Random Thoughts

My mind is wondering this morning as a storm suddenly appear out my window. My first thoughts are of happiness because I love the heavy rain and we don't get it very often here. But then I'm reminded that we might be driving in this on our way to Utah tomorrow morning with all of our cargo in the bed of the truck and possible snow on the pass and I have mixed feeling now.
On another note, Brad was in an accident two Mondays ago and he is fine. However our car and my faith in the goodness of people have both been crushed. If you know something was your fault and the police officer says it was your fault and to everyone appearing on the scene says it's your fault, why not just own up to it and let the poor family who's car you totaled have their money so they can get on with their life. It's not really the money that has been giving me a headache these past couple of weeks, but the countless hours on the phone making phone calls just to be told, no call this person, who tells you to call the person who just told you to call them. Can I have my life back please?
So hopefully today we will be getting a new (used) car. We'll see.
Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with a child that NEVER stops talking? I can't just tune him out because he EXPECTS an answer and is relentless about it. It doesn't help that I can hardly understand a word he's saying. So everything takes 10 times as long because I'm trying to figure out what he wants so I can come up with an acceptable answer which will only create another question. It is never ending and I think I'm going to go crazy before too long. By the way, I had to read that last paragraph three times to figure out where I was because I had to stop and "talk" to Johnny.
Well, I guess I can only throw out so many boring random thoughts before I bore and you stop reading anyway; so I will end it here and start thinking about packing for our trip and try to listen to the sound of the rain instead of Johnny's rambling.

VID-E-OOOOO!!!

Since for some lame reason I can't upload my videos onto blogger like the rest of the world, I put some on YouTube and added a link to "My Videos" at the top of my blog. So here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/user/laurelday

Videos uploaded thus far include, the kids skiing and tubing. Yeah!

Catching some speed

Yesterday the kids had the day off and so we layered on our snow clothes once again and made the trip up to Bogus Basin, but this time we didn't go skiing. We sped down an ice covered hill at exhilarating speeds for 2 whole hours and some how it didn't seem like enough. Our friends, Suzy and her kids (plus friends) joined us for the afternoon and it was a blast. At one point, all 8 of us went down together. On other turns Alex would go by herself and Johnny would say he wanted to go by himself and have the guy at the top spin him around and everything. But when it got right down to it, he preferred having someone (especially Suzy) hold onto his tube the whole time. He also claimed to be "tired" after two runs even though he hadn't gotten out of the tube once from the slide down the hill, to me pulling him over to the rope tow that pulled him to the top. Maybe he was emotionally tired. Most people couldn't believe he made the 36 inche height requirement, but I assured them he was a proud 38 inches tall. We'll have to make this an annual event, highly recommended. :o)

I did get some video but for some reason I can't download them onto blogger so they are being uploaded to youtube.com right now. As soon as I figure out the link to view them I'll post it!

For the LOVE

That's my only excuse.....for the LOVE. I don't want my kids to be spoiled. I would love for them to grow up with memories of "making due with what they had". My parents didn't always have a lot of money growing up, but I never felt like I was missing out on anything. So they can still grow up to be kind, giving people if they are just a little spoiled now and again can't they?

They woke up Valentine's Day with gifts outside their door from their Grammie and Grandpa

(it's hard not to spoil them when their grandparents do it so well).

Johnny is in heaven with a Ben 10 omnitrix watch that he wears constantly now, transforming him into all different kinds of aliens throughout the day. He has to be a different alien when he's picking up, eating his meals or saving the world. If any of you don't follow Ben 10, he dials the watch to the alien he wishes to change into and then slams his hand down onto it completing the transformation.

Alex is actually the original Ben 10 fan in the household but she is much more excited when her gifts are pink and purple and sparkly. My Mom sent out a case of 7, yes SEVEN, my little ponies for her to adopt. Each with a special edition stamp and virtue painted on their flanks. She's decided they make great parents for her miniature ponies she got from her Nana & Papa for Christmas.
And of course Brad and I sent them on a treasure hunt focusing on the love we feel when we spend time together as a family. Spots that the clues led them to include, where we eat meals together as a family, what takes us on trips as a family, where we keep the books we read as a family, where our games are that we play as a family and of course, what we watch movies on together as a family. Under the TV they found the the Wii that we got for them. I emphasized to Alex especially (because she has such a good memory) not to expect a big gift like this next year for Valentine's Day, usually they just get a card and some treats. The truth is, Valentine's was just an excuse, we were going to get one anyway. We can play the games together as a family and it gives them a way to get out extra energy in the winter when they're cooped up inside.

Brad and I have always agreed that "we would never have a video game system in our home". But that was because I saw them as something that would tear us apart. But with 4 controllers going at once, I believe this will bring us closer together. Johnny LOVES Mario Kart and whoops and hollers the whole time declaring "I'm winning!" even though he's mostly going around in circles the whole time. This frustrates Alex of course because she can't stand loosing. Maybe we can use this as a tool to teach her how to be a good sport. We got Wii Fit, Active Life Outdoor Games and Wii Play. Last night we played bowling as a family and Alex actually came in ahead of me. Johnny even broke 100. It was lots of fun, and I'm looking forward to spending more time with the kids and Brad at the Wii.

I can't forget to mention the pink heart-shaped pancakes I made for breakfast, the heart-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and the Italian resteraunt style meal we ate for dinner by candlelight, using our nice china. Valentines was always a family holiday for Brad growing up and I'm trying to carry on those great traditions with our own children. It's great to focus on the love we have for each other (because some times I think the kids forget a little how much they really love each other). And to top it all off, Alex has a talk in church this Sunday entitled "I came to earth as part of a family".

Feeling the Love

February 1st, I made these bags and hung them outside the kid's bedrooms as well as one each for me and Brad. The kids have been having fun putting cards in each other's bags every day. The very first day Alex would check her bag every 30 minutes. Before Brad even got home that day she asked me "why doesn't Dad ever put anything in my bag?" She was very excited when the next day she had a Wall-E valentine in her bag from her Dad with little candies taped to the card.

Along with cards we made decorations for our house.

Then yesterday we had our annual sugar cookie bake off. My poor kids don't get to bake in the kitchen much because the more I bake, the more baked goods I consume. AND I have a hard time with the hours it takes to prep, make and clean up, especially with two pairs of little hands helping me out. However, bake we did. I doubled the batch and gave the kids a third of the dough, freezing the other two thirds for later use. Yes, that means we'll be making sugar cookies at least three times this year, what a treat!
(I'll include the ultimate, soft sugar cookie recipe below.)

After making the dough we rolled it out...

Cut out a million hearts of all different sizes...

And put them in the oven to bake. In the mean time we whipped up the frosting...

And before too long the kids were in decorating heaven.
Frosting...

Sprinkling...

And naming every single one for a special Valentine (including themselves).

We have definitely been feeling the love these past couple of weeks and Valentine's Day is just about here.

Super Soft Sugar Cookies

2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup butter (room temp)
16 oz sour cream
approximately 6 1/2 cups flour (plus or minus)
I add flour until it doesn't stick to me as I kneed it out and add more as I see fit as I'm rolling out the cookies. Roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thick.

Cut out cookies and bake at 400 degrees for 8-9 minutes

Cream Cheese Frosting

1, 8 oz cream cheese (room temp-very important)
1 pound powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup butter (room temp)
Cream cheese and butter, then add other ingredients and beat.

All dressed up

So I figured it was time for a new post so I didn't have to see Alex's hair cutting experience every time I logged on. Here are a few pictures I haven't had a chance to post until now of some new dresses for Alex.

Here's one her Grammie got her for her birthday.

This is a necklace her Auntie Anna made her, with a matching bracelet.

And then to top it all off my friend, Amy, made this cute bow for her hair.

She loves dresses that she can twirl in.

This is a dress that her Auntie Anna modeled in when she was 8.

And boy can it twirl!