A Clean House

My parents are in Kirtland, Ohio for the summer, serving as missionaries for our church. I miss them. My mom didn't want to lose the woman who cleans her house, so she sent Rosario to clean my house. She arrived the other day, on a morning when I was feeling frustrated and overwhelmed, and discouraged with the state of my house. She spent 5 hours detail-cleaning my house (all those places I never have time to get too), while I did laundry, and took deep breaths. Ahhhh. Joy of joys! Thank you Mom!

I wish I could afford to have someone clean my house regularly. Maybe someday when we are rich.....

H2O Crisis

I never buy bottled water... we drink from our trusty Reverse Osmosis tap. However, yesterday while dragging Mary and Jack on numerous errands in the heat, they were complaining of thirst, and I had failed to bring a water bottle filled from the R.O. at home. Therefore, when we were at Sam's Club, and they saw the huge packages of bottles filled with luscious water, I decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep some of these on hand for certain occasions. So, I loaded a 32-count case of 16 oz. bottles into my cart.

I gave each of the kids a bottle, which they had drained by the time I loaded the loot in the car. When we got home, I put the remaining 30 bottles by the garage door until I could find a place for them. That was a mistake. I thought I would put them away before I went to bed last night, but I forgot.

This morning, while I was getting ready in my bedroom, Jack (who is normally very well-behaved, and does NOT have the destructive tendencies of some 3-year-old boys) was playing quietly in the other room. I thought I heard the back door open and close a time of two, and figured he was jumping on the trampoline.

When I came back in the living room I saw the back door open, and was a little irritated since the air conditioning was running. So, I went to close the door and gasped when I saw the backyard lawn. It was covered with empty 16 oz. water bottles. I found Jack in the kitchen looking sheepish. And there was the nearly empty case of water bottles... with exactly 4 remaining. After regaining my composure (and spanking Jack's bottom) I gave him a grocery bag and told him to clean it up. He filled 2 grocery bags with 26 water bottles and lids.

I'm never buying bottles of water again. Arrrggghhh!

The Craze... again

When we were first married (in 1997), I remember hearing about a new fad, Pokemon. Some of my neighbors had children who were really into it. When Collin was born, 2 years later, it was still big, and showed up on Collin's Birthday Keepsake as the latest kids craze. I continued to see and hear about Pokemon during the next year or so, but then it seemed to fizzle out as the next big fad hit the market. By the time Collin was speaking in complete sentences, it rarely heard mention of it. Fast forward to 2007.... A couple of months ago, Collin started talking about Pokemon. I had never heard him mention it before in his life. One of his cousins gave him a couple of Pokemon cards. Then a friend at school gave him a couple more. Then another cousin gave him a few, and within a week he had a small handful of cards. Every conversation regarding getting together with a friend now ends with, "And bring your Pokemon cards." What happened here? Did this thing spontaneously revive itself? I suppose it has been going strong all this time among the fanatics, but now it seems to be back into mainstream. Suddenly, Collin seems to eat, sleep and breathe Pokemon. How long will this last? He turned 8 last week. His friends gave him Pokemon cards, and more Pokemon cards... plus a binder to hold and sort them. He was beside himself with glee. Mom and Dad, on the other hand, gave him The Dangerous Book for Boys. And yes, he was excited about it. Collin loves this kind of thing. I think he always will. Certainly longer than he will love Pokemon.

It's Friday!

Jay finally returned last night from a three-day trip to Salt Lake City for a funeral. We missed him something fierce. (I'm sure glad he doesn't have to travel for work. I would go crazy.) The kids woke up early this morning and attacked him in bed. After spending one night at home, he is leaving this afternoon for Fathers-and-Sons outing with Collin and Jack, but at least that's only one night. (Though for Jay it will seem like an eternity because he hates camping.) Mary and I are going to have a girls-night-in while the boys are away. She is very excited.
My extremely talented sister-in-law featured me on her blog today. I'm kind of embarrassed. The questions were really hard to answer!

Charity

I went to the cemetery this afternoon to deliver the promised roses. Mary and Jack sang "I Am a Child of God" for Aunt Charity, and asked me to tell them what she was like as a little girl. I was glad to comply.Charity was a little "butterball".... a real roly poly. She had a little dimple on her nose that Debbie used to say was a swimming pool for tiny fairies. She was very shy, especially around men for some reason. She liked to play with dolls, and always wanted to be a mother, which she is.

Charity was born into a family of performers so she had no choice but to join us, but she never wanted to be the center of attention. She preferred to sit back and let others shine.

When she was a little girl, people always said she looked like a little angel. Well, she is an angel. She always had a strong testimony of the gospel. She knew what was right, and she did it.

Happy Birthday Charity. I love you.

On a roll

Holy cow this is cute! I want to make this so bad, but I'm thinking it might be too ambitious for me.

Super clever and cute though.
(Thank you, Skip To My Lou.)

Go Suns!

My Phoenix Suns just won game 2 against the Lakers in the Western Conference play-offs. Take that Kobe. And yesterday cutie-patootie Barbosa won the 6th Man Award. Now for Steve Nash to win MVP again.Go Suns!

I'm an idiot....

WARNING: Never use scissors for any purpose other than originally intended.

I'm ashamed to say I learned this lesson the hard way. On Thursday evening I was preparing dinner. Jay had just arrived home, but took an important call from work on his cell phone, and went to the bedroom for some privacy. I reached for the olive oil and realized the bottle was empty. I went to the pantry to retrieve a new bottle, and tried to open it. It was one of those lids with a twist off seal ring that snaps the first time you open it. Well, this particular seal was just spinning, and I couldn't get the lid off. I knew Jay (the ultimate fix-it-guy) would come up with a (safe) solution, but I didn't want to interrupt him. So, I foolishly took the task upon myself. I noticed a tiny gap in the perforated seal, and figured I could wedge a scissor tip in there and pry it off. I've done this kind of thing a hundred times, with success, so I guess I was due for a failure. I will spare you the gory details. (There was a bit of blood.) I will just say that I ended up at the local urgent care facility, and came home with stitches in my very sore hand, and an extremely stiff shoulder from a wicked tetanus shot.

Another Recipe

Well, I never meant for this to be a blog about food or recipes, but I can't help sharing good recipes when I come across them. (I guess it's because I spend a good part of my life cooking and baking for my family and other people.) So, here I go again.

I love (and often crave) the "Dan Dan Noodles" from Pei-Wei/P.F. Chang's. (My mouth is watering right now, and I'm not even hungry.) I found a recipe that claimed to replicate this delicious dish, and decided to give it a try. I had to adapt a little, but it turned out great. Jay thought it tasted just like the real thing. Here is how I adapted the recipe:

It calls for ground chicken. I don't own a meat grinder, and I wasn't about to go to the trouble of making a special request from the butcher. So, I just boiled a couple of chicken breasts and diced them really small. Plus, that gave me the chicken stock required for the recipe.

Also, I didn't have time to venture to an Asian market to find the soba noodles, so I substituted angel hair pasta (that's what I had in my pantry), and it was just as good. Instead of cooking wine, I used Rice Wine Vinegar, because I had some on hand. I did buy oyster sauce and chili paste, which are easy to come by in grocery stores in the Asian section, but I forgot to buy the bean sprouts to go on top. Jay didn't miss those, but I like the crunch they provide.

Here is the recipe as I made it:DAN DAN NOODLES
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 T. olive oil
3 green onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. chili paste (not chili sauce)
1/2 c. soy sauce
2 T. rice wine vinegar
1-2 T. oyster sauce
1 T. sugar
2 c. chicken stock
2-3 T. cornstarch
1 (16 oz.) pkg. angel hair pasta, cooked
1 large cucumber, julienned
Bean sprouts

Boil chicken in enough water to cover (you don't need to add salt because of the soy sauce) until tender (about 20 minutes), finely dice, and set aside. Combine soy sauce, chili paste, vinegar, oyster sauce, sugar, chicken stock, and cornstarch in a bowl; whisk until smooth; set aside. In a wok or large skillet, briefly saute onion and garlic in hot oil. Add liquid mixture; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Stir in chicken. Serve over cooked noodles, garnished with cucumbers and bean sprouts.

Eat Cake - Part 2

Well, here is another favorite cake recipe. It was given to me by a college roommate, and it's my dad's favorite.

Applesauce Spice Cake
2 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. butter, soft
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 c. applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Cream butter and sugar, then beat in eggs and applesauce. Stir in dry ingredients. Bake in greased 9 x 13" cake pan for about 45 minutes. (I've never done so, but I'm sure you could bake this in 2 rounds, though you would need to adjust the baking time.) Frost with "Grandma Frosting." (see recipe below)

Grandma Frosting
2 c. powdered sugar
6 T. butter, soft
1 (scant) T. flour
1 egg white
2 T. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. lemon extract

Beat until fluffy. Adjust milk and sugar to reach the desired consistently. (It shouldn't be too stiff.)

Eat Cake

I just finished a book I can recommend; "Eat Cake" by Jeanne Ray. It is a light-hearted, easy, enjoyable read.
There are a few minor "PG" references, but otherwise it's totally clean. You may borrow my copy if you like.

As for cake, here is one of my favorite (and most requested) recipes, so you can make and eat some cake of your own.

Poppy Seed Cake
3 eggs
2 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. milk
1 1/8 c. canola oil
1 1/2 T. poppy seeds
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 tsp. butter flavor
3 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix eggs, sugar, milk, oil, seeds and extracts. Add dry ingredients and combine. Pour into large bundt pan (filling only 2/3 full) and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Prepare glaze (recipe below) while the cake is baking. When baking is complete, remove and let cool 5 minutes, then invert onto cooling rack. Immediately pour on glaze, covering entire cake well. *HINT: Place a cookie sheet under the cooling rack while you pour glaze so that you can catch the excess that drips off the cake and add it back on.

GLAZE:
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. orange juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. butter flavor

Combine and stir until sugar dissolves.

What's Opera, Doc?

I'd like to think my 3-year-old is a genius. However, I have to admit that genius isn't the reason that Jack goes around singing Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen." Instead, I have to admit (with some shame) that it's because he has seen the Bugs Bunny episode, "What's Opera Doc"too many times. It's Jay's fault. But it is kind of funny. "Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit..."

Roses

I have always loved roses. I love to look at them, and I love to smell them.

We planted a lot of rose bushes in our yard, and right now they are all blooming like crazy.

I am especially happy to see my Charity roses doing so well. After my sister died, I planted this David Austin variety in her memory.

I love that I get to look out my window and see them and think of Charity. I miss her.

I will take some of these beauties to the cemetery on her birthday later this month.

Grandpa Jack

My Grandpa "Jack" was a special person. He never liked his given name... Harold Karren Thomas... so he went by "Jack" from the time he was a young boy. (He named himself after his beloved dog, Jack.) On paper, he was always officially "H.K. Thomas." I've always loved the way that looks. It's so dignified.

Grandpa Jack (my own Jack is so called in memory of him) was a scientist, and in my eyes, a genius. I recall many conversations with him during which he would try to expand my knowledge of science. I never seemed to really "get it," but I loved listening to him anyway. As much as he knew in mortality, I think he always looked forward to the day when he would know everything about the universe. I feel certain that day has come.

Shortly before Grandpa died, my cousin, Karren Louise Thomas, had the following experience which she (thankfully) recorded.

"Nine days ago we visited him in the general hospital and looked at his once 6'2", now shrunken frame in the simple metal cot/bed. Although he looked like he would break at a touch, his bright eyes (still keen and quick with wit) were sharp as he lay without movement.

My dad and his sister visited with him like old times, but all I could do was gaze at his hair (he'd dyed it brown for so long, I wasn't used to the long white waves that lay on his pillow).

Without a thought, I noticed the conversations around me had ended and my grandfather had opened his mouth to speak.

I couldn't tell..was he going to say something? With his eyes on the wall, was he just thinking? I began to think about what he must be pondering, contemplating there (with a weak body and strong mind).

He did open his mouth to speak:

"Life unfolds"

Without a thought I wrote it on the pages of the book I'd been reading and I heard nothing else.

As we left the hospital I opened my copy of "Franny and Zooey" and read the words again.

life unfolds

And it scares me, just sitting here, knowing that I will easily forget this and other things, other people, and go on through the new year, and the following years..and then suddenly remember, after it is open and unfolded, how it happened all the while I wasn't watching.

In Loving Memory of
Harold Karren Thomas
July 1910 - December 2001"

Thank you Karren.

Don't forget to watch.

Reading Recommendation

If you were so unfortunate as to have missed out on reading these books as a child, please don't let it happen to your own children.

(This is the version we own.)

The "Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle" books were always some of my favorites. I thought they were funny and interesting as a child. As a mother, I still find them so, but I also find additional delight in them now. When confronted with a difficult situation in my role as mother, I frequently ask myself, "What would my own mother do?" (She is a saint, you know.) And I also ask, "What would Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle do?" Between them, they have all the answers a parent needs.