I Love....

I love February. I have finally settled into those new years resolutions, the Primary rush is over and here in St. George it starts to warm up. We are looking forward to a weekend in the 60's. It is also Valentine's Day. Not that since we have been married there has been any spectacular Valentine's Day events, but I just like the idea of a holiday where you let the people close to you know you love them. My dad used to knock on our door when we were little and leave a Valentine for us. One year it was a box of crayons that were chocolate one year we each got a huge bucket of redvines from Costco, we always loved running to the door to see what he left. Do you remember when we were small, everyone in the neighborhood would bring valentines and ring the doorbell and run? How come we don't do that any more?

I love making valentines for my kids and their friends. Here is an idea I found online. I ordered all the stuff to make these fun valentines for my kids' school classes. I ordered all the stuff from LorAnn's website. It was way cheaper than in the stores. LorAnn’s makes the most ingenious Pencil Pops. This little piece of plastic molds in the lollipop in place of sucker sticks. When the lollipop is finished it then will fit onto a pencil. If you want to use lollipop molds like we did you must make sure to buy the molds that have a space made for the pencil pop. We used 3 sheets of molds, yielding 15 lollipops.

Old Fashioned Lollipops

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup light corn syrup

¾ cup water

1 tsp Flavoring (we used LorAnn)

¼ tsp Liquid Food Coloring

Candy Thermometer

Lightly spray molds with cooking spray and insert pencil pops into your molds.

Pour hot candy into molds.





Here are a couple other recipes that I plan on trying this month.

Fortune Cookies
This recipe is from Martha Stewart


These delicious cookies don't have to be confined to Chinese meals; they also make wonderful party favors, place cards, or everyday desserts. The batter used to make these fortune cookies is traditional tuile batter. Tuiles are thin, crisp cookies that are easy to mold into curved shapes while still warm from the oven. Remember, the key to success with these oversize cookies is to shape them quickly.
Ingredients
Makes 15
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large egg whites
1 cup superfine sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon almond extract
Nonstick cooking spray
Directions
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet liberally with cooking spray. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine egg whites and sugar, and beat on medium speed, about 30 seconds. Add flour and salt, and beat until combined. Add butter, heavy cream, and almond extract, and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.
Pour 1 tablespoon of batter onto half of the baking sheet, and spread with the back of a spoon into a thin 5-inch circle; repeat on the other half of the sheet. Bake until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown, about 8 minutes.
Transfer baking sheet to a heat-resistant surface. Working as quickly as possible, slide a spatula (an offset spatula, available at specialty kitchen shops, works best) under one of the cookies. Lift it up, and place it on a clean kitchen towel. Using your fingers, fold the cookie in half, pinching the top together to form a loose semicircle. Hold the cookie with your index fingers inserted at each open end, and slide your thumbs together along the bottom line. Press into the center of the cookie while bending the two open ends together and down to form the shape of a fortune cookie. This whole process should take about 10 seconds. Once the cookie hardens, which begins to happen almost immediately, you cannot fold it. Place the fortune cookie on the kitchen towel to cool, and shape the second cookie. Repeat until all the batter is used up. To speed up the process, bake four cookies at a time, staggering two cookie sheets by 4 minutes to give you time to shape. To avoid wasting batter, practice folding with a circle of paper first.
Write your message on a long strip of sturdy art paper, such as Japanese moriki. Thread the fortune through the cookie when it has cooled.


Baked Hot Chocolate
This recipe is from Good Things Utah. The girls said it was THE best dessert they had ever had!


Ingredients:

9 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 ounces butter
4 whole eggs
1/4 cup sugar

Combine chocolate and butter in a mixing bowl and melt over a double boiler; combine eggs and sugar in a separate mixing bowl and warm over double boiler until warm to the touch; transfer egg mixture to mixer and whip until fluffy; fold whipped eggs into melted chocolate; divide evenly into 4 bake proof dishes and bake at 350 degrees for 17 to 20 minutes.

What are your valentine traditions and recipes?

A Lasting Legacy

“I know as surely as anything in this world that someday I shall die as to the life of this world. But I have an absolute certainty in my heart that I shall go on living and doing good and having the association of my beloved companion and my children” ( President Gordon B Hinkley,meeting,Guayaquil, Ecuador, 31 July 1999).

Our church has suffered a great loss in the death of our beloved prophet, Gordon B. Hinkley. He has been and amazing instrument in the hand of the Lord to move His work forward at an astounding pace. He will be greatly missed. We look forward to the sustaining of our new prophet with a renewed sense of faith and dedication.

Organized Chaos

My cousin Emily posted about organizing, she asked us to post our best ideas. Therefore, I will post a few of the things that make my life easier.

Cubbies at the back door- This is where the kids literally drop their backpacks, jackets etc. It is also where I put anything of theirs that I find in the house throughout the day. They have to empty their cubby once a day. Obviously they have not been emptied today.

Shoe basket- by the back door. This is where all shoes go when the kids come inside. Then as we leave anywhere there is a pair of shoes to put on. I have them put all but one pair away once a week.

Wrapping Station- I am always putting together gifts, this little station Carter built me around Christmas time has been a lifesaver. I spray painted a rain gutter to hold the ribbon rolls, and the wrapping paper is stored on curtain rods. This ideas was from my friend Cathie.

Job boards- These save my life everyday.

Craft cupboard- I have done this for a long time. I put all crayons, markers, paints, stickers, stamps, pens and pencils, glue and craft stuff in their own Rubbermaid's, all our craft and art things are kept together here.

Baby toy basket- When I have a baby I keep a basket of toys in a cupboard in my family room, now that I don't have babies I still use it when we have little ones over.

Command Center Binder- I learned this from my Aunt Rosemary- This is a binder with dividers that read: Emergency numbers(poison control,doctors, neighbors etc), phone lists, school (class info, PTA info, lunch calenders), church(VT lists, home teaching lists, scout info, YW info), extracurricular(city team info, piano, book club), menus (menus for the week, menu ideas, shopping lists).

Game closet- Every game in our house is here. Rubbermaid's for card games, and electronic games. No games are allowed in anyone's closets or rooms.

Toy Organizer- I found this idea in Pottery Barn Kids, but who the heck can afford their stuff? Carter made this for me (I know I am lucky).The bottom has 3 large cubbies, a huge one in the middle for a TV (notice our huge TV) and video games,two small ones on each sides of the TV one, two more small ones on the top. I found the baskets on clearance at Shop Ko for next to nothing.

Book Shelves with window seat. Pretty self explanatory

Here is a quick tip from my friend Amber. 10 minute tidy. Before my kids go to bed they have to pick up the entire house for 10 minutes. I set the timer and you would not believe how quick the house gets clean. I love waking up to a straightened house.

I also have each of my kids wipe down a bathroom every day with Clorox wipes, that way the bathrooms never get disgusting and they are much easier to clean.
There are lots of other things I do, and I know that you all probably do all of these things already.

I try to run an efficient household, but after baby four came along I learned that in order to be sane and happy I had to let go of some of my obsessive compulsive tendencies, and I found that a lot of things just really do not matter. I am in the business of raising kids and I intend to enjoy the short moment I have with them, and not miss it because all of the laundry had to be done.
I would love to hear from you what you do to make your house more organized and run more efficiently.

Itching To Tell

Believe it or not Jackson has the chicken pox! Yes he has been vaccinated and yes he still got a pretty good case of the pox. Poor guy says he's itching TO DEATH! He even has a spot on his lip and one on his eyelid. Fun. He feels pretty good, not much of a fever or anything else. So he is playing the Wii and reading a lot. Bad thing about the chicken pox is that you are contagious until the very last spot is scabbed over. About seven days! Long days ahead. What did the sick chicken have? THE PEOPLE POX! Ha.

Family Pictures

We finally did it! We got my whole family together in one place for a family picture. The last time we tackled this major undertaking was when Courtney was 1! It was high time. It was a beautiful fall day, and most of you will recognze the beautiful scenery from my parents back yard (on my list of most beautiful places). Of course Nate, being the family comedian, came dressed completly, head to toe in white. My mom bit her tounge, but you should have seen her face. Nate was waiting for her response. She just quietly whispered to the photographer to put him in the back. I made some comment about an angel and we all burst into laughter. Count on Nate. It was actually pretty low key, and maybe even a little fun. The pictures turned out great. Another thing to cross of the To Do list.

The Holiday Run Down

It as been a while since a good post. We had a wonderful Christmas season. As I posted earlier I was somewhat apprehensive about spending Christmas Eve and Christmas here in St. George. My fears were unfounded. We had so much fun together. We made gingerbread houses with some friends. We went to movies, for drives to see the lights, to the Dicken's Festival, school Christmas programs, chorus concerts and a piano recital to top it all off. I did and insane amount of candy making and Christmas baking. We read Christmas stories every night, watched a lot of Family Channel Christmas movies, and checked the mail constantly for cards and packages. One of the highlights was Grandma and Grandpa Bowen's 12 days of Christmas packages. The kid's could not wait each day to see what grandma and grandpa had sent.
On Christmas eve we ate soups and homemade bread sticks, decorated cookies for Santa, acted out the Nativity, and read a new Christmas book called "The Last Straw." The kids went to bed at a decent hour and we started our wrapping. It was calm, relaxed, intimate and fun! I loved it.
Christmas day we woke up early and opened gifts and spent all day long in our pajamas playing games and putting together toys. We were invited to Christmas dinner by some neighbors. It was a great time.
The next day we drove up north to be with family. Of course I wanted to see our families during the holidays. We stayed with Carter's family. I love it there. His mom and dad are a blast to be with. We stayed up late catching up, eating,playing the Wii and playing cards. The Cluff's are wonderful hosts. I always feel so at home there. They are great in laws!
With my family we went to the annual Bowen Family Christmas party, shopping, out to eat, to visit Grandma Richards, to church,we went to Aunt Rosemary's and ate a delicious dinner with all the Lind cousins, I just love them, they are like brothers and sisters to us, and the Bowen's had a really fun New Year's Eve party. The longer I stay around my family, the more I miss them.
We stayed up north through the new year and then came home to our busy lives. We had such a wonderful time. I am so grateful for our wonderful families. I know how rare it is to have two sets of wonderful parents and grandparents, and so I feel blessed.
We hope your new year is full of wonderful new experiences!

My Dilema

So here is the reason I have not posted for a while, maybe you can help me out. Lately I have heard a lot of stories (from very reliable sources) about people stealing identities from blogs, taking heads off pictures in blogs and using them on pornography sites, and sexual predators coming after children they see on blogs. I love having an open blog because I have met new friends and rediscovered old ones. I love to surf through blogland too! I like posting about my family and I love to post pictures of them. I would never forgive myself if I ever brought harm to any of them, it is just not worth it. I know I can lock my blog, but could someone stil get into it if they really wanted to? I am not sure I have much to say if I don't blog about my family and home life. I am tempted to stop blogging and take my blog off the Internet. I LOVE blogging. It has been my scrapbook, my journal, my connection to family and friends and a really fun new hobby. What do you all think? I would love your opinions. Especially people who know about Internet security. What is a girl to do?

Almost Famous!

I guess our Christmas card this year is being appreciated (even though I left Bowen's name off the instruction sheet, sorry Bo!) One of my friends from Texas passed it on to a friend whe featured me on her blog. Click here to see it. It is actually a really neat blog. I have been checking it out. She has some really neat ideas and I am happy to have made the cut! Kind of fun to see your hard work enjoyed by others. We have been very busy around these parts, therefore the posts have been sparse, but I will try to do better.

Whirlwind Week!

We've been busy! Last week was crazy and fun. My mom and dad came for a quick visit on Monday and Tuesday. I love it when they come. It adds so much fun to our regular routine. I could hang out with my mom everyday and never tire of her. We have a great time together. We shopped and got our nails done, and she helped me do a ton of Christmas cooking.
My dad had to work so we didn't see him as much, but he did help us finish an impossibly hard puzzle. We also got to eat out with him. My kids love it when he is around. He is such a fun grandpa. It is always such a let down when they leave. It wasn't too sad because we were headed up north the next day. But before we left I had a lot to finish up. I mailed the Christmas card, and had a fun group of girls over to make some wooden Christmas signs,and finally I made two very large boxes of Christmas candy for Carter's offices. Whew! Was I glad to finally get out of town. We went up north to attend Carter's office party. His company got us hotel rooms at The Canyons in Park City. It was beautiful! Lots of fresh snow. Carter and I left our kids with Carter's parents on Friday morning and we spent the day shopping and hanging out together in Park City. Later, we went to dinner and the company party at the Cabin Restaurant. It was delicious and so much fun to spend time alone with Cart. Thanks Pam and Ben for making such a fun getaway possible. It was hard to come home after such a fun weekend. The roads going home were a bit dicey, but it was worth it! I can tell it is officially the Christmas season because my head is filling with to do lists. Now what to do for the neighbors, Any suggestions?

Oh What Fun!

I love Christmas! On the day after Thanksgiving, the first thing I do when I wake up is put on some Christmas music and decorate. Then every morning after that I put on music, light a delicious smelling candle, turn on only the tree lights and sit and enjoy. I love everything that comes with Christmas, even crowds, last minute shopping and baking, baking and more baking. I love all the fun family traditions. We are making an effort this year to start our own. This will be the very first year EVER that I have been away from home on Christmas. I will be OK-right? There will be a Pie and Pajama night, a gingerbread house decorating night, a live nativity night, a couples Christmas party, and even a Christmas eve dinner and program-I think. How about sledding in the mountains, and Christmas stories each night. Sometimes, when Carter is gone, I'll pop the kids in the car and we will go out scouting "temple squarish" lights, stop for hot chocolate, and sing Christmas tunes at the top of our lungs. So far I am ahead of the Christmas rush, but we all know that could change dramatically. We are officially decorated, and the Christmas card is written, not sent, but written, and we have already watched a plethora of cheesy Hallmark Christmas dramas. Next on the to do list: candy making and present wrapping. Did I mention how much I love this holiday? I would love to know what all of your favorite Christmas traditions are, so leave a comment and help us fill our holiday with new traditions.