Paul's photos

Tree

"The Creator has not given you a longing to do that which you have no ability to do."

~Orison Swett Marden~

Paul rushed in the door this evening from his carpool ride and ordered us to all get in the car to go for a drive. You all know Paul's ordering: "Would it be okay if we put off dinner for 10 minutes, get the kids in the car, and go for a quick drive? But we have to go right now, you have to see these trees!" All nice and polite.

Where did this perfect man come from? Heaven. That's right. He cooked dinner the last two nights. The mom of the house has been a little cranky couped up and went on a little strike. I won't name names though. I have to protect the accused. (Is that enough bragging about you, Paul?) Back to the story. I get so distracted lately.

Ellie and I in our jammies, Dallin in his shoes and no socks. We grab the camera, pile in the car and start down the road. We have not gone a hundred yards when the car sounded funny. Is there ice stuck to the bottom? The home improvement store is right around the corner so we pull into the parking lot and Paul gets out to inspect.

Flat tire.
Completely flat.
So close to home, yet so far away.
Remember: jammies, no socks, freezing cold outside.

Superman, I mean Paul, runs into Lowes and buys a can of fix-a-flat.

With all the excitement, we missed the whole purpose of the drive: the sun shining on the ice covered trees. Paul said the whole drive home from work was amazing with the sun sparkling on the frozen landscape. Maybe tomorrow the sun will be out and we can see some of Mother Nature's beauty in this frigid climate.

In the meantime, enjoy the one picture of the one tree. I wish you were here to see it all in person. Ice can be quite dangerous, but oh, so beautiful.

No time for sewing

My sewing machine is feeling a bit lonely. I spent so much time with Gladys (gotta name her, right?) before Christmas and I haven't seen her since.

School has been closed all week long.

Fingers itching.

Itching for something to create.

It's been too long.

Thank goodness for people who blog about what they crochet. Crocheting is perfect for a mom with two kids who love to be their mom's shadow and love to cut with scissors and love to pull cords and love to keep their mom away from dear old Gladys. Hat pattern

(with a few of my own alterations)
Heart Garland pattern
(again, a little change over here)

Papa, please get the moon for me

Monologue of a three year old book lover:

{Looking out the window at night}

Moon!

Get moon!

Play moon!

Dal play moon!

Get moon!

Get rope!

Dance moon!

Dance!

Ladder!

Get ladder!

Rope!

Get moon!

Dal get rope!

Get moon!!!!

Make a leaf, send a leaf

Have you ever seen this kind of graffiti?

Knitting meets nature.

I love it.

Here is how you can be a part of a really fun tree project.

Knit, crochet, sew, cut, bend--whatever you do, you can send in a leaf, too.

eggciting, isn't it?

Dallin's eating mustard with his eggs.

LOVES mustard.

Ellie's at the little big kid table.

HATES the highchair.

What is the world coming to?

Old Man Winter

There has been an ice storm 'round these here parts.

School has been cancelled since Monday.

Thankfully, we still have power.

Thankfully, my neighbor and I have traded off children back and forth so they (we) don't go too stir crazy!

Happy Australia Day!

Today is Australia Day. We called Gampa Seele to wish him a happy day, because he is the only person that we know of that has been to Australia. I honor of this big day, we made ANZAC biscuits, a famous Australian cookie. They were yummy!

ANZAC Biscuits--taken from Skip to My Lou with her commentary added.
1 Cup Rolled Oats
¾ Cup desiccated coconut (I use sweetened flaked)
1 Cup flour
1 Cup sugar
½ Cup butter
1 Tablespoon Golden Syrup (I use light corn syrup)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 Tablespoons boiling water

Mix oats, flour, sugar and coconut together.
Melt syrup and butter together.
Mix soda with boiling water and add to melted butter and syrup. Add this to dry ingredients.
Place 2 teaspoons or a tablespoon of mixture on a greased baking tray.
Blake in a slow (150 C or 300F) oven for 20 minutes. Watch carefully as they quickly burn if left too long. (I baked mine about 15 minutes)

Andrea’s Footnote: ANZAC stands for Australia, New Zealand Army Corp. These cookies were sent across the world to the young soldiers fighting in World War I. They store well!

Makes 2-3 dozen
Enjoy!

新年好

more fun ideas

Eat, Baby

Pineapple and Hot Dog Pizza

We fed the missionaries the other day (impromptu) and I had used up all of our mozzarella cheese and pepperoni on the first pizza. Our kitchen was quite bare at the time and we needed something more to feed them with.

I pulled a pizza crust out of the fridge (a staple around here), chopped up some string cheese, opened up a can of pineapple, and cubed a couple hot dogs.

The missionaries said that is was something to write about in their journals.

They had never eaten pineapple and hot dog pizza before.

Orange Scones

Fresh and bright tasting- just what was needed to cure some winter blues.

Orange you glad I can't think of a lame joke right now?

Okay, that was lame.

Orange Scones - Inside a Black Apple

(Makes about 8 medium sized scones)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 C flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 C white sugar

pinch salt

5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" chunks

1/2 C orange juice

1/4 c sour cream

1 egg

1 teaspoon milk

Zest of 1 orange

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F/200 degrees C

2. Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter using a pastry tool or your hands, until the mixture is crumbly and there are still pea-sized lumps of butter visible. Stir in the orange zest. Mix together 1/2 cup orange juice and sour cream in a measuring cup. Pour all at once into the dry ingredients, and stir gently just until blended. Do not over-do the blending.

3. With floured hands, pat scone dough into balls 2 to 3 inches across, depending on what size you want. Place onto a greased baking sheet, and flatten lightly. Whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon of milk. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash. Let them rest for about 10 minutes.

4. Bake for around 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until the tops are just golden brown. Transfer to rack to cool.

5. Once cool, you can leave them be or glaze them as I did. To make the glaze, I combined about 1/2 orange juice, the zest of 1 orange, and about 1/2 an orange cut into small chunks. I simmered the mixture lightly for about 10 minutes, and then took it off the heat and allowed to cool. Once cool, add confectioner's sugar until it reaches a good glazing consistency, and stir til' smooth.

6. Squirrel away any that remain in a tightly sealed container at room temperature.

Meet Pitter and Pat

PitterPat
pitter-pat-pitter-pat
my heart is overflowing


**here's a recipe for you**

eyes
bombshell blue
beautiful brown

take green-blue eyes and mix them with green-brown eyes
bake for 9 months + 9 months, respectively

Happy National Pie Day

My favorite pie: Key Lime

But...because we are going APE over chocolate lately...

On today's menu:

Mint Chocolate Velvet Pie

2 cups milk chocolate chips
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2-1 teaspoon mint
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
1 prepared chocolate cookie pie crust

In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate chips for 1 minute; stir. Microwave at additional 10-20 second spurts, stirring until smooth.

In a large mixing bowl, beat melted chocolate, cream cheese, mint extract, and vanilla.
Fold in whipped cream. Pour into pie crust. Refrigerate until firm. Top with extra whipped cream and shaved chocolate if you choose, because options are always nice.

Pandora

I have to share my new friend:

Pandora Radio

Go type in a song you like and it will creat a "radio station" based on that type of music.

Chef's hat

Another "want to make this" for Dallin and Ellie.

Okay, maybe I want one, too.

4 Musketeers

Necessity is the mother of all invention.

Chocolate is usually a necessity around our house. When we only have chocolate in the form of chips (if we buy the chocolate in chips, we won't eat them unless we make cookies, right? WRONG!) things can get pretty desperate. In an effort to kick up plain ole chocolate chips, ingredients start flying around the kitchen. What can I make with chocolate and........marshmallow cream?

4 Musketeers

{yet only 2 of us eat it, yes, we hide chocolate from our kids, we don't like to share}

milk chocolate chips

marshmallow cream

more melted chocolate for dipping

Melt chocolate chips in microwave and stir in an equal amount of marshmallow cream thoroughly. Roll into 1 inch balls and cover in more melted chocolate. Chill until outer shell is set.

Enjoy. Savor. Devour.

However you eat it.

bras and aprons

This morning...

{Setting the scene} Me, going to the bathroom.

Dallin, approaching me with my bra (I really wish they would leave me alone when I went to the bathroom!)

Dallin: Mommy, put bra on. Dal need bra for tummy.

Later that morning...

{Scene change} Dallin, picking up my purse.

Dallin: Dal want gum

Me: I don't have any gum in my purse

{Scene change} Dallin walks into the kitchen, grabs an apron and tries to put it on.

Dallin: Dal make gum

Pompoms

I think these might find their way into my home somewhere.

Above Ellie's bed?

In the kitchen?

Either way, I really want to make some. Image and instructions via Martha.

To the lights we go

We took Tracks up to see the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

The temple was beautiful, as always!

This picture makes me feel like I live in the city, like I am on the move, like I have places to go and people to see.

Dallin and Ellie both loved seeing all the lights on the trees. What a fun night this was.
I absolutely loved this view. I looked up and felt like I was in Narnia, by the lamp post in the woods.

Game On!

Next up: The snow sculpture contest!

Everyone was supposed to split up into teams and all the kids wanted to be on Paul's team. I don't blame them, he IS good.

We had to get pretty creative with the color. There was no food coloring to be found. I scoured the kitchen for alternatives.

We found red and green m&m's, orange juice, and hot chocolate mix and that is what we used for tinting purposes.

Lightening McQueen

The champions!

{this team really wasn't voted 1st place, but I think that the judge was on some pretty heavy meds at the time and got confused}

Here is the dino team and another team working in the background:The dinosaur

And then they killed it.

COOKIES!!!

For our "P&K Duncan's 3rd annual Sugar Cookie Decorating Extravaganza"
we decided to let some more family in on the fun. I will swallow my proud and say that Kali and Shelby decorated the best ones this year (Kali-candy cane, Shelby-snowman).