Blog Tag

My friend Kris tagged me, so here goes

What was I doing 10 years ago?

September 1997...10 years ago I was...enjoying my first year at BYU. Making lots of new friends, dealing with difficult roommates, having a blast with the fun roommates, not doing as much homework as I should. I lived at Cinnamon Tree Apartments #13 :)

What was I doing 5 years ago?

September 2002...5 years ago... we had just recently moved to Indiana. Dave and I had been marriedalmost three years. Kyler was about 1 and a half, and Tayden was a new baby. I was either serving at church in the Primary as the Secretary, or as a Relief Society Teacher, Im not positive of the timing. I was struggling with being a new Mom, and Dave was enjoying his job at Wabash. We lived in an apartment. My friend Stephanie Mcmillan was my lifesaver. Her son, Todd, was a little younger than Kyler and she invited us over to play frequently.

What was I doing 1 year ago?

We were just about to move into the house we currently live in. Ady was about to turn 2, Kyler was in half day kindergarden. I was babysitting (and not liking it). Everything else was about the same.

What was I doing yesterday?
Ady and I went to Gymnastics. Then we had playgroup, which only turned out to be one family. So we had them stay for lunch. Ady loves playing with her friend, Morgan, so it was a nice day. After playgroup I did several scrapbook pages. Now that I finally have things set up to do them, I have started on the kids books. My brain only lets me go chronilogically, so Tayden is eagerly waiting for me to finish Kyler's so I can start on his. I am really excited to be started. Now that the boys are in school I have time for things like that. :)

5 Places I would Rather Be

Seattle,

The Mall,

On a vacation anywhere

nowhere, I am actually really happy right now with our house and where we are in life

5 Treats I Love
Blondies

Brownies

Chocolate Raspberry Creams from See's Candy

Homemade bread, rolls, muffins

Ice Cream

What would I do with a Million Dollars
Pay off Student loans, etc

Invest

Buy a new couch

5 Favorite TV Shows
The Office

Ugly Betty

What Not to Wear

Late Show with David Letterman

ER

My Most Memorable Things Right Now
Kyler Learned to tie his shoes!! Ady has memorized the First 2 articles of faith! (The boys have too) I am getting excited for the cool weather and fall clothes. Holidays. I am getting excited about all the fun songs we are learning in Primary and for the Primary program ( I am the Primary Chorister at church)

5 People I am Tagging:
Consider yourself tagged if you want

French Twists

Yesterday Ady wanted her hair up so we wore French Twists.  She looks so cute :)

And Ady took pictures of me, too

Gymnasts

Kyler showing off his Hand Stand

Tayden Doing some sort of Pose

Gymnastics

    Ady and I started a Mommy and Me gymnastics class last week. She loved it. We get to go play and tumble for 45 minutes every Thursday morning. There were lots of little ones with their mommies and Ady did really well. She loved the Balance beam and the Obstacle course the best. I liked the stretching and just being with Ady.

    The boys are also taking gymnastics. Tayden on Mondays after school and Kyler on Wednesday evenings. They are both enjoying it as well. Each of them are the only boy in their class. Oh well. I don't see gymnastics as being only for girls. I haven't been able to watch either of their classes yet. The parents can only watch on two specified Observation days. Kyler took a gymnastic class last spring and did really well, so I am sure he is doing well in this class too. I wasnt as sure about Tayden liking it, but he really wanted to do it. He loves his gymnastics shirt we got for him. He wants to wear it all the time :) I will have to take some pictures of the boys too and add them later.

The Flying Squirrel

Dave perfecting his skills at a Labor Day

get together with my family

Chocolate Crumble

    Last night I was in the mood for something chocolaty and I had an idea. It turned out wonderful!! I call it chocolate crumble. Here is the recipe:

    Chocolate filling:

                1 package (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

                1/4 cup stick butter

                1/2 cup whipping cream (I used soy milk)

    Heat Chocolate chips and butter in a 2-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted evenly. Remove from heat and add milk or cream. Mix thoroughly. Let it cool while you prepare the crust.

    Crumb crust:

                2 cups flour ( I use whole wheat flour)

                2 cups oats

                1 1/3 cup brown sugar

                1/2 tsp. baking powder

                1 cup butter

    Combine flour, oats, brown sugar and baking soda. Mix thouroughly. Chop butter into small pieces. Mix with dry ingredients until thouroughly combined. Pour half of th mixture into an ungreased 13X9 pan and pat down. Spread chocolate filling over the top, then cover with remaining crumb mixture. Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

    Allow to cool for about 20 minutes if you want to serve it warm with ice cream or whipped cream. It will be really crumbly. Or you can cool it for several hours and eat is as bars. It stays together well once it is cooled.

Tamales!

We made tamales solo for the first time. About a month ago my friend Vicki taught us how to make them. They were so delicious that I decided to make them to take to a family get together tomorrow.

Up until now, I have been completely intimidated by shopping for, touching, and preparing meat. But having seen it done once by the master cook herself, Vicki, I decided I could give it a go. So on Thursday I actually felt confident shopping for the meat and I brought it home feeling proud of myself. Usually Dave buys and prepares all the meat we eat at our house (except hamburger or processed meats of course)

So Yesterday I was ready to cook it all by myself. I wanted to do it without any help. I touched raw chicken!! It wasn't chicken breasts either, it was a whole chicken! I also touched raw pork roast. I opened the package and I was thrown for a loop when I realized that this roast had a bone in it! I decided that I could do it and I cut the meat away from the bone just as I had seen Dave do before.

After it was all cooked and ready to be shredded, I realized that Vicki must have spared me some of the chicken carcase joys when we did it the last time. I didn't remember seeing the vertebrae and all the cartilage before. I think she must have done all that last time. What a good friend :)

Well tamales are a 2 day process so this morning we did the wrapping and they are still cooking. Here are some of the pictures of the process.

[slideshow id=576460752312344440&w=426&h=320]