All I Want for Christmas...

is my two front teeth!!!

MERRY CHRITHMUTH!!

Had I but one penny in the world, thou shouldst have it for gingerbread

Kudos to you if you know where the title quote is from!

Building Friends

These pictures are late coming, but here's our BuildaBear adventure:

A very excited boy

Putting her own smarts into the heart for her bunny

Giving the bunny some love (though she's rubbing her tummy, she thinks its her heart)

Strong Muscles for his dog!

Dressing up Princess Aurora Bunny

Two Princesses

A boy and his dog

Pullman Sunset

I used to think that no place could do sunsets like Arizona, but take a gander at these beauties!

So another Thanksgiving has come and gone and I'm left wondering is it worth working in the kitchen for 2+ days for a meal that lasts 30 minutes, at the most? We didn't even get any leftovers this year, which I was particularly bummed about because with my diminished stomach capacity there were a few dishes that I didn't get to really appreciate and was hoping for another crack at them the next day. Oh well. That's the price you pay for not staying at the house the food is staying at. All in all we had a good trip to Rob's mom's. Sam played video games almost every waking moment so he was happy, and Grace was able to convince cousin Sarah to play ponies and dolls nonstop so she was happy too. We did have a brief moment of insanity and went to the mall in Bellevue on Black Friday, but actually it was not too bad, once we spent half an hour looking for a place to park. The store we went to was probably the only one in the entire place that wasn't having huge sales so there wasn't a major crush. Grandma wanted to take the kids to Build a Bear and Friday was the only day we could do it. Both Sam and Grace were entranced with the idea of creating their own stuffed animal and had a blast. Their dog and bunny respectively haven't been out of arm's reach since. I have pictures, but I'm too lazy at the moment to download off the camera. 

Christmas is now in full swing. We got the trees up yesterday and decorated tonight. I'm stressing over the choir program narration which I really should have finished a week ago and only have about half done. Would it be wrong to copy some (a lot) of what I wrote last year? I mean, no one is going to remember what was said after all this time. Can you plagiarize yourself?

I also need to come up with a wowzer of a dessert for the ward party on Saturday. Any suggestions?

It's a Girl!!!

Bring on the princesses and all things pink (and sometimes purple), we're adding to the female population of Packers! The very first thing the ultrasound tech did was show us the baby's bum and two legs with nothing in between. Then we went on to discover that our baby sucks her thumb and WILL NOT stop moving which is just what I need considering I already have a little girl who is perpetually in motion. She has the cutest little pair of feet you've ever seen, which she obviously knows since no matter what the tech was trying to get a picture of she managed to get her feet in the shot. Show off.  

So the next order of business is to pull out all the boxes of little clothes I've been saving for almost 6 years and figure out what I have, what I need, and what I need to get rid of. I'll probably be dumping most of the boy clothes I've saved through the years (though there are a few outfits I know I wont be able to let go... he was my first baby after all) so if there's anyone looking for baby boy clothes, let me know.  Then we'll need to start discussing girl names and we will NOT be drawing from the kids lists (Grace has added Hello Kitty and Cookie to hers) but if anyone has any cute girl names they want to share, feel free. And finally I have to figure out how to convince this new child to try and be more like her big brother then her big sister. Two girls like Grace, love her though I do, would be just too much!

Suggestions Please

It has been with great difficulty that I have restrained myself from beginning the Christmas season in our home. And it doesn't help that every retailer everywhere has decided to bypass Thanksgiving. Walmart is even playing Christmas music which I think is really jumping the gun. Though who am I kidding... I've already bought and played two different christmas albums this year. My kids are singing "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" and "Jingle Bells" and Sam is already planning his letter to Santa, though I did tell him he can't actually write and mail the thing till after Thanksgiving. 

Anyway, the temptation is to go out and buy all the Christmas things I want right now, but though that might help the flagging economy, it wouldn't do much for our check book. So a few years ago I made a resolution to add just a few Christmas things a year to our collection. I get the kids their own ornament each year, trying to find something personal and unique. I've already filled my quota for music this year. The other thing I try to add each year is a Christmas book. I don't have any ideas right now for the 2008 addition,  so I was wondering what YOUR favorite Christmas book is. It can be anything, though preferably a children's book. So help me out and send me your suggestions... what book means 'Christmas is really here' for you; that the season wouldn't be the same without. I'll make sure to post what I end up getting and until then I'll be trying to focus on Thanksgiving and not beyond. I'm experimenting with my signature Brussels Sprout dish to see if I can make it easier for this year. Brussels Sprouts with Honey-Glazed Pearl Onions and Prosciutto. Yum!

If they had their way

Grace's ideas for baby  names:

Cinderella

Princess Aurora

Tinker Bell

Snow White

Grace

Sam's ideas for baby names:

Iron Man

Spiderman

Batman

Wyatt

Annie

Sun Streak

I'm trying not to have ideas for baby names until I have a gender to go by. 

Dodging Bullets

Today Sam and Grace asked me who put the baby in my tummy. 

I told them I was too busy to talk about it.

Maybe they'll forget about asking again. 

What happens when you stop thinking for a moment

So Sam's new Transformer (see previous post) is a big hit here. He and it have been inseparable for the past 48 hours. When we brought it home Saturday night he noticed that there was a name on the packaging for the car: Sun Streak. By early Sunday morning, this had morphed into Sun Streaker, or just Streaker, which is what he was calling it when Rob got up. Rob, in a moment of unthinkingness, decided that the way to stop Sam using the work 'streaker' to describe his car was to tell him what a streaker actually is. And it worked, up to a point. This is what I heard from Sam when I got up. "Look Mom, here's my new transformer. His name is Sun Streak. And guess what! I know what a streaker is. It's someone who runs around without clothes on!" He brought the toy to church with him, and Rob had quite a job heading off the above conversation which Sam attempted to have with just about every person we ran into. I only hope he chose not to talk about his new word at school today. I'd hate to think what his teacher would think of his parents!

Halloween Wrap-up

A few weeks ago I was reading an article on cnn.com about how to make your Halloween more healthy. Really, is there anything healthy about Halloween? I mean the entire holiday is completely focused on getting as much candy as possible! Anyway, the article mentioned some ideas to get some of the candy back from your kids before they rot their teeth to little nubbins. One was to buy back the candy, say at 5 cents a piece. Another was to have your kids trade in their candy for a toy; the more candy they give up, the nicer toy they get. So I was telling Rob about these ideas, in the presence of my kids, and when I got to the toy idea Sam got so excited. He thought it was a GREAT idea! Who'd have thunk it? So Friday night after we got home from all the Halloween festivity, Sam and Grace picked out a few choice pieces of candy and the rest (really, almost all of it. I was surprised at how much they were willing to give up) went with Dad to campus to help stimulate his brain during those long hours of study. Saturday we went toy shopping and Sam ended up with a cool transformer and Grace with a new doll. They are both very happy with their toys and aren't missing the candy at all. They did get into the kept candy yesterday morning while Rob and I were enjoying our extra hour of sleep. Rob got up to find the both of them under the kitchen table, surrounded by candy wrappers. Rob asked Sam how he felt, considering he had just ingested  more sugar in one hour then he usually gets in a week and Sam said, "Great! I can feel my heart beating in my head!"

So it looks as though a new tradition is in the making. The kids loved trick-or-treating and LOVED dressing up, but the candy just wasn't as important to them. How neat is that?

All Hallow's Eve

Without a doubt THE cutest skeleton and Tigger at the carnival and Trunk R' Treat tonight!

Oatmeal Scones

I realized this morning that's its been quite a long while since I posted a recipe. And since I've had to make these multiple times this week for friend's birthdays and they really are so easy and yummy, I thought I'd better share.

Oatmeal Scones with Fruit

from the Joy of Cooking

Preheat oven to 450 and have rack in the center position. Have ready a large, ungreased baking sheet. (I always put parchment down...makes clean up soooo much easier. 

Whisk together thoroughly in a large bowl:

11/2 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir in:

11/4 cup oatmeal (regular rolled oats)

1/2 raisins or other dried fruit (I usually use dried cranberries if I have them)

Whisk together and add all at once:

1 large egg

10 tablespoons warm melted unsalted butter

1/3 cup milk

Mix with rubber spatula or wooden spoon just till dry ingredients are moist. The dough will be quite sticky. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter. With floured fingers pat the dough into an 8-inch round, about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 8 wedges. If the dough is too sticky to move the wedges intact, wait a few minutes before moving. Using a spatula, place the wedges on the baking sheet, about 1/2 inch apart. Bake until lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm with hot cocoa!

-I usually sprinkle some turbinado sugar (also called sugar in the raw) on the scones before baking. These come together so quite and are a perfect breakfast. They aren't very sweet at all, but the kids love them as much as Rob and I do. 

I wish I had pictures, but the scones disappeared too fast!

The Center of the Universe

Overheard this morning-

Rob:  Sam, where are you?

Grace: I'm right here... but my name's not Sam!

Is it a bad sign that using the garbage disposal makes the entire sink and attached counter top shake like they are having their own personal earthquake?

Turning point

So it probably is no secret that I haven't been jumping for joy about this pregnancy. Not that I didn't want to get pregnant; I mean, we did plan on this happening, but I've been feeling so lousy that its been hard to feel the motherly joy. I mean a few weeks ago I was kicking myself because I didn't think of getting a puppy or kitten to fulfill that maternal instinct and just went strait for the human. But last night I was at a Stake Primary meeting when out of the silence there came the sweetest sounds to a mother's ears. Those soft, cooing noises that only a baby that is a few weeks old can make. I looked across the room and saw the most adorable little bundle of childhood, and my heart made a little jump and I thought, 'oh! I want one of those!' And joy of joys, I realized that I HAVE one of those on the way. So I'm pleased to announce that I am no longer looking towards spring with indifference, but with anticipation; and though the great health and energy that is supposed to come with the second trimester continues to elude me, I think I can bare it now with more equanimity. 

I was reading over old posts from this time last year. I think I was a more interesting person back then. That's a shame. Maybe pregnancy saps my personality. It certainly has sapped my social life. I really can't remember the last time I did something with non family members. Oh well. 

I'm loving autumn and loving that I'm no longer nauseous every waking moment. I think fall and winter cuisine is the most comforting and pleasurable food genre for me to work with. Sadly I have no pictures to show off, but we've been enjoying apple cake, apple pie, soups, stews, homemade bread, biscuits, pumpkin cookies, and much more. Rob got a soups and stews cookbook for his birthday and man o man, if you have never had homemade chicken noodle soup made with homemade stock, you haven't really ever had chicken noodle soup. We've also had my dearly loved Lentil Beef soup and Rob made a beef stew on Sunday that was very delicious, though heavy on the meat so we'll have to tweak that recipe. As for my apple pie; long time readers might remember that I was all about making my pie crust with vodka last year. Vodka doesn't develop the gluten in the flour which gluten leads to tough and chewy pie crusts, so you can use more liquid, which makes for easier-to-handle dough. And the vodka vaporizes in the oven so you don't have to worry about getting tipsy. Anyway, my vodka ran out and I just can't bring myself to go the liquor store again. So I went back to the on-the-wagon version and while it was a bit tricky, it still worked. I did take a picture, but it was on my phone and I don't have the necessary cord to transfer to the computer. So if you want to see it and have access to me, I can show. 

In non-food related news, the Primary Program is this weekend and my mother-in-law is coming to visit. As regarding the first event, I have resigned myself to the fact that I can't really do anything about it anymore. Time has run out to make changes and so I'll just have to let it play how it will. It is an awesome burden to be the sole person in charge of the Program, though that really isn't true since my incredibly capable fellow presidency members have taken a lot of the bother off my shoulders. Still, since I wrote and planed the whole thing, I still feel a great amount of responsibility. That is, if it tanks. If it is successful, I know it wont be because of my doing. 

Having my mother-in-law come this weekend should, culturally, be the greater stress of the two. But I have been blessed with a sweet, loving, kind, and fun MIL and one who is predisposed to think the best of me regardless of how many times I might not live up to expectations. So while I will be spending the rest of today and tomorrow in a frenzy of cleaning to make up for the past 3 months when I played my sick pregnant woman card to get out of housework, I know having her here will make for a great weekend for all concerned. She is bringing all the material to make a kite, which is her and Rob's new obsession since we went to the kite festival. It should be pretty cool. 

Well, this is getting pretty wordy, and I was supposed to be doing something else for the past half hour. So I'll sign off now and leave you with a few pictures of Grace at the pumpkin patch. 

This would be funny, but...

This is the sight that met me after naps a few days ago in the study/sewing room. Thousands of sequins and, though you can't see them, tiny clear beads. They're all from an advent applique kit that I bought a few months ago. Grace decided not to nap like she's supposed to and snuck into the study to wreck havoc. Like the title of the post says, it would have been funny, except that I cleaned up the EXACT SAME MESS LAST WEEK!!!!! Last week she again decided not to nap and crept into the study, found the kit, which admittedly I left out in plain sight, got into the 6 different colors of sequins and threw them with reckless abandon around the room. It took me 3 straight hours to clean them all up and sort them back into their bags. I wasn't mad then. I mean, I was upset she got out of bed and she got in trouble for that, but what three year old could have resisted the temptation of thousands of shiny little things just begging to be tossed in the air?  So I wasn't mad, but I did make sure to put the kit away so she wouldn't find it again. So you can imagine my anger when I walked in the room on Wednesday and was greeted with the exact same mess. This time I was mad because she would have had to deliberately go looking for the kit to be able to find it. She MEANT to make then mess and she sure did get in trouble for it! This time I just scooped up all the beads and sequins and left them jumbled together in a little container. There's no way I'm going to be working on this project this year, so I'll deal with sorting later. Much later. Like when the sight of them wont make me irked at my daughter anymore. 

7 Years, 3 months.... and no more!

In the last 2 weeks, three of the appliances that we received as wedding presents, as if in collusion, suddenly just stopped working. The vacuum, the microwave, and the waffle iron. Unfortunately, we use these three appliances more then any other we own! Which probably explains why they are broken and not the others. It's odd though, that they should all three break down so suddenly and one right after another. A sign, perchance? Luckily, the vacuum was a quick fix and is back in commission. The microwave has been useless and taking up much needed counter space since I haven't yet gotten around to seeing if the local repair shop can take care of the problem. And, sadly, I think the waffle iron will just have to be replaced. Maybe now we can get a bigger one with all the bells and whistles. Really! There's a waffle iron with a whistle! Though we probably wont be shelling out 200 clams for this bad boy.

Can't Win

So my super sensitive sense of smell seems to be returning to normal which is great but apparently being able to breath through my nose would make me just too comfortable so my body is compensating by taking my vague, ever present nausea, and kicking it up into full fledged demon retching. And tomorrow we have a 12 hour drive to Utah and I'm going to have to bring along a vomit bowl AND sit on a towel because I lose all bladder control when I'm heaving. More then you needed to know, I know, but I'm going to be wretchedly uncomfortable tomorrow and I want everyone to know it and pity me!

The Budge Clan

We lost our patriarch yesterday. We'll miss you Grandpa. 

Could you pass the cheese please?

Every pregnancy has its own flavor, I'm finding. This one wants me to be eating chow mien noodles every day, but since I can't afford that, we're settling for cheese. Any kind of cheese, mozzarella, gouda, cheddar, cottage, gruyere, brie,... I could go on. And I have. The fact that my stomach will calm down for cheese is a double edged sword. While cheese is easily assessable, (and fairly cheap), I've not had the courage to step on the scale and see what all this dairy goodness is doing to my already burgeoning figure. 

This cheese obsession has fitted in rather nicely with Rob's new obsession which is none other then cheese making. He got a mozzarella/ricotta making kit for his birthday, we found some friends to invest in 5 1/2 gallons of fresh, whole milk with us, and I now have some wicked good mozzarella cheese that will compromise a large portion of my lunch today, and some ricotta that will be going into lasagna shortly. I wish I had pictures but the process of making cheese is so quick that I missed both times Rob made the mozzie in the last few days and went to bed last night while he was making ricotta. And I'm not sure the final products will stick around long enough to be photographed! We'll probably get some more milk in a week or two, this time splitting it 3 ways since we ended up with way more milk then we needed with just two families. 5 1/2 gallons is A LOT of milk! Super kudos to Colette who lugged the whole thing up three flights of stairs to our apartment!

lovely parasite

My dictionary widget tells me that a parasite is an organism that lives in or on another organism and benefits by deriving nutrients at the host's expense. If there is a better definition of pregnancy then that please tell me now. My little parasite is only about an inch or two long after 11 weeks of incubating but has all its parts and, most importantly, no longer has a tail. And its sucking me dry. Energy, appetite, will to live... all out the window. I don't have a black list of foods that I can no longer eat, though I have been particularly drawn to chow mien noodles. No, for me it is a black list of smells. Primarily, the smell of  hand soap, body wash and toothpaste. As you might imagine, this affliction makes going anywhere near my bathroom especially horrendous. And my efforts to remain hygienic have been, I'll have to admit it, downright heroic. I've spent the last month and a half walking in a haze of nausea and fatigue (not really walking though, mostly lying on the couch or in bed). My only relief (and sweet relief it has been) is my patient, self-sacrificing husband who has catered to my every whim and picked up all the slack and not once complained even though he has the perfect right to especially since this is such a busy time for him in school. But fear not, gentle reader. There is light at the end of this bleak tunnel. The last few days I have felt myself slowly, possibly, hopefully, turn a corner. The end of the 1st trimester torture is in sight, with just two more weeks to go. We are crossing all our fingers and toes that the good mommy/wife/homemaker will come back to us soon. Until then, I'll be on the couch. 

More kite vacation pictures and waiting for the bus

Kites and School

We had a really great time at the kite festival last weekend, in spite of the horrendous traffic getting there. We got on the freeway going south past Seattle at about 3 on a Friday afternoon which you just don't do if you are sane. I really don't do well in heavy traffic. Even though I wasn't driving, had interesting people to talk to, good books to read and two antsy kids to help distract me, I was still ready to tear my hair out after three hours of inching along. We finally made it to our campground around 11 that night and still had to set up camp. I'll admit that I was ready to chuck in the towel on this vacation, especially after I received 5 bug bites on my forehead alone... I didn't count the rest. However, the forehead bites were in the shape of the constellation Cassiopeia, so that's kind of cool, I guess. Anyway, Saturday morning dawned sunny and cool and just all around beautiful. There was the perfect amount of wind for all the kites at the beach. The picture above doesn't really do justice to how big and amazing these kits were. And that's just one little shot of the sky. Imagine the same view (different kites) everywhere you look! The day was warm enough to play in the water, which Sam and Grace loved. I had quite a time keeping Sam within a safe depth. He just doesn't understand rip tides, no matter how often I explain. "But I know I'm stronger then the water Mom!"
The beach was gorgeous... over 2 miles of just sand, not a rock or pebble in site. We made some fun sand castles, but didn't get pictures. We had our beach towels just in front of this man:

He's without a doubt the most amazing kite flyer I've ever seen. He had three stunt kites that he could do just about anything with. You can see him holding two of them in the picture. The strings for the third are connected to his belt and that band around his leg. It was simply stunning to watch him. I heard one of the event officials telling someone that he is completely deaf and just flies kites every day, all day. What a life!

Here are some more pictures of the day. We had just a great time, but by the end of the day we were all pretty tired. I think we were all in bed by 9. The next day was rainy and cool so it was easy to not linger. We really had such a great time. Rob's mom enjoyed herself so much she has already reserved a place for us to stay next year! I sense a family tradition in the making. 

Ok, so blogger seems to be having trouble uploading the rest of my picture. Which is a shame because they were really good ones. One of them was of Sam waiting for the bus on his first day of school! He and I went to school together last Wednesday for an orientation type thing, and the Friday was is first official day. He really had a great time, though I think it was a bit overwhelming. There are a lot more kids in elementary school then at preschool. He rides a great big huge school bus in the morning, and it is hard for me to imagine my little boy on that great big bus with all those giant kids surrounding him, none of which he knows. He gets mad though we I refer to him as a little boy. His teacher seems really nice and he has 5 friends from church in his class. He's excited about music class and art class and P.E. Also soccer starts next week and he can't wait for that. Grace will start going to preschool next week in the mornings so I'm going to be on my own for about 3 hours a day. I haven't really even started to think about what I'll do. It almost seems too wonderful to be true! 

August

Normally I loath August in all its hot, never endingness. Seriously, I don't know how it happens, but I swear there is at least 5 more days in August then any other month. Maybe its the effect of having two 31 day months in a row, though January never gives me this kind of stress. Then again, there are holidays in January whereas August is just a whole lot of nothin. (Except for some family birthdays, but really, if they're not mine they don't really count)

Anyway. There is my rant on august. And it doesn't apply this year. I always approach August with trepidation, and my bleak outlook just hasn't panned out this year. We did have those abysmally hot days last weekend, but the rest of the month has been pleasant and lovely. Usually the days of August drag by, but this year I'm surprised to look at the calendar and see that it's already the 21st. School starts next week and tomorrow we leave for Long Beach, WA and the International Kite Festival and a last big Hurrah for Summer! Rob's mom, Elaine, is a kite fanatic and has been wanting to go to the festival for a long time. She asked us along this year and we eagerly agreed, even though it means we will be missing our own Lentil Festival here in Pullman. And I'm sorry for that since this is probably our last summer in Pullman and the lentil festival is the high point of the summer here. Sam and Grace are very excited to be spending the weekend with Grandma; Sam especially. He had his backpack packed and ready with all the essentials (toys) weeks ago! The backpack was on his bed for a few weeks where he would periodically change around its contents. Then about 5 days ago he moved it to right by the front door so we would be sure not to forget it. On Tuesday I bought him a new backpack for school and the moment we got home from the store he sat right down and lovingly moved all his stuff from the old to the new, and then moved the new pack a few inches closer to the door... just in case it would be overlooked in the old position! I anticipate a highly successful weekend, even though we will be tenting it Friday and Saturday night and the chance of rain isn't all that small. But we'll be right by the beach and such roadside attractions as the largest cast-iron skillet in the world and the amazing alligator man (half man, half alligator), and best of all, more kites then you could possibly imagine! Who says August can be dull?

The Dog Days

Out of nowhere Pullman decides to hit us with some real summer days. We'll be hitting 100 degrees and beyond tomorrow and I'd like to point out that I've checked the weather forecast for all the places where my family live and with no exception, not even those in Arizona, we'll be the most miserable tomorrow. Factor in our lack of A/C and windows that face full west and I almost want to cry.  However, by Wednesday we should be back in the 60's and raining... so a typical day in this not so typical Pullman summer. I have to say this has been the coolest summer I think of my life. By the end of it I'll probably be able to use my fingers to count the number of times we hit 90 and beyond. Growing up in Arizona, I'm not used to summers like this. I like it! 

O frabjous day!

Our neighbors are moving!!!! Pure joy is making my little heart leap and frolic with glee. No more  cigarette and pipe smoke pouring into my bedroom window while I try to sleep, no more waking up at 4 am Sunday morning to listen to domestic altercations that end with visits from the police and trips to the E.R. because of aggravated assault and battery, no more vulgar and foul language to listen to, no more holding my breath when passing their apartment in the stairwell. 

Bliss. 

Until the next ones move in. 

Who could be even worse, though I'm struggling to conceive how. 

Disney Overflowing

Like most households with young children, especially with young girls, our home is awash with Disney. There are few of our toys, particularly Grace's, that don't bare the Disney brand. This makes me uncomfortable because it proves that I am susceptible, not only to advertising and commercialism, but to my daughter's incessant whining and pleading for all things princess. 

When my kids were younger, they thought I was Tinkerbell. I don't know why since I am unable to fly or do magic of any kind. I wouldn't mind Tink's figure though. At the beginning of every Disney movie when she flies across the screen and waves her little wand, they would both start yelling, 'there's mom!', so very excitedly. I really don't know where this came from, and it didn't last all that long. Now when they see her they say, 'that's not my mom'. And after watching Peter Pan today, I'm kind of glad because she is a first class shrew in the movie and I hope my children don't think I'm like that. 

There is a friend of mine whose children thought she was Mary Poppins when they were young. I'm not at all surprised, knowing her and her children. Though they may realize now she isn't Julie Andrews in disguise, I'm sure they still think her practically perfect in every way, because she is. I wouldn't mind be mistaken for Mary. She's beautiful, musical, just a touch acerbic, and able to handle all kinds of children. And she's magic, too.

When I was in high school a boy I know told me that I looked like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I'm sure it was just the longish brown hair that Belle and I share, but it was still a really nice compliment, I thought. And he was just the nicest boy imaginable; all us girls were half in love with him, and since he compared me to a Disney princess in the middle of a large group of people and everybody heard him, that made it that much nicer. Of course, now that I think back on it, it was pretty pathetic that a group of teenagers, boys and girls, would spend their Friday evening watching Beauty and the Beast. That tells you the kind of hell-raisers I grew up with!

So no one compares me to Belle anymore, I'll never be mistaken for Mary Poppins, and my kids are most emphatic that I am NOT Tinkerbell. And all this is ok with me. I like most of the Disney films, and we own a lot of them. They are fun, clean, entertaining, and long enough that I can get showered and ready for the day and not have to worry about what my kids are getting into. But I find that I am avoiding the toys section at stores, and steering Grace away from the princesses when we are there. Disney is just too big, too into everything and everywhere to be something that I want to actively be a part of. 

I've been such a bum this entire month and haven't done ANYTHING that I should be doing. I've been a lousy wife, mother, friend, primary worker, blogger,... you name it, I've not been doing it. I'm slowly working myself out of autopilot and hope to soon be back as a functioning human, but until then, all I can give you today is a link to a quick, easy, and delicious dinner idea here. We tried them last night and they are awsome!

Summer Recall

Since I'm doing such a lousy job at blogging this summer I decided just to post some pictures of what we've been doing the last 2 or 3 months. Enjoy!
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I always wanted to fly...

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 85% Spider-Man 60% Robin 57% Wonder Woman 55% Supergirl 50% Hulk 35% The Flash 35% Catwoman 35% Batman 30% Green Lantern 30% Iron Man 5%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

contriteness and a summer dessert

Ok so I feel bad for my last post. This happens to me all the time: I complain and gripe about something and then I feel guilty for it. However, I had forgotten how cathartic it is to write my troubles out, not to mention when I'm having a good cry while I write. Almost immediately after I posted I felt enormously better. Also, about half hour later Rob called to say that he had been discussing things with his prof and had determined that the soonest we would have to move isn't till next summer! What a relief! I'm so glad I have more time to spend in this great place. 

Speaking of great places, this is shaping up to be one of the better 4ths I've had. For one thing it is certainly the coolest. It's 2 in the afternoon and I think we just hit 70. Growing up with triple digit summers certainly makes outdoor activities different then they are now. We had a ward breakfast at a local park which was fun. We brought our bocce ball set and got quite the ongoing game going.  I don't think the same group of people played the entire time; there was kind of a never ending rotation of people wanting to play. Then for lunch we went to a county park near here that we've never been to before. It was so amazingly beautiful! We were the only ones in the park and had a great time. There was a really neat playground area, lots of flat, open fields for games, volley ball pits, a stream for kids to fall in, and a nice little hike. I can't believe we've lived here for 3 years and had never been! We are already planning on going back, maybe even weekly. This evening we'll be taking the city bus to another park in town for the city celebration. The kids look forward to this every year. There will be a big bouncing castle, the fire trucks for them to climb through, lots of kids to play with... but the biggest thrill is always the bus ride. 

So here's a quick and yummy summer dessert. My mom made this all the time when I was growing up and then I saw the exact same recipe in a magazine just a few weeks ago. 

Mix 2 8 oz yogurts (I usually use strawberry or raspberry) with a regular size tub of cool whip. Pour into a graham cracker crust and cover. Freeze.

Take it out of the freezer and let it soften just a bit before serving. 

Grumblings

I haven't posted for awhile because June was so very busy and action packed that I just didn't know where to start. Now I'm posting, not to fill you in on our great trip to Utah, or to tell you about Rob finishing his thesis, but just to whine and complain. Prepare yourself for some serious wallowing. 

I've been very tired this past week. Not only have I pretty much been the sole caregiver for my kids for the past three weeks, but I've been suffering PMS for just about the first time in 3 years. Man has that come back with a vengeance! It's been very hot here, and while I don't mind getting sweaty while I'm running or biking or whatever, I really do mind it when I'm trying to get to sleep at night or just being in the house in the middle of the day. And then, my dear and loving husband told me yesterday, in an oh-so-casual, by-the-way sort of way, that we have to move to Spokane. I can't begin to tell what a blow this is, especially after I was reassured by same husband that we wouldn't have to be moving for at least 2 more years. I don't transition well. It has taken me these last three years to begin to feel like I belong here in Pullman, that I actually have friends and purpose. And even though I have no close friends- no one who will be all that upset to hear I'm leaving, the thought of having to go to a new place and start all over again is devastating. 

In all fairness I should state that I can understand why we have to move. Rob HAS to finish his PhD work in 2 years or we'll be without university funding and the professor he will be working with is in Spokane. As much as I'd like to just tell him to commute, there's no way that's happening. And we wont be moving for a few months at least. I think Rob said last night that we can't move until he finishes a class or two here in Pullman. I'm not sure because as soon as I realized he wasn't joking when he said we have to move I pretty much tuned him out and haven't really spoken to him since. (sorry honey)

I feel like a heel complaining like this, especially cause I just got an email from my mom reminding me that my cousin starts chemo today to kill all her bone marrow (plus her immune system, reproductive system, hair, etc) to try and get ride of her MS. She'll be in the hospital for a month, then in an isolation apartment for another month, the whole time not being able to see her boys and after all that no one really knows if this will work. There is so much suffering in the world and my own little heartbreak is really insignificant in the face of it all. I'm trying to keep a healthy perspective, but it is hard. 

With that, have a great day!

 

Camping the right way

On Saturday we got home from a week of camping at the beautiful Ensign Ranch on the eastern face of the Cascades. We had a wonderful time and loved every minute of it! (Aside from the snow-in June!- and the port-a-potties). Here's a collection of pictures...or not. Blogger's having troubles today. So we'll have to do this w/o illustrations. Ensign Ranch is owned by the church and used for Girl's camp and ward/stake camp-outs and the like and thus is very clean (yeah!) and has incredibly nice and helpful senior missionary couples as staff who are willing to do just about anything you ask them and more. Except that I think they forget just when you asked them (they are oldish, after all) so some maintenance things that needed fixing around our cabin took a few days to be addressed. But they were awfully nice about it. We had a cabin that was just big enough for the 4 kids and 4 adults and for the first 4 days we were the only guests at the ranch which was really great. Of course, the first three day we had rather crumby weather, but we were still able to get outside and do some things. Some of the highlights included the horse rides for the kids which Sam LOVED and Grace came to love on our second visit to the stables. There was also a giant slip-n-slid which was SO MUCH FUN!!! Thursday was the first day with sun though the wind was very brisk and made things cold. Sam had to finally quit and sit in the sun wrapped up in his towel because he was shivering so bad. We did it again on Friday when it was a bit warmer and could stay longer. All the kids had the best of times and were sorry to have to leave. We were lucky that all the kids got along so well, especially Grace and her cousin Jayme, both of whom have rather forceful personalities and like being the center of attention and the one in charge. We had great food thanks to chef-in-chief Rob and only had to go the emergency room once when Alaina stuck a bead up her nose. Way up.
So now we're home and the laundry's almost done. Tomorrow is Grace's birthday and then on Wednesday the kids and I are off to Utah. I'm excited to be seeing my family. I'm also excited about coming home and not having any more vacations for a good long while.

Seriously losing my mind

I've been a 'single parent' since Wednesday night and I'm about to lose it! Rob is at Woodbadge this weekend (intensive scout leader training) and I'm sure he is having a great time and all but it is TIME FOR HIM TO BE HOME!! NOW! In the roughly 60 hours since he has been gone and I have yelled at my kids, yelled at my mom, spent way more money then I should, made a total of 0 real meals (I did make some fab pear muffins though) done absolutely nothing to prepare for our week long camping trip that starts tomorrow, stressed out because I have to do sharing time on Father's day and can't for the life of me find a good dad day thing for the kids to do, my jaw is all out of whack for some reason so I'm in a lot of discomfort, stressed out about the primary newsletter I can't seem to get together, cried because Grace cut her hair, a dress, and a skirt with scissors I left lying around, and bought over 20 boxes of cereal. That last one sounds insane but isn't really. A local grocery store has a day that they sell cereal at $1.79 a box, the good stuff too, not the store brand cardboard stuff. I figure we should be set on cereal for the next 7-9 months. Anyway. I can't wait for Rob to be home tonight. Even though when he is here he usually has to be closed away in the study working on his thesis (almost done!), just knowing he is around and I can talk to him whenever I want to brings me a sense of stability and steadiness that I am sorely lacking right now. 

Hopefully today will be alright. We have swimming lessons this morning and will go straight to the salon from there to get Grace's hair fixed. She didn't do too much damage; she'll just have to have bangs now. I probably should just try to fix it myself, but I really don't believe anything I did with scissors would help the situation. Then we'll get some shopping done and come home to start packing. Oh! That's another thing. I have to have our Father's Day celebration and Grace's birthday all planned and ready before we leave tomorrow because I wont have time when we get home next Saturday. We had cereal (Lucky Charms! the kids are in heaven) and muffins for breakfast, and I'm planning on McDonald's for lunch and Papa Murphy's for dinner. Not really a nutritionally sound day by any stretch of the imagination. 

Also, if anyone has any good ideas that Sam, Grace, and I can do at a family talent show while we're in Utah in a few weeks, please send them along.

Get yourself out of this pickle....

The other night I was doing some computer work when I heard the unmistakable sound of Grace dropping my (full) water bottle in the kitchen. This is how it landed:

Nice.

Quesadillas

These are fast and mighty tasty. I got the recipe from a friend in Logan...don't know where she got it. 

Pico de Gallo Quesadillas

serves 4

4 roma tomatoes

1 onion

1 jalapeno

1 tablespoon cilantro

lime

salt and pepper

1 green pepper

2 chicken breasts

3 garlic cloves

monterey jack cheese, shredded

tortillas

1. First make the pico de gallo by dicing up the tomatoes, half the onion, the jalapeno (seeded and ribs removed unless you like really spicy) and the cilantro. Mix it all together and squeeze the lime over it. Season with salt and pepper and let sit. ~ this is really just an outline. Adjust the amounts of the ingredients as you see fit. 

2. Slice the second half of the onion, the green pepper and the chicken into thin strips. 

3. Cook the chicken in a skillet over medium high heat till cooked through. Put in a bowl and keep warm. Return the skillet to the heat and add the onion and pepper. Cook till softened, about 5 minutes or so. Press the garlic through a garlic press and add to the vegetables and cook for about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the chicken back to the pan and heat through. 

3. Add half of your pico de gallo to the chicken mixture (drain the pico if it is really juicy) and heat through. 

4. Fill your tortillas with the chicken mixture and sprinkle with cheese and cook in a hot skillet till the cheese is melted and the outside of the tortillas is brown and crusty. ~ I find it easiest to make half-moon quesadillas; putting the filling on one half of the tortilla and folding the other half over. This makes it a lot easier to flip. 

5. Serve with the extra pico de gallo and some sour cream as a garnish. 

West Side Story

Rob really wanted to spend mother's day with his mother so yesterday we drove over here to the west side of the state. Luckily it isn't too long of a drive; only 6 hours with a nice break half way at Vantage on the Columbia River. We always stop there and let Sam and Grace throw some rocks in the river which is an activity that they never seem to tire of. Also by the time we've been in the car 3 hours it's time to use the potty, and while the bathrooms at the boat launch are just about as foul smelling as any I've experienced, they happen to have the most amazing acoustics ever which Grace and I discovered with a rousing rendition of 'Book of Mormon Stories', which must have been heard from miles away. I'm not sure that I can't still hear the echos. What made our trip even more exciting yesterday was that we were driving our new-to-us minivan!!! Yes, we finally took to plunge and are the proud owners of a 2001 Toyota Sienna with a bit more miles on then I would have hoped but still quite capable of driving us wherever we need to go for the next however many years. It really is quite wonderful to have at least three times as much space as our little Suzuki Esteem, and in true Packer/Hansen fashion we made sure to pack at least 4 times as much stuff for this trip, which means that poor Sam was banished to the outer darkness of the back bench and had to endure his mother throwing snacks all around him but never quite to him. Actually, we had so much stuff because we brought Grace's crib and Sam's old toddler bed to store in Rob's mom's basement and that required moving out half the back bench and folding up Sam's regular seat. So we will have quite oodles of room on the trip back not to mention all the extra room in the apartment with two beds gone.
We had a great day today at the Locks with Rob's brother Rick watching all the boats and ships coming up and down and watching the salmon coming up the fish ladder. We found a great Fish and Chips place where I had a yummy Italian Grilled Cheese sandwich without a hint of fish on it and wound up the day at REI where we got sleeping bags and water shoes for the kids, spending a whopping 96 cents! Gotta love those dividends. The Seattle REI is the flagship store and is really a cool place. Of course, we think all REI's are cool places to go but this one is especially cool with an enormous climbing wall and a great big tree house for the kids to play in. Grace was so tired by the end of the day she was practically catatonic and hopefully the kids will sleep in a bit tomorrow. Rob and I hope to get to the temple tomorrow morning and then will spending the rest of the day preparing for Mother's Day which means Rob will be shopping for brunch foods and I will be getting a pedicure. Sometimes life is just right.

Chicken Fajitas

These were really great, probably the best fajitas I've ever had. 

Chicken Fajitas on the Grill

serves 4-6

1/3 cup lime juice

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 medium garlic cloves, pressed through a garlic press

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 jalapeno chile, seeds and ribs removed, chile minced

1 1.2 tablespoons minced cilantro leaves

salt and black pepper

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat, tenderloins removed, breasts pounded to 1/2 inch thickness. ~its important to get these an even thickness so that they will cook evenly.

1 large red onion, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds (do not separate rings)

1 large red and 1 greed pepper, quartered, stemmed, and seeded

8-12 flour tortillas

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together lime juice, 4 tablespoons oil, garlic, Worcestershire, brown sugar, jalapeno, cilantro, 1 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Reserve 1/4 cup marinade in small bowl; set aside. Add another teaspoon salt to remaining marinade. Place chicken in marinade; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 15 minutes. Brush both sides of onion rounds and peppers with remaining 2 tablespoons oil and season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat your grill until hot; scrape grill grate clean. 

3. Remove chicken from marinade and place chicken smooth side down on hotter side of grill; discard remaining marinade. Place onion and peppers, skin side down on cooler side of grill. Cook (covered) chicken until well browned, 4-5 minutes; flip chicken and continue grilling until done, 4-5 minutes longer. Meanwhile, cook peppers until spottily charred on both sides, 8-10 minutes, turning once or twice as needed; cook onions until tender and charred on both sides, 10-12 minutes, turning every 3-4 minutes. When chicken and vegetables are done, transfer to a large plate; tent with foil to keep warm.

4. When grill is empty, set heat to medium. Working in batches, place tortillas in single layer on grate and grill until warm and lightly brown, about 20 seconds per side. As they are down, wrap tortillas in kitchen towel or large sheet of foil. 

5. Separate onion rings and place in medium bowl; slice bell peppers lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips and place in bowl with onions. Add 2 tablespoons reserved unused marinade to vegetables and toss well to combine. Slice chicken into 1/4 inch strips and toss with remaining 2 tablespoons reserved marinade in another bowl; arrange chicken and vegetables on large platter and serve with warmed tortillas. 

Blog Pilfering

Barter

By Sarah Teasdale

Life has loveliness to sell,

All beautiful and slendid things,

Blue waves whitened on a cliff

Soaring fire that sways and sings,

And children's faces looking up

Holding wonder like a cup

Life has loveliness to sell,

Music like a curve of gold,

Scent of pine trees in the rain,

Eyes that love you, arms that hold,

And for your spirit's still delight,

Holy thoughts that star the night.

Spend all you have for loveliness,

Buy it and never count the cost;

For one white singing hour of peace

Count many a year of strife well lost,

And for a breath of ecstasy

Give all you have been, or could be. 

I took this off my sister's blog. She tells me she took it off a friend of a friend's blog. Feel free to put it on your own. 

Really Awesome News!

Since I finally paid off my credit card debt (Christmas and treadmill), I decided I would bump up the payments on my student loan. At the current rate I had about a year left; I was hoping I'd be able to cut that down to 8-9 months. Anyway, Sunday I tried to log onto my account (it's through Nelnet) and couldn't get on. Every time I entered my SSN and birth date I got an alert saying there was no account matching that info. So I sent off an email telling my problem and reminding them  I still owe them a nice chunk of money so they'd better get this glitch worked out if they wanted to see the rest of the dough. Yesterday I got an email saying since I had a zero balance they had closed my account!!! WHAT?!? I knew there had to be a mistake somewhere and was having grim thoughts of getting some kind of notice in a few months telling me my payments were way overdue and I was going to lose my good credit rating, etc. So I gave Nelnet a call (had to enter my SSN 4 times, each time it was rejected before I was finally transferred to an operator). After explaining the whole deal to the girl, she said, "Oh, I know what's wrong here." I was expecting to hear that there was another Rachel Packer with similar birth date/SSN and we had gotten mixed up, or some other clerical error. What she actually told me was that UHEAA (Utah Higher Education something or other) decided sometime in February to write off some of their student loans and mine was one of them!  So someone at UHEAA just decided that a bunch of people wouldn't have to pay back the rest of their loans! Not only that, they sent me back my last payment; just got the check in the mail. How cool is that? I'm never this lucky! At the library today I paid my 75 cent fine and so now I am completely, totally, 100% debt free! WooHoo!!!!!!

Now if only someone would decide to write off Rob's loans...

Vegetarian Burritos

The recipe is modified from a 'Cooking Light' magazine. Its super fast and easy and pretty darn tasty. We make it fairly regularly. Sam doesn't like the beans or the green stuff so I usually just make some quesadillas to go along with the burritos, appetizer-wise. I also don't have measurements for everything since I just do it by look and taste. I'll try to approximate. 

Vegetarian Burritos

serves 4 

1 can refried beans

1 can black beans, rinsed

Salsa, your favorite kind

1 avocado, sliced

1 lime, sliced

Cilantro, about a handful

Flour Tortillas

Cheese- optional

Garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano- all these are optional.

Rice-also optional

1. Mix the black beans with some of the salsa, not so it's runny, but enough so the beans hold together. Maybe about 1/3 cup?, then heat.

2. Heat up the refried beans. I will crush a garlic clove and add some chili powder, cumin and oregano into the refried beans, maybe about a 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of each. This is really by taste. You can buy refried beans that are already mixed with salsa or chilies, in which case just use as is. 

3. Once everything is hot and your rice is done, just put your burritos together. Layer the rice, black beans and refried beans on a tortilla, add some cheese, a few slices of avocado, sprinkle on some cilantro and give the whole thing a squirt of lime juice. Wrap it up and dig in. 

Spencer Update

Official finish time for the Boston Marathon: 2:59:41

Run, Spencer, Run!

(Sorry, don't have a running picture)

Right at this very moment, my brother Spencer, husband of Anna, med student extraordinaire, is running the Boston Marathon. And doing amazingly, mind-blowingly well too. I signed myself up to receive text messages when he reaches different checkpoints. He just passed the half way mark running at a steady pace of 6:34. If he keeps this up he will finish in under 3 hours! This is so completely beyond the realm of my abilities. This morning, just for kicks, I decided to crank the pace on my treadmill up to a 10 minute mile. Yeah, that didn't last long.

The Hansen siblings are divided evenly between the runners and the non-runners. Spencer, Whitney and Erin are all runners, or at least enjoy running. Sally, Jacob and I are not runners or don't really like it all that much. Jacob runs out of necessity because he figured out you can't really not run while playing basketball and football. I run because I want to be a runner and to like running. Sally doesn't run. At all if she can help it.

Whitney and Erin both enjoy running and do it regularly when pregnancy and injury doesn't get in the way. Both have run marathons and other races. But really, no one in the fam compares to the Beeze. The first marathon he ran was really on a whim, with absolutly no specific marathon training. A friend of Erin's decided not to run the race the day before and Spencer took his place. And WON, if memory serves. He ran in the last Salt Lake marathon and came in in the top 10 of EVERYBODY. So yeah, he's a serious runner.

Run strong little brother

Fire up the Grill!

Last weekend, I'm sure as a birthday present to me, we had very spring, almost summer weather. The temperatures were up in the 70's, if you can believe it, which is warmer then we've been for at least 6 months! Of course by Monday we were back to rain/snow and chilly temps, but that brief respite of warmth was enough to inspire Rob and I to get out the grill and make us some oh-so-good grub. The way grilling works in our household, as I suspect in many another, is that I prepare the food and Rob places that food on the grill. So we really are a team :-)

Here's two recipes that I'm giving from memory so I hope I get it right. I didn't take any pictures but even if I did I doubt I'd be able to post them because we are having major internet issues right now. If you don't hear from me for awhile, that's why. 

Both of these recipes are from Cook's Illustrated. I do cook from other sources, promise!

Southwest Burgers

makes 4

1 1/2 pounds ground beef ~85% will make the juiciest burgers, but you can use a leaner ground if you wish

2 tablespoons minced green onion

1 tablespoon minced chili in adobo sauce

3 garlic cloves, roasted over medium heat in a dry skillet in their skins till fragrant and beginning to change color, about 7-8 minutes. Then peel and mince or press through a garlic press

Salt and Pepper~I can't really remember how much of these. Just put in to taste

Very lightly mix all together. You don't want to over mix your meat or you'll get a tough burger. Divide into 4 equal portions and lightly form each into a ball by gently tossing back and forth between your hands. Gently press into patties and make a indentation in the middle of each. This will help your burger cook uniformly. 

Follow your grill's instructions for grilling hamburgers. ~These burgers are actually quite spicy so you can cut down on the chili amount if you don't like spicy foods. 

Southwest Chicken Kabobs 

serves 4

The chicken needs to marinade for at least 3 and up to 24 hours, so plan accordingly

Chicken breasts ~I used 2, but there is enough marinade for probably one more. 

Green and red pepper

Onion

Pineapple~ PLEASE use fresh... canned is just not worth it.

Cut all of the above into bite size, uniform pieces. 

For the marinade:

Combine

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup minced cilantro

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon each of chili powder, cumin, and turmeric

1/2 teaspoon salt

pepper to taste

mix together in a large zip lock bag or bowl and add chicken. Let it sit in the fridge for 3-24 hours. 

If you are using wood skewers, make sure you soak them in water for about 1/2 hour before grilling. Toss your fruit and veggies in olive oil and some salt and pepper. Then thread everything onto your skewers. I try to begin and end each with the onion, and to put the chicken next to the pineapple. I think I used 8 or 9 skewers. You'll want to grill these over medium-high heat for about 8-9 minutes, giving them a quarter turn every two minutes. Once the chicken is cooked through remove and serve immediately.