There can be Miracles...

Photographic evidence that there are modern day miracles...

Four children. Asleep. Simultaneously. Midday. Miracle.

Boo-yah!

How to Break a Daddy's Heart

I asked permission first. It was bregudgingly given by a daddy who loves long hair on his little ladies. Off to the salon we went. 10 minutes later, Elle walked out looking so much fresher and fuller. The missing chunk in the back mischeiviously taken by three year old hands and stolen scissors no longer conspiciously contrasted with the rest of her longer length. It is darling and so perfect for summer!

11 minutes later this one started whining that she "wasn't pretty anymore".

All day I lovingly strived to convince her that she was absolutely beautiful, whether she had hair like Rapunzel or Daddy Warbucks. No dice. That night we asked for Daddy's permission again. I was secretly hoping he would say "no" like he had every other time she had asked to lose her locks. He didn't. The next day, with paternal permission in tow we stopped at the same salon on our way out of town for the Memorial holiday.

I expected her dad to be the one weeping over the loss, but it was me that choked back a few tears as my "little" girl got her first big girl haircut. One would think I would be sobbing with joy after all the struggles we have had in front of the bathroom mirror each morning before church and school. But this was just one more piece of evidence that my babies are growing up too fast.

She loves it. "Pretty" has once again been restored to her universe.

It's growing on me. It really is a lot of fun to style. And so easy and quick to wash and do!

Daddy was shocked but gracious as he asked her if she liked it first. Once confirmed that she did, he concurred. Ever the gentle father.

The consolation prize...Thanks to Locks of Love, somewhere out there in the world, someone will be wearing Jeigh's hair in a wig. The hair lives on.

Note to Self: Little Boxes

Self. Learn how to play the guitar. Then learn how to play this. Then learn the lyrics. Then teach them to your children. Then teach children how to harmonize. Then sit around the campfire singing it.



That is all.

A Girl and Her Sippy: A Love Story in Pictures

A Happy to Be Gluten Free Recipe: BBQ Chicken Salad

I suppose it's cheating to post this recipe on the blog, but I have no shame...I'm posting it anyway. This recipe is hardly new or inventive or complex. It's as simple as it gets, but it's healthy, easy, gluten free, and dairy free. It just doesn't get any better than that at our house!

BBQ Chicken Salad
chicken breasts
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
lettuce
canned black beans
canned corn
tomatoes
olives
onions
cheese
tortilla chips
Ranch salad dressing
more BBQ sauce
sour cream
avocado
WHATEVER you like on your salad!

In the morning, throw a few chicken breasts in the crock pot along with some Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (gluten free!). Set on low and fuh-get-about-it.

As dinner time approaches, set all your salad toppings in bowls on the table. Rinse the beans and corn after opening and draining the cans. Chop up the tomatoes, grate the cheese, mix up the sour cream. You get the idea.

After sitting in the crock pot all day the chicken is tender and flavorful. Stir it around to shred it up.

Bring it to the table and dinner is served. Everyone can make their salad to their own liking.

Personally, I like to skip the cheese, olives, and sour cream (more calories than I need by dinnertime). Instead I mix together a little BBQ sauce and Ranch in a small bowl and spread it over my salad. It makes a great salad dressing.  (Obviously those who are dairy free need to skip the Ranch and cheese.) I also crush tortilla chips over the top to give it a little extra crunch. Lots of tomatoes and black beans for me and my tummy is happy. As is my daily calorie allowance too.

Jar Love #47: Homemade Sugar Scrub for Mothers' Day Gifts

When I was looking for Mothers' Day gift ideas a couple of weeks ago, my love of jars may or may not have influenced my search results.

Homemade sugar scrub...? In canning jars...??

Yes. Please. And thank you!

The truth: I know knew very little about what exactly one does with sugar scrub. (Do you eat it or wash walls with it?) But after a bit of research I discovered sugar scrub (and even more so HOMEMADE sugar scrub) is all the rage for those poor, cracked, scaly, summer-ravaged feet and hands out there. It claims to exfoliate and rejuvinate even the most abused skin. Ahhh! And I've been suffering in silence all this time.

So I figured I would give it a go. I found a recipe for homemade lemon sugar scrub. Now to find all the "gourmet" ingredients...

Sugar. As in regular, plain, old, ordinary, baking, table, cereal sugar. Check.
EVOO. Extra virgin olive oil. Check.
Lemon juice. Bottled. Check.
Essential oils. Screeeech!

After a tad more research I discovered essential oils can be obtained at your local natural/health food store. One quick "Kids! To the van!" later...I had some essential oils in my hot little hand. Lavender. Mmmm.

Back home and about 2.41 minutes later I had my own resealable jar full of homemade lemon sugar scrub. Fresh, fragrant, and fully capable of exfoliating all that yucky skin off my hands and feet. I tried it out on my scaly legs too and it worked beautifully! Smooth, satiny, and rejuvinated with lemon and lavender!

Side note: Someone mentioned that sugar scrub was good to shave with. I don't know if I was doing something wrong or if I'm just a wimp, but after one swipe with the razor...I have come to the conclusion that you should indeed NOT shave with sugar scrub. OUCH!

Armpit note: Scrub is not to be used on your face either. Facial skin is much too delicate.

After making my own jar of scrub I was hooked. The world must know of the goodness of homemade sugar scrub! I went on to make a couple of quadrupled batches in my big popcorn bowl. My childen kept begging for a taste as I giddily stirred my sugar, EVOO, lemon juice, and essential oils concoctions.

25 eight ounce canning jars later...

...I had Mothers' Day gifts for the moms of the primary children of our ward, thank yous for Teacher Appreciation Week, and more Mothers' Day gifts for our own moms, grandmas, and friends.

The beauty of homemade sugar scrub (besides the obvious eye appeal of it sitting on the counter in a clear canning jar) is how easy it is to make, adjust, and personalize. Don't like lemon or lavender? No problem! Try peppermint instead. Or vanilla. Or use brown sugar instead of white. Or switch out the EVOO for grapeseed oil. You really can't go wrong with this. There are tons of free recipes online for homemade sugar scrubs.

Once you have your jars filled, decorate and personalize your containers to your heart's desire. Again, if you're feeling creatively flat, go online for lots of decorating ideas. For my jars, I used a big circle paper punch to cut out circles of lemony yellow scrapbook paper. I applied it to the jar front and lid top with Modge Podge.

I figured there might be other people out there who are as clueless as I was about sugar scrubs so I added a label as well as a tag with the scrub ingredients, an explanation of what it was, how much to use, and to make sure to stir it up before each use.

I also wrote and attached a little poem to the Mothers' Day jars. I just couldn't let a good pun opportunity pass me by.

Recipe for Homemade Lemon Sugar Scrub (makes 12 oz with a bit to spare):
2.5 cups sugar
1 cup EVOO
4 TBSP lemon juice
several drops of essential oil

Combine ingredients in bowl. Mix thoroughly into a gritty paste. Pour into desired container. Seal tightly. Oil will separate as it sits; make sure to stir again before each use.

I know I'm a little late for Mothers' Day now, but this would make a great baby shower favor, an addition to a new mother basket, a thank you for the church ladies, or a "just because I was thinking of you" treat. And don't leave yourself out! Whip up a batch and spoil your own hands once in awhile. Especially after you've covered them in gardening grime, pasty paint, or crafting crud.

Dance Biscuits

Child #2, Jeigh, had her end of the year dance recital on Saturday. This girl is a born performer. She loves to dance and sing and be on the stage, whether the stage is in our living room or in the school auditorium. She may not be the best dancer or singer, but she shows no fear in her happy and carefree exhibitionism. I admire her bravery and hope she never loses it.

At her Saturday recital, her little dance group performed two numbers. We could see that her too-long dance pants were becoming rather troublesome during the first dance. As I kneeled in front of the stage recording the second dance, I could see she was becoming distressed with her pants. She kept stepping on the bottoms and almost de-pantsed herself several times. Her face showed her frustration and panic. I wanted to help her desperately, but there just wasn't anything to be done until the dance number was over and she was off the stage.

Finally, she looked down into the audience and saw me wearing my most reassuring grin. Her face lit up and she instantly forgot about her slouchy pants. What a proud mommy I was to see my little girl overcome her little trial and move forward with confidence. I couldn't help getting a little teary eyed as she finished her dance with flair. (I know, I know. I'm a big boob.)

The big parent payday came when she, the last one off the stage, shot me an "I love you" sign along with her most dazzling smile!  Golly, I love that girl! And I'm so grateful for her vivacious, loving, joyful spirit in our family!

Summer, of the 1998 Variety

Joe is coming home today! He's been out of town all week and I can't help but laugh at myself as I clean the house from top to bottom in preparation for his arrival. When we were dating, I used to spend hours getting myself pretty for him. Almost 9 years of marriage later and I spend hours getting the house pretty for him. Either way...I'm out a few hours.

I like to listen to Pandora when I'm cleaning. Today, I set it on the "Moves Like Jagger" station and bustled about wiping and vacuuming like a crazy woman. Usually this station plays peppy, Top 40, energy-inducing kind of songs. Today it took a different direction and escorted me on a trip back to Summer 1998.

That was quite the summer.

17 years old.
I worked at a boy scout summer camp.
This was the first time I was away from my parents for any kind of an extended amount of time.
It was also the first time I was around...*gulp*...boys. At least boys I wasn't related to.
I met a lot of really interesting people...(*gulp*...boys).
I grew out my bangs.
Lost 30 pounds.
Learned about "ska" music and eyeliner.
"Broke up" with my best friend over a lot of silly stuff.
Experienced my first kiss.
Endured my second kiss.
Listened to the "Romeo + Juliet" soundtrack over and over again until the CD skipped from being overplayed.

Summer 1998...
Now there's a story worth telling...

If I could just get over the awkward, the "soooo highschool", the embarrassment of doing and saying stupid things just for the sake of being young and stupid.

Happiness is...

...cheese quesadillas for lunch.

...anticipating the first visit from the Tooth Fairy!

...sharing a bowl of watermelon with your best buddy.

...feeling skinny.

...not being too busy to stop and watch the little things.

...a bucket and a baby.

...still thinking its cool to be "twinners" with your Mom/daughter.

...canning jars filled with homemade goodies.

...zzzzzzzzzzzz.

...the "shy one" being the bravest about the pony rides.



...3 year olds in pseudo hot pants and GoGo boots.



...thrift store treasures!

...being grounded from the Wii.