Some Firsts

I experienced a few firsts this past week.

First up, we went down to visit one of our neighbors who has a pet python. Pet and Python really should not be in the same sentence, but it is. Wait. Maybe a pet python would be easier than a Great Dane.

I digress. Back to our firsts. This is the first time I got to see a python squeeze his dinner. Okay, so the mouse was already dead, but apparently it's just engrained in them to squeeze the living daylights out of their meal first.

So here she is squeezing away. Then the main event was underway - watching her gulp down the mouse. Simply fascinating!


Next up, my first time ever doing a french braid in Alicia's hair that actually looked good! Working with all the different strands makes my hands shake just thinking about it, but they're learning to get the hang of it, so for one of Alicia's choral collection performances, I did her hair up nice and fancy.



These pictures are actually the ones I took for Alicia at her request so she could see what the back looked like.

And lastly on the list of firsts for the week, I made homemade egg rolls for the first time. After spending a fortune on the pre-made ones at the store, I decided I would give these a try. They are amazingly easy to make, especially if you bake them like I did rather than frying, and they were surprisingly delicious!

Kimberly helped me put the egg rolls together.

Of course Shenzie wanted to know what we were making.

And Wa-La! The final product with some sweet and sour sauce. Delicious.

If you are interested in trying them, here is the recipe I used:

1 lb. pork
1 package egg roll wraps
1 bag shredded cabbage and carrot mix
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg (beaten, for sealing the rolls)

Fry up the pork. Mix together the cooked pork, cabbage and carrot mixture. Season with 1 tablespoon of oil, sugar, vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Follow the instructions on the back of the egg roll package for rolling up and use the egg to seal the final edge.

I decided to bake the egg rolls per the instructions on the package because it would save me time. They were fabulous! I may just be making them again in the near future.

Our Houseguest for the Week

Meet Shenzie, Justin & Heather's (John's brother and wife) Great Dane. She will be with us for a grand total of 9 days.

Most of you probably know I am not a dog-lover, so this is going out on a limb for me.
However, we've set up an exchange of services - our watching their dog for a week while they are at Disneyland in exchange for a weekend of watching our girls so we can go to Vegas. Who do you think will get the better end of the deal?

Megan adores her, and given Shenzie's large size, I'm surprised she doesn't intimidate Megan. However, the two are practically inseparable. So cute.

Shenzie is really a sweet dog and she has had a ball here. The whole family has smothered her with love - yes, even me.

In fact, most surprising to us has been her favoring me over John, who is the dog lover around here. Go figure!?!

Last night, Shenzie wanted to be where I was, so she plopped down in my rather smallish kitchen while I was cooking dinner. Can I just say that it was a tad difficult maneuvering around her :)

Of course Megan came over to join us.

We have taken Shenzie on some walks where we have had several people stop and ask us about our 'horse'. She is certainly a large dog, but ever-so-lovable. I may just be willing to watch her again. I never in a million years thought I would say that.

See - told you they are the best of friends. Shenzie even lets Megan sit on her - though when I caught Megan doing this, I quickly took a picture, then got her off the poor dog.

Anyway, I still hold my ground on never wanting to own a dog. Pigs will need to fly before that happens.

Change is Good Right?

I have such a hard time with change, but it was time for our ward to have another change apparently. Four and a half years ago, we were split off into a brand new ward in our stake. It took some time, but we all became friends and it was a lovely ward. Last night, we found out that we are loosing several streets and lo-and-behold, adding several streets from our old ward!

Thankfully, ward boundaries do not define my friendships, and thanks to good old facebook, it's a lot easier to keep up with everyone. I am confident our new ward friends will become a loving ward where we can feel unified, though I will need to be patient as it generally takes a year or two for that to happen.

Speaking of changes, I was thinking earlier this week about other changes. The winter season is definitely upon us, and though not my favorite season, I have loved getting up and feeling that extra nip in the air or getting all bundled up in sweatshirts and blankets to watch a movie now that it gets dark so early.

I've noticed that our habits change in the winter months. As opposed to the warmer months where we spend most of our time outside, our activities move inward during the colder months. We spend a lot of family time playing games, watching movies, and the kids have had to get extra creative of late with their activities.

One thing that has brought me great pleasure is seeing them play games together and find crafts they can work on together inside. It makes my heart happy seeing them getting along. Okay, so they don't get along all the time, but it's so nice to see those quiet moments when they are doing so.

This last week they have been making friendship bracelets up the wazoo. Kimberly also made this cute craft to-do board one afternoon - all on her own. I love that the winter months do that - bring the kids inside where they have to learn to play together and remember how to be nice.

In fact, I have to brag about Kimberly a little bit. The other night, John and I were gone, so Kimberly was babysitting. The two younger ones were in bed, so it was just Alicia and Kimberly hanging out until it was time for them to go to bed, at which point, Alicia started crying because the warts she had recently had frozen off were hurting pretty bad. Kimberly called us, and we were on our way home, but about 15 minutes away.

When we got home, we discovered the two girls up in the bathroom just chatting away. Kimberly had started talking to Alicia to keep her mind off her toes, and they ended up having a good conversation, just the two of them. Not only did it warm my heart to see Kimberly being so thoughtful to her sister, it was nice to see the two of them enjoying each others company. I hope that continues as I am so grateful for the friendships I have with my siblings.

On a complete side note, we made it Disney on Ice this year. Sadly, my Grandma Lynn, who treated us to the tickets, ended up being sick, as well as John, so we had two extra tickets. Thankfully, two of their friends were happy to use the tickets, and a saint-of-a-mother (aka me) took them all. by. myself. They had a wonderful time, as did I, but I was glad to be home under one roof where I didn't have to make sure all of my chickadees were under my wings in a crowded place.

And what would a blog post be without the latest cute picture of Megan...

My New Bed Partner

I am appalled that I have let my blog lapse almost two weeks without a new blog post! Truthfully though, things have been pretty ordinarily normal around here with not too many new things to report. I am still writing stories for the local newspaper, still helping out the girls with their homework, still cleaning the house, and then cleaning the house some more after the kids follow behind me the first time around destroying anything and everything I've just picked up or cleaned.

I am also in the midst of trying to determine Christmas presents. I am shocked at how quickly the season is encroaching upon me and know if I don't get a handle on our gift plans soon, I will be drowning in seasonal fluff before I know it.

These last couple of weeks, though normal and more of the same-old, same-old, I have discovered I have a new bed-friend. John is on my right, and my heating pad lays ever-so-lovingly on my left. Now that my twenties have evaded me not-so-kindly, I have to accept my new fate: sore and aching body parts by the end of the day just waiting for me to acknowledge their pestering presence.

I dutifully ignore them until I finally slumber into my bed, at which point, they cannot be ignored any further. They adore my attention and longingly ache for my heating pad to soothe their troubles away so I can enter the dreamy sleep-filled world.

This being the month of Thanksgiving, I give thanks to my family, of course, and now, I also give thanks to my blessedly warm heating pad that helps me get to sleep pain-free before getting up in the morning in order to face a whole new set of aches that will begin forming during the day - I know they are just waiting to have a visit with my warm bed-mate each night.

Halloween 2011

We survived another Halloween -

In case you're wondering, Kimberly is technically a Pirate Bride. Alicia is our friendly Native American aka Indian, Natalie the witch costume my mom made for me when I was that age, and Megan, the shy pumpkin.

We've been having such beautiful warm weather of late that we decided to carve our pumpkins on the back deck this time. I could seriously do that every year if the weather decided to cooperate as such.


John let Kimberly and Alicia carve their own pumpkins this year, and thankfully, no cut off fingers - though Alicia was very concerned about that as she tried carving her intricate pumpkin.



John decided to use the one dinky-sized pumpkin our garden produced in conjunction with his much larger pumpkin he retrieved at the pumpkin patch. Tasty.


Kimberly's pumpkin is her rendition of Harry Potter. She is addicted to those books.

Natalie was quite proud of the ghost she drew out on paper for daddy to duplicate on her pumpkin.


And lastly, Megan got my ever-so-clever and creative pumpkin. The girls teased me mercilessly about carving such a simple face, but alas, pumpkin carving is not one of my strong suits. I am a much better pumpkin cleaner-outer.

Also, scroll back up and on the right you'll notice that I have new pictures of the girls. Enjoy! I think they are such beautiful and delightful girls. We have been so blessed to have them enrich our lives.