Day 92. 4-2-09 Flannel Board Fun

{B} loves animals and can make all of their sounds.

Today I thought it would be fun to get my Flannel Board and flannel animals for her to play with.

She had a great time and was so cute.

I had fun listening to her little stories.

We ended our little play time with a couple of rounds of "head, shoulders, knees and toes"

"Knees and toes, knees and toes, head shoulders knees and toes"

"eye's ears mouth and nose" I love play time with you little {B}. Thanks for a fun day!

Day 91, 4-1-09 April fools switch-a-roo

Every night since we put {B} in a big girl bed she has fallen out or been in the weirdest positions.

She had one of those cribs that converts into a bed. We decided that we wanted to put her in a real toddler bed instead so we bought this darling sleigh bed. She LOVES it.

So for April Fools since we have an empty crib, once the kids were asleep {R} moved {J} to the crib, and {K} into {J}'s bed.

They woke up way confussed and were so funny about it.

All day I kept hearing things like:
"Mom! There's a spider on your shoulder"
(while driving) slow down, there's a cop!
(When walking through the door after school) {K} said {J} got in trouble and had to stay after school
"MOM, there's a monster in the dishwasher"
{K} found smeared some ketcup on his arm and came to me fake crying that he was hurt.
"oh NOOO...look what Becca did" (that one got me everytime) :)

I love the silly age of my kids. It was a good day, Happy Aprils Fools Day!

Day 90, 3-31-09 First Pinewood Derby

{R} helped {K} make his car. It was red of course and turned out really cute.

The races were fun to watch. {K} won some and lost some, but all in all had a great time.

Seriously...the cutest cheerleaders I have ever seen!

HOPE

My sister has been in the hospital since Thursday due to kidney failure. She has lupus and has had two kidney transplants. When we got the call I was so heart broken and soooo sad/frusterated that I am not closer and able to help. That's always been my job...and it has been killing me to not get to be there and help out and visit her in the hospital and such. (If my boys weren't in school we would have jumped in the car and made the trip) We fasted for her on Sunday {K} didn't complain about being hungry even once. :) and we have been praying for her every day. The boys have been very concerned for her so we decided to put together a care package for her.

They both drew super cute pictures to cheer her up.

Click here for a look at what we sent.

I've been feeling a little bumbed out and totally worried the last few day. I have found a lot of peace in reading and studying about Hope today.

In the Preach my Gospel Handbook it gives an excellent definition of hope,“Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you”.It goes on to say…“Hope is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. It is believing and expecting that something will occur. When you have hope, you work through trials and difficulties with the confidence and assurance that all things will work together for your good. Hope helps you conquer discouragement”.

I LOVE that.

Sometimes we must make a courageous decision to hope even when circumstances around us seem bleak and depressing. We all know how things are right now with the economy. It’s not looking to good. Unemployment is on the rise. It’s basically just depressing to watch the news. And I get super scared when I think how {R} has to deal with so much of the evils of this world. Sometimes it may be hard to not allow the despair and gloom that is all around us, (espeically in a profession like his) to overcome us and bring us down. We really have to make a conscious effort to look on the bright side of life and realize why we are here and what really matters in life. {R} is such a good example of that to me. He is able to leave the things he see's behind and stay close to our Heavenly Father. We have the wonderful opportunity to help prepare for the second coming of our Savior, who can bring hope to all.

In times of distress, we can hold tightly to the hope that things will “work together” for our good, and we need to trust that God is in charge. I find great hope in this, for God knows us best, He knows the end from the beginning. And it’s important to remember that, nothing will occur in our lives that He does not understand. Hope truely does sustain us through despair.

Who knew so much planning was involved?

{K} just got home from school and we had the following conversation:
{K}-Tyler wants me to call him today at 4:00
me-okay, why? (thinking it has to do with shooting hoops or something)
{K}- because we are chasing girls and have to come up with a plan.
me- you need plan to chase girls? Don't you just run and get em?
{K}- yes but we want to make it so Lily has to chase me back so three boys will surround Lily, Shae and Samantha when they run back they will let Lily through and I'll pop out from behind the slide and she'll start chasing me.

He went on a little more about how it all works. It was so cute. I just sat here smiling listening to his excitement and wonder where my baby has gone!?

Day 89, 3-30-09

I love Panda Express and I love Mandarin Chicken so I was way excited when my friend called and said she had the recipe. I just had to try it and it was YUMMY! I had a take out box from Micheals and served it in that. The kids thought that was great.

Here's the recipe

Mandarin Chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

½ tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon of garlic powder

Mandarin Sauce-

2/3 cup sugar

¼ cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon fresh garlic (minced)

1 teaspoon fresh ginger (minced)

¼ cup water

4 teaspoons cornstarch

Pound chicken breasts with a mallet to an even thickness and season both sides with sugar, salt, and garlic powder.

Grill chicken 4-6 minutes on each side or until no longer pink inside. (I used my George Foreman cause {R} was gone) Remove from grill and cut into bit sized strips. Set aside.In a bowl combine sugar, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic and ginger. Pour into a wok or sauce pan. Heat the mixture until almost at a boil. Combine cornstarch and water. Once the sauce starts to boil add the cornstarch mixture and stir until thickened.Add grilled chicken to the wok and coat with the sauce. Simmer until heated thoroughly. I served it over cooked rice.

I also made these yummy egg roll to go with it. MmmMmm....

Egg Rolls

1 C. Carrots grated
1 to 2 green onions chopped
1 C. cabbage
1 T oil

Add & Stir in:

¼ tsp. pepper
½ tsp. salt
1/8 C sugar or less

Add:

2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast

Roll into egg roll and wrap and fry on each side. Use a bowl of water and your finger to have the last corner stick to the egg roll after adding 2 heaping tablespoons of mixture to the egg roll wrap to stick the last corner. Fry in hot oil. Enjoy.

Day 88, 3-29-09 Recommended Sabbath Day Reading.

I absolutely LOVE these "Scripture Power Stories" as my kids call them. They read them over and over all day on Sundays and are the best little quiet book at church.

The kids love them so much and I do too, it makes teaching the gospel to them so much easier. The wording is so simple to understand and the illustrations are just beautiful!
One of my very favorite things about Sunday afternoon is hearing the boys read these stories to {B}, makes for a happy Sunday all around.