Fun With Food - Pancakes

TURTLE

SQUARE

FROG

OCTOPUS

ANGEL FISH

BUTTERFLY

ELEPHANT

Not as easy as they look.  Jared was unavailable for his usual Saturday morning pancake breakfast so I had to fill-in.  To combat the crushing dissapointment for my kids I took requests and amazed even myself.

Updating?

So I've tried to update lately and Blogger says something about errors and lack of access and then the long post I composed goes away.  I tried again with similar success.  So now I'm writing in to say I did update, it just didn't work.  I've had internet problems; we switched providers over that.  I've had computer problems (that funny whirring noise is getting worse) so I've backed everything up and Jared is looking into a new computer for me (this one is 10-ish years old, in computer years that's like 1,000).  So it could be one thing or a combination.  We'll see if this one posts.

Glade's 25th Birthday

I made the Calvin and Hobbes cake.

Andrew, Krista, Jessica, April, Glade, Kylie

Linguistic Humor by Jack Winter

Linguistic humor, How I met my wife

Source: Jack Winter. 1994. How I met my wife. New Yorker, July 25.
It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts
to appear gruntled and consolate.

I was furling my wieldy umbrella for the coat check when I saw her standing alone in a corner.
She was a descript person, a woman in a state of total array. Her hair was kempt, her clothing
shevelled, [or should that be hevelled?—BES] and she moved in a gainly way.

I wanted desperately to meet her, but I knew I'd have to make bones about it, since I was
travelling cognito. Beknownst to me, the hostess, whom I could see both hide and hair of, was
very proper, so it would be skin off my nose if anything bad happened. And even though I had
only swerving loyalty to her, my manners couldn't be peccable. Only toward and heard-of
behavior would do.

Fortunately, the embarrassment that my maculate appearance might cause was evitable. There
were two ways about it, but the chances that someone as flappable as I would be ept enough to
become persona grata or a sung hero were slim. I was, after all, something to sneeze at,
someone you could easily hold a candle to, someone who usually aroused bridled passion.

So I decided not to risk it. But then, all at once, for some apparent reason, she looked in my
direction and smiled in a way that I could make heads or tails of.

I was plussed. It was concerting to see that she was communicado, and it nerved me that she
was interested in a pareil like me, sight seen. Normally, I had a domitable spirit, but, being
corrigible, I felt capacitated—as if there were something I was great shakes at—and forgot that
I had succeeded in situations like this only a told number of times. So, after a terminable delay,
I acted with mitigated gall and made my way through the ruly crowd with strong givings.

Nevertheless, since this was all new hat to me and I had no time to prepare a promptu speech, I
was petuous. Wanting to make only called-for remarks, I started talking about the hors
d'oeuvres, trying to abuse her of the notion that I was sipid, and perhaps even bunk a few
myths about myself.

She responded well, and I was mayed that she considered me a savory character who was up to
some good. She told me who she was. "What a perfect nomer," I said, advertently. The
conversation became more and more choate, and we spoke at length to much avail. But I was
defatigable, so I had to leave at a godly hour. I asked if she wanted to come with me. To my
delight, she was committal. We left the party together and have been together ever since. I have
given her my love, and she has requited it.

Krista aka Professor Trelawney

Here's what we were going for.  Oh my heck, did we nail it or what?!

Here's Krista, on her way to the Harry Potter premiere last night.  She read all the books and got perfect attendance last year so Jared and I decided it was okay to let her go, even though I still think the movies deserve the PG-13 rating and she's only 10.  My sister, Lynn, helped with the costume and it turned out great.  All we needed was a crystal ball and those are a bit hard to come by.

A closer view of the hair.  She's making the crazy "I see death," face but she's trying really hard not to laugh while she does it so it's funny.

This is the front view of her hair the afternoon before.  She's got really fine, straight hair so getting it to 'Trelawny up' took a bit of work.

Here's the back view of her hair.  All of the little twists have various products gooped into them and then they are clipped into place.  It took probably half an hour to put them all up as I'm not usually that fancy of a mom.

Are you eating graham crackers you found in the trash?

Yes, that's what I just said.
I was talking to my almost 11 month old.
The worst part?
I'm more concerned about the diaper rash she gets from eating graham crackers than the way she obtained them.
Babies this size dump trash cans (and every other container they can find) it's what they do.
My sister calls them "little feral children" and hints at the possible lack of balanced nutrition that leads them to dump trash cans and sift through them for semi-edibles.
Yeah, well, at my sister's house the baby tends to dump pet dishes and eat cat food.
Does that prove or disprove my point?
I'm not sure.
Did I have a point?

2011 Daly Family Reunion Pictures

  

I love a good family reunion!



Catching bubbles with my tongue.



Loving the bubbles.

Having a Charlie's Angels water gun moment.



Uncle Glade! (all the way from China!!) and Krista.



Amy and her kids next to a statue of Francis Webster, a famous ancestor, in Cedar City, UT.

Kylie doing the Eskimo Blanket.

Krista doing the Eskimo Blanket.



They always have great food at these things, you should try this!



A few weeks without internet

My internet has been down for two weeks.  I am typing this at my parent's house.

I have been amazed to find how much more I get done without internet and how crazy it makes me to not be connected.  I have worked on projects, and cleaned and organized more of my house than I usually get done in a week.  I want to have my internet back even though it apparently slows me down in some aspects of my life.  Jared and I have both called Prime Time Communications pretty much every day and they keep telling us it will be fixed very soon.

We were able to enjoy a wedding and family reunion last week with cousins and friends.  Lots of fun.  I'll have to post pictures later.

My research and indexing are getting rather behind since I am only able to work on them on Sunday afternoons at the FHC/Library while Jared keeps the kids busy.

What wagon? There was a wagon?

I fell off the diet wagon.
There was a wedding and a reunion and a BBQ and an all-you-care-to-eat buffet and...

So I'm back to trying to eat better.  I bought fresh fruits and veggies and put the glass of water back where it will be the first thing I see when I open the fridge looking for a snack.  I really am just thirsty most of the time, not actually hungry.  This is a desert I live in after all.

I'm eating either the Quaker granola cereal or a Nutri Grain bar for breakfast.  The Quaker stuff I can get at Costco and it's pretty good, holds up well in milk, and the kids like it as well.  The Nutri Grain bars are something I once loved but I think I'm over them.  Lunch and dinner just take a little more planning to be a bit healthier and to control portion-wise.

I'll try to remember to put updates of how I'm doing on here.  Public humiliation is a huge motivator.

A Wedding of Payne

My cousin's daughter got married today and it was so much fun to see so many family members.  The reception was really lovely.  We had some "cousin overflow" at our house so my kids got a rare chance to have a major sleepover event with cousins their own age.  I loved getting to spend time with family and it was great to catch up with some of my family that have moved away over the years.

Jessica, April, Krista, Kylie, Andrew - The Party-goers

Abby, Hanna, Jane - The (girl) Cousins

Tom, Mindy - The Lovebirds
Somehow I caught them just as they were gazing adoringly at each other.  They are the bride's uncle and aunt but somehow I never got a picture of the bride and groom.  They stayed at my house with their four kids.  So much fun to see them again, we hung out a lot in the BYU days.

Lynda, Sue, Ardis, Sandi, Carrie - The Ladies



Lynda, Sue, Ardis, Sandi - The "Marching" Aunts



Jessica - The Grass Eater

So, congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Ron & Emily Breinholt!  Thanks for getting married so we could have a fun party and get the family together.

Glutton for punishment?

My mommy question of the day/week/month/lifetime/eternity is:

If Jared isn't ready for us to be done having babies am I okay with having just one more?

Mommy Monday - Creepy Crawlies

Jessica turned 10 months old on the 14th and decided to give up the "army crawl" for the slightly more elevated "regular crawl".  She also figured out how to get up on her knees and pull herself up while kneeling.  Next she'll be pulling herself up to stand.  I lowered the crib mattress to celebrate.  She claps, waves, gives hi-fives, and does the ET finger touch thing; we're working on fetch and shake hands.

Andrew was not thrilled to find out that a boy swimsuit does not look like a girl swimsuit.  The kids wanted to run in the sprinklers on a (rare so far this year) warm day last week.  When I got out his new trunks he wanted to know what I had done with the other piece for the top.  Poor only boy with four sisters...

April is currently a hypochondriac.  Any bump, scratch, red mark, or irritation on her skin requires immediate attention and a bandaid.  She goes through 3-5 bandaids a day at least.  She uses first-aid ointment the way other people use lotion.  The real irony is she is also in an anti-bathing/hand washing phase so she's probably fighting the wrong battle.

Kylie has her own room now.  It has helped the household dynamics so much that I am considering helping her find her own apartment next.  Just kidding, mostly.

Krista would probably rather I not mention her in this posting; it's embarrassing.  How I got so uncool so fast I'm not really sure...

Happy Laundry

I had to share this.
I was washing a batch of towels so I could carry one around (It's Douglas Adams Day) and after the machine finished I opened it up to find an amusing surprise.

Yes, that's a smiley face refrigerator magnet.  No idea how it got in there (well, I've got five kids so some idea...) but it looked so cheerful after taking a ride in the washing machine so I grabbed my camera to share the happiness.

Not just ANY rock, a blue rock.

I have been put in charge of the Bear Den for our Cub Scouts.
First activity I'm in charge of is
Nature Crafts, Elective 12, 10 kinds of rocks, collect them and label them and display them.
I don't know beans about rocks.
Kylie, my seven year-old, has collected a lot of pretty rocks over the years and we have given her some polished stones to really perk up her collection.
Here are some great sites I've found to help me figure out what rocks we have.
We've got one blue and white swirly rock that I still have no clue what it is, it's pretty but I can't use it without a name.

http://rocktumbler.com/polished-stones/

http://geology.about.com/library/bl/blrockident_tables.htm

We are also doing the seeds but I can do those.  The other activity is the five kinds of shells, I'm working on that one...

Jewelry A Friend Makes

A friend of mine is running a jewelry shop out of her home.  She makes lovely things and does parties locally so if you are interested I can give you her contact information so you can go see her "store" and set up a party if you want to.  Her name is Adelle Hickman and she lives here in Orem.  She is a lovely person and I wanted to post the things I've purchased as well as some things she gave me as a gift.   I'm pretty reserved in my jewelry so the things I chose are very simple compared to some of the incredible sets she has handcrafted.  She does custom work and has a large selection with lots of variety.  She is a sweet grandma and her sales are completely no-pressure, it's something she just loves to do since her kids are all grown.

The three fairy necklaces in the middle she made for my girls, they got to pick the fairy and the color of the beads.  Prices for things vary depending on the cost of the materials used to make them but I don't think I saw anything marked more than around $40 and most things were half that.

Black Pearl

These beads look like denim.  Love it!

This color of green matches my eyes.

April Turns Four



April Brand New



Her Presents

Her Balloon

Frosting Her Cake

The Finished Cake



Still A Bit Behind

I count four heads in this picture.

The crack in the cement is where they all live.

The only snake who was too small to leap out of the bucket.

Here are the pictures from last week.  We caught and petted a few more snakes on Saturday.  After this "census of live snakes" my mom would like a few removed from the property.  Anyone want a pet snake?

*****

I just gave away our baby swing.  Jessica is big enough that she can touch her toes to the floor and reach out and grab the front bar of the swing bringing herself to an abrupt stop and yanking on her arm.   I was actually selling a small nightstand on Craigslist and the young couple who came to look at it were obviously expecting a baby soon.  I had the thought 'they could use the swing more than I can' and I asked them if they would like it; they were very happy to take it. [ Glade says - Never Suppress A Generous Thought! ]  I got the swing for free almost eleven years ago from some friends who were upgrading to a different model, and it has been well used by my family as well; so I just gave it to the couple.  I felt really good about my spontaneous decision, but as they drove away with it I felt kind of like I was losing a friend.  While I stood there questioning my sanity and the possibility of baby stuff hoarding issues I really had to do some fast internal dialogue analysis.  I am handling the challenges of five kids.  I love all of my kids and I have years of work raising them still to come.  When I picture my future I see myself getting this bunch through many years of growth and development with good values and high standards.  I do not want to be pregnant or have a baby EVER again.  It's an amazing experience but it's such a huge trade off in the sacrifice of being horribly ill and pregnant then being a nursing mom who is constantly on call to provide the twenty-four hour nutrition service of a demanding baby.  It adds up to about twenty-two months of major commitment.  I could cut it back to six months of nursing and switch to bottles but I have chosen not to, and it's rewarding and demanding and wonderful and a challenge and bonding and bondage...  Anyway, it's not that I want my life back because this is my life, it's a good life and it's the one I have chosen, it's just that I want my life to move forward.  I'm always striving to improve and make myself a better person, this is what I feel is the purpose of life.  My kids have done amazing things for me in how I have grown and progressed in the journey and they continue to do so every day.  With five children I feel I have reached my potential, actually I felt that way with four children and Jessica is sort of an encore or bonus round.  I'm good, time to go on to the next stage.  That baby swing is just such a tangible symbol of the baby years.  From Krista on, it has quieted my fussy infants and reassured me with the soft mechanical whir of a battery powered motor.  Like the Toy Story 3 toys, it's moving on to love and sooth new children rather than head for an indefinite stay in some kind of storage limbo.  "I have been chosen! Farewell my friends! I go on to a better place!"