Maggie's Report

Do we know how to do a 5th grade history report or what? :-) Maggie chose the subject Marie Antoinette because she loved her Versailles bedroom and the quaint Hamlet when we visited them last summer. I helped her trace the side panels and arrange the feathers at the top, but she did everything else. Tres bien fait, ma chere! Love the powdered hair.

I just spent a half hour with my darling five-year old boy on my lap, listening to every new song he's learning at preschool. It's not often that Spencer will perform like this. He sits close to me, one hand on The Mole on my neck, and sings them in his quirky, semi-raspy voice that makes me want to gobble him up and hold him forever. Then before leaving for preschool he ran to me, gave me a great big hug and a kiss, and answered "you too!" when I said "have a great day."

Ah, the golden moments mothers treasure. Sure do love you, little buddy!

Cooking Habits

I read recently that most families have about eleven dinner meals in regular rotation. Hoping that I do NOT fit in to this statistic, I hereby list our "regular" menu items in no particular order:

1. beef stroganoff (on noodles or potatoes)
2. apricot chicken
3. Wingers chicken fingers, mashed potatoes, wedge salad
4. chicken coconut kurma
5. chinese chicken salad
6. tomato soup and cheese sandwiches
7. spaghetti with marinara and mizithra (thank you Spaghetti Factory)
8. Irish pasta (with cream, ham and peas)
9. steak, bearnaise and asparagus (on special occasions)
10. lettuce wraps (of various kinds)
11. boboli pizzas of various kinds
12. taco soup
13. Pasta parma rosa
14. chicken and rice soup
15. potato soup
16. ranch (hamburger) stew
17. tacos
18. chicken spinach salad wraps
19. blackened mahi mahi with coconut rice and mango salsa
20. chicken and spinach couscous
21. PF changs orange chicken
22. pad thai (does it count that these last two are store-bought? pad thai is totally my comfort food)
23. homemade mac n cheese
24. dinner for breakfast (turkey bacon, hootnanny pancakes or crepes, smoothies)
25. rice crispy chicken
26. Nanny's Swedish meatballs
27. stuffed zucchini
28. "green" (tomatillo) enchiladas
29. Italian crock pot chicken
30. BBQ chicken drumsticks

And there we go, a whole month of "regular" recipes I use all the time, not to mention the hits (and misses) with which I frequently experiment. There's a lot of room for improvement, and it's a lot of chicken, I grant you, but since pork and red meat are slipping slowly out of our eating habits, and I don't know many ways to make fish, that's how it goes.

What It's Truly All About

On Sunday morning, Gary's parents' basement flooded. They went on anyway to church to fulfill callings. When Boyd went to Priesthood meeting, the leader had heard that they needed help. He then and there decided to hold Priesthood at Gram and Grandpa's house, taking all the men with him to help rip up carpet, carry out boxes, and set up fans. They stayed for hours until things were under control.

That, my friends, is what our church is all about.

Spring Break Part 2

The Easter Scavenger Hunt through Nana and Papa's Shady Oaks yard.

Dinner for adults only at La Caille, where almost sixteen years ago Gary and I had our wedding reception... it was so lovely! Although we can't say we're fans of the new management...

Saturday was bright and lovely, the perfect spring day, so we took the offspring up to the This is the Place Monument and Pioneer State Park. We love it up there, and we love Nana and Papa's grandparent passes which get us in free! After taking the train all around the park to help the Allens get a feel for the place, we put the kids in "school" ...

... got H. a shave (because he was looking a little scruffy) (sorry I can't use any of their first names online because there's a former stalker who may still be looking for them)...

... taught Spencer how to milk a cow...

... and played with lots and lots of baby animals. Which isn't too different, really, from our neighborhood in Idaho, but it just feels special because we were in SLC where people just don't normally have baby chicks and goats and cows running around in their back yards like we do in Idaho.

From sledding on Friday to swimming on Saturday... welcome to Spring! Nana and Papa got their pool up to 88 degrees for us - lovey! The kids swam for hours! and hours, and hours...

We topped it all off with a tour of the new downtown City Creek Center and a Jazz game (vs. San Antonio - we won - great game!!! Plus we got the $60 seats for $15 each - R. knows how to fanagle with the best of them). Gary's parents and brother Mike came up and joined us so we got to see and sit by them - so fun! Then the Allens drove home to Idaho and we went back to Nana and Papa's so we could go to lunch with Gram and Grandpa the next day after Grandpa's doctor's appointment. What a fabulous weekend!

Spring Break...?

We had such a great time at Nana and Papa's house in Salt Lake for Spring Break! We took our good friends the Allens down with us (there's plenty of room) to get away from the day to day for a while and relax SLC-style. They got pool up and running just for us! Alas, this is what we woke to on Thursday (April 5th) - S.N.O.W.! Which was surprisingly exciting - we've had an unusual dearth of snow up north in Rexburg this winter and had yet to get a good sledding day in. Ha! Done. Check it off the list now - sledding in Nana and Papa's back yard is the best!

Bella got in my way so I lost the race, above. She was so excited to have me at her level!

Love the view of the city and mountains across the golf course.

On Thursday afternoon it warmed up enough to make it a great, uncrowded day at one our favorite places, Hogle Zoo.

Since it was chilly most of the animals were inside. We couldn't believe the closeups we got of the daddy gorilla (who stared the kids down until they were just a little creeped out)..

... and the Siamese crocodiles (below) who were napping until the bigger one crawled out of the water to lay his head on the tail of the smaller one, much as our kids do when they all sleep in the same bed at night. (only, of course, they don't have tails. Most of the time.)

The poor giraffe was so bored inside that it started to lick the walls... I guess it could pass for a form of entertainment, but I don't really plan on trying it the next time I'm lacking things to do.

That night we got Taco Bell and Baskin Robbins for dinner and dessert, respectively, playing it cheap and easy since the dads were still working in Idaho. They got there late that night though and the party continued all weekend. More to come. But not now as I'm really tired and going to bed!

Beloved Bella

We all are gaga over our black lab, Bella. Even Gary, who pretends slight indifference and is irked when Bells licks his (salty with sweat) pants all the time. I've seen him play frisbee with her for an hour when he thinks we're not looking. You can't fool us, sweetie!

Nothing says adoration like a dog's head on your knee.

Spence can fall asleep on her - she's such a good dog. Very tolerant. Which is important when you live with a five year old boy.

Bella brings out Maggie's soft side, which is another reason why I love her!