time for a change

My mop headed child was due for a hair cut today.

it is a good thing that she loves going to "short cuts" which is actually called the Hair Cuttery. She loves getting her hair washed there, but does not feel the same at home.

she sat perfectly still forever to get a new do.
The hair dresser was amazed at her patience - I was in shock.

they gave her two suckers for being so good. One was blue and one was pink

I think she thought her new do could make her run faster

she is pretty fast!

a true Caroline smile

I am thrilled to be able to now see her eyes

after the haircut we tried out the backward hang on the swing,
which still works with short hair.

and then we picked some new Daffodils for the kitchen window.

running in long sleeves

Today was my first day running in just a long sleeve shirt. I started running last year when it was already painfully hot and the few runs i did in the winter I always had on my green machine jacket.
today I left hoping my legs would remember what they learned last year. They have been on vacation for way too long. I left with my green jacket, gloves and hat. But after a few minutes had taken all of them off. Even though I could still see my breath I was so warm. I didn't think I actually ran fast enough to get that warm.
So everything you hear about taking time off from running will set you back to where you started is malarkey! This rule must only apply to people who are actually fast. Because I was amazed at running the first 3 miles of my 5 - and seriously could not feel myself running. I seem to be comparing everything to last year at this time and thinking I could not even run a minute straight. It actually got me excited to see what I could this year starting from where I am now.
It was just so great to be outside and I loved wearing my long sleeve shirt with my peek-a-boo hole for my thumb. (yea merino wool!)
So if your legs have been on vacation too - don't worry they will step right back into place!

Annie Kate Looking for Anne

Cherry Blossoms, Rain, Conference and yard art!

This morning we got up early to head downtown to see Anne run in the Cherry Blossom 10 miler.
The kids were still sick but after what Anne did for our family last weekend when Jeff ran the marathon we were not going to miss a chance to cheer her on.

we were so lucky and got the most perfect parking spot right next to the Washington Monument, which is where the race started and finished. It was raining a cold sideways type rain. There were so many runners so all of us had our eye out for Anne.

and then she came zooming around the corner and gave us a nice wave! Even in the freezing ran and soaking wet she looks darling in her running skirt! I am getting one of those!

I was incredibly proud of her for getting up and the freezing cold and running it - the weather would have turned most away.

Anne was pretty nice to sit and take photos with us after she was done even though I am sure she wanted to get somewhere warm and get some food. She even offered her bran muffin to my kids, but it was a little too healthy for them.
Way to go Anne! You can see how freezing I am I can't even take my hood off for the photo and you just ran 10 miles in a skirt! It was great to have a chance to cheer you on. (and i must remember to get my hands out of my jean pockets when taking photos because it stretches out my pants and makes my bottom look much bigger than it is, at least I hope it is not that big)

We then came home to watch General Conference. This is how we watched it this weekend. On the laptop with BYU TV on. It is Jeff's military computer so it locks up every few minutes and you have to put his ID in it once it locks up. Jeff's job was to keep tapping it with his foot so it would not lock up. Sally Jane sat on us with a high fever, Annie Kate coughing up a storm and Caroline jumping around (she was obviously feeling much better)

In between conference we took a walk to the lake to look for mini turtles. Annie Kate had found some on Saturday. I wondered what people think when they are church empty on this Sunday and wonder if they think we just take a day off each year.
I saw a note on the door and ran to see what it was. I thought this was kind of cool. A message inviting any of the neighbors to come and watch General Conference. There is a ward in the building who speaks Chinese so I love having every flyer written in both languages.
Caroline brought her purse for the walk to pick flowers for a current potion she is making.
she was willing to do anything to get the perfect flower, even take down our neighbors tree.
the color of Spring Green is ever where here and i love it!

Spring is definitely trying to push out Winter who at this point in our neighborhood is an uninvited guest.
i love these trees in our neighborhood all getting ready to bloom with their velvet wrapped bud.

Annie Kate found a pulled tulip in someones yard that had been tossed aside. she was obviously pretty upset about it.
The lake was fun and any chance the kids can get to just explore is always a good thing.


we forgot bread for geese so Caroline just chased them instead.

Sally Jane and Dad looking for turtles. We didn't find any.

Caroline took the risk on the tire swing. Even though the ground below was filled with muddy water she was not missing a chance to swing at the park by the lake.
i had never noticed that the trees around the lake are all dedicated to different people. I thought this was touching and quite a piece of history.


Caroline pulled this out of the lake and i am not sure what it is, some kind of acorn ball.
I had told the girls that we were going to take photos in their Easter dresses today in the daffodil field. But with being Sick and rainy it didn't happen. Annie Kate said, "here mom take a photo. Good now we can say we did it and we don't have to come back" oh wishful thinking my daughter, wishful thinking.

As we walked in our neighborhood I became more intrigued with yard art and statues. There seems to be a lot of that here with little doo dads on people's door step. It is a mystery to me really. When I lived in North Dakota everyone had yard art. The most common was a wooden woman bent over gardening and you could see her bottom - it was weird.

here it is more of garden statues and such.

There are a few in the neighborhood that get changed for each season. This penguin gets a new tie for each holiday. there are a set of frogs down the road who also get holiday decor.
these next two pictures are from a ladies yard which is actually quite cool - not really my taste but she has a whole theme going on. It is a English garden feel. But she has lots of statues.
these one gets really pretty when the ivy grows up in the summer. But still I wonder what makes someone pick these items to put on their front doorstep - Pigs welcoming your friends... hmmm. Interesting.

Do you have yard art?
Are you going to do a 10 miler this year, so you can be as cool as Anne?
Are things blooming where you are?
Do you have congregations at your church building who speak a different language?
Have you ever found a mini turtle?

Ribbon Winning

Congrats to Becca S.
I just had to pick this for many reasons but wanted anyone who reads this blog to get a chance to read about her sister -in-law. thanks for sharing and it would make a great documentary. She sent good mail to the very end. Here is what she shared for her idea....

..........................

Well, for my documentary, I would definitely make it about my sister-in-law Cami and her amazing life. She made me want to be a better person just from the 3 years I personally knew her.

Cami was born with a hole in her heart that wasn't detected. By the time she was 6 it had affected her lungs and she had trouble breathing in high altitudes - this is how they discovered the problem. She lived her life, periodically passing out during school, never allowed to ride bikes or do anything physically exerting. Finally at the age of 18 she had a heart and lung transplant. She had made a list of all the things she wanted to do in her life and at that point started marking them off. Such simple things like riding a bike, swimming in a lake, climbing a mountain, going on a mission, etc. She went to Study Abroad in Jerusalem and served a mission in San Diego, CA before she had to be sent home early because of her health. She was on oxygen and bed rest for 2 years before she passed away but did amazing things from home. She tutored kids for free, wrote letters and notes to those she thought needed an extra boost, and did the same thing with phone calls. She had such a full life it makes me feel that I'm not using my time fully enough.

I think this would be a great story to help people be motivated as I have - that you can make a difference no matter who you are.

.............................

Since writing this documentary post i discovered the show on the Discovery Chanel called "how it is made" It is awesome. This past week i have watched the following being made, violin, toilet paper, couscous, man hole covers, mustard, tin roof shingles, nuts and bolts - it is fascinating and there might be a show about some of the comments people were looking for.

Photos from Valentines Day 2007

favorite Quote from
178th General Conference
Saturday Session

I say again the condition of our hearts directly
affects our sensitivity of spiritual things. Since we are the guardian of our hearts, we choose to do so. We choose what we let in or hold out.

Gerald Lund.

General Conference Kits

This weekend is the bi-annual world wide conference for my church. It is pretty exciting. It is broadcast out of Salt Lake City, Utah into over 78 languages all over the world. Some of the languages are:
Tamil
Apache
Cebuano (my brother speaks this!)
Efik
Hmong
Kekchi
Marshallese
Papiamento
I don't even know where most of these are from but thought it gave a great representation of how worldwide the LDS church is.

It is 6 hours for Saturday and Sunday for all the church members. Some members are able to get it in their homes, but most watch it at a local church where it is broadcast or listen to it on the radio or Internet. Many members also have to wait the following month to have it sent out it print.
This conference will be the first for our new prophet, Thomas S. Monson. The leaders of the church speak on a wide variety of subjects to strengthen the members of our church. Some of the topics from last fall were.

being slow to anger
living by faith not fear
being a mother
service
the power to change
a broken heart

my friend Jill shared this great idea of making kits for the women we visit teach while they watch or listen to General Conference.

I made 7 this year and hope I can get out to deliver them today. Here are a few things I put in them this year.





some yellow note pads tied on with yellow ribbon and a fresh new pen for note taking. I wrote on the cover of each pad,

"did you know that yellow is President Monson's favorite color?

a pack of Kleenex for that talk that really gets to you

a tube of pringles

junior mints

microwave popcorn
Evian Water bottle (they were on sale and oh so cute and pink)

I put a sponge in a little Ziploc and put a note it in that says,

"General Conference - Soak it all in!"

i bought a pack of strip post it notes and put a little tag in a Ziploc that says

"here are some little tabs to mark the scriptures read in conference"

I thought this would be a great way to go back and read some of the scriptures that were used in talks.

and thank goodness for ribbon and cellophane and little cute notes to make it all come together.

Having Easter be after General Conference this year is perfect because I got these awesome felt baskets for 75% off which made each of my basket, with contents just a hair under $5.00! That is a deal. (it helps having the ribbon outlet)

did you make Jill's General conference baskets too?

do you get to sit home and watch it or do you have to go to a building to do so?

A Picture is worth a 1000 words, and ..

• 3 runny noses,
  
• 4 sleepless nights,
• the croup,
  
• and all three girls this week with a 104 fever.
  

until this goes away my blog posts will just have to pile up on my dashboard.

Document me! and win some ribbon.

a few people have asked me some of my favorite documentaries that I have seen. So here is my list that I will add to my sidebar. I think I have discovered these are my favorite kind of movies to watch.
Please add any more that you have seen that I should put on my list.

Paper Clips - a must see!

God Grew Tired of Us

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

King of Kong - Fistfull of Quarters

Hands on a Hardbody - it is about a truck even though the title sounds kind of risky!

Show Business - the road to Broadway. We only watched the scenes about Wicked, I could not take two of the other shows they highlighted. But loved the Wicked part

Spellbound - about the National Spelling Bee

Mad Hot Ballroom

Wordplay - not my absolute favorite but if you know someone who loves crossword puzzles they would love this

The Crossing - this is not a documentary but just one of my favorite rented movies ever. It is about George Washington crossing the Delaware. A story which seems too amazing to be true.

I went to the ribbon outlet last week and found the best 100 yard roll of lime green and white grosgrain ribbon. It is way too much for just me, so to win 11.5 yards of it,(plus some fun pink) leave a comment and let me know if you could make a documentary what would you make it about. I will pick someone on Sunday.

Here is my list:

someone moving to the United States and trying to become a citizen
the step by step process of how fabric is made
the journey and process of medical school, residency and life in practice.
3 year olds playing soccer - ok that would be funny.

Recipes from Spring Break.

Today is the first day it feels like Spring Break is over. Jeff's parents just left this morning and now I feel like the fun vacation time is over and real life begins. We had a great spring break at Virginia Beach, Jamestown (congrats Stefanie) Jeff's Marathon victories and just hanging around here.
They left before Caroline woke up and when she came downstairs she asked where they were. When I said they had left she said, "But I was going to go with them?" last night we had teased about her going home with them. How sad that she didn't realize we were teasing. She was a little disappointed.

During this week we made some recipes I told my mother in law that I would send her and am going to document them here to remind myself too.

Kara Jayne's amazing and yummy Chocolate Chip Bundt cake. It is worth a try!

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

1 yellow cake mix with pudding (will say that on the box) - I prefer Pillsbury moist supreme.
1 sm. pkg chocolate instant pudding
1/2 C. sugar
3/4 C. vegetable oil
3/4 C. water
4 large eggs
1 C. sour cream
1 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine first 3 ingredients. Stir w/ fork or wire whip to remove large lumps. Add remaining ingredients except choc. chips. Stir until smooth. Stir in choc. chips. Pour into greased/floured (the Pam with flour works awesome) bundt pan. Bake @ 350 for 1 hr. (in my oven I only do 50 min. because it's a fast oven, and also because I like it super moist) Cool 10 min. on a wire rack in the pan. Remove from pan and cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve!

Baked Ham with Ham Sauce

1 (4-pound) precooked, sliced ham
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup apricot jam
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Place ham in roasting pan. In a medium saucepan combine brown sugar, apricot jam and

Worcestershire sauce. Warm through, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Spoon half of the sauce over surface of ham. reserve remaining sauce for individual servings. Bake 325 for 30 minutes, just until warmed through. Over cooking will result in dryness.

Marinda's pretzles

Southwest Grilled chicken Salad and Cornbread

Las Cruces Halloween Burritos.

1 lb of ground beef
1 small can of green chilies
1 chopped white onion
2 shredded potatoes (peeled first) I use a cheese grater

Cook all 4 ingredients and then spoon into large flour tortilla. Sprinkle with mozerrlla cheese. Then individually wrap into tin foil and place in oven 350 for about 20 minutes. This steams each burrito and melts the cheese. These are great to send with family the next day for lunch.

As a little girl in New Mexico these are what they sold at our Halloween carnival at our church each year. I probably ate 10 that night. They bring back such fun memories. The potatoes are probably added to stretch the meat further but I love putting it in and will add more potatoes if I need to make more

National Marathon Baked Ziti

Frog Eye Salad

Funeral Potatoes

32 oz bag of frozen shredded hash browns
2 (10 3/4 oz) cans Cream of Chicken Soup
2 cups Sour Cream
1 1/2 cup grated Cheddar Cheese

1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 cups finely crushed Corn Flakes
2 Tbs butter or margarine melted

Grease 9x13 baking dish and preheat oven to 350
In large bowl combine soups, sour cream, cheese, onions, and the 1/2 cup of melted butter.
Gently fold hash browns into mixture.
Pour mixture into pan.
Combine crushed corn flakes and the 2 Tbs. of melted butter and sprinkle on top of potato mixture.
Bake for 30 minutes.

Nicole's Rolls

Recipe coming....

What is funny I really didn't think I did much cooking this past week but now am exhausted as I look at all these recipes.

I can't wait to find some time and organize photos of the week and write about our great time in warm weather. (warm weather for us, freezing weather for my in laws)