I am thankful for...

I am oh so thankful for the 12-grain hazelnut bread from Kneaders. Oh, to have a recipe for this! I'm also thankful for my new favorite sandwich recipe.

link love

I'm on my way out of town (going to Charlotte's wedding!), but thought I'd leave you with a few more of my current favorites. See you Sunday!

Oh. my. gosh. If I had a cute little tiny waist, I would be making this in a heartbeat! Tutorial here.

I really think I need this tablecloth. Love the scallops, love that it's wipeable oilcloth, love that it is made to stay in place! (Also, I believe the author of this blog is Jordan's sister!)

Oh boy. Doesn't this caramel popcorn sounds decadently delicious?

Some people are so clever!

Eva saw me looking at this skirt on the computer and immediately said, "I want one of those!" Seriously so cute.

This bread is calling my name!

Get a free 8x10 photo canvas! (You only pay $14.99 for shipping and handling.) Or, upgrade to the 11x14 size for $9.99 more. Could be a great Christmas gift.

Check out fuzzimo for more cool, free downloadable images.

12 on the 12th | October

1. I spent a gloriously decadent morning finishing my book for book club! (There are some benefits to having a child home sick.)
2. A new high score on Veggie Samurai. Man, that game is addictive.
3. Wrinkly, a.k.a. Secret Agent Dog.
4. I ran over to Borders to get The Lost Hero for Lucas (on release day!) – he spent the day on the couch reading.
5. Max, taking a PSAT practice test. (I don't remember doing that as a sophomore.)
6. The playful skeleton we have hanging on the inside of our front door. He makes me smile every time I see him.
7. I absolutely love it when there are simultaneously colorful leaves on the trees and crunchy leaves on the grass.
8. I tried the banana crunch muffins from Amy S.'s food blog. They are delicious, which is nice, since it made 24!
9. Eva showing me how long her nails are. Yikes.
10. The sunset I saw before going to book club.
11. I ran into Target to get chips to go with the baked cheese dip I made, then met Jill in the parking lot so we could drive together.
12. Jenn holding Jana's baby Savannah, who kept lurching endearingly toward Jill.

quickie

I seem to be having serious difficulties in finding time to post (not to mention how much Max is monopolizing the computer due to all of his homework). So, a quickie (i.e., some recently starred items in my Google Reader):


Seriously cute idea! I will be making some of these for Eva when she is looking for projects to do in the morning before school.

This one is a whole lot more work, but it sure is cute!

I would love to make some pillows like these ones from Pottery Barn!

Or perhaps this bat version for Halloween?

Check out these cool labels you can download and especially what she did with them! I might have to try that.

I discovered this site via Marta and there are some seriously great free downloads. I snagged them all.

I am loving these, but I'm not willing to pay $30.00 for tape.

I made these cookies last week – they are delicious and my freezer was fully stocked with treats for school lunches, but I think they might be gone already...

Oh my goodness. I am dying to make a skirt like this for Eva! If anyone has pointers for me, please let me know.

Check out this cute, no-sew costume! Eva already has a princess dress, otherwise I might be going this route.

Sigh. I have so many recipes I want to try, things I want to sew, techniques to try my hand at... I wish I had a couple of extra hours in each day.

Conference weekend bliss

(Yep. I totally copied Jill's post title. It's just too perfect.)

After two times in a row of not being able to watch Conference, I was so very excited for last weekend. Not only were we able to watch every session as a family, but we didn't have to go anywhere! No other plans. Just Conference weekend bliss.


On Friday night, I made the raspberry rolls from the recipe that Jill posted. I took some to visiting teachees, and kept the rest for us. They were good, but a tad underbaked. I found the hot pink filling (caused by my homemade raspberry jam) to be quite humorous.

Eva helped me assemble the conference baskets on Saturday morning. For some reason, the kids are excited about using their Easter baskets. Who am I to question? I'll do whatever it takes to make Conference weekend something to look forward to. My goal is that one day they'll be as excited about it as I am.

The kids all worked on their Conference packets, taking notes and drawing pictures.

Emily and I took notes.

(and knitted)

Marc is not a note-taker, just a listener. I just love it when we're all together, laughing at the jokes, commenting on the hymn arrangements, asking the others if we've missed something, and expressing surprise over things we hadn't known, or agreeing on really good statements.

Jill, Lori, and Whitney came over to join us for donut night. (We have a family tradition of making donuts while the men are at the priesthood session.) The dough wasn't rising as fast as I expected, but they didn't seem to mind just hanging out and chatting.

Lucas and Whitney talked and played video games.

Eva helped me roll and cut out the donuts.

I was the fryer and Emily was the glazer. We tried a chocolate glaze for the first time, but Marc shocked me by shunning the chocolate, even going so far as to call it an abomination! I thought it was pretty good, but had to agree that the plain glazed was the clear winner.

Marc and Max told us some of the highlights (they both really loved President Uchtdorf's talk). Marc was typing in a favorite quote as his Facebook status as soon as he got home.

It's good to have extra people around to help eat the donuts.

This little aberration was a donut hole that stuck to the cookie sheet. I fried it anyway, just for fun, and decided that it looks like Ming Ming from The Wonder Pets. Emily thought it looked like a penguin. What do you see?

We played Bananagrams after Eva went to bed. Good times.

Sunday was more of the same, with donuts for breakfast and relaxing in our jammies.

Lucas and Eva got out the Legos on Sunday and did a pretty good job of playing quietly and whispering. I noticed that Lucas was still reacting to the talks, so he was still listening, at least somewhat.

There was one part of the weekend that was not blissful. During the Sunday morning session, I suddenly realized that I had promised to make a birthday cake for one of the young women in our ward. Her birthday was on Friday! I was mortified, and I just felt horrible. I don't know how I managed to forget, as it never entered my mind even once.

As soon as Conference was over, I called her to apologize and offered to make the cake immediately. So, stomach churning, I spent the in-between hours baking and caking a birthday cake. I finished frosting it just as the afternoon session was starting, so I decided to hold off on delivery.

We ate popcorn and m&ms for lunch!

When Conference ended, I went on my walk of shame to take the cake over. Boy did I ever feel humble! I still can't believe I forgot. I asked their forgiveness and hope we can still be friends.

On Sunday night I made this delectable dinner. Try it!

I'll have to post my notes when I have more time to type them in. Did you have a blissful weekend as well?

seven for Saturday

1. We all went to see Toy Story 3 today. Marc and I have been anxiously awaiting its open, while the kids didn't seem super excited about it. We talked them into it, though, and of course they all enjoyed it. They were all big Toy Story fans when they were little.

We originally went to the 1:45 show, but it was sold out and we would have had to sit in the front row. Fortunately, Marc exchanged our tickets for a later show, and then he and the boys went an hour early to ensure good seats. Thumbs up from the Olivier crew.

2. I dug up my ancient hot glue gun to make some flower hair clips. One of my sweet neighbor Heidi's five daughters was married this week and I was putting together some little gift bags for the young girls who helped to serve at the reception. Eva loved them, so of course I had to make a few extras.

3. After church last week, all three kids were playing the piano together. We moved the piano upstairs recently, and I think it's pretty cool. I find I like the piano more now that it's not banished downstairs, as if it has more legitimacy in its new home. (It's an old upright that we inherited a long long time ago, so it's nothing fancy, but I love its tone and now I think I just appreciate it more in general.)

It's been getting a lot of play, and that's a very good thing (except when I'm trying to take a nap).




4. The other day, I was feeling better. SO much better. And I realized that I had really missed cooking. I had to make something, specifically something baked. That's when I decided to make Angel Biscuits. I haven't made them for years! I have no idea why. They are fast, easy, and delicious. My family was thrilled and have asked for a repeat. Soon.

5. Eva came with me to the wedding reception. Lucas wasn't feeling well, Max had a trek family reunion, Marc was out of town, but Eva was thrilled to be my escort. It was her first reception and even though it was an outdoor affair, she insisted on putting on her best dress and having her hair fixed up. These requests are rare, and I'm not one to refuse – there were quite a few people there in jeans. It's a wedding, people! I think I'd rather be overdressed than underdressed.

Anyway. It was a lovely reception, and Eva was enchanted with the bride, the cake, the flowers, and of course, the candy.







6. I went to WinCo today to get groceries for Father's Day. I was shocked and amazed to see that they carry Umpqua ice cream! This is an Oregon brand that Marc grew up with. I enjoyed it many a time when we visited his parents in Eugene, but since they moved to Salt Lake, we haven't had any. Chocolate peanut butter, definitely his flavor of choice. I think it will make a nice addition to Father's Day dinner (atop chocolate peanut butter brownies).

7. It's officially summer here. It took awhile, what with the unseasonably cold temperatures and my sickness that seemed to go on forever and ever, but it really feels like summer now, and I'm enjoying it. After feeling awful for so long, and then gradually better but really weak, I woke up one day this week and felt my lungs filling with air, with ease, and it was the most amazing feeling.

I can vacuum! I can clean bathrooms! I can cook dinner! I can carry in a 40-pound bag of dog food from the car! I love not being sick.

spt -- au naturel

I think I'm not very good at au naturel – there aren't many things I like to eat just plain. (Well, I suppose I could have done something with chicken, but that would have been a pretty scary photo...)

I just happened to be making a salad last night that I was served at a birthday party recently. I guess I prefer my flavors to be mixed together! (Two dressings, even: balsamic vinaigrette and blue cheese.)

p.s. I think I should get extra credit for taking this photo with my left hand! It was quite a balancing act.

Creative Friday x2

I never got to posting about last week's Creative Friday (which was on Tuesday), so this is a double dose.

Jill picked up Cafe Rio for lunch, courtesy of Jen M., and it was a treat as usual. But we were cracking up that they heard her name as "Joel." Right.

I even find the Cafe Rio aftermath to be pleasing.

I love this picture of Jill working her good mail magic.

a common C.F. sight

It was a very Eva-heavy day. She (and Rex) joined us for some drawing and sticker projects.

And dancing. {photo by Jill}

And some very traumatic gluing. {photo by Jill} Calgon, take me away.

And then Max came home and joined us at the table for some math homework.

Still, Jill ended up with this very happy array. I love that she took this picture of the stamps!

Another one of those days when I wonder if this is the last Creative Friday. (Thank heavens it wasn't!)


Yesterday, I made these cookies, because even though I'm off candy, we had to have something good! They were quite good, although I think I would like them even better if I substituted some butter for some of the shortening. (Jill suggested that they might then become too dangerous. She's got a point.)

Eva couldn't finish hers. I never have that problem.

The kids didn't have school, so Max, Lucas, and Landon played games together.

At one point, the mailman brought me the book I ordered from Shutterfly! It's the first photo book I've made, and I'm quite smitten. I can see how this could easily become an addiction.

Eva wanted to have one long tea party. Jill was good to humor her and took this cute picture of them "toasting."

I trimmed some Paris photos and made them into cards. After that, I was inexplicably tired and just didn't feel like doing anything. I told Jill I was this close to going downstairs and watching a movie on Marc's big-screen TV. Luckily, she concurred.

We went down and selected Every Little Step from Marc's streaming Netflix options. We hunkered down with blankets, and after Eva tried snuggling inbetween us and basically being a nuisance for quite awhile, she finally gave up and went upstairs to watch her own movie.

I thought we might just conk out, but we managed to stay awake and enjoyed the movie. It was a Creative Friday first.

And we were both glad that we took our self-portrait at the beginning, thus avoiding unsightly bedhead issues...