Recipes and family pictures

I forgot to include this in my last post. It is the recipe for the bars I took to Stone Soup night. They are super yummy, definitely a favorite. The recipe is from hersheykitchens.com, but I got it from my sister, Kristin, so she deserves the credit for this great treat.

Rich Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars
2 1/3 cups flour
2/3 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 cups (12 oz pkg) semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup coarsley chopped nuts
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/3 cups (8 oz pkg) toffee bits

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. grease a 13 x 9 baking dish
2. Combine flour and brown sugar in a large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg; mix well. Stir in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips and nuts; set aside 1 1/2 cups mixture.
3.Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of pan. Bake 10 min. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over hot crust. Set aside 1/4 cup toffee bits. Sprinkle remaining toffee bits over sweetened condensed milk. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture and remaining chocolate chips over top.
4. Bake 25 to 30 min or until golden brown. Top with reserved toffee bits. Cool completely in pan. Cut into bars.

I don't put the nuts in and it still works out great. And you might need to cook it more than 30 minutes to make sure it gets done enough in the middle.

On Sunday morning I was getting Kylee dressed for church and noticed that she had a hair wrapped around 2 of her toes. The one toe was a little red, but was fine after I got the hair off. But on her other toe the hair had cut into it really bad and it was all red and has a mark on it. It wasn't bleeding or anything, but it's pretty deep. So hopefully it will heal and be ok. We'd hate for her to be the weird 4 toed girl people talk about.

It has been our tradition ever since we've had kids to take our Christmas card picture at Thanksgiving. Last year we didn't because I had just had my wisdom teeth pulled and I looked a little freakish. This year we aren't going to Indiana like we usually do so we had to do our picture ourselves. I finally figured out how to use the timer on the camera and we actually got a pretty good picture. I won't ruin the surprise, you'll have to wait to see that one. But here is one I took of just the kids.

Shocking that it turned out. Price was having a fit 5 minutes before and Kylee started screaming about 2 minutes after this. I guess it all depends on the timing.

Dentist and Stone Soup

I've somewhat regained my sanity from another Jer-less week. Luckily this week he will be a little closer to home. But then again this will be my first year cooking Thanksgiving dinner so I may lose my mind over that. There have already been some sleepless nights planning the menu and making sure I have everything. At least HyVee is open on Thanksgiving so if I do forget something Jer can run to the store.

On Wednesday Price had to go to the dentist to get a cavity filled. It sure is a lot different going to a pediatric dentist. They make up fun names for the instruments and show him how they work. They have a TV on the ceiling for him to watch. And they really could do anything to him as long as he is watching TV. They gave him a little laughing gas too. I could tell it was starting to work because he started talking a lot more to the dentist and his assistant. Usually he just looks at them and doesn't say a word. But they had different flavored masks so he really liked smelling it and they even let him bring it home after. He carried that thing around for the rest of the day smelling it. So for his first cavity it went well, perhaps even a little enjoyable. Although I don't think that's a good deterrant to getting a cavity. I think it should be a little more uncomfortable so he'll have an incentive to brush better.

On Thursday at Price's school they read Stone Soup and made their own version of stone soup. Somehow I keep getting wrangled into eating food made by 4-year-olds, but we had a good time going that night to his school and eating his soup. I actually knew another one of the moms and she was alone with her kids like me. So I had a good time talking to her and seeing the other kids in Price's class.

On Friday we had the ward Thanksgiving party. It was the usual ward potluck. One highlight is Bro. Quillin's cheesy potatoes, they sure are tasty. But as usual there is the unidentifiable dishes that you don't dare eat and the 500 desserts. It was fun to get out and there were a ton of people there.

Other than that life has been pretty boring at our house. Jeremy was gone yesterday helping his friend farm and then at the stake youth activity. Today we practiced for the primary program and I realized people can e-mail me and I will read it, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to remember or even process what was written. I blame my fried brain on all these wild kids....

Secret Nails

After being gone all week Jeremy set up an appointment for me to get a pedicure. What a great husband. But of course he's Jer and he had to find the best deal around. And that best deal was at Secret Nails at the mall. Every mall has a nail place like this, you know you do too. It's the place run by Asian women and none of them speak English.

I should have known there would be trouble when the first thing the lady says to me I respond with a "huh, what?" From there it just got comical. The lady who started doing my pedicure surely has had a career in some sort of torture. She would say "foot here" and point if she wanted my foot in the water or out. Usually when I get a pedicure they trim your nails and use the emery board, but she had some sort of scalpel she was digging away with at my toes . Then she pulls out the cheese grater, I kid you not. Just like the kind Rachael Ray uses to grate garlic or zest citrus. I know my feet can get a little grody, but really was that necessary. When she was done she showed it to me so I could see how much skin was on it. Either that or she was really grossed out by it. Then the vigorous slapping began. She had me put my feet together and she slapped all up and down my legs. I wanted to tell her that it didn't feel good at all, but I doubt she would have understood me.

Then she tag teamed it with the nail painting lady. She seemed to like to pinch my toes while painting them. When she was done she had me sit in front of these little foot fans so my toes could dry. Then she says "You pay me now". I wasn't sure if it was a request or a command or if I should say "Yes ma'am". So then I really wasn't sure if I should leave or wait to be dismissed. I decided to just let my nails dry a little more before going. Finally the first lady told me my nails were dry and that I could leave.

It was good to get out and have a little me time, but it was definitely the most interesting pedicure I've ever had. Most pedicures I've had last at least an hour. This one had me in and out in less than 30 minutes. Relaxing? NO, but the most entertainment I've had in a long time.

Parent/Teacher conference

Yesterday I had Price's first Parent/Teacher conference. I've never had one of these as a parent. I was a little nervous because I feel it's almost like a critique on my parenting. Luckily Price is very well behaved at school and is doing well for being a 4-year-old boy. There are a few things we need to work on, like him knowing his address and being able to count out things. He can count just fine, but if you ask him to give you 4 cars or 7 blocks he has trouble. I really like his teacher and school seems to be going great for him otherwise.

Jer's mom and sister left yesterday so again I'm on my own. It was so nice to have someone here so I didn't have to take the girls when I pick up Price or just to have some adult conversation. I also realized how nice it was to have his mom helping me when the girls are screaming, Price needs his shoe tied and we're trying to make dinner. It sure helps to have extra hands. We are going to miss grandma and all her help. Both Price and Bryn kept asking this morning if they could go wake up grandma, they didn't quite get it that when we took her to the airport that meant she was gone.


Between President Johnson's talk at stake conference and some articles in the Friend and Ensign I've decided I need to fill my time with more productive and positive influences (i.e. less TV watching). Today was the first day that I really tried hard not to watch tv, but to read or do other things. I was quite productive too. I read Brynlee a ton of books and practically the whole Friend, I raked all the leaves in the backyard and garage and I made some muffins for dinner and I was going to paint the front steps but we don't have the right kind of paint. Although I am planning on watching Biggest Loser tonight I realize that there are times when I'm just bored, flipping through the channels. So hopefully I can decrease my tv watching and work on some other things. Between this and my goal to eat less treats hopefully I can more quickly shed all these baby pounds.

Great Weekend

This weekend we had such great weather. I wish it would last, but I have a feeling it is the last really warm weather we are going to have this year.

Jeremy came home Friday night. He was going to stay in Texas and see a friend, but that fell through. Secretly I'm glad it fell through, we miss him when he's gone that long. I can really tell a change in the kids when they don't see him every day.

Saturday was great, we went to the park and played. Then Jer's mom made us a yummy lunch. In the afternoon we went for a long walk to burn off all we ate. The kids had so much fun playing outside and we wore them out so they went to bed really easily. We then got to go out on a little date night while Grandma watched the kids. We went to the adult session of stake conference (we sure know how to have a good time). Then we went to Sonic and got some food. We usually try to make this our date night. The speakers are always so good it's late enough that the kids are usually in bed for the whole time. I used to love babysitting when the kids were asleep the whole time. This time didn't disappoint either, the talks were great (maybe I love them so much because I can actually pay attention and hear what is going on).

On Sunday Kylee officially turned 2 months old! She is getting to be such a chunky monkey, but she is such a good baby. She loves to smile and talk and is staying awake a lot more. She still gets tormented by Bryn, but it is getting less and less.

We then went to Stake Conference which is usually a little hairy with all the kids, but was actually pretty good this time. I think it can be credited to the bag of Fruit Loops I brought, but hey whatever works. I had to say the closing prayer so I think that helped me to pay attention a little more than usual, but I thought it was one of the better stake conferences that we've had.

Sunday afternoon we just lounged around and then Jer made us a great surf and turf dinner. We had steak and potatoes and shrimp. It was great. But I love when I don't have to cook. Although I did do the dishes which isn't a fave job of my.

While Jeremy made dinner I played outside with the kids. Price wanted to play baseball and so did Brynlee. Although this is what she was trying to play in.

It's hard to field baseballs when you are wearing high heels. She has learned to run in them so I guess that's a valuable girl skill that she already has down.

Movie recommendation: We had a family movie night a couple of weeks ago and I think I forgot to mention it. We watched 'Moondance Alexander' and it was pretty good. My mom told us about it a few months ago. It just seems hard to find movies that we like and the kids like that aren't cartoons. So thank you mom for the movie tip.

Last Friday we braved the crowds and got the kids the H1N1 vaccine. They never announced on the news how many vaccines were available so I just assumed that they wouldn't have a lot. We got there about 8:40 and they started giving them at 9am. We only waited until 9:20 and they got us through really quickly. But later I found out that they had over 1500 doses so we really could have waited until later and come and there wouldn't have been a line at all. But oh well, we got the kids vaccinated and now I won't have to worry so much about them getting sick.

A week with Grandma

We've had a great week having Jeremy's mom and sister with us. I don't think I would have made it this week without them. It's nice to be able to take Price to school and not have to pack up the girls too. Especially with Jeremy being gone, I really needed the help.

We went to Chuck E. Cheese on Wed. afternoon and had a great time. The kids won lots of tickets and got some prizes, plus it was fun to just get out of the house for a few hours.

Last night I went to RS and had a great time. Jer's mom even made rolls for me to take for the dinner. She is definitely spoiling us. Hopefully we'll be ok next week when she is gone, but I know we will miss her and all she has done to help us.

The kids love to torment their Aunt Steph. She does not like to share her cards or puzzles, but she has been good to put up with a niece and nephew who are loud and unruly. Sometimes it's like having another 4-year-old around, but it's been fun. I think Steph will be glad when she gets home and does have kids jumping on her when she's trying to take a nap and she won't have to share her cookies or pop with us.
We definitely wore Grandma out this week. She was reading to Brynlee while I was in the kitchen and I noticed that she was reading slower and slower until she stopped. At first I thought she was looking at the book, but then I realized it was because she was asleep. We've run Grandma so ragged that she falls asleep mid sentence. She just might need a vacation after coming to our house. This is a pic of her falling asleep on the couch again.

At the library this week I found a DVD of a show I loved when I was little called "Fairie Tale Theatre". So I got it to see if I still liked it and thought maybe my kids would like it. It has fairy tales acted out by famous actors (from the 80's of course). About 5 min in I realized how lame this show is. The acting (or maybe it was the writing) was horrible and the sets were very low budget. It's funny to see something you remember liking as a child, but watching it now and realizing how easily entertained you were. Or maybe movies are just made a whole lot better now.

Halloween and Kylee's Blessing

What a busy weekend! But it has been tons of fun.

On Friday Jeremy's mom and sister flew in and Jeremy came back from Dallas for the weekend. I made some Cafe Rio pork for dinner and it was very tasty. I miss being in Utah and getting my Cafe Rio fix and despite what Jeremy says Panchero's is not good.

On Halloween I tried my 2nd installment of getting rid of the mole. I heard from Jer's dad that they like Juicy Fruit gum. So I researched it on the internet and decided it was worth a try. I mean gum is cheap and if it works, great! So we'll see how it goes.

We took our kids over to our friends' house to trick or treat since they wanted to see the kids in their costumes. Then we came home and had dinner. I made these ghost sandwiches and Halloween mac and cheese (it had pumpkin in it). I was inspired by Alicia's blog to be a little more festive in our meals and it actually turned out good. So we'll have to keep on doing this each year.
Jer and his mom took the kids around the neighborhood and I stayed home and passed out candy. I think this is the first year Jeremy has gone trick or treating with the kids. He always seems to be gone for work this time of year so it was fun for him to be home for once.

Today we blessed Kylee and it turned out great. My mom made the prettiest dress for her. When I was getting her dressed Price told me that her dress was too big for her, but I assured him that is how it is supposed to be. She looked so pretty and she didn't cry during her blessing.

A great day overall and if anyone has any ideas on how to preserve my girls' blessing dresses that would be greatly appreciated.