Desperate Housewife Pet Peeve

Any of you who know Jake's family, know how much they LOVE cookies. At my house, it's usually Jake who makes them. I only make them when I have to take them to other people. I loved making cookies as a kid, but now, it's just another chore. I love to cook, I love to try new things, but cookies aren't my "making". I think it all comes down to the patience of putting the cookies in, and waiting for them to cook, and making sure they are done just right, and then taking them out. Then there is always the clean up. Maybe if I had a Bosch, it would be a little better experience. All of the other younger kids fight over who is going to help, who gets to use the blender, who gets to dump what ingredients, and who gets to crack the eggs. It's become a favorite thing to help dad to do. That's okay, the kids need some bonding time with dad. Especially in the summer time when things are crazy. I can't butt in here.Anya does have the best part done though. She will get every little bite, don't you worry. I remember many of times while staying with Dale and Alice's, that me and Hannah would sneak off with the cookie dough. Axel never liked it when we did that. Maybe it's a boy trend in the family that it's just suppose be their thing to make and bake good cookies.(I had to insert this picture just to show Katanya always knows what she wants. She eventually pushed Cruz off and onto the floor.)

Now that I have confessed my Desperate Housewife Pet Peeve, does anybody else have one?

Sarah the Fred came home

Sarah finally found her way back to BYU-I. She got a little confused when she transferred down for the semester to BYU. We knew she wouldn't stay away. There is no one that can resist the beautiful Idaho cold and wind that we all love. Now if I could only get her to work on her blogging..

Aunt Leslie and family came to crash with us Wednesday night while they dropped off Sarah's new car. Sarah, being such a good little student, left right after and went back to her dorms. We tried to persuade her to stay for the night to chat and see her family but it didn't work. You really missed out!

They arrived in pretty late so everyone was in fact tired. We still talked and caught up on times making it even later (or earlier in the morning?) before we went to bed. McKay was very upset when she got up that they were all sleeping and she missed them. All of my kids really love this family that it was great to see them, even for a short time. Since seeing them last Easter on our road trip, I keep saying that one day I want to make it out to K.C. again and spend a week there sight-seeing and enjoying their company..

They were lucky to see the beautiful Idaho weather I was talking about earlier on. When they left Thursday morning to go down to Provo for Joey and Mercy's graduation, it was snowing (big flakes) and was very very windy! All of you guys in warmer reasons don't know what you are missing. We were sad we didn't see them longer but one day we will make it out there. Especially after the "special invitation" that Leslie offered right before she left. I certainly cannot pass that one up! All in all, we love you guys and miss you!

Birthday wishes!

I'm a little behind so I guess I'll start where I lasted posted off (not Jake's cheese).Mckay turned nine and that evening she got to open her presents. McKay is never an easy person to buy for. She either wants something really small that you know you have to get her more. Or something big and you know it's not the time. This year was one of those years. Basically McKay wanted a couple H.P. book's that she didn't have but read of course, and a computer. I'm not set on the computer with her age and all to herself so that was immediately thrown out. So Jake and I talked, and we opted for a cell phone. I don't know what prompted this but after a lot of thinking, we figured she was mature enough to handle the responsibility. (We also opted the Hot Spot at Home phone. T-Mobile has certain phones that have this so you don't have to worry about minutes. This enables your phone to use your wi-fi and connect on to it when it is available so when you are talking it won't use your minutes up. Brillant!)

We followed up her birthday dinner with Teriyaki Stix (her choice) where it was fun and easy (and cheap). That night she came up after we tucked her in and made the comment. "Mom, you don't have to get me a present next year because this is the best." How sweet is that.

One down, 5 to go. Our birthday's each fall one in each month April thru September. I don't know how we got so lucky.

Say Cheeeeeeese!

So a few weeks ago while cleaning out the garage I came across the fridge that we don't use anymore. I opened the freezer (the fridge has been unplugged for at least 2 full years) and found 5 blocks of colby jack. I check the expiration date .... June 2005 ... so I am guessing I bought them sometime around DEC 2004. They looked ok so I opened one and smelled it ....smelled good .... licked it .... tasted good. I took the remaining four blocks and snuck them into the fridge in the house. About a week later Amy made lasagna and used the cheese. After everyone had eaten I told her about the old cheese. Everyone was happy so over the past few weeks we have eaten the rest of the aged cheese.

Who would have thought that cheese that states "Keep Refrigerated" could be kept in an old musty freezer in all kinds of weather for over 3 years could still be eaten. So I think that I will start hoarding cheese in all the nooks and crannies in the house so that we can enjoy them at later dates.

Ever So Fine and Turning Nine!

Happy Birthday to McKay! Since we weren't "around" when she was born, I decided this year to put a few baby shots in.

McKay is NINE today! I have a hard time believing how time has gone by like a blink of the eye. Today I ran around like crazy from running Jake's errands, hauling equipment, to getting last gifts, and of course buying ice cream to go with the cake. During this time, it allowed me to think back and remember a little on the day I had McKay. We all know she was my first child, but she was my firsts in a lot of things. A first with:

• Being pregnant. I wasn't sick a day. Bless her little soul!
• Eating whatever I wanted. Literally, I was too naive to understand, you really aren't suppose to eat for two.
• Gaining A LOT of weight. Really, I'm not over exaggerating, cheeseburgers can catch up with you too easy. (60 pounds I tell you! Felipe and Erika once saw an "after" picture. It was of McKay's blessing. Felipe looked at the picture and then asked me "Who's holding McKay?" It was me, sniff sniff. Since then, I haven't allowed myself to be heavier than Jake with any of the remaining three children.)
• Experiencing child birth. She was my only child that the epidural worked.
• Being a mom! She was the EASIEST baby!!!! Sleeping the night, eating, and was just a happy child! She was so "perfect" my boss let me bring her back to work for the first 6 months.
• Going to school. I thought it would have been hard but it was easy! With her loving to learn and loving school, I have never had to ask her to do homework, read, or anything in that area.
• Being baptized. We have loved her interest in the gospel.

McKay was 6 lbs. 2 oz. The second heaviest of my four.

McKay had her first tooth at a little over 2 months old. She was crawling by 7 months and walking at 9 months. You can see once she put her mind to something, she would get it done.

We love her and the beautiful girl she is growing up to be! Happy Birthday!

The end is near (?)

It's all done. Only things left are dirty hands, sore back, and aching forearms. Next week I can finally get on with my somewhat normal life. My housecleaning and cooking and all suffered this week so I'm sure it will just be playing catch up.

FINAL NUMBERS:
Trees ordered: 1020
Trees shipped: 1045 (so I ended planting more than I was anticipating)
Trees planted Friday: Amy - 169, Jake - 58
Trees planted today: Amy - 119, Jake - 1, Teamwork on the big trees 10
Trees Jake ran over with trailer: 3, 1 was unsavable (had to insert this)
We left 9 bigger trees unplanted and set in water as we are going to plant those along the burm on our property.

Although I have to say, there is quite a feeling of satisfaction when you are planting trees.

Magic Numbers and Magic Words

Sorry about the repetition and boredom but this is our life this week. Updated photo below....blah blah blah....Magic numbers : Jake 156, Amy 157, Total together 313, Remaining 331. Yay, the end is near. (temporarily)
Magic words: Anya went back to the ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) Doctor today. He has been watching them since November and we have been waiting until she turned two. Her sleep apnea and snoring has gotten way worse the past 4 weeks. Her tonsils are scheduled to come out on May 19th.

Oh my!

Can you believe this? Even more can you believe yesterday was 70? (even with the wind?) How sad. Needless to say my number is a big fat ZERO trees planted. (The wind is the actual factor for that. It was worse than yesterday.)

: (

I thought spring was here.

Eating dirt

and I mean that literally. 170 done today and only 644 left. Not as many as Saturday but these were planted while running to town three different times. Sadly, I'm sure I spent a lot in gas too. Katanya had a doctor's appointment to check her iron level since the last couple months she has been very low. Poor little girl had to take Fer-in-Sol. If you ever want to taste metal, try this. You will taste bolts for hours! I tried to hide it in juice and such but it didn't work. Finally we were able to take one out of the two dosings a day out and replace it with a multi-vitamin. She is finally at a good level. The girls also had dentist appointments to fill their cavities. This left funny smiles and a very unhappy Kirsten. Back to the trees.....I learned a few things today in this land of dust and dirt.

1. Just how bad blowing dirt hurts on a badly burned neck and back.
2. Not to chew gum while planting trees....in the wind and dirt.
3. Just how messy hair can get in the wind and dirt. It felt so gross.
4. How much dirt can get in your eyes, nose, and ears. Ewwww!

Going green

or brown or red. Arbor day came early for us this year. In fact, I think at our house we should have the whole month of April be Arbor month since that is our planting season. Today I planted 206 trees. (poplars and siouxlands)Just 814 more to go. Next week will be a very busy week....and this is the first shipment. There were a few things I had forgotten from last year. 1- Just how dirty you get, even with gloves, pants, and boots. Somehow the dirt just finds a way to your skin. (brown) 2- When the first real sunshine comes out and even though it's still a little breezy and not hot, you still need sunscreen. (red)Somehow Jake got the easy job today and delivered dirt and worked in the excavator all day. Where did I go wrong? Actually, I enjoyed planting the trees and getting out in the sun.Cruz and Kirsten played on top of dirt piles, drove the jeep, and rode bikes all day. Near the end of the day, Cruz was exhausted and tired of his shoes filling up with dirt (that's why his shoes were off). He was almost falling asleep on the four wheeler. Kirsten asked about 100 times when she would be able to water the trees. She was very happy when planting was done for the day and it was her turn to work. I'm sure this job will get old for the next couple weeks until Jake gets the sprinkler system back together.Jake decided to help move the last 25 trees I had planted. (I was tired and a little sore by this point.) Katanya wanted in on the fun and had to help "lift" every bucket.McKay made a deal with me Friday night. If she went to her friends and slept over then she would babysit (watch) Katanya all day for 1/2 price. What a steal for me. They were in and out several times all day but as soon as I was done and took over being a mom again, she went straight to the big piles. Who said girls can't play in dirt?

After a nice day of work, I went inside took a shower and took back my real job. I still had to make dinner and clean the house and do the laundry. Once again, where is the fairness here?

A letter from the teacher

Just how much does people know about your family? Leave it to the kids to tell them. Yesterday, McKay brought home an envelope from her teacher. I pulled it out and there was a post it note reading "I thought this was hillarious. I just adore Mckay. What a spirit she has! I'm glad I'm no the only one raising a drama queen." Signed, her teacher.

I unfolded the paper and this is what it said (McKay's words)

My writing assignment

"I tried to clean my room. But then my sister came down and started bawling because I was picking up our toys. Then she went and hid and I continued to clean. My dad was upstairs on the computer and heard her crying. He called her and then she told him what I was doing. Then I started crying and hid. Everytime Kirsten tried to come in I would yell 'Out! Out! Out! Out! Out! Out!' Then she told my dad what I was doing (again). My dad called me and I didn't go. He called me again. This time I put a blanket over me. My dad made me take it off though. I had to go up. I hid on a stair and I started crying again. Then I went in and called Kirsten a big fat tattle tale. I started arguing and called my dad a FIVE HEADED PIG EATER! Then my mom started laughing [I will insert here and say that Jake was egging her on. He was provoking the matter.] I called my dad a five headed pig eater because he said cleaning my room was not service. I had to do service for homework from school. But doing this gave me an even more bad day. (At school when I was coming home, I ran into a boy in my class and hit his forehead with my nose.) So that gave me a bloody nose. I got it on my white coat too. My nose is still sore. After I called my dad a five headed pig eater, my mom took me. She told me to brush my teeth. I said when Kirsten was out I would. After the prayer, I did my service. I unloaded the dishwasher. So I got my homework done. In bed I wrote this paper. I didn't want my mom to catch me because she would take my lamp away for a week. My mom had turned on the radio. As I was listening, the radio said reading in a poor light would not damage your eyes, only strain them! My mom said it did damage them. So I went upstairs to tell her. I told her I wanted a hug. Then I told her. She laughed. She was eating a popcicle. She took a bite and I started eating the rest. My dad caught me of course. Then I said I had a headache in my nose. He gave me Tylenol. I went downstairs to right this story. I'm glad reading in poor light doesn't hurt your eyes. P.S. It is true!"

I couldn't help but smile. (McKay is my one child that when she is tired, she can't handle any bit of stress. That is why bedtime is so important at my house.)

It's that time of year again

McKay's science fair was today. Her project was a small take-off of Nate and Jake's fun in Texas. Since we had been thinking about it for a week, somehow it was still left to the last day. (I still don't know why that always happens.) So projects were tested, reasons were established, and science was found. Since I'm sure the elementary school doesn't want a student shooting off a ping pong ball with a vacuum pump in the school, it was all taped, demonstrated, and explained.



It was also all digital this year, no poster board, no papers, just set up the vacuum pump, (unplugged and not fully put together just in case) insert the DVD and turn on the TV. It was all set. Sounds easy enough but many late hours were put into this. I don't ever remember my projects being so complicated. (my only answer to that is that with Jake, nothing is simple, we all should know that. IE: see link of Nate and Jake's fun in Texas)


After all was said and down, McKay placed a good second. Although she was a little disturbed that the same girl from last year beat her out. Over dinner, she was already planning on what bigger project she can do next year.

Power of a Kiss

It's funny how much a kiss can heal. For my youngest two children it heals anything. From a scraped up knee to a hit on the head from a baby sister with a shoe. Once the kiss is applied, all tears and crying cease to exist. If only the answers to all the problems were a kiss.

Spud territory!

Jake is finally turning "Idahoan". (Is that really a word?) Some people up here talk really funny. They have their famous quotes, such as "a couple of three" and they always referring to "moving pipe". In fact the first summer we moved up here someone in church was saying a prayer in Sunday school and I quote "We thank You for the sunshine, but it's a bit damn hot. We could sure use some rain."

Jake has fallen. He's said a couple of quotes that I've let slide but now his english is suffering. (For those that know Jake he is always correcting mine.) The latest that is driving me nuts is his pronunciation. It's a "W" -pronounced with the last syllable a "ya" instead of correctly "you" -. I bought me a double-ya 20B, or a double-ya is after V. He denies it but it's true. I've caught him a handful of times in the last week. Before you know it he's going be going to the local donut shop in Ririe talking with all the old farmers. Somebody help!

(It doesn't really bother me, I just have to give him crap because he constantly is telling me I need to go to college and take English 101.)

All in a day's work

The last couple of days it's been the typical housewife scenerio for me. Grocery shopping, helping teachers at school, cooking, laundry and cleaning the house. (Might I add, Jake insists that cleaning a house shouldn't take longer than ONE hour? I keep telling him he's crazy. It took me three hours to do just the upstairs. I didn't even get started on the basement. I also really hate bathrooms and now I have three to clean!) Anyway back to the post. Then while shopping at Wal-mart, by chance I walked by the fabric department and saw some cute summer dresses hanging up with new fabric that had come in. I couldn't resist. I decided to make two dresses for each girl. I guess it was time to pull the sewing machine out early this year. This dress only took me one day to make.... Okay, I lied. It took me honestly 15 minutes. It comes this way. Gathered at the top and straight on the bottom. You measure around the chest minus an inch and have your piece cut. Come home sew up the back, put in a hem, and add the ribbon for sleeves. Easy as one two three. The hardest and longest part was getting Katanya to hold still so i could measure her and find where I needed the hem. The best part was....it was under five dollars to make!
I couldn't get her to hold still for me to get a couple shots so here is the best back view. They even have material for older girls that you can do the same thing, or there is a pattern that you can add sleeves. Oh yeah, why would anyone pay over 6 dollars for the pattern? People obviously did because it was out of stock but come on, use your brain. It's pretty cut and dry.

I only have one dilema after pulling out the sewing machine and buying fabric. In Cruz's words...."Mom, I want a diego boy dress."

Oh no.

Money, money, money

They say money can't buy you happiness. Whoever said this must not have had "real" bills (as Jake puts it.)

I really depise paying bills. It just never puts me in a happy mood. I tend to leave it to the last possible minute that I can. It's not the fact that they are too high. It's the reason that it all disappears so fast. I guess in my little mind, I wish that everything were a lot cheaper or even free, maybe we all do. I've even organized it that I only have to sit down ONCE a month and pay them. So why is it such a negative experience?

Four years a go we had our bills down to less than $2000 (not including gas) a month. We didn't have a car payment nor any credit cards. We even had a few extras like a cell phone, dishnetwork, and the internet. Even then I hated paying bills. Now with a growing business, there are a few more expenses but still my debt is kept low. Jake and I still believe that if we can't pay for it we can't afford it. Credit isn't really an option. After seeing how much interest we wasted right after we got married, I will never throw money away like that again. I guess it comes down to the point that I just have a hard time letting go.

So as I end the post, I have paid my last bill for the month of April. My bank account is drained once again. So long til next month, I'm heading off to the post office.

Dum dum da dum.....dum dum da dum.

Mike(y) is my younger brother. (The -ey has always distinguished him from my ex-husband.) He's 25 almost 26. For those of you that know him, this WAS his baby.....and now

This is his new babe.

Meet Mike and his new finance Hailey.

Mikey finally took the big step and proposed last night. After having the ring for over six weeks, he got up the nerve. You think the hard part would be asking the parents but no, he had done this weeks ago. Here is how it went down....

They are both big Jazz fans.

click here

He went to the game not knowing how he was going to do it. He wasn't able to get the jumbo-tron or half court at half time because he didn't have and "in" and they told him he doesn't pay enough yearly for his jazz tickets. (He goes to at least one game a month but I guess that's not good enough.) So, they were finding their seats before the game and someone came up and asked if he could take their picture for the fan photo jazz internet site. Of course they agreed. Then (the light came on)Mikey asked the photographer to take one more and he pulled out the ring.

Click to see

Her answer is yes, and then of course this is the automatic reaction.

Close your eyes and click

And finally the ring and hand shot.

Last one to click, I promise.

The big day is June 24th. They still have yet to decide where.

Congratulations! Hailey is a very sweet and nice girl. Mikey is very lucky to have you! We all know how the girls keep the men in line : ) We are happy you for both of you guys.

Update

Update with anything. Some will get this, some will not.

Climbing into a freezer

Jake and I are being cheap. Our propane tank has run out of propane and we don't want to fill it with all these outrages prices. Our heater only kicks onto the propane when it's too cold to "efficiently" use electricity. So during the day the heater is turned on while during the night we are burning wood in our fabulous fireplace. I really love this thing. I have never seen one put off heat like this one. The downstairs is usually is the warmest (don't ask me how) when the heater is on so the girls are just fine. This all was working good until.....

We left to Utah for a week and turned the heater off. We came home to a chilling 49 degrees inside our house. I scrambled for heavy pajamas and quickly dressed all the kids in two pair, one light and their blanket pj's over the top. While Jake unhitched and unloaded I quickly started a fire. It took all night and all day to catch up today. Here comes the worst part.

Last night was miserable. I'm not so sure being cheap is the answer anymore. In fact what was I thinking? Imagine yourself climbing into a welcoming bed that you have been missing so dearly while sleeping on an uncomfortable air mattress. Except while climbing in, it's basically climbing into a refrigerator. I put this off last night for the longest time. We kept on watching one more recorded show that we missed just because we new how cold our bed was. We finally had to surrender to sleep and do it. Now thinking, maybe I should invest into a pair of blanket pj's. Ha ha.

I forgot to mention the best part about coming home. The snow was all melted at my house!!!! They also forecast 50's this weekend!!! Now the sad question....WHY DOES 50 SEEM SO WARM ?