It must be the oatmeal

I dropped my bowl in the sink yesterday, and managed to break it almost perfectly in half.

The other explanation is aliens, and I don't like that one.

Also, this is my kitchen windowsill:

Yes, there is snow on the lawn outside. Yes, I know it is April.  And yes, that is an egg dipper from Easter.  It isn't put away because I don't know where to put it. But hey, the windowsill is clean.  That other little white thing?  Oh, some kind of bone- vertebrae, I think- that Jared washed off and saved.  I have no idea which animal lost it.  What do you mean, your windowsill has no vertebrae?!?  What kind of a house are you running, anyway?

If you're jealous of my vertebrae, I might be willing to lend it to you, just for a week or two.  But I'll definitely want it back.

Spring Break

Kids had spring break last week.  We drove down to St George after school got out on Friday, then spent Saturday with my SIL's family at Zion's National Park, hiking and playing in the stream there.  We all hiked the short hike to Weeping Rock (picture), then Jared, Walker, Scott, and I went on another hike to Hidden Canyon, and Emily and Morgen took care of the smaller kids.  We all had ice cream afterwards, and I believe Eliza's ice cream cone was equally distributed between her outsides and insides.

Sunday we went to church with them, then drove out to Los Angeles.  We were very lucky- all of Jared's traveling meant we were able to get a 2 bedroom suite with a complete kitchen and living area.  Boys got one room (with its own bathroom, thank goodness!), Morgen slept on the sofa sleeper in the living room, and Jared and I shared the other bedroom/bathroom.  All that space was wonderful!  Especially the part where we had 3 tvs, so there were no wars over what to watch :)

Monday we spent at the pool, doing nothing much (which drove Jared nuts, but he was very understanding and didn't run around the hotel screaming because he was bored...).
We also watched some tv, and bought groceries, and did laundry, and planned what we wanted to do for the rest of the week.

Tuesday was our Disneyland day.  It was quite crowded (which drove Jared nuts, but he didn't run around the park screaming either.  The man has a lot of patience and self-control.), but we managed to ride most of the roller-coasters.  Hyrum rode everything once, then decided he wasn't a fan of the Matterhorn, or Space Mountain, so he begged off of those rides, and I sat out with him.  We stayed until 11pm or so, then everyone was tired and we headed back to the hotel.

Wednesday we spent at the beach- Goff Cove in the Laguna Beach area.  We had a beautiful spot, lots of shade in the morning, and a bit even into the afternoon.  I sat in the shade and knit (and kept myself from crisping to a nicely done shade of red), while everyone else played in the water and sand.  Walker built a rampart of sand next to Jared's moat, then bet him as to which one would crumble under the tide first.  Walker's rampart won.  I do need to point out that his was also 18 inches further away from the tide line than Jared's.  Location is everything!
Thursday was also a beach day- somewhere in Corona del Mar, but since I wasn't driving, I didn't pay attention to the name of the beach.  Lots of cool tide pools, though, and plenty of sand and sun and surf.

Friday we went to the California Science Center in LA, which was free, and quite crowded, but still an interesting visit.  Then we stopped at a yarn shop (hooray!) where I spent about 15 minutes by myself.  This is where I got my souveniers :).  Jared took Hyrum and Morgen to the pool until dinner.  Walker slept (he is, after all, still growing), and I did laundry again. Whee.  Then we packed everything up and went to bed.

Saturday we drove all the way back to Midway, stopping for lunch/dinner at a Japanese buffet in St George.  I have to say that the driving went remarkably well, especially considering our vehicle- we had 5 people, plus luggage, crammed into a Ford Focus.  But we listened to audiobooks (the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan- excellent YA fiction) whenever we were in the car, and had an almost pleasant drive!

Here's the trip in knitting and yarn: all projects were begun and finished during spring break :)

Heartbreaking

My cousin in law's 18-year-old daughter passed away last week.  A clot traveled from her leg up to her lungs, cutting off the oxygen to her brain.  We went to her funeral yesterday.  My heart is breaking for her family.
 

Date Night

So, whenever the stars align, Jared and I go out on a date.  Last week we had a church thing on Saturday evening, so we went out for dinner afterwards:

Those shakes were awesome.  

I finished the knitting project you can see on the table- it's a hat:

And I'm trying to decide if the snow we had two days ago is a sign that I should not be planning my garden.  Actually, I think I'll ignore all the signs of continuing winter, and plan away.  I am really looking forward to fresh peas from our garden. :)

Speaking of gardens, this is what our starts look like now:

We had to scrap the science fair project because EVERYTHING grew.  And while that is awesome news for our gardening, it meant we had no results for the science fair.  Hyrum ended up testing a bunch of fruit to see which ones (besides the lemons) would be able to power a light.  

Jared spent most of last week in the basement, working on a project.  He's pretty happy with the results, and I'm pretty happy that he's finished with them, and able to come upstairs for more than bathroom breaks.

Tomorrow the kids have no school.  That should be interesting...

Supervising

Apparently, bread-making requires supervision.  H is providing this service for his dad.  Notice he has dressed up in honor of this: baseball cap, guitar (instead of a shovel), and a pillow in his shirt to make a cute little potbelly.

Oh, and the bread came out very well, thanks!

Shopping

So yesterday Jared went shopping ... for stuff.  Work-related stuff, which is always interesting because of its randomness.
When he got home, he unloaded the car and brought everything into the house.  No idea what was inside all the packages, but here is what paraded past me on the way from the garage to the basement:
* 3 square white boxes
* 1 cooler and a plastic shopping bag full of things
* a full suitcase
* 2 more coolers plus 2 full plastic shopping bags.
* 2 empty suitcases and an empty cooler.

I'm thinking about evacuating going away for the weekend.

Weekend getaway

First of all, big thanks go to my SIL and her husband: Melinda & Jon.  THANK YOU for keeping my kids from lighting anything on fire, or selling each other on ebay.  I am sure they were exciting to watch, and I thank you for returning them in pretty much the same shape in which they came to you.  That is not easy to achieve, and I appreciate it!

Secondly, Jared and I were lucky enough to spend the entire weekend (Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon) at a marriage seminar put on by the National Guard in Salt Lake City.  This is the only picture I have to document this weekend (sorry), because I was too busy enjoying my one-on-one time with my honey.

But, if you're interested, here's a brief recap of the weekend:
* I ate sushi for the first time.  Yes, that means I ate raw fish.  Mostly it was delicious.  Ooooh, and our personal sushi chef made us a dessert roll which was aMAZEing.  mmmmmmmmmm.
* We laughed a LOT in the marriage seminar.  It was a recorded event, so we weren't able to meet Mark Gungor in person.  He was excellent at using humour to teach important things, and I laughed so hard my face is still sore.
* Jared has a "nothing" box.  So when he's sitting there, and I ask him, "What are you thinking?" and he answers "Nothing," he is telling the truth.  :)
* I remember details because they are emotionally important to me.
* Jared and I both value peace a LOT, which explains both why we get along so well (we can understand each other because we speak the same "peace" language), and why we rarely fight (same priorities).
* Jared also values control, which is why he gets to drive whenever we're in the car together.  unless he's headed to the ER with a kidneystone, then I get to drive.
* I also value perfection, which is why I'm the one who organizes the linen closet, and supervises the kids' packing list whenever we travel.
* the Italian food we had for dinner Friday night was pretty good.  I do not, however, like tiramisu, probably because I don't care for the coffee flavor at all.
* the Chinese food we had for lunch on Sunday was not really Chinese.  It was a bad American interpretation of Chinese food.  And no fortune cookies :(
* I do not miss cable TV as much as I thought I did.  Amish Mafia, really?!?  I did like Duck Dynasty, but not enough to pay for cable.
* I really liked the bathroom cupboard in our suite.  It was similar to the Ikea Expedit shelving unit- dark black/brown color, 2x2 open squares on either side of the sink area, flat panel over the sink area, and a good way to store things without any doors to get in the way.
* We walked around SLC a few times.  We had a break before dinner Saturday, and also went after dinner.  There are some interesting panhandlers on the street.
* There is at least one real, live trout in the creek inside the City Center Mall.
* I love the stationary store Papyrus.  Also the chocolate from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is excellent.  mmmmmmmm.
* An occasional weekend getaway with my husband is an excellent marriage enhancer.  :)

Welcome, HPKCHC!

if you don't understand the header, it's okay. it's a knitting thing!  enjoy the recipes:

Krum Cakes - Special Hogsmeade Weekend Edition*

by Romilda Vane

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (45 g) rolled oats
• 1/4 cup (45 g) packed light-brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) finely chopped candied ginger
• 2 tablespoons (15 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons (25 g) sugar
• 2 teaspoons (10 mL) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) salt
• 1/2 cup (120 mL) nonfat buttermilk
• 1/2 cup (120 mL) unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) vegetable oil
• 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• Vegetable-oil cooking spray

Directions

1.       In a medium bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, ginger, flour, and melted butter, and stir until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

2.       Heat the oven to 350° F (175° C). Coat the muffin tins with cooking spray, and set aside. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, and salt in a large mixing bowl, and stir to combine. Place buttermilk, applesauce, and vegetable oil in a medium bowl, and whisk to combine. Stir into flour mixture until well combined. Fold in egg whites.

3.       Place 2 heaping tablespoons (10-12 mL) batter in each muffin tin. Sprinkle with a generous tablespoon (5-8 mL) of reserved topping; press gently to adhere topping to cake. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in pan for 15 minutes before serving.

*Source: Martha Stewart

Mother’s Love Muffins

by Romilda Vane

2 cups flour (199 grams)

1 teaspoon(tsp) (8.6 g) baking soda

¼ tsp salt (1.3 g)

1 cup brown sugar (192 g)

1 egg

1 cup milk (237 millilitres)

½ cup melted butter (118 ml)

1 tsp vanilla extract (5 ml)

muffin papers (or cooking spray to grease the muffin tin)

instructions:

Blend together the flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar with a fork.  Add the egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla.  Stir until everything is moist, but not completely dissolved into the liquid.  Grease the muffin tins or put in papers, then scoop batter into tin.  Sprinkle streusel topping onto batter.  Bake at 400° F (204° C) for 10-12 minutes.  Makes about 14 muffins.

streusel topping:

¼ cup flour (25 g)

¼ cup sugar (brown or white) (50 g)

1 tsp ground cinnamon (2.5 g)

¼ cup butter, cut into little pieces (57 g)

½ cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts) (58 g)

Using a fork (or a food processor) mix together everything but the nuts until it looks like flour-covered peas.  Add the nuts and stir 3 or 4 times.

Today is Awesome

I have this excellent and rather disgusting bruise:

Also, it is snowing :) which is good.

biting the dust

Well, I am posting more frequently than I did last year. Even if I'm not posting my daily picture daily, I am taking pictures.

I've been spinning:

Rather a lot, actually:

Those two bobbins contain 4 oz of fiber, give or take an ounce.  And now that it is spun, I'll be plying those together to make a 2-ply (get it?) yarn.  o_O (that is my excited face)

I also made, or assisted in making, arrows for the bow & arrow sets that Hyrum sold at his 4th grade rendezvous.  Don't worry- the bows are plastic sprinkler pipes (PVC), the bowstring is string, and the arrows are dowels tipped with pencil erasers, and fletched with feathers from one of the successful pheasant hunts last fall.  And Jared did the hard stuff.  I split the feathers, helped glue on the tips, and held the arrows steady while he glued on the fletching.  

In other exciting news, there are STICKS in my refrigerator and freezer!!!  Well, to be fair, they were only there for a few days.  And it was for science!

Hyrum's science fair project (prompted by his dad) was to take some cuttings and start them in sand or potting soil, with and without watering them daily (put the non-water-daily ones in plastic bags to retain moisture), either adding root hormone or not.
Currently the sticks are all in either sand or soil, sitting on top of some shelves on the dog kennel in my kitchen.

Fun fact: I have now driven all of my family (including myself) to the emergency room.  Not as fun as you'd think.

edited:  sorry em! here's the details you requested:

* the bows sold for 50 beaver bucks, and if you'd like to buy one, i'll tell jared when he gets home.
* yes, i'll share science fair results, once they're in.
* ER details: friday, i drove jared to the ER.  long story short: he passed a kidneystone there, and was fine.  i went in 2006 for stitches in my chin; W went in 2008 for stitches in his thumb; M went in 2012 for stitches in her arm; H went twice in 2006 for stitches in his forehead, then his chin; and myles (i guess i didn't drive him to the ER) went straight from the delivery room to intensive care.