Knock, Knock, Anyone Home?

Yes I am here. I am struggling with the posting thing lately. I am trying to be better because I am afraid of my SIL who wigs if I don't post. Let's be honest, she scares me. Our days and nights are so full that I scarcely have time to do anything extra. Our 8:00 bedtime has become obsolete. This is mostly due to the fact that no one steps foot outside in the 100+ weather until after dark. When the sun goes down all the neighbors come out and the kids want to play "night games" hence my blogging time has gone out the window. We spent last week with Carter's family for his youngest brother Benson's farewell. We did a lot of fun things with the Cluff's, while trying to fit in some Bowen time too. All of Carter's sibling and spouses were in town, no small feat considering there are fourteen in all.
This is the infamous "Cluff Wall" All 14 at 6 Months and Graduation. That is one long wall!
This is a typical Cluff gathering. Lots of people!


We got to be in the temple all together, that was amazing. Pam and Ben have really raised a beautiful family. My mom always says I should try to raise my family just like they have. I don't think Anne and Lar have done half bad themselves. My favorite thing about spending time with the extended family, is all the grand kids. There are PLENTY. I tried out my new hobby on them and it seemed to go over pretty well.

Don't ask. I'm dumb. We also enjoyed the traditional Strawberry Days Rodeo and parade. Fun as always.

One of the best parts of our trip to the north was the quality time with Mama Bowen. She is FANTASTIC! Please bless I am a 1/4 of the person she is. We have a grand time together pontificating, shopping, and just hanging out. We had a lovely BBQ in my mom and dad's back yard/oasis.

Who's backyard even looks like this? My rock gardens are jealous. My dad made a mean BBQ steak. He is amazing on the grill. Did I mention it was his birthday? It was. Happy Birthday Dad! He is one the most amazing, generous, kind, smart, hardworking men I know. He has been a pillar for me in my life.

So that leaves us back in the sweltering heat of St. George. I'm not even tan. Go figure.

What Happens When You Can't Say No....

I was ambushed. It all began in ward council, I was sitting quietly, minding my business (surprising, I know) when this conversation ensues.

Sister Young Women's President: I think we should do something nice for the men in our ward for Father's Day.

Sister RS 1st counselor: Oh we are. We were talking in our meeting and we thought Lori could make Cinnamon Rolls.

Me: (Laughing) That's funny. No really, what are we doing?

Brother Missionary: Lori makes the best cinnamon rolls. (I will never make him Sunday treats again!)

Me: Why don't we order them from Albertson's like we did last year. Those were FANTASTIC!

All men in the room: Homemade are SO much better.

End of conversation.

So I think it is a funny joke, I get razzed every ward council. As we leave ward council Sister RS says, "Lori we will get you some help if you want."

Long story short I ended up making over 200 cinnamon rolls last week. I started on Monday making the dough and rolling them up and froze them at this point. My amazing sister Jackie came down on Friday and we baked them all on Saturday and frosted them on Saturday evening so they would be fresh. Carter put them in the back of his truck on Sunday morning and they warmed nicely. They were a huge hit, but I don't care if I ever see a cinnamon roll again. I need to learn how to say no.

Softies

It you have spent much time surfing around blogland you have probably seen some softies. These homemade stuffed dolls and animals are all the rage. Some are uglier than others. There are some pretty funky monsters out there, but people seem to go crazy over them.I found a cute idea for monsters your kids could make here. I found this robot and had to make it for Cooper. I kept it the same colors because I loved them, but next time I make one I think I will change a few things. I always have to have a trial run.
I also bought a pattern for Olive and Archie from this website. I have tried a few different faces and still am not satisfied. I usually give this little doll to my friends who have baby girls. I wanted to make a softie that a boy would like so I drew up a pattern for this monkey. I like this guy the best. I usually sew some overall shorts for him to wear. If I had little girls I would definitely have to try my hand at sewing some of this felt food. I think it is adorable.

Oh What Do You Do In The Summer Time?

Here's what we are doing.

MONDAY-Project day. We do some sort of craft, experiment,sew, or cook. Last year I did a cooking class for some neighborhood kids. We have pulled homemade taffy, and made suckers. We have made boats to float down the river, aprons from dishtowels, made giant pick-up sticks and learned how to make balloon animals etc. etc.

TUESDAY-Library Day. On this day we go to the public library, our school also opens their library on this day. Each of my kids have to read at least one book a week during the summer.

WEDNESDAY-Lesson Day. We have piano lessons on this day. We need to add something to jazz this day up.

THURSDAY- Swim day. We go to the new Rec. Center or one of our neighbors pools. Sometimes we just sit in the back yard and plastic pool it.

FRIDAY-Field trip day. On this day we choose somewhere to go. There are great hikes here in St. George. We go to a museum or a bookstore. We try to go somewhere we have not been before.

EVERYDAY- The kids have several daily chores that have to be done and one special chore (like dust a blind, or organize a cupboard).

I made up an "I'm Bored" list that the kids can look at for ideas of things to do. This helps with the constant whining and complaining about "nothing to do". I also have a friend who fills a bottom drawer in the kitchen with snacks for each kid each day. They are allowed to eat these anytime they want, but when they are gone, they are gone. I thought it was a good idea.

Now we want to hear your summertime ideas. Leave us a comment!

Homemade Marshmallows

This would be a fun activity to do with bored kids this summer. We will be having a kids cooking class at our house. These are way better than the ones you buy and delicious in hot chocolate. I think they would make a fun neighbor Christmas gift packaged with some homemade hot chocolate mix. Cheap and cute, my favorite. Next time we make these we will try chocolate or strawberry or toasted coconut....the possibilities are endless.


Martha Stewart's Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients
2 1/2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Directions
Combine gelatin and 1/2 cup cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment. Let stand 30 minutes.
Combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small heavy saucepan; place over low heat, and stir until sugar has dissolved. Wash down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to dissolve sugar crystals.
Clip on a candy thermometer; raise heat to high. Cook syrup without stirring until it reaches 244 degrees.(firm-ball stage). Immediately remove pan from heat.
With mixer on low speed, slowly and carefully pour syrup into the softened gelatin. Increase speed to high; beat until mixture is very thick and white and has almost tripled in volume, about 15 minutes. Add vanilla; beat to incorporate.
Generously dust an 8-by-12-inch glass baking pan with confectioners’ sugar. Pour marshmallow mixture into pan. Dust top with confectioners’ sugar; wet your hands, and pat it to smooth. Dust with confectioners’ sugar; let stand overnight, uncovered, to dry out. Turn out onto a board; cut marshmallows with a dry hot knife into 1 1/2-inch squares, and dust with more confectioners' sugar.

So You Want To Raise A Boy?

I understand that this post will not be applicable to everyone who reads my blog, but I think you will see the humor just the same. The title refers to this book.
My mom used it while raising Nate and passed it on to me after a particularly tough day with Jackson. Seriously, if you have any boys you need to read this book. It covers each stage throughout a boys life. It gives you characteristics, behaviors and emotions of that age. It is pretty spot on too. My mom loves this picture. It is from the Six year old section. Fitting. This chapter is called "Six is full of tricks" My Bowen is six. This is what the chapter says about him. "Parents tend to lose patience with a 6 year old because he is such a confusing mixture of baby and boy. Sometimes he is lovable, understanding, and responsive; other times he is as bad as he was at 2 1/2." That's Bowen.

Cooper is three almost four. This is what the book says about him. "This is a time when junior is at peace with the world. He loves life, he loves his parents and feels good about himself. He can do things that were impossible a few months ago. As this little fellow completes his third year of life he will suddenly change from a caterpillar to a butterfly. Enjoy this folks. It won't last long, and the next stage is a whing-dinger!" Super.

"The Golden Age of Ten". That's Jack. "He seeks acceptance and contentment both from adults and friends. He has an occasional temper outburst, but it is seldom serious. He still has to be coached occasionally to do what is right, but he has deep convictions about things that are wrong.(please bless) As long as parents are fairly flexible in their demands, they find it is possible to enjoy the golden age of 10. Pretty true.

I am reading this book for book club. It is a true kids book about the author and his pals attempting stupid stunts (like going to the bathroom on an electric fence). It hit home with me as a mom of three daring boys. I think I may have bit off a little more than I can chew. I LOVE having boys. I like that they are dirty, athletic, they want to snuggle, they are adventurous, silly, and stinky. I snapped some pictures of things that I see every day as a mom of three boys. Can you relate?

Plenty of intense sword fights


Built in yard maintenance crew and plenty of boxers too!



Attempts to be "COOL"



Convenient bathroom locations


Bazaar animal experiments


Sports, sports and more sports


Strangely drawn to every fire


90% of all pictures ruined by this


Never, never lift the board to see what is inside!


Apparently reptiles are awesome. Yuck.


Our own "Sand Lot"


Mysteriously broken items appear all the time


"Mom, do you know where my scout shirt is?"


After every batch of laundry I find something interesting

This To Shall Pass

Our sweet little Courtney called me from school on Thursday morning saying her side hurt and she wanted to come home. She never does this. Strangely, she loves school. So Carter picked her up and brought her home where she lay in fetal position for the remainder of the day. Friday she Woke up feeling fine and went to school. Friday night she complained about her stomach and had to use the bathroom every two minutes. I'm beginning to think that she has a urinary tract infection. On Saturday, Carter takes me out to lunch for Mother's Day and we get a call from home. Courtney is in extreme pain on her right side and wants a heating pad and medicine. I begin to panic. She never calls when we are out, and she rarely complains when she is sick. I'm beginning to think it is her appendix. Two minutes later Jackson calls, "Courtney is throwing up!" I am really scared now. We speed home, I offer a silent, pleading prayer. This is one of those profound moments when you realize how much you love your children. Court is the lifeblood of our home, and I could not bear to think something could happen to her. We immediately call a wonderful family friend who is a PA, he rushes up to our house and tells us she is a text book appendix case. Great! Off the the ER we go. After SIX hours of testing, ultrasounds, one IV bag, 4 tubes of blood, her white blood count is normal, she has blood in her urine along with bacteria. The Ultrasound technician sees a KIDNEY STONE, what!? You heard it right, my twelve year old has a kidney stone. Bless her heart she is going to have to pass it on her own. We are waiting....

Yummy Appetizers

We were invited to a birthday party for one of our friends tonight. I was assigned to bring an appetizer. It is high time I try some new "non-sugar" recipes. So here is what I came up with. The first is from one of my best friends in Lehi, Jodi. She told me of these Cream Cheese Won ton Wraps. If Jodi says a recipe is good, it is. The second recipe is from Recipe Zaar. I like this web site, but not as much as allrecipes. Both of these appetizers went over very well. I will add both to my recipe book. Hope you enjoy them too.


Cream Cheese Won ton Wraps
6 0z Cream Cheese Softened
1/2 C Sour Cream
1 Garlic Clove (pressed)
3/4 tsp Dill Weed
1/8 tsp Pepper
1 Pkg Budding Beef (chopped)
1/2 C Swiss Cheese (shredded)
2 T Parm Cheese (shredded) I added more
36 Won ton Wrappers

Mix all ingredients together. Place small spoonful of mixture in center of won ton wrapper. Wet edges and pull them all to the center. Place in a sprayed mini muffin tin. Bake on 350* for 10-15 minutes.



Easy Make-Ahead Mini Sausage Ball Appetizers Recipe

3 cups Bisquick baking mix (measured out to exactly 3 cups!)
1 1/2 lbs uncooked Italian sausage
1 teaspoon fresh minced garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley or a pinch dried parsley
4 cups finely shredded old cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup half-and-half cream or milk
1 pinch dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
Seasoning salt (optional)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Line a large baking sheet with foil, then spray lightly with cooking spray.
In a large bowl mix the Bisquick baking mix with uncooked sausage meat, parsley, garlic shredded cheese, Parmesan cheese, half and half (or milk) pinch dried rosemary and black pepper.
Using clean hands mix until well combined.
Season with cayenne and salt (if using).
Shape into about 1-inch balls and place onto the baking sheet.
At this point you can freeze them on a tray then place into Ziploc bags to bake later.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until browned.
remove from pan and place on a serving platter with a toothpick inserted.

Blogger Gone AWOL!

I have been a terrible blogger. I have had my family in town, I went out of town to visit my family, there has been sickness, baseball games, science fair projects, etc. etc. No excuse, I know. I will try to improve.

While I was in northern Utah visiting my family, I was unexpectedly roped into an evil competition. No sugar for the rest of the year! What?! You heard it folks, I am sugar free for the rest of 2008. Can I do it? Hmmmm, I don't know anyone who likes to bake sweets more than I do. I am considering opening a catering business, maybe a small bistro. Eating no sugar will not help this endeavor, as taste testing will be out. On the other hand I am competitive. I like to win. I want to be healthier and slimmer. So I signed on. Good luck to me.

In honor of a healthier lifestyle, I am going to leave you with one of my favorite healthy recipes of all time. This is so good for you and it tastes amazing. I make up a big batch of this on Monday morning and eat it for lunch the whole week. I never get tired of these. Try them out and let me know if you like them.


Asian Lettuce Wraps
INGREDIENTS
• 16 Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves
• Chicken, ground turkey, beef, or pork.
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• Asian chile pepper sauce (optional)
• 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil
DIRECTIONS
1. Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not tear them. Set aside.
2. In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the chicken in 1 tablespoon of oil, stirring often and reducing the heat to medium, if necessary. Drain, and set aside to cool. Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir. Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, and sesame oil, and continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 minutes.
3. Arrange lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter, and pile meat mixture in the center. To serve, allow each person to spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito, and enjoy!

The Easters

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. We always do our Easter baskets on Saturday morning. The Easter Bunny left a note and lots of clues leading to the kids baskets. That Easter Bunny is a real card. The clues said things like "You will find your next clue where aunt Ashley takes hours and hours to get ready!" Meaning the guest bathroom of course. Needless to say the older kids made very short work of it and they found their baskets out in the car in no time. They always get some candy and a couple of things for church such as, ties, tie tacks, CTR rings, scripture markers,etc. We try to keep Easter conservative and focused on the Savior.



Later that day we got to hang out with some of our favorite people in the world. Kimball, Michelle,Brody and Grandma and Grandpa Cluff all came to see us and we enjoyed the warm, sunny day together. Later in the evening we got to go to Tuachan to see a tribute to the Mormon pioneers. It was such a fun day! On Sunday we were invited to a wonderful lunch at our friend's house.



Our friends have become like our family here. We miss our families, so it is wonderful to have so many great friends to share our traditions with. It really adds to our life! I was responsible for a main dish and a dessert. I took my favorite shredded honey ham recipe, which I learned from one of my best friends, Jodi. I like to use this recipe for showers, blessings, baptisms, or any big get together. For dessert sugar cookies shaped like carrots and stacked in a basket full of Easter grass. This sugar cookie recipe is the best I have ever found. The cookies always turn out soft and you do not have to refrigerate the dough. We really enjoyed our Easter Weekend and are looking so forward to Conference weekend!



The Easter Recipes

Jodi's Shredded Ham Recipe
7-8 pound bone in ham (shank or butt)
Cover with water in stock pot. Bring water and ham to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 8 hours. Remove from water and shred meat, removing fat.
Option: Cook ham on low overnight in Crock-pot.
7-10 oz yellow mustard
1 lb brown sugar (or a little more if you like it really sweet)

Mix together and pour over ham. Leave in the fridge overnight. Cook for 2 hours at 300*. Serve on rolls. I know a lot of people do not like mustard, but the end result has no mustard flavor.


Sugar Cookies
2 cups sugar
6 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon soda
1 package (4 cubes) butter
4 eggs
4 tablespoons cream
2 teaspoons cream of tartar


Roll out ¼“ thick. Dough doesn’t need to be refrigerated before rolling. Bake at 375° for 7-10 minutes.