"The Best Things Happen When You're Dancing"

Dancing has been on the back, back, back burner lately. With Richie's new job and class, there is no way to fit dancing in on a regular basis. It was hard enough before just trying to get a sitter etc. But this Saturday The Woodside held a workshop weekend with guest instructors and a live band dance that night so we made extra sure we could go. We looked forward to it all month and it was fantastic. Of course we couldn't go to the workshops all day, but the dance was so much fun. I forget how quickly you get sore dancing when you're pregnant! I'm still feeling the repercussions of my actions there, but it was so worth it. I didn't even mind not dancing every dance, or not being able to dance the really fast ones, it was just fun to dance with Richie. I'm so glad I married my best friend. We have so much fun together and it was nice to remember that on Saturday by just spending some time with just the two of us.


On Monday I'm sure LDS families everywhere celebrated FHE by carving pumpkins. We were no different. Although we were a little weak this year since Richie was writing a story for the paper and trying to carve with Miles was more difficult than expected, we only did one pumpkin. So really, it was just me doing pumpkin carving, but then again, I kind of enjoy that stuff. I found a free template on Family Fun's website. I'd never used a template before that I can remember. What a fantastic idea!! It was so much easier. I call it my spider motif pumpkin. I used the template all the way around.

Today I.....

Woke up at an alarmingly late 8:30!

Felt like I was in my first trimester all over again, decided today would be a movie day

Put on some sweats, got Miles, got frustrated when he refused breakfast and all he wanted was to watch Tarzan.

Gave in, fed him bits of toast while we watched Tarzan for the one millionth time

Put my tennis shoes on, and laid on the ground waiting for Miles to come near enough to me that I could grab him and put his on.

Caught him. Strapped him in the bike trailer.

Rode "around the block" to visit sister Virgin. Was disappointed to find she wasn't there. Instead, Miles was entertained by the neighbors roosters, chickens, dogs and cats. Not to mention the number of cows we passed while riding.

Thought to myself, "I kind of like the smell of manure. Wait a second...what??" Decided it was just the style of living and the areas of the country where you smell cow manure that I like.

Got ambitious, made an effort to be a good mom and pulled out the cookie tray, layered it with corn meal and traced shapes with Miles.

He loved it for 2 minutes. Next activity.

Got even more ambitious and pulled out finger paints for the very first time. Loved it even more. Lasted 4 minutes.

I wanted to keep finger painting, but wanted Miles to have nap time even more, so I stuffed some lunch down the kid and laid him down. Breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't fight it and actually looked tired. Shouted Hallelujah when he fell asleep without a bink at naptime.

Read some scriptures etc, read some Mockingjay. Felt guilty that I read Mockingjay longer than the scriptures.

Went to the bathroom again. 99th time of the day and counting.

Did some office work for the storage units, then began painting. (The owners have "hired" us to paint the entire front area so that's where all of our free time has been going lately)

Squished myself into a corner between a toilet and a wall to try and tape off some floorboards and thought, "That is not going to be fun to paint."

Miles wakes up, we take Richie some food at work, we go to Wal-Mart and buy toilet paper and drano since Richie tells me that something may very well have crawled into our pipes and died in the bathroom because it smells so bad. You'll just have to trust me, it really does smell that bad.

Score a clearance Elmo potty book that has sound buttons for $2 and the least girly looking baby doll for $4 so that Miles can start getting used to the idea.

He immediately takes it, smothers it in root beer sucker kisses and points out facial features.

I grin like an idiot and think I have the best root beer sucker covered child in the world.

Come home, let Miles watch a movie, clean up the house so it appears to Richie as if its been like this all day. He's never fooled.

Heat up some left overs, let Miles play bubbles in the sink while I read more Mockingjay. Dang book controlling my life. Richie leaves for seminary classes and I sigh inwardly.

Don't feel like doing anything super fun. Takes too much energy. Play some toys with Miles, do some dishes.

Miles discovers the potty book and falls in love. When I ask him if he wants to go potty, he lights up and runs for the potty. (He hasn't liked it much these days, so I'm shocked and think I may have just spent the best $2 of my life.)

Bath time. Yes! Read more mockingjay. Miles wants to sing. I sing every song from nursery that he knows including the chorus to follow the prophet 23 times. When I say that song is all done he's very distraught and asks for another one. I can't understand him, but he's being very specific. I'm frustrated, he's frustrated, bad situation. Distract him with a towel.

Out of the bathtub, into pajamas, brush teeth, scriptures, (which he actually sits for since I'm reading it to the baby) put him down, don't give him a bink, listen to him cry himself to sleep again as I blog.

Now what to do....Painting or Mockingjay????

"Howdy Neighbor!"

Our friends Mike and Megan that were going to be gone for a while ended up being back sooner than they thought! Hooray! We had dinner on Saturday complete with a delicious fall treat. I thought I'd share the recipe because it's full of all things yummy and therefore terrible for you. I saw a fun idea in a magazine and thought we'd try it out this time around. We cut the tops off the apples, used a melon baller to scoop out the insides of the apple and filled the insides with carmel! That way everyone has their own little bowl of carmel and can double dip all they want! We decided it probably cancels out some of the calories from the carmel since it's inside an apple. Right? You can dip all sorts of things, but that night we dipped apples, bananas, angel food cake and pretzels.


Carmel Recipe:
1/2 C butter
2 C brown sugar
1 Can sweetened condensed milk
1 C light corn syrup
1 t vanilla
*mix together in sauce pan until mixture is almost boiling. Remove from heat and dip away!

See Rach Sew!

Sew Rach, Sew!
Sewing does not come naturally to me, so every small accomplishment is celebrated! And I'm going to celebrate these 2 things on the blog!

Mr./Mrs. Potato Head
I saw this idea on Make it and Love it a while back. When I tried to find it again, it had been removed for copyright issues, so I kind of winged this one. I looked at a picture online of an actual Mr. Potato Head, cut out all the pieces, let them sit in the laundry room for 3-4 weeks (always an important step), got up enough motivation to finish, cut out the batting, sewed it all, then added velcro. There is a pouch on the back that's supposed to hold all the pieces, but it's way too small. It's just made out of cheap felt and I hand stitched most of it since it was easier that way. I figured the entire project cost me less than $8. Not bad for a Christmas present eh? I realized I could go overboard on this project and make all sorts of Mr. Potato Head versions. Like a doctor, a nerd, a teacher etc.... But for now, I'll just stick with Mr. and Mrs.







Bike Trailer Neck Cover Thingys
I also saw this on Make it an Love it. Whenever we take Miles in the bike trailer he comes home with welts on his neck from the straps rubbing. Ta-Da! Solution. I made 2 sets for when we have another one riding with Miles in there. I had some left over fabric from a blanket my mom made Miles, left over velcro and batting from Mr. Potato head. All I had to buy was some bias tape. I've decided that whatever the directions say for how long it should take, I need to triple that, and then it will be about accurate. My versions NEVER turn out like the professionals do, but then I guess that's why they are pros and I am still learning.

What a Lovely Saturday

After all of our chores were done, appointments were kept, naps taken the three of us decided to try something new! We went to a straw maze out in...Archer?? I'm still not keen on some Idaho territory, but it's the one over by Big Juds for all you local folk. Yes it was over-priced, no Miles didn't really understand it, but it was sure something fun. When we got in Richie told me to lead so we'd get our moneys worth.:) Jab to my lack of a sense of direction. It was actually a very good maze and we went through twice to really make it worth it. It was a perfect fall activity and I'd never been to one before.




We are good parents, I promise.


This is us being scared in the straw maze. Then we asked ourselves how Bear Grylls would handle the situation and formulated a plan.

On the way back we saw a really cool old church, at least that's what it looked like. Then we went through the drive thru at G's dairy and got Idaho's finest Huckleberry shake. Miles wanted a sip so I held it for him. He didn't let go of it till we got home. He had finished almost 1/4 of the shake in about 4 minutes. No wonder he didn't want dinner.

Then to really top the night off we all watched "Icabod Crane" together. It was Miles' first time and I was surprised how calm he was even at the scary parts. This is a must watch every Halloween season.

Conference Weekend

We were just going to have a regular old weekend up here in Idaho. On Friday night Richie was up in Ashton covering a FB game and I was working around the house since Miles was asleep, when I got a knock on the door. That is highly irregular considering where we live. Most people get lost or very confused when I try to tell them where we live. I opened the door and saw Jeffrey! I couldn't process it for a few seconds and then I realized Richie's family was really up here! They were exercising their spontaneous muscles and came up on a whim. It made the weekend so much more fun! They got us even more set up with emergency essentials and helped me make salsa to can with their very own tomatoes, onions and peppers from their garden! We made 14 quarts of salsa and a few extra jars of diced tomatoes. Wahoo! Richie actually had someone to go to priesthood session with, Miles was in heaven with a dog to play with (or around, depending on how scared he decided to be) and I was in heaven with so many helping hands for Miles.

I can't deny it any longer...

It really is fall! I've been trying to squeeze every last drop out of summer possible, but the leaves are changing colors, the temperatures are lower and there is that crispness in the air. Not that I was dreading fall or anything. Quite the opposite, fall is my favorite time of year. However, fall means that winter is just right around the corner and last winter about killed my soul...so... Anyway, I got anxious the other day and decided to put up fall decor. I designated all nap time for the occasion and was sorely disappointed when my mounds of fall decor added up to a mere box and scantily filled a shelf. Boo. So I waited a few days more and then added the Halloween stuff too. I felt like I was jumping the gun, but it adds much richness and it's always fun to mix things up a bit. I still don't have a ton of decor, but guess what? We don't have a ton of apartment either so it works well. Some personal favorites this year include the off color pumpkins from our garden (I may do something special with the ones out front...we'll see) and the advent calendar my sister-in-law made me last Christmas. I can finally use it! It's for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas too!





In other news, how about a book review? I just finished reading "The Undaunted" by Gerald Lund. In a nutshell, it was everything I expected from Brother Lund. Inspiring pioneer story (although a bit too detailed in places for my taste), a character's inner struggle with the gospel, and a love story, in which he thinks he has tricked you, but I knew from the very beginning who David was going to fall for. Can't fool me Gerald. And yes, it was typical, but his typical is always entertaining to me. It was a page turner and I felt like I flew through it. Maybe a part of my keen interest in the book was because it was about 'my peeps' down in southern Utah. Maybe not St. George peeps necessarily, but all the talk of red rock, heat and sand made me feel proud to have some of that red dirt in my blood. I would definitely recommend it!

HAPPY CONFERENCE WEEKEND! How are you 'celebrating'? I'm making some stews and soups to freeze for later. I've heard you can freeze almost any soup! I never feel like cooking anymore, so I've got a feeling they'll come in handy.

Makin' Cookies

This past weekend was bittersweet. Sweet because Richie was super dad and took Miles most of the weekend so I could do some things just for me, like go to the gym and the RS broadcast. It was also bitter because it made the forecast for Monday and the rest of the usual week seem especially monotonous. Does that ever happen to you? I hope you are nodding in agreement. Well Sunday was just one of those small tender mercies in that the weather was nice, we had a relaxed morning, made some cookies and enjoyed being together all day.
Here's Miles relaxing. :) It cracks me up (and maybe worries me a little) how zoned out he gets when he watches a movie.


Then while Richie was at choir, we made a mess. I mean, we made cookies. Miles REALLY likes to help me out in the kitchen, so I let him "help" me mix the dry ingredients. He usually throws all of his spoons in the bowl and then chooses one to eat from. He then pulls out spoonfuls of flour etc, eats is and says, "MmmM! mmMMm!mmMMM!" like it tastes really good. Crazy kid. Here's the process from beginning to end, complete with doing the dishes and eating the fruit of our labor. In that last picture I asked him to show me what he was eating and this is the pose I got! I only wish there was a mustache drawn on his finger. That picture would have been even more awesome.




In case you're interested, here's a short pregnancy update. I'm about 15 weeks and doing pretty well! We had a little scare and thought I may have miscarried, but all the doctors assure me everything looks great and I shouldn't be worried at this point. Whew! They also said for me not to paint any walls yet or anything, but it looks like it may be a girl! I'm coming out of the first trimester with all the benefits and downfalls of entering the beginnings of the 2nd. Pros: I have more energy and the "nesting" instincts are coming back. I don't feel as "gross" and can eat mostly anything. (Good and bad considering I had an aversion to processed and sugary foods for the 1st trimester) Cons: I'm not truly showing a bump yet. But I sure am showing like I need to go on a diet. I hope all you moms out there know what I mean. It's the time where people look at you and think, "Is she pregnant?? Nah, it just looks like she is gaining some weight" Along with my changing body is that problem where nothing fits. Regular clothes don't fit, neither do maternity. Sigh....

Animal sounds

Miles is pretty into animals these days and knows what a lot of them say. I maybe should have captured it on film at a better time when we weren't making banana bread. He's pretty distracted. Also the dishwasher is kind of loud in the background, but you can still hear him. I'm really sorry that I don't know how to rotate the videos and I forgot to take it horizontally. It's still cute though. :) I think I forgot to ask him about some animals sounds, like bird, snake, sheep, maybe some others. I guess next time you see him you'll just have to ask him for yourself! Disclaimer, I made up what a rhino says because I don't really know what they say. Who does?


The other night we had friend over for FHE and I tried out a new dessert recipe. BLONDIES! YUM! The first time I told Miles we were having cake I about died laughing. His reaction was awesome! It's way more subdued in this short video, but still makes me smile.

I think I'll be done...

This is what I've been spending a good amount of time on lately. We moved some stuff around and have re-purposed this shelving for food storage and we must say it works great! It's a pretty cool feeling to look up there and think "hey, I grew some of that stuff! And I canned 95% of the things up there!" *Disclaimer* I know so many other ladies who do so much more, so my attempts may seem wimpy. However, I did branch out this season and try new things and learned a lot. And that's part of the goal right? I learned how to make pickles, can green beans (which meant using a pressure cooker for the first time), make applesauce...maybe that's all that was new. It's been good, but I think I'll wait till next year to try salsa!!! yummmm. I just finished 25 quarts of pears yesterday and I think that about did me in.

I've also decided that I should announce I'm pregnant on every post just to get more comments. Thoughts?

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

Not very good at blogging these days. My bad. We got to go to our newest nephew's baby blessing over Labor Day weekend, and I forgot to bring the camera! Then I temporarily lost the thingy that lets me download pictures onto the computer. Not to worry, I found it and I took pictures this weekend, so you're in for a post.

Just a cute pictures of Miles for good measure

I feel like all I've been doing lately in can things. I know I'm not even canning that much, but it consumes most of the day if I do it. We got all our corn off and divided it between the two couples. When they handed me our share I thought, "woah! That's a ton of corn!" And it felt like a ton of corn as I shucked (Yes, this corn was 'hand-shucked') every cob and cut off all the kernels by hand. It was only slightly depressing when we only got 9 quart size freezer bags.


Richie and I have felt like we've been on over-drive this past week, so we wanted to make sure we had a fun weekend. We had never been to the zoo in IF so that's what we planned. Well we got all of our chores done like good little girls and boys do, waited for Miles to nap and then headed down. We missed getting into the zoo by about 30 minutes. What kind of zoo closes at 4pm??? So we resorted to our dear old friend, frisbee golf. Richie has passed on his slight obsession for frisbee golf to Miles who loves going frolfing and who pretends anything flat and circular is a "wee bwee" at home. We were in luck though! They were having a free concert at the park with the IF symphony and the IF Firemen bagpipers. We stayed for part of it and were thrilled. And since we saved our money from the would-be zoo trip, we tried out a new restaurant. Not the best place if you ask me, but I didn't have to cook, and that's always a nice thing.