A Day In

We had a winter storm advisory go into effect from Sunday night until Tuesday evening. You never know what you’re going to get snow-wise. The local forecast said there was a 40-60% chance of snow for about 50 hours straight (and we’re still in that time window). That could mean anything! That could leave us snowed in for days, or it could mean no snow at all. 

I tried to keep our schedule for Monday and Tuesday flexible for whatever the weather would bring. I was planning on school being delayed on Monday, but the snow wasn’t that bad, so school started at the normal time. Tuesday brought in some heavier snowfall, so school was delayed (this did not stop my kids from waking up by 6:30 and demanding all sorts of activities and entertainment). 

The path to my breakfast is complicated 

By 10:30, when the final two children went to school, I was pretty exhausted. Luckily, I hadn’t made any plans because, in addition to snow, I was sick. I didn’t feel too horrible, but I was sick enough that I needed to stay home as not to infect the world. That meant no gym. No going to the school to make the monthly birthday poster. No errands. Just… home. Which is fine. But since I didn’t have a plan for the day, that left me in a “world is your oyster” sort of position, but only within the walls of my home.

I ended up doing two of my favorite things: reading and cooking. 

(I also did some cleaning, but that doesn’t fall into a “favorite things” conversation, as I loathe cleaning).

Our library has a Lucky Day shelf where you can sometimes snag a popular book that there’s a long wait for. You can only check it out for seven days. I got one for our trip last week and it was due this past Saturday. I’m now racking up fines trying to finish it (my current library fines are $15.75, and I have a picture book I can’t find that I can only renew one more time, so we’ll see where things go from here). So I spent a lot of time reading my overdue book, but I also listened to an audiobook on the Echo while I was cooking.

I love being able to tell my robot to read a book to me. This might be the closest I get to living like the Jetsons. But you never know with the the rapid growth of technology these days (maybe we will teleport before I die). The problem is, with my current status of Being Sick (and having somewhat lost my voice), Alexa is having a hard time following my commands. We’ve had a few tiffs.

So what did I read? My Lucky Day book is:

And my audiobook (and this month’s selection for my book club) is:

But like I said, I also cooked. Sometimes I like to have a good food prep day and get some serious stuff made to stock the fridge or freezer. So with a lot of hand-washing, I made:

Meatballs

Raw Balls of Meat

(Remember this is not a food blog so I owe you nothing in terms of beautiful food photos! Nothing, I say!)

I found a big package of ground turkey marked down at the grocery store on Monday, so I made 60 meatballs. I don’t really use a recipe when I make meatballs, I just throw together meat, eggs, Panko, seasonings, and a bit of milk. 

I froze them and will use them in meals later. 

Tortellini Soup

We have a stash of Italian sausage we’re trying to work through, and I’m not the biggest fan, but I really like this soup. In fact, I’m the only one in my family who likes it, so when I make a pot, I’m stuck eating the whole thing myself. It feeds me lunch for several days. There are variations of this recipe all over the internet, but here is how I make it:

• 1/2 lb Italian sausage, browned (can increase to 1 lb.  but I like less)
• 2 cans Italian tomatoes (undrained)
• 4 C chicken broth
• 1 package tortellini, prepared according to directions (I use frozen)
• 8 oz cream cheese
• Handful of spinach (I’ve used fresh and frozen)

Put it all in a pot and heat it until it becomes soup.

Banana Muffins

When we have bananas that need to be used up, this is one of my go-to’s. I make them with honey so they aren’t full of sugar. We usually keep a stash in the freezer for quick breakfasts, lunches, or snacks. 

How many did I eat? Two. Do I feel guilty about that? No!

After I made the meatballs, soup, and muffins, I washed the boatload of dishes I dirtied, and then I remembered I would still need to pull together a dinner. 

And it would need to include an avocado.

The struggle is real

By the time Scotty and the kids got home, I was pretty wiped out and useless, but I felt good about my day in. Now hopefully I can get feeling better quick because I gots stuffta do!

Spring Break - The Part Where We Stayed Home

Ten things we did during the six days of Spring Break we stayed home:

1. Asked a girl to prom

Nicky decided he wanted to ask his friend Addison to prom, and he insisted on buying her a tree. He thought he was so funny! So we went tree shopping, and to our luck, Costco had their bare root fruit trees stocked for the season. 

He was disappointed that they didn’t have any leaves (I explained to him that you usually plant fruit trees while they’re dormant), so we went to Dollar Tree (Tree! Ha!) and bought some leaves. Then Nicky insisted on making the tree a name tag and naming it after a Stranger Things character because Addison is in love with Steve. 

He delivered the tree late one night when Addison was scheduled to return from her own Spring Break to Disney World (I’m not jealous… I’m not jealous…)

Now we await her reply…*

Yes, “we.” Because I am heavily involved in all the details of my son’s dating life, much to his dismay. 

Which brings me to…

2. Bought a birthday gift for a girl

Nicky wanted to buy a birthday present for a girl, so I was like, “Would you like some counsel, or do you want to do it yourself?”

He wanted counsel. So I counseled. And then he was like, “Mom, will you make the gift look nice?”

So I tied a bow. 

And then Nicky was like, “So… a girl asked me yesterday if my mom helps me with all this stuff, and I told her ya, and she said she can tell.”

I don’t know if that’s a good thing to a bad thing.

(But seriously, I kind of love asking girls to dances and buying them birthday presents so just let me do this!)

3. Went to 80’s prom

Several weeks ago, I found a legit 80’s jumpsuit at the DI, and I just had to try it on. It fit… I guess… so I couldn’t just leave it there. I knew I would need it someday! 

So when Christie asked me if I wanted to go to an 80’s dance, I couldn’t say no because I had the perfect jumpsuit hanging in my closet!

To make it all the more exciting, we tricked our husbands into wearing matching shirts… which we’ve done before, so they’ll never trust us to dress them again. 

Fool me once, shame on you, and all that.

I was sad I didn’t have enough time to get some really awesome 80’s hair going. I had to settle for a quick scrunchie. But I wanted to go BIG! 

Some other time…

4. Got family photos done

I’m not sure how they turned out, but FINGERS CROSSED! 

They’re supposed to be ready on Tuesday. I think our last family photos are four years old. 

5. Kicked off the Easter festivities with a family Egg Roll

Scotty’s family has a tradition of rolling eggs down a hill every year (yeah… it’s weird). It’s something his grandma started 50 years ago. 

Since the hill is wet and cold from the snow we’ve been having, they did things a little differently this year and had it at a church. The kids rolled eggs on the floor for prizes.

6. Had an April Fool’s dinner

We usually do a mystery menu for April Fool’s, but I sometimes get bored doing the same things over and over every year, so this year I made my kids eat dinner straight off the table with gloves.

We had spaghetti for dinner, and then I made ice cream sundaes for dessert (with a fresh table cloth). I let them use spoons for the sundaes, though. 

Now I’m wondering why we don’t live like this. Do you know how nice it is to just walk around the table and plop everyone’s food down right in front of their spot? And to just roll it all up when you’re done and not have any dishes?

Talk about a life hack!

7. Registered the van

I live a glamorous life.

8. Ate way too many tacos

I’m not a huge taco fan to begin with. They’re just okay. But after eating them on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and on Sunday again, I don’t think I need anymore tacos this year.

9. Started working in the garden 

We’ve had a rollercoaster of weather lately, so it hasn’t been feasible to do much yard work. On the day we got back from Saint George, it was sunny and warm(ish) for a few hours before the next snow storm rolled in, so Eva and I went out in the yard and worked in the garden.  

10. Listened to General Conference

(As much as four fighting kids would allow).

We always go to my in-laws’ on Conference Sunday and have breakfast. I do BINGO for the kids. 

Now Spring Break is (finally) coming to an end, and we have more days of snow ahead! 

———

*She ended up answering him while I was writing this post! (I spied on the Ring doorbell from my bed - oh the perks of modern technology!)

Spring Break - The Part Where We Left Home

As spring break approached this year, I was awash with thoughts of “Oh my gosh, what am I going to do with my kids for ten days?” 

Luckily my sister-in-law, Amber, saved spring break by inviting us to go to Saint George(ish) with her.  Technically, we stayed in Hurricane (which, for you non-Utahns, is pronounced “her-ah-kun”and is near Saint George, hence the “ish").

Before we left, we managed to survive two brutal days of spring break at home. Then we bid adieu to our home like so:

"Adieu, Home!"

As you can see, spring break didn't exactly usher in spring weather. 

We left early to get ahead of the storm. Saint George is 4-5 hours away. Before we headed to our Air BnB, we made a few stops. First to the ghost town of Grafton, Utah. 

The Alonzo H. Russell house (whoever that is), which his son later purchased for $200 and a cow

The Grafton Cemetery - there are two teenagers buried here who died from falling off a swing. How sad is that?

We explored the cemetery and the pioneer houses. It was freezing, and at one point, it started snowing! The road to Grafton has a section that is impassible if it gets wet, so the snow was a little unnerving, but luckily it didn't last long, and we got out! 

Snow in Grafton

On our way back from Grafton, we stopped at the bridge in Rockville for a photo, and then we hit the Fort Zion gift shop (we had to get our traditional post cards for our memory boxes). 

Rockville bridge built in 1924

We got some ice cream at the gift shop and went to the petting zoo (which we had entirely to ourselves). 

From there we met Tim and Amber (and our two nephews they brought with them who are not theirs) at Jack in the Box. Then we headed to the Air BnB and hung out for the night. 

The Air BnB had a pool, which would have been lovely to use, but due to the lack of spring weather, we ended up enjoying the perimeter of the pool rather than the interior of the pool (save for a couple episodes of polar bear plunging by the kids that lasted about three seconds). 

My dirty pants and shoes after hiking in the red sand

Kids enjoying the sun

(Side note: our friend, Marissa, who stopped by our Air BnB one night and stuck her hand in the water said that this pool was colder than the river water in Zion National Park). 

We spent a couple of days hiking in the area. 

Gunlock Falls

Three Falls (we ended up doing this hike twice)

We even got Amber to participate... on not just one hike, but THREE! And she secretly loved it!

(Amber = not a hiker).

Red Reef with proof of Amber

Amber crossed rivers

and Amber accidentally hiked up there! 

(We took the back way, and she didn't even know that's where she would end up!)

For the first time, Nicky wasn't with us on the trip. He went to Disneyland with the performing arts for school. Scotty and I are facing the reality that this is going to happen more and more in the coming years. 

Even though the first day in Hurricane was freezing, we ended up having two nicer days. It made for great hiking weather because we weren't overheated, but we also weren’t miserably cold.

On our last evening, our friends who were also in the area stopped by to say hi. 

Marcus and Scotty in their matching dorky dad pants from Costco

The Saint George area was waaaay oversaturated with people from Salt Lake. We saw three families we knew at pit stops on the way down there, and several of our neighbors were either there while we were there or arrived the day we left. Anyone who didn't go to Saint George went to Disneyland. Typical Utahns on spring break!

It was nice to get away for a few days, and we hit everything early enough that the crowds weren't too bad (thank heavens). 

Nicky was supposed to get home before us, but they had a lot of bus trouble (flat tires and breakdowns), so he ended up getting home nine hours behind schedule. Despite the bus issues, he had a blast, and we had a blast, so it was fun to meet up after our separate vacations and swap experiences. 

(Sigh… he’s so grown up! I love it but kind of wish he could stay right where he’s at currently. Nicky is golden right now. I would never go back to toddler hell with him, but I also don’t want him to grow up anymore and get ruined by the world). 

And thus… four of the ten days of spring break were spent on an adventure. I’m glad we got to get away for a little while!

An Incomplete List of Awkward Situations (part XII)

When your face mole gets a zit, and you’re not sure if it’s a sign of skin cancer or an award-winning dermatological wonder.

When you start the rowing machine at the gym and punch yourself in the face with the handlebar.

When you’re stuck behind someone at a drive-thru who is clearly not a regular at fast food establishments, and you just wanna get out of your car and help them.

When someone doesn’t answer your text and then you have to see them in person, and to you, the text is the elephant in the room, and you’re not sure if you should dance around it or be like, “Hellooooo! Can you answer my text, please?”

When someone serves a special food item at a dinner because they think it’s something you love, but you’re not sure why they think that, and now you have to spend the rest of your life pretending to love that thing so you don’t hurt their feelings. 

When you do a middle part, and you look like Snape.

Or take a selfie, and you look like Gollum.

When you’re backing out of a parking spot, and you notice a van just like yours two spaces down from you, and you have the sudden fear that you’re driving the wrong car.

When you have an itchy spot on your calf, but you’re wearing skinny jeans, and you have huge calves, so you can’t scrunch your pants up to get to the itch, and you have to pull them down and go in from the top.

When the exercise machine at the gym smells like butt.

And everyone around you smells like butt.

And YOU smell like butt.

It’s Not Spring Yet (and ten other random facts)

Fact #1: I wish I could have board game designer’s brain for a day. I just want to see what it’s like to be able to think like that. 

What if I got a board game designer’s brain for a day and then found out it was a lot like my brain?

What if I am a board game designer already?

Whoa.

Fact #2: Daisy got her braces off! We’re now two kids down and have two to go!

Fact #3: Daisy also got new glasses (or she will soon - we’re waiting for them to come in). She has been saying she can’t see for years, and I’ve mostly just ignored her because she’s a bit of a “boy who cried wolf.” It turns out, she wasn’t exaggerating.

Fact #4: I normally start planting my garden around Saint Patrick’s Day (my cold weather crops), but this winter stuff is lingering too long! I’m not normally one to say this, but…

I’m cold!

Fact #5: Today Facebook chose to advertise to me earrings that are supposed to reduce your double chin. All I have to do is wear earrings and my double chin goes away??? This is the stuff dreams are made of. 

Fact #6: A few weeks ago, Scotty suggested that we start looking for a new van, and I was like, “Nah! I don’t want a new van!” (It’s true - I just want the van I already have as long as it runs, has A/C, and the doors open). 

Two days later someone hit my van in a parking lot and drove off.

It didn’t result in needing a new van, but a few hours later, I was driving down the highway, and a chunk of the van flew off.

Once again… it didn’t result in needing a new van, but it felt like a bad omen.

Fact #7: Scotty wanted to have our family fill out brackets for March Madness. This is how it went:

Scotty: Okay, Eva, Alabama or Texas A&M?

Eva: What does Alabama start with? Oh, look! There’s a bug on the window!

Fact #8: Five days later…

Eva: Did due quinn?

Me: What?!?

Eva: Did DUE QUINN???

Me: Huh?

Scotty: She’s asking “Did Duke win?”

Me: Oh. 

Fact #9: I really need to decompress from today. There are a lot of things bothering me. 

Wow. That was cryptic and melodramatic.

Fact #10: It’s not illegal to drive barefoot in Utah. We googled this today after Nicky came home talking about how he drove home barefoot from his friend’s house and loved it because he could wrap his toes around the pedals. 

40x40 Update

Speaking of being almost 40...

(Am I going to stop talking about turning 40 anytime soon? Probably not. We still have nine months to go! And after that, I'll spend a year talking about how I am 40. So gear up friends. We're in this for the long haul!)

I've made some progress in my 40x40 project, which is a list of goals I'm trying to complete before my next birthday.

One of my goals was to make deviled eggs, and I accomplished that but didn't like the recipe. A couple of weeks ago, I made them again with a different recipe, and they were much better. I feel like I can add deviled eggs to my resume now. 

Another goal was to read Atomic Habits, from which I shared some quotes HERE. When I read the book, I wasn't amazed by it, but now that I've finished it and some time has passed, there are 5-6 things that have really stuck with me that I've fallen back on repeatedly to keep me going. 

I also wanted to re-establish assigned dish days for my kids. We had a good thing going for a few years with daily chores, and then when COVID hit, that's one of the routines we lost. Back in January, I implemented new dish days for everyone, and we've been holding firm so far. We've gotten Zoe to the point where she can load and unload the dishwasher mostly by herself. We still have to oversee Eva (and she fights us so bad - oh how we dread Eva's dish day!)

The most exciting goal I've met so far is paying off our truck! I planned on taking until the end of the year, but after we filed our taxes, we decided to get it done! So last week, I paid the balance, and we now own three vehicles. Wait... four... if you count the motorcycle. Wow. That's a lot of vehicles. What a joy to have no car payments for a minute (but I think we'll need to replace the van soon. We're hoping to get a year or two more out of our current one).

In my journey to add ten new healthy recipes to our meal rotation, I have found four keepers so far:

1. Air Fryer Fish Tacos with Cilantro Lime Slaw

2. Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa (my family - including Scotty - only like the chicken, but I like the avocado salsa)

3. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blender Muffins

4. Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

I have probably tried at least 12 additional recipes that didn't make the cut.

So slowly but surely, I'm making my way through 40 things I want to do before I turn 40. 

Another thing from the list is that I want to get updated family photos (our last ones were in 2020, so it's time). I got the appointment made. Now I need to make clothing decisions. In 2017, I let my kids wear whatever they wanted for pictures, and they loved it, but the colors and patterns were all over the place. Then in 2019, I picked matching clothes for everyone, and it didn't jive well with Zoe (it also didn't help that we had family photos taken on her birthday - she was not happy about that). In 2020, I let the kids pick their own clothes within "fall colors," and they were mostly agreeable, and the photos turned out great. I'm not sure what we'll do this time. The 2020 tactic seems best - I let them pick what they want within a certain color scheme - that way they feel somewhat in control, but the photos still coordinate. 

The other day I was talking to my friend who happens to be 30 years older than me, and we discussed how she will be 70 on her next birthday, and I will be 40 on mine. She told me that she really enjoyed her 40's, and that's what I'm planning on - really enjoying my 40's! So when I write about how I'm almost 40, just know that I'm totally embracing it. I'm enjoying this last year of my 30's and looking forward to the next decade. Bring it on!

Once Upon a St. Paddy’s Day

It's Saint Patrick's Day.

Let me preface this post by saying that, when I was a kid, we wore green on Saint Patrick's Day. That's pretty much it. Sometimes... maybe... we would eat green food or do a leprechaun coloring page or writing assignment at school, but that's it. There were no leprechaun traps! There were no leprechaun gifts!

So now, every year, when my kids are like, "The leprechaun is coming!" I'm like...

And at 9:00 last night when Eva told me that she cleaned off the kitchen table in case the leprechaun was going to leave us a surprise for breakfast, I was like...

You see...

I tried to be a good sport for Saint Patrick's Day. In a normal year, Saint Patrick's Day is the day I remember that no one in my family really owns any green clothes (other than Zoe who has a well-loved Minecraft hoodie). So a month ago, I bought my kids green shirts and a few green accessories. Then Saint Patrick's Day took forever to get here. All week I've been thinking how has this holiday not come and gone yet? On Tuesday, I took down my four Saint Patrick's Day decorations and put up my five Easter decorations because I was sick of Saint Patrick's Day.

Then I found out that there was no school today. 

I didn't know!

When the school district put out the yearly calendar, I put everything on my schedule. There are several days I missed (that I think were added later). So I keep getting blindsided by days off school! And today is one of those days. 

(A five-day school week is such a rare thing these days). 

For that reason, I’m currently blogging from a trampoline park, to which I committed two hours, only to be informed by my children that this is a dumb trampoline park that won’t keep them occupied that long.

So rewind to last night at 9:00 p.m. when my sweet daughter reminded me of the expectations for leprechaun shenanigans for which I was entirely unprepared even though it comes up every year. I just can't get past the mentality that wearing green is a sufficient celebration for Saint Patrick's Day. If I'm feeling extra, maybe I'll throw in some green Jell-O at dinner. But seriously with the leprechaun! WHO IMPOSED THIS THING ON ME? And I have to do it because… Eva cleaned off the kitchen table!!!

At 10:30, after the little girls fell asleep, I went to the store and bought some green crap and Lucky Charms. Then I came home and let the leprechaun run wild. He peed in our milk carton and left green chocolates and sodas around the living room. 

Every morning feels like a frat party around here.

He left footprints on our mirror and wrote, "Who made this mess?"

He wasn't very happy that I put out the Easter decorations before Saint Patrick's Day!

And he wasn't a fan of Eva's artwork.

Eva and Zoe were up before the sun investigating the leprechaun's shenanigans (hence my stellar photographs). I offered last night to pay them to sleep in. Evidently their sleep cannot be purchased, and after staying up all night watching Netflix, I wasn’t too pleased about my little alarm clocks hovering over my bed in the dark yelling, “Mom! Get up! It’s Saint Patrick’s Day!”

(Why was my presence necessary?)

Luckily I was able to scrounge up a greenish shirt and recycle yesterday’s hair and make-up to get me though the rest of the day.