Recipe Club at My House - Oct. 22nd

I am so excited to host my monthly recipe club in October.  Our theme is: Tried and True -- what your family loves to eat for dinner.

You know, the entree that your family loves; the one you make for guests because it’s always a hit.

Come hungry!  Bring us your best to share and sample everyone else's delicious dish. 

It will be on Thursday, October 22nd at 6:30 PM at our home.

It is technically a Relief Society meeting for ladies in my ward, but everyone is welcome to join in the fun.

If you can't attend, email me your favorite entree recipe and I will email you all of the recipes that people turned in.

Click on the flyer on the left for all the details.

Twirly Whirling

Mike was kind enough to entertain J out back while I made dinner.  What a nice break for me.  Not that I don't appreciate the help of my Sous Chef, but sometimes it is nice to just work alone.

Mike is such a great dad.  It is always such a happy time when Mike gets home.  Jasper loves to see him and play with him.  I honestly have no idea how single mom's do it - because I need my husband's help.

I just love these twirly sticks that I got at Toys R Us last month.  They are like kites on a stick.  They are also a lot of fun to use under a ceiling fan if it 's too hot to play outside.

Fresh from the Patch

Last Thursday Jasper and I tagged along on a field trip to Gilcrease Orchard hosted by my friend Nancy for her preschool class.

We drove out with Trisha and her 2 kiddos. We were the "sick-mobile", as I was sick and Jasper and Benjamin both had a runny nose. I was so happy to ride with Trisha and get to spend a few minutes talking and catching up.

There is something not very "fall-ish" about a 93 degree day at a pumpkin patch.

After Jasper picked the apples he wanted to throw them. I tried to explain that they were not balls to be thrown, but he did not want to listen.

Jasper was thrilled to have plenty of room to run free up and down row after row of pumpkins, tomatoes and apples.

When we got done running around the orchard we got a tour of the facility where they make apple juice, and then we got some samples to drink. DELICIOUS!

We bought a gallon to take home and enjoy.

Kim and Shelby came too. Jasper and Shelby are great buddies. We're so glad to have them as friends.

Thanks for a fun day!

"Big Boys"

My friend Brittany's boys refer to boxers as "big boys".

When Jasper and I were putting laundry away this afternoon Jasper wouldn't let go of some underwear that I bought him. I asked him If he wanted to wear his "big boys" instead of his diaper and he said YES!

Who am I to deny the wearing of underwear?

For a few hours today Jasper danced around in his "big boys" and was happy as can be.

For the last 2 months Jasper has had days here and there where he wants to sit on his potty, but nothing to get too excited about.

He plops down with some books or an old cell phone. I live it when he takes calls on the potty. He's a crack up.

My plan has been to let him run around our backyard sans bottoms this Fall. Maybe it's time to start now.

Green Machine

Admitting that until this week I have never made a smoothie with fresh spinach and kale in it may get me kicked out of the Vita-Mix users club, but it's true.

I've had my Vita-Mix for almost 3 years years, and just this week Jasper and I started making our own Green Machine smoothie every.

Jasper loves to load in the ingredients. He even claps for himself when he's done.

Yes, it takes five times longer to get our smoothie show on the road with Jasper loading things. But we have a good time in the kitchen each morning.

And the real bonus is that Jasper drinks that shake each day and asks for MORE!

The original recipe is courtesy of Joe Paul. Before you get too excited, I will warn you that it tastes very, um..."healthy".

Does anyone else have a favorite smoothie recipe that you're willing to share?

Here's my version in the order I load it in:
1 banana
10 baby carrots
1/2 cup of oats
4 heaping spoonfuls of yogurt
1 c frozen berries
5 ice cubes
10 frozen grapes
2 big handfuls of spinach
1 leaf of kale
1/2 cup juice
ENJOY!

Here's Joe's original recipe:
1 C juice (orange, cran-pomegranate or whatever)
2 handfuls of spinach
1 leaf of kale
2 or 3 spoons of yogurt (vanilla or plain)
1 c berries (blue or mixture) frozen
about 4 ice cubes
1/2 c of oatmeal
1 banana

p.s. If you are thinking about buying a Vita-Mix, the best deal I've ever found is at Costco.

Mike in Motion

Tonight I (which really means WE = Mike and I) watched our friends' kids so that they could go out to dinner and celebrate her husband passing the Utah Bar.

Let's just say that their baby girl was NOT HAPPY to spend a few hours sans her mom.

The only thing that ever stopped her from crying was Mike putting her in the football hold and literally running around our family room.

This photo is a little fuzzy because Mike is in motion.

Thanks for the rescue Mike! You're the best!

Sing, Sing a Song

Jasper and I love to sing songs out of our mini Children's Songbook.

My favorite is when he sings to me. Especially when he sings off the prelude music pages -- with no words on them.

Still

Last month Mike snapped this picture of Jasper being still...well, somewhat still.

This may be the first time that Jasper has ever laid on my lap in Sacrament meeting.

He helps lead songs, likes to sustain people, stands on the corner of our pew (his perch) to see what everyone behind us is doing and loves to take the Sacrament. But still he is not.

We have taught Jasper that going to church is a wonderful thing he really thinks that it is. On Saturday we always talk about how great it is that we can go to church the next day and then Jasper starts smiling and clapping for joy. We repeat this "hooray, we get to go to church" routine on Sunday morning.

If you don't like going to church, please keep it to yourself, as right now Jasper thinks it's the best part of his week.

Church really was great today. The highlight for me was Kim and Martin being confirmed members of our Church and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Mike was asked to participate and was excited to be a part of their special day. They sat behind us and I think they were glowing.

I thought it was a little ironic that the Gospel Principles Sunday School lesson was on missionary work.

Rachelle taught a great lesson about friendship. It has really made me grateful for my friends and all that they do for me. THANK YOU!

Happy Day

Today we were blessed to attend the baptism of Martin and Kim.

We met them last month when they came to church and became instant friends.

Kim has a sweet daughter who is 5 months younger than Jasper. We feel lucky when they sit with us at church. Jasper does a lot better in Sacrament meeting sitting next to Shelby.

We've had fun swimming and playing with them, going to their house for dinner and a missionary discussion. We thrilled to share their special day with them.

I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and Mike did his best to keep Jasper at bay.

Our friend Holly organized a nice buffet meal with dessert so everyone could stay and visit.

Jasper was thrilled to eat chocolate cake and was pretty much covered by the time we left.

Here's one of my favorite quotes from my talk.

"The Holy Ghost is the Comforter. As the soothing voice of a loving parent can quiet a crying child, the whisperings of the Spirit can calm our fears, hush the nagging worries of our life, and comfort us. The Holy Ghost can fill us "with hope and perfect love" and "teach [us] the peaceable things of the kingdom".

I love this quote because I feel like as a mom I can understand how soothing my voice can be to Jasper when nothing else can calm him.

Not Our Best Week...

This picture of Jasper sums up our week.

We've been down and out, but hope to be back to normal in a few days.

I've been under the weather with a bad cold that's included and incredibly stuffy head, cold, killer sinus headaches and even puking.

And Laryngitis. Whew!

Nothing like a "whispered yell" to warn your toddler of looming danger.

I went to the Dr. on Thursday and have been sleeping much better since they gave me some RX cough medicine. I am on the mend, but still only at about 70%.

Little J has had a bad ear infection for a week and a half, so he is not himself either. This is his first ear infection since he got tubes, and we are experiencing all of the interesting GOOP that drains from his ear now. Eeeeewww!

Breakin' Out

I knew the day would come when Jasper would figure out how to escape from his pack n' play.

Jasper chose to demonstrate his skills on our trip to Beaver for the 24th of July.

All he needed was to pop his little toe up on the side and out he went.

The funniest thing is that once he figured out how to get out, he climbed back in. And out, and then back in.

As of today, has not escaped from his crib...yet.

Snugglin'

Just a few photos of my boys taking a break on a Saturday afternoon.