Farewell, silly ol' bear.

For years he's merrily chased the fall leaves while singing about a blustery day on what used to be Michael's bedroom wall, and then it became William's room. I was so excited to have our own house to be able to paint what I wanted to on the walls. Painting over him definitely felt like the end of another chapter of our lives. We really don't have any babies anymore! It didn't help, either, that I had to use this to paint over him:

I know, using something called "Kilz" on Winnie the Pooh sounds like the worst form of animal cruelty. I did, however, start to get over it when I was painting the 4th coat of Kilz over that silly ol' bear.

Updates

Well, I have a few moments to sit down for a bit (and my legs are thanking me for that!). Just to answer some questions, we have moved, but not far at all. Not even a mile away from our old house, which we didn't sell, but are getting it gussied up to rent out. We are right across from Thorburn park, so we are still in the same ward and the boys are still at the same schools. I couldn't picture leaving either. We feel very blessed, and are so happy to have some room. Plus, some other good news, this morning William asked me if he could go #2 on the toilet, and he did! Usually if I mention doing that (he's fine doing #1) he breaks down crying. And I figured he'd be going to high school in diapers! When I find what box our camera is in, I'll post pictures.

Free Washer and Dryer

Yes, I'm using my blog as the classifieds. Do any of you bloggers out there know of anyone who needs a free washer and dryer? They are 9 years old, but still work just fine. We moved and are very fortunate to have gotten a new washer/dryer included with the house, so we are anxious to find these babies a new home! Right now I am in purge mode as I go through things (almost 16 years of marriage and 9 years in one house, plus a storage unit, can equal a lot of hoarding!), so stay tuned. I might have some more advertisements.

A new favorite recipe

First of all, I love themed meals. The boys seem to like them too. Usually they are a little too exotic for the younger three to enjoy, though (like the shrimp ettouffee I made for Mardi Gras). But here is a good St. Patrick's Day recipe that the whole family enjoyed!
First, I bought a 2 lb. Corned beef roast and cooked it in the crockpot overnight, until about 3:00 the next afternoon. Yes, it was in the crockpot for about 20 hours total, but it made is so tender! And the boys kept asking what smelled so good. Then I sliced up half to save for making Reuben sandwiches, and chopped up the other half for this:
Confetti Corned Beef Hash, courtesy of Betty Crocker website


2 Tbsp butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups cut-up corned beef or lean cooked beef
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parley
1 tsp. chopped fresh or 1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves (I didn't have any of this and it turned out just fine)
2 medium potatoes cooked and chopped (mine was the equivalent of 4 medium potatoes)
1 small bell pepper chopped
4 medium green onions, sliced
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped (I did a more traditional fried egg per person to go on top of the hash)

In a nonstick skillet, heat butter over medium heat. Add all ingredients and cook for about 10 min., turning frequently.

As I said before, all the boys enjoyed it. Plus we had some left over and put it in some warmed up tortillas and made Irish burritos! 3 meals from 1 roast! In my book, that not only makes life easier, but it is just awesome.

Optimism Month

I love to read magazines. I don't think that I will ever really get into blog surfing, just because I love reading magazines too much. Some of my favorites are Ladies Home Journal and Family Circle. I used to be a big fan of Better Homes and Gardens, but each month started to seem like I was reading the same thing. I love that these two magazines often highlight stories of service, mostly from women, but also organizations that are founded by kids! Plus I can find good recipes, and all sorts of advice.
Anyways, one of my favorite parts of Ladies Home Journal is tucked away right at the back. Its a page dedicated to things that are good (don't we need to hear a little more of this these days?) Well, I read in March's issue of Ladies Home Journal that March is Optimism Month. Did you know there was such a thing? Heaven knows I could be a little more optimistic! They also give their readers a challenge: Do one nice little thing to make someone else smile, every day in March. So, I would like to issue that challenge to those of you who want to spread optimism, which, in my book, is a synonym of Hope. You can go to LHJ.com/dogood for ideas if you find that a challenge.

Just when I think I've got things figured out . . .

William comes along and shows me that I have no clue. No clue whatsoever. William has, by far, been my little challenging child. He's so stubborn, but can be so loving. He often tells me he loves me and will nuzzle my nose and say "Oh, mommy's my cute pup." So, he gets away with maybe a little too much sometimes. But now he's brought on a whole new challenge. Toilet training.

This is a picture of William, crying on the toilet. He is extremely afraid of the toilet. He's fine to stand up and use the toilet for #1, but when it comes to #2, he just breaks down and cries. He's always had some tummy troubles, so this is a whole different arena for me. But I thought to myself, "if I just stand firm and tell him he's not getting off the toilet until he goes, that should work."

This is picture #2, where William was falling asleep on the toilet. Yes, it makes me feel and look like a horrible mother. You know how in school we were always taught to write about what we know? Well, I've always joked with myself that I would end up writing a book about poop. Obviously, I don't know that much about that, either. Any suggestions?

It's been a long time. . .

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I haven't written anything in a long time, partly because I have been COMPLETELY, ABSOLUTELY enjoying having my family home. The boys are home from school and Dylan even took time off from work to enjoy Christmas vacation with us. Another reason I haven't written is because I am simplifying my life, cutting the clutter, trimming the fat, etc. Usually, after Christmas I tend to feel down in the dumps. Not this year. This year I'm ready to take down the decorations (which, by the way, are all down except the Christmas tree) and face the year with a clean and de-cluttered house. I'm ready to face the New Year with hope that this will be an awesome year for everyone. Hope and Simplicity. Those are my new themes for the new year. Just like that Primary song that says, "I want my life to be as clean as Earth right after rain", I look forward to the fresh start of a New Year. Well, that's all I have for now. Happy New Year, everyone!

Better late than never!

As I mentioned before, we went to my niece, Ashley's, wedding in October down in Anaheim. Michael was asked to be the ring bearer, and to my surprise he really enjoyed it! Here are a few favorite shots. It was really difficult to narrow it down.
Here he is with the flower girl, Kylie. She helped bring him out of his shell a bit. I don't think she has a shy bone in her body!


This is Ashley and her new hubby, Randy. Adorable couple!


My niece, Alyssa, got Dylan out on the dance floor! I realize that all of my boys are going to need very outgoing girls to get them out on the dance floor if there ever is any hope of them dancing.


Michael cutting a rug.


One of my favorite pictures!



It's hard to believe that this beautiful little bride used to crawl around on her knees all day pretending to be a dog!


This is right after Dylan Jr. and Nathan caught Michael's eye while going down the aisle.


Three of my handsome boys. The other one did this most of the time -

Happy Birthday, little Michael.

Today Michael turns 7 years old. I can't believe that we are just one year left until he is baptized! He is still my cuddly little Michael for now, though. He was my pudgiest baby, and a very well behaved baby, too. I can still remember how, when he'd get excited or was happy, he would start spinning his little feet in circles. Each would go in the opposite direction of each other. This picture is of him dancing with the flower girl from my niece's wedding. I would never have been able to get him to do that, but for a complete stranger, he did it. Go figure! And here he is with his giant pumpkin that he had to carry back to the car, all by himself.

He still has fluffy little cheeks that I love to pinch!

Bubbles!

While we were down in Anaheim for my niece's wedding, we stayed in a place that had a jetted tub in the bathroom. What a hit it was with the boys! It may look like we added soap to the tub, but those bubbles are just from the baby-bath and shampoo that Dylan rinsed off of the boys. I would love to have a tub like that some day, but we'd have to live in some other town where the water wasn't so expensive!