Cats Out of the Bag-Taco Soup & Applesauce Cornbread

I loved the idea of doing "What's for Dinner Wednesdays", but it is totally revealing my weakness in the kitchen!! I am the only one who has not posted, but it is probably because my usual recipes are as follows:

Tuna Helper-Alfredo & Broccoli (with a bag of frozen broc & cauli)
Rotisserie Chicken From Costco (Fully-cooked), Instant Mashed Potatoes, & Green Beans
Pizza (Either Papa Johns, Domino's, or Costco)
Hot Dogs, or Chili Dogs
Breakfast for Dinner
Chinese Food in Can with Instant Rice (I know it sounds TOTALLY GROSS, but we LOVE IT)
Corn Dogs & French Fries

Value Menu or "cheap stuff" from any of the following spots:
-Taco Bell
-Wendy's
-Sonic
-KFC
-A&W

So yes, the cats out of the bag on me!! Now don't get me wrong, I do cook...it just isn't as authentic as I would like it to be. Plus I always want to have a cute pic of the meal to post with it's recipe, but I never have one. All excuses aside, here is a recipe I love & fall back on often.

TACO SOUP

1 lb Chicken or Ground Beef
1 pkg Taco Seasoning
2 cans Corn Undrained
2 cans Diced Tomatoes Undrained
2 cans Kidney Beans
2 cans Pinto Beans
1 cup water

Toppings
Cheese
Sour Cream
Corn Chips

Cook Chicken or ground beef with one cup of water and taco seasoning. Once cooked shred the chicken & add all other ingredients. Cook for about 20 minutes & serve with cheese, sour cream, and corn chips.


I love making this & can do it in a slow cooker ahead of time if I need to. I also like to have cornbread with it & tried this recipe for the first time on Sunday. I didn't know if I liked it at first, but all 4 of the missionaries, Matt, & the girls LOVED it!!

Applesauce Cornbread

4 C flour
2 Tbsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/3 C cornmeal
3 eggs
1 1/2 C sugar
1/2 C butter or margarine
3/4 C applesauce
2 2/3 C water

Cream eggs, sugar, and butter until smooth and fluffy. Add applesauce. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add alternately to creamed mixture with the water. Pour into large flat pan (large cookie sheet) Bake at 350* for 25 minutes. It will not be as dark as normal cornbread when it's done.

Ok Ladies...ENJOY!!


PS-We are on our way out the door, so I'll update our fun soon!! You guys have fun & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

What's for Dinner Wednesday

Ok guys. I really need some recipes, so YOU gotta do some What's for Dinner posts too!!

This is a recipe my mom started making and I LOVE it. I tried it for the first time last night, and while its not the fastest recipe (it would be if you used canned chicken but I had to cook my chicken breasts), its SO easy and so delicious.

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

4 cooked chicken breasts, cubed
1 can cream chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
2 rolls ritz crackers
1 1/2 tbs poppy seeds
1 cube butter (melted)

Preheat over to 350.

Combine 1st 3 ingredients, and put in 9x11 baking dish.

Crunch up Ritz and add poppy seeds. Pour over top of mixture.

Pour melted butter over the top and cover baking dish with foil.

Bake for 35-45 minutes covered in foil. Then for about 5-10 without foil. Watch so the crackers don't burn.

For a little twist on the recipe:
You can add cooked rice to the chicken mixture. Prepare 2 cups uncooked rice. Increase soup and sour cream and even add a little milk so it's not too dry after cooking. It's yummy this way too (and a little more hearty).



Casseroles are great because you could prepare this whenever you had time during the day and then just pop it in the oven at dinner time!

Well - hope you have a fun New Year's Eve! Any fun plans? Josh and I are meeting Morgan and Josh up in SLC for the night. We're staying at the Little America, going to Bucca de Beppos and then on New Year's Day we'll go see a movie, go to Ikea, and meet Christian and Marci for dinner! It's going to be very fun and I'm very excited!! :)

See ya!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The Toaster

This story begins on Sunday morning. We woke up late (as usual) so we are trying to hurry and get ready. I was in the bathroom doing my make-up and Jared was in Ethan's bedroom getting him dressed. I came in to take over so that Jared could jump in the shower really quick. While I'm buttoning Ethan's shirt I start to smell something and I realized that is smells like burnt toast. So I grab Ethan and walk to the kitchen.

Now I need to interrupt my story to give you a little back ground about our toaster. Many, many, many months ago our toaster broke and wouldn't pop the bread up when it was done toasting. BUT it would pop the bread up if you unplugged the toaster. So instead of buying a new one we've just been using it like this.

Now back to my story. I walk into the kitchen thinking that Jared forgot he had bread in the toaster and that the bread would be over done. Well to my surprise the bread is not only over done it's on FIRE! I quickly unplug the toaster in hopes that the flames will go out but they don't so I think to myself do I pour water on it or do I put baking soda on it. I'm some what stunned that this is even happening and I run to the hallway and yell to Jared that the toaster is on fire. I put Ethan down and the go back to the kitchen. Now the flames are getting bigger and I'm really freaking out. So I grab a kitchen town, open the back door and then throw the toaster into the snow. Then I start opening all of the windows and doors because our whole house if full of smoke and I mean real smoke. It's so smokey that I can hardly see. Then I start turning on our ceiling fans and I look out side to see that the stupid toaster is still on fire! I grab a pot from the sink fill it up with water and walk outside in my garments and dump the water on the toaster. After a big hissing sound the flames are gone. But just to make sure I dump too more pan fulls of water on the toaster. At this point Jared is finally out of the shower and comes into the kitchen. I tell him what has just happened and he laughs...and then I start laughing. Jared said that he put the bread in the toaster and then went to change Ethan and totally forgot about it.

We then spent the next hour trying to get the smoke out of our house and I'm still trying to get rid of the burnt toast smell. It's horrible! One good thing came from this wonderful experience. We found out that our smoke detectors don't work. Not one of them went off! Check your smoke detectors my friends and make sure they work! And if your toaster is broken throw it out and buy a new one.

This is the toaster sitting in the snow

This is the burnt toast

This is the bottom of the toaster. The whole thing melted and burnt away. It was made of plastic and as I threw the toaster outside melted plastic got everywhere.

Here is where the toaster use to sit.

And this is what the cupboard above the toaster looks like. We were so lucky that our whole kitchen didn't start on fire.

Leslie's Spin around the Playlist

GAME RULES:

Put your music player on shuffle (ALL MUSIC).
For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!


1. IF SOMEONE SAYS "HOW ARE YOU?", YOU SAY: 7 Minutes in Heaven-Fall Out Boy

2. HOW WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY? When You Wish Upon a Star-Musical Reflections

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY? Hand in My Pocket-Alanis Morissette

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? Ready to Run-Dixie Chicks (I wish-maybe then I'd get into shape!)

5. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? Hello Goodbye-The Beatles (haha)

6. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU? Pump It-Black Eyed Peas

7. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN? Hound Dog-Elvis Presley

8. WHAT IS 2 + 2? Break on Through to the Other Side-The Doors

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND? Long Time Gone-Dixie Chicks

10.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LOVE? Hello, I Love You-The Doors

11.WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY? Something in the Way She Moves-James Taylor

12.WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? Father of Mine-Everclear (I guess I want to be like my Dad??)

13.WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LOVE? All you Need is Love-The Beatles (Awe-sweet)

14.WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU? Yellow Submarine-The Beatles

15.WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL? To Where you Are-Josh Grobin

16.WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET? Cowboy Take Me Away-Dixie Chicks

17.WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS? Dance, Dance-Fall Out Boy

18.WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN? Thriller-Michael Jackson

19.WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON? The Way You Look Tonight-Bing Crosby

20.WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET? People Are Strange-The Doors

21.WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH? The Streets of Laredo-Johnny Cash (haha, that answer made me laugh)

22.WHAT MAKES YOU CRY? She Will be Loved-Maroon 5

23.IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE? You Can Do It-Ice Cube

24.WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW? Heal the World-Michael Jackson (hmm-how fitting)

25.LAST WORDS . . . Jailhouse Rock-Elvis Presley

What your music says about you . . .

Hey girlies. This is fun.  The answers were cracking me up!! Do it!!

GAME RULES:

1. Put your music player on shuffle (ALL MUSIC).
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!


IF SOMEONE SAYS "HOW ARE YOU?", YOU SAY: Patient Lies    (Kalai)

HOW WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?  Stick Shifts & Safety Belts  (Cake)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY?  Bad (U2)

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? Ball & Biscuit   (The White Stripes)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?  Fumbling Towards Esctasy   (Sarah McLachlan) 

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?  See The Light  (EFY 2004)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?  Kill  (Jimmy Eat World)  

(YIKES!!)

WHAT IS 2 + 2?  Wish (Alient Ant Farm)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?  What Have You Done For Me Lately   (Janet Jackson)
(hahahah!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LOVE?  We Look Like Giants   (Death Cab for Cutie)
(ha!)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?  Everlasting Love   (U2)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?  Passat Commerical Song (I'm not kidding!  I have this on my iTunes! Why?!)  Apparently I want to be a passat?  Or own a VW dealership.

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LOVE?  Long Time Gone   (Dixie Chicks)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?   Donut Lady   (Brian Regan)
(sad!)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?  Too Late - No Doubt
(yikes)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?  Up Around the Bend   (Creedence Clearwater Revival - Remember the Titans Soundtrack)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?  Canon In D   (Pachabell)

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?  Bleed American    (Jimmy Eat World)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON?  F-Stop Blues  (Jack Johnson)

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?  What If I Loved You   (Return to Me Soundtrack)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?   In The Navy (The Village People)

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY? Put Your Dreams Away (Frank Sinatra)

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?  Kiss Kiss   (Stella Soliell)

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?  Red Sweater   (Aquabats)

LAST WORDS . . .  This Everday Love  (Rascal Flatts)

Now you try!

Monkey See Monkey Do

I was sitting on the couch today after Church feeding Grayden & Brinley came and sat down on a little step stool in front of me. She had one of her baby dolls wrapped in a blanket (washcloth) and was just watching me. I don't use a blanket when I'm nursing Gray at home because then the girls want to pull it off or know what I'm doing with Grayden under it. So, I guess you could say I am pretty open with the girls about breast feeding. ANYWAY...after Brinley had been staring at me for a few minutes she shook the blanket off her baby, pulled her own dress up so her belly was sticking out, and pushed her baby's face into her own belly. When she noticed that I was now watching her she smiled bashfully. Trinity walked into the room at that point & the conversation between the three of us went something like this:

Me: What are you doing Brin?
Brin: Feedin my baby.
Trin: I feed my baby like that sometimes too! (with a proud smile)

(At this point I listen as the conversation continues between the girls)
Brin: I don't have 2 bobbies
Trin: Yes you do!
Brin: No! I don't have 2 bobbies
Trin: Oh, I do

I was trying so hard not to crack up laughing!! I don't know why but Brinley has always referred to Boobs as "Bobbies" & aparently Trinity now calls them that too. Ah, what cuties!

Its cool to be a Mormon

My friend had this posted on her blog and I thought it was kind of funny :)

Back on Track with Flashback Friday

Look how fun! This is from the Shower that Mandy and I threw for you @ the Pinnacle building. I felt bad that there wasn't a bigger turn out, but I also remember having a lot of fun with our intimate little group!

I still have the papers from all the games we played at the shower somewhere in all my scrap booking stuff-Ha! I was going to give them to you I think-who knows maybe someday I will!

Whose Got a Birthay?

Who has a birthday shout Hooray

We want to sing to you TODAY

One year older and wiser too!

Happy Birthday TO-YOU!!

HaPpy BIrThdAY BriTTnEy!!!

Flash back for Les

Here's one for you Les!

(I'm going through all of my wedding pics to try and find the inspiration to make my wedding book...it's not working so well. Mostly I feel overwhelmed at the amount of pictures I have)

Flash Back Friday

Look what I just found. I didn't even know I had these in my wedding photos!

A little something to make you smile :)

Cup of Tea

One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me. I was maybe 2-1/2 years old and had just recovered from an accident. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a get-well gift and it was one of my favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home. My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!' My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I come down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up. Then she says, (as only a mother would know.. :)'Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is the toilet?'

What's for dinner Wednesday

Hello my friends today I'm going to share 2 yummy recipes. The first one is super easy and I use it all of the time.
Awesome Slow Cooker Pot Roast

INGREDIENTS
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
1 1/4 cups water or beef broth
5 1/2 pounds pot roast

DIRECTIONS
In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.
Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours.

This is so yummy and the roast is so tender by the time it is done. I usually serve it with mashed potatoes and some veggies.

The second one is delicious! We just made these as part of our Withers' Christmas candy tradition.

Easy OREO Truffles

What You Need
1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

Make It
MIX 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.
DIP balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.
REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Up to no good

Hello ladies-yes I also have been missing you guys! My efforts to post every day for 30 days has been a little overwhelming & I think this blog has suffered because of it! (Not that I am a fantastic post-er, but I didn't have the urge to post here when I'd already posted to my other blog!) Any way...I'm back.

I don't have any exciting stories or fun things to tell, but here are a few of the things I have been keeping crazy with:

Mommy Preschool for Trinity
Book Babies for Brinley & Grayden
Play Group Coordinator
Teaching R.S. on Sunday-SO SCARY!-Glad it was a one time deal-
Aerobics 3x's a week at 8am (I've made it once so far!)
Early Christmas gift from my Mom & Dad-Yoga-LOVE IT!
Cleaning, CleaNinG, CLEANING...
Dave & Buster's for Matt's B-Day
Pampered Chef Party on a Snowy Night
Parade of Lights
Midnight Puke Party with Brinley
Book Club Hostess Plans for December

I don't know why I am involved in so much stuff lately, but I feel a little frazzled!! Oh, and Grayden thinks he needs to learn to crawl at 5 months instead of 8 like the girls!! I DO NOT need a crawling baby yet!! So far he just does the army crawl, but that is plenty of movement for him to get into EVERYTHING & put all of it in his mouth!! SHeesh!

When will it end?

Have you missed me? I've missed you guys. We been battling sickness for the past 10 days. It all started the Monday before Thanksgiving when Jared and I were getting ready for bed and heard a terrible noise coming from Ethan's room. We both ran in there to find Ethan covered in vomit. Jared grabbed Ethan and cleaned him up while I cleaned up his bed. He continued to be sick for the next few days and just when I thought things were getting back to normal I got sick. Wednesday night I was throwing up and by Thursday (Thanksgiving day) I was feeling well enough to eat crackers and water so we packed up the car and went to St. George (we were supposed to leave Tuesday night). We made it just in time for dinner and I ate very little be was able to hold everything down. Ethan seemed to be doing just fine but the next day while Jared and I were eating breakfast Ethan looked at me and threw up AGAIN! So Jared took Ethan to the bathroom to clean him off while Jared's mom and I cleaned up the throw up. I HATE THROW UP! More then I hate poop!

So then Ethan seemed to be getting better but on Sunday Jared and I were rushing to get ready for church when we realised that his parents were sick in bed. They had been up all night sick and not only were they sick but Ethan had terrible diarrhea. I went from stinky throw up to gross poop! So by Monday night we knew we had to go home. Jared parents were feeling better and Ethan seem to be doing good. Just as we were getting ready to leave we realized that Ethan had a fever and was not doing so well. We gave him some Tylenol and hoped he'd sleep the whole way home. About 30 miles outside of Nephi Ethan woke up screaming and I could smell something very stinky...he pooped! So Jared had to pull over and I had to change his diaper on the front seat of the car. It was lovely! Poop had leaked out so not only did I have to change is diaper but his clothes too. Ahhh! When will this end!

Well we made it home and Ethan slept through the night but come Tuesday he was barfing again along with his fever and then there was more barfing on Wednesday and he still had his fever and for a bonus he got a runny nose. I took him to the doctor today and she told me that he could have a number of things but that they were all viruses so I just have to wait it out. Good news was that he didn't have an ear infection. He's sleeping now and I'm praying that he's getting better. I don't know how much for of the crying and whining I can take. I just wish my little boy was feeling better.

Oh and to top things off my house is covered in dog hair! While we were gone Jared let Chad and his dog stay in our house and because Ethan has been so sick I have not had a chance to clean my house. GROSS!

What's for Dinner Wednesday

OK - we talked about sharing recipes on Wednesdays and I'm officially starting it!! :) Here is a recipe I like to make. It's yummy and easy.

Easy Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion - chopped
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup (undiluted)
1 cup of sour cream
Hot Cooked Noodles

Cook ground beef and onion in a large skillet until meat is browned, stirring to crumble meat. Drain.
Stir in flour and next 3 ingredients; cook and stir 1 minute.
Stir in soup, simmer 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
Add sour cream and heat thoroughly.
Serve over noodles.
(Yield: 4 Servings)

I actually dump the sour cream and soup in at once and just make sure its all hot and it works fine. But thats just me trying to get done as fast as possible! haha This makes like a thicker, not soupy, stroganoff. I like to serve this with green beans as a side veggie.  Mmm!  I think I might make this tonight if I can get myself to the grocery store today.  Enjoy!! :)

I Love Braids

Ok - so braids are my new favorite thing. I LOVE braids.  They are a little boho, a little hippie, and totally my new favorite thing.  I braid my hair ALL the time lately.  Shan can attest - I am pretty sure I had some boho braids when we had lunch the other day.



How's that for a random post?

Vidoni how-down

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Yummy Chicken Azteca!!!

Hey Shan - I have to say thanks SO MUCH for your yummy Chicken Azteca recipe. I was telling my mom about it and she wanted to make it for our Sunday dinner cuz she's always running out of ideas of what to make. So before I even got a chance to try it myself, my mom made it on Sunday. And oh my gosh!!!! It was SO YUMMY!! EVERYONE was saying how good it was and we ate SO MUCH of it!!!

So thanks Shan!!

And I'm totally all for doing "What's for Dinner Wednesdays". I ALWAYS need new recipes!!!!

Snif, Snif...

Friday already?!

Do you remember our super fun-filled and extremely exciting "senior sluff" day? I do, it was LAME! Aspen Grove? Truly sad...I had fun though, thank goodness for good friends.

Hot Dog it's Friday!

Britt this post is for you! Do you remember this?

{flashback!}

It's a little bit of a different flashback.  Its just me in the pic, but I think you girls will flashback too!



Ignore the wrong date on my mom's camera! This is NOT 1987!! haha But look at that sweet sign my mom made me!! Isn't that so cute?! I think she traced my rifle to make the border.

And do you remember those scrub pants?!?!! Didn't we get them at the Army Surplus place? And remember those little matchstick rifles we learned on! I'm so glad we beefed it up and moved to the big guns.

Anyway - just thought you might get a kick out of this picture I found!! Have an awesome Friday girls. I love you!

What's for dinner?

Do you find yourself asking this question as much as I do. I'm always asking (or being asked) what's for dinner? So I thought it would be fun for us to share some yummy recipes. This recipe is super easy and super yummy. And it's made in the crockpot!

Chicken Azteca

1 15oz can black beans, drained
2 cups frozen corn kernels
1 garlic clove minced
½ tsp ground cumin
1 cup chucky salsa, divided
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
Cooked rice
Shredded cheddar cheese


1. Combine beans, corn, garlic, cumin and half of salsa in slow cooker
2. Arrange chicken breast on top and then pour remaining salsa on top of chicken
3. Cover, cook on high 2-3 hours or on low for 4-6 hours
4. Remove chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces then return to cooker
5. Stir in cream cheese
6. Cook on high until cream cheese melts
7. Spoon chicken and sauce over cooked rice
8. Top with shredded cheese

Yield: 4-6 servings

Bad Day

So today has been nothing but BAD! It all started last night when Ethan woke up at 1am crying and never really went back to sleep. We got up late which means we were rushing out the door to church. We had to sit in the very back on the hard, noisy, metal chairs. Ethan missed his morning nap and was all over the place at church. He didn't want to be held & he didn't want to play with any of the toys I brought. He just wanted to walk around do his own thing. Jared finally gave in and took him out into the hall so he could walk around. After sacrament we have sharing time and that is a big joke! The kids always want to play with him instead of listening. Ethan of course wants to walk all around the room and get into everyone bags and what ever else he can find. So either Jared or I have to entertain him while the other one is trying to get seven 5 year olds to stop talking and touching their neighbor and listen to the speaker. Then it was on to class. I taught about forgiveness but the kids weren't really interested in the lesson. Instead they kept talking to their neighbors and the girls kept trying to hold Ethan. One little girl named Hannah asked to go to the bathroom and right after she said that 2 more said they had to go and one wanted to get a drink. I told everyone no potty brakes or drink brakes until after the lesson. Unfortunately Hannah really had to go to the bathroom and as she got up to help me with the lesson she had an accident. I felt sooo bad. I rushed her downstairs to find her mother and mortified I had to tell her mother that she had an accident and that it was all my fault. I was to frustrated to let her and all of the other kids go that the bathroom. On top of that there was this RUDE lady sitting in the hall with her daughter (who is in my class but refused to come to class) giving me the evil eye. Then when I get back to class the kids are coloring their activity and Jared has lost all patience with them so he was being kind of short with them and me. Then he has the nerve to tell me that when Hannah asks to use the bathroom she needs to go then. I was so mad! Why didn't you say that in the first place! I then used one of Ethan's diapers to clean up Hannah's pee, finished helping the kids make their handouts and then we left. Ethan is finally down for a nap and I feel like taking one too. Sometimes it's so hard to be a mom and a primary teacher.

Confession of a Disgusting Discovery

I am not sure how to begin this post other than to say our oven has been stinking lately. Not all the time, just when I needed it to be at 350 or higher. (so pretty much anytime I use the oven!) We have only lived here for a few months and I didn't remember it having a problem from the get go, so I was really confused. It smelled sort of like it does when you auto clean an oven & I figured there must have been some "drippings" of a past dinner frying to a frenzy every time I fired up the ol'girl. I sort of forgot about it as I avoided making meals that required cooking. (Yes, you assume correctly when you think to yourself how lazy that is of me to avoid cleaning it rather than just dealing with it!) And lets be truly honest now-I don't ever do a total oven overhaul unless we are moving out. Cleaning ovens is NO FUN so who wants to do that on a regular basis? NOT ME!

Anyway, I was cleaning the kitchen tonight and noticed that the little round drip trays on the stove top were looking pretty nasty! I decided to pull them out and give them a good scrub & for some reason doing that sent me into oven cleaning overdrive! I figured that cleaning them off would resolve the before mentioned nasty aroma & thought I would quickly wipe out the few small pieces of debris inside that I had noticed the last time I used the oven.

When I crouched down to reach under the racks I was almost startled when I looked into the back of the oven and saw this....EeeeWwwwwwwwGROSS!! The first thought that came to my mind was, "RAT!" Then I came to my senses and realized what it really was, "Sick-a charred to death corn dog!" I had to break it open and see the inside (cause I am gross) & it snapped into two pieces like a piece of chalk!I don't' think that puppy could have gotten much more black! Matt and I were surprised it hadn't caught on fire! It has been in there for a LONG time & what is even more funny is the fact that the last time I made corn dogs one was missing. I pulled the tray out of the oven and sat it down to cool. When I came back to bring them to the table there were only 5, but I knew I had put 6 in. I thought maybe Matt had eaten one while they were cooling off, so I asked him and he denied taking one. I figured he was joking and had eaten it. I didn't even think to look inside the oven!

If you are wondering how I never saw it before go look in your oven at the angle you stand when putting something in or taking it out. It looks something like this:

Well, from now on I am crouching down and looking all the way to the back after I have taken the food out! (I am guessing maybe you will too!) Anyone in the mood for a corn dog?

I don't care!

I don't care how big of a nerd this makes me, I LOVE cheesy teeny-bopper movies. The ones that weren't even that cool to love even when I WAS a teeny-bopper.  I'm not claiming a love for any and all of this genre of flick, but the certain ones I loved in high school - well - I still love them.

In my kitchen I have a little TV/VCR combo (same one I've had since high school in fact).  There's no cable in the kitchen, so I keep a few of my favorite old tapes in a cupboard and I play them while I'm either cooking or cleaning or whatever. So, essentially I watch these old faves in chunks spaced throughout several days.

I just finished watching "She's All That" for the first time in several years.

And while I can totally see how cheesy and lame it is (I'm not blinded by my love), I do still LOVE IT. Remember how much I used to love FPJ?

I think I might always love any movie he's ever in because of my high school crush on him. Not matter how much of an over-actor he is.

Color Guard Flashback Friday

Hey guys!  I'm getting a late start to the Flashback Friday!  Sorry.  It's been a crazy day.  I found a couple photos of us bawlin' like babies after our last performance of our Vivaldi show.


Weren't those costumes hideous?  Oh brother.  The show rocked.

Ok - well - I'll talk to you chickies later!  Have a great weekend.  Love you both.

We've all been there-Haven't we?

Tough Love VS. Spanking - Good Argument

I’ve tried this and found it to be very effective..... Age makes no difference either. 8 or 24. years old. They really listen after this!
Most of the American populace thinks it improper to spank children,so I have tried other methods to control my kids when they have one of 'those moments.' One that I found effective is for me to just take the child for a car ride and talk.

Some say it's the vibration from the car, others say it's the time away from any distractions such as TV, Video Games, Computer, IPod, etc.

Either way, my kids usually calm down and stop misbehaving after our car ride together. Eye to eye contact helps a lot too.

I've included a photo below of one of my sessions with my son, in case you would like to use the technique.

This works with grandchildren, nieces, and nephews as well.

Our busy weekend!

Well I was going to post this picture for flashback Friday but I never had a chance to. We were so busy with Jared's family being in town and it being Halloween and Ethan's b-day party.

I also wanted to give you a sneak peak at my cute little golfer and birthday boy. Eventually I'm going to post our Halloween pics and b-day pics on my blog but I thought I'd share them with you first.

feeling a tiny bit better

I don't want to jinx anything, but last night I slept through the entire night without having to get up and blow my nose or anything!  Good old NyQuil!  haha  But yeah - slowly - VERY slowly - I think I'm finally getting better.  I hope I hope I hope.  It's been three weeks now since I've been sick and I'm REALLY tired of it

Scotty is about to hit his one year mark on his mission, can you believe it?  He's doing SO WELL too.  He's finally having some success and baptisms (he's only had 1 before now, in a whole year!!).

And guess what else - this is really going to freak you out.  Cameron is 16 now, and he's got a GIRLFRIEND!!!  It's a band romance!  She's a flute and he's a trumpet.  They really like each other and she seems really sweet and nice.  I met her at our Halloween party this week.  My mom says they kiss and say I love you and everything!  Can you believe it?  My BABY BROTHER!!?!?!  Crazy.  This is him and Megan dressed up as skaters at the Halloween party.

They were trying to look tough, so its not a great picture of them really, but yeah. There they are.  His hair isn't really green.  That was for the costume.

Crazy huh?

Alright - talk to you girls later!!

xoxo,
Britt

Crayons in the Microwave

Matt and I were sitting on the couch the other night watching a DVR'd episode of Road Rules/Real World The Island challenge & the girls had been playing nicely for about the first half of the show. The episode we were watching happened to be the final one & we were both so excited to see who was going to win! I had the thought that we should probably check on the girls since they were playing a little too quietly. I was nursing Grayden so I asked Matt if he would go check on them & he gave me that look of, "sure-volunteer me to get out of my comfy spot on the couch!" He went anyway & I am SO GLAD that I asked him to because he found our sweet innocent little girls with a big pile of CRAYONS in the microwave-door shut-timer set-ready to push START! Can you imagine what a horrendous mess that would have been to try and clean up!!! OH MY WORD!!! I am so glad I was inspired! hahaha!! We dodged a bullet that time. It's too bad that most often quiet means trouble.

Britt's Tag

1. What did you eat for dinner last night? Taco Soup I made.  mmmm . . . 
2. What did you do last night? Cuddled up on the couch, handed out candy to trick or treaters, and then watched "Disturbia" with Josh.  Super scary!!!
3. What should you be doing instead of blogging? Probably lying in bed resting.
4. What is your favorite in the line to check-out treat? Gummy bears and magazines!
5. What is the last book you read? Umm . . . I think Three Weeks with My brother by Nicholas Sparks.  EXCELLENT BOOK!
6. What book do you want to read? Breaking Dawn.  I still haven't read it, even though I bought it the day it came out.  I don't know why.
7. When was the last time you shaved your legs? Thursday!  You girls are gross!!!  What do you do on Sundays?  I have to at least shave for church!!
8. If you could choose any movie to watch right this second what would it be?  Pride & Prejudice.  The BBC mini-series one.  
9. Which is your favorite Temple?  Salt Lake
10. What are you doing for Halloween?  Well - I told you already what we did.  Nothing too exciting but that's cuz I'm sick.  Thursday night we had a big Leavitt/Rodee Halloween Party at our house.  It was very fun.
11. What animal do think you most resemble? and why?  I have no idea!!  But I took Shan's quiz and it says I'm a caterpillar too!! haha
12. What color is your toothbrush & is it hard, soft or medium? Pink of course, medium
13. Have you ever met anyone famous? Yeah lots of people through costume design.  My favorite famous person - probably Steve Carrell. 
14. What kind of chap stick do you like? Burt's Bees
15. What time do you usually wake up on Saturdays? My sleep-in day.  Usually 10 am!
16. Do you know any good "Book Club" books? Yeah - I we read "The Secret Life of Bees" for book club last year and I LOVED it.  The movie is good too.
18. What is your favorite Disney movie? Do you have it? Little Mermaid.  Yes, I own it.
19. Do you wear slippers, socks, or go barefoot around the house?  Sometimes slippers, a lot of time bare feet.  NEVER socks.

20. Are you dressing up for Halloween & as what? Heck yes I did!  Josh and I were pirates and we ROCKED it, sick or not.  I can't pass up a chance to dress up.

Thanks for the fun tag!  Love you girls.

Shan's tag

1. What did you eat for dinner last night? Chili that I made
2. What did you do last night? Went to our wards trunk-or-treat & Chili cook off
3. What should you be doing instead of blogging? Cleaning my bedroom
4. What is your favorite in the line to check-out treat? Milky Way
5. What is the last book you read? My first words book Ha!
6. What book do you want to read? Twilight- I started reading it when I was prego with Ethan but never finished it.
7. When was the last time you shaved your legs? (Be Honest!) 2 or 3 weeks ago. I’m horrible about shaving.
8. If you could choose any movie to watch right this second what would it be? I was going to say You’ve got mail but once I read Leslie’s answer it totally made me want to pull my copy out and watch it. Les do you own Summer Stock?
9. Which is your favorite Temple? Well I’ve only been in 3, Provo, Timp & St. George (how sad is that, we have so many in UT and I’ve only been to three…I need to work on that). But I love Timp! It’s my hometown temple. It’s the temple I was married in and sealed to my parents.
10. What are you doing for Halloween? Going Trick or Treating with the Jared’s family & making our rounds to see my family.
11. What animal do think you most resemble? and why? Well I’d have to say a pig cuz I eat so much and I’m a fatty. But I took a little quiz on line and it says… You are a Catterpillar! Many people are often envious and jealous of a caterpillar. Caterpillars may not be quick, but they are quite wise and often think about things before they do them!
12. What color is your toothbrush & is it hard, soft or medium? Blue, Medium
13. Have you ever met anyone famous? Who? Nope
14. What kind of chap stick do you like? Chapstick Medicated
15. What time do you usually wake up on Saturdays? 9am unless Ethan’s crying for me to get him out of bed.
16. Do you know any good "Book Club" books? Nope I’m not much of a reader…I wish I was.
17. If you had to move out of State where would you want to live? Not sure…somewhere where the church is still strong.
18. What is your favorite Disney movie? Do you have it? Sleeping Beauty, Jared just bought it for me :) and Aladdin…but I don’t have this one.
19. Do you wear slippers, socks, or go barefoot around the house? Actually I wear my flip flops. 20. Are you dressing up for Halloween & as what? An October Witch…I’ll be post pics soon!

Scared to DEATH!

Ok so I'm obviously not dead but Jared scared me so bad this morning I was crying. Let me start from the beginning. I had to go visiting teaching this morning so I got up before Jared and Ethan and jumped into the shower. Once I was out of the shower I realized that I couldn't hear any noises so I assumed that Jared and Ethan were still asleep. I continued on with my daily routine of putting lotion on my legs. I had one leg on the toilet with my back to the door and started rubbing my lotion in. As I was doing this I was thinking about the episode of Criminal Minds that I had watched the night before. It was about this serial killer that went from home to home killing people in their homes while they were sleep. All of a sudden the bathroom door opens and lightly touches my bum as it goes by. Then I hear this very low voice say "roar" I turn around and start screaming at the top of my lungs. It was like this slow motion thing. Once I turned around I couldn't stop scream but I realized that it was just Jared coming in with Ethan in his arms. Poor Ethan just started crying and so did I. I was terrified and I don't know why. My only guess is that I watch too many scary shows on TV. I love to watch CSI, Criminal Minds, Law & Order and all of those other shows that are murder mystery.

Well to top off my morning Jared did even apologize for scaring me. He was just annoyed with me! All he had to say was that I was being a baby.

What'cha doin Tag

Hello ladies! I feel like our little friendly blog has suffered the past week & I know it is just because we are all busy, but I thought I would do a fun little tag to get it rolling again. So, I will answer some questions & then I want both of you to answer them too! (My very first made up tag!)

1. What did you eat for dinner last night? Domino's Pizza

2. What did you do last night? Carved pumpkins

3. What should you be doing instead of blogging? Washing Dishes

4. What is your favorite in the line to check-out treat? Huge Rice Crispie Bar

5. What is the last book you read? The Goose Girl

6. What book do you want to read? Digital SLR Cameras & Photography for Dummies

7. When was the last time you shaved your legs? (Be Honest!) um...a couple of weeks ago?-gross!

8. If you could choose any movie to watch right this second what would it be? Summer Stock

9. Which is your favorite Temple? Seattle

10. What are you doing for Halloween? Going Trick or Treating with the kids and then hitting a family H-Party!

11. What animal do think you most resemble? and why?An Ostrich, because I am big and solid in the middle, and I have real skinny legs that WILL NOT gain weight proportionately to my body. Oh, and I can be spooked really easily. Plus I have real short hair!

12. What color is your toothbrush & is it hard, soft or medium?Orange Medium

13. Have you ever met anyone famous? Who? Marie Osmond

14. What kind of chap stick do you like? Soft Lips Vanilla

15. What time do you usually wake up on Saturdays? 8-9am

16. Do you know any good "Book Club" books? Um...The Goose Girl was really good

17. If you had to move out of State where would you want to live?Colorado

18. What is your favorite Disney movie? Do you have it? I have too many favs, but I love Toy Story 1, and 2. I also love Cars, but I don't have any of them.

19. Do you wear slippers, socks, or go barefoot around the house? Socks

20. Are you dressing up for Halloween & as what? Oh Yea!! The Wicked Witch of the West! (Check out our blog for a pic of the whole fam in costume!)

OK Girls!!your turn... :)

A Happy Birthday Flashback!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAN! I have been planning on using this page I scrapped forever ago & was so mad when I tried to scan it today because our printer/scanner is apparently on the fritz. So, I had to take a picture of the page & use it instead. I hope you are having a super fabulous day & isn't it funny to think that in our high school life we would be on band tour today?!!The caption says: Shantell's birthday always landed right in the middle of band tour. This year we were in Las Vegas and decided to surprise her the very first minute of her eighteenth birthday! What a fun day! L to R: Leslie, Danica, Shantell, Katie, & Brittney

Flash Back Friday!

I found my old scrapbook from like 8 years ago and I laughed so hard at this page! Britt we really had some good times together. I miss those days.

Here's what my journaling says: Here Brittney and I are posing as we prepare to throw water balloons at our next door neighbor's front door. A few nights before Brittney and I were really bored so we decided to throw bubble gum at them. We didn't think they even noticed but to our surprise they did. The next night one of our innocent roommates was bombarded with water balloons. So, Brittney & I decided it was pay back time.

(click on the image to get a close up at just how nerdy we are)

Party Time!

Ethan's 1st birthday is in one week! I'm getting more and more excited about his little birthday party. Jared makes me laugh because on more then one occasion he's asked if I'm going to make Ethan's invitations. So I sat down to make his invite but realized that I didn't have enough paper and then decided that I should just do it digitally. So here's what I made. I thought it turned out pretty darn cute. And I used all of your beautiful creations Britt!

And I'm also going to try and re-create this super cute t-shirt.

We are just doing a family party but because our house is so small we have to party at Pinnacle ha! I'm hoping it turns out well. I'm also going to make Ethan his own little birthday cake. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures and I'm going to have Jenalee video tape everything.

Back to Back Flashbacks!

I found these fun pictures of when we had lunch together one day at our famous lunch spot.When I see pics like this I realize I need to work on expanding my wardrobe colors! I also can't get over how fast time goes by, look at how tiny Trinity was!!! Wow-My 3rd one is about that size now!!

On I side note-I can't believe none of us have posted since last Friday!! ouch...maybe you are both as busy as I have been? Anyway....Happy Weekend!!