Father's Day in May

I had a brilliant idea this year. 

We celebrated Father's Day for Charles a few weeks early. 

I looked at the calender and realized that Father's Day was going to come just a few short days after Baby Davis is due. 

I do not think that I will be up for giving Charles the proper celebration that he deserves.

Trust me - he deserves it. 

So just 2 weeks after Mother's Day I found myself returning the favor to him and honoring him as the father of  our children {and soon to be children}

He actually picked out his own gift this year {very sneakily}since I am not quite sure what to get him when it comes to the bike equipment. 

He got some new toe cover thingers to keep him warm in winter.

We had to have one surprise gift so he also got a new {much needed} wallet.

The last one went thru the wash along with his cell phone and has never been the same since.

Hudson loves to wrap things and give presents. 

All on his own he wrapped up some "gifts" for dad.

One from him.

One from Hobbes.

From Him - Charles' library book that he was in the middle of reading

From Hobbes - a can of tuna of course {what else would a tiger give? duh.}

He gave all of us quite a good laugh.

Matching sonograms

Charles has never been one to "one up me".

This week was the exception. 

I will leave out the gorry details because that is his story to tell if he wants.

Let's just say that he got out of a whole Saturday's worth of work because he was laid out on the couch.

Let's just say that he did not really move for a good almost 24 hours.

Let's just say that he still got dressed for church and taught Gospel Doctrine.

Let's just say that despite his wife telling him that he was starting to look yellow he dismissed the comment and said that it was just the yellow tie that he was wearing.

Let's just say that the next morning he tried to ride his bike into work until his wife put a stop to that.

Let's just say that when he called the doctor to make an appointment for himself that he thought being seen in 5 days would be ok.

Here is the rest of the story {the Cliff Note version}

Danee has sonogram Monday morning to check on baby's size.

Calls Charles to tell him how it went.

Charles is feeling terrible at work and leaves to come home.

Danee calls doctor to explain how sick Charles really is. 

Gets an appointment for him within the hour.

Nurse takes one look at him and sends us to the ER.

Chuck and I wait in ER with Charles for about 9 hours until he is finally admitted.

{during which time he had a sonogram too}

Tuesday afternoon Charles has his gallbladder removed.

Wednesday evening we are discharged from the hospital.

We are grateful for good nurses and doctors who took care of us.

{By us I do mean me also - the nurses would bring me juice with hospital ice and graham crackers and make sure the my 8 1/2 month pregnant body was comfortable during our stay}

It was a little scary to see my big strong husband in a hospital bed and in so much pain. 

I was glad that our kids were well taken care of so I could be there to help him.

Let's not do that again.

Books, Books, Books

i have some children who are totally into reading.

all of them are great readers but for some it is a passion.

i saw Shawni post a few weeks ago about reading to her kids at night and some of the books that they have enjoyed. it was a great list.

i read to my kids but mostly the little ones.

i forget about the ones that are old enough to do it on their own.

i was getting a little tired of Dora, Curious George, Thomas the Train, Calvin and Hobbes, Dr. Suess and Berenstein Bears every night for the little boys.

that next day i stopped at our tiny local library and picked up a copy of Tale of Depereaux.

i had never read it.

i am sure that brooklyn had. i decided that we were going to forgo the traditional night time stories and read this as a family.

i have to say that more than anything else i loved the experience.

when it was bedtime my kids would all come with blankets into the family room and lay around and listen to me read.

i love that the chapters were so short that

IF we were in a really good spot and

IF my kids promised to go right to bed and not get out and

IF i got extra kisses

it was no big deal to add another chapter on.

i think that my little ones learned a great skill to quietly listen and comprehend a story without the stimulation of pictures to stunt their imagination.

i have to say that i was a little sad to be done with it.

we have not started another one, yet.

*note to self* put that on the list of things to do.

a couple other notes about books.......

1) charles once took about 2 years to read this really thick and somewhat boring biography of Abraham Lincoln. he read a lot of other books inbetween but almost every night he would pick this one up and read a little. i think that it helped put him to sleep. i admire his determination to see the book thru - even though i would laugh at him everytime that he picked it and ask when he was just going to be done. {as a note - i think that abraham lincoln was a great man and has an amazing story to tell - this book was just one that did him any justice}

2) i have never read the classic Children's book "where the wild things are"

3)brooklyn passed off one of her young women value projects by reading 50 books in 2009. if we are being honest....it was WAY more than 50 but she had a terrible time keeping track and those are just the ones that she could recall at a moments notice. {for example, she read Fire of the Covenant 2x last year but only counted it once - it is only a 794 page book} she is one of the fastest readers i have ever met. never take a book recommendation from her because she is not a good judge....she thinks that everything is great. hehe

Here is a list of books that she had recently been enjoying... the Percy Jackson and the Olympians, another run thru of the great standby Harry Potter, and some of the Twilight books.

4)brigham gets into different reading kicks. he does not always have a book that he is devouring but when he does.....i notice the he retreats to the bathroom. { i guess that he thinks that he can hide out in there and get some good reading time in before i catch that he is not doing his homework } on saturday night he finished this book.

i have never read it [another classic to add to my list} I knew that he had been reading but i did not realize how close he was to the end. it was late, maybe after 10, on saturday and all the kids were showered and in bed. i thought that all were asleep. all were NOT asleep.

i walked down the hallway and the boy's door was open. brigham was sitting on his dresser using the light from the hallway to read by. i caught him and asked what he was doing. he started crying.

i didn't yell at him.

i had not asked that mean.

i was confused.

he just looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "this book is SO sad." Oh buddy - you melted my heart.

i asked him if he knew that it was going to be sad.

he told me, " yeah, this is the 2nd time that I read it but I promised myself that I wasn't going to cry this time. it is just SO sad though."

i just gave him a big hug and sent him off to the bathroom to collect himself.

he still has been talking about how great the book was and asked his teacher today if he could keep the book a little longer so his mom and dad could read it too.

5) emmelyne is catching her sister's bug of wanting to stay up and read.

she must have a little more self control than her sister and will put the book down when she knows that it is time to stop.

6) hudson continues to be fascinated with calvin and hobbes and now, much to my dismay, garfield comic books. he is a boy who will read in the dark of his room by the light of the hallway if necessary.

7) rexton is so happy being read to. he has a lot of great examples in this house to teach him how fun reading is. he still prefers Dora, Diego, Dr. Suess and anything with a dinosaur in it.

The Food Nanny

i know that i have been m.i.a.

the computer issues that we have been having have nearly drained the life out of me.

at the computer desk i sit at right now there are 2 laptops {sick with issues}, 1 monitor, 2 desktop towers and an external hard drive.

it is like a computer graveyard over here.

since i have not had good access to my pictures i have put off posting.

well i am just going to get creative and post anyway.

this weekend was general conference for our church.

one of my 2 favorite weekends of the year.

{ the other one is when they have it again in October}

hudson calls it "pajama church" because we do not have to get dressed up to go to church and he gets to stay in his pajamas.

he even prayed for it to be "general conference this sunday"

getting dressed for church and going is not on his top list of things to do.

it is a lot better than it was.

he has cowboy boots that he gets to wear for church and that has helped ease the pain.

anyway.....in between sessions on Saturday , Rachelle called me to have me watch a program that was being shown called the Food Nanny.

my girls and i watched the 30 minute show together.

it was a lot of fun.

she had some great ideas about dinner, family time, streamlining recipes and food preparation.

she has a book.

it is ironic that i had just seen her book sometime in that last week on someone's blog but i did not pay much attention to it then.

you can watch an episode of her show on byutu.com or check out her website at thefoodnanny.com

on monday, brooklyn and i went thru her website and what we saw on the show and set up our next 2 weeks worth of meals.

brooklyn is using it as one of the projects that she is doing for her personal progress for young womens.

she had a great time working on it using the food nanny's method and shopping plan.

i am thrilled because the next 2 weeks worth of meals are on our calender and i do not have to think about it.

i almost always plan my menu a week at a time but rarely 2 weeks.

i am not as cool as my friend Shannon who has a whole month planned at any given moment. AMAZING!

here is the plan that we followed:

Monday - comfort food

Tuesday - Italian night

Wednesday - meatless/fish/breakfast for dinner

Thursday - Mexican

Friday - pizza

Saturday - grill

Sunday - family traditions

not that anyone is probably overly interested but here is the menu that brooklyn put together for our family for the next 2 weeks.

Monday - we had a special Sader dinner for FHE that we did not get to do on Sat

Tuesday - Chicken Fetucchini Alfredo, green salad, brocolli

Wednesday - Tuna casserole, pears {my family LOVES this - i just had a big salad that night}

Thursday - Alan's Taco Salad {had to go and rebuy my chips because my little boys got into the tortilla chips and ate them in my bed while they watched their "quiet time" movie! I was one unhappy mama when I got into bed last night!}

Friday - BBQ Chicken Pizza/Pepperoni Pizza {we are trying out the Food Nanny's whole wheat pizza dough recipe - we shall see}

Saturday - BBQ Tri tip with grilled red onions

Sunday - Honey Baked Ham {the real kind! - using a gift certificate that we got at Christmas whoo hoo}

Monday - Roasted chicken, red potatoes, green salad and applesauce

Tuesday - Spaghetti, green salad, canned pears

Wednesday - Puff Pancake with strawberries and whipped cream

Thursday - Gordita Crunch, mexican rice {brooklyn is trying to recreate something that she ate at Taco Bell - i am excited that she wants to try new things}

Friday - Homemade Pepperoni pizza

Saturday - {Emmelyne's birthday so she got to choose}

Homemade Swedish meatballs, Rice, Green Beans, Pears and Frozen Lemon Pie

Sunday - Hawaiian Haystacks

things that i have really liked about this so far: i do not have to think about dinner, i was able to shop for 2 weeks {minus the perishable stuff}, yesterday when I would have been preparing dinner I was able to make 4 loaves of whole wheat bread and honey butter, i am making some recipes that i have not made in a while, and my 13 year old is learning some homemaking skills that will benefit her for a lifetime.

final valentine's thoughts

for the last few years i have bought the fun dips for my kid's valentine's.
they are so fun and they only get them once a year.
i had to laugh because the example valentine on the front "mike and brenda" is the same name as some of our old friends.
what is even more strange is that i saw mike 3 days ofter i bought these.
i had not seen mike in months and months.
he said they bought a box too because they just could not resist.

i have fun childhood memories with fun dips.
i am not sure how old i was.
my cousin jennifer and i walked down {were driven???? - cloudy memory} to this little liquor/candy store.
we picked out fun dips and candy cigarettes.
naughty girls.
when you put the candy cigarette in your mouth and blew on it a chalky smoke came out.
then you were left with this nasty white gum.
i can not believe that my police officer uncle would let us get it.
i can laugh now.
i probably would not laugh if my kids did it though.




after hudson finished addressing all of his valentine's he had to make one for his best friend.
no - not hobbes {he was next on the list}
rexton.
rexy enjoyed the beautiful green tongue and mouth that it gave him.
he also stripped his bed and brought me his sheets to wash because it had green sprinkles on it.
he know better than to eat candy on his bed.
but he is three.
i am just proud of him that he wanted his bed stripped.
it gave him a good excuse to sleep with his brother that night until i could get everything washed.



on valentine's day we had a great breakfast with just our little family.
waffles with strawberries, fresh whipped cream, homemade maple syrup, bacon and orange juice
we had a great morning together.
when we got back from church we found that we had been "heart attacked"
we had hearts hanging from our trees and bird feeder.
our outside lights and a pathway down our hall.
there was a plate of cookies on everyone's bed.
it was a really fun surprise.
thanks grandma and grandpa.

as a side note...ALL 7 plates of cookies were gone in 24 hours.
i had 2 total.
{cookies NOT plates}
my kids and husband are closet cookie monsters.
also...no i do not let hudson wear his hat to church.
he put it on in the car afterwards.

New Do

we having been playing with hair lately.
we knew that emmelyne's braiding days were coming to an end.
we did one final fun hair do for valentine's day.
you probably can not tell that the braids make a heart shape in the back of her head.
it was fun for the final braiding of the year.

it has been a little over 2 years since she last cut off her beautiful locks.
this time it was a whopping 13 inches that came off.
about 11 of that went to the Locks of Love program.
when she first did it when she was 6 she called it "Lots of Love"
that works too.



here is the final product.
a cute a line bob.
it will take some getting used to.
we have already been coming up with some new hair dos that she can do for school.
besides the constant snarls, extra conditioner and crocodile tears.....long hair was easy.
i see a lot of cute clips and headbands in her future.

more Valentine's ideas

i have tried a lot of sugar cookie recipes.
not because i do not have a great one.
but more because mine is not best rolled out and shaped.
mine is best rolled into balls and pressed with a cookie stamp.

i always get excited when people tell me that they have the best sugar cookie recipe.
i give it a try.
it always dissapoints.
ALWAYS.
i always come back to my original recipe.
it is my husband's favorite cookie -even beating out cowboy cookies.

i made these giant heart sugar cookies for a valentine's party.
i signed up to decorate a table and this was the "little" treat I put at each place setting.
i needed to do it on the CHEAP.

here were the results:



pink constuction paper placemats that I wrote conversation starters all around the border. i was not sure who would be sitting at our table and I wanted to be prepared = FREE
plates from Target = $1.50
package of balloons = $1.00
feather boa {leftover from my girl's dance costumes} = FREE
bag of conversation hearts to fill vase = $1.00
red globets {from home} = free
real silverware {from home} = free

not bad for under $5.00

now you can enjoy Joann's sugar cookies too.

4 cups plus 2 TBSP flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup of softened butter
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla {use mexican vanilla if you have it}
1 cup of vegetable oil {i said they were good - not healthy}

Mix together. Roll into balls and roll in white sugar. use a cookie press or the bottom of a glass to press down. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. You do not want these to really brown. They will BARELY start to brown when you need to take them out.

you do not need to chill.

honestly, if you think that you have THAT one amazing rolled out sugar cookie recipe - i am up to trying it out.
for now i will happily continue to make these.