My princesses

I have been asking Elaina for a couple of weeks what she wants to be for Halloween. She always answers ‘a princess’. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to change her mind (as is common). Yesterday I remembered a dress that Mother had adjusted for Emma a few years back. I thought it might work for Elaina. She tried it on and the bodice was too tight. As fate would have it, that is the part of the dress that Mother had adjusted for Emma earlier. I got a wild hair today and pulled out the sewing machine. I don’t often trust myself with that thing. I really enjoy it for simple straight lines, but I am NO seamstress! Mother is the one with the sewing talent. Even Mike has better sewing skills than I do. Anyway, I figured “what do I have to lose” and used a seam ripper and undid one side of the fabric Mother had sewed into the bodice. Thankfully she had used a bigger piece of fabric than necessary and I just undid one side and sewed it back up using the outer edge of the extra piece. I had Elaina try the dress on this afternoon, and it fits just right. She is in love.

Emma tried on her dress from last year and has decided to re-use it as well. Last year she was a witch, this year she wants to be a gothic princess. They are really excited.

I’m just glad that I was brave enough to try fixing it on my own and that it worked! Not bad for a couple of thrift shop dresses!

Pizza pockets

Tonight for dinner I made pizza pockets.  I got a bit of sticker shock while looking to buy the girls some 'Hot Pockets' for school lunches. These taste great and are basically free since I already have everything on hand.  :)

I haven’t made these in a long time. I made up some wheat pizza dough. Then I made up some pockets. I made them like mini pizzas then folded them in half, sealed the edges and cooked them.  We had pepperoni, broccoli chicken, and bbq chicken. My personal favorite was the bbq chicken. Just bbq sauce with cooked chicken and cheese all rolled up to burnt perfection. Actually, I didn’t burn any this time. Maybe next time. haha

Am I dreaming?

Taking Jake to seminary has been enjoyable. I can’t believe I just said that. I must be delirious from the lack of sleep.
As is habit, Elaina went with me yesterday to pick up Jake from seminary. It’s the best way to get her up and moving. On the way, she turned on the light and read to me. It was wonderful. She has really taken to reading. This morning, she woke up early to go with me to take him. I was shocked, but alright with it. She read me a book before we left. Jake got a bit annoyed, but I thought it was great. He likes to be a little early to seminary, and we weren’t as early this morning, but we were still on time. Then after we got home and had Emma and Josh awake, Elaina started making her lunch. To say I was shocked is an understatement. She was so excited. She told me “I want to make my lunch every morning”. I let her know that would be great with me. I still can’t believe it. I am not foolish enough to think this will happen two days in a row, but man how I enjoyed this morning!

How was your morning?

This morning is one of the mornings in which I look longingly toward the time I am in a nursing home or better still… the psychiatric ward. I look forward to the time when all I have to do is be taken care of. I don’t see it happening, but it’s a nice dream.


I was lucky enough to listen to the 1st session of conference yesterday with the girls yelling, crying, and hitting each other. You can’t imagine what an uplifting meeting that was. Then for the 2nd session, Elaina was still at it, only this time she was doing it all with Josh. Needless to say I didn’t hear much of conference. I will have to read it when we get the Ensign. 

Then this morning, I was lucky enough to get a sore throat from the screaming I got to do. I am truly blessed to have kids who love hearing my voice strained beyond capacity. My first opportunity came when Elaina didn’t want to wake up. I tried the gentle coaxing, lights on, singing (to annoy her), and all kinds of other things.  She wouldn't budge. 

Then came the morning showers. My how I hate shower time in the morning! Apparently I am the only one who thinks 30 minutes is way too long for a morning shower, especially when you only have an hour to shower, eat, make lunches, get dressed, brush your hair and style it, and when Mike is gone, go pick up Jake from seminary (which takes 15 minutes each way).  Then get to school on time.

I have also been trying to get Elaina better at helping with her lunches in the morning. She is determined to let me continue to make her lunches while she sits and whines about what I put in her lunch bag. I figure it isn’t that hard to help with a lunch, but I am apparently mistaken. It is truly difficult. The effort it requires is too much for my darling 1st grader. Never mind that most of the lunch items are pre-packaged or easily obtained. Oh what a foolish thing for me to ask of her!

This was just a typical morning. Yeah!

Let me apologize in advance for the many posts you might be receiving from me. Mike left this morning and since he isn’t good at e-mail or phone calls while in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, I will be writing more on the blog. He is supposed to try to email more, but I doubt it happens. He gets very busy and doesn’t often have a good internet connection. He did mention, as we dropped him off at the airport this morning, that he would be reading the blog to keep up with us here. So, sorry if you get blog overload from me. I can’t guarantee that I will make lots of posts, but in case I do, you have been warned.


Today I tried a new recipe. I wasn’t impressed and Jake was the only other one to eat any. It had good qualities, but it was just too sweet for my taste. It also had too much parmesan cheese for my liking. I am going to play with the recipe and see if I can get it more to my liking. Here is the recipe if you want it as it is. You might be able to play with it and get it to your liking. It has great potential.

This is what it looked like. Not too pretty, but it has potential like I said.  I put the leftovers in a freezer bag so Mike can try it when he gets back.

This is what Josh, Emma and Elaina ate.  Noodles with parmesan cheese.  They were happy with it. They had to have "fancy" plates as well.   haha

Guess what we did

Today I decided to try this recipe for homemade corn dogs that I found in blog land. I made a hasty grocery list (for the week) and then Emma and I were off. We found some turkey hot dogs on sale. We got these 24 hot dogs for $2.99. What a steal, right?

Then once we came home and I started putting everything together. Mike got started on the fry daddy. He cleaned that thing better than it has been cleaned in a long time. Actually, I think it’s been at least 6 months since we last used that thing. We usually make Mike’s sweet and sour chicken in it. I will have to post that recipe sometime, but not today. Mike said he was just avoiding packing for his trip tomorrow, but I like to imagine that he just wanted to help me. I know. I live in a dream world, but it helps me stay happy.


First I mixed the batter. 

Mike got the oil to heating and dried off the hot dogs and rolled them in flour. We used some skewers that we had for the sticks.  We cut them in half and it worked perfectly. 

Then we dropped them in the oil 2 or 3 at a time (yes, I know this only shows one in there.  It was the first one, then I got busy).

Here are some finished dogs. They puff up just like the ones you buy in the store. The main difference is that I paid $2.99 for the hot dogs, and 1. 29 for the buttermilk.  The rest I had on hand, so in total 16 corn dogs cost me $4.28.  A bit cheaper than buying a box at the store.  Especially when next time I'll only have to buy hot dogs and have the other stuff on hand.  :)

I made up some broccoli cheddar rice and corn for sides.

Jake had a friend over. Everyone except Elaina loved them. I didn’t expect her to like them. She doesn’t even like store bought corn dogs. She peels the breading then eats the hot dogs.

I also made some rice crispy treats with candy corn. The kids enjoyed them. 

Here is the recipe if you want it. 

3 Tbsp butter or margarine

4 cups miniature marshmallows

6 cups Rice Krispies

1/2 bag of candy corn

In a microwave-safe bowl heat butter and marshmallows on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes (Mine only took 2 minutes today).  Stir until smooth.  Add cereal and candy corn.  Spread out in a jelly roll pan.  I usually spray my hands with spray oil then push it flat.  Cut and enjoy!  :) 

The firemen came today

Today the firemen came and visited the 1st grade. Normally this wouldn’t be cause for alarm, right? The problem is that Elaina is in the 1st grade. She has never fully (oh who am I kidding- she’s never started) recovered from her first visit to Chuck E Cheese’s when she was about 3. I will never forget when on a visit with Grandma, we took the kids to Mr. Cheese’s. All 85 of my kids were playing games, winning tickets, and having fun. Then without warning, Chuck had to walk out in his bigger- than- any- rat- should- be glory. Elaina bolted under the table and wouldn’t budge. I figured she’d eventually come out, so we watched the other kids playing and occasionally checked on Elaina. An hour later, when it was time to leave, I noticed she was still under the table. I threatened leaving her, but she still wouldn’t budge. She had connected herself to the pole holding up the table. I tried to reason with her, but she still wouldn’t move. Finally I tried to manually separate her from the pole. I had no idea that a little kid could be so strong. Maybe I’m just weaker than I think I am, but I could barely pull her off the pole. I would get one arm detached and the other would re-attach. What a horrible time that was. Eventually she got free, but it left a lasting impression on her. She cannot handle seeing human sized puppets. She freaks out. Today was no exception. Her teacher was in the receiving line after school to let me know that she had an extra appendage while the firemen were visiting. I think we may be making headway, though. Apparently Elaina was able to “stare at the ‘big dog’ before the fireman put his head on.” Haha