Thursday, September 17, 2009

I am so Cool, not really.

I just had a great time yesterday at the Jason Mraz concert. It was an outdoor concert and lots of fun. We couldn't find a baby sitter so the kids ended up coming with us. And other than staying up late, they had a great time too. The kids danced on the lawn in front of us and they were more entertaining than the concert (although I am a bit partial to them). Dylan SLEPT through it! If you can believe it, I worried a bit about his hearing but it's fine.

Anyway, back to the concert, lots of fun. Jason Mraz is a great performer and really good music. The music is kinda jazzy/blues, reggae, rock, a little rap, and folk-if that makes any sense. He is most famously know for "I'm Yours," which is a really good song. I posted it below, Enjoy.

Oh, When we came home I called my sister in Las Vegas to tell her how cool I was that I went to a "hip" concert. She had to point out that if I have to say that then I am not cool. Ouch!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

A Very Merry Birthday!



This posting is to help my friend, Sarah, celebrate a very special birthday. We have been friends since we were in diapers.
My parents moved to Kentucky when I was about a year old
and we met Sarah's family there.
We were great friends as little children, but her family moved to Connecticut and we moved to California.
We feebly tried to keep in touch through snail mail (back then that was all that existed) but being a kid I wasn't very good at it.
Then, when I was eleven years old my parents told me we were moving to Connecticut-3 miles from Sarah's house. I am so lucky that she was there for me in my teenage years.
We never had many classes together but we had a locker next to each other. Also, it was great having another LDS friend in high school. There weren't many of us Mormons in school. Other than my family, Sarah has known me longer than anyone else and we have been through it all together.
We got married within three months of each other and we each had baby boys four months apart from each other.
Sarah, have a very happy birthday and don't let numbers bother you, you are only as young as you feel! I am glad you are going through "this birthday" before me, let me know how it goes. Best Wishes!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Need an idea for Dinner tonight?

This recipe is my own invention and it went over very well with the little critics.

Thomas: "Mama, this is the best chicken I have ever had."

Lucy: "I love it, I mean, I like it." (which is good enough for me, she ate it.)

It's really simple to make and I made it with all things I had on hand. Here it is:

Kitchen Sink Chicken

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1 small bag of bacon bits (real bacon) or 6-8 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
1 onion, sauteed
2 slices of ham, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tsp chopped garlic
2 Tbsp corn starch
pepper to taste

Directions:
Place the chicken in a baking dish and set aside. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and make sure the corn starch evenly coats everything. Place the mixture over the chicken. Place dish in the oven and bake at 350* for about an hour or until the chicken is no longer pink.

That is it. I like it served over mashed potatoes with a side of veggies. The next time I think I am going to add fresh mushrooms to the mix. We like it, and the next time we have guests I am making it for them. So if you try it, tell me what you think.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

A shout out on Grandparents Day!

Today is Grandparents day and in celebration of said day Lucy dressed up as a "grand-mud-er."
We love our grandparents! Enjoy!


Thursday, September 10, 2009

I love Technology!





















We got our new camera in the mail and I LOVE IT! Our last camera was pushing 6 years old and these days that is geriatric. How amazing to have a camera that actually takes the picture when you push the button-instead of a 3 second delay. The camera is so fast and the pictures are so clear. When we got our first digital camera we would take a ton of pictures to make sure at least one turned out. Now we don't need to take so many picture because almost every shot turns out great. We just need to find a place to store all of them. So as I get to know the new features and the photo editing software, I will share the pictures with you. Here is a picture of my smiley boy. He is the most pleasant baby ever. What a joy, my cup runneth over.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

How to be a Good Babysitter.

It has finally happened—we found a babysitter. Not just a teenager to come over and hang out with the kids but a good, engaging babysitter. We had a hard time finding the right sitter after we lost our favorite to a new job in Oshkosh. (We miss you Sharon!) Then the move to Texas really left us all alone in the babysitting hunt. We tried a few but no one really felt right, until we found the girl across the street. I have compiled a list of qualities that we like in a good sitter. The sitters that didn’t make the cut were lacking in one or more of these areas.

Like Children and babies—a surprising amount of people will babysit your children and not even show a remote amount of interest in children, especially your children. Parents spend there lives taking care of their children. They think their children are the cutest, funniest, smartest and all around best kids in the ENTIRE WORLD (no joke). When a person doesn’t show interest in the best this world has to offer, parents notice.

Be friendly and nice to children—Parents think their children are smart, but children are smarter than their parents think. A child can tell when you are nice and when you are not. Plus, golden rule here, this should be a no brainer.

Be enthusiastic and act like you want to be there—this kind of goes with the first two, don’t look at it as just a job. For the kids it is a fun time when Mom and Dad are away, so try to make it as such. Bring a game or activity that the kids have never played.

Arrive early—unless the parents are picking you up, then be ready to go when they come. If you have an anxious mom who wants to go over a few last minute details, you will need time. Plus, the parents want to enjoy their date/meeting/night out with out worrying about being late.

Clean up messes, games, dishes etc.—generally speaking parents try to clean up before a sitter comes over, sometimes working all day to make the house presentable. So when the parents come home from their night out, they would like to have the house in about the same condition. (to win really big points, do the dishes, they REALLY like it)

Play with the kids, don’t just watch a movie—it’s not everyday that the kids have someone come over to the house to play with them. And movies are something that parent use to try and get the kids out of the kitchen while dinner is being made. It can be a good distraction but the playroom is not going to play all by itself.

Stick to the parents schedule, somewhat—parents give you a schedule for a reason, if they say the kids can’t stay up, they really can’t. But that doesn’t mean put them to bed an hour early either. The parents have to deal with the children in the morning and bedtime is everything. Plus, children thrive on routine, and when there is a new person putting them to bed, the routine is the only thing that is the same, kids like that stability.

Last but certainly not least…Be honest—you may think that the parents only want to hear good things about the evening, but they don’t. They would rather hear the truth about if the baby cried inconsolably for an hour than “he was a little sad, but he calmed down.” Or they want to hear, “no, Lucy didn’t eat any dinner” (that must be why she is up at 2 a.m. crying that she wants something to eat) instead of “dinner was fine.” With all lies they are pretty obvious and parents know their kids, and kids will let their parents know how things went, one way or another. So it just looks bad on the sitter if they lie.

I know this looks like a long list but we have had so many not so great experiences with sitters that it’s so refreshing to FINALLY have one we like. Thank Heavens!

What do you think?

I have been playing around with many of the blogspot settings and got some help from CBOTB. Do you like it? I love some of your blogs that are so cute and scrapbook like-I figured I should jump aboard. I know it always takes me a while to accept the inevitable but I do eventually. And Lucy will be sad that she is no longer featured on the blog but I will make up for it by posting more pictures. So please give me your imput. Thanks!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Hooked on a Feeling

It doesn't matter what kind of mood I am in when I hear this song, because it always makes me smile. And who better to bring it to you than the Hoff. I love the part when he starts to fly (flap his arms.) Bluescreens (head shaking in shame). So I give you the Hoff to start your labor day celebrations!