I Love "Power Cooking"

Last night, for our monthly girls night, we learned how to power cook. It was so much fun! I've actually done it before, but I didn't call it "power cooking"...I called it, "Going to 'My Girlfriend's Kitchen' and paying $200". Anyway, we had a blast! Alicia taught us how to make 4 freezer meals (that will probably feed my family for about 6 or 7 days when you factor in leftovers) in about 30 minutes & gave us recipes for about 10 more. So, in a nutshell, here's how you "power cook":

You decide on several meals that you want to eat for the week ahead. Then, buy all the ingredients (a lot of the time, you'll find recipes that include similar ingredients--i.e. 2 different recipes both require 1/2 cup onion--if you're power cooking, then you'll be able to only buy one onion for both recipes...rather than buying two onions and having half of each go to waste). Then, go home and assemble all the meals for the week into freezer bags. Then, voila! You've made dinners for the entire week in about an hour or two! All you have to do each day is defrost them, throw them in a Pyrex or skillet for about 30-45 minutes, and then eat!

It was awesome! Plus, it was a blast to be making dinner while chatting with all my favorite friends...except the slackers that didn't come (you know who you are)! In fact, we said that we should do a power cooking day once a month. Sounds like a great idea to me! We had a blast, plus I now have dinners totally prepared for the next week! WOO HOO! --Lindsay

Who Needs a Girl When You Have Aiden?

Yesterday, before church, Mike & I were working on dinner in the kitchen when we heard a bizarre sound. "Clomp, clomp, clomp." We turned around to see Aiden walking around in my high heeled sandals. And, he was actually doing it quite well...better than many grown women, in fact! I was such a proud mama! Living with 3 boys is not an easy feat for a girly girl like myself. But, I've decided that, even if I never have a girl, it's okay...at least I have a son with great footwear fashion sense...although I will have to have a talk with him about taking the socks off before putting the sandals on! I guess that's another lesson for another day! --Lindsay

I Might Be Making a Habit Out of This!

Well, I read another book...and in record time for me. Before I had kids, I would read books all the time, but since having them, I only get to read for a few minutes here and there, but this was a book that I couldn't put down. I loved it! My mother-in-law actually gave this book to me...not once, but twice! So, I figured she REALLY liked it & I ought to read it. Now, I'm recommending it to every woman I know.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh, in case you didn't know, was the wife of Charles Lindbergh. She, like her husband, was an aviator. But she also loved writing too. The book Gift from the Sea is the collection of her thoughts & meditations she had while taking a vacation all by herself. She left her husband, children & entire life behind and spent an entire week by herself in a little beach house (that had no running water or electricity) on the shore. It was written over 50 years ago, but is so applicable to women today. I am convinced that she was a woman before her time. Here's a few of things she talks about that I really liked:

She begins the book by talking about the shape of a woman's life. She talks about the need for women to find peace, solitude & contentment in their lives. She urges women to simplify their lives as much as possible. She encourages women to be their own best friend...& think about themselves a little more. In fact, she says that every woman should schedule time into each day to be alone and meditate. She describes a woman's life as a wheel. The woman is the center of the wheel & all the things that take up her time & energy throughout the day (family, work, friends, housework, callings, etc.) are the spokes. We, as women, try to take on the world. We have a million spokes sticking out of the center of our wheel. Yet, we don't take care of ourselves...so the core of the wheel is not strong. If you have a wheel with a weak core & a lot of spokes, it will fail. But, if you have a wheel with a strong core and fewer spokes, it will be a good strong wheel. That's why she says it is important for us to simplify our lives & give ourselves a little attention everyday. She also describes woman as a pitcher. The entire function of a pitcher is to give water; in the same way that women are natural givers. But, just like the pitcher will eventually run out of water & need to be refilled, she says women need to be refilled too. We can't give what we don't have, and that's why we need to replenish ourselves everyday.

She also talks about the marriage relationship & the evolution it goes through as the two people involved enter different phases of their lives. She encourages women to love and appreciate each stage of a relationship & live in the moment...not the past or the future. She says that too many women enter a relationship and expect the "in love" phase to last forever. Once they have been married for a few years & have a few kids, they look at their life and say, "This is NOT what I signed up for." They think that, since they don't have those same giddy feelings they once had every time their significant other walks into the room, that something must be wrong with the marriage. But, the relationship is the same, just an evolved...and in many ways, better...version of what was started a few years earlier. It's just not appreciated in the same way...but it should be!

The same, she says, is true of aging. We love...and in many ways, worship...youth in our society. But, she talks about the importance of not fighting the aging process...but embracing it and doing it happily & gracefully. It is just another stage in our lives that should be lived in the moment & appreciated. Each cycle of life, just like the cycles of the tide, is valid & should be treated that way. If we fight it, we won't have anytime to appreciate it.

This was such a great book! Every time I sat down to read it, I felt relaxed & rejuvenated. I definitely recommend it...it will make you a better wife, mom & woman! --Lindsay

A Cute Connor Story

This is what Connor usually looks like. He's always happy, smiling & never sitting still. This, however, was not true yesterday. Connor came down with the dreaded stomach flu. My poor little boy was miserable for a good 20 hours. He threw up a total of 10 times, laid lifeless on my bed most the day, & looked white as a ghost.

Every time I'd check on him, I would say, "How ya doin' bud?"

Almost every time, he would reply with, "Kinda good...but kinda not."

But, when I went to check on him at about 5:00 in the afternoon, I could tell he REALLY wasn't feeling good. His eyes were sunken in and he had dark circles under his eyes. His whole face looked really gaunt. I sat down by him and asked again, "How ya doin' bud?"

He replied, "Not good at all. I think I need a blessing on my head?"

This response took me a little by surprise. "What do you mean?" I asked, "Do you mean a blessing to help you get better?"

He replied, "Yeah...the ones where daddy puts that stuff on my head & says a prayer. Every time he does that, Heavenly Father helps me get better."

I said, "Okay...well, Daddy's at school tonight. Do you want him to give you one when he gets home?"

"Noooooo," he replied in earnest, "I really need one now. Just call another daddy...like Paul or something." (Paul lives across the street from us).

I was surprised by how persistent he was about it. He knew he didn't feel good, and that his Heavenly Father could help him if he asked. I called Paul, but unfortunately, he wasn't going to get home for several hours. So, I called several other neighbors...but I learned it is very hard to find a man in Eagle Mountain before 6:00 pm. I was walking back to my bedroom to tell Connor that he would have to wait a while when my cell phone rang. It was my father-in-law. He was calling to see if he and my mother-in-law could bring a birthday present over to Aiden. I said that was fine, and told him about Connor's situation. He told me that he would be happy to give Connor a blessing. So, when he got here, I made a few more phone calls & found a neighbor that was home. He came over and they gave Connor a blessing.

He threw up 3 more times after that, but his faith never wavered. He kept saying that Heavenly Father would help him get better.

This morning when he woke up, he was a completely different person...he was totally back to his usual happy self. I said, "Well, I guess that blessing worked, huh?"

He said, very matter-of-fact, "Yep...Heavenly Father always helps you when you have a blessing Mom!" The faith of an "almost five-year-old" never ceases to amaze me! --Lindsay

Lotoja Weekend

My dad loves to ride his bike. He loves it so much in fact, that every September he decides to do something absolutely crazy...he competes in Lotoja (said LOW-ta-ja). It's a bike race from Logan to Jackson Hole--a total of 206 miles--in one day! It is completely INSANE! He starts at about 7:30 in the morning...rides all day with only a few quick breaks...and crosses the finish line about 12 hours later. And, this isn't an easy 206 miles either, they go up and down mountain passes all day. At one point, they go up a 7% grade! It's ridiculous! Anyway, we love to go along for the ride (well, except we're not riding...we're driving--in the nice air conditioned car)! The race ends in one of the most beautiful places on earth, so who in their right mind would want turn around and head straight home? Not us...so we always turn the race into a long weekend in Jackson Hole!

We started the weekend out early on Friday (Aiden's Birthday). We headed up to Logan right after lunch & went swimming. We thought that would be a good birthday activity for a two-year-old, but Aiden thought it was a little too cool for his liking and HATED it (as can be seen by the above picture). He did enjoy sticking his feet in the hot tub though (as can be seen by the picture at the end of this post). Later that night, the whole family went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Logan, Iron Gate Grill. It was delicious as always, and Aiden even got his own birthday ice cream which he ate all gone and still wanted more (hence the above picture when his decadent delight was exhausted)! Afterwards, we went and saw both Kristin & Dan's apartments and then headed back to the hotel for a little sleep before the big day.

The next day was the big race. Poppy did so good. Almost every time he would stop at a feed zone, he was smiling and saying he felt great. Which is pretty amazing when you see this course. At one point it becomes so steep that you can feel your car shift into a lower gear to compensate...and they are RIDING their bikes up this thing! It's out of control! He finished in 11 hours & 47 minutes (or something like that). Pretty impressive, I'd say... especially considering the fact that my dad is going to be 54 next month! Sorry to spill your age dad! That night, we found a little hole-in-the-wall authentic Mexican Restaurant for dinner. It was really yummy!

The next day, we went to one of our favorite places--Jenny Lake at Grand Teton National Park. We brought Connor here several years ago and he had a blast throwing rocks in the water & walking on all the hiking trails around the lake. Both the boys had a great time, and they sat still long enough for us to take a new family picture (thanks to Dan for falling on his butt to get the boys to both smile at the same time...and thank you to my dad for being patient while we took about 50 pictures). It was so much fun! After the boys had had their fill of nature, we went back into Jackson, ate some lunch at another one of our favorite places--The Bunnery, and then walked around all the cute little downtown shops for awhile. At that point, it was after 4:00 so we decided to head home, so we weren't going through Logan Canyon in the dark...it's scary enough in the light. Case in point, as we were driving through the canyon, there was a herd of cows on the side of the highway. COWS! Now, I've seen deer in that canyon before, and I've even seen a moose in that canyon before, but never have I seen a bunch of COWS there before! What in the world are a bunch of cows doing on the side of the road? Anyway, it was an AWESOME weekend! I've included some other pictures of the trip below.

Three Boys in a Hot Tub

This takes real talent! (In Montpelier--at one of the feed zones)

My dad riding up the steepest mountain on the course

Me & my crazy sister Kristin...no really, she's crazy...at Jenny Lake!

CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESY!

I've put some more pictures of the trip on Facebook for those of you that have a profile. --Lindsay

Oops...I Did It Again!

Well, believe it or not, I read ANOTHER book! And, it only took me about 4 months! Haha... Anyway, my latest book was recommended to me by two of my friends, Summer & Tami. Both of them said it changed their lives & made their homes a much more pleasant place to be. Well, if anyone needed some peace & quiet...it was me. "I'll be quiet...I'll be peace." (Just a little humor for you "What About Bob" fans!)

Being a single parent three days a week, while Mike is at school, is not an easy task. Day one usually goes pretty well. Day two starts to wear on me (especially by evening)...but I can usually keep my cool. But, day three is AWFUL! By that point, I'm really on edge & the littlest things set me off. I found myself screaming at my kids about the stupidest things. If they complained about what was for dinner, I'd get mad. If they wouldn't go to sleep right away, I'd get mad. If they made a mess with their toys, I'd get mad. I hit rock bottom a few months ago. Here's the story (and remember, I share my pain so you can grow)... :)

Connor had two little boys over to play. They were in the playroom downstairs. Everything seemed to be fine, but then I started hearing bizarre sounds like...CRASH...BOOM...BANG. I ran downstairs to find the three of them THROWING toys at the wall, seeing them brake into pieces, and then laughing about it. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. I sent the two boys home, put Connor in timeout, called the other mom's to tell them what happened & why their kids were coming home so early, then went over to Connor and started letting him have it. I yelled, I screamed, I threatened that he would stay in timeout all night, I grounded him from friends and video games for two days, I went on and on. Then all the sudden, I heard the most dreaded sound in the world to a mother that has been screaming at her child...DING DONG.

"Oh no," I thought, "Who just heard that?" I went to the door. It was one of the other mom's, Tami. She had brought her son over to apologize for breaking the toys.

I said, "You just heard every word of that...didn't you?"

Tami replied, "Yep...it was GREAT! Now I know I'm not the only one who does it."

Her humor subsided the embarrassment for a minute, but it came back as soon as she said, "I actually knocked before I rang the doorbell, but I don't think you heard it through your screaming."

HOW EMBARRASSING! I was screaming so loud that I didn't even hear her knock at the door! That's when I KNEW that I had to find a better way to parent my kids, so when I heard about this book...I knew I had to read it. And, like the other girls, I think it has changed my life too. I'm not saying I'm perfect...I do still scream sometimes, but not nearly as much as I did before. There are several techniques in this book that help you deal with the tantrums, the whining, the arguing, etc. in a much calmer way. I've included a couple of my favorite techniques below so you can see what it's like.

Share the Control: Give your child choices that are acceptable to you.

How many times have you nagged your kids..."Go to bed", "Clean your room", "Put on your coat", "Eat your breakfast"? The more you nag, the more they don't want to do what you've asked. So, instead of nagging...give your kids a choice for which both outcomes are acceptable to you. For example, lets say you want your kids to get in the bathtub every night at 7:30 pm. Well, at 7:15 pm say, "It's time to get ready for bed. Would you like to get in the bathtub now, or in 15 minutes?" Of course your kids will pick "in 15 minutes". They feel like they are getting a few extra minutes to play, but really they are doing what you want. A little manipulative..I know, but it works! Young kids love to make choices. It makes them feel big, and if they feel like they have a say in what happens in their life, they are more likely to do the task willingly. If your child refuses to make their choice within 10 seconds, make it for them. They will learn after a few events that they are better off making the choice themselves. I was a little sceptical of this at first, but it has really worked with Connor. He is so much more agreeable about things when I give him a choice. He feels like he's winning...but really he's just doing what I want! It's great! TRY IT!

Have an "Energy Drain"

This technique is really cheesy, but it works like a CHARM with Connor. You can use this technique any time your kids create any sort of hassle for you...lying, fighting, interrupting, misbehaving, whining, etc. Plus, it's a GREAT way to get some help around the house...

Let's say that your child is throwing a temper tantrum. Say something like, "Oh no! This tantrum is draining all my energy! How are you going to put it back?"

The first time I said this to Connor, he AUTOMATICALLY stopped whining, looked at me really funny & said, "What?" I repeated myself and again asked him what he was going to do to put the energy back in my body.

"I don't know," he said.

Then I asked, "Would you like some ideas?"

"Sure..." he said, still obviously very puzzled.

"Okay," I said. Then I gave him a choice (see, again with the choices) of three chores that needed to be done around the house. "You can clean up the toys in the family room, you can clean the toys in your room, or you can help me clear the dishes off the table." He chose to clean up the toys in the family room. Afterwards, I didn't hear anything about the original problem he had been whining about...he had forgotten! That's the best part of the energy drain...you get the focus off the problem & put it into something constructive...plus kids learn that, if they chose to misbehave, there is a consequence that follows. I've done several other energy drains since then, but now all I have to say is, "Oh man...this whining (or crying, or fighting, etc.) is giving me an energy drain" and Connor automatically says, "I'll stop...I don't want to do more chores!" It's AWESOME!

These are just two of my favorite techniques from the book. It is chalked full of them. It's a great book. And, I think it really has changed the entire mood of our house. I actually sometimes look forward to my kids disobeying because it's kind of a game in some ways now. So, if you are sick of screaming at your kids, like I was, I totally recommend this book. And, just a quick side note to Summer...I will now FINALLY be returning your copy! --Lindsay

Happy Birthday Aiden (A Few Days Early)!

Aiden turns two this upcoming Friday, but since we'll be out of town for it, we decided to do his party early... really early... as in a week early. Sosha and Greg were already planning to come down to our house anyway this past Saturday so that Greg could help Mike with his latest project--the basement (that's another post for another day), so we decided that while they were down here, we'd celebrate Aiden's birthday. A two-year-old doesn't really understand that it's not their ACTUAL birthday, they are just thrilled that people are throwing presents their way, so I figured it was okay that it was six days early.

Talk about a party...in fact, it lasted pretty much all day! Sosha & Greg got to our house about 10 and the boys started working downstairs, then at noon Nana & Poppy came and we all went to Connor's soccer game. Afterwards, we came back to our house and ate some lunch. Then, we all hung out during the afternoon while the "tough men" continued their hard labor. That evening, the real party started, we ordered some pizza & then--"the best part" (according to Connor)--the presents! There was a definite theme to most of them--"Cars"! For those of you who don't know--and I don't know how you couldn't, if you've been to our house recently--Aiden is in LOVE with the movie cars. Everything in his life revolves around the movie...and his birthday was no exception. Almost every present that was opened had to do with cars--a Mack Truck, a set of all the race cars from the movie, mini pull-back cars that race on a track, a big "Lightning Storm McQueen" that shoots missiles, a "Cars" book , a "Cars" etch-a-sketch, "Toy Story" cars, "Monsters Inc." cars, "Cars" shoes, a "Cars" blanket, etc. He was in seventh heaven...in fact, he's still in seventh heaven. I think we now own "all things Cars"...except the ones that were recalled a few weeks ago because of Chinese Lead Paint! Yummy!

Anyway, we ended the night with...what else...a

"Cars" cake. It seemed appropriate ...can't figure out why... Overall, it was a great party! And, Aiden wanted me to tell everyone, "Thank you" for all his presents. Actually, he said, "Thank Connor" with his famous little smirk, but you understand...

Happy Birthday Aiden! Thank you for being part of our family and making each and every day interesting, funny, happy, exciting, eventful, thrilling, fascinating, enjoyable, amusing, & completely dramafied! We love you very much! Hope we don't confuse you too much when we all start saying, "Happy Birthday" all over again on Friday! --Mommy, Daddy & Connor