Catch up?

So I haven't posted for a long time. But I think I'd like to start up again. Pictures to come. But I am going to start back in to blogging by doing something my SIL does: listing a few things I'm grateful for each day of November. So expect to hear a lot more soon. :)

Halloween 2011

I'm grateful for:
1. Grant helping Kadri take her last bites of lunch so she can have a treat with us.
2. Music- piano, violin, singing, any!

Grant after his piano recital. He played "The Dinosaur Song" and a duet with me-- "Hobbyhorse."  He did great!


3. Good health. We sure miss it when we're sick. I forget how grateful I am for it!

October

I did a lot of canning this month. I was so sick of canning by the time I was done! But the shelves are filled up now with applesauce, apple pie filling, peaches, pears, salsa, and green beans. No pictures though. One week during canning, Grant asked me to make cinnamon rolls. Since the kids had been neglected a bit amidst the peeling, filling, and boiling, I agreed. He has made them with my mom before, and when I first started, he said I was doing even better than Grandma. But by the time I was done, he told me he changed his mind, I wasn't as good as Grandma. Although misshapen, they were delicious.  Cinnamon rolls while canning made for a really crazy morning. Here they are, ready to help me make cinnamon rolls. These two crack me up.

 The House that Grant Built.

Grant intently carving his pumpkin during Family Home Evening, the Monday before Halloween. The kid has a lot of patience.... For some things.

Kadri watching while Grant carves her pumpkin for her.

Parker Pumpkins: Kadri, Grant, Mom and Dad.  I usually have no creativity for carving. I tried a little harder this year.

Face painting from playgroup. My friend Amber does an awesome job of organizing playgroup. We had a little Halloween carnival- she is seriously creative!

Tyson and I dressed up for Halloween this year, and it was fun! We usually wait til the last minute or do nothing at all, but this year we planned ahead and decided to dress like a 1940s couple. He is wearing his Grandpa's WWII uniform, and I am wearing a dress that my Grandma had kept.

The whole family

Grant has been really into drawing lately. I really hope he's inherited his dad's artistic talent, not mine! This is a picture of a dolphin. I bought that white board last week- totally worth the money!

Cousins. So cute!!!

Grant, Dallin and Parker

SLedding

I just found this post, unpublished. This was in February. Kaitlyn came with us sledding. It was fun! We went to Chilis afterwards. Delicious. We love Aunt Kaitlyn!

messy face

Just because we have to have at least one messy spaghetti face picture per kid, right?

Kadri May 2011

Grant May 2008

personal revelation

Excuse this personal aside...

As part of my church, I belong to a woman's organization called Relief Society. Its goal is to strengthen its members faith, personal righteousness, home and family, and to provide help to those in need.  The president of this organization is Julie Beck. Awhile ago she said this:

"A good woman knows that she does not have enough time, energy, or opportunity to take care of all of the people or do all of the worthy things her heart yearns to do. Life is not calm for most women, and each day seems to require the accomplishment of a million things, most of which are important. A good woman must constantly resist alluring and deceptive messages from many sources telling her that she is entitled to more time away from her responsibilities and that she deserves a life of greater ease and independence. But with personal revelation, she can prioritize correctly and navigate this life confidently."

What a promise! I believe this applies to all women, no matter their circumstances. I look at my friends and family and admire the choices they make and the good and inspired things they do with their time. I want to be able to navigate my life confidently, too! It involves constant decision making which can be a problem because I can be so indecisive!  But I am going to trust that God allows even me to receive personal revelation through the Holy Spirit. One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

Nothing big is going on in my life. It's just the little things that can be hard sometimes.

Oh, I have a blog?

Since it's been forever, I'll just share some random tidbits.

- Thanks to my friend Stevie for her cleaning tips (I couldn't find the post to link to it, sorry Stevie!) I hate cleaning out the microwave. It seems like it's always dirty and it takes forever to scrub out. Well Stevie mentioned lemon juice and I'm converted!!! Just boil 1-2 cups water with a few tablespoons of lemon juice added. I microwaved mine for 5 minutes and let it sit for about 10. Then it seriously just wipes right out. Awesome!


- Thanks to my SIL who suggested eating stir fry over ramen noodles instead of rice. I fixed it last night and it was delicious. It's our new preferred method. The stir fry recipe is one of our favorites. Want it? Okay, I'll share.

1 lb meat, cut up (I use chicken because I always have some. You can use whatever you want.)
3 Tbsp soy sauce (more if you want)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
4 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp ginger
Soak meat in this sauce mixture while you prepare vegetables.
Vegetables:
I've used broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, asparagus, yellow squash, onions, carrots, and bok choy (thanks bountiful baskets!). Use whatever you like. Chop up. Steam first, if desired. Then stir fry in oil until tender-crisp. Remove vegetables from pan, reserve oil. Cook chicken in oil. Add the vegetables back in. Enjoy!

-Okay, question for all you photography friends. I can see that lighting outdoors is a million times better than indoors. But a lot of times, I need to take pictures inside. And I only have an inexpensive point-and-shoot. Is there any hope for my indoor pictures?

-Kadri is one now and just a little thing. But she walks, climbs, squeals, and yells like the best of them. She is LOUD! But pretty cute. We'll keep her!

- I did my first craft/sewing project since Kadri was born. Yeah! I made a skirt and matching headband. Tutorials found here and here.

- The public library is great. Grant made this cool hat at story-time. You know what else is nice? I can put a bunch of books on hold on their website and then they are just ready to pick up! Easy! Thanks librarians!

- You are still reading? You are a true friend. I would promise that I will keep posting more consistently, but you know how that goes. And my last post about being a scaredy-cat? Thank you so much to those who commented. You made me feel validated! I will still avoid anything remotely scary, but now I can do it without being embarrassed. Thanks! :)

I am a Scaredy-Cat

I have a problem. It is kind of ridiculous, but maybe someone can really give me some advice!!

   Apparently I can't read or watch anything remotely suspenseful, intense or scary. I was reminded of this again last weekend. I was watching part of a Masterpiece Theater show called Daniel Deronda (rated PG). Masterpiece Theater, people. It wasn't scary, just really intense. I got so engrossed in the show that when it was time for me to go to sleep, I couldn't. I was so high strung that it seriously took me hours to fall asleep, and then I tossed and turned all night.
   This isn't new. I tend to get so wrapped up in what I'm reading/watching that I lose sense of reality. I feel the emotions of the characters acutely. Sometimes I feel like things actually happened to me and the sadness, anger, fear, etc. feels like my own. I cry and laugh out loud a lot while reading books. To give you a taste of what I mean, I'll give you some examples. I close my eyes the entire time of Terror Ride at Lagoon or Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. I conveniently take a bathroom break during parts of Pirates of the Caribbean and Muppets' Christmas Carol. My freshman year of college, the institute was showing Watcher in the Woods (Disney, PG) for Halloween and I could not watch it. I didn't want anyone to know I was scared, so I looked at something next to the screen and thought happy thoughts the whole time! Oh and last time I watched a movie that was really meant to be scary was The Sixth Sense. I was a teenager and the night after I watched it, I begged my mom to sleep with me in the family room. I had nightmares for years--seriously, years. It's really kind of embarrassing.  I can't watch exciting movies like National Treasure before bed or I won't sleep. I read and loved The Hobbit, but when I tried to read the rest of the Lord of the Rings series, I couldn't get past the first few chapters because I was already too scared. Hunger Games gave me nightmares. I made my husband read parts of Harry Potter #6 out loud to me in the daylight because I couldn't do it.

So do I just give up on reading or watching anything intense? What am I supposed to do? Is anyone else like this??