Goodbye Preschool (for now)

Josh's first year of preschool was a rip-roaring success. They're a good fit, Josh and preschool. He liked the kids there, the art projects, the sand table, the water table, the songs and the playground. The only thing that puts a damper on his three-day-a-week fun is the often-expressed desire to be in kindergarten (especially when Ben the kindergartener goes on a field trip to the zoo).
The end of the year party was a couple of weeks ago. All the cute 4-5 year olds sang their parents a few songs (one cute four year old sang his one solo part in a very high, silly voice) and they had some olympic games outside. A race, a backwards race, golf ball balanced on a spoon, long jump, bean bag toss and a sack race were on the agenda. Then each kid got their turn to climb up on a little stand and get their certificate while a teacher gave a prediciton for what that kid would be when they grew up. Here is Josh's potential: "Josh is a cute kid that loves to have a good time. Lunchtime is his favorite part of the day and he absolutely loves ketchup. We think that Josh will become a chef." Ah yes, ketchup. I guess that's his legacy. Back at the Christmas party one of the teachers gave him a huge, industrial-sized vat of ketchup (so big it has a pump you attach to the top). It was five pounds. Of ketchup. Apparently at preschool he was known to eat it with a spoon (ew) and lick his plate clean (and ew). So…come on over. Bring your fries. We've still got at least four and a half pounds left.

Two new fabric collections

Well, one new and one fairly recent. Going in chroniological order...

Modern Flora by the talented Jessica Jones of How About Orange of sidebar fame. She released these near the beginning of the year, I like. And Ginseng by Joel Dewberry. Joel Dewberry was the first fabric designer I started liking all on my own when I first became interested in sewing. (As in, no one introduced me to him...like "here's Amy Butler fabric, it's awesome", I was just browsing some fabric shops online and I really liked his stuff.) Months later I learned he was a BYU alum. Bonus.

Pigtails

Oh man, that's cute.

Oh Boy

If you are ever in Knoxville, come on down to the Tomato Head and enjoy the best chicken sandwich ever. EVER.

Yesterday my sisters and mom took me there for a late birthday lunch (thanks!) and I had the Oh Boy chicken sandwich. And I'm still thinking about it. Fresh spinach, free farmed chicken, bacon, sundried tomato, monterey jack, poppyseed dressing, and mayo all heated on yummy whole wheat bread. Everything in the perfect proportions. The chicken is tender and cut in small pieces, not just one big slab you have to try to bite through. Every single bite is heaven. I had about a forth of it leftover and ate it for lunch today and it was just as good. How often is a leftover sandwich any good at all? You are doing yourself a disservice until you eat it.

Baby Names

A long time ago Joel and Jenica sent me a link for the coolest online baby name finder. It lets you explore name trends letter by letter since 1880. Play around awhile, it's fun. Apparantly "Lori" was all the rage in the 1960s. "Lydia" has been making a comeback since the 1990s, but still isn't as huge as it was in the 1800s. See?

This will surely come in handy between now and December 16th.
Yes, that's an announcement.

I love the warm weather

This is what we do every day when Emma gets home from school.

Then we all take our sticks and work on our fence for the back yard.

I stand corrected

I had absolutely no faith in Ben's suspicions that his teeth were starting to get loose. For months he would come out with an occassional, "Hey! I think this tooth is starting to get kind of wiggly!" I would check and it would be firmly planted every time. Every time. Firmly.
So, one day a few weeks ago he claimed he had a wiggler and wanted me to check it. I mentally rolled my eyes. Imagine my surprise when it was indeed wiggling freely. It only took a week or so to make its way out of his mouth and under his pillow. Big boy, Ben.

This stuff is so good

I could drink it all day every day. One bottle lasts less than 48 hours. Sometimes less than 24.

Very Hungry Caterpillars

Last week on a nice, sunny day the kids all had a snack of some crackers in the back yard. They found two caterpillars on the deck. They tried for a long time to feed them the crackers. They talked to the bugs in baby-talk voices and persuaded and persuaded, but the caterpillars were not interested. I explained that caterpillars don't like people food, they like caterpillar food. Leaves. So Emma ran to a tree and brought back a couple of green, juicy ones. I was still skeptical, but the very hungry caterpillars gobbled those leaves right up. So gather the kids around and behold the wonders of nature in our very own backyard.

Shockers Softball

Sports are in full swing around here. Ben is playing soccer. Emma is playing softball. Scott is coaching both of them and playing in two adult softball leagues. Lydia and I are engaged in wrestling matches during the aforementioned sporting events. She's winning.

Here's Emma before her last game in her brand new purple jersey. Scott has a matching one too. Gender-stereotypes are in full swing around here also, when Josh saw Scott come downstairs in his jersey he busted out laughing and said, "Ha! Purple!" They named their team the Shockers.

She really wanted me to take a photo of her in a batting stance.

I really wanted one of her smiling.

I forgot to mention the dry ice

Part of storing the wheat in those nice big buckets involves dry ice (you have to put it in the bottom of the bucket, then put the wheat on top, then let it all dissipate--there's a correct term for that, I can't remember it--then seal the buckets). We ended up with a lot of left over dry ice. So we put a few pieces in some glasses and called the kids to the kitchen for a nice glass of smoking lemonade. (It looked much better in real life than in the photo.) Emma and Ben thought it was cool, they remembered that a family in our ward does that every year at the trunk-or-treat. Josh was moved almost immediately to tears when we showed him his glass. With despair in his voice he entreated, "I don't want that! Can I please have some lemonade with no smoke?"

Swheat!

We're on a food storage kick. I hope it lasts. At least until we get our 3-month supply in order, anyway. I think it will.

With the cost of wheat rising, we decided to start off with a year supply of that grained goodness so we could get it while it's cheap. We are now the proud owners of 1000 lbs. of wheat. Wow. Wheaty-mc-wheat.

If you have any really great wheat-based recipes send them my way. I got a good one from Pam D. in my ward. Here's her recipe:

"Great Noodles"

Bulghur Wheat*

Dried Tomatoes

Dehydrated onion, garlic, peppers, mushrooms

Olive oil

Italian spices

Tomato paste or sauce

Pasta of choice

Soak dehydrated vegetables for 1 hour. Fry in oil. Add spices to taste. Mix together with tomato paste/sauce and wheat. Add dried tomatoes. Sprinkle with cheese and basil. Prepare pasta and combine with everything else. Great noodles, Mom!

*Bulghur wheat: 1 cup of wheat with 2 cups of water in a crock pot about 8 hours (until water is gone). Wheat will crack and be tender. Use as a meat substitute, will keep refrigerated about 7 days.

I don't have any of the dehydrated veggies, so I just used fresh diced green and red peppers and onion powder. I used two 8 oz. cans of tomato sauce and one fresh diced tomato. And whole wheat rotini pasta. And I don't know if I'd call bulghur wheat a meat "substitute", more of an "alternative".

The point is...we ate this last night and it was yummy. Scott and I thought so anyway. The kids all gave it a thumb sideways. They didn't love it, but they didn't need any extreme prompting to eat it. (I'll take it!) It was just so wholesome and filling. And I've tasted Pam's, with all the dehydrated stuff and it was just as good. 100% food storage deliciousness.

If you really like fancy cupcakes (and a challenge)...

Then check out the Cupcake Bake Shop.
Sweet Corn, Maple, and Bacon Cupcakes. Cantaloupe and Honeydew Cupcakes topped with White Chocolate-Cardamom Butter Cream and Chiffonade of Mint. Chocolate cupcakes stuffed with ginger caramel, frosted with mango ganache, and topped with a mango-Ginger won ton. Why not?
Lots of great tips, pretty pictures and detailed instructions. Plenty of more mainstream cupcakes too.

Too cute ever

Ben sleeps on the top bunk. Josh sleeps on the bottom bunk. Usually. I love these two boys sharing a room. Most nights I can hear them whispering to each other, or having their various stuffed animals talk to each other, or inventing some sort of game that can be played between bunks. Every once in awhile one of them will want to sleep together. Most often it's Ben, who is prone to scary dreams when he's seen something that was too intense for him (like the end of "Heloise at Christmas"--when Heloise is grabbed by the bad guy and locked in a closet in the basement. Granted, Ben was only 4 or 5 at the time, but he burst into tears and begged to take the DVD back to the Langfords immediately. He was scared by Maya and Miguel once, and by some Disney show he's never seen before or since. Anyway, Ben's a sensitive kid. And he is dying for us to let him watch the Lord of the Rings. Yeah right). But this night it was our Josh who just wanted some company on the bottom bunk. When Scott and I went to check in on them before we went to bed this is how they were laying. I love it.

Dance Dance

Thanks, Troy and Dan! Everyone feels a little more at home gettin' down with their bad selves.

Telling it like it is...

Another birthday gift shirred top, this time with matching mini-tote

Happy birthday, Anna!

I've got to make Emma one this week. I think I'll use this fabric since her new favorite colors are green and yellow. For many years she loved pink best. Then just a month or so ago she made a comment that maybe pink was a little bit babyish. Suddenly she's too grown up for pink. Well, she hasn't disbanded it all together...it's just "okay" now. She has been very deliberate in choosing green and yellow things whenever possible, but I can tell she still has a slight longing for pink things...perhaps mourning her separation from the color that took her through so many years. I don't know yet if it will stick. I think so though, Emma is a decided girl.

What should we do today?

Set things up...

...and knock them down!!

I just don't know what to put on these bottom shelves...

It has to be only things that cannot be broken or used as a weapon by any little hands. Perhaps they will work best as sleeping cubbies.

It must be Cally day...buy her stuff!

Our very own Cally is finally and officially launching her on-blog store, Shop Calico. It is amazing. Really beautiful, high-quality stuff. Go check it out. And buy something. You won't be sorry.