Back to school and baptism...

Back to school checklist for the youngest George boys...

• Immunizations - check
• haircuts - check
• lunch with mom - check
• clothes shopping - check
• school supplies - check
• registration - check
• sports physicals - not yet
• bus schedules - check
• father's blessings - check
• boys dropped off for their first day of school - check

It's hard to believe school as started. It feels strange. I have yet to decide if it's strange good or strange bad. I don't like the fact that Middle school/junior high starts in 6th grade instead of 7th like I'm use to. It feels like my baby has been robbed of his last year of elementary school. He's excited. Why can't I be?

A bunch of us mom's are going together to have a back to school lunch in town one day this week. I'm really looking forward to it. I have some great friends out here that I love.

By the way...I included a picture of me and Cole at his last basketball game so you can see that over the summer he went and out grew me....dang kid! It happened so fast. I'm now the shortest one in the family. Cody is the tallest in the family.

Hunter was baptized by Mark on Saturday. It was such a special day. You could feel the spirit so strong. A while back the missionaries had stopped by our house to refill their water bottles and Hunter told them he would like to start taking the discussions. The missionaries started coming over to see him twice a week and he had prayed about it and decided he wanted to become a member of the church. He has been attending every Sunday with our family since he moved in here. We have watched his testimony grow. He has made good friends who are great examples to him. The Turley family in our ward have been so good to him. They've had him over for family home evening several times and truly befriended him. We love that family. Actually we love so many families out here. The ward mission leader gave Hunter a new set of scriptures that have his name engraved on them. He loves them! We know this is where we are suppose to be. Sadly Hunter's parents are very upset about his decision to be baptized. They disowned him, changed their locks and told him not to contact them or his brothers as well as several other hurtful comments. it broke my heart that they treated him so bad over a choice of religion. They hate Mormon's, yet their only knowledge of our religion comes from Mormon bashers who don't believe in telling the truth. It's so sad. We pray that their hearts will soften over time as they see how much he's grown through making positive choices to live a good life. He knows in his heart he's doing what's right. I'm so proud of how strong his testimony is. He is a great boy.

The ick update.

I had gotten BAD sick Monday night and spend the next 4 solid days in bed. I finally managed to get up on Saturday, but it wasn't easy. I knew I had to be there for Hunter as well as take the boys school shopping and to get refreshments for after the baptism. For the first time, nothing was homemade. I just didn't have it in me. It was a really difficult day physically. It's a dang good thing boys are fast shoppers. I don't have any of the protruding ick, but I still don't have my strength and my stomach has a lingering, yet constant dull ache. Sometimes sharp pains. My appetite is half of what it was and every single thing I eat makes me feel sick. I dread eating now and only eat out of necessity.I just want to be 100% again. Not that my 100% is awesome, but I'll take it at this point. I'm telling you right now, that I'd rather go through labor and delivery that go through this crud. It's been horrible! I am so grateful for a couple of the young women who came over during the week and helped clean up my downstairs for me when they knew I couldn't and it had to be done before everyone came over Saturday for refreshments. I love those girls!

got the ick...

Just poking my head in so you wouldn't worry and to let you all know I'm so so so sick! Real bad stomach bug and all the creep and crud associated with it. I've been down for days. My whole body hurts more than I ever thought was possible and I have no strength. Hoping to attempt a shower this morning, but have yet to be successful with that. I look and feel gross. Only good thing is I'm down 4 pounds, but that is sure to come back when I can eat solid food again. Be back on when I can walk standing straight up and free of this darn bug.

They believe they can fly...

When I look at these pictures I can't help but think of the song "I believe I can fly...I believe I can touch the sky..."

Boys are fearless! The pictures speak for themselves. :o)

The little guys first haircuts...

On Friday Me and Brittany took baby Mark and little John to Snipits for their first haircuts. I brought Cole along for kid wrangling purposes. It's a real cute salon for kids. Expensive, but cute. Glad my boys are big and will sit still in a regular cheap salon.Before picture of their long locks.No amount of cute was going to make Mark think this was a fun thing to do. He was scared and cried through most of it.John on the other hand did really well. I guess he's still too young to be scared...or he's just brave.Both Mark and John have been making that "OH" face a lot lately. Cracks me up! John does it just to be cute, Mark does it try to hide his smile behind it when he's being bashful.







They both loved the little wheely thing. They would have stood there forever spinning that thing if we would have let them. I think they look adorable with their new hair cuts. Brittany says she likes it too, but in my gut I think she is also a bit sad to see their hair gone.


What kind of Grammy would I be if I didn't take them to McDonald's afterwards for lunch. They both had chicken nugget happy meals and we all had a great time together. Then it was time to take them home for much needed naps. I sure love those little guys!

card and tag...

Sorry I went MIA for a few days. It's been busy around here as usual and nothing remotely interesting to blog about. Not that I'm blogging about anything interesting now either, but you can still leave me a comment with a more boring post too. :o)

Cody is working long hard sweaty hours for that new toilet. He said he doesn't mind because he got a new biker name. They changed it from "Skid" to "Demolition Man" and he's happy with that. What a dork!

I made my friend Terry a card today just to let her know we love and appreciate her. I picked this design because she has a thing for buses. Partly because she works for the schools and partly because she always jokes about people throwing her under the bus when they burn her with a joke or smart alec comment of some sort. She is in the Star motorcycle group with us and she gets the members of the group an Italian charm for their bracelet with a bus on it when they get her good. On one of the rides they saw a bus and had her get on and a bunch of them laid under the bus for pictures. Pretty funny! She is also the one that drives the "chase car" on rides which we call the bus. Anyways, she loved her card. I especially love giving cards when it's not a special occasion.

The stamps I used are old ones from DOTS who is CTMH now. I couldn't find my scissors anywhere so I had to cut it out with a razor knife. I stamped the kids twice side by side so that they could peek through the cut out windows. I like the little puffs of smoke out the exhaust of the bus. Cute!

Sweet Andi tagged me and I'm just now getting to it.

Favorite things...

Sport: Any sport my kids are playing

Game: Settlers of Catan

Color: Pink to wear Red in decor Lots of earthy colors too. I love color!

Movie: Field of dreams

Broadway play I have seen: None

Broadway Musical I have seen: None...I don't get out much

Song: Angels among us and It's a wonderful world

American city I have visited: Salt Lake City

Foreign city I have visited: Ensenada, Mexico

Book: The Book of Mormon

Children's Book: Brown Bear Brown Bear

Classic television show: Little House on The Prairie

Recent television show: Big Brother

Actor: Nicholas Cage

Actress: Reese Witherspoon

Perfume: Tresor

Food: Tacos

Dessert: Anything Chocolate - Anything that's light and cold

Chain Restaurant: Texas Roadhouse

Local Restaurant: Penascos

Car: Chevy HHR (mine)

Condiment: jam

Kitchen Appliance: Dishwasher

Home Appliance: Washing Machine & Dryer (they're a pair after all)

Beauty Product: Mary Kay extra Emollient night cream

Piece of clothing: Jean shorts

HGTV Show: Divine Design with Candice Olsen (love her)

Food Network show: Paula Deen (love her too)

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Male Songwriter: Heck I don't know

Female Songwriter: I can't think of writers

Holiday: Christmas Season (not the day)

Ballet I have seen: back to the don't get out much

Disney character: Buzz and Woody

Flower: Gerber Daisy

Alcoholic drink: None...my strongest drink is a Pepsi with caffeine

Non-Alcoholic drink: Water with sonic ice

Magazine: CK and simple scrapbooks

Animated movie: Toy Story

Television network miniseries: Dallas

Season: Fall and Spring

Male vocalist: Alan Jackson

Female vocalist: Carrie Underwood

Day of the week: Friday and Sunday

Household Chore: Laundry

Ice Cream: Chocolate chip mint

Candy: Ghiridelli squares with gooey caramel

Artist: Greg Olsen (AMAZING)

Quotation: “It's Nice to be Important, But It's More Important to be Nice" and "There is always always always something to be grateful for"

Now, how about YOU playing too? You know you want to. :o)

Weekend with the George boys...

Remember the post about snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of? Well apparently I left firecrackers off that list and it really needed to be there.

Boy+lighter+firecrackers=a blown up toilet.

As I was on my way to town on Friday afternoon I got a phone call from Cody. Here is how the conversation went....

Cody: ummm...mom...I blew a hole in the toilet.

Me: Cody, you better be lying because that's not funny.

Cody: Mom, I'm telling you the truth and I should get points for that since I normally lie about everything I do bad.

Me: Oh my freaking gosh Cody! How did that happen?

Cody: When I was at Ezroms house last night I got some firecrackers that he got in Mexico. I lit one and threw it in the toilet and it blew out all the water and I thought that was cool. Then I threw another one in and it blew a big hole in the toilet.

Me: (all said very loud and fast) CODY!!!!!!!!!! What were you thinking? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? You are in SOOO much trouble! I can't believe you did that. Dad is going to be furious. AHHHH! I'm so mad! How bad is it? Do you have any idea how expensive a new toilet is? You can bet you'll be working the rest of the summer with dad for free so you can pay for it.

Cody: Well I can see the floor through the hole. It's about 4 or 5 inches around.

Me: You call your dad right now and tell him what you did because I want him to hear it from you first.

Cody: Okay.

So of course Mark was so upset and Cody IS indeed working to pay for the new toilet that was installed this afternoon as well as losing privileges for a while.

Sadly this isn't even close to being in the list of top 10 bad things my boys have done. I've got all kinds of stories. Stuff that makes one question why they signed up for this whole parenthood thing. (mostly from the 2 older boys teenage years) Through all those trials (and lots of help from Heavenly Father) I have learned lots patience and have learned which battles to pick and which one to leave alone. I'm a much stronger mom now, but I still break down more often than I'd like. Motherhood is REALLY HARD!

New toilet courtesy of Cody

Chad took his new white truck back to the dealership. Apparently there was some fibbing on the part of the salesman regarding the purchase amount and the interest rate. Things were much different than what Chad agreed to so he went and picked up his mustang last night. Cody was shocked to see Chad pull up in the car and asked him where his new truck was. Chad told him he rolled it in the desert and it was totaled. Oddly enough Cody was happy about that and said "Mom and dad wont be mad at me anymore when they find out you wrecked the truck." Nice to see how concerned he was for his brother even if the accident was fake, huh?! Just so long as the heat was off him. Anyways...Chad went to a different dealership where he bought a different truck that is newer, less miles, cheaper, but doesn't have a back seat. He did get more for the trade too. He just pulled up in it tonight...which is why the picture is dark.

Before I go...check out Cole's leg! He was standing backwards on a diving board and did a bounce preparing to do a back flip and he slipped, leaving him with a nice gouge in his leg that is swollen and infected. His leg is turning a lovely shade of green. He said the diving board was slick and had no traction on it like most boards. He couldn't play in his basketball game because it hurt too much.

Having boys is just so much fun.....and some days.....not so much!

Recipe sharing...

Working on some recipes to put in the boys cookbooks. I'm really behind in doing this, so any of their favorite meals or treats I will be taking pictures of at least part of the process. Banana Bread

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cups butter

3 cups flour

1/2 cup milk (soured)

1/4 tsp vinegar

4 ripe bananas (icky ones)

Mix together sugar, butter and eggs. Add soda to the flour; blend the sugar and flour mixtures together. To sour the milk add 1/4 tsp. to the milk. Let sit for a few minutes. Add the sour milk and blend well. Mash bananas and add. Fold in and pour into 2 greased bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

I doubles the recipe like I do with most things I make. I also mixed in chocolate chips to one of the loaves. So good!

Spaghetti

2 envelopes of Lawry's spaghetti seasoning

1 pound of ground beef

2 cans of tomato paste

5 cups of water

1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning

2 Tbsp. Butter

1 Tbsp. sugar

Angel hair pasta

Brown up hamburger in a sauce pan with a Tbsp. of water. Season meat with salt, pepper, Lawry's seasoning salt, onion powder, garlic powder. Drain if has too much grease. A little bit is okay. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir and simmer on medium low for 20-30 minutes. Boil water for pasta. Cook and drain. Pour sauce over noodles and serve.

While sauce is simmering, butter and sprinkle french bread with garlic salt. Wrap in foil and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

If you can't find the bread pre sliced, the ladies in the bakery will slice it for you.

Alfredo sauce

2 pints heavy cream

2 sticks butter

4 Tbsp. cream cheese

1 1/2 cups (6 oz. good Parmesan cheese

2 tsp. garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Noodles of choice. Penne hold sauce really well and it's easier than twirling fettuccine noodles.

Simmer butter, cream cheese and cream. Add Parmesan cheese garlic powder salt and pepper. Whisk together really well. Simmer for 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken as it simmers and the cheese melts. Serve over cooked noodles. I always serve this with sliced grilled chicken. This is the most awesome alfredo recipe. The calories are HUGE so it's not something we eat very often.

Right after dinner tonight Chad had to leave for work. Doesn't he look so handsome. He got a new job as a security supervisor. He has graveyard shift this week, but will be working days. Hunter and Kyle got hired on with the same company as security. Chad got the supervisor position because of his military experience. They said he was over qualified, but they are thrilled to have him. The other two will start next week when they get their guard cards in.

Q&A

• Brek, Brittany and the boys are doing well. They had some struggles with unemployment for a while, but are working on getting back on their feet. They are still very happily married. It's always a good test to see how young couples work through trials. Baby John turns one in a few short weeks. Then baby Mark turns 2 less than a month after that. They sure are getting big. Last time I was there Mark was sleeping so I played with John. He gave me big wet kisses. He was so fun to play with. The time before I got to play with Mark. He loves to sword fight and walk up the wall and flip over (with help of course) I will take pictures next time I go to see them. Brittany hasn't blogged because for now they don't have Internet.
• The mat I use to scrap on is from making memories. You can find it here . It's a self healing one that is 17" X 23". I wish it was at least 24 inches, but it still works great.
• I didn't make the big star that was used at camp. We borrowed it from our old stake that went to camp 2 weeks before us and had the same theme. It's made of Styrofoam. It was put together like a puzzle and wrapped in gold fabric.
• No, I'm not adjusting to my calling yet. I miss the young women and the other leaders. I understand that I'm fully capable of doing my new calling very well. I just don't enjoy it AT ALL. I tried really hard not to cry on Sunday. It wasn't easy. We'll see how it goes.
• Yes indeed Sonic does sell ice by the bag. Well most of them do. I've been to a few that don't. Apparently there are some people who have never had it so they don't understand why it's so fabulous. The reason so many people love it and why I'm addicted to it is because it's really teeny soft pellets of ice. It gets even softer as it sits in your drink. It's so dang good!!! I HATE big ice that is clear and hard. Like what McDonald's has...which by the way, Maricopa is getting a McDonald's and a QT. Both are currently under construction. As well as the biggest tutor time I've ever seen in my life. The Wal-Mart is still in parking lot stage. Not moving along quick enough for my liking. I want to see some real building going on.

Well, it's late (11:00=late for me) and I'm tired. My eyes twitch when I'm tired. Not pretty!

Been jammin'...

***EDITED TO ADD INSTRUCTIONS***

Went to the grocery store today because we needed food. That's usually why I go. Strawberries were on sale 10 for $10. How could I pass that up? Well I couldn't! I've been waiting and waiting for them to go on sale so I could make freezer jam. I did a ginormous batch. We're talking 8 things of strawberries ( I saved 2 for the boys to eat), 32 cups of sugar (crazy huh?!) and 8 boxes of can-jell. I mixed it in my tupperware thatsa mega bowl. I love that thing, but do wish mine was in the new color instead of white. It holds 42 cups...which makes no sense since the ingredients were more than that. It must have something to do with the sugar dissolving. Who knows. All I know is it all fit in that bowl...barely. I had Cody helping me stir because there was a lot of stirring involved and my hands don't do well with that. That batch filled 15 jars and 8 plastic containers. Aren't they so pretty? Well I think they're pretty. One of the girls in young women brought me over a loaf of bread that she baked today. Gotta love that sweet girl! Can't wait to eat it with homemade jam on it.

Gotta some icky bananas on the counter. ( I love it when that happens) Going to have to make some banana bread in the morning. Yum! I'm thinking I need to start posting my weekly menu's again. It helps keeps me on track. Plus I need to add some new dinners to the mix. Same old Same old is well...old! What's cooking at your house?

***edited to add instructions***

Wash, scald and dry containers. It's easiest just to throw them in the dishwasher. Can be typical glass canning jars ( I prefer the smaller ones) or plastic containers with a tight fitting lid.

The instructions and measurements are different for different kinds of fruit. This is for strawberries.

Remove the stems/leaves from 1 quart or 2 pints of strawberries and crush. I cut mine up into quarters then pulsed a few berries at a time in my blender. You really should use a food processor, but mine died. You would still just pulse it with that because you still want some chunks of fruit to remain. I have made jam by using one of those food choppers that you smack the top of, but it takes a long time and my hand was killing me after a while.

One container of berries should equal 2 cups of crushed fruit. (all mine did) Put that in a bowl with 4 cups of sugar and mix thoroughly. Let stand for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. In a sauce pan cook over high heat 3/4 cups water and 1 box of can-jell. Stir constantly. When it comes to a boil let it boil for 1 minute (keep stirring) then pour over berry/sugar mixture. Stir and mix together constantly for 3 minutes. Most all the sugar should be dissolved. Pour immediately into containers leaving 1/2 inch at the top Wipe edges clean and put the lids on quickly. Let stand at room temperature, untouched for 24 hours. Store in freezer. Keep an opened container in the fridge.

I did break one of the rules about not doubling. I'm a rebel that way. I'm not patient enough to do one batch at a time. As long as my measurements are right, I've never had a problem.

When you buy a box of sure-jell it has the recipes inside for all types of fruit. They also include the cooked method that you can and keep in your pantry. The freezer method is easier and I like it so that's just what I do.

Let me know if you make jam. Berries usually go on sale around now...but maybe that's just here in Arizona.