Wednesday, January 26, 2011

I'm getting excited for Valentine's Day

Which makes me want chocolate more. Or in this case, I want to dip all things in chocolate, including almonds. So I tried it. How hard could it be? I've done it with strawberries several times and I can't count how many time I have grabbed a hand full of nuts and a had full of chocolates and eaten them at the same time. Chocolate covered almonds were the next logical step.


Thursday, January 20, 2011

Warren is 8!

Warren turned 8 last week and we really tried to make it memorable for him, because I have to say it---January birthdays....not so fun. Christmas has just passed, it's cold outside so there aren't a lot of options party-wise, and no one is really all that excited about your birthday.
So this year, because 8 is such a special birthday, we really decided to hype Warren's birthday.

I am the first person up in our house. I wake up every day at 5:45 and I'm out the door by 6, but often Warren is downstairs to give me a hug and say goodbye. Then he'll turn on cartoons and get a snack until everyone else is up. So Spence and I decorated the kitchen the night before with 8 balloons, signs, table decorations and confetti. You can't really see it in these photos because it is 7pm and they have pretty much played with it all day and torn it down but it looked good in the morning and the look on his face in the morning was priceless! It was a huge hit! He kept asking, Who did this, is this for me!?, Where did you get all this stuff? When did you do this?

We had a nice family birthday party for him on Friday night and then a swimming party for he and his friends the following Wednesday. The swimming party was also a huge hit, Spencer and I however, were so stressed at the thought of keeping 13 kids alive, that I don't think we'll do another swimming party for years and years to come. At 10:00 at night I was still laying in bed thinking "Did I leave anyone in the pool?"














This is Spencer, probably counting heads.













Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Some things that make me smile

The world has got me down lately with all the stuff in the news, so I thought I'd post some of the things that put a little smile on my face.


First, McDonalds oatmeal. I go to McDonalds so infrequently, infact, only about 4 times a year, and even then only in dire straits, or for a large Diet Dr. Pepper on really sluggish days, so I was pretty delighted to learn that they serve oatmeal. I stopped there on Saturday to try it and it was pretty darn good! Better than anything I make and better than anything else they have on the menu, so YEA McDonalds, if you keep serving a Deit Dr. Pepper for $1.00 we still be friends.
My 3 new cookbooks came in the mail yesterday! Last week after a bad day with the kids I went to Boarders and read cookbooks for an hour. These are the 3 I liked the best so I purchased them off Amazon.com(because they are $40 cheaper). I love this book. It has over 400 recipes, mostly with photos and nutritional information.

I made so many cookies last year that I wanted to try my hand at cupcakes. I made a batch on Saturday and they didn't turn out great, so I'm glad I got this book, I have a lot to learn.


And, I can always learn how to make more cookie recipes.



And this is my what was I thinking moment. I always wear knee length skirts, but I thougtht I'd branch out and get a long skirt, I see other women wearing them and I think they look classy.... nice, but this was comical. When I look at these photos all I can think is:

-Where is the chain for my reading glasses?

-Should I organize my books in the Dewey decimal system?

-Did I turn in my application for the librarian position?

-Where are my 19 cats?

-Shouldn't I be wearing flats with insoles?

Seriously, what a funny skirt choice.



Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Highlights of my 2010

As I was reviewing my photos for this post I had to realize, I had an AWESOME year, I have so much to be grateful for, namely, 3 healthy kids. So here are my favorite things that happened this past year, not including Kiran's visits, but I just couldn't find any great photos for those visits.





1. Auri turned 2!!! I love having a 2 year old and I love having a GIRL!!!


2. I found the world's greatest Chocolate store, Drink Chocolate.



3. I found my favorite sandwich place in Portland, Bunk Sandwiches, inspite of the service and accommodations, the food is remarkable. That also goes for Porque no? tacos in Portland, best tacos I have ever had. I'm glad I discovered them this year.






4. I don't know why, but just this year, I discovered Cottonwood Beach, it takes me 15 minutes to get there and there are always cool girls there.

5. I took a trip to the Portland Art Museum with 3 of my favorite girls, Holly, Avery and my Mom.



6. I took a trip to Boise Idaho. We stayed in a nice hotel downtown and visited the home of my grandparents that I went to every summer as a child. It was an amazing experience and my kids loved it.












7. I took a little trip to Bear Lake and the kids got to go on a boat



8. We took a trip to Lagoon for Max for his 5th birthday and I got a fake tatoo secretly wishing it was real;)



9. I took a little trip to Salt Lake to see Will's first born son blessed. Best day EVER!

10. I took a short trip to Lehi, UT to the cemetery to visit the graves my Anderson Family.


11. I visited Sprinkles Cupcakes.

12. I had brunch in Laguna Beach.





13. I watched a sunrise and sunset in Laguna Beach, CA. It was Amazing.




It was a great 2010, and I noticed that a lot of my items had the word "trip" in them. I am hoping to do a lot more of that this year, I didn't realize how happy it made me. I guess that is the benefit of reflecting, you realize what you really liked and disliked.