So...Food & Care

Find out how you can help the Food & Care Coalition in Utah County here.
Every little bit helps!

WSMGS Pick of the Week

"Again" by Lenny Kravitz
It reminds me of a time in my life when I made time for the people that mattered to me even if it didn't make sense.

So...recipe

My mom has been here to help with the baby and she has made some yummy food & treats for us. This one was too good not to share - and yes, I am eating it as I speak...or type....

Mandarin Orange Cake

cake:
2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
2 (11 oz.) cans madarin oranges

topping:
6 Tb. butter
1 c. brown sugar
6 Tb. milk
1 pkg. cook & serve vanilla pudding
1 pint whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 c. powdered sugar

Mix cake ingredients together until blended. Pour in greased 9x13 pan. Bake 35-40 min. at 350 degrees. While cake is still hot, poke holes with toothpick or fork every 1-2 inches. Mix butter, brown sugar, and milk in saucepan. Boil 2 minutes. Pour mixture evenly over the top of warm cake. Prepare vanilla pudding as directed. Spread over cake. Chill. Whip the whipping cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar together. Top chilled cake with whipped cream. Keep refrigerated.

**optional: sprinkle cake with extra can of oragnes, drained and/or toasted sliced almonds

This cake has more of a carmelly flavor than an orange flavor. It's so moist and SO YUMMY!
Enjoy!

So...quotable

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.

-Jack Handey

**thanks for sharing Dad :)

So...I'm back...kind of

So, sorry for the lack of posting recently,
but I have been a little busy...having a baby and what not.
Life has been a little crazy, and SO WONDERFUL, with this new baby girl here. Not sure how long it will take me to get back into the "normal" swing of things, but I'll post as often as I can.

It still is amazing to me that in a few hours I can go from this...

...to this...

Does it get any better than this?

So...another Utah Spring

I really am not much of a photographer and my camera is lousy, but these pictures were the best I could do. We woke up the other morning to snow, after a week of gorgeous, sunny, Spring weather. It was sad, but I knew it was coming. That's just how Spring goes in Utah.
I'm just glad that my tulips seem to be surviving the weather alright.

So...unexpected redecorating

...or I guess I should just say decorating since there wasn't much going on in this room to begin with...

I love tax returns.
We splurged a little this weekend and did some decorating in our bedroom. We have been putting this off since the beginning of our marriage because it just hasn't been a priority. I guess I still wouldn't call it a priority, but it sure was fun to get a few things to make a HUGE difference in our room. Before our bedroom was just a place where we slept. Now it's the favorite room in the house! We have been spending a lot of time in there this weekend with the family - watching movies, playing on the bed, pillow fights, wrestling, etc. It has been fun.

I wish I had some before pictures, but here are the after:

new dresser and curtains

We moved this TV from our family room into our bedroom. The only way to make it work was to buy a new dresser...darn! :)

new throw

My attempt to try and cover our blue chair that doesn't match anything but I can't part with because I've rocked/nursed all of my babies in it...

new headboard, black pillows, curtain rods, and curtains

another shot

I moved the cedar chest into our bedroom today. What do you think? With, or without?

I have to say, I'm pretty excited about these changes. The only things I want to do still is get new sheets (that aren't blue), hang a picture on the wall opposite the windows, and probably get a bedskirt. Someday we will probably do something about the nightstands and bookcase (not seen in any pictures), but for now I don't really care. They are functional and that works for me! Oh! And someday we plan to paint the walls - probably brown, but maybe a different shade of green....but probably brown. :)

And can I just say I love IKEA?!

So...almost done

As I was posting on my family blog about my end-of-pregnancy feelings, I felt the need to make one final list - the last-full-week-before-baby TO-DO list. I still have the playroom to clean this week to officially complete my goal of cleaning my house, but I don't have high-expectations for that room because it always is instantly a mess after I clean anything in there. So, in my mind, I've already reached my goal. Anything I accomplish in the playroom this week is just a bonus.

Last-full-week-before-baby TO-DO List:
- clean playroom almost done
- wash sheets/blanket in playroom done
- call Deluxe Carpet Cleaning and get carpets cleaned (yay!) done - coming Sat.
- stay on top of laundry & dishes
- plan menu
- grocery shopping done
- put things away in mudroom/junk basket
- prepare for Second Daughter's 2nd birthday almost done
- dog to groomer done - appt. on Tues.
- spend as much time as possible with Daughters

I'm getting excited thinking about this week. Baby could really be here anyday....

So...butterflies!

I purchased these adorable butterflies for the Daughters room this week and I think they turned out pretty cute.

They have a very interesting design. They are actually magnetic. They came with metal tacks that stick easily right into the wall, and then the butterflies stick onto the tacks. Kind of fun - they can actually come off the wall. If I was brave enough, I could have put them in a place that was within reach of the girls and had them double as a creative toy. Not sure that I'm ready to pick up butterflies all around my house though so I stuck to keeping them up high.

I'm excited about these! So CUTE - and I love the shadows that they make on the wall behind them. I guess you can't really see that in these pictures, but they are there - I promise :)

So...cleaning confessions

As you know, if you have looked at my blog in the past couple weeks, I have been on a quest to clean my entire house in the final 5 weeks of my pregnancy. So far it has been going great. I have done everything on my lists and I am right on schedule. Even though my house may not look that clean, I promise that almost every bit of it has been deeply cleaned at some point in the past month. (I'm finding it difficult to have more than one room clean at any given point) :)

I decided to do this because when I told Husband I wanted the house cleaned before baby came, he suggested we hire someone. The strong-minded woman inside of me refused and wanted to prove that I actually could clean my house, even if it took me 5 weeks. As I have told you, I am not a very good housekeeper.

As much as I am LOVING having my house clean, or at least part of it clean at a time :), I must confess. The real reason I am doing this much deep cleaning when I'm 8 1/2 months pregnant, is that I'm really hoping it will put me into labor. The clean house is just a bonus. :)

So...hump day

Today's cleaning list:
- clean bathtub done
- clean bathroom floor done
- clean humidifier done (this led to purchasing a new filter)
- clean out bathroom cupboard done

Am I really finishing my cleaning list on Wednesday?

So...today

Today's cleaning list:
- vacuum done
- clean toilet done
- clean sink/counter done
- clean mirror & windows done
- wipe floorboards/doors done
- wipe down crib & bunkbed done
- laundry: whites & bathroom towels done

Tomorrow's list:
- clean bathtub
- clean bathroom floor
- clean blinds/window sills done
- clean humidifier

So...today's list

I'm starting small... I'm kind of dragging today

Today's cleaning list:
- wash sheets done
- get trash/toys/books/bottles from under beds (First Daughter's job) done
- straighten closet (sounds like a bigger job than it really is) done
- put away toys (i.e. throw into play room) done
- take out trash done
- laundry: darks done

Tomorrow's list:
- vacuum
- clean toilet
- clean sink/counter
- clean mirror & windows
- wipe floorboards/doors
- wipe down crib & bunkbed
- laundry: whites & bathroom towels

So...welcome March!

I'm not sure that I've ever been more excited for March to be here :) That means that baby #3 is almost here (2 weeks and 1 day until due date!). I still have a few things to prepare before baby gets here, but overall I am very ready.

This week we are cleaning the main bathroom & kids' bedroom. Here's my list for the week:

Cleaning List:
- clean toilet
- clean bathtub
- clean bathroom floor
- clean bathroom counter
- wash kids' sheets
- get trash/toys/books/bottles from under beds
- clean blinds/window sills
- straighten closet
- put away toys
- wash mirror & windows
- wipe floorboards & doors
- clean humidifier
- vacuum
- laundry

This list is definitely do-able. I am losing motivation to do anything these days, but perhaps if I remember that doing these things might induce labor I can keep myself going :)