PR skilz

Our open house at church is tomorrow. We have decided to keep our plans with my brother and have a great day upstate. I was happy to contribute to our open house in another exciting way. I graduated from BYU with a bachelors in Public Relations. I've never written a "real" press release or radio PSA, but I got to do a little publicizing for the open house this weekend. I made a couple ads and got them placed in 2 papers, and I contacted some local radio stations and sent in some PSA information. It took a day and a half of phone calls and computer time, but it was good. Above is one of my "Meet the Mormon" ads (with address erased for internet privacy sakes. Is it too late for this?). It was fun to open the paper up and see it today!

Schools closed

School are closed today due to icy roads. Emma woke up today saying she didn't want to go to school. Then when we told her she couldn't go to school, she changed her mind and really wanted to go to school. Hmmm. Since we had some free time I got the girls' computer out. It's been hidden in a dark corner of the basement for weeks, so they were thrilled to have it out again. All of their virtual webkinz are nearing virtual starvation.

Like my barstools? I got them for half off a few weeks ago. Now if we can just get tile and paint and curtains and furniture...

Recipe Book Giveaway

We love having the sister missionaries over once a week to share a meal and a message. (We do the meal , they do the message.) When they really like something I've made, I've been giving them the recipe. Every so often I get a compulsion to make a recipe book. The sisters got me inspired this time. I collected some of our favorite recipes, most of which the sisters have eaten with us, and put them together in this cute little book. Tonight we are celebrating one of the sister's birthdays, so I'll put the recipe books on their plates with some other festive decorations. My girls have been making cards and little presents like crazy.

I have a few extra books, so thought I'd do a blog giveaway! How exciting for all of us. ;) If you'd like a recipe book, leave a comment telling me what you would feed the missionaries if they were coming to dinner. I always need new ideas! I'll have Hope pick a name out of a hat. The first paper she tries to eat will be the lucky winner.

The Button Flew

Today as I was executing a complicated "sit on the couch while reaching for Hope to lift her out of an ottoman" maneuver, the button on my pants popped right off and flew across the room. I'm not enthusiastic about breaking out the panel pants - but it must be time. The button flew.

On a brighter note, Madelyn had a good bus ride home from school today. She usually loathes the bus because it is so crowded and noisy and her bus driver is extremely irritable. This last week, however, the bus driver has been taking a different route which drops off a lot of the kids at the very beginning. The noise level and craziness has gone way down, and the driver has been acting like a new woman. She got the kids singing "The Wheels on the Bus" and Barney's theme song "I love you, You love me..." all the way home. Madelyn said she (the driver) was laughing her head off, and it was the greatest ride home ever. I tell Madelyn that maybe her little Valentine helped after all.

Free Pancakes

We had free pancakes at I-HOP for dinner tonight. Yummy. Love that butter pecan syrup. And yes, Hope is still in her pajamas. It was a pajamas kind of a day.

Sardines

I love Family Home Evening - especially when I get to sit back and let everybody else do the work. Jon gave a great lesson about "Sunday Stations" - inspired from this month's Friend Magazine. Wonderful idea for helping the whole family keep the Sabbath Day holy. Then we played sardines. Emma was the last to hide. We started out in the basement, and she went up to hide in her closet. I figured as long as I was downstairs, I had might as well start some laundry. So I took a few minutes to hang dry some wet stuff and start a new load. By the time I got upstairs and found everyone, they had been quietly stuffed in the closet together for a decent length of time. They all tumbled out gasping for air when I opened the door. Ooops. Sorry guys. The photo was obviously taken after everyone had a breather. Then I made them get back in.

Caps for Sale

A girl can never have too many hats. But I suppose you shouldn't wear them all at the same time. Reminds me of "Caps for Sale".


I should find a copy of the book. It would be too fun to get a little monkey with some caps, too! I saw them here.

Meet the Mormons

This sign in front of our church building makes me laugh. The "Meet the Mormons" header was at first sight a little surprising - considering we don't officially refer to ourselves as Mormons, and the way it makes me feel like a foreign species. But in time, it's grown on me, and now it seems folksy and cute. Our ward is having an open house this Saturday. There is a cleaning activity in the morning, then booths will be set up for all the different auxilliaries, along with informational posters set up in the cultural hall. We can invite friends for a personal tour earlier in the day, or people can come with the general public in the afternoon. Being that I am a ward missionary, it would be a great day for me to actually do something pertaining to my calling. I even gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting today about stepping up and sharing the gospel. I have a conflict, however. A few weeks ago we made plans to spend Saturday with my brother and his family at a time share. Besides the fun family time, the indoor pool and the window shopping, Jon and I were going to get a bit of time on our own to celebrate our 12th anniversary. Thus, my conscience is conflicted. What would you do?

So Smooth

I have a love/hate relationship with bananas. I love that they are a quick, easy nutritious food, and I hate that after 2 or 3 bites the texture makes me want to hurl. This isn't a pregnancy problem for me, by the way - it's all-seasonal. My desire for bananas precluding the hurling temptation brings me back to making my favorite fruit smoothies. All the banana flavor with none of the mushiness. This morning I made one with pineapple, bananas and orange juice. Perfectly refreshing. It would be even better if it wasn't 17 degrees outside. I'll just put on a sweater and pretend I'm in the tropics. Or the Middle East.

These are my two favorite smoothies:

Pineapple Crush
1/2 c orange juice
1/2 c pineapple juice
1 c frozen pineapple chunks (I just use the canned pineapple packed in juice)
1/2 frozen very ripe banana
1/2 c vanilla yogurt (or ice cream...I won't tell)
handful of ice cubes

Pink Banana
1 c apple juice
1 c frozen strawberries
1 frozen very ripe banana
1/2 c vanilla yogurt
handful of ice cubes

On a side note, I bought these shoes last night to wear to my little brother's wedding in March. They are slippers with bling. I have to keep them away from Hope so she doesn't chew off the faux stones. She is intently interested in them.

Visiting Teaching Blog

I have been kicking around an idea lately to do a fun blog that shares ideas about doing our visiting teaching. I am by no means a perfect visiting teacher. I do love it when I actually get out, though. And I love doing fun things to present the monthly message. I got a template up last night and posted a couple ideas (but no - I haven't gotten to the February message yet - again, not perfect!). I know lots of you that read my blog are super creative and probably have some great ideas for doing your visiting teaching. I need your help, and would love if you would be interested in posting on the VT Blog. Just let me know and I will send you an invite to be an author on the blog. Check it out: visitingteachingblog

And Baby Makes 8

Big news...

We are expecting a new baby! Baby's due date is mid-September. I've been feeling pretty good. I get my naps, start out my day with Fruity Pebbles, and all is well.

We've been tracking the pregnancy with babycenter.com, which gives a weekly update on how the baby is growing. The girls love the comparisons they give to various edible objects. This week baby is the size of a grape. In case you were wondering.

Pretty Rooms

I am dreaming again today of what I'd like to do with our house. I love the color and pattern in this house, and it helps me to envision what it might look like for us, since our kitchen, dining room and family room are interconnected in a similar way. So, they have yellow walls in all three areas. The ceiling is painted a sky blue! Shocking! Would we dare? The curtains are cream-colored with black trim and a bold pattern in the dining room. Nice. I love the green and turquoise surprises throughout.

Here is the kitchen. They have a yellow tile backsplash, but I am in love with the green tile backplash in the photo below. Would it be too much, looking at that green from a yellow and black dining room? The other things I like in the kitchen are the crown molding above the cabinets and the roman blinds. I can see us doing this!

mmmm. green. pretty.

Valentines

I sent the girls off to school today, laden with Valentines, candy and cookies. I always get a little wistful as I watch them from the window, walking down our street together, laughing and talking. Time goes by so fast. I try and tuck away little moments like that in my heart and memory, to be taken out another day when my girls are not so little anymore.

We had a fun night yesterday preparing for the Valentine's exchanges. Frosting cookies, decorating oatmeal containers, and hot gluing googly eyes on Tootsie Roll Pops. Madelyn has been staying up 1/2 hour later then her sisters since she turned 11. Sometimes I just wish everyone was in bed at 8:30 so I could get on with my business, but at other times it's great to have her to myself for a few minutes. As she was helping me with the googly eye project she had me cracking up, impersonating her bus driver and the trouble-makers that drive the lady insane. Madelyn got her a special valentine to try and soften her up.

Last night was also a special Valentine's dinner for couples only, put on by our ward's Elders Quorum. Sometimes the Elders Quorum gets a bad rap for not putting a lot of effort into their activities and lessons. That doesn't seem to be the case here, though. Jon and I both enjoy going to our respective meetings, and dutifully trade off Hope-watch each Sunday so we can at least attend every other week. This dinner the EQ put on was delightful. They had the cultural hall decorated with hearts and cupids and streamers flowing from the basketball hoop across the ceiling and over our heads. The men prepared pans of regular and vegetarian lasagna, rolls, and a big salad with oranges and candied almonds. Very impressive. They say the menu doesn't vary from year to year, but they try to get creative with the decorations. But hey - when you've got a good thing going, there's no point in rocking the boat.

Anyway, in order for Jon and I to enjoy this adult evening, we decided to let the kids babysit themselves. Gasp! We left Madelyn in charge of Emma at home, and we brought Cailin to church with us to watch Hope in the nursery. It worked out pretty good, and was a relief to not have to worry about lining up a babysitter. Another year or so, and I think we can leave them all at home. What a beautiful thing!

One more thing to mention in this uncharacteristically long post: I've been thinking about what fun things we can do for Valentine's Day tomorrow, and I'm liking this party idea found here. The heart pizzas are so cute, and my girls will get really excited if I make an actual party invitation, with ideas for games and everything. The only thing it's missing is maybe a little fondue...

Pies, Digits and Spices

Today has been a day for over-achieving. I have solved problems, healed ailing digits, and I made a lemon meringue pie. A beautiful, beautiful, delicious pie. Recipe here. I suggest omitting the zest unless you don't mind the little people in your lives squawking and picking at their pie. Very good, nonetheless.

Hope is our only thumb-sucker. Her poor little digit has become red and chapped and bumpy. It looks so painful, but she continues to suck, and it continues to worsen. I've been unsure of what to put on it, until today when Lanolin came to mind. She can suck on it, and it should heal the chappies, as any sore breast-feeding woman can attest. So I hope she is on the road to mending.

My spice cupboard has always driven me insane. I've never liked lazy susan's - too much spinning, not enough finding - and my current method of spice organization - as in not - was not working for me. I finally put my cooking spices in one basket and my baking spices in another. Then I labeled the tops of the spices, so I can just pull a basket down and glance to see what I need. No more shuffling around for lost spices. This makes me so happy. I can feel the stress lifting. Bring on dinner.

Sneak Peek

It is 55 degrees outside. We are in heaven. The snow suit remained hung on it's peg. The mittens stayed in the pockets. We still have to wear boots to clear the massive puddles from all the melting snow, but we are loving this sneak peek of Spring. January was so cold. This is wonderful.

One of the things I love about where we live in our small town is that I can walk almost everywhere I need to go. Hope had her 15-month check up this morning, so we walked the block to the doctor's office. After a confusing few minutes of coordinating her Abu Dhabi immunizations and her current ones, she got 3 shots and was happily back in her stroller and we were on our way. After naptime, I decided to look for a lemon juicer at the thrift store, also just a couple blocks away, so we got to enjoy another wonderfully sunny walk; although we came home still juicer-less.

The drug store, grocery store, video place, pizza joint, and more are all just a few minutes walk away. I look forward to the end of winter, so can enjoy our walks every day.

Hope and the Recorder

Hope found Madelyn's recorder today and was thrilled when she realized she could make sounds come out of it. I finally had to hide it from her so she would stop running around with the mouth piece practically down her throat.