Simon's Birthday

Today is my Simon's 5th birthday! He is so grown up already. I love you Simon! We are so glad to have you in our family!

Time to take it down

Well, the Christmas trees lasted less than a week. I guess it is time to take them down!

Kitchen Experimenting

So, yesterday I think I was feeling a bit adventurous in the kitchen. I decided to try and improve on my hot chocolate a little bit and try to make it a little creamier. Here is the improved recipe that I came up with.

20 macadamia nuts
6 oz of hot water
1 Tbls cocoa powder
1 Tbls Agave

Put the 6 oz of hot water in the blender with the macadamia nuts. Blend until smooth. Pour nut milk into cup. Stir in Cocoa and Agave. Enjoy.

I also decided to try to make a healthy version on baked potato soup. I have lots of baked potatoes that were left over from the ward Christmas party so I am trying to be creative in my use for them. I used a few different recipes as guidelines and this is what I came up with.

Baked Potato Soup

5 cups water
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup celery
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
2 Tbls Olive oil
4 tsp vegetable bouillon
3 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 Tbls Dry Parsley
7-8 medium sized baked potatoes
2 additional cups of water, almond or rice milk (I used water, but if you like it more creamy use milk)

Chop vegetables and add to a large pot. Add olive oil and saute until onions are transparent. Add 5 cups of water, salt, pepper and bouillon and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 min. Meanwhile chop 3-4 baked potatoes into large chunks and put into blender with additional water or milk. Blend until smooth. Chop the remaining potatoes into bit sized pieces and add to soup along with the parsley and potato puree . Simmer for 10 min.

Homemade Dounuts, Hot Chocolate and Roger Whittaker

Well, the last couple of days have been difficult to say the least. Today, I decided that we just needed a very laid back relaxing day. The boys decided to play in the snow and I wished that I had some hot chocolate in my house to give them when they came in. In years past that is what I would do. Now, because we have changed our eating habits, I no longer have hot chocolate in our home. I never really wished for it quite like I did today. So, as I was doing the dishes my mind started to wander and it occurred to me that I could make my own hot chocolate that would be healthy for my kids to have. I decided to get brave and experiment. It actually turned out really well! Simon especially liked it! I also decided that I would make some nice warm doughnut drops for them. My neighbor posted these on her blog the other day and I have been wanting to make them ever since I saw her site! I had to healthify them a little bit also to fit our needs, but they turned out beautifully! All the while I was blessed to listen to one of my favorite all time Christmas songs. You can listen to it for free here. It really helped me to remember that I really do LOVE my boys so much and I am so blessed to have them in my life! Hopefully today will be better now.

Here are the recipes that I used to make the hot chocolate and doughnuts.

Healthified Hot Chocolate

6 oz of hot water
1 Tbls cocoa powder or carob powder
1/2 Tbls sucanat or agave

Stir together and enjoy!

Healthified Doughnut Drops
(Check out the link above for the original recipe to get great ideas on how to make these when in a hurry.)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 Tbls vital wheat gluten
1/3 C. sucanat
2 tsp. aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 C. water, almond milk or rice milk (I used water)
2 Tbs. cocount oil, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg or egg substitute using 1 Tbls ground flax or chia seed and two Tbls water mixed together and allowed to sit and make a gel.
Coconut oil for frying

Mix all ingredients together to form a dough. In a large saucepan, heat 2 to 3 inches oil to 375º. When oil is heated, drop five or six doughnuts into hot oil and fry for 2 to 3 minutes per side to a deep golden brown. I used my small cookie scoop to drop them in the oil. Drain on paper towels. If you like you can top the dounuts with powdered sucanat or drizzle honey or agave over the top of them. It would also be fun to roll them in some agave and then some chopped nuts and/or shredded unsweetened coconut. We just ate them plain and they were delicious and plenty sweet!

More Fun

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Just having more fun!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Family Photos

Our good friend Jake took these photos for us! They turned out great!

Quotes by Mr. Rogers

"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood."

"When we treat children's play as seriously as it deserves, we are helping them feel the joy that's to be found in the creative spirit. It's the things we play with and the people who help us play that make a great difference in our lives."

More of Face to Face with Greatness

One of the most important and life changing things that I learned from this seminar was when we talked about how we define our children. So many times we as a society define our kids by their skills. You know this just by listening to how people talk. When we praise people in general, not just kids, we often times do so by things that are skills, like you are a great singer, dancer, reader, pianist, housekeeper, cook, etc. When someone asks what our talents are we tend to say the same kinds of things. We as a society think that our skills define who we are, and what kind of a person we are, because of those skills.

In the mid 1700's (and other times in our history) it was very different. Skills were not nearly as important as a persons values. When people would ask what George Washington was good at people would respond with "he is honest" "he is a leader" "he has preservation and determination". Apparently he was also a good dancer, but that is not what everybody acknowledged first about him. It was always about values. People would do things for other people that they had never met simply because they had heard of the values that they hold.

When I was a young women a had a low self esteem. Why did I? Because I thought I had no talents. I thought that because I don't have a fabulous voice, and I dance like Elaine from "Seinfield", and I cannot draw or write particularly well (which are all things that I tried to do and enjoy doing and just couldn't do well enough) that I must not have any talents. I wasn't as smart as others, I wasn't as fashionable as other girls (I still am not) or as athletic as some. It wasn't until I got my patriarchal blessing that I realized that my talents are different. My mom always told me that I was good at other things that were more spiritual and emotional in nature. She tried really hard to let me know that I did have talents. I kind of believed her, but the world all around me was telling me different.

Even young kids know that we talk about what we value, what is most important to us. If we as parents believe that our kids have good values, but we don't tell them that we think they are honest, brave, strong hearted, loyal, patient, responsible, polite etc., and instead focus on skills they will not know it or believe it. We need to make it a point to tell them and tell them often. It is not even enough to just tell them thoughs things, we need to teach them what thoughs values look like also. They need to understand what being tolerant means and then when we see them being tolerant we need to point that out to them, praise them for their efforts. Then they will know and cherish it.

It is also not enough to just do this in our own families. Like I said earlier, my mom tried her best on me, but the world around me was telling me different. Our extended families and communities need our help. I have been trying to base my compliments to others, especially my nieces and nephews, based on their values rather then how cute they are. That is a hard on for me, because I also think my nieces look so cute in their dresses. (I am a succor for a cute girl in a dress, because I don't have one of my own yet.) However, I want my nieces and nephews to know that I love them not just because they play the guitar or piano well, or because they are so cute, but because they are respectful, kind, sharing, or obedient. I want their self esteem to be based off things that are of character and eternal importance, not their looks. I want them to know that I appreciate the beautiful music they play because of the hard work they put into learning how to play it. Then they will know that they are hard workers and can accomplish anything they set their minds to, not just playing an instrument or being good at sports.

As we talked about this in the seminar I felt completely overwhelmed with the knowledge that I can change this for my boys. So overwhelmed that it brought me to tears. I do not have to define them by their skill set. I realized that especially for Jonah this has been terribly debilitating. I will no longer tell people that Jonah is doing better at reading when they ask how school is going. I will tell them that is was really helpful today, or that he was selfless in one of our service projects. I will tell them that Simon spoke nicely to his brothers that day, or that he was thoughtful of others in his prayers. I will tell people that Luke gave everybody lots of love and kisses to make us feel better when we were sad. I will talk about the values that I truely do cherish in them. What a wonderful gift I can give to them!

There is so much more I want to write, but this will have to do for today. Stay tuned for more from Face to Face.

Halloween 2009

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Jonah changed his costume three times. At first he was Frodo. Then he wanted to wear his Frodo cape and a red mask and rubber hands that were scary that I bought to play a game with. Then he decided that he wanted to be a Jedi, so he wore his Frodo cape and borrowed a flashlight from my dad so that he would have a Lightsaber. He cracked me up. Jonah was the only one that went trick or treating because Luke didn't want to go and Simon had fallen asleep. Jonah was very kind and shared his candy with both of his brothers.

We're Famous!

Just kidding! It was all very flukie!

Check it out.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=8639418

Boston Tea Party

I heard this story from Glenn Rawson yesterday and it really touched me. I thought I would share.

It was a cold rainy December night in Boston, Massachusetts when a crowd of some 7000 people responded to the ringing bells in Old South Church. They came spilling out into the streets, and listened to Samuel Adams and others speak about British tea and taxes. At that very moment, three ships laden with East India tea lay anchored in Boston Harbor. In just a few hours that tea would be forced on the citizens of Boston, taxes and all.

With adamant finality, Samuel Adams said, "This meeting can do nothing more to save the country. "

Just then, fifty of Boston's more prominent men came out of the back room of the church disguised as Mohawk Indians. With the crowd following the ‘Indians,’ they made their way to Griffin’s Wharf, where they split into three companies and boarded the tea ships. While the British crews watched, the men of Boston dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor, effectively turning Boston Harbor into a saltwater teapot – about 90,000 pounds worth. That tea amounted to about 26 million cups and a small fortune .

Well, as they left, British Admiral Montagu called out, "Well, boys, you have [you’ve] had a fine, pleasant evening for your Indian caper, haven't you? But mind [you], you have [you’ve] got to pay the fiddler yet! "

Oh, and pay they did! The British instantly retaliated closing Boston Harbor, and cutting off all trade. Among other things, they disfranchised the city government and took steps to strangle the city of Boston completely out of existence.

That tea party was followed by Lexington and Concord, which led to the American Revolution – which led to American freedom.

Now, I learned that story as a child, and I pondered it. What was it that was at the heart of that tea party? Did the colonists not like British tea? – No, they loved tea! Well then, was the issue taxes; was it money? - No, because even with the tax on the British tea, it was still cheaper to buy that tea than the Dutch tea they were smuggling in. So why then did the people of Boston tweak the nose of the most powerful bear on earth – the British military?

Listen – remember this? "Taxation without representation is tyranny." That’s what they chanted. The meaning of that is: If they could have no voice in government, and no vote, they wanted no part!

Boston went to war for a voice in government, the right to vote. Now my friends, the right to vote is a fundamental expression of man's God-given agency.

Sadly, in the last presidential election, less than 50% of Americans voted. Or in other words, they surrendered the governing of their lives to someone else – which is exactly what Lucifer wanted in the first place.

Glenn Rawson – October 26, 2004

Halloween Fun!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Playing in the leaves

So yesterday we went to Jonah's counciling appointment and Simon didn't want to stay in the office while we were waiting so we decided to go outside and play in the leaves. There is a huge tree just outside the office door and beautiful golden leaves were everywhere. We have no trees in Eagle Mountain that are that big, let alone in our yard, so this was such a treat for us. We started to make a big pile of them and then Simon wanted to jump into them. Luke joined in as well. They just laughed and laughed! Then we had to pile them up again. As we were piling them up I started to throw them up into the air and it was so fun! I cannot remember the last time I felt like a child as much as I did at that moment. This week has been stressful to say the least and it was such a relaxing moment that made the stress just slip away.
Simon wanted to be buried in the leaves and so we did that time after time until Jonah came out. Then we played more in the leaves with Jonah. Jonah loved it as much as me and the other boys. It is such a joy to see my kids with true joy in their lives. It is such a simple thing to play in the leaves. It doesn't cost money, it doesn't take effort or much time. And somehow it will be a memory that I will cherish for the rest of my life. It was the joy in my kids faces that created the memory.

Disneyland give away!

I just entered to win a trip to Disneyland! Check out the links to see how you can enter as well!

www.sweetlifeinthevalley.com and www.outandaboutwiththefamily.com

Face to Face

Last weekend I attended a seminar called Face to Face with Greatness. It was FABULOUS! I learned so much. I will probably be slowly adding different things that I learned from it on here. Today I just wanted to add one of my favorite things that was said.

"Children don't follow parents because parents don't provide much to follow". Dr. Shannon Brooks

Summer

My Favorite photos from Summer! It was a great one!

We also took the boys to Lagoon for the first time this year. It was a blast! Jonah was tall enough to go on just about everything. He was so brave and went on everything that Travis and I went on. He even braved the Colossus! He did tell Travis that he didn't want to go on the ride, but he didn't say it until they were strapped in and starting to move. He was afraid of going upside down, but when they got off he asked Travis if they did go upside down. He didn't even realize it! Simon was also brave and went on the Bat with us. They really liked that ride. We waited forever to go on the Dino Drop and the boys loved it, but I was terrified and almost cried. I know lame to be that afraid of a kiddie ride, but what can I do. We had a fabulous summer!

The beach in Idaho

We went to Idaho for a family reunion this summer and decided to head up a little early to make a vacation out of it. While we were there we went with Travis' sister and her family to a lake. I cannot remember the name of the lake now, but it was so much fun. We went out on a canoe while there. It took us a while to get use to how we needed to paddle, but we eventually got it!

Temple Quary

Pictures from our hike in the mountians.

Thanksgiving Point Dino Museum

We went to the dino museum this summer with some homeschool friends. It was a lot of Fun!

Jonah 's 7th birthday (Extremely late!)

So, I am a slacker! I know! Here are the highlights!



Jonah blowing out his candles.

Jonah with his presents. Grandma and Grandpa Smith gave him dress up costumes! We Love our Jonah!

Create!

I just saw this video and LOVE it. It is so in line with what I am striving to do right now in my life! I just wanted to share!

http://broadcast.lds.org/video/create/RS_2009_02_00_Create_HD_eng_.wmv

Silly Simon #3

Yesterday Travis came home from work and saw Simon out in the field digging with his shovel. (As a side note, digging is Simon's VERY most favorite thing to do in the whole world. He is out there digging, usually in my flower beds, for at least 2 hours every day. As a result he usually takes about 2 baths a day.) Travis asked him what he was doing in the field and he said he was digging a grave in case anyone died. I have no idea where he got that idea from, but it cracked me up!

Random Pictures

Simon showing off his muscles! He is very proud of them right now and we often sneak peaks of him flexing in the mirror! He makes me laugh!

Jonah made an Indiana Jones costume all by himself. I thought he did a pretty good job!

Luke's Birthday

Luke's Birthday was a few days ago. We had so much fun. He didn't realize at all what was going on, but for the most part he was a happy boy and enjoyed his new toys and books he got. Here are some pictures from his party!

In honor of him I have added a few photos of him over the last 2 years. I cannot believe how fast it has gone!

Luke is talking pretty well now. Among my favorite words he says are "Stuck" (which he says several times a day because he is usually "stuck" some place up high that he has climbed and cannot get down, or because his little finger is "stuck" in something that he has put it into), "Bo",which is our dog's name, but he also uses it for book, ball and pretty much anything that starts with a B sound, "Cheese", which means any kind of food, and "EAT!!" which is always screamed and is the most frequent of the words he says. (except maybe "mommy", which is screamed quite often as well)Yes, I have yet another boy that never stops eating and always thinks he is starving! Luke just happens to be the biggest eater of all, which is saying a lot! People are constantly amazed by how much he eats!
He love shoes and always has anybodies shoes on, but his own. He likes to be clean, which is not like my other boys. He actually cries when he is dirty. He is a great helper and cleans up his messes a lot of the time. He loves to wrestle and play with his dad and brothers! He is the best snuggler of all my boys and I love it! He also loves to take his diaper off right now, which I don't love, but what do you do? I might try duct taping it on one of these days, but I don't think he will hold still long enough to allow that. No matter, we love him still and we are so glad he is in our family!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

So last night for FHE I made a chocolate zucchini cake. It was so good! My boys gobbled it up. I took some cute pictures of them with chocolate all over.

The best part about it is that it is a pretty healthy cake as far as cake goes. I posted the recipe here http://weallcook.blogspot.com/ if anybody wants it. It was fabulous!

Footzonology Graduation

Well, it has been over a month since I graduated. I decided that I should post some pictures about my experience in Montana. I had a wonderful time. I learned alot while I was there. I took my test and did very well. We had so much fun!

This is Kirsten, Shauna, Katrie (our instructor) and I at Graduation

After graduation we had a celebration. We sang and danced and played games. It was so freeing and stress relieving! This is us dancing.

Luke's new past time

So, Luke has figured out how to open doors now, so he is constantly in my pantry. I caught him in there the other day and took this picture. Then I realized...

That I had done this before! Simon at about the same age! It made me laugh!

Obsession with Texas

I really don't know what Simon's obsession with Texas is, but he just threw out a new one that made me laugh. He was mad at Bo (our dog) for trying to eat his pretzels so he said, "I'm going to send you away to Texas were the bulls are and where the twisters live!". Where does he learn this stuff? Rebecca are you talking to my son without me knowing?

Happy Anniversary!

So, tomorrow Travis and will be married for 12 years! Man, it goes by so fast! We went to school together since we were in the 5th grade. I knew him as the red haired boy with the red VW Vanagon. It wasn't until our Senior year in High School that we got to be friends however. As I got to know him the more and more I liked him. I use to help him get dates and one day, I decided that was enough! I was tired of him dating other people so I decided to set him up with me! We went on our first date on Memorial Day of 1996. We went to Lagoon together. It was so much fun! We were inseparable from then on. We dated for 6 months and were married in the Salt Lake Temple 3 months after that. We were both just 19, but we just knew that we wanted to be with each other forever. We have had a fabulous 12 years together! I love you Babe!
I just wanted to write some things that I love about Travis.
1. I love how hard he works for our family
2. I love how he doesn't care if he comes home to a messy house and that he never asks what I have been doing all day
3. I love how he loves me with all my faults
4. I love how he makes me laugh
5. I love that he laughs at my corny jokes even when they aren't that funny, or at least rolls his eyes at me
6. I love that he is such a good dad to the boys
7. I love how he loves the Lord
8. I love that he helps so much around the house
9. I love that he supports me in all of the crazy things that I do
10. I love that he loves ME! I am the luckiest woman on earth!

Silly Simon #2

So, Simon has really made me laugh the last few weeks. For one he has this obsession with pop. We were walking through Walmart the other day and this lady had some pop in her cart. When we walked by her cart Simon said very loudly "Pop is not good for your bones" I was kind of embarrased, kind of proud (maybe something I am teaching him is actually staying in), and really entertained. I couldn't help but laugh. The lady starting laughing also, so it was ok.
Then today, Simon was mad at Jonah for some reason and he told him, "I'm going to move you to Texas, (that is thanks to you Rebecca, my boys are fascinated with Texas ever since you guys moved there) and you can't do anything but ride a horse, so you will be bored and you can't eat anything and you can only drink pop so your bones will crack and you will die."
He has been very sweet also lately. For some reason he keeps praying that mommy will get a baby in her belly. Last night he prayed that I will get two babies in my belly. He says he wants two baby sisters.

And there goes one more!

Yep, Jonah just lost another tooth! He pulled this one out himself. He was trying to eat he PB&J for lunch and apparently couldn't eat it very well. He reached right in and just started twisting it. It was pretty funny to see his face when he realized that he actually pulled it out. He is very proud of himself! I'm proud of him too!

Why does this always happen?

So, Luke's shoes have been MIA since Christmas. We have looked every where for them. Under beds, in closets, at other peoples homes. No luck. We kept waiting to get him more because we just kept thinking that they would show up somewhere. Two days ago we finally decide that we had better go ahead and get him some new ones. So, today as I was cleaning up the living room, there they were just sitting on the floor by the front door. What????? The only thing I can figure is that they were in the little table with all the drawers. Luke pulled all of them out this morning. I didn't even think to look in there. Anyway, at least I know that if I ever cannot find anything all I need to do it buy a new one and it will show up. Maybe next time I should just leave the tags on. Will that work?

I suppose it was only a matter of time...

after all both Jonah and Simon had stitches by 21 months when they were little. He did a face plant into our coffee table. Luke was so brave and such a good little boy! He did try pulling the stitches out last night however. Hopefully he will leave them alone and they will stay in.

Jonah lost a tooth!

Jonah lost his first tooth last night. I pulled it out for him. He was so brave!