Sanity Saver

 We were in charge of feeding the missionaries for their Zone Conference a few weeks ago.  30+ Elders, 2 Sisters, a couple of Senior Missionaries.  Pork roasts went on sale, so we decided to do my personal favorite: Cafe Rio meat with Jalapeno Cilantro Ranch dressings, rice, beans, and colorful marshmallow salad.  Was great fun!  We prepared and were set up and waited until their training meetings were over.  Sister Sorenson (the Mission President's wife) came to get us.  The missionaries all stood to sing their Cleveland, Ohio special song: Army of Helaman with special verses at the end as a thank you.  It was just incredible!!!  I held Emily (Mitchell was sleeping by the kitchen) and she pointed out to me all the missionaries that we know.  It was so great to serve!!!

 Fast forward to nighttime!!!!
 There was a special deal on a cooking class, so with a few hours notice, some friends and I signed up for an evening out!  We had to pick a class time that would work with three busy wives nad three busy husbands, but we finally found one!

 Heather, Marianne and I spent an evening in Jennifer's Kitchen sampling *and helping prep* the following recipes: Spinach Salad with Sautéed Mushrooms, Aged Gouda, and Walnut Balsamic Vinaigrette (my favorite part of the night - I learned how to better saute mushrooms *in duck fat!*)  The salad was completely delightful!!!

 Marianne playing with Mitchell while we chatted amongst ourselves during a tedious part of the evening.  He was the first baby our chef had ever had at a class (really?!?) in all her years of cheffing, and he was absolutely (mostly) perfect - including quietly falling asleep towards the end of the night!

 I helped knead the dough for Homemade Buttered Noodles.  Heather learned to cut them and use a nice sharp Hinkel...lucky!

 Braised Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine and Rosemary - this was good, but not worth the time, although it did have chocolate in it!  Was very tender and tasty and I learned about making the celery/onion/carrot mixture that goes in most French dishes, although I don't have my recipes and notes right next to me to remind me of what it is called...

 And the crown of the evening: Julia Child’s Clafouti Aux Pommes   Yes, I made *watched someone make* a Julia Child recipe.  And, I'm pretty sure I could do it again - although I don't know that I would make this one.  It was good, but not quite in line with my taste buds.  Fabulous evening - we enjoyed Jennifer's Kitchen and would love to go back again!!!!  (Come on Living Social - do another deal!)



A Name! A Name! He finally has a name!

 Aunt Jamie came for the long President's Day weekend and for Mitchell's baby blessing.  We had lots of fun and Jamie loved Ohio sooooo much that she extended her trip for another day!

Baby Blessing - In the LDS church, a baby blessing is similar in importance to a christening.  It's a special day for the baby/family and performed in front of the congregation by someone holding the proper Priesthood authority (Andy in this case).  The child is given a name and a blessing.

Above, Ben was keeping Mitchell happy for me.  Here, he's had a shower and is waiting patiently for Mom to get him dressed.  Mitchell found his fingers this week and alternates which fingers he likes to suck on.  My favorite is his hand gripping his hair - yes, he fell asleep just a few short minutes later!

Here is our cute little family - with Aunt Jamie and Miss Linda (our fabulous next door neighbor).  Mitchell slept for most of our Sacrament service and was not all that thrilled to be woken up for pictures!

 This is the most typical family picture -- Emily touching Mitchell's head, Mitchell pulling Annie's hair, Ben squeezing Mitchell's leg and Andy and I trying to keep everyone together!  I've learned that two or three is the most pictures I can hope for with kids being cheerful - it gets extremely painful after that if we aren't with a professional!

 Loving on our baby!  This boy gets so many kisses each day!

 Aunt Jamie and Mitchell - he's the most awake here!

 And proof that he really does smile!  This was our happy boy after a real nap in his bed.  This little hat is almost too small as Mitchell's head is a little on the large side - you just can't tell because he has so much hair covering it!  (On a side note - last weekend we took the kids to the local high school's production of Beauty and the Beast.  A few kids from church were in it and one was in the orchestra pit.  As we walked from the front of the auditorium to our seats near the back, there were constant twitters of, "look at that hair!"  It was really funny - most of the time I just pretend not to hear, unless I'm ready to engage in conversation.  I only had 3 people that night ask his age and if I had heartburn during my pregnancy.)

 Fake-Baked Alaska Cake!  I have been looking at this recipe in on of my Pampered Chef cookbooks for 4 years now, but it just looked so hard to make.  I reasoned that since Mitchell didn't have a big family and friend dinner to celebrate his blessing, I would take extra care with dessert.  It wasn't hard at all!  I loved it, Andy adored it, Kids really enjoyed it, and Jamie thought it was okay but didn't want another piece.  You must like Cool Whip to enjoy this recipe...and cream cheese...and butter...and cake...and chocolate...and powdered sugar.  Again, I loved it!

 Monday we went to Pump it Up with a fabulous Groupon that I bought (3for1) so the kids could run out some energy!  It started barely snowing when we got there.  Two hours later, it was almost blizzard conditions.  We stopped at the grocery store because we were out of milk and Jamie got the call that her flight was delayed and she would miss her connection and to please call to reschedule her flight.  She got to stay a whole other day and enjoy this beautiful snow!!!

Our family believes in sharing, so I let Jamie share the joys of snow-shoveling with me!  There was a LOT of snow.  We shoveled together twice (Miss Linda from next door helped us the second time - we gave her some cake as a thanks!) and I went out one more time while she put the kids to bed.  I'm pretty sure the Camry wouldn't have made it through!  Thanks for a fun visit and all the snow help!  We're so glad we have our little guy!

Snuggly Bug

This sweet baby.  We just all love him so much.  This is my favorite time - just as he wakes up and gives his first hugs.  He isn't a cuddly guy, unless he is completely wiped out or it's first thing in the morning.  Snuggles lasts all of 5 minutes, so it is such a precious time - which I don't like to share!  I just got back some pictures a friend took when he was 2 1/2 weeks.  Prepare to drool over this little guy - what a charmer!  Coming soon when I have more time...

Fun on an Icy Driveway

It wasn't super cold, but they wanted to play outside.  Yippee!!!!

 We bundled Mitchell up and set him happily in his duck.  Then the fun began!

 Ben had a little friend over.  Miranda is in the bright green.  The kids all loved her!

On your mark...

 I LOVE the huge smile on Emily's face here!

 Such ghetto fun - sliding on an icy driveway...for a LONG time!  It was great. We quite entertained our neighbor as well!

 I think I need to blow this picture up!

 Oh, the joys of falling on your backside...over and over and over again!

 We tried the snow activities the next day - this time with sleds!  Although some people didn't want to put on snow clothes...

 The consequences of playing on the ice without snow gear...such a sad little face.  Ice HURTS!

 Ben getting cocky!

 Okay - this is the cutest little boy (until Mitchell gets to be 2 years old) and he just melts my heart.  He loves the snow.  Of the pictures I took this day, more than half are of my little Miles!

Book, Anyone?

This is how we read books these days - this is during a calm moment where Annie and Emily have decided to coexist happily. It always works better if I catch them before they are too tired... Sadly most nights have gone out the window for books recently - unless Andy is home to help with bedtime. That is when Mitchell needs just Mom; I think we need to move books to mornings while the youngest sleeps in!

A Quiet Sunday Afternoon

The kids love Sunday afternoon, where we don't have to go anywhere. They get into a groove playing and just enjoy our time. Ben is playing happily and quietly (with humming) with all those lovely little Legos! This kiddo is so amazingly creative! I think he was making a dentist office that day - a nice change from the battle scenes that he typically creates! This can last hours if we don't interrupt him.

I went shopping with a friend to a store called The Flower Factory. She wanted to get some things to make her daughter a mobile. That is one of the things that hasn't survived from our other kids, so I bought some butterflies to make Mitchell one. I just used white sewing thread to tie it to an embroidery hoop. He loves it and gets great big eyes when I put him in the crib (as opposed to his bassinet). Annie told me I needed to make him a 'boy' one because butterflies are for girls. Tough Luck - this boy will like butterflies! Besides, they start as caterpillars and those are VERY boyish!

Andy went out to shovel - Emily wanted to go with him.

Valentine's was the next day, and I wanted to make a special treat for my Valentine: Strawberry Shortcake, his favorite! I found a (supposedly) fabulous recipe that needs to be made 2 days prior to serving it. Friday night I made the shortcake (with 3 sticks of butter!!!) and wrapped it for storage in the fridge. Sunday afternoon Annie helped me cut up 2 pounds of strawberries to sprinkle with sugar. Then we started to make the whipping cream. It wasn't working. Did I add too much sugar or not enough??? I added a dash of vanilla because I like that. Andy thought maybe that was why it wasn't whipping. I checked Google and vanilla is completely allowed and shouldn't make a difference. I gave up. Andy took over and tried whipping it in the blender. After almost an hour - we realized I bought light cream - NOT light whipping cream. Oops! After 5 calls to friends, no one had whipping cream, so we delayed our strawberry shortcake until the Monday (when Andy gets home after 10pm).

Emily thinks Mitchell is her personal buddy and he needed to be rocked. Not much seems to phase him anymore. :)

Lesson learned: do not play on treadmill (after Mom has said 'NO" at least 6 million times), especially not when Annie is already on it. The treadmill will throw you off and rip off the top layer of your skin...

Monday - our friends came over. This is little Gwen, whom we all love to squeeze - almost as much as our little Mitchell. They have become buddies too - just like their mommies!

My Sweet Valentines

Really are many pictures cuter that this?  Love.  Love.  LOVE kids in towels after a bath!!!

 Growing up, we always made Valentine's Chocolates.  When my parents redid their kitchen a few years back, I inherited the molds.  This is the first year we have pulled them out, and the kids did fantastic!!!  This is definitely one baking project we will continue; it doesn't take forever and it makes a ton so they are easy to share!

What a bunch of sweethearts!!!

Baby, It's Cold Inside!

We had a big ice storm one night (after having a snow day). By 2:30am, all four children were in our room...joy! Ben was freezing - the clock wasn't working, so I figured the power was out. (I'm just brilliant in the middle of the night!) After feeding Mitchell, I couldn't go back to sleep and made all kinds of plans for how we would survive without power for a few days. (Last time this happened, people were out 3-5 days). I had it all worked out and could finally get back to sleep around 4:30.

We were doing puzzles upstairs (covered in blankets) around 10am, when we got a call from the Relief Society President in our ward at church - asking if we had power. Andy checked our thermostat - 56 degrees! It was so cold! We thought about packing up some stuff and going to the church. No power there! Andy and I had a little conversation about staying home versus going elsewhere. I was all for staying home and had to be convinced that our children cannot regulate body temperatures, it would just keep getting colder in our house, we don't want anyone to get so cold they can't warm up, and did I remember that we have a tiny baby that we need to keep warm?

So, we finally knelt to have a family prayer to decide. After the prayer we all agreed that we needed to go somewhere with power (temp dropped to 55 during those ten minutes). We called Sis. Dayton back and said we would love to come and crash at their place for a bit! And how do I know that prayers and concerns are answered? While we were downstairs (in the dark basement) packing clothes (that didn't end up matching, oh well!), we got phone calls from three other church members offering their homes to us, as well as one from a neighbor suggesting we find somewhere to stay.

Wow! The people here sure make the winters bearable! Here are a few reasons why my children (Andy included) were thrilled with the situation:

1. They love Sister Dayton.
2. They love Sister Dayton's toys.
3. They love the Daytons' pool table.
4. They love the Daytons' Wii.
5. The Daytons have wireless for Andy to connect to work/school (poor guy couldn't even call the school to check for classes because the internet was down because it comes through the phone which is portable and needs to be plugged in; he was so stressed not having internet access for such a LONG time!!!!).
6. Sis. Dayton loves to spoil everyone - me included (she let me make my favorite Ranch dip!!!).

I could keep going on and on; suffice it to say, the blow up mattresses were a hit, the games were exceptional and we felt very at home. Andy loved hanging out with President Dayton - and we even got some good actual "lawyering" talk in.

We spent some time the next day doing Relief Society visits while kids were in school and then swung by our house to get clothes for the next day. Want to know how well our house is insulated? It was 36 degrees!!! I guess I didn't need to worry about the food spoiling! I came back from picking up the kids after school to hot homemade (by Emily and Sis. Dayton) bread and honey-butter as an after school snack. Thanks so much Pres. and Sis. Dayton!!!! We love you both!

It was a great big silver lining to what could have been a very drastic situation. We are so glad that Heavenly Father often answers our prayers through other people!!!