TEPANYAKI

 Took Katie to Tepanyaki last night to celebrate her completing the "no sugar" bet for 1 YEAR!!!

She was tickled to have a "seafood feast".  She enjoyed shrimp, salmon and scallops.  But I think the thing she enjoyed the most was the show we watched as our food was cooked up.  We both were able to catch the shrimp!!

THE STATE is in SESSION

This week I went to the Utah State Capitol with Becky and Katie's 5th Grade classes.  Last year I did chaperone the field trip that took us on a tour of the capitol building, but "nothing" was going on.  We pretty much had the entire building to ourselves as we toured the different rooms.  That was not the case this time.  The state congress was in session and there were people EVERYWHERE.  We were able to go to the Governor's office which was neat.  Of course we did not get to see meet Governor Herbert, which had disappointed Becky.  We sat in on the House of Representatives for a few minutes.  They were discussing the budget for the state and then the representative from South Jordan, Merlynn Newbold, acknowledged our presence in the gallery.  Which excited the kids.  We were not allowed into the gallery for the Senate.  Mike Lee was addressing the Senate and the doors were locked, BUMMER!!

 Before I knew it we were loading back on the school bus to return to the elementary school. I was a little disappointed...yes, I am little my inner geek out...I could have sat in there for hours.  I would love to listen how bills are discussed and voted on.   

 On the way back to the school, Katie, Becky and I played around with my camera and took some fun pictures.  I enjoy all my kiddos so much and glad I have these opportunities to do these activities with them.

VALENTINES DAY

 The table all set awaiting the kids for their special Valentines Day Breakfast.  I set it the night before so it would be ready to go.  I also placed at each of the kiddos places their gifties...Steve and I gave the girls small stuffed bears that said, "I LOVE YOU" whenever you squeezed its paw.  And Zack got a gift box of M&M's (although I hate to admit it he is getting kind of old for the stuffed animals).  One of the things the kids were most excited about was the cards for both of us.  We had each written them a small note to let them know just how much we love them and feel blessed to have them in our family.

 Steve and I got up a little early and worked on breakfast together...Steve did the bulk of the cooking: bacon, eggs and the fruit salad.  While I slaved away at making pancakes that were shaped like hearts.  It was kind of nice to be in the kitchen with my honey working on this festive breakfast for the kiddos.

 It was a yummy breakfast.  Something about the heart shape must make those pancakes taste even yummier.  It was nice to gather around the table in the morning with the kids.  They were so excited for the Valentines and the breakfast.  Steve and I are truly blessed to have such a wonderful family.  I am so glad that we have made them a part of the Valentines celebration!! 

 Steve and I continued our "14 DAYS of VALENTINES".  These are some of the books I have made in the past, but this year I moved away from that.  I saw a neat project of the blog Paper, Plate and Plane .  She had made an advent calendar at Christmas time that were Lego boxes made from card stock.  As soon as I saw this, I knew what I would do for Steve's 14 Days...Lego Heart!!!  And inside each box there would be a famous quote about love.  This was the MOST TEDIOUS project I have ever worked on.  I am very glad I did, but HOLY MOLY!!!  I am glad Steve appreciated it as much as he did.  He was even more thoughtful he made me heart shaped Popsicles in different flavors.  And attached to each was a green leaf that a quote from romantic movies.  The various flavors he came up with for each days Popsicle was pretty exciting to see.  There was a Diet Coke (of course), pineapple, orange, raspberry, blueberry, hot cocoa, peanut butter, pancake batter, but the one that I just could not eat was...PICKLE JUICE.  That was so stinkin' salty!!!  Luckily he gave that one to me on Fast Sunday, so I couldn't eat it anyway.

It was a pretty wonderful Valentines season...kind of sad to see it come to an end.  I'll have to start to plan what I am going to do for Steve in 2012!!

MAKING WHOOPIE

 Spent this afternoon making my friend Sarah's recipe for

WHOOPIE PIES

4 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup cocoa

3 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 cups milk

1 cup cooking oil

Sift dry ingredients into bowl.

 Add other ingredients and mix well.

 Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake about 7 minutes at 425 degrees.
FILLING

1 cup Crisco shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 cup marshmallow cream (fluff)

Mix well, add about 2 Tablespoons of milk if it is to thick.

Note….the chocolate cake part tastes GROSS without the filling so don’t try it. TRUST me on this one. Something magical happens when the two combine!

 Once the pies were baked and assembled I packaged a few of them in cellophane bags and pretty ribbon.  I even stowed a couple in the freezer to eat on Wednesday when the "sugar" bet is finally over.

I love making these little tasty cakes.  It is such a reminder of Maine.

SCIENCE FAIR

Katie's 5th grade class participated in the Science Fair this week. 

Her report was on "Which Paper Towel Brand Absorbs the Best"?

It was a pretty easy science fair project

DARE GRADUATION

 Thursday Katie and Becky graduated from the "D.A.R.E." Program at school.  Becky was one of the 2 children in her class that were chosen to read her essay during the graduation. 

 DARE ESSAY by Becky Weber

I think D.A.R.E. is great! I have adopted the skills of the DARE decision making model.  I'm now able to define the situation, assess my choices, respond and choose a choice and evaluate and see if it was a good choice.  I know these new skills will help me with drug problems in the near future.

I was amazed at the tobacco facts.  I already knew it was bad for you, but I didn't know it had 200 known poisons or that 400,000 people each year die from tobacco related causes.  I was stunned by how deadly marijuana is and people still smoke it even though it's illegal in the United States.  I've learned that smoking is like giving yourself a death sentence.  Alcohol isn't as deadly as smoking but can still cause problems to a growing body and can damage every organ in your body.

Overall, I now have more skills and can finally resist drugs.  I can make better decisions and I know what to say when offered drugs.  I know about peer-pressure and facts about drugs.  I know the more I practice these new skills the easier it will be to resist drugs.

Now I finally have learned about the crazy effects of alcohol, the deadly marijuana and the poisons of tobacco.  Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing what I'm smoking.  I swear on my life that I will stay away from all drugs.  Thanks to my officer I can live a healthy life while knowing about what I'm staying away from.

WHERE I WAS...




 (front row) Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair;
(back row) Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik

 

 25 years ago today was the day the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight.

I was home sick that day.  I remember sitting in the living room.  We did not have hundreds of channels to watch, so I remember laying on the coach and watching as the Space Shuttle took off.  It was so exciting.  There was a teacher on the flight, Christa McAuliffe, and she was the first civilian to be going into outer space.  I remember the talk about who else would be able to go after this.  I remember thinking anyone would be able to go into space one day.  Maybe there would be hotels on the moon when I got older and the shuttle would transport us there...remember I was only 13.

Then right before my eyes as we watched that incredible vehicle soaring closer to the heavens something looked different the cloud of exhaust split apart in two.  I remember the commentators on the television not being sure what was happening.  Then it all became clear the shuttle had exploded.  And all seven of the crew members had not survived.  What an eerie thought, that I had just witnessed 7 people dying.  I cried a little.  I remember feeling a little silly that I was sobbing for people I did not know.  And yet my heart went out to their families and loved ones.

It was definitely one of those moments in my life where I have always remember.  And said those names or spoke of that day with a little reverence in my voice.

"We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of Earth' to 'touch the face of God" ~~ President Ronald Reagan

THURSDAY CRAFTING

 This Thursday the "crafting ladies" had not specific project. One friend brought her scrapbooking project, a few others were working on the ornaments for their SWITCHAROO that I made last week.  My incredibly crafty friend Mikki, had found a couple of Valentine projects I could work on.  SO I showed up on her doorstep at 10:00 am ready to get my craft on.

I made this cute sign with the heart on it, and we both made a set of these blocks...One side is Valentines and the other is St. Patrick's Day.  We also made a set of HEART shaped outlet covers for the kitchen which I {LOVE}.

 I am so very grateful for the ladies I get together with on Thursday.  We have had GREAT conversations and so many laughs.  What a blessing to surround myself if wonderful women.

WA-OGGING OUTSIDE

With the bitterly cold weather we have had the last few weeks I have taken to treadmilling rather than freezing my bum outside.  There are two problems with that...

(1) the treadmill can get a bit boring after a while

(2) it is too easy to stop earlier than i initially had planned.

So after looking at my planner yesterday and seeing that it is only 11 WEEKS until the Salt Lake Half Marathon I realized I needed to take this "working out" a little more seriously. 

So I pulled on the running tights (okay, I know the mental image of me in running tights is terrifying, but you can stop laughing now), the ear muffs, gloves, 2 layers of shirts and a hoodie sweat shirt.  I also opened up a pack of handwarmers that I picked up at the Target $1 Pot a month ago.  With nano in place and garmin on my wrist (unfortunately the battery wasn't completely charged and only got about have my wa-og recorded)  I headed outside.

The first part of my walk was cold, but not as bad as I had anticipated, but the second half, mother nature decided to mix it up on me and decided to send down some snow.  And the last  few blocks I had the cold wind hitting he side of my face with little ice pellets mixed it...NOT SO MUCH FUN!!!

There is a pretty cool sense of accomplishment that comes from going outside for a wa-og compared to just doing it on the treadmill.  Looking forward to more training outside!!

VALENTINE SWITCH-A-ROO

The switch-a-roo tree with the Valentine ornaments

 Today I spent the afternoon with my friend Mikki and my other friends that craft on Thursdays.  We finally made the Valentine "switch-a-roos".  This was definitely one of the easier projects to work on.  We started at noon and had them ALL done by 3:00pm.  Mikki was smart and just purchased the wooden hearts in two different sizes from Roberts and then cut out the other decor: Hershey Kiss, lips and x's & o's.  We painted everything either pink, white or red.  Then we used some of the cute scrapping paper that is out there to cover the hearts and pretty much glittered the heck out of everything else.  I dived into the "LOVE" themed scrapping accessories I had to embellished them up a little.

Cute glittered smoochie lips

A simple sign with rub-ons and rhinestones

Hershey kiss, made of wood, pained brown and wrapped in foil

TREASURE HUNTING



 After having a FABULOUS loss at my "Wednesday Weigh-In" I decided to do something I love.  I headed over to Deseret Industries (DI) and went treasure hunting.    First I perused the books.  I found some good paperbacks to add to the kid's book shelves.  Then I ran across a couple of fun hardcovers to convert to cute handbags and e-reader covers (if I can get then to work).  Then I couldn't help but to walk through the dishes section and that is where I found these...

There was a large white Pyrex bowl with this cute Amish friendship bird pattern in orange and yellow marked $1.00.  Then next to that were these 3 nesting Pyrex bowls in these bright yellow and orange colors.  The middle sized bowl has the cutest yellow daisies.  So the small and medium bowl were marked $0.75 each and the large one was $1.00.  So I managed to snag these cute Pyrex bowls for $3.50...

I know I probably didn't "need" another set of bowls, but I just could not resist those bright cheerful colors and the awesome price tag...

Totally made my day...

mY sEwInG oBsEsSiOn

Prior to Christmas I began sewing more than I had in years. My friend Suzanne shared a purse she had made with me and I loved how it turned out and the spark on inspiration was lit. I made a few more purses before Christmas, but quickly discovered that my old Brother sewing machine made the process less than enjoyable. The bobbin kept slipping as I would sew and the tension was never quite correct. I spent more time swearing at the machine and threatening to chuck it across the room than actually sewing. So I subtly (I emailed Steve links to 3 different sewing machines I liked) let Steve know I might be interested in getting a new sewing machine for Christmas. And boy did he deliver. This is the awesome machine I opened on Christmas morning. I was pretty excited, but also a little intimidated by the machine. It is computerized and I was nervous I might not be able to work. So it took me a week or so to actually plug it in and give it a whirl.
It runs so smoothly. I love that when I finish a stitch, it stops with the he bobbin is so easy to load. It has a bunch of stitches. Some I am familiar with, but there are a bunch I have never seen before and I am not sure yet what to use them for. It has a few stitches that can be used for quilting, which I think is pretty sweet. It has definitely made going down to my craft room to sew a much more enjoyable experience. So much so, I am a afraid Steve is going to be sorry he bought me the machine because I am spending so much time in front of it.
My sewing machine is not getting much rest right now. I have been collecting different upholstery fabric to keep me busy making purses for my etsy store. I have thought about getting a box to store all these fabric in, but it makes me smile whenever I walk downstairs and see that stack of rich colors and textures sitting on my counter.
The other thing I have enjoyed making in the last few weeks has been these memo pad holders OR planner holders. I keep making one for planner. Then after I make I think, "what if it had another pocket" or my last idea was "I think it would look cool if there was a ruffle". So off I go down to the craft room, pull out some fun fabrics and whip one up. This is today's creation...
Love these fabrics and colors. So bright and sunny.
And there is my ruffle. I think it is so cute.
Two little pockets I can slide coupons and such into.
And of course the memo pad, which is a must for me. A place for me to make my "to do" lists. I think this may be the perfect cover for my planner. But we'll see...

FLOWERS

Last night, after working 12 hours in the pharmacy, Steve stopped and bought me some flowers. Now some wives might think, "...hmmmm, what did he do that he needed to make up for it with flowers?" That's not the case with Steve. For a few years now Steve has kept two vases (one on the kitchen table and the other next to my bed) in our house filled with flowers. In the Spring and Summer he picks flowers from our yard: daffodils, tulips, petunias, daisies, lilacs but mostly my bouquets consist of various roses from our bushes. Then in the fall and winter it becomes a little more difficult to keep them filled, but he manages. I love the smells and colors of the flowers, but more than anything I appreciate the effort Steve puts into keeping those vases filled...that even after a long day at work, when he probably would just like to get home, change out of his work clothes and veg out, he thinks of me and stops to purchase these beautiful tokens for me.

Thank you Steve, for loving me so very much. I hope I keep all the vases in your life filled and bring you just as much happiness!!!

FROM DRAB to FAB!!

I love to carry a planner with me everywhere I go. I purchased a new one for 2011 from Target. It is a Franklin Covey, I love the layout of the pages, but the cover is very plain and drab. Then I remembered a Vera Bradley notepad my mom had gifted me a few years ago. It was fabric and padded. Whenever I looked inside my purse and saw it there it would just make me smile. So this seemed like the perfect solution to my planner problem and a great project to break in my new sewing machine.

I added some pockets to the inside cover to stash receipts and business cards. I can even store a pack of post-its to jot quick notes. Definitely a planner a would be proud to pull out and make my notes and calendar our family events