A Converstation With A Three Year Old

Cooper and I were driving home from church together.

Cooper: Mom, John doesn't come to church anymore.

Mom: That is because he is not a Mormon. Everybody has a choice whether or not they want to belong to our Church or not.

Cooper: (thinks for a minute) Mom, I didn't want to be a Mormon.

Mom: Why not Cooper?

Cooper: (thinks for another minute) Mom, do you like church?

Mom: Yes Cooper I love church.

Cooper: (without hesitation) I don't. I hate church. (pause.....) I hate church bad.

Mom: (surprised) Why?

Cooper: (a new Sunbeam) Primary is waaaaaay to long!

Mom: Yes Cooper it is.

Mom: Cooper, Do you love Heavenly Father?

Cooper: Yes mom and I love his son too. (I am teaching him the 1st article of faith)

Mom: When we love Heavenly Father and Jesus we show them by being obedient. They have asked us to go to church to learn about them and their teachings. Church is where they want us to be each Sunday. etc. etc.

Cooper: (quiet for a long time) Mom, I guess I will be a Mormon now.

I thought this conversation would come, just a few years down the road. Cooper is a fun little boy. He is always thinking and wondering. He makes me look at the world with different eyes. I love being home with him while the other kids are at school. Such a priceless time.

What We Did Today a.k.a Why We Love St. George

It Is The Happiest Place On Earth!

We are back from our fun filled week in Southern California. Over here! I am the one under six feet of damp, sandy laundry. It was worth it. Our kids were the perfect age for Disneyland. They loved every minute of it. They never got tired, that was me, sitting on every nearby bench. Cooper was exactly 40 inches tall which meant that he could ride almost everything and he did. Space and Splash Mountain were his favorite. Carter Snapped this picture on his phone when they got of the ride. I love it.
All of the kids were daredevils. They rode the fastest and scariest rides over and over. Cooper and I made sure all of the snacks and treats still tasted the same as the last time we were there. They did. We chose an awesome time to go, the weather was warm and the crowds were small. Perfect.

The turkey legs were very popular with the carnivores of the family, but I liked the huge corn dogs!
Can you believe the fantastic hair day I was having in this picture? Carter always make me feel like a princess.


We spent three days in Disney, then headed to San Diego. The first day there we went to the beach. This was the first time any of my kids had been to the ocean. They loved every minute of it. They built castles, looked for sea shells and dodged chilly waves. If I am being perfectly honest I am going to have to say that sand makes me very uncomfortable. I like it on the toes. That is the only place I enjoy it. I hate sandy towels, bathing suits, legs, hands and food. Maybe when I take up surfing I will learn to appreciate it.
The next day we went to Sea World. It has greatly improved since my senior year in high school. The shows are amazing. Bowen even got chosen to help out in the Seymore and Clyde show. He was nervous, but loved it. Everything there is so interactive. The kids could touch so many of the animals and experience things they would never get to experience elsewhere. We really enjoyed our day in Sea World.



It was so fun to leave our worries behind and really spend time together. We feel blessed to have had this opportunity and wonderful memories together.

Never Kick A Skunk

Maybe it is because our house is overrun with adventurous boys. Perhaps it is because they rarely smell good, even after a nice long shower. It could be because Court is currently obsessed with smelling "pretty". Or it could be we like living on the edge. Whatever the case may be, we had a very successful Family Home Evening last night. I found this cute lesson here. It was based on this talk by Elder Jones of the Seventy titled "Overcoming the Stench of Sin". My kids favorite line in the talk? "If I had responded to my conscience when it first whispered that the prank was wrong, I would have avoided the whole stinking ordeal." Go figure. I downloaded a picture of a skunk and made smaller versions for the kids. Needless to say Carter had plenty of entertaining skunk stories. For some reason all of the kids grasped this concept of choices and consequences (skunk style). I think there is something to be said about gearing gospel teaching to your children's interests and needs. At the end of the lesson I had them write on their papers something to remind them about the consequences of sin. Here is what we ended up with--those clever kids. They make me laugh. It was a wonderful, albeit rare, cheerful Family Home Evening.

Chawlee Bit Mae

Chawlee Bit Mae (Fifteen Years Later)

Seven Days and Counting

For Christmas Carter's boss gave our kids tickets to Disneyland, Sea World, San Diego Zoo, and Universal Studios. This was great, because it means we actually have to go now. I am ashamed to say this is the first vacation we have ever taken our kids on by ourselves, just our family. Usually we go with my parents or siblings. It seems like we can never find the time, money, school vacation, time off from callings, to go on family vacations(we do go camping and up north quite a bit). Needless to say we are so excited. It is all we can talk about. I just hope not everyone in the world is making the same plans. We are not going to all the above mentioned places. We will be in Disneyland for three days and in San Diego for another three days. We are not sure what we are doing in San Diego yet. Do you have any Disney or San Diego suggestions?

Pure Deelishisness

Here is a recipe I stumbled upon from allrecipes. com (love that sight). I made it for book club this month and it went over well. My kids also loved it. It would be a great summertime treat. Here is the recipe with a few of my own changes.

FRUIT SALSA and CINNAMON CHIPS

INGREDIENTS
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced
8 ounces raspberries
1 pound strawberries
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor

10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
butter flavored cooking spray
2 cups cinnamon sugar


DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden Delicious apples, raspberries, strawberries, and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.
Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.


In the original recipe it has a tablespoon of brown sugar and two tablespoons of white sugar in the fruit salsa. I thought it was plenty sweet without the extra sugar so I left it out. The original recipe also calls of golden delicious apples, but several of the reviewers said if you use Fuji apples they do not brown. I think any apple would work, but I did hold off on cutting the apples until I was about ready to serve it. I used the uncooked tortillas from Costco and they were amazing! I sprayed them with "I can't believe It's Not Butter" on both sides then stacked up about 5 and cut them with a pizza cutter. They baked for about 8-9 minutes and tasted just like real tortilla chips, but sweet. You could use any combination of fruit or fruit preserves. This will be a fun recipe to play around with.

1990 Called, It Wants its Dress Back

Our ward had a dance for Valentine's Day. So a friend and I decided to go to the DI and find old prom dresses to wear. No, it wasn't a dress up event, yes, we dressed up anyway. We spent a good hour at the DI (the most under rated store in St. George). It was a blast. I found the cute pink number pictured below. Man did it take me back. I found white nylons and white high heels and dug out my old silver hoops. Carter found a white jacket and green polyester pants. The white leisure shoes topped off his outfit perfectly. I crimped my hair and curled my bangs just like I did in ninth grade. Pink and Blue eyeshadow, aqua eyeliner, and blue mascara finished the look off nicely. I swear that I am not exaggerating when I say I took one look in the mirror and thought "Lori, there you are! Where have you been for the past 13 years?" Sad huh? Man was the dress snug though. Needless to say, not all of me was the same. Seriously it was one of the funnest nights I have had in a long time. We danced for hours, just like in highschool (sorry mom, I did pull out a few of my old moves). I'm sure it was not pretty, but boy was it fun. At the end of the night we were cleaning up. I was tired of pulling and tugging at my tight prom dress. I bent over to pick up some garbage, and I kid you not, POP POP POP! Yes, my entire right side seam burst open with a sigh of relief. Needless to say, I rounded up Carter, aka Don Johnson, and sped for the car. It was a good reminder for me that we should remember to have fun, let loose and always, always remember the 90's.

True Love

So for Valentine's Day this year I got something really special. The real live Rapid Flu Virus. Fabulous. No, I did not get the flu shot this year, serves me right huh? When people say they have the flu, they don't, not the real flu. I for one have come to realize that I have never had the real flu either. I hope I never have it again. I did not even realize it was Valentine's Day. I could not lift my head off the pillow, I had a fever of 103, I was freezing cold, and sweating at the same time, I had a dry cough and a raging sore throat. The only reason I moved for three days was to go to the bathroom. Carter was amazing. He kept our house functioning, the kids fed and happy, all while trying to work. He made sure the kids had valentines, and valentines boxes, he even helped with Bowen's Kindergarten valentines party. He did laundry, covered me up, brought me food he thought would taste good, and laid by me to keep a watchful eye. He even brought Valentines gifts when he knew I wouldn't have noticed if he forgot. Now that is true love. I was able to get a perscription for Tamiflu which is supposed to shorten the flu by a few days, so I am feeling slightly better, but I tell you what this thing just hangs on. I am so bummed I missed a holiday, I love Valentine's day, and I had some fun things planned. I guess we will just have to have a belated celebration. For now I am facing a house full of fevering kids...Now it is my turn for true love.

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?