Not Such a Failure Afterall...

OK...if anyone knows my little Allie, they know she is a little firecracker sometimes...OK, a lot of the time. I sometimes feel like I am failing as a mom because I can't get her to go to Sunbeams or share her toys or help clean her room or be fully potty trained. Don't get me wrong she has some great attributes...she loves to help cook dinner, she eats really well, and she loves to watch TV...lol. Well, she did two things this last week that made me think maybe I am not such a failure after all.

I AM NOT SUCH A FAILURE AFTER ALL EPISODE 1:
Allie usually doesn't take a nap unless she went to bed late one night or got up extra early one morning. One day, when we both desperately needed her to take a nap I put her in her bed, read her a story, sang her a song, shut off her light and mostly closed her door. She seemed to roll over and go right to sleep. After about 20 min. I went up to check on her and peaked my head in the door to see her sitting at her little table with her head down on it. I thought maybe she fell asleep at the table but then I heard, "AMEN!" And she began to pretend eat the pretend food in front of her. Maybe I AM doing something right.

I AM NOT SUCH A FAILURE AFTER ALL EPISODE 2:
This morning I was catching up on some filing and Allie kept bringing me random things like an empty cup, some pieces of trash, some dirty clothes. By the time she got to the clothes I started wondering what she was doing. I thought to myself, "Is she cleaning her room...?" "No...she couldn't be!" So I asked her and she said "Yep!" OH, the joys of motherhood!

Historical Holiday Week

They say that this week was historical because St. Patricks Day and Easter will never be this close together again (at least not in our lifetime). On St. Patricks Day we had green eggs, ham and green toast for breakfast, decorated green sugar cookies, and had Shepherds Pie for dinner. We talked about where Ireland was on the globe and the kids asked if they could visit because they wanted to see real leprechauns. The Easter Bunny visited the kids on Saturday at their grandparents house. They got their baskets and had an Easter egg hunt. This is the perfect age for kids and holidays. We always have so much fun watching our kids reactions to all their surprises.







Maddy, Allie and Emma hiding in Grandma's bed


This is what a mentos does in a bottle of Diet Coke...(Chris saw it on Myth Busters and wanted to try it...the kids (and adults) thought it was pretty kool!)
Click on picture to get full effect.

**If you try this at home, demilledigest and any affiliate thereof makes no representations or warranties of any kind, either express or implied as to the operation of this experiment. DeMilledigest disclaims, to the full extent permissible by law that DD will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from said experiment including but not limited to direct (sticky hands, possible loss of vision, messy clothes), indirect (ants or other pests attracted to soda),incidental punitive and consequential damages, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. :)

In the Motherhood

So if any of you are in need of a little motherly pick-me-up then you have to visit In the Motherhood. I found it last year in their first season. They now are in their second season. It is a website where real moms write the scripts and then actresses act them out. They are usually pretty hilarious.

Austin Gets Second Place

Austin entered the science fair this year. I know he is just a kindergartener but Chris and I both love science so I couldn't wait for him to get started. He has already shown interest in science himself so I thought it would be a good father-son project. He did all the work himself. I gave him the idea and we talked about the different steps but he really did a lot of the work himself. The day of the science fair I went in the morning to drop off his science project and found out that he had to be at the school all day...he usually goes to afternoon kindergarten. The judging was in the morning and he needed to be there to answer questions about his project. So by the time I got back to the school he was miserable and said that he wished he had never done a science project. He just wanted to go home. The award ceremony came and his name was called for second place out of 10 other Kindergarten projects. He finally got a smile on his face. I asked him later if he was glad he did it and, of course, he answered yes. He is already talking about what he is going to do next year.

You've Gotta Listen to This!

One of my really good friends, Crystal, from Las Vegas has just recorded her first CD! Julie Baird, one of Crystal's friends, wrote all the songs on this CD. I have never actually met Julie but she always played for Crystal when she would sing in sacrament or Enrichment or ward activities. Crystal was originally going to sing all the songs on the CD but being the humble person she is told Julie to have some more popular LDS singers sing some of them including, David Osborn, Jenny Jordan Frogley, etc. so that the CD would be more successful. I had a sneakpeak of one of the songs awhile ago and it is absolutely amazing, as I knew it would be. I couldn't wait for its official release. I finally bought the digital CD yesterday. It is amazing! And I know how much hard work went into it. You can access her site at juliebairdmusic.com.

The CD should soon be available for purchase at Deseret Book as well. Julie and Crystal would also love to know what you think so leave a comment on her website.

Abigail Turns ONE!

I can't believe it was a year ago that my sweet Abigail was born. She has been such a joy to our family. In the morning Chris spent much of the time working on my parents roof and doing some maintenance on our "little beater" and I spent about 6 or more hours on Abigail's cake! I am not sure why I do this to myself every birthday. I can't pick a normal cake to bake or buy one like most people...Noooo, I have to choose a 7 layer cake from $%@#. Even after 6+ hours the cake was not exactly like the pictures BUT we decided that it looked a little "Dr. Suessish" so that is what we will call it...the Dr. Seuss cake. Here are the pics of her birthday and of the "Dr. Seuss cake!"

Dee-lish!

Here are some more recipes! There is a lovely Valentine dessert (I know it is a little late for Valentines but maybe next year)! It looks a little hard but there are just a lot of steps...its not hard. I also made another dessert that was awesome...but usually if it has an Oreo crust it is pretty good in my book. I also made another Chicken dinner that my whole family liked. Chris said I should definitly make it again. I have made other stuffed chicken recipes before and this is the only one that he wanted again. Enjoy!

Chocolate Rhapsody
(courtesy of verybestbaking.com)

CAKE LAYER
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk

CHOCOLATE LAYER
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

RASPBERRY MOUSSE LAYER
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed, pureed and strained
3 bars (6-oz. box) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Baking Bars, broken into pieces
1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sweetened whipped cream (optional)
Fresh raspberries (optional)

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease 9-inch springform pan.

FOR CAKE LAYER:
COMBINE flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Beat sugar and butter in small mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk. Spread into prepared springform pan.

BAKE for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

FOR CHOCOLATE LAYER:
MICROWAVE morsels and 3/4 cup cream in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 1 minute; STIR. The morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted. Cool completely.

FOR RASPBERRY MOUSSE LAYER:
COMBINE sugar, water and cornstarch in medium saucepan; stir in raspberries. Bring mixture to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Cool completely.

MICROWAVE baking bars and 1/2 cup cream in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 1 minute; STIR. The bars may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until bars are melted. Cool completely. Stir into raspberry mixture.

BEAT remaining cream and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold raspberry mixture into whipped cream.

TO ASSEMBLE:
REMOVE side of springform pan; dust off crumbs. Grease inside of pan; reattach side. Spread 1/2 cup chocolate mixture over cake layer; freeze for 5 minutes. Spoon raspberry mousse over chocolate; freeze for 10 minutes. Carefully spread remaining chocolate mixture over raspberry mousse. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until firm. Carefully remove side of springform pan. Garnish with whipped cream and raspberries.



No-Melt Sundae Pie
(courtesy of kraftfoods.com)

15 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, crushed (about 1-1/2 cups crumbs)
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
1 cup cold milk
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
2 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted
1/3 cup canned sweetened condensed milk

MIX cookie crumbs and butter; press firmly onto bottom and up side of 9-inch pie plate. Reserve 1/2 cup of the whipped topping. Refrigerate until ready to use.

POUR milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Gently stir in remaining whipped topping. Spoon into crust. Mix melted chocolate and condensed milk until well blended. Spoon over pie. Cut through chocolate mixture several times with knife for marble effect.

FREEZE 6 hours or until firm. Remove pie from freezer 15 min. before serving. Let stand at room temperature to soften slightly. Top with the reserved whipped topping.

Mozzerella Chicken Roll-ups
(courtesy of kraftfoods.com)

1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese, divided (I doubled this)
2 oz. (1/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, softened (I doubled this)
1/4 cup finely chopped green peppers (I didn't have any green peppers so I used crushed red peppers...it was a little spicy but the kids ate it)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves (I doubled this)
1/4 tsp. garlic salt (I doubled this)
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.), pounded to 1/4-inch thickness
1 cup spaghetti sauce (I used Prego Garlic and Herb and I used more than a cup)

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Mix 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese, the Neufchatel cheese, green peppers, oregano and garlic salt until well blended. Shape into 4 logs. Place 1 log on one of the short ends of each chicken breast; press into chicken lightly. Roll up each chicken breast tightly, tucking in ends of chicken around filling to completely enclose filling.

PLACE, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Spoon spaghetti sauce evenly over chicken; cover with foil.

BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through (170°F). Remove foil; sprinkle chicken with remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Bake an additional 3 to 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

I AM a Homemaker!

I read this article recently and just had to write this post. Sometimes I feel myself, when being asked if I work, being a little intimidated and saying "I'm JUST a homemaker..." I sometimes find myself wondering if I should be working (utilizing my degree) or working from home like so many moms do now. But deep down, I am irritated by it because I LOVE being home. Some moms out there might kill me for saying that, but I do. I love waking up with my children, feeding them breakfast, doing little projects, helping them learn how to work around the house, helping with homework, running them around to their activities, cooking dinner and even cleaning up after them. Don't get me wrong...it is not without its moments!! But, I love being home and when I think of all the things that I would miss if I had to work I am very saddened. I am grateful that my husband has a good enough job that allows me to have my greatest desire. I am also grateful for a husband who appreciates all that "just staying home" entails. Although we do go without a lot of extra "toys," we have what we need and a lot of what we want too! So, I AM a homemaker and I love it and am proud of it!

With that being said...we had a very fun week last week. It finally reached temperatures that were good enough to go outside. The kids rode their bikes outside everyday last week. On Friday, the girls and I went to the park and even got sunburned! I forgot the altitude change makes you burn easier here... Here are some pictures of the week! I am glad we enjoyed it while it lasted because it snowed again yesterday...

Dancing in the Sunshine



Resting after playing hard


Playing at the park with cousins

Flashback Friday

My friend Rebecca does Flashback Fridays on her blog and I was telling her how much I liked the idea. I also mentioned to her that my flashback to the 90s couldn't possibly compete with her 80's. Who doesn't just love the 80s? But she encouraged me to post anyway so here goes.

This first flashback is going out to my best friend, Michele. We have been friends for approximately 22ish years. We met in Girl Scouts when we were about 6 or 7 and have been friends ever since. We were inseparable for the first 10 years until my family moved to Utah. I remember when I was 10, my family actually moved about 20 min away from hers but we would still make our parents drive us to each others house every weekend so we could have sleepovers. We would usually end up staying the whole weekend. We made prank-calls, called the radio station to see if we could get on, had food fights, talked about boys, played games, had make-overs, and a million other girly things. I don't think I have a memory from ages 6-14 that she wasn't a part of in some way.

Here is the first picture I have of us at about 6 years of age in 1986...I don't know why her head is cut off...I think my brother actually took this picture. He was 5 at the time.



This is us in 1991



The next two photos of us are when we graduated from HS in 1997, her from Cajon HS in CA and me from Enterprise HS in UT.

Super Survey!

Getting to Know Me (tagged by Emily)

NO PICTURE AVAILABLE! (Honestly, I don't have a recent picture of me. Sad, I know. One of my goals this year is to actually take more pictures of myself...not because I love pictures of myself but as I have been scrapping pictures from the last 10 years, I can probably count on one hand how many pictures of me there are. I am sure my children/grandchildren will wonder where I was all those years! I would have taken one today but my batteries in my camera died and I have to go to the store to get more...)

Where were you born? Henderson, NV
Middle name: Michelle

How old will you be this year? 29 (August)

Nicknames: Jenny, Jenn, Fred

Are you taller than your mother or father? I'm 5'1.5 and my mom is 5'1...so yes, by a half an inch!

Do you cry often during movies? Way too much...pretty much every movie I watch I find some reason to cry...it is really annoying!

What is your biggest pet peeve? Inconsiderate people; like when people leave their carts out at the grocery store or rude drivers

Favorite color: I know this sounds corny but I really like all the colors!

Favorite foods: Cookies!

Favorite beverage: Usually water but if I had to pick something besides water it would be a Strawberry Lemonade from Red Robin...they put whole strawberries in it and I usually have, like 2 refills!

Favorite cold cereal: Sugary: Reese's Puffs; Healthy: Wheat Chex or Kashi's Mountain Medley (I can only find it at Costco and only some of the time)

Favorite smells: Clean laundry, my shower gel, freshly baked cookies
(I have to agree with you completely, Emily!)

Favorite time of day: 7am when the kids get up and run in my bedroom to give me their "morning hugs." and 8pm when I get to put them to bed and spend some alone time with Chris!

Favorite make-up products? Chapstick and mascara!

How many pillows do you sleep with? One

Do you play an instrument? I wish I did

Have you ever been skinny dipping? can I plead the fifth?

Did you do any sports in High School? Dance

What was the last movie you saw in the theater? Jumper

What is your favorite article of clothing? My "date clothes" because I don't get to actually get dressed up very often.

What is your dream vacation? I don't know if you would call this a vacation but Chris and I would love to take the whole family on a 1 year RTW trip but not necessarily to see all the tourist sites but to actually do humanitarian work! Weird, huh!

What was your first impression of your spouse? "Wow, what a hottie!"

If you were an animal what would you be? A Giraffe...wouldn't it be awesome to see the world from their perspective?!

What is your favorite "me- time" activity? Digi-scrapping, blogging and reading

Favorite TV shows: Heros, Good Eats, Oprah, House

What is your dream car? I actually don't have one.

What is one of your weaknesses? Speaking without thinking

What do you fix for dinner when there's nothing to fix? Spaghetti or Tacos

If you could live in a different decade/era which one would it be? Probably during the time of the restoration of the gospel or when the Savior lived.

What is the emotion you feel the most? Joy (even though we may have problems, I am so happy with my family and feel truely blessed everyday)

Do you consider yourself outgoing? Sometimes

What is something you are constantly working on? Being a better example to my kids.

Any hidden talents? Nope!

What is a word or phrase you overuse? "Like..."

What was the hardest thing that happened to you this past year? Moving back home where Chris took a very large paycut and an even bigger hit in benefits! But since it was self-inflicted, we can't really complain much.

What is the best thing that happened to you this past year? I gave birth to our sweet Abigail almost a year ago exactly!

What is one thing you hope to accomplish this year? Buy/build a house!

The best piece of advice you learned this past year? To allow God to direct my life instead of trying to push my own plan & to be content with where I am and with what I have!

I Tag: Stephanie B., Michele R., Amme R. Mandi M. and Kristi H. and anyone else who wants to...,- You must post a recent picture of yourself!

The Making of a Star

Austin loves to sing, dance and, even, act. He will act out whole scenes from his favorite movies (all the actors, word for word). The only problem is, he inherited his mothers severe stage fright. So when he goes to perform, and you can really tell he wants to, he just can't bring himself to do it. So I continue to be his only audience until...last night. Last night, I was able to record him. So without futher adieu, here is Austin making his singing debut...hehe



Unfortunately, my camera battery died and I only got a glimpse of his shower performance. I still thought it was pretty cute! Maybe, next time. LOL

New Scrapbooking Pages

I posted more scrapbooking pages on the left in the slide shows under both family slides and Allison's slide. It has been interesting to scrapbook Allison's pictures when she was the same age as Abigail is now. They look so much a like. I am glad that I am finally getting around to scrapping them so I don't start getting their pics mixed up.

Cupcakes!

I saw these cute Valentine cupcakes in a newsletter I get from Familyfun.com. I thought the kids would enjoy making them and they looked easy enough. We were having our monthly DeMille dinner on Monday night so I decided that we would make them and bring them that night so I didn't get stuck eating them all. There is over 30 DeMille's so I had to double the recipe. That didn't seem too hard, right? I didn't really calculate until the cupcakes were in the oven that would mean that I would have to actually decorate 48 cupcakes. I thought, no problem...the kids will decorate maybe 5-10 each and then that will leave me about 20-30 to decorate by myself. Well,my kids only decorated 1 each...just enough for them to eat. That left me with 46 to decorate! Half way through decorating them the family night dinner was cancelled because half of them were sick. Now that left me with 46 cupcakes to eat! Not good! Did I mention that the kids had also made Valentine candy bags for their 12 cousins. We could NOT keep all this sugar in the house! Since it was FHE night anyway, we decided to deliver the cupcakes to all the family members anyway and talked about service, etc. It ended up turning out ok but, needless to say, I am "cupcaked-out!"

A Kool New Toy!

So, I just bought a kool new toy with money I earned doing surveys (that is whole 'nother post). I bought Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. It is the cheap version of Adobe Photoshop but I didn't want to spend $4-600 on the full version until I learned the easy version...and let me tell you...that will be a long time. But I did learn a new trick today that I thought was so kool I had to share it. Look at the first two pics and then look at the last pic. When taking a group shot, especially with children, they often are turning their heads and fidgeting, etc. You rarely get a shot that everyone is looking at you AND smiling. So you end up taking about a hundred different shots hoping that there will be at least one worth anything. I took about 2 dozen of the kids on the stairs and really none of them turned out well. BUT I learned how to combine the pics so that you can use the best of two or several pictures. IT IS AWESOME! In the first picture Austin is looking at the camera but the kids on the left are fidgeting. In the second picture the kids on the left are looking and smiling but Austin is looking away from the camera. The one on the bottom is the combined picture. FUN!

Tribute to a Prophet

As I was picking Austin up from school today I noticed the school flag was at half-mast. I thought for a second and realized why. It warmed my heart to know that Austin goes to a school where people care that our prophet has passed. I felt overwhelmed for a second and found my eyes tearing up. I couldn't help but come home and make my own little tribute to such an exemplary man.

Things I learned from President Gordon B. Hinckley
1. Stand for Something
2. Be Positive
3. Love your spouse - my husband and I learned so much from watching the Hinckleys and their deep devotion to and respect for each other.
4. Don't be Ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
5. The importance of temple work
6. Stand a little Taller, Be a Little Better - nothing will seem overwhelming if we just try to be a little better each day. What great council!
7. Go Forward with Faith

As much as my heart is saddened that I won't be able to hear President Hinckley's delightful jokes or his inspired council I know how much he missed his sweet wife and am glad that they can be together again.

"All of us have to deal with death at one time or another, but to have in one's heart a solid conviction concerning the reality of eternal life is to bring a sense of peace in an hour of tragedy and loss that can come from no other source under the heavens." ~ President Gordon B. Hinckley

The Month in Pictures...

I have been pretty busy these last couple of weeks so I just barely had a chance to download the 115 pictures I took over the last month. Allie was sick most of the month with some weird things. She stepped on a tack-strip and it didn't even bleed but over the next week became severly infected. It went from the size of a needle poke to larger then a qaurter. I had to soke it several times a day and put polysporin on it and then bandage it up. Once we got that in control, one of her eyes became infected with some weird thing and after several weeks is just now going away. This mom thing can be really scary and stressful and times...:)

The rest of the month, I spent babysitting for several different family members. My kids love playing with their cousins and since they haven't been able to play outside at all, it is nice to have something else to do besides try and be entertained by mom. BORING! (That is a new word that Austin has been using frequently...any advice on how to quench that habit would be greatly appreciated.)

Allie's Infections



I love how this outfit brings out the color in Abigails eyes.



Abigail learned how to climb stairs...she is so proud of herself!


Allison dressed herself this morning...together thses clothes look a little risque but I promise that she doesn't usually look like a "street walker."


Allie loves to help make dinner...she helps every night!


Austin, Allison and Abigail with just a few of their cousins