My good kids!

My kids learned a lot by having their cousins stay

with us for a while. I have had very little arguement

with either of them. This morning, Kayden got

his school work done with only a little frustration.

When he was done, he disappeared, and I found

him sweeping the sand that the neighborhood kids

(mine included) have spread around. Then I found my

Kaitlyn cleaning the bathroom without being told!

What a way to a mother's heart!!! They are never

cuter than when they are looking for ways to help out!

Zucchini pasta

I have been waiting for my spaghetti squash to ripen in the garden. I love it!! I will top it with spaghetti sauce, or pesto, or mix with other fresh veggies, parmesan and italian dressing. Regular pasta is something I love that I should never touch...

I had an idea the other day based on Pizza Factory's low carb squash noodles. I took a large squash and cut it into manageable pieces then grated the flesh off leaving the seed core which I tossed.

Then all I did was saute the grated squash until it was soft. If you do that uncovered, there is less moisture that collects than if you cook it covered. Then I just treated it as if it was spaghettisquash! Yummy!!!

It worked!

I have had a small homemade 'no soliciting' sign on the door and it has always been ignored. I really struggle when it is the extremely pressuring ones selling cleaner, or magazines, or Living Scriptures. I feel bad, but I can't just but based on that fact. When I saw this magnet at Quilted Bear, I couldn't resist. The other day I happened to see one of these extremely determined types of sales people and quietly shut the door and waited for the knock...and it never came! In peeking out I saw them walk right by my door!! Phew...what a relief!!!

Wall removal Step 1

We have a plan to make our upstairs living area more open and useful. When our house was built in 1984, there was a different set of priorities. The rooms are rather small, closed in and...boring. It is hard to find ways to arrange things to my taste because there just aren't many options. We have a plan to open things up and make the kitchen bigger. We want to kick out a few walls and move the stairs, which would make it so we could push out the kitchen/living room wall and make the kitchen about 2-3 feet bigger. We have been talking about this plan for years. Now we are looking at making it a reality. We have to take it in steps and slowly for 2 reasons, 1)Money, 2)Shaun (and I) are starting school. Shaun seems to think we can start anyway.

Step 1--Remove the wall between the living room and the dining area. Before we do that, he will reinforce the beams in the attic to enforce support, even though the wall we will be removing is not a weight bearing wall. It will still be a few weeks before we actually do it because it is so hot in the attic. All I have to say is let me get my hands on a sledge hammer!

To be continued...

Making scriptures real for kids

I have been trying real hard to read the scriptures with my kids. However, I find I might as well be reading to them in another language. It really seems hard for them to glean the stories out of the formal archaec style that the scriptures are written in. So I went to the library and found a book of scripture stories...one positive thing about living in Utah. I have started reading that book out loud and so far they are enjoying it. After reading we try to discuss what we read and how we can apply it to our lives. We read about the brother of Jared today and how he and his family was led in the wilderness by the Lord, but they couldn't see him. They could only hear his voice. Kaitlyn wanted to know why Jesus can't let us see him, so we talked about faith on a level that she determined. It was a good reminder discussion for me. I need to constantly look for the hand of the Lord in my life. It is so easy to feel so alone, but if I look closely, it is plain that I am not alone!

Blogs are addicting

It's not like there is enough time in a day to do everything that I need/want to do. That was my Dad's favorite phrase growing up, "There's not enough time in the day to do all the wonderful things there are to do." Sometimes it feels more like a curse than anything!

I started exploring the world of blogs today. There is amazing stuff out there. If I want to figure out how to be creative, all I need to do is look at a few blogs and I've got it made. It makes my little blog feel so humble and boring. I want so bad to be creative, but it is a huge stumbling block. Sorry anyone out there who might be reading, if it is. I'm just getting going. But honestly, I am doing this for me. This is an outlet to share...Me with Myself.

I was really excited. A few years ago, I took the perfect picture of one of my pet rhodendron flowers, and I rediscovered it and it is just what I needed for my blog! Then I found the background with rhodendron leaves on it...it was meant to be!

Chore fun

It can be so hard to get my boy to help out, but the other day he did such a good job helping me mop the floor. I was really proud of the job he did and more importantly the attitude he had when he was doing it!