Bread Sticks or Pizza Crust

Okay, this is another favorite recipe of mine from an old ward cookbook. The credit goes to a lady in my ward named Julie Thorngren. Thanks, Julie! It's been over 15 years since I was in that ward -- I can't remember her, but her breadsticks are DELICIOUS. All four of my children love them. In fact, if you have teenagers you might need to make a double batch!

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 Tbsp. yeast (or one package)

2 Tbsp. sugar

Combine the first three ingredients. Stir a little, then let it sit for about 5 minutes to let the yeast start to activate. 

Add:

1/2 tsp. salt

3 1/2 cups flour

Mix in about 2 1/2 cups of the flour and stir. Gradually add the remaining flour until soft and sticky. Knead 5-10 minutes. Let rise about 10 minutes.

At this point you could roll it out onto a pizza pan basted with olive oil and sprinkled with cornmeal and go from there, but for breadsticks here's what you do:

Melt most of a cup of butter (yes!) on a cookie sheet. Roll out dough and cut into 1 inch strips. Dip strips in butter* and twist together. Sprinkle with parsley, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden brown (mine are usually done in about 12 minutes in my oven). This recipe makes about a dozen BIG breadsticks, 

depending on how thin you roll out the dough (I do about 3/8").

 *Dipping the strips in butter takes awhile and gets pretty messy, so I like to cut the strips, twist them together and lay them on the cookie sheet that has the butter melted on the bottom of it (so that coats the bottom of the breadsticks). Then, I take a basting brush and dab up some of the butter from the cookie sheet and coat the top of the breadsticks with it. The butter is what makes it SO yummy!

Christmas Magic

I was so excited during the weeks leading up to Christmas: decorating our little apartment, wrapping presents, baking goodies, reading Christmas stories each night, watching our favorite Christmas movies... I love it all.

The kids got out of school a few days before Christmas and I couldn't be happier. This year has been really crazy. Driving 4 kids to 4 different schools each morning has been insane... I can't seem to get anything accomplished, so I was really looking forward to the break. Just to chill and not drive everywhere all day and tell my kids a thousand times, "Time to get up, let's go, get in the car, we're going to be late, do your homework, go to bed!"

We live in the center of town where it's considered "walking distance" to all of the schools, so there are no buses to pick up my two older kids. Just to catch you up -- we sold our house and moved into an apartment the end of June. 1000 square feet, 6 people, 3 cats, yeah. But it's a actually good thing. We're building a house and it's supposed to be finished by March 1st, so I can almost see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyway, this is our first move in 9 years. I was really comfortable where we were. I knew everyone in our neighborhood and ward (church group). It was home. Exciting as the thought of building a new house may be, it has been quite an adjustment for all of us. We've been attending our new ward since we moved.

The new ward is nice enough, but it's new. I've really tried to get to know people and yet, I look around and I feel like I hardly know anyone.  We went to church the Sunday before Christmas and I was just feeling so sad. Walking into sacrament meeting, I felt like a total stranger. We sat down and saw so many people -- most of whom we didn't know, families that came to visit other ward members -- I had no idea who was who for that matter.

Anyway, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself... feeling sad that we moved... missing our old ward and neighborhood and friends... feeling very alone and hoping our Christmas break would be happy and relaxing. I've decided that moving is sort of like losing someone you love. Things will never be the same. You see or hear something that reminds you of your lost loved one or your old neighborhood and a flood of memories come back. It can be so overwhelming you feel like you will burst and no one really truly understands how you feel. No matter how wonderful your life is now, there's still something missing. Something that can never be replaced. It's a new "normal".

Sunday was bittersweet. New friends and cheerful smiles, a beautiful Christmas program -- but those familiar faces I've known for so long, those knowing smiles I'd come to rely on, the Christmas programs our ward did, the inside jokes, the special connections, and touching stories that bound us together for 9 years -- it just wasn't the same. That Sunday I couldn't figure out for the life of me why I chose to walk away from all of that. Familiar. Comfortable. Easy. My heart ached to go back, but really, there's no going back. Ever. It will never be the same. I look in the windows of our old home and see warm lights and happy smiles... but it's a new family. That life is gone.

I sound crazy. I know! We chose to leave. We felt like it was time to move on and bring our family closer together for many different reasons. We're so excited about our new house. REALLY. This year, however, I've truly realized it doesn't matter where you live. It matters what's inside you and what you do together as a family WHEREVER you live.

So after sacrament, I had agreed to substitute in nursery with the 3 year olds. I have to admit, I wasn't really looking forward to it. Since moving, I've been asked to sub in Primary (children's classes) a lot. It feels like every Sunday I'm there I'm substituting. I know I could say no, but that's just not me. I know they need help. Anyway, I feel like I haven't gotten to meet very many ladies in our ward because I never get to go to Relief Society. Blah blah blah, whine whine whine, I know. Nine years is a long time. I got really comfortable in our old ward. I knew everyone and everyone knew me. It's just going to take some time.

Nursery ended up being wonderful. The other lady helping in the nursery was so nice and friendly -- it means a lot. The children were adorable. We got to take them into Primary with the older kids for awhile to help them adjust since they would no longer be in nursery starting in January. They were so nervous. They didn't even know me and they held my hand so tight. A few of them had tears in their eyes and told me they wanted to go back to the nursery.

Everyone in the Primary was so excited to have the little nursery kids there. They were so friendly and they had fun songs and games for them -- but the nursery kids were afraid. They wanted something familiar and comfortable and easy. I knew just how they felt! My heart filled with love for these sweet little children. The rest of my Sunday was filled with serving and giving and understanding -- I wasn't feeling sorry for myself anymore. Substituting in nursery that day had been a gift just for me. A tender mercy from a kind and loving Heavenly Father. I loved nursery so much I offered to substitute the following Sunday! :)

Christmas was absolutely magical for me this year. I woke up on Christmas Eve feeling kind of depressed and stressed and blah. Not really sure why -- just a lot going on. I was wishing we could be with family -- we visited our parents for Thanksgiving and decided we would stay home for Christmas. It was snowing like crazy -- I was bummed thinking about our house that is waiting to be shingled and how many more weeks the storm will set us back. I was stressed -- Zeke and I were trying to deal with various issues with our children and it's just very emotionally draining and hard not to wallow in it sometimes. I was tired -- I remember curling up with the family to watch "Elf" around noon and I fell asleep for a bit. I hardly ever sleep in the middle of the day. Not sounding very magical, is it?

Okay, as a family, we like to pick someone to do the "12 days of Christmas" for each year. If I remember, I'll do a blog post about what we actually do -- it's very inexpensive and really fun. Anyway, the person we chose was someone we didn't know very well --  a man who lives by our apartment. He lives alone and well, all six of us wanted him to be the one for various reasons. So that was definitely a great experience -- anonymously leaving treats and gifts on his doorstep each night for eleven nights. We hoped it would bring him some Christmas cheer.

Christmas Eve was the last day. On this day, we all go as a family and introduce ourselves and give the final treat. I was still feeling blah and it was still snowing. We bundled up around 3pm and trudged over to his apartment. He was SO thrilled to finally learn who had been leaving all of the treats. We had met him previously this fall so it was fun to chat and get to know him better. It was then I noticed a little bit of happy creep into my heart, a little less blah -- I was thinking about someone else besides myself.

Directly in front of his apartment is a narrow alleyway on a fairly steep hill. By this time, the snow was at least 6 inches deep and there were no snow plows in sight on Christmas Eve. We ran back over to our apartment, bundled up a little more, grabbed our sleds, and raced back to the alley. It was awesome!    The alley was great: not too fast, not too bumpy, and all to ourselves. It was then I realized I was smiling and laughing AND that I had been for quite awhile.

The man we had just visited came outside and visited some more while we sledded and watched the kids.  He told us more about him --  both his parents had passed away, he was divorced twice, and his kids were grown and married and really didn't visit him much. It's almost as hard for me to type that sentence as it was for me to hear him say it. I can still see his face and the ache I felt in my heart. I wish I could tell you more about him, but I don't want to get too personal.

We had a really good visit and I just knew we needed to invite him over for Christmas Day to eat dinner with us. I looked at Zeke and I knew he was thinking the same thing. So we did. He said he might come. He was invited to his brother's house a couple hours away, but with the storm he wasn't sure if he wanted to travel that far. We encouraged him to come over and hang out with us.

We came in from sledding way past dark and I seriously felt like a little kid again. I can't remember the last time I've felt quite that way. It was truly magical! What a simple thing -- taking treats to a neighbor and spontaneously going sledding on an empty street. Later, we opened our traditional Christmas Eve present (or two or three -- thanks Grandmas and Grandpas!) The kids were excited about their presents, but they kept mentioning how much fun it had been to go sledding and how excited they were to have our new friend over for dinner the next day.

We read the account of the Savior's birth from the Bible and somehow got the kids in bed (notice I didn't say ASLEEP). Christmas morning came bright and early as Beck woke up at 5am wanting to know "did he come? did Santa come?" I think we got everyone up and ready to go around 6am. We opened presents and it was crazy. (I'll save that story for another day.) Anyway... it was mostly good.

After breakfast, I started fixing our Christmas Dinner. We planned to eat at 3pm and there was lots to do. Everyone pitched in and at 2:55, the table was set and ready, so I went to the bathroom to freshen up a bit before dinner. While I was in the bathroom I heard the doorbell ring. A wave of butterflies surged through my stomach -- he's here! I wasn't sure if he would really come. I was nervous, but excited.

We had a great dinner. He was so grateful and kind. He was really interesting to talk to and the conversation just seemed to flow. He kept complimenting our children on their good manners (what the? yeah, it was a truly magical day in many ways). He stayed for a few hours and I felt like it was one of THE best Christmases I've ever had. We talked a lot about our beliefs and membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He is also a member of our Church.

My heart ached for all that he has been through and all that he is going through. Suddenly, my "trials" and "troubles" seemed so incredibly trivial and even foolish and shameful. I tried to empathize with him, but I found myself flailing over every word I'd try to say. He was so happy just to have someone to spend Christmas with and I felt ashamed for feeling so crowded and overwhelmed with my little family sometimes. He has so many health problems and I felt so grateful to realize how healthy we really are and what a blessing that is.

Without any fancy presents, parties, or plans, and basically a "stranger" at our table, I felt closer to the Savior this Christmas than any other Christmas I can recall. I felt His love for me and my sweet little family. I felt His love for this kind man. I felt JOY. I don't know how to describe it, but joy is different from happiness. It is more than happy. It floods your entire mind and body with peace and fulfillment and hope and love. It's the true Spirit of Christmas.

This feeling set the mood for our family. Again, this is not like other Christmases. We're usually all sick and fighting most of the time. We have been SO blessed for Zeke to have two weeks vacation from work. It's been so cold and it has snowed so much, we haven't really gone anywhere. Quite simply, we have spent time together. The clock has literally come to a stop and it has been the most wonderful Christmas, here in this tiny apartment.

Just being together. No plans, no running around, no expectations, no fevers, no doctor visits, no alarm clocks, no homework, no schedules: just playing, cooking, eating, watching movies, building with Legos, taking pictures, laughing, playing video games and board games, singing, dancing, thinking, talking, reading, napping, cuddling, living, being. There is no price tag on the gifts I have received.

Breakfast Cake

 Breakfast Cake

I got this recipe from a church cookbook over 16 years ago. It's from Johanna Markworth (she and I went to Snow College way back when and I just wanted to give her credit for the recipe :)

This is one of our family favorites for our "Big Breakfast Saturdays" and especially for Christmas morning. With Christmas just around the corner, I thought this would be a good one to share:

1 beaten egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. melted shortening

1 cup flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt 

Mix the first four ingredients together, then add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour into a greased 9x9 inch pan and top with:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbsp. melted butter

1/4 cup chopped nuts (these are optional. Almonds are lovely, by the way.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. You can also double this batch and put it in a 9x13inch pan.

It takes about 15 minutes to put together. I'm going to try and make it on Christmas Eve and bake it the next morning. I'll let you know how it turns out...

Merry Christmas!

I'll Repent...

Hey bloggers, these are the words I promised my dear friends this morning "I'll repent!!" I haven't been reading or writing any blogs lately. Not one. I honestly don't know where the time goes.

It's interesting to me how much I've noticed the balance of things in life lately. Lots of trials, but LOTS of blessings.

My heart is ACHING for those families in Connecticut affected by or involved in that terrible shooting... I simply cannot imagine. It has been a rough week sending my kids to school. A few more hugs and kisses here and there, extra "I love you's" -- I feel ashamed to think what it took to remind me how precious each of my children are to me. I hold them just a little longer than I used to and I find myself trying to reassure them, almost pleading with them, "Do you know how much I love you? I hope you do!"

Things I love:

1. My husband -- he is so loving and supportive of me in all my quirky glory. People say building a home can destroy your marriage -- I feel like it has brought us closer in many ways, although we do like much of the same things so picking out colors and things to go in and on the house has been really fun!

2. My friends -- ditto to the above, I only wish I could see them more. You wonderful women keep me afloat when all the other things in life seem to get me down sometimes.

3. My kids -- they're pretty darn patient with me and they're all in these really fun phases right now: 14, 12, 8, and 4. I'm not saying they're fun 100% of the time -- I'm just saying they CAN be. They love me and I love to see all the ways they show me.

4. My Mom -- she is just plain AWESOME in every way. Again, I wish I could see her MORE.

5. All of my family -- we went to visit my family and Zeke's family during Thanksgiving and it was truly one of THE best trips ever. I love them all and I'm grateful to have them in my life.

5. The Gospel of Jesus Christ -- my greatest source of peace and direction. I really appreciate our new ward. It truly is where we're supposed to be.

6. My cats -- seriously, they are so much a part of our family. They are great company and so fun! People have told me they prefer dogs because cats aren't affectionate or happy to see you. I wonder if these people have actually had a cat in their home? I'm amazed at how loving they are and how they just seem to know when one of us is sad or sick. I'm grateful our kids can have these beautiful animals in our home. I know they are a great source of comfort to them and they teach them to be more gentle and kind. By the way, have you ever played with a cat and a laser pointer? Seriously, you should.

7. This crazy roller coaster ride called "building a house". Did I tell you our apartment is 1000 square feet? Did I tell you we've been living here for almost 6 months? Yeah. It's a bit crazy, but every time I go out to our new house and see the progress I tell myself "I can do this -- not much longer -- it's going to be worth it." This has been a miracle for our family and I feel so blessed. Am I crazy to admit I've been drawing little shapes of all of our furniture to scale on the floor plans already? :)

Merry Christmas!

Crockpot Bean Soup

You know those little recipe books you get at the grocery check out?
I got a great one a few years back called "Taste of Home's: 44 Meals Under $10".
 It's got some surprisingly good and easy recipes in it. 

This is one of our favorites:

Crockpot Bean Soup

3 cups chopped parsnips (optional)

2 cups chopped carrots

1 cup chopped onion

1-1/2 cups dried great northern beans

5 cups water

1-1/2 pounds smoked ham hocks or ham shanks

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/8 tsp. hot pepper sauce (I like Tabasco)

1. In a 5-qt. slow cooker, place the parsnips, carrots, and onion. Top with beans. Add water, ham, garlic, salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce. Cover and cook on high for 6-7 hours or until beans are tender.

2. Remove meat and bones when cool enough to handle. Cut the meat into bite-size pieces and return to the slow cooker.

3. If you would like it a bit thicker: in a small bowl, mix 1 Tbsp. cornstarch and 1/2 cup cold water. Stir into soup; heat through.

Makes 6-8 servings.

"I'm pretty sure this happened over night." Part One: GABE

So, we've been living in this little apartment since June. We're feeling rather cramped. Especially at night when all six of us are here. I swear my kids are ALL legs. Man, there's just no room to move! We were so naive to think our house would be done by the end of November... anyway, it's an adventure, right?

At night when everyone is restless and I don't know what ... we clear out a space in the middle of the living room and turn on some dance music. My dear friend, Sharon, made me the BEST CDs! At least I think so... my kids are asking for Oingo Boingo and Big Audio Dynamite.  I'm feeling rather proud of myself as a parent right now! It's fun to dance around with them and play; the kids need to move and wiggle. I think I do too.

We've had some impromptu dance lessons as well. Last Friday, Zeke was sick. I mean really sick. The doctor said he was getting pneumonia -- yeah, so he laid on the couch while we danced. (He's feeling much better now, by the way.) A slow song came on. I think it was "Never Tear Us Apart" from INXS (oh, the memories!)

Do you ever just REALLY want to slow dance??? Well, I do, and my sweetie was laid up on the couch. I grabbed Gabe. The girls kept giggling and staring as I tried to teach him how to slow dance. I cannot fully explain to you how totally BIZARRE it was to look UP into the eyes of my 14 year old son. (I'm nearly 5'7" already!)

Anyway, I tried to show him how I think it's cool/more romantic/proper/whatever when a guy puts one hand on your waist and "holds your other hand up like this". Are you picturing it? It reminds me of Dirty Dancing, "...spaghetti arms! would you give me some tension, please?" (No, I won't show my kids that movie, but man, I loved it when I was younger.)

So it was one of those moments I will always remember, cheesy I know, but Gabe wasn't too bugged. In fact, he seemed pretty eager to figure out this slow dance thing. Little did I know, it was perfect timing. The very next night, Gabe was at a friend's house and called me to ask if he could go to a Stake Dance with said friend's cousin's Dad. I said sure??? (Gabe has NEVER wanted to go to a Stake Dance before now.) This was around 9pm.

11pm. The door opens. In walks Gabe and his friend, Zach. They were laughing and stumbling about in the way only 14 year old boys can, simultaneously creating a wake of noise and candy wrappers as they crossed the room.

"So how was the dance?" I asked. Immediately, they launched into a VERY animated explanation of learning how to do the Electric Slide and the Macarena. Then, without any reservations whatsoever, they SHOWED us how to do the line dance to "Cotton Eye Joe". Remember, we're in a 1400 sq. ft. apartment with 3 other kids! I laughed SO hard I thought I would burst. It was priceless.

And... then (here it comes) we asked them if they got to slow dance with any girls. They both grinned and said sheepishly, "Yeah, we did." (I could swear there were little heart bubbles swirling and popping around their heads.)

Gabe got real excited and said, "MOM! Oh wow, by the way, thanks for showing me how to hold their hand up and put one hand on their waist! The girls said that was really cool! "

To all of the girls from some random Stake Dance in Sky View... "You're welcome." Oh, if ever I could be a fly on a wall...

I tried to choke down the lump in my throat. You know, maybe this Mom thing has its perks too. He was so excited! I thought, "Oh, my baby boy is slow dancing with girls!!"

Now as I type this, reality sets in and the lump I remember is replaced by a sick butterfly-type feeling in the pit of my stomach, "My baby boy is slow dancing with girls???????"

Oh dang.

Ramble On

For the record, I love Led Zeppelin. Not in the way you might think. I remember dragging main with my friend and her boyfriend (Yes, I was the lame 3rd wheel!) and we listened to "Stairway to Heaven" over and over and over and over.... no, I'm thinking about Black Dog, Kashmir, Misty Mountain Hop, Immigrant Song, and Ramble On (just popped into my head when I was trying to come up with a title for this post).

I'm kinda bummed at my lack of blogging lately. From this moment henceforth, I intend to be exceedingly serious about blogging. Well, for a moment at least. There's so much going on. TOO MUCH.  My blog has been left to fend for itself.

We've all been sick the last few days. Fever. Ache. Sore Throat. Cough. What's that commercial about NyQuil? the something something so-you-can-rest medicine. Well, anyway, I can't take NyQuil, I pretty much do the opposite of rest. I have ultra-vivid/bizarre dreams all night long, but I'm halfway between awake and asleep, so yeah. Not sure where I was going with that...

Today, I think we're somewhat on the mend thankfully. I took some of my kids to school and I was able to go visit with some friends this morning. We had a good visit about yesterday's election and some really yummy muffins. Friends and family make me so happy. :) Some of my best friends are really more like family and some of my family are my best friends. For the record, thanks for caring about me. Life is good. Crazy, but good.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot. I've been reading a lot.

Two books in particular have me thinking:

1. "Pretending to be Normal" by Liane Holliday Willey
2. "The Book of Mormon Girl" by Joanna Brooks

These books have NOTHING in common other than the fact they were both written by women.
I'm very choosy about the books I read. I don't have a lot of "free" time and I really feel like "you are what you read...." (Sorry, my head's still a bit fuzzy and I just cannot seem to stop quoting movies.... wait, I do it all the time.)

I'm glad I read both of them. For very different reasons. Both of these books are memoirs -- I could relate so well with the author in book #1, but not very much at all with the author in book #2. However, we are all women. I respect them and their courage to tell their story; to share their honest opinions and most personal experiences. Somehow, it makes me want to be a better person and reach out to others more; to love everyone regardless of our differences.

It's funny how books come into my life at the right time.

There's a lot more I want to say, but alas, I randomly started writing this post at a most dangerous time: 4pm on a Wednesday. I should be making dinner and helping with homework.

Okay.... you've been spared for now.

Radio Free Logan

It's been awhile since I've posted anything.

Life is busy. Always. You know, with four kids, statistically speaking, it just is. It will be. And that's that. And it's crazy, but I love them so much. I'm doing it and most days, I'm still smiling.

Lately, I've been smiling more. Why? I want to share with all of you one of THE best things I have ever done. 

What? THE best thing ever? YES.

It may sound a bit dramatic, but it's 100% true. I wonder why I waited so long. 

Such a simple thing can have the most profound results.

Alma 37:6

6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

As a mother of four, I spend a lot of time in the car each day driving from school to school and errands in between. I get a bit impatient with other drivers and I get tired of watching the clock and going back and forth throughout the day and loading kids in and out.

A few weeks ago, I started listening to scriptures in my car. Specifically, The Book of Mormon. I'm sure this is no "WOW" thing for you, but have you tried it?

I tell the kids, "Mom needs her 'scripture power' for the day" and well, it has been absolutely AWESOME!

I feel more calm, more in tune with the Spirit, more settled, more confident and less frazzled at the end of the day. 

It's nice to have the scriptures read to me as I'm driving around and waiting at stop lights. It's so much easier for me to focus on the sound of the scriptures than it is for me to read the words at my house with so much constant noise and bussle going on. Life changing!

• 2 Nephi 32:3

  3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the wordsof Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

• 2 Nephi 31:20

  20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.
  
  
  Here's one of my favorite primary songs, "Scripture Power"
  http://broadcast.lds.org/churchmusic/Primary/PR_ScripturePower_eng.mp3
  http://www.lds.org/cm/pdf/ScripturePower_eng.pdf
  
  Sorry, I couldn't get those links to uh, link, but you can copy and paste it in to a new page. Go listen to the mp3 and the words of this awesome song!

Ganache!

Lots of random thoughts this week....

All of us came down with some sort of cold/flu thing on Sunday. Well, Zeke and Zoe got it earlier than that. The point is, I haven't been feeling very well. Achy, run-down, feverish... just really yucky.

Anyway, not sure if I told you in another post, but our family is basically addicted to watching "Cake Boss" on Netflix. Beck and Kaia pretend they're on the show. They make cakes out of pillows and blankets and yell things like, "Now I'm gonna dirty ice this with some buttercream!" and "Now we covered the cake in red fonDAHNT (you have to hear Buddy say it)."

They're actually really creative. Beck made a "cake" from our leather ottoman, two fleece blankets, hot wheels cars, and his iron man Halloween mask. "That's how we make cake LOGAN style, baby! GANACHE!!!"

Yes, we're hooked. And like any reality series, I'm just as hooked on all the lives of the people on the show. Yesterday, Gabe and Kaia stayed home from school. We all felt horrible. We sat on the couch all day watching Netflix while Beck ran around making "cakes" from anything he could find and every few minutes asking us, "Who wants to eat some cake, baby?"

Needless to say, we watched quite a bit of "Cake Boss". We watched the episode from Season 4? where Buddy's wife, Lisa, gives birth the their 4th child, Carlo Salvatore Valastro. For reasons I don't even fully understand, I cried like a baby the entire time. Not sure what Gabe thought of that... there is just something absolutely miraculous and beautiful about the birth of a baby. Buddy says it's just as amazing the fourth time around. I agree whole-heartedly. It was a beautiful, although a bit ultra-personal, moment for the Valastro family. I felt like an intruder in a way, but I felt so happy for them. I've watched the show so much lately, I feel like I know them.

Speaking of watching the show so much, my kids have been BEGGING me to make cake. They've been pleading with me to make fonDANT. So, on Monday, we gave it a try.... now please, this was my first attempt. I wasn't feeling well and this was after dinner...

Okay, we'll call it a caterpillar, I guess. I wanted to do a cake, but well, since we moved, I can't find the box with my cake pans, so we did cupcakes. I found some red hots and slivered almonds in the cupboard... yeah, I didn't really have a plan. This caterpillar doesn't look like much, but it was a LOT or work, dirty iced, and covered in a layer of pink fonDANT. Why do I feel so cool saying that?

All of the kids helped me (well, Gabe, helped EAT it). It was fun and now I'm really excited to try more things. Zeke's 40th birthday is coming up in a few weeks and I have a really cool cake in my head... oh, if only Carlo's Bakery was ready to ship cakes to Utah!!! I'll have do it Logan style, baby!

Too Many Hats

How do I do this? Every year or so, I realize I have WAY too much going on in my life. How did it sneak up on me? When and why did I sign up for all of this? How can I possibly "wear" this many "hats"? Definitely not all at once. Wow, I think I need a bigger hat rack...

wife to Zeke

mother to Gabe

mother to Zoe

mother to Kaia

mother to Beck 

(all four "mother" hats are very different and separate)

daughter

friend

aunt

sister

niece

chauffeur

chef

maid

laundress

seamstress

shopper

picture taker
referee

home decorator

event planner

meal planner

errand runner

bill payer

budget maker

book club member x 2

pampered chef consultant

art volunteer at school

literacy volunteer at school
Room Mom for Kaia's class

busy "church calling person"

cat owner x 3

aquarium owner

book reader

movie watcher

blogger

"facebooker"

"not even close to professional, but wanna be" organizer
"wanna be" crafter/DIYer

"wanna be" author

"wanna be" college graduate

weirdo (all encompassing emotionally, physically, and mentally... I'm out there.)

oh, and Beck says, "UNO player"

I'm sure there's more...

I wonder what all of these hats would actually look like?? 

That's fun to think about... I may have to expound on that later.

Life is good. It really is, just BUSY. Can one be too busy? YES. What to give up? I'm not sure.

Some "hats" I love TOO much to even consider giving up... others "hats" I have to wear and I'm proud of it... other "hats" I want to wear more often, but keep them hanging on the rack just in case I get a chance to wear them later.

What are your favorite "hats"? How do you balance your time in "wearing" them? What would you say NO to? How do you say NO?

Well, I can't say NO to another round of UNO...