Let's get 'Carried' away!

Speaking of movie night...I CAN'T Wait for this

I'll be there ON May 30th and would love ALL of your company!

I love the India Arie version of Heart of the Matter!

C'mon! I have no patience, this just might kill me!

Check out the blog and a trailer or two!!

Let's do Taylorsville Cafe Rio and then the movie right there on the 30th!

Hooray for 'Movie Night'

Thatcher is really into "Dark Thader". His obsession began when our next door neighbor came over in full costume, right down to the voice changer helmet! At first it scared the pants of the poor kid but his fear quickly turned to fascination.

We've made the analogy of this last med of his and 'The Force'. On it he turns to the dark side and now off it, he's back to his sweet little self!

Tonight we've decided to watch the first Star Wars movie! It's completely out of their league, not being a Disney cartoon and all, but they can hardly contain themselves!

Bring on the bad dreams?!?

(ps, It was fun to look for that picture. I found hundreds of blah-blah-blogs devoted just to HIM! Hey, whatever floats your boat!)

My Funny boys

As I walked in from playing outside today, Tag looked up from diggin' in the dirt and said "Mom, do you know who's got your pizza hot, ready and waiting for you? Little Caesars, Pizza, Pizza."

Um, never say that again AND I really need to turn off the T.V.

Later Thatcher had a light bulb moment when he asked me if I swallowed a baby and then had to go to the hospital to get it out.

Can't wait to hear what they say tomorrow!

Things to...Love?

okay, rough week!

But...I love

Medical Insurance (well, this is a love/hate one!)
options in medications
my patience with them
their patience with me
Primary Children's Medical Center
Good friends and family there in a phone call!

A Morning Well Spent

Recently there has been a rise in crime round these parts. Good things come from the bad, sometimes and one of my neighbors arranged for a self defense class and I was lucky enough to be there today! Now, my photography isn't very good, sorry!

Steve Crandal was the man invited to teach it. His resume is Amazing... He's the Captain of his Fire Station, on the local S.W.A.T. team, a marshal arts expert and the list goes on. He's taught this class several times to women all around.

There was WAY more information than I could ever remember. His main points were to always "Be Alert and Aware" of your surroundings. He also said that body language is very important; walking with confidence, for example. Trusting your instincts is important as well.

A friend of his in the audience said that she'd make a handout from his PowerPoint. If you're interested in it, I'll post it when I get it! It was a fantastic meeting and we rescheduled with him to teach us how to break free from holds and the rest!

I thought I'd come home feeling insecure but I feel better about the safety of my environment and my abilities to keep my family safe. (hope I didn't just jinx it!) Anyway, I'll share more when I get that handout in hopes of keeping you and your families safer!

Until then, listen to your gut and be safe!

Okay, THE SOUP!

We really do call it that..."The Soup". Anyway, its really Wild Rice and Chicken. I got it here. (BEST cooking magazine EVER! because no ads AND every recipe has the recipe for a suggested side dish...Love that!) Thanks, Jen, for introducing me!

Wild Rice and Chicken soup (you so won't regret it)

Saute in 2T butter

1 cup diced ham

for about 4 minutes, then add

1/2 cup diced onion

1/4 cup diced carrots

1/4 cup diced celery

reduce your heat to med-low and sweat your veggies until they are tender, about 7 minutes.

Then stir in 2 T. flour to coat veggies. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Deglaze with 3 T. dry sherry, scraping up bits from the bottom of the pot.

Add

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups cooked, chopped chicken

2 cups cooked wild rice

2 t. minced fresh thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to med-low and simmer 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and finish with 1 cup whole milk.

Garnish with toasted sliced almonds!

The side they offered with this soup is homemade scones and they were fabulous too!

It is seriously the Best Soup EVER. So, if you aren't already totally souped out, give it a try!

Things to love this week

A day late, but...Whatcha Gonna Do?!?


I'm loving...

Advil Cold and Sinus
my Humidifier
Those binkies I told you about!
Our standby dinner a.k.a. "The Soup" (I'll have to remember to give y'all the recipe!)
That quick break in the snow! Got a horrid case of spring fever!

Anyone else lost their Umph for cooking?

Last night's dinner consisted of a Costco rotisserie chicken and a case of blueberries. No plates, no utinsels, no napkins, just a nice soaky tub after!

Thatcher, who was seated ON the table, said "this is the Best dinner you've ever cooked, Mom!"

I'm CooCoo for Kid's Books

I love giving kids' books at babyshowers. I attended one in January and some of the other moms asked about my favorites. Now, for those of you that don't know...my mom is a Librarian in an elementary school (Such a Cool Job...Right?!?) She has given me tons of suggestions. Then I went on a Caldecott kick, found tons more great books. Now I know my favorite authors and illustrators and we have our favorites around here.

I thought I'd share them and I would LOVE to hear yours!

okay...

Mark Buehner is one of my All Time Favorite Illustrators! We have all of his books, my favorites being "Taxi Dog"! You've all probably heard of "Snowmen At Night", he and his wife Carolyn did that one together!

I love all of Audrey Wood! "Napping House" is Thatcher's current favorite book, you know the one we read about 16 times a day!

We also really like the Mo Willems books! He was a writer for Sesame Street and his books are a real kick! He's fairly new on the scene! Oh, and he has a GREAT Blog.

One of My favorite books is "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers". It's a true story and is reminiscent of the Twin Towers. Tag "Read" it to a 6th grade class at my mom's school when he was two! It was priceless!

Anyway, I'd love some of your ideas here..what are your kids reading and what do you like. Tag is outgrowing what we've got and I would love some suggestions for short chapter books that he can read as well as some chapter books for me to read to them!

What's Grosser than Gross

Double yolk
Originally uploaded by josemigum

Okay, Breakfast at Ihop this morning! Thatcher loves "Runny Eggs". With his mouth FULL of 'em, he Sneezes 4 times.

Breakfast is OVER!

(Had my camera...couldn't put you through it!)
I found the picture Here! Such a cute blog

My Mom!

My Mom tended tonight

My Mom's smile is bright

My Mom has lifelong friends

My Mom's giving never ends

My Mom still takes care of us

My Mom loved our dog Gus

My Mom has a collection of Dolls

My Mom, to me, makes lots of calls

My Mom works in a school

My Mom's job is really cool

My Mom's blog is Great
Tonight she let me go on a Date

My Mom sure knows how to spell
After this last cold...I'm glad she's now well

We have dinner with her every Sunday

I love to be with my family and Play!

Do yourself a Favor!

Please visit my friend Tiffany's blog for a fantastic Valentine's Dare!

(thanks for the Kissing pic, Tiff, so appropriate!)

Can't Live With Them...

I just ran out (at 5:30) to grab our dry cleaning and passed a Flower Patch shop. There was a line OUT THE DOOR solely of MEN!

When will they learn?!?

I laughed all the way home!

Hope you all had a Happy one!

My Other Little Valentines!

With Tag, it's all about those amazing green eyes.
He's got so much enthusiasm and he's so sensitive!
Today he stuck 6 M&M's up his nose, paniced and then blew them out!

Dave always says that you could run a small city on Thatcher's energy! He keeps us on our toes. His laugh is so contagious and he loves to be tickled!
Today he was called on by the Balloon Magician at his Preschool to be the "helper". After getting hit a couple of times by the balloon sword the guy made him, he turned and pummeled the poor guy (good thing it was with a balloon). The crowd was ROARING for him!

Oh, this sweet little girl in our house! She is distinctively different than her brothers. I think she'll be slow to crawl because she loves sitting back and watching the show her brothers put on! She has a great big smile and is so close to sitting up!

Fortunately, today she has been her mellow little self!

My Valentine

If you know him, you've just got to love him!

Things to Love this Week!

Hearts

Conversation Hearts

Cinnamon Hearts

Sugar Cookie Hearts

The Man in my Heart

Buisness Trips that only last 1, yep I said ONE, night

Binkie Buddies

(Yes, my 3 1/2 year old still has a binkie but it has REALLY come in handy this last year and I'm NeVeR going to take it away from him again. It can be peer pressured away from him by his 16 year old friends in highschool for all I care!)

There IS Hope!

For all you BOWIE fans out there...

So clever!

double oh...Five?

My neighbor is THE Best birthday party planner and today my boys were lucky enough to go to one of her fabulous parties!

It was a spy party. Their mission was to find the missing cupcakes by following the clues...

there were footprints, they were fingerprinted and they found trap doors.

She sent each kid home with a spy kit (Thatcher calls his a "betective bag").

Thank you so much, my sweet neighbor!

Now, let's see if my kids parties can match up...I better not invite the same kids!

The Best Laid Plans...

So, no SuperNanny.

No Yummy Bread.

No Pretty Toes.

Just,

Bags under my eyes.

Folded clothes

AND...

But at least that's done!

Another night, maybe! ;)

I'm callin' in sick!

The last seven days have been CRAZY with every minute scheduled! (I hate that!) So, after finding a little inspiration here, I'm taking the night off!

Just me,

A do it myself-pedicure,

Super Nanny

And a piece of that previously mentioned BREAD!
(oh, and my laptop, OF COURSE!)

Now that's my kind of night!

Things to Love

New Friends
Old Friends
New Direction
Funny Songs learned at School
GNO!!!
My Sisters (Thanks for all the laughs)

My Brother (Thanks for tending!)

Yummy Cranberry Orange Bread right out of the oven with a big glass of milk!

AND, one tiny complaint...

Little boys in desperate need of target practice in the john! Eeeewwww!

Such Lovely Ladies!

AAaaawww, kids are asleep, time to get bloggin'!

I had such a great time chattin' and laughin' with you all last night! It's so fun to put faces to blogs and add to my list of blurkin'!

okay...here we go with the list--

Kami http://www.thebiggieblog.blogspot.com/

Tiburon http://www.utahtib.blogspot.com/

Shauna http://www.summerhaysseven.blogspot.com/

Becky http://www.whatitisxo.blogspot.com/

Tiffany http://www.wouldbewritersguild.com/

Suzie http://www.eagarbrood.blogspot.com/

Sheila http://www.pedalingfast.blogspot.com/

Hayley http://www.drpepperjones.blogspot.com/

Jamie http://www.harkerbarker.blogspot.com/

Holly http://www.okeefefamilyfun.blogspot.com/

Hannah http://www.hannahcraner.blogspot.com/

Christina http://www.howwefelt.blogspot.com/

Natalie http://www.100percentcottam.com/

Tiffany posted some great pictures as well!
Let's do it again some time! Natalie - when you comin' back?!?

Sheesh, my Google Reader is FULL...Lovin' it!

Bubbles, Bubbles, Who's got the Bubbles

Well, Wednesday's over and so it the optimisim.
Last night my kitchen sink backed up and today the Plumber came.
We didn't notice that the dishwasher hadn't properly drained due to the back up.

SO... This is my one-person-at-a-time kitchen today!



So Fun!
p.s. love this plumber...so good, quick and reasonable! REALLY!

Feeling Better Already

http://spillyjane.blogspot.com/2007/11/piggy-mittens-are-here.html

I'm on a quest for optimism. I found a great idea here, that I'm going to "Borrow".

It is (if you don't feel like linking)....

Things to LOVE this week!

I think Hump day is an appropriate day for a post like that, don't you? SO...

Things to LOVE this week...

Sturdy shovels

Warm Mittens

Play Dates

Clean Air

Soup and Yummy Bread

Little Arms that don't reach all the way around you but still squeeze just as tight

Some Warm and Fuzziness

It's such a cold and somewhat lonely day. Thought we could all use a little LOVE! EnJOY

Great Quote, thanks Shauna

After hearing of the passing of the prophet, I feel solace in knowing that he has returned to his wife that he cherished dearly. With Shauna's help, we found a great quote from Marjorie Hinckley that sums up their lives together as well as how I want to live mine...

"I don't want to show up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed with long perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon with mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want there to be grass stains on my shoes from mowing Mrs. Schenk's lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and I really lived!" (Marjorie Pay Hinckley)

YEP!

101 Things

Random Facts
1. I can't 'comment' and talk on the phone at the same time.
2. I have three kids: Tag, Thatcher and Talia
3. I gave all my kids "T" names, my grandma did it and we copied.
4. I have had EVERY job under the sun, just about! (now, that's another post!)
5. I Suck at bloggin'
6. I am a good gift giver
7. I have horrible spelling
8. I'm tired
9. I hid in my room from mid '86 to mid '88 (fun teenage years!)
10. I have a son with Epilepsy
11. CTR is my initials backwards
12. Dave is such a good example to me
13. I am a Morning Person
14. I enjoy grocery shopping...even with my kids
15. I'm too young to have been married for 12 years!
16. Firm believer that everything has it's place
17. I am a great singer...alone in my car...with the radio cranked up louder than my voice
18. I actually don't mind driving a mini-van
19. I get horrible nervous giggles, runs in the family
20. I haven't framed any pictures of my baby yet...bad mom, I know!
21. I have sort of a mean sense of humor

Loves
22. Dave
23. My kids
24. My Family
25. My friends
26. You!
27. My poochie
28. My cozy little house
29. cotton candy
30. cookies fresh from the oven
31. cookie dough
32. kaleidoscopes
33. collecting things
34. good food
35. eating out
36. sitting in the shower (my thinking place)
37. the smell of my sweet kids right out of the tub
38. the smell of Dave
39. the smell of Rain
40. Rain
41. rainy days with nothing to do
42. Rain boots
43. empty laundry baskets
44. bloggin'
45. blog stalkin'
46. polished toes
47. bare feet
48. my tattoo
49. Going to concerts, especially the BareNaked Ladies
50. BareNaked Ladies (they deserved their own slot)
51. Getting mail, even if it's junk
52. My birthday
53. my kids birthdays
54. Purple
55. Super Nanny
56. The power of prayer
57. My kids laughter
58. Having friends over for lunch
59. YOGA
60. Movies in the theater
61. Musicals
62. Whitefish Lake, Montana
63. Hand-Me-Downs
64. Playing games; board or computer
65. That my 'Loves' list is longer than my 'Hates' list

Hates
66. Inversion
67. Scary movies
68. When my cell phone battery runs out
69. Hair hanging in my face
70. A messy purse
71. Emptying the dishwasher
72. Epilepsy
73. Ironing
74. My love of good food
75. Painy legs
76. My man hands, yep
77. When my clean floors only last 10 minutes (see number 2)
78. Having my picture taken
79. Confrontation

Wishes
80. To be a nurse
81. To have a better memory
82. To have ALL my pictures magically organized in cute books
83. healthy happy kids that never fight with me or each other
84. Lots of babies for Kam and Kyle
85. A place to display my kaleidoscopes
86. better self esteem
87. this body
88. Like... 100 more square feet in my kitchen
89. Some sort of style...I got none!
90. To go back to Budapest, Hungary
91. To be a better mom
92. To be a better Wife
93. To be a better Friend
94. To be a Better Blogger!
95. To be a better Camper (Help Darby!)
96. To watch the sunrise from a mountain top
(I'm so doing that this spring, anyone wanna come?)
97. To somehow repay my Mom for ALWAYS being there
98. To somehow repay Karolyn for being my Go-To person
99. For more exercise
100. For one whole night's sleep

101. That you'll do this too, if you already haven't!

Thanks, Kam, that WAS fun!

January Blahs!

I keep hearing that my friends out in Bloggerland are struggling with their kiddos and not loving the weather. I heard it here and there, over here and again right there. . . . Well, let's have some winter fun! There are great ideas here and there, over here and again right here! C'mon get busy making memories that you can post, right Andrea? ;)

There, I'm done Naggin'!

(Really, I just wanted to do one of those Linky posts!)