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The Trials of a Busy Mom

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February 14, 2008 / / 3 Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day, Y’all! It was a crazy night around here, with road closures and white outs all over the place. Luckily my rehearsal in SLC was canceled, and we were able to hide out inside and stay warm. I did worry about Ryan getting home, and again, wished that he had a phone. He called me from a gas station in Lehi to say that he had made it that far, and would take the back roads home. It took him two hours to make the 20 minute commute. But he made it home, thankfully. My friend Lisa had a worse time of it. I talked to her around 9:30, and she was inching towards the point of the mountain on the freeway.

But since it Valentine’s Day, I found a bunch of fun quotes about LOVE. I hope you enjoy them. I want to let my sweetie, Ryan, know how much I love him, and I love my kids. We’ll have our fun celebration at dinner, and you can see what you bought me for Valentine’s day, Ryan. So, enjoy the day, enjoy the class parties, enjoy the snow (ha!) and know that you are loved!

“Sometimes love is stronger than a man’s convictions.” – Isaac Bashevis Singer

“Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Maybe love is like luck. You have to go all the way to find it.” – Robert Mitchum

“Love stretches your heart and makes you big inside.” – Margaret Walker

“Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

“Where love is, no room is too small.” – Talmud

“Loves makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.” – Zora Neale Hurston

“Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.” – Mark Twain

“Love is more than three words mumbled before bedtime. Love is sustained by action, a pattern of devotion in the things we do for each other every day.” – Nicholas Sparks

“To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven.” – Karen Sunde

“Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.” – Peter Ustinov

“Love is like a violin. The music may stop now and then, but the strings remain forever.” – unknown

“Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.” – Erich Fromm

“Love doesn’t make the world go round, love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” – Elizabeth Browning

“To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer. To suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy then is to suffer. But suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy one must love, or love to suffer, or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you’re getting this down.”
– Woody Allen,

Travel is never quiet with four boys in the car

February 12, 2008 / / 1 Comment

As I was taking John and his three little friends to their basketball class at the Rec Center, today, they were all full of things to say. At the risk of crashing the car, I did manage to write a few things down. And it seemed that everything just HAD to be said with an exclamation point or All caps.

“Guys! I saw that guy pick his nose! But he didn’t eat it.”
“Oh–Kohler’s! That’s my favorite store EVER.”
“My sister goes snowboarding.”
“One time we stayed up late and watched tv in my mom’s room.”
“We go to bed right after scriptures.”
“Look! There’s horses!”
“I saw them, too!”
“That car is coming closer. We’re going to crash!”
(I must interject that no, we were not going to crash.)
“Sheep! Sheep! Sheep!”
“See that car? It looks like Optimus Prime, but it’s a truck.”
“Optimus has blue and red.”
“My brother has a transformer and it turns into a GUN.”
“My Arizona Grandma is sonice! She gives me toys and candy.”
“My Grandma is so nice, too. She always gives me candy.”
“I know.”
“Do you guys know where Kanosh is? Do you know where Kanosh is? My Grandma lives in Kanosh.”

Then, sadly, we arrived at our destination, and the conversation quickly turned to all things basketball.
Never a dull (or quiet) moment, that’s for sure.

Baaaa

February 11, 2008 / / 3 Comments

My kids have been a little bit obsessed with a certain song, lately. It started when they found out I was going to be giving away their favorite muppet show video. I didn’t know it was their favorite muppet show video, and I doubt it would have even been their favorite had I not been giving it away. “Why do you have to give everything away, Mom?!” one little complainer whined. “I don’t give everything away,” I replied, “Do I give away your clothes? Your food? This house? I don’t think so.”

But we were watching that video before sending it away (they made sure I sat down and watched it with them, lest I miss out on something important), and we came to a sketch with the song “Sheep May Safely Graze“. When it started, I said, “Oh, we’re playing this song in bells!” And I was excited that I actually recognized it after only one week’s rehearsal on that song. Well, being the muppet show, they took a few creative licenses and the muppet version is quite different from Bach’s original piece, to say the least.

I hope it you laugh as much as we did. Then Cole, our Mr. Gadget Junior, recorded this version onto our whole house MP3 system, so this morning I awoke to the Rama Lama Ding Dong song. And now we can listen to it ALL THE TIME.

Stronger than a cheesecake

February 10, 2008 / / 4 Comments

I did it! I actually made a cheesecake without any tasting or snitching going on, and then at the ward party, when they brought out cheesecake and chocolate cake, I didn’t take any. I also resisted the chocolates that were on the table. I find it’s easier to stick to my resolutions when in public than in the privacy of my own home, alone, don’t you?

While I understand that not eating cheesecake is really not an earth shattering accomplishment, and doesn’t really do anything to help save the world like some people are doing, for me it’s quite a major accomplishment. I’ve proven to myself that, if needed, I can be stronger than the cheesecake. Maybe I’ll have to list that on my resume as one of my superpowers–“stronger than a cheesecake, able to leap over small children in a single bound….”. Ahem. Maybe not. You are probably still hung up on the “resume” part, weren’t you. Thinking to yourself, “Resume? What the heck would she have a resume for? The PTA?” Any-way. Back to the subject, which was….Cheesecake.

Would you like a good cheesecake recipe? Because this one was pretty easy, gluten free except for the crust (but I have actually made a “graham cracker crust” using gluten-free arrowroot crackers before), and I hear it was delicious. It was lighter and less dense than the kind I’ve made in the past, and it really doesn’t have that much sugar. I was even thinking about just replacing the sugar with Splenda, but didn’t really want to experiment with a cheesecake that I was taking to a church function, and had specifically been given this recipe.

So, here it is: SHIRLINE’S CHEESECAKE

Pre-heat oven to 350

STEP #1
1 package graham crackers
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter

Put graham crackers in a gallon zip lock baggie. Roll till fine, with a rolling pin. Pour graham cracker crumbs into a bowl. Add sugar and soft butter. Mix with fork or pastry cutter till mixed well. Put into 9 or 10″ Spring Form pan. Press evenly in bottom. (Set aside)

STEP #2
Beat 4 egg whites till stiff. Set Aside.

In another bowl, mix:
3 – 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla.

Then fold in the egg whites. Mix well.

Pour over graham cracker crust. Spread evenly. Bake 350 for 30 minutes. Take out of the oven and let set for 5 minutes. While you are waiting the 5 minutes, mix:

2 cups sour cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix well. When 5 minutes is up, pour the cream cheese mixture over the cheese cake and spread evenly. Put back in the oven and bake another 5 minutes.

Remove from oven, and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Leave cheesecake in pan. Then put foil or plastic wrap over the cheese cake, and put in fridge. It’s best to make this a day ahead. Let cool completely before removing from Spring Form pan.

Yum.

Gonna soak up the sun!

February 8, 2008 / / 1 Comment

I feel like I’ve been in a depressed fog for weeks, and I’ve been afraid that this was turning into an “I hate winter” blog. The endless snow and cloudy days have been getting me down.

But today there is sun. Hallelujah and Amen!

The sun is shining and it’s brilliantly white outside with the sun reflecting off the snow. It’s a double sunglass day, that’s for sure. Maybe some of the snow will melt from off of my sidewalk and driveway if we’re really lucky. Wishful thinking, I know.

To celebrate the return of the sunshine, I went and got my van washed. Me and all of the other people driving cars in our town. Oh, it wasn’t that bad, really. I only waited about 20 minutes, and I was happy to wait. I also vacuumed it to within an inch of it’s life, got all the crap out of it, and it feels like a vehicle again, instead of a trash can on wheels. Once my car was clean, I drove very carefully trying to avoid all puddles and slush piles, but it still got a little dirty. Oh well, I can handle it. It’s sunny!

It’s like bargain shopping without the shopping!

February 8, 2008 / / 5 Comments

On Tuesday my good friend Tess and I were talking, and she asked if I was going to go to the Mervyn’s huge clearance sale, where if you buy ONE clearance item, you get TWO free. Oh, no! I couldn’t go because I had signed up to work at the book fair at the elementary school for the whole time that John would be at preschool, and then it was parent teacher conference, and then I had to take the girls to dance, and then I had rehearsal. So, I wouldn’t be able to get to Mervyn’s on Wednesday, and it was only a one day sale.

So, I told her to call me from Mervyn’s, and just buy some things for me, if she didn’t mind.

And shop she did! She called me from the store to ask me a few questions, and I told her to err on the side of “just buy it” and if I didn’t like it I could always return it.

We ended up with:
2 Sweaters for the girls
1 Dress for Natalie or Megan
1 Jacket for John
5 long sleeved shirts for John
3 shirts for Cole
and a partridge in a pear tree! Ok, no pear tree, but we got all that for……
$27.77
Wow! I spent almost that much on just two dresses for the girls earlier this week!

So, Tess did my bargain shopping FOR me! So, it’s just like the bargain shopping, only without the shopping part!
Thanks, Tess!

Home Movies

February 7, 2008 / / 3 Comments

Monday night for FHE, after learning the 5th article of faith, we watched a “home movie” from my family. My sister, Amy has been tranferring the old videos to DVDs, and she gave me a few of them for my birthday. So we were watching a video of a family vacation to California in 1990. We stayed in a beach house at Newport Beach for a week. What a fun time we had! I was 21, just about to graduate from college and go on a mission. My brother and his wife came, and my two little sisters. They were 14 and 12 at the time. And for some reason they didn’t want to be on camera, and if they were, they never said anything. It’s so weird! I was doing some commentary, and would always wave at my dad when he had the camera. Sometimes I was the videographer, and I would give the play by play and joke around.

At the beach, we played in the water with our boogie boards (the kids laughed at that one) and made fabulous sculptures in the sand with our gardening shovels (my kids were laughing at that one, too. ‘Why are you digging with a garden tool, mom?’ I guess my parents figured we should have stuff to dig with, and not having little kids with sand toys at home, they figured that a trowel would work just as well) and made a castle and a very large and detailed dragon.

At Disneyland, the lines were short (AMAZING!), and the crowds not nearly what they are today. We filmed a few of the rides, even. Still, not a word from my sisters. Did they not talk, or what was the deal? I now HAVE two kids who will be 14 and 12 this very spring (gasp! I cannot possibly be that old!) and they never shut up. I just don’t get it.

As my kids were watching this little movie, they said, “You were fun, mom!” I WAS fun? WAS? I still AM fun, kiddos. My husband put it well when he said, “See how much fun Mom had at Disneyland when she didn’t have to worry about all you kids? Before all you kids SUCKED the life and fun out of her?”

Well, even though the kids have sucked all the energy out of me, they haven’t taken my fun. I STILL am fun.

Aren’t I?

Sometimes you just get those urges, you know?

February 6, 2008 / / 5 Comments

This morning at around 10:00 I got the urge. No, not that kind of urge, you silly. I got the urge to do something, Anything, to change things around and spice up the house. It’s probably because I’ve spent so much time inside, lately. That would be due to the 2 feet of snow and the 21 degree temps outside. We don’t do a lot of outside socializing in the winter. So, cooped up as I am, and not really able to go out and buy anything new, although I have got my eye on some new chairs. Something like this would be nice.
charis

Or these
more chairs

But I don’t really have it in the budget for new furniture, so I decided at 10:00 this morning that I would MOVE around the furniture I have. So, I set about moving the living room couch and loveseat to the family room, and the family room couch and loveseat to the living room. That’s no small feat for one person, but I did it. Well, John helped push a little bit.

And I like it. It’s not a major transformation or anything, and I didn’t have time to put the living room back together right, but it will do for a while. Just to change things up, you know.

This is what I have to do in the dead of winter to keep from going crazy, I guess.

And no sugar. All day. Yea for me.

Is it that time again already?

February 5, 2008 / / 6 Comments

Wow. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday that marks the beginning of Lent. Which means no sugar for 40 days. Ugh. I know, I know, I’m not even Catholic. We’ve been over this before, folks. Robin and I have been giving up sugar for Lent for years and years now. Not for religious reasons, but just to prove to ourselves that we can do it. Sugar is an addiction, and it seems that I am indeed an addict.

So, to gear up for my 40 days of no sugar, after I went to Curves to workout this morning, I had the breakfast of champions today–a brownie. Yum. And then I found some Lind chocolates that a friend gave me for my birthday. I’ve eaten most of those, too. Woo-Hoo! Got to eat all the sugar I can, so that tomorrow I can give it up.

Wish me luck.

Oh, and by the way, my American Express Bill came today. Last month my bill was $3400 or so. This month, my bill is (drumroll please)… $1100. And most of those charges are for gas at Costco and food. Only one little trip to the auto place, thank goodness.

So, I’m pleased that I could indeed curb my shopping urges for a month.

But that’s over. Yesterday I went to Target, and it was as if the sale racks were saying, “Hi, Paige, where have you been? We missed you!” I did buy myself some cute shoes (because nothing cures the blues like a new pair of shoes), but sadly I won’t be wearing them for a long long time because I have to wear these blasted BOOTS every day. I’m getting to hate my boots. And my coat. Which really needs to be cleaned. And speaking of things that need to be cleaned, all of our vehicles are so disgustingly dirty it gives me the heebie jeebies to even get inside. I actually stopped by the car wash place yesterday to see if I could at least clean off the top layer of grime and salt, but they were closed due to the weather.

So, that’s the latest. Shopping–back on. Sugar–on it’s way out. Wish me luck, folks. I will need it.

Mormons cancel church?

February 3, 2008 / / 10 Comments

We awoke to about a foot of new snow outside (have I mentioned that I’m tired of winter already? Well, I AM!), and later got a phone call that church had been canceled for today. Wow! I only remember church being canceled one other time, and that was when we were newly married and living in Provo. I think we actually went to church and there was nobody there. This time we must be more loved, because we got about 4 phone calls to let us know that there would be no church. So we can shovel out. Our snowblower died an early death this year, so we have been at the mercy of our neighbors to help us clear our many feet of snow this winter. Thankfully, our neighbor to the north has a four wheeler with a plow, and he frequently plows our driveway, and our neighbor to the south just bought himself a new snowblower, and he’s cleared our front walk a few times. I doubt we’ll be that lucky today. Ugh. We’ll wait for the snowplows to come and stay safely inside.

For our “church”, we’ve stayed in and watched the rebroadcast of President Hinckley’s funeral. It was a beautiful funeral and there have been many wonderful tribute programs on this past week. It’s a nice substitute for church.

Last night we went to see the Blue Man Group. It was GREAT! Although this isn’t video from this exact concert, we saw something like this

Although the band that was with them was good, I thought they drowned out the percussion of the Blue Man Group, and wished there was less band and less singing. It was a fun date for us, and I’d pay that much for tickets again anytime!

Yesterday we celebrated Jenna’s birthday. It was a fun little party, even though only 3 of her friends came. I guess we should have invited more than 8 people. It was a fairy party, and we had wings for all the girls (and the boy) who came. We made butterflies, , had a treasure hunt, and even painted fairy fingernails and toenails. I had a few games planned that we didn’t do because there were only a few kids, but we watched Fairytopia and had the ever popular whacking of the pinata. And with pinatas being the cheap things that they are, the handle quickly broke off, and we had to call in the pinata repair man to rig up the pinata.

I had the idea to make a forest of toadstools for the cake. I seem to always overestimate my abilities when it comes to cake decorating, and this was no exception. What began as “good idea” quickly turned frustrating, but I just went with it. It’s a good think I was going for the mushroomy look, because the little toadstools were less than pretty. Jenna did all the decorations on the top with “fairy dust” and she thought they were pretty, so I guess it was a success. Once we put on the fairies, I thought it actually looked cute.
cake

Here’s one of the fairies close up.

The girls got to take their fairies home, along with lots of candy from the pinata. I’m glad that it turned out well, and Jenna had a fun party. And I’m glad it’s over.

So, that’s a weekend update for you. I hope that wherever you are, you are warm and dry inside. And could we please stop it with the snowing?

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