Sometimes you just need to take a little time off.

And that's just what Ryan did. For several months. As the shed sat untouched.

But today he was back on the job and continued working on the roof. Yeah, through all the rain and snow and ice, it wasn't even finished yet. It survived. Therefore, so did he. ;)

It turned out to be a beautiful day today, the perfect day to be working on a project like that. It's cool, sure, but when you're working, that's a good thing. The girls were out "helping" in the yard while he worked, too.

In case you're wondering, no it's still not done. But almost! lol I don't think he'll be taking as long of a break as last time before working on it again. Hopefully next weekend the weather will cooperate again. *keeps fingers crossed*

Aurora's Big Girl Bed and Princess Room

Big changes are happening here.  Big changes.

I don't know if there is any way to express how mixed my feelings are right now.  On the one hand, I'm so excited that Aurora is growing up!  She is getting bigger and can do things that "babies" can't do.  She isn't a baby anymore, she's a little girl.  She climbs, jumps, dances, sings, plays, pretends, "reads", hugs, plays catch, and all the other things little girls do.  On the other hand, she's MY baby!  She's the baby I didn't think we'd get to have.  She's the baby that may be the last baby I ever have.  She's the baby that I didn't take for granted.

Poor Acadia was taken for granted a lot at this age.  I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I'm enjoying it with Rori.  I adored Acadia and still do!  But I looked forward to her older years when she could express herself more clearly and clean up after herself.  I took for granted that her baby/toddler years could have been the only baby/toddler years I would get.  I didn't realize until it was far too late, that she was a miracle. 

From the moment we heard Aurora's heartbeat, I knew she was a miracle, too.  And I knew that no matter how frustrating it would get when she made messes or ran me ragged, I would never forget how lucky I was to have her. 

People ask us all the time, "Are you going to have more?"  I simply do not know.  I did not know it would be so hard for us to have kids.  I did not know it would take 7 years between having Cadi and being able to have another.  So, I do not know if or when we will have another baby.  I trust the Lord, and we're totally working on faith here, because He has not told me anything.

So, as I show you the "before pictures", realize that as excited as I was to get Rori into her new big girl bed and deck her bedroom out with all the cutest Princess stuff, I cried in bed last night, realizing that I might not get another crib or nursery to decorate.  I cried, picturing Rori's before pictures knowing I might not get to see that again.

She is my baby, but she's not a baby anymore.

---

Before:








During:





After:

---

So, you might be wondering how she is adjusting to this?  SHE LOVES IT!  Last night we had Cadi sleep on Rori's bedroom floor again, so about 15 minutes after they went to bed we heard, "Sister!  Sister!  SISTER!!!"  And when I went in to tell Rori to go back to bed, I found her on her hands and knees at the edge of her bed looking down to Acadia.  But after that, it was quiet and she slept through the night!

This afternoon for naptime, she got up a few times, but I put the safety gate in her doorway.  She could open the door, but was stuck in there, so eventually she laid down and went to sleep.  Of course, she didn't lay down in her bed this time, she laid down on the blankets that are on the floor from when Cadi slept there last night! lol  But at least she is sleeping. ;)

Another interesting thing.  I didn't know what to do about her "fish".  She has ALWAYS had to fall asleep with her Fisher Price fish singing to her.  ALWAYS.  But there wasn't any place to put them with her new bed.  We were curious if she would forget about them, what with all the excitement about the big girl bed and all the new Princesses.  And guess what?  She did!  She never even asked about them!

So, it seems the transition is going really well.  Yay!!! 

Birthday Boy

Sometimes I think I have three kids instead of two; two girls and a boy.  Ryan is a big kid at heart.  In fact, sometimes if you tickle him enough, he'll squeal, "I'm just a little boy!"  hehehe... He might hate that I just told everyone that. lol



Today is Ryan's birthday (The big 3-5!) and as everyone knows, having a birthday makes you feel like a kid again, even if just for a day.  One of the last things he said last night before going to sleep was, "Tomorrow I get to open my presents! *giggle*" lol  Yep, a kid at heart. :)  He's taking the day off because his allergies were really bugging him last night and are still lingering this morning, and besides - it's his birthday, and he can! ;)

We girls are lucky to have this boy.  He's such a good husband and daddy!  The girls absolutely adore him.  He plays with them, reads to them, dances with them, tucks them in at night, and totally spoils them because they've both got him wrapped around their little fingers. 



And I absolutely love him.  He does all those things for me too; plays with me, reads with me, dances with me, snuggles me at night, and totally spoils me because I think sometimes he might be wrapped around my little finger, too.  In a good way. lol  He also listens, helps, provides, protects, and loves... all of us.

Happy Birthday, Roe!  We love you!!!

Fashion Show

Acadia has been dying for her new clothes to get here.  Seriously, she has asked me everyday from the day we ordered them! lol 

She really, really wanted to wear the new dress and/or coat to her piano recital last Saturday.  I kept telling her there was no way they would get here that quickly - we had just ordered them!  She kept her hopes up though, hoping that they would get delivered Saturday morning in time for her to wear them.  Of course they weren't.  But they came while we were at the recital!  lol  Just don't tell her that, she would be so disappointed.  Since we weren't home, the box was taken back to the post office; I finally got over there today while she was in school. 

As soon as she got home and saw the clothes, she wanted to try them on.  She was mostly looking forward to the coat and the dress, so here are those pics.  Also, notice her new hair cut!  We stopped by our friend and designated hair girl, Sidnee's house to get Cadi's hair trimmed up and I think it looks great!

Another "non" snow day.

We've got snow!  Again!  And since most of it has accumulated after kids went to school and the forecast says it will be turned to rain by the time they leave school, the schools are not taking a snow day!  Fine by me, though it would have been fun to have Cadi here to play with us.  But since we've already had snow days that are going to push into our summer vacation, I'm not hoping for anymore.

I had many errands to run this morning so Rori and I had fun driving around in the snow.  Then we got back and went out to play in the snow!

Here are some pics:


And after that, we came in for some hot cocoa!  Yum! :) 

I think the snow has finally stopped falling, and within a couple of hours it will probably start raining.  It was fun while it lasted! :)

Okay...

Living with a preteen is interesting.  She's developing her own sense of "style".  Often, this is really cute and she looks adorable.  I love that she likes to wear cute jackets with her outfits.  But sometimes, I just don't get it.  For instance, lately she has taken to wearing two different socks, on purpose.  Today's socks:



Last week I saw her wearing one green, one purple sock.  Weird.  But whatever.  I asked her why she does it, she says it makes her feel free.  Well, if that's what you've gotta do, then that's okay I guess.  I'd rather her wear two different socks than some other things kids will do in order to "feel free". 

I still think it's a little weird, but I suppose it is also kind of endearing. ;)

No, I refuse to accept this.

There is no way my baby's hair is long enough to french braid.  No way!  And I don't care how old she is getting and how adorable her red trussles are, I refuse to even think that they could be styled in such a way.  That would imply that she is actually growing up!  You can't french braid a baby's hair, you can only french braid a little girl's hair and my Rori, she's still my baby.  So, nope, it just can't be done.  Not yet, anyhow.

So, just don't show me these pics...

Winter Piano Recital

Acadia participated in her third piano recital today.  She had two great songs, one especially challenging, and she worked really hard to be ready to perform them.  I think she did really well.  She feels a little embarrassed because during the hardest one, Rondo alla Turca by Mozart, she had two rather long pauses where she just totally lost her place and what she was supposed to play (both happened in the same part of the song).  I felt bad for her because I've never heard her have that same problem when practicing.  But she kept going and didn't give up and I think that's great!  Also, she ended very strong, with one of her favorites, Rage Over the Lost Penny by Beethoven.

Here is video of her performance:

Amateurs

Tonight I had the pleasure of having a Girls Night with some friends.  Ryan took our girls out for Daddy/Daughters time and I invited friends over to hang out and just have fun.  We had some really yummy (read: not healthy) foods to munch on and great conversation.  We laughed a lot.  A lot, a lot. :)

As they we heading out my door to go home, they turned around and said, "You got TPed!"

I've never been TPed before!  I laughed and thought that was kind of random, and then I saw it and thought, "That's it?" 

Back in MY day, we would go buy the cheapest TP we could find and get like 40 rolls.  Then we'd completely cover a person's lawn, the trees, cars, etc.  I think I got gypped!  They only used one roll!  What?  Am I not worth more than one roll of TP? lol

Before I cleaned it up, I took some pics:








But I have to give them some credit - the one roll they did use was really good quality.  It was nice and soft... and strong.  I have a meeting in the morning and figured since I'm up, I might as well clean it up now before it gets all dewy.  I was able to tug on it and it didn't break easily.  It made it nice because I was able to just tug on the bottom of the long lines up in the tree and they didn't break off in the branches. lol ... Amateurs. ;)

Asparagus Attempt #3

Ugh.  I may just give up.  Here's the thing, I can eat it... I just don't like it.  This time, I just experimented - totally and completely.  I was busy making other dishes for the first time so I didn't give a lot of though to the asparagus.  I think if I had thought it through better, it may have been a more enjoyable part of the meal.  :S

Here's what we had last night:



The sandwich is a non-sloppy sloppy joe that we were trying for the first time.  They were alright but they didn't really taste like sloppy joes; I might try it again with different seasonings. :S  The mashed potatoes were everyone's favorite.  And the asparagus... Well, Acadia said they were better than last time.  I didn't agree. 

This time, I tossed them with some olive oil and chili oil and a splash of worcestorshire sauce, sprinkled them with black pepper and garlic salt, then baked them like I had before.  It just didn't do it for me.  I'm still hoping to get the recipe for however Ryan's cousin made them for us back in Myrtle Beach.  Maybe I'll put the "attempts" on hold until I get that recipe. :S

Heroes All

Last night, the 4th graders at Acadia's school put on a play (more of a musical performance with some reading and skits thrown in) called Heroes All.  Ryan had a late meeting at work so I was going to be juggling Rori by myself and therefore did not take the camcorder.  (Plus, truthfully, I thought it was going to be boring.  It was a "play" about a bunch of historic heroes put on by 9 and 10 year olds... be honest, you'd expect it to be boring, too. lol)  I did take my camera but that's not the same, I know.  And it turns out, I really wish I had taken the camcorder because it was really, really cute and surprisingly funny!  Of course, I still wouldn't have gotten much video since I spent half of my time trying to keep Rori entertained and quiet.

The lighting is awful for pictures, but here are some anyway.










My favorite part was about Nellie Bly; the little girl who played her was awesome! lol  They also highlighted Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Booker T. Washington, Helen Keller, and a few others.  The kids really did well, you could tell they worked hard to learn their parts and really "perform", not just say lines.  Acadia didn't have any speaking parts, but she did sing in one of the smaller singing groups.

Pete and Repeat are in a boat, Pete falls out, whose left? Repeat. Okay, Pete and Repeat are in a boat...

Aurora is at the stage where she will repeat everything that is said. Example:

On our way to Cadi's school for her play (more on that later) tonight, we happened upon a police car parked in the middle of the road with it's lights on. I quickly turned down a side street for a minor detour just to avoid any possible delays. And then I hear...

Cadi: So, what do you think is happening?

Rori: What happening, Mommy?

Me: I don't know, maybe he's just stopped someone who was driving...

R: I no know, *mumble, mumble*, driving.

Me (cont.): or maybe he is checking out something at someone's house.

R: *mumble, mumble* house.

Then she'll continue talking and repeating everything even after everyone else has stopped talking. For the next few minutes she was back there saying, "Driving...*mumble*... happen...*mumble*... I no know... *mumble*... house!"

lol

"I'm not grouchy!"

Aurora: *whining and shouting*

Me: Rori, stop being so grouchy!

Aurora: I'm not grouchy! (yelled)

Me: You're not grouchy?

Aurora: NO!!!

You know when someone you love is having the WORST DAY EVER and you feel absolutely horrible for them but there is nothing you can do?

Yeah, that's how I feel right now. :(

My mom is having a really, really bad day.  And I can't do anything to help her.  I can't even give her a ride anywhere to start trying to recover from it.  I'm so glad I have siblings there that can but I feel pretty helpless and useless right now.

All I can do is pray for her and her situation.  And I'm asking anyone who feels so inclined to maybe say a little prayer for her today, too.  I just hope that at the very least she can feel peace during such a scary and stressful time.

Pick your battles.

Ryan and I can both be pretty stubborn at times.  We won't say just how often. ;)  It would only figure that both of our girls are, too.  And it doesn't help that they're both redheads! lol  So Poor Rori, being the littlest and having the least amount of "voice" in the house, not to mention living with people who are not only stubborn but oftentimes bossy, many times must feel really frustrated.  She has an opinion, too, and a strong one at that!  And because of that, there are times that I just need to let her make her own decisions so she can feel like she is in control of something.   

And so today I took Rori to the grocery store wearing these:



I asked her if she wanted to take the mittens and glasses off once we were inside but she insisted on wearing them.  Eventually she did take them off.  Just in time to run into a friend with her adorable twin girls.  But earlier, when walking into the store, I caught several women trying to hide little smiles after looking at her.  It was quite sunny but it wasn't really very cold.  She was really cute though - and very happy. :)

---

After church yesterday, Cadi put a blanket in a laundry basket so Rori could watch a movie while sitting in it.  Our new church schedule pretty much makes Rori getting a nap on Sunday impossible.  We're at church during her naptime and when we get home, it's too late to put her down or she won't go to bed at night.  While Cadi and Rori watched their movie, Rori fell asleep in her basket.  It really was so cute!  We had to just let her get a few Z's while she could.

Today totally rocked.

It just did. :)

I love how when you're trying to do the right things, it just makes you happy... and things just fall into place. Life is so good. And then, as if you weren't happy enough, you come home and find that your husband did all the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen for you.

It just doesn't get any better than that.

Okay... maybe it does... but still, today totally rocked. :)

Bernis, an after-school tradition.

Pam just reminded me of a fond memory I have with one of my best friends in Jr. High School.

Sometimes my mom would let me go home from school with my friend, Dena and stay the night or just hang out until after dinner. Everytime we did this, we had a tradition: we'd walk down to the local supermarket and buy ourselves a Bernie Big Hunk candy bar then head back to her house to watch TV or a movie while we ate them. We called them "Bernie"s because a really cute boy named Bernie worked at that store. And since he was such a "hunk"... well, I'm sure you've got it. ;)

Big Hunks are really tasty but I think the memories of spending afternoons with my best friend, giggling about boys, watching movies together made them even tastier. Oh, and I have learned since that I love them best frozen. :)

Pam posted this recipe on her blog and since it stirred up so many fond memories, I thought I'd post it here, too. I haven't tried it yet, but she has and I'm sure they are wonderful:

Homemade Big Hunks

1 larger bottle Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts (lightly salted)
3 smaller jars Kraft Marshmallow Cream
2 1/4 cups light corn syrup
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
6 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp salt

Butter a large cookie sheet. Scatter peanuts equally on cookie sheet. Place marshmallow cream in a LARGE bowl, set aside. In a large saucepan, combine corn syrup and sugar. Place over high heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until mixture comes to a boil. Clip on candy thermometer. Cook to 280 degrees F, or to soft crack stage. Remover from heat and let stand 2 minutes undisturbed. Without scraping, pour entire batch into marshmallow cream and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add butter, vanilla, and salt and stir with wooden spoon until butter is incorporated. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly across peanuts. Allow to stand at room temperature until firm, about 3 hours. Cut and wrap in wax paper.

Thanks Pam!

"I no know."

No matter what, if you ever ask Rori what she's doing, that is what she'll say.

"I no know."

Yep, just keep playing innocent kid, that might work. ;)

I love living here.

Yesterday afternoon as I was driving down to the temple, I was able to enjoy the most beautiful view of Mt. Hood.  That afternoon had been beautiful and sunny and as the sun was just beginning to set, it's light reflected off the snow face of Mt. Hood.  Though it had been sunny, there was also a haze left in the air and fog in the Gorge at the base of the mountain, which added so much to the view.  It was as beautiful as I've ever seen Mt. Hood before and so worthy of a picture - but I didn't have my camera with me.  (Not to mention, I was driving on the Interstate at the time. lol)

*Disclaimer: These are not my photos and they were not taken last night.  They were just the closest I could find to illustrate what I saw yesterday.



And I was reminded of how much I love living here.  I just love it!  I love Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens, and the Columbia River Gorge, and all the GREEN!  Granted, there are many days when we can't see the mountains or the gorge because of the clouds, but even on cloudy or foggy or misty days, it is so beautiful here!  I love to look out my back windows and watch the clouds roll over the hill in the park as the mist hangs in the air over the grass, trees, and playground.  It just looks so beautiful and I know that all that moisture is just adding more to the beautiful green that I love so much.  I think I live in one of the richest parts of the world; so rich in beauty!

As I drove home last night over one of Portland's many bridges, I was able to also enjoy the beautiful city lights.  I think Portland must be one of the most beautiful cities to see at night.  With the buildings and hills and bridges reflecting in the dark waters, it's breathtaking!





And yet again, I was reminded of how much I love living here.  I just love it!  I love the view of Portland at night, I love all of the bridges, the lights on the hills, the beautiful buildings lit up at night, etc.  There's a point when you're crossing the Willamette River and driving along the Eastbank where you see a couple of bridges as well as a beautiful view of buildings and homes on the hills... I always look forward to seeing that view the most. 

Did I mention how much I love living here? ;)

No, I don't hold a grudge... ;)

Is it really bad that I'm so glad the Giants lost yesterday? I'll even admit, they have had a great season and yes, they are one of the teams most deserving to make it to the SuperBowl this year.... yada, yada, yada. But I'm still glad they didn't make it. lol

Sharing is Caring

Today Cadi and I both feel fine. But guess who just came home from work after only a couple of hours... Yep, looks like a sick day for Ryan. :S

"Music speaks the beauty that words cannot express."

I love music.  I love piano music.  I love to play piano music.  And I love to hear Acadia develop her talent of playing piano music.  She is practicing at this moment in fact, preparing songs for a recital later this month.  She has more of a natural talent for playing than I do, easily.  Not only is she further along than I was at her point in her learning, but she is also composing.  This weekend, she composed two new songs!  They are simple, but they are good. 

When you hear her music, you can actually see what she was thinking.  One of the songs she recorded this weekend is called, "Waking Spring" - and it sounds just like a spring rainfall.  Today she recorded, "Chinese Chimes" - and it definitely sounds Chinese!  Her song, "To the Center of the Earth" absolutely sounds sci-fi. lol

Music is awesome. :)

Do two halves make a whole... or not?

When Cadi opened our bedroom door this morning, two things happened at the same time:

1.She announced she had "the runs", and
2.I felt nauseas and had a headache.

She doesn't seem to feel very sick and I don't have her problem. If just one of us kind of felt "off", I wouldn't really think too much of it, but to have two of us feeling weird at the same time, even though it's with different symptoms, I just wonder if there's a bug trying to get at us?

Church starts in just over an hour but I'm afraid that at least half of my family will not make it this week.

Asparagus Attempt #2

Tonight I had a need to use two boneless skinless chicken breasts and a couple cups of cooked rice, but I still wanted to experiment with asparagus.  The answer? ... Stir Fried Rice!



I didn't have a recipe for it and I've never made it from scratch before, but I make a real mean stir fry, so I figured it would be similar.  Here's what I did:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in small pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp chili oil
2 cups cooked white rice
5 asparagus, chopped
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup shredded carrots (I wanted to use frozen peas and carrots, but it appears I'm out)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 Tbsp Hot and Spice Stir Fry Sauce
1 Tbsp Teryaki Sauce
1/2 cup egg substitute

Heat oils in large frying pan, add chicken and cook until chicken is cooked through.  Add rice to pan.  Meanwhile, blanch asparagus, then add to the pan as well as peas, carrots, and green onions.  Mix in stir fry and teryaki sauces.  In a seperate frying pan, cook eggs.  Add cooked eggs to the stir fried rice.  Remove from heat.

I liked it!  I think eating the asparagus mixed in with all the other foods, and especially with the flavoring of the oils and sauces, it really helped to mask the asparagus flavor for me.  Acadia said without the asparagus and onions, it would be perfect... and Aurora just picked out the eggs and chicken then threw the rest on the floor - yes, she did. (Grrrrr)  Again, Ryan is on his way home from work so he hasn't tried it yet.  (We don't usually eat dinner before he gets home, but last night and tonight we have things going on so we can't wait.) 

Even though the girls didn't love it, I think this one may stick around.  If I were making it for Ryan and I alone, I would add more heat, but still as is the flavor is still pretty good. :)

Winter Choral Concert

This school year, Acadia has been involved in her school choir.  For some reason, the choir is only for half of the year, so last night they had their final concert.  It was their winter concert, so all of the songs were winter/holiday related.  The kids dressed all in black and then had white snowflake headbands on their heads.  (I'm sure the boys loved that! lol)



The program was about half an hour long, the choir sung a few songs, there were some poetry readings, and there were also instrument performances.  Their choir director had asked the students if anyone who played an instrument wanted to perform; some of the instrument performances were 5th graders who are in the school band and some were kids who are taking private lessons.  Acadia volunteered to play a piano piece, "The Rage Over the Lost Penny" by Beethoven.



I don't really have time to post all of the songs that the choir sang, but I will post our favorite one.  It was the finale and they had special effects. lol  (The last half is the best, so be sure to watch the whole thing!)



I thought they did a great job, Acadia especially (No, I'm not biased. lol *wink*).  And I'm looking forward to when she'll get to participate next year, too.  I'm also looking forward to NOT having to get up extra early on Tuesdays and Thursdays anymore this year to get her to choir practice an hour before school starts! lol
Good job, Cadi! :)

"If you like to waltz with potatoes, up and down the produce aisle..."

As we sat down to dinner tonight, Cadi said, "Hey!  We're eating Junior!"

Asparagus Attempt #1

Thank you for the suggestions that you've given so far.  Keep them coming! :)

My friend, Triscuit, called me today after reading my Calling All Cooks post and told me her favorite way to make asparagus.  It sounded way too easy to really taste good.  I kept thinking, "Are you sure this won't taste like asparagus?"  I mean, it is asparagus, but I was expecting more ingredients to add super savory flavor.  Ya know?

But it was simple enough and I trust Triscuit, so that's what we had tonight.  I served it with a chicken recipe that I got off allrecipes.com called "Mom's Chicken".  It's not my mom's chicken though, so I don't know that I want to call it that... let's rename it, shall we?  I wasn't originally looking for a BBQ type flavored chicken recipe, but again, it was simple enough and got great reviews, plus I had the ingredients on hand, so that's what we went with. 



Triscuit's Foolproof Asparagus
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Place trimmed asparagus on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake for 5 minutes.

Seriously, that's the entire recipe!

Foolproof Chicken (Just stickin' with the theme.)

Boneless skinless chicken breasts (recipe calls for whole chicken cut in pieces but I made it this way)
1/2 cup barbeque sauce
3 Tbsp raspberry jam (recipe calls for plum jam but I didn't have any)
1 pkg. onion soup mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl, combine BBQ sauce, jam, and onion mix.  Place chicken in baking dish and cover with BBQ sauce mixture, coating well.  Bake for 40 minutes.

And the verdict is...

The asparagus was alright.  I didn't go back for seconds (Sorry Triscuit!), but I did eat everything on my plate.  I could (and most likely will) make and eat this again - willingly even. lol  Acadia felt it was "edible" but not quite enjoyable.  Ryan is still on his way home from work, so we don't know what he thinks yet.
The chicken was quite tasty and Acadia really liked it.  I am not a huge BBQ sauce lover, but I did enjoy it, it was easy and I'll probably make it again, too.  Especially since Cadi liked it so much and knowing my husband, he'll like it too. 

While I trusted Triscuit enough to make her suggestion first, I guess I didn't trust her enough to make the whole bunch of asparagus that I had on hand. lol  It isn't cheap and I wasn't positive we'd love it as much as her family does... plus, now I have a little more to make another attempt.  Like I said, keep those recipes coming! :)

Calling All Cooks

Alright, I'm going to just put it out there:

I don't like asparagus.

There, I said it. And truthfully, I also don't like broccoli or zuchini. However, I have been trying, and finding, ways to eat broccoli and zuchini that I somewhat enjoy, at least once in awhile. Now I'm looking for good recipes and ways to make asparagus, too.

Here's the deal: it has to taste really good. (ie. It can't taste like asparagus! lol) I've had asparagus ONCE where I liked it. Ryan's cousin's husband cooked it in South Carolina and I seriously could have eaten a whole plate of it! I think he roasted or sauted it in olive oil with peppers, garlic, and onions (which I am going to try, but I don't really know what I'm doing - I've never attempted to cook asparagus before!).

If you have any recipes or tips on how to cook asparagus that is so yummy even I would eat it, please share! I want to keep it as healthy as possible, so keep that in mind. But at this point, I'll start with any good recipes/ideas you have.

You may share your recipe with me any number of ways:

•Post it in a comment here.
•Post it on your blog and then link to it in a comment.
•E-mail me privately.
•Invite me over to dinner, serve it to me and then give me the recipe. ;)
Or even just call me!

I don't have a preferance... I just want your words of wisdom!

Thank you!

Bye Bye Baby

Rori is growing up right before our eyes. It's fun and sad and scary and exciting... all rolled up into one!

She can now climb in and out of her crib. It looks like it's time for us to get her that "big girl bed" we've been thinking about. She's showing signs that she's almost ready to start pottytraining. I expect that by summer she'll be out of diapers. She will finally let us read a whole story to her from front to back. Lately, she's been insisting on drinking out of a regular cup, not a sippy cup. She'll settle for a sippy cup as long as there are Princesses on it... but she still prefers a regular cup. And (this is by far the worst of all)... she's starting to cut off naptime. I can still get her to take one most of the time, but she's definitely letting me that it is not necessary.

These are all good things... she's growing up normal, healthy, and strong. She's developing, learning, and growing. I am glad for that. But I can't help but miss my baby.

There are no guarantees in life and I know that there's a chance I will not have more children in this life. When Cadi was little, I naively assumed we'd have more kids - it was a given. Now I realize that you can't assume or take miracles like children for granted. Had I realized how hard it was going to be to have another child, I think I would have cherished Cadi's toddler days, and mourned her growing up, a little more. Now that I'm in the same situation with Rori and understanding this could be the last time to experience these moments with a child of mine... it's bittersweet.

And with that thought in mind, I'm going to go get some snuggle time in while I still can!

Getting back to normal.

Not that we ever were normal. lol

School and work are back in session! That means back to using alarm clocks to wake up, and making sure that clothes are clean and backpacks and shoes are locatable.

I've heard many people say that if their husband didn't work, he'd drive her crazy. I don't know... Ryan had pretty much all of winter break off with us and I didn't get tired of it one bit. In fact, I conveniently forgot that he would actually have to go back to work today; I wanted to keep living in my fantasy that money magically appeared in our bank account whether or not he did anything to earn it. I was really sad that it was just me and Rori all day. The house just felt empty.

But I got a lot of laundry done! ;)

Definition of Statistics: The science of producing unreliable facts from reliable figures.

So when we had our big snowstorm(s) last month, the news reported that statistically, the snowiest Decembers have all been followed by some pretty snowy Januarys. (When it's more than one January, is it "ies" or "ys"? Huh, I have no idea! lol)

And it appears that so far, they may be on track. A couple of days ago we got some snow, not a lot, but some. And tonight we just got a couple of inches. I was out with the Sister Missionaries and started to think we might have an extended Winter Break tomorrow; there is enough on the roads right now that I think they'd call it a snow day in our district. (And I have not been watching the news lately, so I had no idea of our forecast.) Turns out though (I just checked the news website.), it's going to turn to rain and I'm guessing it will all wash away before morning.

Too bad, too. This snow is nice and sticky and I bet it would have made a great snowman and snowballs.

When the Lord closes a door, He opens a window.

It's funny how sequence of events can occur.

Three weekends ago, we had our "adventure" losing our transmission in La Grande, OR on our way to visit friends in Idaho. Today, I gave the lesson in Relief Society, basing it on the talk by Elder Wirthlin from last conference called "Come what may and love it", and I used our experience from three weekends ago as an example. Unfortunately, not as a good example; I regret not taking advantage of such a unique opportunity to make silly/fun memories with my family while we were going through that - or at least taking pictures of the whole ordeal. lol At the time, I was extremely disappointed because I realized that one of the side effects of losing a transmission is using your vacation money to pay to get it fixed. We had been planning on going on a cross-country trip this year to visit Ryan's family in Massachusetts and then seeing all of the church history sites along the way back. Well, that will have to wait for another year now.

However, after church today we talked with Ryan's East Coast parents and they are going to be attending a conference in San Diego, Ca two weekends before Thanksgiving this year. We always drive down to Sacramento for Thanksgiving and they have invited us to meet up with them a week before we go to Sacramento. And this, I think we can do! We're already going to be driving most of the way there, and vacation time is not the problem. It will still cost money to drive the extra way and stay in hotels and go to fun places like the San Diego Zoo... but I think we can swing it. It will by far cost less than driving across the country and back again, staying in hotels the whole way.

Details are still in the works (of course); we think we'll spend a couple of days in San Diego, and then a day or two in Palm Springs, and also a day or two in Anaheim. It is totally different than the vacation we had planned, but it'll be a ton of fun and within our remaining budget (I think). And most importantly, we will still get to visit with Ryan's parents this year. :)

A fun, lazy week.

This has been a fun week.

Ryan was home almost every day, Acadia had a friend who lives out of town come and stay for a couple of days, we spent a lot of time playing Wii and watching movies, we had friends over for a fun New Year's Eve, and tonight I totally beat Ryan and his friend on Boom Blox (Wii). In fact, the only not so fun part of this week was that poor Rori woke up sick this morning. But she slept half of the day and seemed to be back to normal by night time.
So, we didn't do anything super exciting or go anywhere special; we just hung out and had fun. I think it was perfect. :) (Minus Rori puking.) I'm kind of sad that next week we go back to the work/school routines.

Words you don't expect to hear from a kid...

Yesterday and through the night, we got a TON of rain. It was pouring like crazy! This morning when I woke up, I looked out the window and found that at some point, it switched from rain to snow. MORE SNOW. Lovely. I mean, it really is... but we've had a enough snow lately. Thankfully, it's not a lot - not even an inch.

When Acadia woke up, I told her it had snowed and this is what she said, "Snow, snow go away!" lol

I guess us adults aren't the only ones who got tired of the snow. I think it's especially funny since she's been asking if we can go up to Mt. Hood tomorrow to go sledding! lol

Happy New Year!

We've had a fun night playing with friends and saying goodbye to 2008. And here we are in 2009! 2008 was a pretty good year. Interesting... but good. lol It's exciting to look forward to a new year, not knowing what it will have in store for us.

I was just thinking... it was 15 years ago exactly that Ryan and I first met. It was just at midnight, and my cousin was looking for her friend who happened to be Ryan's roomate. Ryan gave my cousin a "New Year's" hug but then he looked at me and said, "Well, I don't know you so I'll just shake your hand." I remember thinking, "But you're cute and I wouldn't mind a hug!" Instead, I said nothing, smiled, and took the handshake. lol

Every New Year's since then, I've gotten a kiss, so I'm not complaining. ;)

Happy New Year!