Sunday, a Day of Rest?

Yesterday was quite the hectic day for me. April has been my month to set up the chairs in the Primary room so I have been going to church at 8:30 to get it done. For the first two weeks that I had to do this, I left the girls at home with Guy and he got them ready so that I could be kid free to get my work done. Yesterday, he and the girls were ready to go at 8:30, so we all went to church together. After getting the chairs set up, I had to put all the class signs on the classrooms and pass out the rolls because our secretary is out of town. I thought that I could relax in the chapel for a few minutes before Sacrament and then I remembered that Guy was missing some pictures for the Sunbeam lesson that he was teaching today. So, I had to run to our ward closet to see if I could find a manual with all the extra pictures. And I had to take Ashley with me so that she wouldn't cause a scene thinking that I was abandoning her. I made it back to the chapel just in time for Sacrament meeting to start. Finally a break to just sit and relax and enjoy the speakers.

After Sacrament was over, Guy took Amelia to Sharing Time with him and I took Ashley to Nursery. She usually takes a few minutes to warm up to everything and today was even worse than usual since there were a couple of kids screaming for their moms. The Nursery leaders usually play a CD of Primary songs to help the kids calm down and be reverent but they didn't have one today. Luckily, I keep one in the car because it really helps calm our kids down. So I offered to go and get it for them. Of course, Ashley wasn't ready to be left, so I took her with me to run to the coat rack for my keys and then back to the other end of the church where our car was parked. Then it was back to Nursery to drop off Ashley (again) so that I could hopefully make it to Primary. But before I could go back, I had to stop at the Library to make a copy of a handout for Guy's lesson. I finally made it to Primary and thought that I could relax for a minute but then Guy told me that he wasn't feeling well and might need to go home for a minute to got some Ibuprofen. I told him that I could take his class for a minute while he did that. Well, his 10 minute drive home and back turned into the rest of the hour. So, on top of taking over his class, I still had to do all my duties plus the rolls for the secretary. Crazy! When Primary was over and I started getting everything organized to go home, the Primary President said to me "I thought Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest?" "Sure," I said. "After noon maybe." Luckily, Guy came back to church to pick us up because I really didn't want to have to walk home across a busy highway with two kids, three bags and a life size drawing of Ashley from Nursery. But really, it wouldn't be Sunday if I wasn't running in 10 different directions and hoping that I didn't forget anything!

Old Habits Die Hard

Recently, my sister sold us her old microwave that sits on the counter so that she would have an excuse to go and buy a new above the range type for her kitchen. Let me give you a little bit of a background on the microwave that we have been using for the past 3 years. When we moved from Nibley, we left the microwave with the house because it was an above the range type and we would have no use for it in the apartment that we were moving into. We also figured that when we bought a new house, there was a good possibility that it would come with an above the range microwave. So, my mom found someone that she works with that was selling a small counter top microwave for about $15 and we snatched it up thinking that we would only be using it for a month or two until we found a new house. Well, this microwave was not only small, but it was weak too! It would take forever to warm something up. When we moved to this house in Springville, it didn't come with a microwave so we continued to put up with our small excuse for a microwave. Fast forward to Thanksgiving 2007. I was at my sister's house making pies and I noticed that her microwave (black) would really look good with my appliances (black stove and black dishwasher). I offered her a trade, but she figured that selling it to me was a much better idea. So, a couple of weeks ago, she finally decided to go microwave shopping and get a really cool above the range microwave. And then she used the money that I gave her for her old microwave to buy a toaster oven for the very bare spot on her counter.

So, now to get to the title of my post, old habits die hard. This morning, I was making pancakes and going through the motions of warming up the syrup in a pan of hot water on the stove like I have been doing for the past 3 years. Then I remembered that I have a big microwave now that I can just put the bottle it and heat it up in a matter of seconds. Duh! I guess it is going to take me a while to get used to having a big and powerful microwave.

Why are you yelling at me?

A few days ago, I was shopping with the girls at Sam's Club. It is one of my favorite places to shop because all the carts seat two kids and I don't have to drive one of those carts with a car attached to it. Well, I had grabbed my usually assortment of milk, chicken, hamburger, eggs, spaghetti, juice and the like and started heading to a cashier. As I am walking towards one of the registers, the cashier starts yelling something at me in a really frantic voice like my cart was on fire or something. It took me a minute to realize that she was yelling, "Your daughter has your eggs! Your daughter has your eggs!" I looked down at the girls and Amelia had turned around in preparation to put everything on the conveyor belt and picked up the eggs. Quite frankly, I was not one bit worried. She is 3 1/2 years old and she loves to be my helper girl and it is something that I try to encourage as often as possible. But apparently, the staff at Sam's thinks that it is a little bit troublesome to let your daughter hold the eggs. I had to explain to Amelia that she is more than welcome to help out, but next time she should let me know what she is doing so that people around us don't start panicking.

Our house in the early 80's

While browsing on-line today to print off some property tax prepayment information, I found this picture of our house. I'm guessing that the picture was taken either while the house was being built or just after. What interests me the most is the lack of trees. Currently, we have three large pine trees in our yard; one in the front, one in the back and one on the side of the garage. Guy wants to take out the one on the side of the garage so that we can pour some concrete for more parking. I want to take out the one in the back and the one in the front so that we have more useable space for the kids to play. So, I guess this is what it would look like, sort of. You can even see the deck off the master bedroom in the back which was torn down before we moved in.

Spring Cleaning - Windows

It was a fairly nice but windy day on Saturday so I figured that I better start some spring cleaning and wash all my upstairs windows. The inside of the windows get done every once in a while throughout the year, but the outside of the windows are a completely different story. For the bedroom and bathroom windows, I just washed the outside of the windows by removing the screen and slider and then just reaching out to do the other side. But, for our living room, kitchen and sliding glass door, I mixed up a solution of equal parts hot water and vinegar (thanks Martha) and went out armed with a squeegee. What I actually used was something like what you would use to clean your windshield at the gas station; a great all in one tool with a sponge on one side a a squeegee on the other. It is so great to look through clean windows! We replaced all the upstairs windows soon after we moved in, but the sliding glass door is still the original. It was really filthy but all the others weren't too bad. Another great thing was that I got all the bugs and cobwebs out! Yeah!

What are you doing out of bed?

Last night, after we put the girls to bed, Guy and I sat down for our nightly scripture reading in the living room. After reading for about 10 minutes, we heard Amelia's door open and the pitter patter of tiny feet coming down the hall.

Vicki: What are you doing out of bed, Amelia?
Amelia: I could hear you talking. Why aren't you asleep?
Vicki: Mom and Dad are having scripture study; we are reading our Book of Mormom stories. You need to go back to bed. We will try to talk softer.
Amelia: (while I m tucking her back in) Oh, like Book of Mormon stories that my teacher tells to me, are about the Lamanites in ancient history. Long ago their fathers came from far across the sea. Given the land, if they live, righteously.
Vicki: Yes Amelia. Now go to sleep!

The funny thing about it is that she spoke all the words to "Book of Mormon Stories" instead of singing them. She even broke "righteously" up just like in the song. It was really hard for me to keep a straight face during it all and Guy wishes that he could have heard it. Too funny!

Happy 86th Birthday Grandpa Choo-Choo

On Saturday, we celebrated my Grandpa Collings' 86th birthday! It was great to get together with some of my cousins and all of my Aunts and Uncles on my Mom's side of the family. The best gift that my Grandpa got was his acceptance to run in the Washington D.C. marathon in October. He hasn't run in a marathon since my Grandma died in October 2006. He used to do the St. George marathon every year so this one will be a little bit of a change but totally awesome!

How tall is your tower?

As I was making dinner last night, the girls were playing with blocks. Mostly, they would build a tower and then either knock it down or it would just fall over due to its instability. Well, when Guy saw this, he had to get in on the action and like every Engineer, he tried to teach his children the correct way to build a structurally sound tower. I think that he got it as high as 20 blocks but it was too tempting for Ashley to just look at it so it didn't stay that tall for long.

Never talk out loud when a 3-year-old is present

About two weeks ago, I decided to finally put together an art easel that the girls got for Christmas from Auntie Tamara. Amelia was really excited to start painting but I told her that I wanted to make her an apron first so that she wouldn't get paint on her clothes. Well, from that time forward, I was locked into making an apron. Keep in mind that even though my mom is a master at the sewing machine, the only things that I have managed to make are baby blankets and hooded towels. I have never made anything from a pattern before. Well, I went to the fabric store and I found a pattern that I liked that looked pretty easy but I was a fish out of water when it came to picking out fabric. So, I had my mom help me with that part. Yesterday I decided that I should probably start making Amelia's apron so that she could stop asking me when I was going to make her apron. I had dawdled long enough. After reading through the pattern directions a couple of times, I got brave enough to actually cut out the pieces. Then after the girls went to bed, I started sewing everything together. It took me about an hour and a half to get it all done but it turned out great! Now I just have to do Ashley's apron. Luckily, she is too young to ask about it every day until it is done.

Fun with a basket

Every once in a while, Amelia and Ashley get along really well together. After lunch, as I was getting everything cleaned up, Ashley climbed into the laundry basket and Amelia started pushing her around. Then, Ashley climbed out and it was Amelia's turn to be pushed. Ashley pushed her a couple of feet and then just decided to climb on top of the basket. It is so fun to see them working together and having so much fun as sisters!

Salisbury Steaks

This is a recipe that I grew up with and loved! It is super easy and 75% of the people at my table love it which I figure is pretty good. Amelia is my picky eater lately who just loves to eat noodles in any shape or form.

Salisbury Steaks

Patties:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1/2 cup oatmeal (quick oats)

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1 tsp dried parsley flakes

1 egg

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper


Sauce:

1 can French Onion Soup

1 can (2 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained

1/3 cup ketchup

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp ground basil

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce


Combine patty ingredients in bowl and shape. Place in a 10x6 inch baking dish; cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 5 minutes on high. Combine sauce ingredients and pour over patties. Microwave for 8-10 minutes longer. Remove from microwave; let stand for 5 minutes covered.


NOTE: My microwave is not big enough for a 10x6 inch pan to turn around so I have started cooking this on the stove top and I think that I like it better that way. So, here are stove top directions.


Brown patties (both sides) in skillet on med-med/high heat. Cover with sauce, put a lid on the pan, simmer for 20 minutes on low.


Enjoy!

New Ashley Sayings

Here are a couple of new things that Ashley says that I think are just adorable.

"glaa-glaa pease" means "glasses please" as in "Mom. Would you please put the glasses on Mr. Potato Head for me?"

"I dii" means "I did it" as in "Look everyone! I just did something all by myself. Wow! I am amazing."

"MMOOOOOO!" means "COW!!!" as in "There is a cow in this book! I can not believe that they have a cow in this book! Are you as amazed as I am!!"

What a wonderful stage to be in the middle of.

A Trip to the Zoo

On Friday, I took the girls up to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake. I haven't been to the zoo since high school (we did a big group date before a dance), so I was really excited to go too. Amelia sang a song about going to the zoo for about the first 20 minutes of our drive. She really wanted to see all the baby animals. I wasn't sure if it was still too early in the Spring or not to see baby animals. Luckily, there were some babies there. My favorite was the baby giraffe. Ashley occasionally had a hard time spotting animals in the habitats, but seeing the giraffes and monkies inside was really neat for her. I think that she would have spent the whole day with the giraffes if she could have. I forgot to take my camera so I borrowed my sister's. Hopefully I will get the pictures from her soon. We were also joined by my Aunt Linda, my cousins Andy and Erin, and Erin's son Josh and of course Grandma Corinne and Auntie Tamara.

Oh, one little side note. We went to a restaurant called "The Other Place" before going to the zoo. They have Greek food and I always crave anything with feta cheese when we go there. So, I got a Feta Burger and it was delicious! The slice of feta was as thick as my hamburger which made a really large burger but it was so good! Yum.

Shower Doors

I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who hates cleaning shower doors. I have tried just about everything to get my shower door clean and some things work but only with a ton of elbow grease. So, I decided to try something today that I have read about but hadn't tried yet. A little while ago, Tamarie mentioned on her blog a little product called Lemi-Shine. I bought a bottle of it and started using it for it's intended purpose in the dishwasher. It works wonders!! My dishes come out much cleaner and the inside of my dishwasher is free from hard water build up. Well, the Lemi-Shine website http://www.lemishine.com/ says that their product does a lot more. One of the things that it says you can do is mix 1/4 cup of Lemi-Shine with 16 oz of water in a spray bottle and then spray it on your shower door. After letting it sit for a minute, all you have to do is rub a sponge over it and then rinse and your shower door sparkles. I was amazed that it actually worked! So, give it a try. And thanks again to Tamarie for sharing such a great product!

This is a picture of my awful shower doors that was taken when we first looked at the house.

And here they are after Lemi-Shine!

A playroom in progress

I love having a playroom in the basement. This "playroom" isn't all that it could be, but it is working for now. After the bathroom is done in the basement, I have plans to put in some sort of cabinetry on the new wall that will be built to enclose all the toys. Right now we have a couple of baskets and a small bookcase to try and organize things, but it isn't enough. Since this room is shared with our family room, I really want it to be organized so that I don't have to see all the toys all the time. Right now it is all just a dream, but hopefully it will come true soon.

Obviously, there are a few things in this picture that don't belong. Notice the nice harvest gold fridge? It came with the house and it has been sitting in that spot since the day we moved in. So, if you know anyone who is in need of a vintage fridge, just let me know!