New Year's Tradition

Here's an idea for a tradition for next year.  I didn't think about posting about this until this week, so I am sorry, it's too late for this year, but any who....you can prep your kids for next year, now. hahaha

The stockings on Christmas are usually kind-of overlooked, don't you think?  With all the gifts and excitement, any little treasures small enough to fit in a sock just don't compare to the rest of the hustle and bustle.  A dear friend shared her family's tradition with us several years ago and we have been doing it ever since.  Thank you Debi Wilde and the Wilde bunch.

For Christmas, the stockings still hang on the mantle and wait for the happy new year.  During the week between holiday's, we have the kids sit down and write a thank you note to Santa.  They tuck it into their stocking and await the new year.  When the new year rolls in, baby new year, or an elf, or whoever you decide, comes to get the thank you note to deliver to Santa. To reward them for their thankfulness, they leave goodies!  So, New Years Day is another fun, magical event for the little ones.  This way, the stocking is the main event, and everything inside becomes more precious.  The best part, besides the lesson learned in gratitude, is all the cool stuff you can get on December 26 to fill the stockings for 50-75% off!  Yahoo!

Looking forward to 2012.  This is going to be good.

Scarf that is EASY to make!

Another video, woot woot!

Another video! Woot, woot!

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhrrggcgGbY&context=C356926dADOEgsToPDskLyNdYYjc2YswKIOa0LvfEq

Quick Christmas Gift

In case you are pressed for time and need an idea for a gift and don't want to hit the stores, here is a video to help you out!  A quick, darling scarf made from a t-shirt or fabric remnant.  Merry Christmas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-phZlrUpEc&feature=colike

The Joy of School Programs

School programs.  Joy or Duty?  I love a good program and love the Christmas sing, but there is a level of stress that accompanies such things.  I feel it almost every time.  Am I sitting on the right side?  Or are they going to come out and be clear across the gym from where I am?  Will they see me?  Do they know I am here?  Can I see?  Am I where my wiggly kids aren't going to bother those around me?  Am I in someone's way?  Oh, then there is the following....  My sweet friend just emailed me her experience.  One of her first Christmas sing-a-longs.  She wrote her experience so well, I can feel that lump in my stomach I get at programs, just from her eloquent writing.  She gave me permission to share.  Well done Shannon Peterson.  I am so glad you survived!

Barrett’s Jingle Jam was this morning.

Each grade sings two songs…..super cute. You know, uplifting Christmas music stuff.

And I really do love Christmas music. Still love that.

So by the time I got there today, no seats were really available except for the back row. And since I am totally short (as a matter of fact, I am aware of this), I didn’t want to sit because I can’t usually see when I do that. Instead of sitting I just decided to stand in the back of the room kind of in the middle so I could see Barrett when their grade came out.

Our school doesn’t do all the grades in order. So they started with resource and then 6^th grade, which was great. Then it was the 4^th graders……and now the story begins.

One particular parent of a 4^th grader really wanted pictures of her kid (well lots of parents did this, but there was one special parent). Even though the kids are singing, and moving, and not really in their best picture perfect moment. And even though we were clear at the back of the room. Okay. Fine. Whatever. But she came and stood, oh yeah, right in front of my face. Literally. MY ONLY LINE OF SITE WAS HER BACK. Awesome. To top it off, she smelled like cigarette smoke, and it was just too much. So I tapped her and said, “Excuse me, can you please move over, you just stood right in front of my face.”

 And she said, “Oh, sorry. You could stand on a chair. That’s what I’d do if I were you.”

 Okey Dokey.

 I just kind of laughed. But then she said it again. For Real. FOR REAL. “There’s a chair right there – you can just stand on it.” And I just looked at her kind of, and said, “I’m not going to stand on the chair.” (NOTE: Said chair actually was a person’s chair that they were using, and had gold fish crackers all over it. Also, um….I’m not standing on chairs at my kid’s recital….weird). And then…..yeah…..she said “Okay, but that’s what I’d do if I were you.”

 I didn’t make a new friend.

 She did move. Slightly.

 Life was better. Slightly.

 For a minute.

 So then after the 4^th grade it was the 2^nd grade.

Well, said special parent didn’t leave (guess she had a 2^nd grader too). And so, to my great displeasure, yet ANOTHER parent came and nudged right into the other side of my space (where there really was no room, but okey doke), and she kind of leaned forward to record her kid. FUN-NESS.

So I’ve got 1^st parent to the right-front of me, and 2^nd parent to the left-front of me. And I am literally looking out of a triangle space that I have been totally boxed into.

It was not awesome. But I didn’t say anything because I could actually see the stage and I have a kid too…..and when you need a picture, you need a picture. So whatever.

After the 2^nd grade, the 3^rd grade came up. My line of site was ROSES again. Totally happy…..feeling the relief.

But then after the 3^rd grade – it was the 1^st grade.

My kid is in 1^st grade. So I really cared about this one.

I didn’t bring my camera because there is no way I would have been able to get even a semi-decent picture from where I was (I suck at photography….so anything I took would have been a disaster).

 But…..lots of parents didn’t agree with this logic. Which is fine! I support picture taking. Just not in front of my face.

 By this time, I had found Barrett on stage. We were waving. We were happy…….and THEN

 It happened again

 3 or 4 people came up and stood – oh yes- DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME.

 So I sort of lost it.

 After I could see they were permanently there to stay, I said, “REALLY?????” (just pretend like you’re listening to me say really, but in a really annoyed voice with a face to match).

 And then I said: “We all have kids.”

 A couple people kind of smirked.

 But the ones in my way did clear out. A few said sort of sorry. One guy said too many people were trying to get through and that’s why he had to stand right in front of me…..

 So, I’m the crazy parent who had the jingle jam melt down. Crazy jingle jam lady. Yeah, that’s me.

 But I did get to CLEARLY see the entire 1^st grade performance. Which I liked. Totally cute. Waved to Barrett the whole time.

 The end.

Christmas Tradition - Truth About Santa

Please don't let your kids read over your shoulder on this post!

I have been reading some great posts on Facebook about different Christmas traditions.  I will try a few new ones, but wanted to share something I talk about every year.  Many years ago I was at a Relief Society activity where my kids' preschool teacher was a guest speaker.  She shared some traditions and ideas.  One was the way in which they "break the news" about Santa to their children.  A letter.  From Santa.  On the tree, Christmas morning.  She talked a little about what the letter contained.  I was so intrigued, I called her up the next day and asked if she would mind sharing a copy of her letter.  She is so kind and agreed.  Every year since, it has come up in conversation.  I just called her and asked permission to post, and SHE AGREED!  So, Miss Debbie Hansen, on behalf of my friends and I, THANK YOU!  for helping us and blessing us with your talents so we can bless our children!  Here it is....

Dear _____________,

I understand you have been wondering about Santa Claus.  Whether or not I am real. Now that you are ten, I thought I'd write this letter to explain.

First of all, you must read this letter privately.  This is only between you and me.  I am taking you into my confidence and I expect you to keep the secret of Santa.

Many, many years ago, there was a very poor village with many children.  Christmas, way back then was celebrated only by exchanging gifts with each other.  Just some small token in remembrance of the gifts brought to the Christ Child by the shepherds and the wise men.  But this village was so poor that they had nothing to exchange.

In this village there lived a very kind gentlemen who loved the people in his village, especially the children.  As winter drew near, he worried about the children and decided to do what he could for them.  He gathered clothing and carved small toys and trinkets for each child in the village.

In those days, the children left their shoes outside the door to keep their houses cleaner.  On Christmas Eve, the kind, old, gentleman put on his warm mittens, big black boots and big red fur cape and quietly went through the village putting a few gifts and some goodies in each shoe.  When the families awoke the next morning, what a glorious surprise!  It was a miracle!  The miracle of Christmas!  The children were delighted and the parents were touched that someone would do such a wonderful thing for their children.  It brought such a feeling of happiness and love to the village.  You see, it takes someone totally unselfish to do such a service.  The old gentleman received nothing in return for his kindness.  No one even knew it was him.  But he felt such a warmth in his heart when he heard the squeals of delight and saw the smiles on the faces of those sweet children, he decided to do this every year.

Over the years, the parents in the village found out what was happening and wanted to thank their "Father Christmas".  He told them that he needed their help.  Word had spread and more and more children wished for "Kris Kringle", "Pere Noel", or whatever their language called "Santa Claus".

The kind gentleman asked the parents in the village to help him keep the Spirit of Christmas alive.  They began to give many of the gifts themselves because he couldn't serve all the children.  But only those who could give with love and unselfishness were allowed to help.  Those who told the secret or who couldn't believe in the Spirit of Christmas received no help.  If you stop believing in Santa Claus, you lose the spirit of loving and giving that the gift means.  So then, the gift is not important.

You see, it is not the gift that makes Christmas.  It doesn't matter who brings the gift.  It is the love with which the gift is given that is important.  THAT is the spirit and true meaning of Christmas.

Part of the magic of Christmas is the sparkle in the eyes of the children as they open their packages.  It is the wonder the feel, knowing that there is someone who loves them enough to make their wishes come true.  Is there someone around you today that loves you and wants you to be happy?  Do you have a "Santa Claus" in your life?  I think you can probably figure out who that is.  Once you do, then you become part of the magic.  You must help carry the secret.  And when you grow up and have children of your own, you will feel that same love for them and want their Christmas to be as wonderful as yours have been.

I know this letter is a little long, but it is important that you know that we don't talk about it.  If too many people start talking, the secret will be out and Christmas will be ruined.  So if people ask you if you believe in Santa Claus, you just smile and say, "of course I do".

I love you.  Be good.

Love, Santa Claus

Phew!  What a relief to have a solution to that old nagging feeling of "how am I going to "break the news"?!

This is the original letter with her child's name taken out.  My husband and I edited it a bit to go with our family beliefs and talked to each child about the correlation between the initials SC between Santa Claus and the Spirit of Christmas.  We took out the italicized part and signed it SC.

We put the letter in the middle of the Christmas tree with their name on it the Christmas they were/are ten.  When they find it, we just whisper to open it in their room later, when they are alone.  When we notice them escape, we wait and go in to have a follow up conversation and see if they have any questions and just hug them for a long time.

Good luck and Merry Christmas!

Follow-up....there has been a very interesting thread on my Facebook group about this topic. If interested, check it out http://www.facebook.com/groups/259558987411627/

Also, this link was posted on that thread and I really liked what she did.
http://www.cozi.com/live-simply/truth-about-santa

Dinner last night and music

Just wanted to make a recommendation of a new artist I found on itunes today.  It's Shwayze and Cisco.  Happy music.  I bought Island in the Sun and Butterflies.  I am in such a good mood!

On to food.  I was so happy with dinner last night, I wanted to share.  I was going to do grilled cheese cuz we didn't have much time.  Then I remembered I had fresh parmesan cheese and decided to do my kids' favorite.  We call it WHITE SPAGHETTI (although last night I used penne pasta)  Here's what went down....

-Water on to boil for whatever pasta you want....cook that when ready...I ususally get the stuff that cooks in 3 minutes...angel hair pasta or the small version of penne or bowties etc....

-Bowl of warm water and THRIVE chicken - about 2 cups.  Soak until the rest of food is done. Yup, that's it.  Chicken that tastes like you just cooked, and cut it up, but it just sits while you do the rest of dinner!

-Bowl of warm water and THRIVE broccoli - a sprinkle of how much the kids will put on their white spaghetti....sits while you do the rest of dinner

-my favorite alfredo sauce http://allrecipes.com/recipe/quick-and-easy-alfredo-sauce/detail.aspx

That's it!  Dinner in 20 minutes even with all the usual distractions (like kids, homework, washing all the pans cuz they are dirty...you know)!

Now here's another fun part.  I doubled the sauce so I can do another easy dinner this week.  Another favorite that I got from my friend LeighAnne Taylor.  You cook diced chicken in a skillet (if I have time, or I just use THRIVE if not) with Red Pepper Italian dressing....so it's getting all flavored up while its hanging out with the yummy dressing in the hot pan.  What a party. When the chicken and you are ready, dump in the alfredo sauce and heat.  Put over pasta and yumm-oh!  Easy and yummy!  I have done this for a huge crowd of extra teenage boys too.  So nice to have a secret weapon ready for a fast meal that is easy to double, or triple. hehehe.  I don't like alfredo sauce from a jar.  It has a funny taste to me.  Although, in this recipe its fine.  So if you don't have a stash of fresh sauce, the jars work well too!  Enjoy!!!

Well, if you need better measurements, try a pound of chicken, half the bottle of dressing, and a jar of alfredo sauce.  But, if you are like me, just pour in what looks good or however much sauce you have left. ha!

What a waste of time!

  

I had a friend once tell me how frustrated she is in the consumption of time it is to go to the grocery store. She sat and counted how many times you handle one can of veggies before it ends up in your cupboard.....1-You take it off the shelf and put it in your cart. 2 -You take it out of the cart and put it on the belt to be purchased. 3-The cashier takes it, scans it, and it gets put into a bag. 4- The bag goes in the cart. 5- You take it out of the cart and put it in your car. 6- You take it out of your car into your house and put it on the table or floor. 7- Then you finally take it out of the bag and put it on your shelf. HOLY COW!!! What a waste of time! Mulitply that by ALL you purchase at the store and we are wasting a ton of time! I love that my Shelf Reliance items come to my door and I only have one step... to open the box and put it on my shelf!

I set up a THRIVE Q  here .  It's like Netflix for food.  I have an overall plan of what my family uses and then a shipment comes to my home every month based on the dollar amount I decide.  We do $200 a month for my family of eight.  I get most of my meats, fruits, veggies, dairy, and snacks in the mail.  Boy has that cut down on my time shopping!  I do a Costco run every once in awhile and that's about it!  This program has redefined dinner at our house and I LOVE it!!!  Find out more here.  Next time you are grocery shopping and laughing at the number of times you handle a can, think of this post. :)

Roles

My first thought to getting back on track is to look at the roles and titles I carry and assess each role regularly to make sure I am meeting the goals I have in life.  Here is a list of my roles:

Mom
Wife
Young Women's Leader
Friend
Visiting Teacher
Daughter/Sister
School Community Council Member
Shelf Reliance Consultant

There are more, but this is what I am focusing on right now.

So, when assessing goals, I look at my role as Mom and think what I can do to fulfill that role.  Right now, I am really pondering ways to make sure my kids feel loved.  I am reading The Five Love Languages of Children right now and man, there's a lot to think about!  I never thought that despite the deep love I have for my kids, they may not feel it!  I have learned a TON!  So, I am assessing each of my children's love languages and trying to implement some new traditions to make sure they are feeling loved, cared for, and appreciated!

As for my role as wife, I am in complete support mode right now.  I look at what needs are present and what I can do to be a better wife and it's pretty easy right now to see needs!  hahahaha.  It's football season and Jeremy's work has been pretty crazy so I make sure I support him the best I can by anticipating needs, making sure he has food on location etc.

My role as Young Women's leader is pretty organized due to the nature of this role.  There is a ton of accountability here as well, which makes it easy to stay on top things.  Activities occur every week, so if I am not on top of it, many people suffer!  There is always more ways to stretch yourself in any role...so as I assess this one, I am looking at ways I can improve personally to be a better leader.  Right now, it's to refocus my scripture study.  I am going to catch up with one of my girls in the Book of Mormon and read with and support her as she encourages me as well.

So, you catch my drift?  Planning is so important!  It's good to have a routine day/time to sit down and think about these things.  I like one day a week to look at each role in depth and make some action items and schedule them accordingly. Then I like to refresh daily what it is I am trying to accomplish.  Not just dishes and laundry, but what difference I am going to make that day.  Very simple to do if I assess each role and what I can do.

Confessions....

Well, this hasn't gone too well!  One confession I can share today is my kids are very important to me.  Most things get put on hold for their needs.  I am laughing at how long it has been since my last post!  I really intended more computer time since it's summer!  It's funny how the lack of routine summer presents makes it hard for me to prioritize and make things happen.  We just kind of go and do.  I love the routine of school.  I am much more effective that way.  I need to plan better to get more done during the flexible summer time.  Have I?  Nope.  I am just thinking about this and coming to some realizations...so here goes!  I just read a quote from Maya Angelou once again..."I did then what I knew how to do, and when I knew better...I did better!"

Well, what a day yesterday. I clocked 176 miles on my car running kids around! We went to highland for track workout, west lehi for faith's soccer practice, to BYU to drop Eli off at football camp, back to east lehi to pick faith up from soccer coach's house, to Murray for our sweet friends birthday party, home to curl hair for dance recital, back to BYU to pick Eli up, home to finish hair and make up for dance recital, then to middle lehi for 12 Dancing Princesses, then HOME for good! Loooong day! 6:45 am to 9:00 pm.
Bonuses: house stayed clean hahaha, great development of stamina, great conversation in the car, creative meals, and soooo much love. I sat in the dance performance getting choked up watching my princesses on stage. Moments like that make it all worth it. I love watching my kids work hard and see the fruits of their labor pay off. That is true joy.

A new adventure! As if we didn't have enough to do, we are excited to have our kids working with an incredible track coach. He is teaching them correct form and techniques to help with their speed. This is going to be really interesting! Just went to a running store and got good shoes for them. Not sure how they will feel to put on soccer or football cleats after these babies....
So, how do you say no to opportunities like this? We have plenty on our plate, but this is a really lucky deal! I keep trying to cut back, but more things keep coming up! Yikes!!!

Here we are, my first post from my phone! I have missed a few days! The end of the school year is a crazy time around here! Lots of parties, my son's birthday, piano recital, final dance rehearsals, etc etc etc....bur here we are, into summer vacation.
Its Tasty Tuesday so my mind immediately went to food and then went straight to this thought....My friend posted the question on Facebook regarding what to feed the kids now that they are home everyday day. That thought made me a little sick to my stomach. I am one who is happy to write out a check for school lunch and call it good. I encourage the kids to get lots of fruit and veggies off the al carte cart, but not willing to plan ahead for home lunches!!!! So, the thought of cooking for 7 people 3 whole meals a day scares me.
There were a few ideas that I liked. One was a blog http://www.michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/ Cute ideas for the little ones. My boys can fix their own food but I hate the kitchen being "open" all day. They clean up after themselves, but they are tween boys, if you catch my drift, so anyhow, what solutions have you come up with at your house for summer eating? Routines, ideas, recipes.....please share!

Wacky Wednesday!

In our family, we established a tradition long ago of THE CUP.  Anytime someone says something unusually funny it will be heard, "MOM!  Put that in the cup!"  The cup has a pen and index cards and/or paper in it and is kept in a kitchen cupboard (actually, in the above photo of the cup there is also a random plastic baggie in it, but whatever....).  Anywho.....whenever a "gem" is released, it is recorded on one such paper and left in the cup for future laughter.  Here is one of our favorites.....

"Dad, is Kelly how you say Mom in Spanish?"

Every Wednesday I will be sharing more gems and perhaps sharing some of the wacky things that happen around here.  Anything unusual happen in your neck of the woods today?  Please share a comment.  :)

It's Tasty Tuesday!

I will talk about many of my favorite things/products on this blog and probably lots about Shelf Reliance.  My hubby is the COO and I am a consultant.  I am very passionate about their food line called THRIVE because it has changed the way I think about and deal with dinner and food in general.  Freeze dried food is another of my best friends around here.  Let me show you why.....  


Here is a yummy, yummy recipe my family loves. It's called Tuscan Soup - Click here for recipe and is a lot like the Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden.  I am salivating just thinking about it.  Wait, I didn't eat lunch today.  Man, I am really hungry!  This last week of school is nuts!  I did make butter with 4th graders today and played a ton of pioneer games rather than eating lunch, but I digress....I use this same recipe and substitute THRIVE foods from Shelf Reliance, which are mostly freeze dried.  They retain the same texture, flavor, and nutrients as they originally had before being freeze dried.  The best part is they are already cut up and ready to go by just adding water!  It's almost like magic.  It makes my giddy just thinking about how simple this is.  I take a few minutes and make a whole bunch of batches up and store them in baggies in my pantry so on a busy night, my kids or I can just boil water and have a hearty soup a few minutes later.  So....for this recipe I am going to give you a loose version.  I just kind of dump in what looks good.

So, here's the scoop....in a big ziploc baggie I dump in

6 tsp THRIVE chicken boullion (does it have to be THRIVE?  Heavens no!  It's just what I happen to have)

a sprinkle of THRIVE FD onions....maybe 1/4 cup ? depends how much you like onions

1/2 - 1 cup of THRIVE FD Sausage (Its already cooked!)

1/2 - 1 cup of THRIVE potato hunks or chunks, depends what's opened (the square ones or the shrivled ones...just not the pearls) (for my THRIVE friends, this will only make sense to you)

1/3 cup ish THRIVE FD spinach

plus salt and pepper if you want

Then, in a small baggie I put in 2 TBS THRIVE powdered milk (I put this little sealed one in right in the big one and seal that one too)

On the big baggie I write 6 cups water

Directions:

Boil the 6 cups water, dump all the big baggie stuff in and cook until soft...maybe 20 minutes (don't know...never timed it!)  Then add a little water to the powdered milk and dump in and then you have the best soup ever.  (We have just dumped the dry milk in, but it's pretty lumpy that way)

You could do this in a crock pot, but the potatoes might be mushy and I, again, wouldn't add the milk till the very end.

I have even dumped it all in together and boiled it.  Was about the same.  I am not a chef, but I know that milk products shouldn't be cooked a long time or at high heat.  Couldn't tell, really, but thought I should follow the milk rule.  Maybe I just got lucky the time it turned out.  Don't know!

Sorry it's so unspecific, but that's the way I roll!  Good luck!  Let me know when you try it and how it turns out!  If you are jealous about how nice it would be to not have to brown the sausage, sort through slimy spinach (at least that was all I used to keep in my fridge), peel and cut potatoes, cut onions, etc.....please let me know and I would love to do a consultation with you and have you try some of this magic stuff, or just jump right in and order from my website on the sidebar or click here! I also do home parties where we eat food and talk and have a great time with your friends and family and teach these ideas so more people can sit down to a healthy meal more conveniently and often, or build their food storage without much thought or stress!

Oh!  I should tell you about one of the BEST parts about Shelf Reliance.  Despite they fact they have changed the way I cook, it also has changed the way I shop!  Their website figured out everything my family would need for a 3 month supply of food.  I chose a budget of $100 a month and again, just like magic, $100 worth of product shows up on my doorstep once a month.  To set up the plan, I just put in the people in my family and how many calories each of us consumes a day (like I knew!  I just went with the default number).  That's the THRIVE Planner.  Then it works it all into my THRIVE Q, which is the monthly shipments.  I can change it anytime, pause it, stop it, increase it, decrease it, whatever I want or need to do for that month.  I actually don't think about it or mess with it and wah-lah, I have food on my porch.  My shopping trips to the grocery store are much faster and less frequent now as well.  If I run out of milk, no problemo!  I have it in my pantry.  Eggs, yep.  Sour cream, yep.  Cheese, yep.  Lots of others, YES!  I am telling you, this truly has changed me!  

Do you have a yummy, easy, healthy dinner that is a staple at your house? THRIVE or not, please share!  Looking forward to Wacky Wednesday!  See you tomorrow.

Here I Go!

I have sooooo many thoughts going through my mind.  I have wanted to do this for a really long time.  School is out this week so I have made a goal to get this going and stick with it.  Memorial Day seems a fine time to do this.  hahaha.  So, I am thinking, I need a place to unload thoughts and help others in the process.  I want to start getting this out into internet space.  I am fascinated with people and their lives and choices.  I love learning from others.  I have often thought, how does she do it?  How does she find time to do such and such.  I have paid attention and others wonder the same thing about me.  I had a producer from KUTV follow me around one afternoon filming my crazy life.  It was a really mellow day and she didn't really get a taste of our crazy life, but it really got me thinking.  I am good at a few things and would like to be better at more.  I would love to learn from others and in return, have others learn from me.  Jeremy and I have been working the last few years on a web community of just this sort, but time and money are the hang-ups.  It's not going to come to fruition soon enough, so here I go....I am going to do what I can right here in blogger world.

So....first confession of many......  I don't vacuum.  Hardly ever.  When I do, it's only the stairs.  How does this work?  Is my house disgusting?  NO!  I would love to introduce you to one of my very best friends and helpers.  His name is Roomba.

This little guy works hard for me every morning at 6:00 am.  He is programmed to go to work daily.  I wake up to fresh floors and it makes me smile.  It was worth every penny.  Do you have a cleaning trick, or cleaning appliance you cannot live without?  Please share a comment.  I would love to learn more tricks!