~ Life on the Flipside ~: Cooking

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Monday, March 5, 2012

Zach & Gabe's Piano Recital

I'm so proud of these boys and the progress they're making in piano.

This is Gabe's gentle rendition of "Once There Was a Snowman"

and Zach's amazing competition songs

"The Matadore"

and "To a Wild Rose"

Saturday, March 3, 2012

2012 January & February in a Nutshell

Please do not die of shock that I am actually posting, but here's an update on the events of January and February...

After 2 1/2 years of pain and shots, I finally had foot surgery on January 3rd. The doctor found a large amount of damage in the foot. He cut that out, filed off the heal spur, and did a two-thirds release of the plantar fascia muscle. The recovery has been slow. I spent the first week on crutches and a total of four weeks in a boot. I was supposed to stay off of my foot as much as possible - you can imagine how well that worked. Then February's recovery was complicated by the fact that my doctor told me to go back to wearing shoes, but neglected to mention that I shouldn't wear the orthotics he prescribed and that I've been wearing faithfully for two years. By the end of the first three days, I turned to Matt in a puddle of tears because the pain was so bad that I felt like I'd just had surgery all over again. Nevertheless, my recovery is still moving forward, but after 4 follow-up visits with my doctor and the latest miscommunication from my him, I'm now in the market for good podiatrist. PLEASE let me know if you know one!

I'm determined to visit several home shows this year as our family thinks about building our next house. So, I planned a "Girl's Weekend" and took Lauren and Alicia with me to St. George to tour the Parade of Homes. We had a blast! We toured half of the homes, saw a movie, played lots of games, visited with my family, had a spa day where Lauren got her first facial and I had a massage, and then we met up for pedicures - It was HEAVENLY! It was also just what my foot needed.

I've also been busy helping the kids with the following...

My four oldest kids have been taking a series of Skiing lessons. This is Gabe's second series, but a first for Lauren and Max. Zach took skiing lessons last year with Gabe, but switched to snowboarding this year.

Lauren in Cyrano

Lauren did an excellent job playing the baker's wife in her class production of "Cyrano." She's learning to sew and made a cute pair of pajama pants. She'ss getting her best grades in middle school yet, and has come so far in staying organized and completing assignments on time. She got a cute new haircut, loved girls weekend with Mom and Alicia, and was made the first counselor in her Beehive Class Presidency.

Zach turned 11 and had a fabulous birthday party at Trafalga. He loved 'Boys Weekend' with Dad and his brothers and he received his Arrow of Light in Cub Scouts. He's making S-turns all the way down the mountain on his snowboard, playing basketball everyday at school, and earned his first Merit Badge in Boy Scouts (Communicator.) He also played the School Master in his class production of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." He earned a Superior rank in his Junior Piano Festival and he ROCKED his piano recital! He even took 4th place out of 100 fourth and fifth graders in the schools Word Power Challenge.

Zach: Mom, I won the Word Power Challenge in my class!

Me: Zach, that's awesome! So you'll be going to the school competition.

Zach: Yah.

Me: Now, the Word Power Challenge is a vocabulary contest, right?

Zach: No... it's where you say what words mean.

Me: Well, you might want to add the word "vocabulary" to the list of words you know. ;D

Zach's Arrow of Light

Zach Gabe with their
AMAZING Piano Teacher Carol Cherry

Tom Sawyer School Master

*I tried to upload video of the boys piano recitals, but youtube is taking forever to process them. I'll have to add them later.

Gabe @Pinewood Derby

Gabe asked three girls to be his Valentine prior to Valentine's day.

Me: "Gabe you can't do that! What do you think it means to be your valentine?"
Gabe: "It means that you're best friends for the month."

Apparently, one of the girls is taking it more seriously than that, and she's giving him additional love letters and pictures each day. Gabe did an awesome job on his piano recital and in helping Matt build his pinewood derby car. He won 2nd place in his scout division. He also went to the TOP of the mountain for his most recent ski lesson. He was the only one in his class ready to do it, and he can officially ski better than both his parents.

Max was absolutely adorable in his 1st Grade Patriotic Program!!! Three minutes into Zach's birthday party, Max won 1000 tickets in a single spin on the Wheel of Fortune. He has inherited his father's luck ;D

Jared has really tuned into music, and his memory for songs that he's heard once will sometimes amaze me. He also has the stomach flu and is trying to medicate himself by playing Angry Birds.

Ali Jane said her first words "Dada" and "Hi." She has no idea what she said, but she did say them :D She loves to smile, coo, babble and blow raspberries all day. She had her six month check-up and shots. She's in the 75% for height and head circumference, but 50% for weight. The doctor called her tall and skinny, though we think that she's made entirely of silky marshmallow fluff. She's been rolling for several months, but now she's rolling to get to new places. Jared was laughing and said to me, "MOM! Aweesha is cwacking me up!" because she had rolled over to his feet and was trying to eat his toes. She is currently the happiest, most easy going, most adorable, six-month baby girl in the world!

Alicia Jane at 6 months

Matt and I went to Atlanta so I could see his offices there, meet our new accountant, see the sights and celebrate our 17th Anniversary. It was a great little trip and Alicia was an ANGEL on the flights. Matt continues to work like a madman without enough sleep. I don't know how he does it. His company is in the process of developing a few products, and they hope to launch one of them in the next month. He's planning to work more in Massachusetts, where Staples is headquartered. Staples is second in the world in online sales, and he's hoping to expand his company's work with them.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Backyard Campfires

Matt and I were going through an old filing cabinet before we moved and realized that we needed to destroy a huge box of old bills, taxes and other sensitive documents. Matt said that we'd burn out the motor on the paper shredder if we tried to destroy them in there. I think it was just the little pyromaniac inside him that was crying, "Let's BURN them! Ooohaaaaahahahahah!!!"

Low and behold after we moved, we discovered that the previous occupants of our house had created a fire pit from bricks and stones in an area of the yard that isn't landscaped. As the weather turned a little chilly, we began having backyard campfires. The kids were thrilled. They beg for "Campfire Nights."
We've held family home evening lessons, sat and talked, read scriptures, read an adventure novel together (Return to Exhile,) and of course, made smores galore.
Destroying sensitive documents was never so much fun!

Jared is especially hilarious. He insists on throwing papers (and rocks and sticks and leaves) onto the fire. Most of the kids have become skilled marshmallow roasters, but Jared has his own ideas...
He thinks the first person to burn the marshmallow to crisp and make it fall off the roasting stick wins.
As the poor, black glob of goo plummets into the flames, Jared JUMPS in the air and yells, "HOOOOOORAY!!! I did it!"

Alicia's Baby Blessing

Sunday, October 16th, 2011

Scheduling Alicia's Blessing was VERY difficult. We were working around 3 primary programs and people traveling from California, Idaho and the north and south ends of Utah. We finally had to pick a day and time and just run with it, because there was NO WAY to accommodate everyone's schedule.

Having said that, it turned out to be an absolutely GORGEOUS afternoon, and we are so thankful for all those who helped us prepare food, setup, drove / flew at length, and made it an absolutely wonderful day.

The blessing given to Alicia was beautiful and sweet, and she was quiet throughout.

Here is our little Angel...

Matt's stepmom: Grandma W.

My Parents: Papa & Grandma Hunny

Matt's Mom: Grandma Barbara

Scouting Awards

October 27th, 2011

Gabe became a cub scout in May, but of course, that's when all chaos broke loose for our family as we scrambled to find a new home, move, remodel the old house, rent it out, have a baby, and on and on…

Well, the poor guy has been waiting so patiently for me to help him finish his bobcat,
and Matt and I have both gotten multiple 'lectures' from his new wolf leaders.
(They seem convinced we're totally incompetent, never mind the fact that Gabe has an older brother who's earned everything successfully, or that I've been a Wolf, Bear and Webelos Den leader before. Sigh.)
So, I finally made time to finish up the last requirement, called the den leaders to tell them a week before the pack meeting and then the Cub Master forgot to buy a WHOLE bunch of awards - including Gabe's. We're hoping this means Matt will be in town for the next pack meeting and can see him receive it.
So, this is Gabe getting his soccer belt loop. Way to go, buddy - you're a trooper!

In addition to helping Gabe, we also helped Zach finish up his Webelos Badge requirements. Being the HAM that he is, Zach marched to front of the pack meeting and dropped to one knee as though he was being knighted. What a nut! Now on to the Arrow of Light...

Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

Jared has decided that he's old enough to use the microwave, but the last time I checked he's still TWO!!!
He figures he's a got a stool, a long enough reach and the food of champions... corn dogs.
What more does a little guy need?
Certainly Not Mom!

BUSTED!!!

This has become a daily battle!
Jared thinks...
Mom's Nursing Alicia?
Well, then I'll make myself a snack too.
The box to the left contained 36 corn dogs
and he's BURNED (literally) through them in a week!
Aargh!

My prayer...
Please give me the patience to redirect this child's attention,
Feet fast enough to reach the microwave quickly,
and may he never throw a fork in there. PLEASE.
sigh.

Halloween 2011

The Fabulous Five on Halloween...

Lauren: Our Zombie Girl

Zach: Luigi... again.

Max: Ninja

Gabe: Pikachu

Jared: Super WHY!!!! He's our Guy!

Alicia: The yummiest little TREAT on the block!

Matt: Nazgul from Lord of the Rings

On the trail...

Carving pumpkins with this many kids is challenging to say the least. I usually have a supply of carving tools that the kids can use themselves with supervision, but NO ONE is content to carve a simple jack-o-lantern. Oftentimes, we end up carving complex pumpkin designs late into the night on the Family Home Evening before Halloween. My sister, Kelli, mentioned the she just has her son paint the pumpkin. BRILLIANT! It would be easier and we could do it earlier in October because the pumpkin wouldn't be rotting on the porch for weeks.

I found some washable paints that I thought were good. I covered the picnic table in the backyard with plastic, set paints and brushes out, and the whole process was done in 15 minutes! We left the pumpkins outside to dry overnight. I loved it!!! However, the paint went on a little too thin for the kids taste, and then it rained...