24 Tillamook yogurts (30 cents each!!). I have been to Fred Meyers 3 days this week to buy (you can only get 1 cheese at a time with the 3.99 coupon). And we won't mention the Tillamook ice cream at 2.50$ per gallon. Do I have a food hoarding disease? If you must know I cannot tolerate eating cache valley, kraft, kroger or any other kind of cheddar cheese. I grew up in Oregon, eating only Tillamook cheese and I can't switch. I usually pay 5.99 per 2# or 4.99 if I am lucky. Should I buy more? Should I stop? Should I get some professional help?

And coming soon.... Family pictures 2011. Complete with Eliza sticking her tongue out, Ian with a finger in his nose and parents looking like they are trying not to strangle their children.

Happy October

Nothing much going on around here... Eliza loves dressing up lately. Luckily for her friend Bryson she likes dressing up as a superhero.

One great thing about October is the end of baseball!! Hooray! We now have our Saturdays back and I am not giving them up again. Ian had a love/hate relationship with baseball. He hated it because it's harder than it looks but loved it because he loved chasing the ball and playing with other kids. He always was extremely surprised when he hit the ball.

I will only sign him up again if he begs and begs and begs. Some of the games were just too painful to watch. The kids don't strike out so they just throw the ball over and over and over again until they hit it. As a last resort they get out the Tee.

the in-laws...

One of my wonderful sister in laws came across the country to help watch Eliza my final week of full-time work. She made our lives sooo much easier during a difficult time. Then we all piled in a borrowed car and headed to Stanley Idaho... one of our favorite places.I love idaho for it's free camping and hot springs.

I love the mountains and the trees. I wish Eastern Idaho was greener.

So what is your guess... is she falling or being thrown in or something else entirely???

The kids had a blast exploring trails, caves, rivers, lakes and motel rooms. We couldn't have had better travel companions. Thanks for a fun trip!

Changes...

I took the day off work for my b-day last week. Hooray! We all went on a little hike. The kids mostly whined but I just kept reminding them how much fun they were having. 31 is kind of a depressing age. Eliza looks a little crazed in this picture, I had to share it because the camera rarely captures her true nature.
And introducing.... Mike's new office. Don't you love the wall art? He is teaching full-time at the local university this year. I will be cutting back my hours soon and changing my job from head of the dietary department to consultant dietitian. This means no more 5 am phone calls and no more crazy scheduling. I'm excited to have holidays with the family again! I am a little bit nervous about turning over this job to someone else... it is my baby because I was hired before the place even opened and put a lot of procedures into place.

And check out this house!!! Extreme makeover home-edition is in town this week helping out a single mom with 9 kids whose house burnt down and she had cancer and a gazillion other problems. The family returns tomorrow for the big reveal. I couldn't wait though... I went down to check it out and it looks great. I would live in it. There seemed to be about 100 people in blue t-shirts and hard hats just standing around.

And rumor has it (from an unreliable source) a famous werewolf (ie Taylor Lsomething McShirt Off) has checked into a local hotel to be on hand for the unveiling of the house. The traffic over in that part of town is horrendous, as well as the crowds of people attempting to get a look at the various stars.

So... who wants to give my apartment an extreme makeover?

Waterslide

A rancher about 45 minutes from here has set up huge waterslides in their yard. The kids love going there!! We took some cousins this time around and had some fun. They also have a sand pit to play in, a zip line, trampoline and playgrounds. We've been 3 times this summer and the kids don't get sick of it.

There are some good parts to living in this area... I'll stop complaining!

Happy Birthday Ian!

I think time is going faster and faster and faster! Ian sure had a fun day. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and phone calls! You helped to make his day the best.
We celebrated with a neighborhood water balloon and snow cone party. The kids had a good time.
We ended with a cake!
It's hard to believe my baby boy is going into first grade. I'm not ready for him to grow up so fast!!

We went to my family reunion in bear lake a few weeks back.... lots of crazy kids running around.

And I made my first purchase from one of my favorite blogs... www.vintagefarmfurniture.com

I am having a lot of fun with it. Don't mind the blue tablecloth on it... I am not supposed to have the pieces touching for another week. Click on the link above to see how it should look!!

Other than that... I have been working like crazy and Mike has been chasing kids like crazy and we are trying not to go to insane. It may not be preventable though.... we do live in Eastern Idaho!

"Yesterday was plain awful"

"You can say that again"

10 extra bonus points if you can name the movie that song is from! May was kind of a stinky month. I don't exactly want to re-live it by explaining all the gory details on a public forum so I won't. I had really high hopes for June though. So far it's been stinking as well. I have pneumonia. It's rainy outside. My family had to flee to avoid getting sick too. (thanks to Julie and Jan for taking them in). My bum hurts from the antibiotic shots. The nebulizer treatments make it hard to sleep which is what the doctor told me what I have to do to get better. I am missing a ton of work. ( I did sneak in this morning at 6:30 with a face mask and avoided all the patients to get a few things done). I absolutely have to be 100% better by Monday. Can I will my lungs to cooperate?

I think I am ready for July to begin... It's got to be better than this!

racing cousins...

We were lucky to have Mike's cousin and his family come for a visit. The kids had a blast playing together, luckily Eliza wasn't intimidated by the dramatic increase in boys in the house. Ian and Peter's oldest, Will are good friends and Will even stayed the night with us while his parents stayed in the hotel with the younger boys. I was some what a slacker with the pictures though and didn't get one of all the kids playing together! Dang it. They came up to visit as Mike and Peter were doing a duathalon ( a bike and run race) Ian also did a little 1.1 mile bike race. He had so much fun he can't wait to do one again. He even got a little medal for participating!

The racers.....
Eliza really wanted to ride too, but I didn't sign her up because I knew she would most likely abandon her bike half way and wander into someone's house along the course and beg for a snack. Maybe next time...

Great job boys... next time I guess it's my turn. But I doubt any of my cousins will ride with me (since most of them are 1-2 generations older than me and lots of them are grandparents..) so I will have to recruit from Mike's enormous group of cousins. I love Spring!

The Plague strikes again...

Doesn't she look thrilled to be celebrating her birthday? She has been so sick all week! I haven't been feeling to great either, as you can probably tell by the pictures.

She asked for a chocolate cake without frosting. Mike made her a perfect cake. Unfortunately nobody has had much of an appetite to eat it! I'm sure in a couple of days she will be bouncing off the walls again and enjoying her new toys.

I just had to throw this in... It's amazing how they change but still look the same! Happy Birthday little girl!

The Last Snow...

This is probably the last major snow for our area, all 2 inches that fell last night. The kids loved it. What about you... ready for more snow or more sunshine??

Spring Break

I want a Spring Break too! Ian is on Spring Break this week and just gets to play alllll day. Lucky kid. We had a mini-spring break trip down to Moab for a race with my sister Tiffany. It was a little weird leaving the kids but we knew they were in good hands. Mike, Meredith (friend of the fam) & Tiffany ran the half marathon and I ran the 5 mile race (thats 5 miles, NOT 5K thank you very much). I finished in 52 minutes. Then I walked to the car and took a nap while waiting for the others to finish. Mike finished in 1 hr 45 min.

I was hoping for a little warmer weather!! But the rocks and scenery were lovely. My poor sister hadn't been camping in at least 15 years and wasn't quite as prepared for a cold night. She suffered in silence while I threw off my blanket and coat because I was too warm.

Ian decided to get sick at Grandma's while we were gone, so Grandma Jan got the fun job of cleaning up kid puke. Eliza waited until we got there before she started to get sick.

Now we are getting ready for Eliza's birthday next week! Stay tuned for an excess of pictures involving chocolate cake, cheesy smiles and ripped wrapping paper.

Ouch

Ian is keeping up with his tradition of head wounds. You can't tell much by this picture, but he has 4 staples in his head, right where it came in contact with a corner of the wall during a game of chase. Poor kid. We hardly notice the Harry Potter scar on his forehead from when he rolled out of bed and hit his chest of drawers at age 3. He is a tough little kid, and we love him.

Odd happenings

Last night Ian started throwing up. At one point we hurried him to the toilet to throw up. Mike noticed he was a little stinky. There was no visible throw up anywhere on his clothes. We took off his button up pajama shirt, and there was throw up all over his back. On the inside of his shirt. NOTHING on the front of him, nothing on his pillow or sheets. How in the world did he throw up on his back inside of his clothes and get nothing on his front?? Any guesses?

Here's your update!

So I have received a complaint from some very good friends (who neglected to visit us when they were last in town AND have NEVER commented on my blog ahem) that I haven't updated my blog in a while. Hello, it's February. Everybody knows February stinks. It is cold, but not much snow. Somebody usually is sick. Nothing exciting is happening. So I will write a boring post about our day today.

I had planned to take most of today off work because Mike had to take a brief trip out of town. He wrote out my schedule for the day since he is usually the one taking care of the kids. It included swim lessons, babysitting the neighbor kids (x2), what times to get Ian on and off the bus, etc. Then this happened.

Eliza woke up at 3 am puking. Lovely. Mike spent the 3 o'clock hour scrubbing the carpet while I changed her pajamas and held back her hair while she continued to puke in a bowl. We were basically awake from that time on. I got ready for work in-between pukes and went to work for just over an hour to receive a food order and put it all away. Then I came home around 8:15 am and Mike left for Utah. Eliza is wearing the hat in this picture to keep her hair out of her puke.

While she lay on the couch this morning watching Shaun the Sheep episodes, Ian and I read stories, played Go Fish and Memory, Play-doh, and baked bread. We cancelled the babysitting.
The bread turned out a little darker than I usually like it but I wasn't wasn't watching it as close as I was watching the sick-o.

I tried to upload a little video of Ian reading to me. Sorry it's not working, I will have to have Mike help me when he gets back!

I got Ian on the bus on time. I did some loads of puke laundry. I guess I haven't lost all my stay-at-home-mom skills. I ate lunch, and now I am hoping Eliza will take a little nap because I am tired! The librarian last night told Mike & I that we will miss having small kids when they grow up. This was when Ian was throwing a tantrum because we were leaving and Eliza was being a little too helpful with the books. It's kind of hard to believe that some days. What is your day like today?