This One's For You....Jana

Sunday, we let/made each one our kids make their own pizza. They each dipped their hands in flour, flattened out their dough, spooned on some sauce and picked out their own toppings. We haven't done this a lot with our family of 8. (Okay, we have NEVER done this as a family of 8. It was a huge mess. It took hours. My kitchen isn't big enough for 8 chefs all at once.)

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We made our own sauce which was surprisingly easy and good. We mixed up 5 packages of pizza dough (add water and stir), not knowing that 2 packages was enough to fill us all up.

So, Koby flattened little balls of dough in muffin tins,

and we made mini pizzas for leftovers.

If you look closely you'll see which one was impatient while waiting for a turn in the oven

(man I wish I had a convection oven about right now.)

One of her corners is missing ALL of the toppings.

Can you tell which one burned her arm on the pan?

Can you tell which one got first crack at the dough?

(It would be the one with 1/4 sheet of pizza.

And he was still hungry after he ate it.)

And, no, he is NOT taller than me yet.....

I should get a countdown clock and count it down? I predict 3 more months.

Kauri's Funnies

Kort: "Kauri hit me for no reeeeeeason!"

Kauri: "NOOOO, I hit you for 2 reasons!"

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I like to watch Good Things Utah, because I get lots of good tips and an occasional recipe that I'll actually make. Kneeeader's Bakery comes on once in awhile, and when they do, I pay attention. I made their Strawberry Pie recipe when it was on, and let's just say that my kids don't know if they like it or not, cause I got the 1st taste. Then out of guilt, I shared it with my hubby. We ate the whole pie! Both of them! This cookie recipe is from Kneader's Bakery in Northern Utah.

I haven't tried this recipe yet, but if you try it before me, let me know if it's as good as they say it is. I'll give you the URL since it's copywrited: http://www.abc4.com/content/gtu/recipes/story.aspx?content_id=14123687-4282-4baf-9cc9-c454bbd50b12

If You're Sleepy and You Know It...

Kort and Kauri are on the computer desk watching an older sibling play games. Or at least Kort still is.
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Somethings missing.......

He wanted it pulled, but dad was gone with the scouts. He let me try it once, and when the pliers slipped off, he wouldn't let me try again, and wanted to wait for dad to do it. The bottom tooth was pulled 2 days ago and the tooth under it is already showing.
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Kort asked me if he could play gamecube today. He said that since yesterday was school picture day and his hair was spiked for the pictures, that it must be long enough to spike so he should get to play gamecube now. He hasn't played it since he cut his hair. I told him he couldn't play it again till his hair grows back, so I can spike it.

Another Day In the Life of Me and Mr. "Murphy"

I put some cans of pop on the counter, then I found myself some b-fast. When I opened the microwave, the door swang open faster than I thought it would.

It knocked the pop cans onto the floor. Time seems to stand still as you realize the pop can is going to land just right to splatter everywhere. Well, it did. It startled me so badly that I dropped my bowl of oatmeal all over the counter and in the microwave as well. It took less than a second for ALL of the pop to be out of that can. Most of it went straight up and all over me (freshly showered.) The rest of it went all over the kitchen: up to 15 feet away. I got a good laugh out of it until I put cinnamon and raisins in my oatmeal before I realized it wasn't cinnamon, it was Nestle chocolate milk powder. Umm, chocolate raisin oatmeal? By the time I cleaned up all my messes, my oatmeal was cold, and no, it did not taste good.

Everything's Coming Up .......Not Roses

We planted manure, and it came up GREEN!


At least it smelled like it for 2 weeks. The tree roots had taken over our lawn-they floated to the top and were actually sitting on top of our lawn. A lot of them were pushing up our concrete. My hubby had to cut off all the visible roots with a hack saw. It took months. So when our neighbors smelled that our new lawn had been planted, they commented on how much better it looks.

Kyson says there's usually several "toms" in a parade, but since their guy plays so loudly, they only need one. (It's the guy with 3 drums that's right in back of Kyson.)

The rodeo parade route is half as long now that they don't go down the Boulevard. They start at 200 W. and go to 400 E. on Tabernacle. Kyson said it was still plenty long enough to have been stuck in front of the loudest drum player the whole way.

"Happy" Bestows A Lot of Pressure On A Birthday

My day started by Kortlen calling his cousin, Jaydan, in Bellvue, Nebraska. He used a feature I rarely use on my phone. Caller Log. He scrolled through the numbers that had recently called me, until he got to the one that started with a 6. Don't they all? The one he called the day before, that he thought was his dad's, happened to have Jaydan on the other end. So he did it again. And again this morning. So, Jana stayed on long enough to wish me a "Happy" Birthday.

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I did something on my birthday that I have NEVER done in my life. I did it JUST so that I could say I did it. I ran 2.5 miles on my treadmill without stopping! Not bad for a non-runner. My furthest was 2 miles that I had done 6ish months ago.
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I was almost done with a project that I had been working on all week, and I wanted to finish it, so I didn't go to lunch. Although Cafe Rio was probably where I'd have gone.


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My son, Koby, is a space fanatic. He painted glow in the dark constellations all over in his room. I promised him a "silky" blanket but put it off forever. Anyway, here's the finished project.

Then, my hubby got done bidding the 400ish plans at work that took a whole week, and came home and made his "Once A Year" cake he has to make.
It doesn't really matter the flavor of the cake as long as the frosting is

the one on the Hershey's Cocoa box.

Then, he cleaned the dressing on his wound.

Warning, Graphic images. Do not look.

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.Then, Kinzie got home from school, and he redressed hers.

The picture didn't turn out, but the expression on her face had to be posted.

The doctor, who we found out is a 17th cousin, once or twice removed, told us wrong.

He put in 6 stitches, not 5.

Kauri decided to take a nap. Or, it just sorta happened.

Grandpa was brave enough to feed a 5 month old homemade ice cream. She attacked the spoon trying to get it to her mouth. Soooo cute.

I wasn't going near that pastel green shirt with chocolate ice cream.

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My day really started out with me finding a pile of wet, rotten, smelly dishrags in the laundry room (pet-peeve,) and being out of clean underwear, I had to dig out some maternity ones, (don't you even think I don't think YOU'VE ever done that.) And ended with me finding at midnight, that Kauri hadn't made it to the toilet after her nap, and the carpet under my toilet (that had just been shampooed for my b-day present) was sopping wet and stinky (pet-peeve.)
Therein lies the pressure of everyone wishing you a "Happy" B-day.

So, I will tell the BEST part last...

Kortlen wandered into my room just after I'd finished the blanket. I was sitting on the floor. I asked him if he knew who's birthday it was today. Of course, he did. Jana had told him when he called her that morning. I asked him if he knew how old I was. He didn't. So, as he was twirling circles in front of me, I told him. He was repeating what I'd said as he twirled, "Twenty-nine..."and just as he was finishing his circle, stopped, crouching, with his face right in front of mine, "AND A HALF???!!!!!"

Love that kid.

Instacare Anyone?

No, he isn't the one who had to be fixed at instacare. But the nurse

at instacare heard his story and fixed his finger. You'll have to wait to see the picture of his knuckle that isn't there anymore. His finger needs to stay wrapped.

This is the culprit. We wanted the VHS tape that was stuck inside, so Kyson and his dad took it apart. Somehow Daddy's finger slipped and this thing ate a chunk off his knuckle (just smaller than a dime). He complained to me that he couldn't get it to stop bleeding. Just as it stopped bleeding, we heard someone scream in the other room. The metal edge on the back of this VCR caught it's next victim between the toes.

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Warning, graphic images, do not look!

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Guess who's foot this is...

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BeforeBefore numbing shot...
After numbing shot. After...5 stitches!


Kinzie's second time for stitches.

Our "No Child Gets Left Behind" Plan

Next Saturday, the 27th,

is a FREE day

at all National Parks.

Zion NP

will be packed,

and yes,

we will be going!

Adventures At Sunset Ridge

We went to the Ranch and had a cookout, so we could see what Ann was doing to her property that sits in a corner of the ranch. She calls it "Sullivan Sunset Ridge."

We cooked chicken tacos, and they were GOOD (w/Jana's left-behind, green sauce and lime juice.)


This slab is the one Scott poured for himself to put his 36' toy hauler/hotel. There's a walkway behind Kyson that leads to the "patio".




Here are the firepit and benches Scott's company built. To the right is the "stage". It comes in handy to have concrete connections, don't you think?



















Kauri and Kashton showing us the firepit.







Kauri played in it a long time. She used it as her "sandbox". She's holding a "rock strainer", (an unusable coffee pot filter).





Daddy is testing out the new furniture while Kinzie rides the 4-wheeler where the lawn will be.

To the left is the bathroom with a sink and flushing toilet. Behind that is another sidewalk that leads to a slab for Ann's trailer.

Kinzie took a picture of herself.

Under her fingers is the barn full of hay. Jana took pictures of my family in that barn back when Kashton was a baby.

One of my all-time favorite photos. Koby (age 3) LOVED kitties, and some kitties found us in the barn.

Koby Is Our "Spaceman"

Koby watched me mix the muffins, and after I put the muffins in the oven, he peeked at them and said, "The chunks are already coming to the top!"

Dad said, "Yeah they are!

Those are the walnuts mom sprinkled on top...."

Believe It or Not!

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. She is 3 years and 3 1/2 months old.

The heart looking thing is a balloon.

LOVE IT!!!

It has seriously been months since I wrote her name down for her. She does practice spelling it a lot on the computer.

Hold that thought, she wants to type her name....

kauri

mom

...and mine.

Kauri's Commentary

When my kids draw a picture, I write their interpretation on it , such as who it is and what they're doing and the date. I told Kauri I was writing the names so we'll remember who it is.

She said excitedly, "I already did!......It's on the back!

Mine is squooshed."

For the Love of...V-ball

I just LOVE ward volleyball!

It helps me work on my skills of patience and endurance. As a side note: I have spent many years playing and reffing this game.

Tonight, the first "rule" we learned straight from the ref who attended the ref training session was that rotating is an option. "You don't have to rotate unless you want to. You can figure out where everyone plays the best, and just stay in that position for the whole game or until you decide to rotate." He spent like 7 minutes explaining it to us.

Me: "Is that a rule? Are you sure? Is that a NEW rule? Does the high school play by that rule? Oh, so it's just a church rule (the church does that sometimes). Where did you hear that rule? Are you SURE it's a rule?" Just as he had me convinced that the church made up some idiotic rule, he asked the lady in charge to make sure. She said "No!" and proceeded to expain to him what "open rotation" means. (Jana, it's when you have more than 6 players, and everyone stays in order and rotates off then on the court in that order. Instead of #3 only subbing in for #7 and #7 only subbing in for #3 or #4 subbing only for #10 and #10 subbing only for #4 etc.)

Okay, for the next rule: "The out of bounds is the poles, and we'll have tape up to mark the imaginary line next week."

So, the net is 30' long, then you add 3 ft of rope on each end to get to the pole, and you get a "ward volleyball short-court" that is now 36 feet wide by 20 ft deep. (a regular court is 30' x 30'.)

Okay, for the next rule: "No, I don't have to blow the whistle before you serve the ball, you just serve it whenever you're ready." After the first rule, I wasn't gonna touch those last two.

The best, hard server on my team served wide, and he/the ref wasn't looking, and the ball grazed his ear. That's when I muttered, "That's why you have to whistle before each serve, to make sure everyone's ready for it..." I think he heard me; at least I can hope he did. Anyways, patience is an understatement, cause babies were screaming for their mothers (the WHOLE game), mothers on both sides of the net kept running off the court at any moment to take their toddlers back off the court. A service went something like this: take a child off the court, take a child off the court, take the same child off again, get the player to stay put long enough to serve... and REPEAT. I won't mention that some of the ladies on my team had never played before (my observation,) and when they'd swing to hit the ball, they'd miss by 3 feet?

Nevertheless, I was glad to have enough show up to play. Just FYI, 1st game, we got slaughtered. 2nd game we made a comeback. 3rd game we were getting slaughtered when the other team had badly injured children. I reminded the ref that we weren't going to have any players left, if we didn't get this over with (2 girls had already left and 1 more needed to.) He wanted to call the game a "draw" and give us both a "win", but the other team said, "We just have 6 more points to make, let's just finish it." We were down 10-15, and tied it up at 20, 21, and 22. The last play of the game was a serve that ended up landing on the imaginary boundary line of the pole. Judgement call. We won. BTW, it was a terrible call.

I promise, I won't be giving a play-by-play every week. This week was just an extraordinarily, "You won't believe this!!!" day.