If you could get rid of one job or responsibility, what would it be? I'd love to never clean another toilet. Especially any toilet used by boys. Mopping floors would be a close second. On the other hand, a clean house makes me happy. So while cleaning and mopping four bathrooms and a kitchen today was a pain, I will enjoy the clean house for the next ten minutes until the boys get home and the cycle starts over.

Shell's Spaghetti

I now have photos for more recipes than I have time to type up, and frankly, I don't need to reference this recipe to make it, but it needs to be in my book just because it's my very favorite meal, and unless you count cereal, the one I've prepared most often. Mmmmmm...

Happy Earth Day

I must confess that I did NOT take a shorter shower today to cut down on my water use (and I don't have any plans to change this habit). However, I came up with the brilliant idea of planting a tree with the scouts today. I guess that as the three burly men with the forklift were loading it into the suburban I should have realized that the two nine-year-olds and I would not be able to get it out, let alone into the ground. Luckily Cara married a stud, who pretty much single-handedly planted the tree while I told the scouts to watch and learn. Rob, we're so grateful that we've named our first-born Robert. And thanks for the extra rock-moving muscle, Dad. I have the best family.

Our Trip: The OCD Version

9 days, 1613 miles, 4 kids, 1 suburban, 3 theme parks, 8 loads of laundry, 336 photos. I know, it sounds like the makings for a modern version of The Inferno. But it wasn't. We had a great trip. The fact that we were able to break up the long drive with an overnight stay in St. George really helped (thanks Ralph & Judy!), and it's hard to imagine a Disney trip without having a 1:1 kid/adult ratio (thanks Mom & Dad!!). The kids all travelled well, giving us hope for a church history road trip someday. We had to stop at Borders on our way home, because I underestimated the number of books the boys would go through. The parks were relatively uncrowded, even though last week was spring break in Utah County (we did see a lot of BYU apparel). It was between about 65 and 90 degrees our whole trip, and when we heard that it was snowing back home, we were on the verge of looking at real estate. 

Some of the highlights were:

• seeing Ainsley light up during the parades
• watching the boys swim, fully clothed, in the ocean
• reading several books and relaxing
• Joey's excitement at being tall enough to ride all the adult rides
• getting soaked on Splash Mountain & Grizzly Rapids but still being warm because it was 90 degrees
• finding cool souvenirs at the magic shop
• Jamba Juice for breakfast everyday
• Rob driving the whole way there and back, and posing for a few photos without complaining

Oh, and if you're wondering what I forgot...it was clearly a subconscious plot on my part—I forgot the laundry hamper, detergent and dryer sheets. I did laundry on Thursday, our "off" day, so we could just pack five changes of clothes instead of ten. I picked up a couple of fold-up hampers in St. George and detergent in San Diego, so it was no big deal. The hotel had four washing machines and six dryers, so I was able to do all the laundry in just a couple of hours, watching the kids swim in the pool while the loads ran. If we are ever really wealthy, my laundry room will have at least two washers and dryers!

In spite of my obsessive-compulsiveness, two figures were deliberately excluded from the tallies: one is the number of calories consumed on this trip, and the other is the total dollars spent. I think it's safe to say the calories number would be higher, but the dollars spent could be scary too. On the bright side, we saved $299 by going before October 17th, when we'll have to pay for Ainsley's ticket and the adult price for Robbie's. And although the Master Card campaign is so cliche, this vacation really was priceless.

What am I forgetting?

We are packed and ready to go to sunny California. But I have a history of forgeting to pack something. In the past I have forgotten underwear, my camera, socks, contact solution, my cell phone charger and a jacket, to name a few. It must be that very-early-onset Alzheimers. Well, whatever it is, it's too late, we are leaving. Melissa has graciously agreed to come over and clean the toilets in the event that we don't make it back, so there is nothing left to do but have fun.

Happy Birthday Judy!

So I saw Judy today, and talked to her on the phone, and completely forgot to wish her happy birthday! Since Ainsley is now 2 1/2, I'm not sure I can use the post-partum, sleep-deprived mommy brain excuse anymore. It must be early onset Alzheimer's.
Sorry Judy! Hope you had a great birthday. I know that Joey sure enjoyed having a birthday date with you.

Tagged

Rachel tagged me a few days ago, but I've been busy trying to put together a spontaneous (for me, anyway) week-long vacation to Disneyland (more about this soon). Since then Melissa tagged Rob, and I loved his hilarious, time-saving approach of using the metric alphabet (the decibet) to respond. So while I realize the comic genius factor doesn't apply here, since I didn't come up with this idea, I was at least smart enough to marry a genius, therefore, what's his is mine.

A-attached or single:
In case you haven't read the sidebar, I'm the lucky wife of the most wonderful (and sexy) husband ever!
B-best friend:
He also goes by photoscrooge.
C-cake or pie:
Pie, if it's fresh strawberry pie, and cake, if it's Brownie Cake.
D-day of choice:
Vacation days.
EF-essential items:
Books, toilet paper, lip balm, running shoes.
GHI-Indulgences:
Comfy shoes, jeans that fit, reading time.
J-January or July:
JULY!
K-kids:
I have four—one of each kind, as Rob likes to say.
LMNO-life would be incomplete without:
Family, friends & Italian food.
P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z-phobia or fears:
Spiders, rodents and apparently showing up for a final exam even though I never attended class, judging from my only recurring nightmare (okay, maybe lack of preparation would be the Freudian interpretation).

Brownie Cake

I'm not much of a cake fan, but love brownies, so it's no surprise that my favorite cake ever is called Brownie Cake. Thanks to Judy for introducing me to this recipe, and for giving me the Junior League cookbook as a wedding shower gift. My cookbook practically opens to this page (or the breakfast casserole page) since it's got splatters and smudges to prove that we love it.

Crepes

Crepes for breakfast has become a general conference Sunday morning tradition. Mmmm...

Where is the pause button?!

Every once in a while we hit a milestone that makes me realize how fast life is going. Ellie hasn't started kindergarten yet, but I took her to registration yesterday, and felt a combination of sadness, relief and excitement that she'll be going this fall. Hopefully she'll stop sucking her thumb before then. :)

Celebration

This post is in celebration of a couple of things: first, and most important, Melissa's birthday today. I'm not sure if she keeps me sane or if she just makes me feel like I'm not the only insane one. Either way, thanks Melis. Happy Birthday! Second, I've been taking old negatives to Costco to have them transferred to CD a little at a time, and I love having these on my computer. So it was easy to find a decade's worth of shots for this collage. If you want a closer look, just click it to enlarge. BTW, I did not come up with this format, I just copied Rachelle.  

Does this prove that I'm not a slacker?

Because I am obviously still feeling defensive after coming across as a slacker in the SL Trib (see sidebar), I am posting this photo as evidence—you be the judges.  Yes, it's a photo of the girls napping after a busy day, but look closely at the couches.  These are the same couches we purchased just before Robbie was born, so they've seen us through 10 years, 1 dog and 4 kids.  Aside from the color, which definitely dates them, they're in pretty good shape.  Now I ask you, if I had spent the majority of my time for the past ten years sitting on the couch, wouldn't you expect a little more wear (at least a huge indention)?  Right.  Now that that's cleared up, I need to go see if I can scoot one of the girls over a little so I can get some R & R. :)

Wii love the Easter Bunny!

The Easter Bunny has been good to us. Not only does he accommodate our request to come on Saturday instead of Sunday, but check out what he left in my basket!

Rob had a deal with the boys that if they ate no candy at home from Halloween to the end of the school year, we would get a Wii. He thought they'd only last a couple of weeks, but they've surprised us. I thought we might be better off in the long run if the Wii belonged to me though, so there's no questioning the house rules of when it can be played. I guess the Bunny read my mind! And many thanks to whoever does the shopping for the Bunny—she saved me a lot of searching time. :)

After filling up on candy at Jim & Joan's annual egg hunt, the boys are now ready to throw it out so they can earn a couple of games (Star Wars Legos is their current obsession). 

This year's egg hunt was fabulous, as usual.  It was great to see all the Nichol cousins and the amazing kitchen remodel.  The kids love to go there even when they aren't loading up with candy, so they were in heaven today.  I'm going to try to get a slideshow on the sidebar soon, since, as usual, I took too many photos.

Penne Alla Telefono

I am a pasta snob.  Sorry, it's true.  One of the side-effects of living in Italy.  And I love this recipe.  Even Ellie will eat this, so it passes the I-don't-eat-anything-but-cereal-and-bread-picky-eater test too.  Best of all (as explained in the last post) if you've already prepared and frozen the Tradional Italian Tomato Sauce, you can have this on the table in about 15 minutes.

Traditional Italian Tomato Sauce

Because pasta never goes out of season.  This recipe is the "starter" for my next post, Penne Alla Telefono.  I make this and then freeze it in 2 1/2 cup containers, so when I need a quick dinner (like tonight) I can pull it out and have it on the table in 15 minutes.  

Chinese Chicken Salad

Because (according to Rob) soup season is now officially over, my recipes for Cheese Soup, Chili and Taco Soup will not be posted before fall.  We are coming into salad season though, and this recipe is one of our favorites.

Knight of the Multiplication Table

Yesterday morning I got a phone call with caller ID of "Schools Public," which any parent can tell you is usually not a good thing.  But it was Robbie, saying "Mom, I just wanted to remind you that it's the knighting ceremony today."  I had seen the note inviting parents to attend, and put it on my calendar but had forgotten to talk to him about it, so I was wondering if he would want me there.  I'm told that we're not too far away from that stage when he will deny even knowing me in public, so I was happy to get this phone call and to go to the school.  Also, since my couch-supervising parenting style does not typically include any math coaching (in fact, there is some question as to whether I would be able to pass off the multiplication table in the timed tests), I am proud of Robbie, because he truly accomplished this third-grade feat on his own.  Great job, Robbie! 

No Green Eggs and Ham

We have no plans to ever eat an all-green meal for St. Patrick's, but this might be our new tradition for dessert.

Green is Good

Just for fun, I scrolled through iPhoto looking for pictures with green...and they definitely made me feel lucky.     

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Birthday Dad (and Grandpa)!

I'm not really sure how a 32 year old manages to have a 38 year old daughter plus eight grandkids, and frankly, he's not looking like a very young 32, but we're all glad he was born and that he's still young enough to remodel our houses! :) We love you!

"Better than playing the Wii"

There is no higher praise from the boys. We went tubing at Soldier Hollow tonight with Logoworks, and as Ellie put it, it was "freakin' fun!"
Both of the boys were disappointed to find out that there would not be enough snow in July or September to have their birthday parties here.
We may need to repeat this activity during spring break—are you in, Stringhams?

St. George Brownies

Because our family cookbook wouldn't be complete without an entire section devoted to brownies, here's one of my favorite recipes. It's a basic fudgy version, no frosting, and just rich enough. Mmmm...

Southwest Bean Salad

This is especially for Shawn and Melissa—we were talking about salad recipes this morning, and it gave me an idea of what to fix for dinner tonight. I love this salad, and it is so unbelievably healthy that I'm hoping it will offset our family home evening treat! Rob tells me he's posting his favorite side dish for this meal here.

No longer half-empty

Or half-full, for that matter. This is my little victory today. I have been filling up this 2 quart pitcher everyday for about a month, in an attempt to overcome my perpetual dehydration. I have finally succeeded in emptying it before bedtime! I know, it's pathetic that I consider this an achievement, but maybe celebrating these everyday goals will turn me into an optimist after all.

These photos are deceiving

It looks like I might be posting about food again...like this might even be turning into a food blog, but no, this is a celebration of three everyday life blessings.
1) I spent less than $100 at Costco today!
2) I only had to take one child with me, and as we like to say, "one is none." I vowed long ago I would never again take all four (I think it was after the time that Robbie gagged himself and threw up on Joey, who then freaked out for the duration of our shopping. I can't remember what I was shopping for, but it was something critical that we couldn't leave without getting. Ainsley is generally a great shopping buddy, and she is in heaven right now as she enjoys a feast of blueberries, strawberries and baby oranges for lunch. I really want to spend more one-on-one time each of my kids. They are so pleasant when they aren't annoying/bossing/bickering with each other.
3) I LOVE my new camera. My other digital point and shoot cameras always produced blurry shots. Thanks again, Mom & Dad, Davy, Chris & Cara!
There are plenty of other things in these photos to produce gratitude (like food in the house and no chance of running out of toilet paper for at least a week) but I really need to get back to my laundry.

Zucchini Bread

I have to admit that I'm multi-tasking. I've been wanting to organize my favorite recipes into a cookbook with photos, so every time I make one I'm trying to take photos and type it out. I figure I might as well post them. This one gets made fairly regularly, since it literally the only vegetable (or fruit) that Ellie eats. Thank goodness for vitamin supplements, or she'd probably have scurvy or something. I switched the white flour for whole wheat and I add ground flaxseed and wheat germ too. It sounds super healthy, but still tastes great, I promise. This recipe makes three loaves, so you can give one away or freeze a couple, or just eat all three, like we usually manage to do.

Tex Mex Egg Rolls

Since I already admitted that we sometimes consume more calories than Lance Armstrong could burn off, I might as well post one of few (semi) original recipes, which is clearly not a diet meal. Last month we had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, and I had their Tex Mex Egg Rolls, which were divine. I came home and did a Google search hoping to find a similar recipe, but didn't think any of them sounded as good as the original. So here's what I came up with, and it's pretty darn good if you're not opposed to fried foods. Actually, I don't have any idea how many calories these contain...they just taste so good I figure they must be sinful. Feel free to leave a comment if you want me to e-mail you a copy of the PDF—I can't figure out how to put it on here except as a JPEG. Edited: you can click on the recipe to enlarge and print it as is.

Places we go, people we love

At one point in my life I think I had a vague idea that I would scrapbook every photo I took. This was clearly pre-digital, so I didn't have thousands of photos stored in iPhoto like I do now, but even without this huge backlog I was never "caught up." So I'm trying to adopt Stacy Julian's Library of Memories system, scrapping my favorite pictures and telling our family story. Two catagories are "Places we go" and "People we love." Since I have to at least finish Ellie's and Ainsley's baby books before I can move on to other things, I'll post a couple of these shots here. Friday night we went to El Farol's with Rob's family. It is kind of a ritual. It's the first restaurant we went to when Ralph and Judy came home from their mission. We have a history of writing letters on the paper placemats and sending them to whoever is currently serving a mission. The food is good and we are in the back where the kids aren't too disruptive (although after Friday night we're all re-thinking that). I'll probably put these pictures in the "Places we go" album, although they are also "People we love."

Saturday morning we met my cousin Claudia and various other cousins at Hagermann's. It was so fun to see Claudia and catch up, and Hagermann's is the my family's ritual equivalent to Rob's family at El Farol's. Claudia definitely gets a page in our "People we love" book, and we're going to have to make another trip to Alaska to get more photos for it.

The only thing better than Hagermann's for breakfast is Hagermann's for lunch. But I'm thinking that an eight mile run is probably not long enough to compensate for the calories consumed there. I keep telling Chris he needs to open a location in the new Cottonwood Mall development, but it might not be the best thing for my middle-age metabolism. It needs to be a "Place we go" less frequently, not more!

Happy Leap Day

To celebrate, we did something that truly only happens about every four years: two fun activities in one day. We went to the park with the Stringhams (no pictorial proof of this since the battery on my camera died). Then we toured the renovated State Capitol with Robbie's cub scout group and the Stringham cousins. I feel like Ainsley looks in this picture from yesterday afternoon—tired! She is WAY too busy to be bothered with naps, although she really still needs one. Most of the time I try to keep her up and put her to bed early just because she usually wakes up so grumpy, but sometime by late afternoon it's not worth the fight.

February showers, May flowers

It is 52 degrees outside, and feels so good it might as well be seventy. We are sick of winter! Our snowbanks are no longer taller than I am, and I don't need four wheel drive to get into my driveway. Today was my day to be the parent volunteer at Ellie's preschool, and the girls and I walked there. On our way back up the hill to our house, Ellie saw the water running down the gutter and asked why it was there. I said, "Well, it's warm outside, so the snow is melting, and when snow melts it turns into..." "SPRING!" she shouted. I haven't checked the forecast, but it sure would be nice if the snow was gone before Easter, which is ridiculously early this year.

Speaking of preschool, Ellie loves it. My friend Mandy started it last year, and she is amazing! This month's theme was Friends & Communication, and check out the post office that Mandy made for self-selected activity time! They've also covered rhyming, beginning sounds, polite language, being a good friend, graphing, using the mail, body language and sign language within this unit. Plus, we had a great field trip last week to the post office.

Ainsley was thrilled to get to come, and Ellie (hopefully) has years to go before she's too embarrassed to have her mom at school. For me it's a great chance to play with the girls, watch them interact with the other kids and sneak a few photos. It was a good day for the Marsh girls.