In Case You Were Wondering...

Just in case you were wondering what brought Kim and I together....take a look at this shot! What a hunky 15 year old he was!!! He's mortified that I found this picture through an old friend of his on Facebook, and was mad when I told him I was blogging it today! He was still laughing last night about how much he loved those red shorts...and he wants everyone to know that he still has that six pack...it's just in the cooler now. We had a good laugh over it and then a bit of solemness as I thought about how much Jake is looking like Kim. It won't be but a few years and all the cute little girls will be admiring HIS six pack!

It Could Be Worse

My sister sent this to me today...at least I'm not THIS OLD!! I'll take the grey hair, bad teeth and aches & pains anyday!

10 Signs That I'm Getting Older....

As promised, I am blogging the top ten things that have made me feel older lately. Now, please realize that I'm not claiming to be ready to kick the bucket. I have just recently observed how I have 'matured' in several areas in life. Older is not always a bad/scary thing. Just different.

#10 - Teenagers and Trends - I have recently witnessed several trends that are a flashback from my teenage/jr. high years. While in the mall a few days ago, I witnessed a girl wearing skinny jeans. I realize that skinny jeans have been back 'in' for awhile now, but these particular skinny jeans were also stonewashed (the REAL stonewashed) and that putrid yellow-ish stained color. They were also accompanied by legwarmers. There are just some things that should stay in the 80's. These are one of them...

#9 - No Need To Impress - I can frequently be caught grocery shopping without makeup, in sweatpants and almost every day my hair gets pulled back into a ponytail. I don't want to give the impression that I have become a slob - I typically do shower and get ready for the day before I go out. However, if I need to run somewhere and I have not done these things, I will still go. Who cares??? Not me.

#8 - Food Network Is My Friend - I have an addiction to the Food Network. I watch it everyday and can be caught DVR-ing food related shows. I clip recipes frequently and surf the internet for recipe blogs and sights. Sometimes I even find recipes that my family will eat again. I remember my Grandma Lueck has ALWAYS clipped recipes. I have no idea if she made any of them, but there were always clippings laying around. I also read cookbooks and magazine recipe sections like they are novels...a sure sign of maturing.

#7 - Dental Woes - Last week I had a dental appointment. I had three cavities. Ugh! I can remember a time in my life BEFORE CHILDREN that I had NO CAVITIES. At all. None. Nada. Then, I had babies. And now, my dentist informs me that I have NO teeth that are still the original tooth...cavities and fillings everywhere. Next thing you know, he's gonna be fitting me for dentures.

#6 - Food With Fiber - This one is pretty self-explanatory. This has become a concern of mine. Did you know that adults should consume 25 grams of fiber a day??? I better get out the steel cut oatmeal and chew on some broccoli.

#5 - A Case of Mistaken Identity - In the last year or so, I have had more than one occasion where I have been mistaken for my younger sister's MOTHER. Now, I realize that I may look a little more 'mature' than I did in my twenties, but my sister's are in there 20's now....can I possibly be their mother??? Maybe if I did care about my appearance more (see #9) I wouldn't look like Timmi's (age 19) or Alyce's (age 26, I think) mother.....

#4 - Not a Baby Anymore - You know you're getting more 'mature' when your baby is not a BABY anymore. Natalie is three, almost four. She is potty trained, almost in pre-school, and not napping anymore. She reminds me almost daily that she is NOT MY BABY. And, since there are no more babies ever coming to our house to stay, it's the end of an era.

#3 - I Feel the Need, the Need for SLEEP! It is written in my motherly contract that now that I have no more official BABIES at my house, my body and mind require 8 hours of continuous sleep. If this does not happen for several days in a row....better watch out. I've been known to bite off heads around here.

#2 - Beauty Shopping - It's official. I have a regularly scheduled appointment every SIX WEEKS to see Holly the Hairdresser. She has the official duty to make my hair beautiful and grey-less. I've tried to stretch out the time between beauty treatments into 7 or eight week spans. It has become apparent to me and my hair that it is not possible. 6 weeks, on the nose.

And, the #1 reason that I feel older: I am apparently old enough to be called as the RS President in my ward. Yes, you read that right. My life is about to get a whole lot crazier. Wish me luck.

Recipe O' the Day

As requested by Carolee, here are my recipes for Italian Chicken (crockpot) and our other scrapbooking favorite Sweet and Salty Chex Mix....Carolee an Vickie have another not-so-nice name for the Chex Mix, but since this is a family friendly blog, we will leave it at it's original name!
Italian Chicken
6 Chicken Breasts (boneless, skinless, and I use frozen)
1 pkg. Good Seasons Italian Seasoning Mix (or any brand of your choice)
1/2 c. water
8 oz. cream cheese
1 can Crm of mushroom soup
Place frozen chicken breasts in crock. Add the seasoning mix and water. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or High for 4-6. Take out chicken and cube or shred. I also strain out the juice from the crockpot. It tends to have floaty things in it, that aren't so appealing. Strain the broth, SAVE IT and return it to the crock. Add to broth 1 pkg. cream cheese, soup. Mix well. Return chicken to crock and mix in. Heat through, another 1/2 hr or so and then serve over rice. Very Yummy, very easy.
Sweet and Salty Chex Mix
*My mom made this for us for our LONG drive back from North Dakota this last summer. We have made it so much now that I have the recipe memorized. It has quickly become a much requested recipe. And yes, it's fat free....not really.
1 c. butter
2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. corn syrup
1 box Crispex or Chex cereal
1 13 oz bag Fritos
1 can mixed nuts
Bring butter, sugar and corn syrup to a boil and boil for 90 seconds, stirring constantly. Pour over cereal, fritos, and nuts. Mix well. I use a roaster pan to mix and bake it in...a cookie sheet does not hold it all in. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes, stir and bake an additional 8 minutes. Turn out onto a clean countertop to cool. Store in an airtight container. Try not to get addicted.

Me and My Gang

Me and My Gang....my friends Vickie and Carolee....we have known each other for many years and have been scrapbooking for just as long. It doesn't matter to them that I am a baby in their eyes and I don't know ALL the words to every Journey song ever recorded - they let me pretend to have all the wisdom and knowledge that they do. They make laugh until I cry (or almost pee my pants) and make me feel like I can conquer the worlds of motherhood, wifehood, church-hood. We have the best time, and even though I almost never get anything done, I keep going back every month. A serious good time.

This is the ONE and ONLY page I completed in our 6 hours of so called scrapbooking....Lots of stitching that wouldn't have taken quite so long if I had really been doing THAT instead of all the talking, laughing, eating, diet pepsi drinking, and shopping that I did instead!

Christmas 2008

I'm just now getting around to blogging about our Christmas! The kids are officially back in school today, Yippee! I had every intention to get all my decor put away today, but now it's almost 2pm and they'll be home soon, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. We started off our Christmas break with Jake getting strep throat. The very first day he was home on vacation, we had to go to the dr's office. He wasn't happy because we also had a huge snow storm and he was stuck inside while the neighborhood kids were out playing in the snow. We were finished with all of our shopping after one remaining trip to Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve eve - I went at 6:30 in the morning to avoid the crowds, and it worked! I was home and ready to wrap away all before 8:00 am! We spent the few days before Christmas shoveling out of our driveway, several times. Our neighbors across the street let Kim borrow their 4-Wheeler and plow to shovel out all the driveways on our street. It makes it a little faster than shoveling and the kids think it's pretty fun to ride behind him and plow snow.

Our Christmas Eve traditions have always been the same...decorate cookies for Santa, read two Christmas books (one spiritual one and Twas the Night Before Christmas), and open Christmas pj's from mom and dad. This year mom got smart and baked and froze the sugar cookies a few weeks before so all we had to do was frost and decorate (and then clean up a bazillion sprinkles off the floor...) the cookies. The one and only thing that Natalie really, really wanted was a Baby Alive. Good thing Santa found it in his heart to spend money on a doll that poops and pees....she also got new Little Ponies, clothes, a 'real' camera and some new games.

Emily was so happy that Santa remembered to bring her an MP3 player, some new clothes, her very own CD player, Littlest Pet Shop Toys, and Barbie's to dress and undress over and over. She also was the one who had put a puppy on her Christmas list - I guess Santa thought she had been extra nice! Jake's favorite gift was his Ipod. A close second and third were the Eragon book series and his new artists set. He's gotten into drawing alot and is fascinated with the chalks and pencils and paper. Abby's favorite gift was, of course, her Ipod. I miraculously figured out how to download songs onto it on Christmas day, and it hasn't left her ears since then. She also got some new clothes, a hair straightener, blow dryer, and a few other girly things. Kim opening his gift from Jake...a tie he bought, with his own hard earned money, from Maceys! Yes, that's Macey's the grocery store, not Macy's the department store! Jake was so happy to find the tie for $6.99 and then he even had $$ leftover to buy some Reese's PB cups for an addition to the tie. It's one of those gifts you get from your kids that you wear, just to make them happy! Kim doesn't seem to mind it came from the grocery store....he's worn it to church two weeks in a row! Grandma's and Grandpa's sent the kids (well, Kim, really) Rockband and a Nintendo DS with games. Kim hasn't missed a day so far without practicing the drums on Rockband!

Our last week of Christmas break was spent in the house, again, with some sort of stomach bug. Natalie started us all off, and one by one we all ended up with a 24 hr. bug. We're all on the mend now, and ready to get the house in order...I wouldn't say 'we' so much as 'I'! I'm ready to pack away the tree, the lights, and all the fun until 11 months from now!

We hope your holiday's were wonderful and wish you all a Happiest New Year! Get to work on those resolutions!

Last, But Not Least

I have been thinking alot about getting older....some events the past week or so have really made me contemplate my age and where I am in life. I am currently forming a list of things that are making me feel older, which I will post about possibly this next week. #1 on my list is a whopper...Today I feel older because yesterday, Natalie went to Primary at church. The last child to be done with Nursery and graduate to Primary. She was stressed all week because we have had a stomach bug at our house. She was sick from Tuesday to Friday - literally couldn't keep anything down except Sprite. By Friday she was beginning to worry that she would miss it. She has been talking about it non-stop for about 2 weeks and was so excited to finally keep some food down all day Saturday. By Sunday morning, she was rearing to go. After sacrament, she turned to Kim and announced that she was going to Primary, alone. She didn't want us to take her! So, we let her wander in there alone and by the time we got there to see that she made it, she was already seated next to her little friend Talon talking up a storm. Guess she didn't need us afterall....So, I feel old. Last child to go to Primary.....next thing I know she'll be getting married....