Update on the "Ladies"

Our chickies are doing really well. They are getting so big and are hitting that awkward teen stage where their baby feathers are falling out and their big girl feathers haven't quite come in yet. They look pretty funny right now. They are learning new things too, like how to roost on their roosting stick. They love scratching their bedding all over the place so we are having to vacuum often because it gets tracked all over the house. I will be glad when they are finally outside in their coop. We have gotten all of them to eat food out of our hands but certain ones are more curious and friendly than others. Jane would be our most standoffish chick. She doesn't like being held and has only eaten out of our hands a couple of times where as Chicky and Goldie come right up to us and don't put us much of a fuss about being held. Black Hole really likes being petted. I petted her to sleep today. All the chicks would rather be petted while in their brooder than be picked up. I took the chicks to Asher's preschool one day and then later in the week I took them to the elementary school to JJ and Hannah's classes. One of the kindergarten teachers that both JJ and Hannah had when they were in kindergarten saw me in the hall and asked if I would bring the chicks to her class too! The kids all seemed to really enjoy the chicks. JJ has been a real help with the chicks. I showed him how to clean out the water and food dishes and so he has kind of taken over that job which I think is great! He is really good to do it but usually has to be reminded to do it.

Boob Toob

Now that I have confessed my sins as a housekeeper I thought I might as well a blow the myth that I am some super woman who doesn't let my kids watch TV and does a million creative and time consuming things throughout the day. Ya, nobody was probably thinking that anyway. So me and the kids like watching TV, playing video games and all those nasty brain cell killing things. Because this blog is all about being real and honest about who we really are I thought that I would write about what we are into right now as far as entertainment and media.

So starting with JJ . . . He is really into Pokemon right now so he likes playing his various Pokemon games on his DS or on the Wii. He likes watching Pokemon cartoons too. As far as video games are concerned he also likes Wii Mario Cart and Sonic Colors. He will occasionally branch out to other stuff on the Wii like one of the Lego games that we love so much. If he is watching TV it is usually SpongeBob Squarepants although he love vintage Mario Bros. episodes on Netflix. Remember this?

Be very thankful if you don't remember it!

Hannah is our easy going, don't-rock-the-boat girl. She watches whatever anybody else has put on the TV. I don't think she even know how to use the remote. So she ends up watching a lot of Pokemon and Spongebob. If, however, you were to ask her what she would like to watch lately she would probably ask to watch a Jane Austen movie like Pride and Predjudice or Emma. She is loving the special connection that we share when we talk about and watch those movies together, just me and her. If she, by some strange chance, gets the Wii away from JJ she likes to play her Disney Princess game. She has finished the game multiple times over but she still like to go back and start the game over. She will play Mario Cart with JJ but gets frustrated by his super competitive spirit. She just wants to play for fun and he is out for the kill!

Asher spends probably too much time watching TV just because it is just me and him here most days and he gets bored. He loves Spongebob too but his favorite shows are shows about animals or dinosaurs. He is kind of growing out of his love of Diego but will still watch it whenever it comes on. He loves Dinosaur Train and Dino Dan and tell you quite a lot about dinosaurs because of that. He loves Zoboomafoo because it is about animals. He likes the Wiggles too just because they are so silly. Lately he has enjoyed Bubble Guppies and Team UmiZoomi both of which have a lot of science or math in them. Occasionally, when I can stand the torture, he will watch Yo Gabba Gabba. (I do love this music video from the show though)

Asher will occasionally ask to play the Wii and when he does it is usually his Go Diego Go Dinoaur Rescue game. He does pretty well but gets frustrated easily.

Lance doesn't spend a lot of time watching TV but when he does he enjoys watching stuff I have put on the DVR like Big Bang Theory and Parks and Recreation. Sometimes he will watch a show that he has saved on NetFlix instant download like Farscape or Stargate. If he plays Wii it will usually be Mario Cart with JJ or Lego Harry Potter with me.

So what am I into right now? Well, I was just waiting for you to ask! As far as TV is concerned I LOVE my DVR. It has allowed me to watch shows that I never would have been able to before because they are on during dinner time or when I am trying to get the kids to bed. I am loving these shows in no particular order:
Off the Map - combine Lost and ER and you get lots of fun adventure, humor and a tiny bit of romance thrown in.
Hawaii Five-0 - Ok so the story line has wholes in it that you could drive that cool Chevy car they drive in the show through but it is filmed on location in Hawaii so my mind gets a mini vacation and I get to stare at Alex O'Loughlin.
Parks and Recreation - LOVE this show! Maybe it has to do with the fact that Lance works for a government institution very similar to the one on the show but he and I just roll on the floor laughing every time we watch this. Amy Poeler is amazing.
Big Bang Theory - Lance and I came late to the game with this show but I think we have seen all the episodes in reruns. Lance and his brother are total nerds (there I said it!) so that may be one of the reasons we both love this show so much. (Yes, Vance has a Star Trek costume and has attended conventions)
Castle - This is Murder She wrote meets Moonlighting! LOVE, love, love it! Nothing better to take you away from your everyday life than a good murder mystery romance.
Outsourced - I first saw the movie that this show is based on through Netflix and I highly recommend checking it out. The TV show is even more funny and well written.
30 Rock - I just love Tina Fey - take her out of the show and it would just be another train wreck work show.
Glee - I adored the first season of Glee. And I still love most of the music that they pick. They actors are amazingly talented. However I have gotten very frustrated with the story line of late. I HATED the gay kiss in the most recent episode. Gag, not everybody wants to see that. I was not a fan of their alcohol episode or the sex episode either. I get that they are trying to push the envelope but the reason most people started watching the show is for the interesting story, quirky characters and amazing music - why can't they stick to what works and people enjoy? Why does it have to make a statement or cause a controversy? It is just TV for heaven's sake!

As far as games are concerned I am a BIG fan of the Lego games. I played Lego Star Wars until the end and I recently finished up Lego Harry Potter. I haven't started Lego Indiana Jones but I will and I am hoping to get the new Lego Star Wars the Clone Wars and I can't wait for the next 3 years of Harry Potter to come out too! These games have such a great sense of humor and I enjoy the story line type of game. I am also pretty excited that we just got Just Dance 2! It is a really fun dance game that I am hoping will help me to loose some weight! Who knows!

So that is what we are into right now. I would love to hear comments about your favorite shows or opinions on mine.

Molly Homemaker

Ok so as anyone who has been to my house knows, I am not a stellar housekeeper. There are several reasons for this fact. Number one - I find housework boring and frustrating. Number two it just ends up having to be done again in a matter a minutes, hours or days. Number three, some of it I just don't know how to do properly because I never had to as a kid. (my mom was a clean freak who liked things done HER way) Number four, there are literally millions of other things that I would rather do (like writing on this blog). One of the things that I have a like/loathe relationship with is cooking. I am not some 5 star chef but I am capable of following a recipe and making the occasional tweak here and there. I think I would probably enjoy cooking more if I didn't always have such a mess to deal with after it is done. The fact that our house isn't a pigsty can be at least partially be credited to Lance - he is jumps right in and does what needs to be done with out complaint. I know I am really lucky to have guy like him and I appreciate that fact every single day. I do enjoy trying new recipes as long as they have normal every-day ingredients and not to many steps. Yesterday I tried a new chili recipe that we all liked. I tweaked the recipe a little to make it fit what I had on hand. A little side note - can I say how much I LOVE ward recipe books. They are the only recipe books I use anymore. They have normal ingredients and generally easy to follow instructions. I have about 5 of them from various ward I have been in or have known someone in. One of these books is the most used wedding present that Lance and I ever got. The chili recipe that I tried comes from that book and is credited to Cindy Harding whose daughters are friends of mine. I am going to write the recipe how I tweaked it - the main difference is that Cindy used dry beans- I just don't have the time for them so I used canned.

Best Ever Chili
1 can kidney beans
1 can white beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can pork and beans
2 small cans of tomato sauce (16 oz all together)
1 1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup minced onion
1 small bay leaf
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 qt tomatoes
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup celery
1 cup green pepper
1 Tb chili powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tb Worcestershire sauce
2 lbs ground beef

Brown ground beef. Put all ingredients into crockpot and set to 4 hours. The beans don't need to be drained. The longer it cooks the thicker the chili gets.

It was pretty darn good with a sprinkle of cheese and a dollop of sour cream on top. I served it with corn bread too. Perfect for a not so springy first day of Spring.

What's up right now

So I am trying to make a greater effort to blog - I forgot how useful the blog can be when I go back and try to scrapbook things. I haven't written about what we have been up to so far this year and we have been doing a lot of fun stuff. JJ and Hannah are preparing for their Spring Choir Concert that will be coming up in a few weeks. It is hard to get them up early to go to Choir on Wednesdays but we take turns carpooling with some friends so that helps. JJ especially is excited about the songs they are singing this spring. They are doing fun songs from several different eras. He especially likes Rockin' Robin and Celebrate Good Times.

Hannah has recently finished up being in the play Sleeping Beauty at the Lehi Arts Council. She LOVED it and can't wait to be involved in future plays. She told me that she loves it even more than her dance class. It's probably because it involves all the things she loves: drama, singing and dance. I am probably biased but I thought she was really good in the play. It was an awesome experience all around for her. In the picture below she is on the bottom row in black holding up her certificate next to the girl in green. She was Blather, one of Maleficent's goons.

JJ has been involved in Jr. Jazz at the Legacy Center and has gone from knowing next to nothing about basketball to doing pretty well at the game. He is good at doing assists and defense. He even got a couple of baskets. It has been good for him to practice being a team player. He ended up on a team with a boy from his school class that he has had some problems with in the past. That boy's dad was the coach. I was a little worried at first but they boys buried the hatchet and it made a big difference in how the dealt with each other in school too.


Lately every time we have had a windy storm the power has gone out. One of these times we were just sitting down to dinner so we had to eat dinner by candlelight. The kids thought it was kinda fun!

I can't remember if I mentioned before but JJ got glasses. His eyes were pretty bad so he wears them all the time now. It has been a change but I think he likes the glasses and the ability to see so he hasn't complained a bit.


This year's blue and gold scout banquet was a different than in years past. We (mainly me) have missed our old ward so much. It makes going to these type of ward activities hard but we do our best to try and fit in.

Besides these few activities we have done lots of other things individually and as a family. Hannah is still in dance class and is gearing up for the spring recital. Lance is involved with Elder's Quorum stuff because he is in the presidency. Asher and I try to take one day a week to go and do some sort of activity while the other kids are in school. Today we went to Cabela's. We have also been to the Aquarium, Thanksgiving Point Farm, Gardner Village, the Bean Museum and the Dinosaur Museum during the last few months. We finally got Asher's speech tested at the school only to find out that he is 2 points away from being able to receive help. The speech teacher advised another year of preschool even though he will be 5 this summer and then we will see how he is doing the following year in Kindergarten. We were lucky enough to get him enrolled in Eaglecrest elementary's preschool program like we did with Hannah so next year should be a great experience for him. It's a weight off my mind to have that all figured out. We are all doing our best to help him learn how to pronounce words correctly with out making him feel bad.
So that is what has been happening the last little while!

Cluck cluck

We are having great fun with our new chicks! I have been doing some internet researching to find out more about each breed that we got. I thought it would be fun to document some of the interesting facts and their growth here.

We have a new member of our brood - Buttercup. My mom decided to hop of the "chick wagon" and went to IFA to buy a chick to add to our chicks. IFA had no idea what breed the chicks were so I went online and figured out that the one my mom bought is a rare breed called a Sicilian Buttercup. All of the chickens of the breed in the US can be traced back to the original group of eggs that were brought over from Sicily in 1835. She isn't a variety I would gone out of my way to get because she will only lay about 2 eggs a week and they will be small but she is a unusual looking chick and should grow into a beautiful bird that we could possibly use as a "show bird". I am a bit concerned that everything I have read says they are not very cold hardy but we will just have to do our best to keep her warm next winter. This is what she looks like now and what she will eventually look like:


JJ's chick is a Plymouth Barred Rock. My mother told me that she had this kind of chicken when she was growing up. This chick is currently the tallest of the group. This is Black Hole now and what she will look like when she full grown:

Asher's chick is called a Black Star. These are breed so that the male and female eggs are different colors for easy sorting. This chick is one of the friendliest so far. Here is what she looks like now and what she will eventually grow to look like:


My chick is Jane and she is as feisty as her namesake! She is a Silver Laced Wyandotte - one of the websites I read said " The hens look as if they're ladies dressed for a fancy ball!" So I think her name fits her to a T! This is what she looks like now and what she will grow up to look like:


Next we have Goldie, Hannah's chick. Goldie is a Buff Orpington. Hannah's chick is one of the most friendly of the group and will come right up to the opening of the brooder even when the door is open. She seems to have such a sweet easy going personality - just like our Hannah! This is what she looks like now and what she will look like later:


Lance's chick is an Australorp - it is a breed that originated in Australia. It's feathers will have green and purple tints in the sun. Lance named it Roc after a mythical bird. This is what she looks like now and later:


The kids check on the chicks multiple times throughout the day. They really love them already. I am really hoping that they all survive and thrive for us. I never thought I would be able to have my own flock of chickens but it has been a dream for me since I was in elementary school. It is my hope that we can learn from this experience not only how to care for chickens but to be more self sufficient and "green" by composting and using the all the byproducts provided by the chickens!

12 Years and counting

Yesterday was mine and Lance's 12th anniversary. It is strange to look back and realize that 12 years ago we were just starting out on this amazing journey and our three kids were just a hope and a glimmer in our eyes. So much has changed and so much has stayed the same. We now call Lehi home and spend our days and weeks doing household chores, working and taking care of three rambunctious kids. Something that hasn't changed is how much we enjoy being together just talking and laughing. We are still each others best friend. I am so grateful that I get to take this eternal journey with Lance.

March 11, 1999

March 12, 2011
We celebrated our anniversary by going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant in the Gateway and going to Laser U2 at the Clarke Planetarium. Even though it rained we had a good time just being together.

We added a few new members to our household today! As Lance said - we are now outnumbered by our pets. Meet our "Ladies"!


JJ's chick is named Black Hole. He is planning to train it to spit fire and fly him to school and back.

Lance initially wanted to call his chick Nuggets but since it is black he has yet to come up with a name. I am sure that when he does it will be a doozie. I must say that although Lance has not been thrilled in the least that I wanted to do this he has helped and never said a outright no. He has made his distaste for this plan known but has helped along the way to make it happen because he knows how much I have wanted this for such a long time.

My chick is named Jane (for Jane Austen - for I am sure that she had chickens and would be honored that I named one my chicks after her - "the First Lady of Chick Lit"!


Asher's chick is named Chickey, imagine that! Literal as always Asher is quite proud of his little black chick with a white bum!


Hannah's chick already exhibits some of her same personality traits like staring off into space when it's dinner time and snuggling with anyone who is close by. Her name is Goldie.