Say "Cheese!"

My friend Angie did a super job taking our family pictures!  I wanted to share my favorites...  BTW, if you want to book her for your family, her link is: http://www.angiemuirdesign.blogspot.com/

Abstract Thoughts and Updates

1.  Abby's IEP (Independant Evaluation Plan) meeting is Friday.  Her teacher called me today to tell me not only was Abby the communication "model" for the other children in her class, but that she tested verbally and comprehension wise at 3 1/2 years, which is terriffic!  She started preschool almost a year behind in both, so she is making big strides to age appropriate communicating.

2.  I bought a curtain (painter's drop cloths) and rod for our bedroom.  After years of buying projects for Mike to do, I still haven't learned when the box says "All Mounting Included" it still means it's not all there... and when you bring the project out for Mike at 9:00pm for him to do, it's too late for the project to be done that night.  (because you still have to buy the extra mountings at Lowe's)  darn, I'm gonna have to wait till tomorrow.

3.  Mike has finally finished school.  I have a guy with a bachelors, who isn't one!  Yeah us!

4.  Pertaining to item #2, Abby was "wowed" by Mike holding the long curtain rod and called him "Big and Strong."  I think it pleased him.

5.  My girl that I picked out on "America's Next Top Model" just got kicked off.  She was one of the final four.  Not bad choosing, but she isn't going to win either.

6.  We are getting family pictures taken on Saturday.  I don't know what's more nerve-racking...  learning it's suppost to snow or deciding on what we will wear.  Do I go complimentary or matchy matchy?

7.  I just saw an article on Oprah's website on the woman who was attacked by the monkey.  Man, and I thought I had struggles.

8.  I have realized I am one of those people who wishes there were more hours in a day.  I used to think that was a weird thing to say, now I don't want to sleep cause I could be doing something then I am groggy in the morning.  I guess I don't know how to balance my life very well.  What's too much?

Trick or Treating 2009

Abby had a great time being Belle again this year

She went Trick or Treating with Alex
and had a blast!

I'm not really sure what she is doing below.  She didn't get the movie for Halloween, but I guess she wanted a picture with it.  This picture was taken after "Trick or Treating", notice the "crazy eyes" from all the candy and excitement!

To the Fifth Power

My sister has this posted on her blog, it's short and sweet...  and looked like fun so I thought I would give it a spin.
Five North American Cities in Which I'd Seriously Consider Living:

1. Arlington, VA
2. Moses Lake, WA
3. Bakersfield, CA
4. Boise, ID
5. Vancouver, WA

Five Songs to Which I Know all the Words:

1. Touch Me (Samantha Fox)
2. Any commercial Jingle
3. Happy Together (The Turtles)
4. Sweet Dreem (Eurythmics)
5. Royal High School Fight Song


Five Foods I'd Wish to Have in Unlimited Quantities on a Desert Island:

1. Chocolate
2. Corn Chips
3. Burritos
4. Diet Pepsi
5. Creme Brulee'

Five Chores I Should Be Doing Right Now Instead of Blogging:

1. Laundry
2. Making dinner (to put in the fridge for tomorrow)
3. Organizing sack lunches, outfits, Abby's backpack for tomorrow
4. Cleaning a bathroom
5. Tidying up

Five Childhood Friend I'd Love to See Again:

1. Janet
2. Kristi Ann
3. Michelle
4. Carrie
5. Joan

We loved, loved, loved having Hilary with us last week.  Above are pictures we took of her visit.  Thanks for coming Hilary, your visit ranked a "20" on the 1-10 scale; however, Abby is still in recovery.  Reality isn't quite as fun without "birthdays" several times a day.

Please let Steve know the pictures burned to a CD are still on my "to-do list.

Is this still considered "Week 2"?

Well to tell you the truth, when I typed that I would do this every week, I realized I was setting myself up for failures. That being said, four-year-olds don't do everything you want them too (so the clip can "showcase" all the cute things they do)!
This week's clip is of her and her friend Alex. Alex is Abby's best friend, good thing he lives right next door. Cute little pair, they have a sweet way with each other.

I have also placed this one on Youtube, the link is below. Enjoy!

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_uTfR4VtI8

Could 'Old McDonald' have a cuter farm?

Abby loves to sing and I LOVE to hear her. Usually I don't recognize the tune, but this time, not only did I recognize the song right away, but she agreed to sing it on tape! It's the sweetest thing I've heard in a long time. Enjoy!

BTW, for those of you who can't load it on your computer, I have also put it on Youtube.com. The link is below

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWsrH-aCKxs

Weekly Interview with Abby

So I decided that it would be fun, now that Abby's speech is clearing up, to ask her questions on camera. I will try and post a new video every week. Here is this week's post.... pretty cute!

It's been this long...

Since we went camping. (This pic of Abby is from our last trip.) The drought is about to be OVER. Have to say, I am VERY excited! Next post you see will be of our trip, yeah!

Really???

I caught the tail end of an interview this morning of a doctor saying people could lose weight be doing three things: stop caffine soda and coffee consumption and get at least 7 hours of sleep. That was it! They had testimonials of 3 people, each had lost 8 to 10 pounds and counting...

My first thought was, "Wow how easy..." Now at 12:35am, I am wondering if I could give up my favorite, quiet, me time, time... let alone my diet soda!

Interesting thought, I might just have to try it.

Tower of London, Alcatraz, Abu Ghraib... ain't got nothin on me!

My darling daughter is a picky, picky eater. I can't count on anything I make being a success to her except maybe chicken nuggets from "Uncle Ron's" (Yes, we eat there enough to use 'family' names...) Mike and I have made a rule that for her exposure, she needs to eat a 'scoop' of whatever we are having. Usually, we end up bribing her with dessert, but if we don't have dessert nothing else will be served for the evening.

Well this morning I decided to be especially cruel to her. I served banana and walnut pancakes (I made sure the walnuts were finely chopped so it wasn't a texture thing) and to top it off, poured homemade raspberry syrup on it (from canning raspberries the day before) and link maple sausage. I thought it was really good and nutritiously sound... well, she took one bite or taste (the bite didn't end up in her stomach) and declared, "I don't like that!". Me the horrible parent brought out the rule, since normally I don't have dessert for breakfast I decided I would get out my strong mom side. I gave her the choice of a "spank on the bum" or to eat the three bites. To her, the choice was clear, she wanted the spank. I completely baulked. Inside I was screaming, "I can't spank her for THAT!" My mind raced, I went to the freezer and started offerring her dessert; Abby you want chocolate? Otterpop? popscicle? Yes, yes popscicle it was! I felt relieved. She took one more taste, then spit it out. The popscicle wasn't good enough anymore. I became "strong mom" again and declared... "You need to sit there until your bites are gone." She took one more bite, chewed a couple times and spit that one out too... AND then, she threw up on her plate. Well, what do you say to that? She was upset that she threw up (I did check if she had a fever or was actually sick), after she got over it, she looked at me as if to say, "Now what do you got?" I was majorly irritated and couldn't stop my gagging reflex... afterwhich she went upstairs and that was that. I still don't know what to think.. and that was 8 hours ago...

What do you do at your house?

Lets Get Ready to Rummmmbbbbllllleeeeee!

Saturday, Mike and I drove to Idaho Falls to spend the 4th of July with Melissa and her family. We had a great time! There was lots of food, trampoline jumping, swinging, visiting, and High School Musical. We also visited the "Title of Liberty Flag" exhibit, very patriotic and humbling and walked up the road to watch fireworks at "The Falls". BTW, I have wondered who has better fireworks... Mellaluca or "Stadium of Fire" and I have to say, Mellaluca's was more intense, we LOVED it! Lastly, we had a Wii beat-down! Melissa kicked my butt at boxing, KOed me twice, my arms are still sore! It was loads of fun. I'm sure I beat her in bowling because of my college bowling class;) rrriiiggghhhtt!

Either way, we had a great time!

Our Little Picassa

Today during church Abby didn't want to go to class... I was substituting in another junior primary class, so she went with me. While in class, I realized we had a little Picasso in our midst! Notice this man holding a balloon.

This woman is probably nicer than she looks. This one kinda scares me... It reminds me of the "The Scream" painting by Edvard Munch. After church, Abby and I played with several mediums. This is a colored pencil drawing from the "Giant Head Era". (Notice all the teeth, but then again, maybe he is part shark OR he has a drug problem. Meth really screws up your mouth!)

This one Abby told me was a "Flying Rabbit" on the Bottom Left (I think it looks like the Hamburger Helper Glove). Top Center and Right is a "Momma Bee and Baby Bee". The Object to the left is a flower, very pretty!

This picture is a little more obscure/impressionistic, can you guess what it is? It's a family portrait. Mike is the green circle in the back (Top Left), I am the large brown haired "thing" in the fore-front. I'm not sure what is coming out of my face... hopefully it isn't yelling. Abby is the green face to my Right. She has flowers in her hair, love the large head and small features... (At least we are all smiling!)

I wish I could post the picture she painted of Gpa and of Kiki, the cat. Both were REALLY good. However, they didn't make it and were painted over. Gpa was great because it looked like he was jumping rope. If you know my father, well I can't picture him jumping rope and that makes me laugh. The picture of the cat was amazingly like a cat. Maybe she will make another one!

I hope these make you laugh and be in awe as they did me, remember she is only 3!

Our Crazy Obsession

I remember watching the cartoon at home in the early 80's. I was completely frightened. I hated the scene where they cut Aslan's hair and killed him in the ceremony on the table. Infact, when the movie came out, I was not a fan until after I saw it again.

Jump twenty-five years.... Abby has opened the wardrobe, and loves it. I think it WAS on constant rotation at our house until yesterday, after five days. The first day, she watched it 3 times in a row. That Friday night, with a long power nap to sustain her, we stayed up until 2:00am only with her fighting me when I turned it off. Now the movie is on, she gets upset when it's off, but she will bring her activities to the movie and play while it is going on.

Can you guess which scene she stops to watch, no matter what we are doing? Yep, the scene where they cut Aslan's hair, he dies, and resurrects. I not only do we watch, but she claps, whistles, and cheers when he appears!

She loves it so much, that when our deaf mentor came to our house, she told him about the movie... IN CONSTANT ROTATION.

I do love this version of the movie. I love the religious undertones. I love that Abby understands, but right now I need a break!

Perfect, Perfect, Perfect

Today Abby had an audiology appointment in Sandy, Mike wanted to come, so he took the day off. After the audiology appointment, we went to the Olive Garden for lunch (thank you Kathy and Hilary!) As we pulled into the parking lot, we could see across the street to Sugar House park. During our meal, we talked about how fun it would be to feed the "ducks".

When our meal was finished we decided to follow it up. We had breadsticks leftover, usually we take them home, this time we decided to give them to the ducks. Abby had a blast! The weather was perfect, lunch was perfect, spending quality time with my family... was perfect; best of all, Abby loved it!

As it turned out, the "ducks" we could see from Olive Garden parking lot were seagulls posing as ducks. They have a pretty good "racket" posing as ducks, there were five other families feeding them while we were there.

Schools Out for Summer!

I didn't realize when school got out, teachers and staff were just as anxious for the last day as the kids. I have been looking forward to this day since Christmas! Well Friday was our last day. The teacher I work with bought me a yearbook, so I was in the cafeteria with the other teachers and students saying, "Wanna sign my yearbook?" It made me laugh at the irony!

I worked in the Special Ed department and was relieved when another teacher explained when students wrote H.A.G.S. it meant "Have a great summer." I thought students were writing "HUGS" just mispelled, such a relief!

Saturday, we went with some friends to see the movie "Up". For those of you not wanting to see it, I LOVED IT. The jokes were smart, Pixar paid attention to detail, and it kept my 3 year old's attention... can't beat that! Afterwhich we went to a park to have the kids picnic and play. As the "grown-ups" were sitting on the blankets to visit. One of my kids from school with two others from the junior high passed. I recognized them but didn't say anything to them because they were not looking at me. About an hour later, they passed again... this time, they ALL looked. My first reaction was to say, "Hey guys, howya doing?" They all said, "Hi" back... but then one of them (not my student) said, "See I told you it was the 'lady' from the school!" I have been laughing about that ever since! I have a feeling that won't be the last time I hear that comment before school starts again!

My "Holly" Dilemma

Before Abby was born, Holly was our baby. She was very spoiled. She went EVERYWHERE with us. When she was 7 years old, Abby was born. Our arrival home from the hospital we had family and friends visiting... it was getting late, they started thinning out. I remember studing Holly. The look on her face as everyone left leaving was, "Well, when's that 'thing' gonna leave?" referring to Abby.
Well, a year went by, we had infrequent, but frequent enough "mistakes/on purposes" that I couldn't take the stress. We couldn't afford new carpet but we didn't want to make a perminent decision about Holly, either.
So for about two years Holly has been living in the confines of the kitchen, linoleum, most importantly. I knew she was unhappy, but I couldn't handle one more "on purpose".
Well about two weeks ago, we were in Petsmart and noticed doggie diapers called "Wee Wee Diapers". I had heard about them, but didn't know if they would work for Holly. We decided if they didn't work, we were only down $20 (their expensive for 17). Well I can honestly say, "they work!" As infrequent as her "on purposes" are, we can use the same diaper multiple days, yeah!
In our house everyone seems to be happier. Here are our pictures...

Memorial Day 2009

Today we went to visit Mike's parents. Abby had never been to their plots and we thought it was time to check in on them. The last time we visited was before Abby was born. Their headstones were very overgrown with grass. This time we brought several tools to "edge" and clean them up, but when we got there we were pleasantly surprised that they looked quite nice. Here are pictures of our afternoon.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

I didn't realize how easy these cookies were:

3 beaten eggs

1 1/2 cup sugar
4 squares (4 ounces) unsweetened chocolate, melted

1/2 cup cooking oil

2 tea baking powder

2 tea vanilla

2 cups flour

sifted powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl combine beaten eggs, sugar, melted chocolate, cooking oil, baking powder, and vanilla. Gradually add flour to chocolate mixture, stirring till thoroughly combined. Cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours till easy to handle.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in powdered sugar and coat generously. Place in ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day

I know this post is suppost to be about Mother's Day, but I took these pictures before church. She looked so darn cute that I couldn't resist. She didn't like this dress (I LOVE it), but I bribed her with chocolate chips, notice her purse... there is a sandwich bag with chocolate in it! Today was a good day; Mike and Abby went to church, we had pizza, I had a nap, we called Monnie and my mom, and wished my sister a happy birthday.

Now I'm ready for Monday!

Ooey, Gooey Goodness

I have been craving a recipe that my mom gave me while in college. I haven't made it since, but every now and then I think about it. Well today I called my mom; but she wasn't home, so I looked it up on the internet. I didn't find the EXACT recipe, but I did find a recipe SO similar, that I can only think of one difference. Here it is...

Chocolate Pudding Cake

3/4 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Flour

3 Tbls Cocoa

2 Tea Baking Powder

1/4 Tea Salt

1/2 Cup Milk

1/3 Cup Melted Butter or Margarine

1 1/2 Tea Vanilla

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

4 Tbls Cocoa

1 1/3 Cup Hot Water

Combine 3/4 cup sugar, flour, 3 tbls cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

Blend in milk, butter, and vanilla.

Beat until smooth. Pure into 8" square pan.

In a small bowl combine 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, and 4 tbls cocoa. Sprinkle over top of cake. DO NOT STIR. Pour hot water over cake. DO NOT STIR.

Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes. Stand for 15 minutes

Enjoy!

A New Morning Staple?

I wonder why this bread hasn't become a staple like Zuchini, Pumpkin, or Banana Bread. This would be the perfect side-kick at breadfast or brunch. It was given to me by Patrice and I absolutely LOVE it and so does Abby!

Country Cinnamon Swirl Bread

1/4 Cup Butter, Softened

1 1/3 Cup Sugar, Divided

1 Egg

2 Cups Flour

1 Tea Baking Powder

1/2 Tea Baking Soda

1/2 Tea Salt

1 Cup Buttermilk

1 Tbls Cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, 1 cup sugar and egg until blended. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add an egg to the mixture alternately with buttermilk. In small bowl, combine the cinnamon and remaining sugar.

Pour a third of the batter in a greased bread loaf pan; sprinkle with a third of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat the layers twice. Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!