Surprises

I am often surprised by my kids. Surprised at what they could do. I have found on several occasions that they can do way more or understand more than I thought they could. For instance, we have a FHE wall. We are currently learning about different people in the Book of Mormon and what they did. We then put up a picture and a little phrase to help us remember something about them. Like Nephi " I will Go and Do". Well I was moving stuff to another wall and James just started telling me all the stories that we had been going over and I was so surprised that he actually remembered them so well. It made me happy to think that he was actually listening. Also, When he was a baby he had a pacifier. And took it everywhere with him. He woke up in the night when he lost it and wouldn't go back to sleep until you found it for him. He was getting older and older and i kept thinking that I needed to take it away but I was so worried about the tantrums to follow and the crying all night and everything without a pacifier. When James was almost 18 mos old we lost his last one. And I had said when he lost that one we were not going to replace it. I was shocked when James could not have cared less that it was gone. He slept all night long and never missed it for a moment. Once again today James surprised me. Church always seems to be somewhat of a struggle with baby and toddler and trying to keep the noise level down. I always brought a bag of snacks sippy cups, crayons, quiet books, and other stuff to keep them entertained. But once again I have been thinking that James is getting too old for this and should be sitting without all the extra stuff to entertain himself. I was really worried 2 weeks ago when I explained to him that he woudl have to be a big boy and just sit reverently the entire time. It was stake conference and so it was 2 hrs instead of the 1 hr sacrament meeting. I was absolutely shocked at how well he did. He asked a few times for things but when I reminded him that he was a big boy now he didn't complain. The nest week when we went into church he said "If I be reverent we can go to grandma's tonight?" I of course said yes. And he sat on the chair with his arms folded the entire time. I was absolutely shocked. We went to gma's right after church, he definitely had earned it. Again this week he was unbelievably good. Ben was gone today, so i had harrison on my lap and could not give the sacrament to the people at the end of the row, so James very carefully carried it to the family sitting at the end of the row. He was so good, I was just beaming. Now, I realize that there are many a rowdy days ahead of us and that the novelty of being a good boy will probably wear off and all that stuff. But I am once again surprised by my kids abilities and realize that I hold them back sometimes because I am too afraid of how they will do. Kids are a lot tougher and more capable than we give them credit for.

Tomato Soup

Whenever I am cold I get an itch to make some delicious soup or stew and a good batch of rolls. mmmmmm. The past two mornings have been especially cold, and since I run before the sun is up, well, lets just say that my hands go completely numb, and it takes several hours for me to defrost. (Yeah, I don't know what I am going to do when it is actually winter out there...brrr). So, I have been wanting to make some homemade hot soup this week and today I finally did it. It seems that everyone has a plethora of tomatoes this time of year, my parents and myself being one of those people. So, I have been wanting to try and make tomato soup from the tomatoes. I found a recipe online and used the tomatoes from the garden. I was pretty scared to make it. I have never had homemade tomato soup, so i didn't know what to expect. Okay lets get to the bottom line here, It was delicious. Seriously, I want to go make more right now. We ate it all in a flash. There seriously wasn't a drop left. We used the rolls to scoop the bowls clean. I am already so excited to make some for lunch tomorrow. oh baby. I seriously want to make it for everyone so they can taste its deliciousness. But since many of oyu who read this live far away I will post the recipe here and you can try it at home.

Ingredients:
1 (29 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (10.5 oz) can condensed chicken broth, undiluted
2 Tablespoons Margarine
2 Tablespoons White Sugar
1 Tablespoon chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream

Directions:
In a large stock pot mix tomatoes, chicken broth, butter, sugar, onion, and baking soda. simmer for 1 hour

In a double boiler heat cream until ho. You can also do this in a regular sauce pan over low heat, but watch it carefully so that the cream does not scorch. Once heated through, add to tomato soup and serve.

What I did:
I used fresh tomatoes, peeled them, and then blended about 2/3 of what I had and then chopped up the rest. So that it would be a little chunky but not too. I used 2 chicken bullion cubes in 2/3 cup water. I also chopped up half of a small onion instead of just the 1 Tablespoon. Also, I only had half and half, so I used that instead of the heavy whipping cream, it was still amazing. Oh yeah, I put a few bay leaves in there too. I don't know if that made much of a difference but oh well. Enjoy!!

Translation of James' Post

Upon arriving home from Grandma's with the biggest pumpkin from her garden James stated "Mom, we should grow a dinosaur in our garden next time....it would be little....and it wouldn't growl ..........um, no we should not grow a dinosaur, I was just kidding" It made me laugh. Today we played Doctor for quite some time. We turned the coffee table into the operating table, and then put teddy bears on there where James did surgery. He gave them shots, listened to their hearts and even gave them breathing machines (a plastic bowl over their mouth) Then he took them into the harry potter closet shut the door and used the remote to take x-rays. Then we played around on the computer and took about 100 pictures. Harrison loved seeing himself on the computer. James loved to make funny faces and take pictures. Yep it was a fun day.

James' Post

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Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.

The past few months have taken a toll on our finances lately. We put another $1000 worth of repairs in our car last month, school started for Ben which meant tuition and books. Tuition was quite a bit more than I was expecting and last month we went on a camping trip. I realize the trip was not a necessity, but for my sanity it was. Anyways, so we have been pinching pennies lately trying to get our savings back up and since we found out yesterday that James needs hand surgery on both hands, we will probably need those extra pennies. So, I have once again adopted the motto "Use it up, Wear it out, Make do, Or do without." I love that phrase. I always think of it when I am shopping or dreaming about beautiful furniture for our home. It makes me realize how much of that stuff is simply not needed. I have spent quite a bit less on our grocery bill lately, but I have to say that we have still been having quite good meals. Our garden put forth way more food than we thought it would. It was great for many a salad or sandwiches or other yummy meals. It was crazy to see how much just a few vegetables could add to our meals. Also I have begun making bread again. I forgot how much I love to make bread. I know this sounds weird but I love the feel of the bread dough after kneading it for a while and it is just that perfect smooth soft feel I am looking for. I also discovered a use for all of Ben's worn out old jeans. Make little jeans out of the big jeans for my little boys. It is really quite simple. You use the same side jeans and hem so it keeps that "jean" look and then just sew the inside seams and waist and badda bing, a pair of jeans for James. They aren't the best looking but they will do for playing around the house. I remember when we were saving for the down payment on our house. We were living pretty similar to how we are now and I made James' entire summer wardrobe. I really enjoyed making those shorts. Plaid shorts were just coming back in style so he actually looked pretty darn cute. He still wears them and even after 2 summers they look okay. It is amazing how much you can save and use when you really try. It is actually kind of fun to get creative and seen what different things you can do to save money. I will say this though. We most definitely cannot take all the credit for any money we have been able to save up over the years. We have always found that when we are trying our hardest to save and paying our tithing and a generous fast offering, money just seems to come our way some how. When we had Harrison we were saving for a house and knowing that a baby was on the way we didn't know how much we would be able to save. Well we decided to double our fast offering. Our bishop had told us that when you pay fast offerings you would definitely see financial blessings. So we gave it a try. I seriously cannot count the blessings that came our way that year. Here are a few of them, My student loan for 10K was forgiven (long story there), Ben got several contracting jobs, and was able to earn extra $$. After we turned in our taxes we got a note from the IRS saying they owed us more money (no complaints there), Harrison was premature and had to be in the NICU for a while, & somehow we were able to pay all those bills and still have the down payment we needed. And during all this time we were plenty comfortable with food, clothes and whatever else we needed. So this is what I am saying, when you need an extra buck, pay more fast offerings and never skip your tithing no matter what. We have seen that money a thousand times over, you can't count the blessings you get in return. What a great blessing tithes and offerings really are.

Gone Fishin'

This last Saturday Grandpa Morrise (Marshall) took James fishing. At the start of the summer he told James that he wanted to take him fishing. He has mentioned a couple times since then, but no plans were ever really set in place. A couple weeks ago in Nursery James was sitting at the table telling the rest of the class that his Grandpa Morrise was going to take him fishing and he was going to catch one. I thought to myself "oh man, I had better remind Marshall or else James is going to be one sad boy" Fortunately though, He kept his word and they went. THey went to Salem pond. They were there for several hours, but finally, James caught a fish. He brought it home, cooked it up and ate it for dinner. I thought it was great. I guess after they had been fishing for a while James started to get bored with it and wanted to go play at the playground, but then when he caught the fish he said " I want to keep fishing", and did not want to play at the playground or go home anything else. I think they had a good time. Susan told me that whilke they were there anytime he ate a cheeto or a snack of any kind he would ask each of them if they wanted some too. yep, there is that heart of gold I was telling you about. Sweet little Boy. He and I have been going for bike rides lately while Ben is at school. I have Harrison on my bike and then James pedals along behind me on his trike. He actually keeps a pretty good speed, I can't imagine he can go any faster on that thing. But we go around the entire neighborhood (which is a mile and a half) and he always wants to go around another time. I have found that it has given me good opportunities to teach him about crossing the road safely and watching where he is going and all that. Plus it is nice just to spend time with the boys. It has been great fun and a good way o get the boys ready for their afternoon naps. :)

Goodbye Summer.

As I watch the sun set sooner each evening, and feel the first hint of a chill in the air, I am sad to see the summer come to a close. I have always loved the summer, I love going for hikes and camping. I love being able to take the kids walking with me each morning and not have to worry about them being too cold. I love the many bike rides and summer strolls. I love the kids playing outside in the sprinkler and spraying the water at the sliding glass door and laughing at me from the other side. I love sitting in the warm sun. I love running and the feel of sweat running down my face. It always makes me feel like I am running even harder. I love the summer races and parades. I love the look of a freshly cut lawn. I have loved my flower garden this summer. At the start of spring I went out and bought beautiful tall bright pink flowers, and had pansies and alysum surrounding it. I think I got to know more people in my neighborhood because of that garden more than anything else. I enjoyed watering each evening and visiting with neighbors as they passed by. I always kept my front window open so I could see the flower garden each time I passed. I grew a vegetable garden in our backyard as well. I was pretty sure nothing would grow back there. It was mostly gravel and leftover construction supplies from the builders. But I spent a good afternoon raking and cleaning it out and bought some decent dirt and put it in. Then I put in several tomato plants, cucumbers, bell peppers, jalepeno's, and chili peppers. (Ben likes the spicy ones). My garden grew more than I could even handle, my tomatoes are out of control, the cucumbers started to grow over the air conditioning unit. Needless to say, we have enjoyed many tomato and cheese sandwiches and many salads. The best part about our gardens was James' enthusiasm for them. He helped me doing everything for them. Each day he went out looking for weeds and pulled any that had started to come up. Now that the tomatoes have ripened he goes out there on a daily basis and picks all the red ones he can find. He comes inside with a handful of cherry tomatoes and excitedly tells me he found even more red ones. Then he washes them up and eats them in a flash. I think he has eaten more tomatoes than the rest of us put together. I also have enjoyed making jam this last month. I picked tons of Raspberries from my parents garden and made it all into the yummiest jam ever. So while I am sad to see summer go, I am certainly enjoying the harvest.