Always Something to Tell

 

Our first produce from the garden

Kaitlyn's birthday wish: Camel Ride. :)

 Kansas City Royals Game!

 My daugher, the author

 Liza was cold and instead of getting her a sweatshirt, I put her in mine.

 Kaitlyn's first day of school!!!

It's taken a bit to get my act together and back in the groove of life.   We have so many fun and adventurous things going on and the best part is we've never left the city!  We're SOAKING it up here in Lees Summit.  We have been out on the lake skiing with friends a lot and the hubs was able to do it before work regularly until he pulled a muscle in his low back 3 weeks ago!  He rested well for 1 week but couldn't help getting out there again and re-injured it... bummer.  So I gave him a massage tonight and he's still taking meds and trying to stretch.  Poor guy!  He's never hurt his back before and it's a shocker to him.  He's gotten some good perspective on what my lower back is always feeling like though, so at least it's been educational. :) 
Hubs says he had his best birthday yet.  He didn't really want anything except some necessities so we didn't have a big plan for the b-day.  I figure my signature gift is always great food so we had corn-flake crunchy french toast for breakfast, taco salad for lunch, and RIBS for dinner with Apple pie... YUM!  A gift to us all.  But he did decide on a b-day present that day at Home Depot.  We purchased supplies and built a fire pit in the backyard.  It's AWESOME!  We've had a couple fires out there already and it's been so much fun with the weather so nice.  We all worked in the yard and trimmed the trees, weeded, built a fire pit and felt like it was really productive and fun.  We feel like we're playing house a little since we're renting so it makes the home chores fun.
Kiatlyn is LOVING school.  Her favorite part is being picked up at our driveway by the school bus.  Mr. Mel, the bus driver, is so nice and she gets a huge kick out of it.  She's slowly learning kids names at school and starting to re-regurgitate real info to me about what she's been doing.  We have a neighbor that comes over every morning for an hour and 1/2 to ride the bus with Kaitlyn because he mom's a teacher so we've been enjoying the friendship they have together.  Kaitlyn's so sweet and smart.  She loves to make story books about puppies and kittens.  She's currently working on Charlie the Cougar kitten's adventures... keep you posted.
Liza's... so Liza right now.  She's been a joy to have since Kaitlyn's been at school and loves the 1 on 1 time together.  She's a great helper and such a great companion during the day.  Once her sister comes home, she is all over the charts with emotions.  One moment she's sweet, the next she's destroying something or bullying.  It's a full time job just keeping them alive in the same room sometimes.  We're working on it with a sticker chart for being nice. :)  That said... I feel for you all because I feel like I'm watching myself when I see her sometimes.  Sorry about the sibling abuse that I'm positive went on thanks to me.  Let's just remember that Liza and I are have/had extreme sweetness to balance it out.
Mary's decided to start a dance class in the basement.  You heard me right.  We took the kids to a festival in town and there was a little dance company performing.  I was so excited to show them what that was like and excited to get Kaitlyn involved in dance.  BUT, they came out to perform and I was appalled to see the 3-5 yr old wearing skimpy 2 piece costumes and doing embarrassing dance moves to totally inappropriate music.  YIKES!!!  I was floored and realized that I'm not in Kansas anymore... errr, or I'm in Kansas now.   So Inspired by Emma and Caroline's recital at the church last Christmas, we're doing a 3-4 class and 5-6 class.   My basement is one huge room with linoleum tiles and we purchased mirrors for the length of a wall.  Wish me luck!  I've also figured out a playgroup with 10 other mom's each week that rotates and we get to socialize while the kids enjoy and a mom's morning out with a few mom's each week so I get 3 mornings to be productive each month. Good stuff.
In other news... I got another calling today.  Prepare yourselves.  Call it Karma, but I've been called as the Choir pianist.  Gasp!  I was petrified today at practice.  They called me before church and I was doing it after church with no practicing.  It's just what the dr. ordered I think.  Lots of humility and hard work ahead.   
So between our busting at the seems garden, fire-pit, forest trails, play dates, school schedule, zoo pass, boating, church, and loving each other, it's been a great time.  No luck on the baby-front yet so send the prayers and please come visit us.  It's a joy here, sheer joy.

Hello Missouri

We are officially Missourians. I have to say this our change from being IN residency to A resident is a beautiful - beautiful thing. We are renting a home for the year and I can't even begin to talk about the joy that I feel about private property. Nor am I able to talk about the concept of THE GARAGE without tearing up. Yes folks... I'm happy. Our dinner table looks over a lake, so Zach's happy. :) Kaitlyn has a rope swing, so she's happy. We now have a 3/4 acre lot and Liza is hyper aware of anything that crawls, flies, or creeps so she's... scared, but to soften the blow there is a slide, so she's also happy. I'll send pics of our smiling faces.

Dissertations and Dinners

Tomorrow is Zach's thesis dissertation. He took his boards last spring which was SOOOO nice to have completed and for him to not have to spend spare time in the basement studying. But he's still been working on his thesis which has taken it's fair share of time. So tomorrow is a REALLY exciting day for the both of us. The thesis defense is from 5-? It goes as late as it needs to but we're required to provide a meal. Well we decided to give them a taste of Utah and I'm making Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Salads. Not the easy coke/brown sugar recipe, but this is the 3 days of cooking variety. It's an incredible copycat recipe my friend Kristen led me to and it's ROCKING! I've finished the rice and meat and tomorrow is guacamole, beans, tortillas and all the extra prep. Every time I try the rice and meat my knees buckle and I throw my head back in joy.
It's really fun for me to be able to directly contribute to something... I know it's food but it's a huge love language of mine. Wish me luck on the rest of the recipe and getting it set up and still warm when they need to eat it. :) My incredible friend from church is making a lemon lime cheese cake for me... I could cry I'm so grateful. I'll give you an update when the marathon is over. :)

Houstin we have a problem...

I honestly can't keep up a current blog list. Last night while I was diligently adding to my list I accidentally canceled the entire gadget instead of just the address I was putting in. I am a fairly capable individual I'll have you know. But I have this incredible ability to make my blogging life more difficult. Sooooo, if your address isn't over there in the column and I know you... :) Can you please give me your site info because I'm determined to be a better communicator.

This is how we felt last night when the list was deleted. The crying came after the screaming...

I spent the last 45 min. finding some of you... but I'd like to have all of you... and I can't keep searching because the children have fed themselves breakfast and Kaitlyn even helped herself to her own vitamins. hummm... Let's hope the noise coming from upstairs is both of them putting on their clothes, brushing their teeth, braiding their own hair, learning to read and scrubbing my baseboards. :) I'm just going to keep thinking happy thoughts and get going.

I have Conquered Tofu!

So I'll have you know that I've had a long and at times painful relationship with tofu. We should be a match made in heaven, it's got everything I love in a food product. Tofu is nutritious and versatile and CHEAP! The trouble has been that in the past it's not been a great substitute for Chicken or Ground beef because of the texture and taste. WELL, I THINK I'VE GOT SOME GOOD TIPS I'VE FINALLY FIGURED OUT!

Tofu Tip #1: Don't cut the block of tofu! It will never feel like meat in your mouth if it's in perfect cubes. This has been my mistake from the beginning. Instead, either break it apart with your hands which makes it crumble or put it into a food processor and chop it up into bits. I'm a food processor fan.

Tofu Tip #2: Fry it with Onions. I've experienced fried tofu from others that tastes great, but I've never been able to achieve it. Throwing it in with minced onions insures it tastes like something!

Tofu Tip #3: Don't fry it too long! Tofu turns into hard plastic when it's left on the stove frying. Also the oil can't be too hot. This is all trial and error.

Tofu Tip #4: I like to use it in recipies that already have lots of flavor, specifically mexican dishes. Works great as a filler in Taco Soup, replace the chicken in Enchiladas, and last night we devoured it with taco salad. :) Hurray! You could also easily do the same with a teriaki sauce or curry and coconut milk.

Here's the Taco Salad Recipe:

I block of Tofu: Crumble or food processor
1/2 onion: chopped or food processor
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 package Taco seasoning
1/3 cup Salsa

Saute the onion and tofu together in the oil. When onions are cooked add the taco seasoning and let it combine for a couple minutes. Turn the stove off and mix in the salsa. Use it for the chicken or beef substitute in enchiladas, burritos, or salad.

I love London in the Fall

Life always keeps going on at a faster and faster pace. I noticed 2 posts ago (last year) I said I'd be a better updater... well that didn't work out. We've got so much to be grateful for it's good to stop and take a moment to write it down and record it.


Kaitlyn is nearly 4 1/2 and is growing like a weed these days. We do school together at home and she can read about 40 words. It's really rewarding to see her growing up and asking all kids of questions. Yesterday she said, "Daddy, will you be my prince? Every princess needs a prince." She changes out of her clothes about every other day and into a ballerina tutu and then dances around the house. She swims like a fish and is picking up a lot of speed on her bike.




Liza's turned 2 and speaks in sentences at 2 volumes: moderate and ear piercing. She cracks us up with her constant stream of thought which usually centers around Princesses and wanting to see neighbors, family, and dogs. She doesn't make a move without a purse on her arm and frequently gets her shoes on and her purse and tells me "Bye Mama! I going to the temple, it's Sunday." She's creature of habit and every night she asks me to sing "I love to see the temple" and "I am a Child of God". It melts my heart.


Zach has 5 months left in school! The end of a decade long process. We got married 6 months before he began dental school and we'll graduate a month after our 10 yr anniversary!!! This is a big year. He defends his thesis in a week and a half and I'm going to cook the dinner we have to provide to the panel.... :) I'm looking forward to it - I think. We're set on where we are going after school and after we settle some legal matters, we'll make a big announcement but we'll be returning to the States. We've LOVED living in Canada and we'll miss our friends here but it will be nice to get in closer proximity to family and friends and to not have to cross the border. :)





As for me... my parents just came to visit us last week after being released from a church mission. It was SO NICE to have them here and be around our kids and see how we do things. We really love having house guests and grandparent guests are the greatest. While Mom was here we finished a project I started when Zach's Mom was here... a quilt for Kaitlyn's bed. It's my first one attempted on my own, but as you can see, it required help to start and stop. So I can't say I can sew yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Psychoanalysis Session #1

FOOD = HAPPINESS. I don't mean in the normal way. I mean in a feed me or I'll scream sort of a way. And who wants to be screaming at the kidlets. It's just a hypoglycemic state that needs some balancing out. So in an effort to maintain "love at home" I need some suggestions on good snacks... MOM SNACKS. I feed the kids stuff all day but don't stop to munch something. So I'm looking for your best complex carb/protein packed/sugarless suggestions out there. My sugar levels appreciate your concern and comments. :)

Hola

This is just to say I'm alive and kicking! I'm turning over a new leaf in Blogging and plan to give some updates more often! It's so easy to just enjoy what's going on right in front of me and not write it down. I really want a record of all the awesome things that my cute kids and Zach and I are doing so I'm going to start up NOW.

We're off to an indoor waterpark in Niagara Falls tomorrow for our Spring Break. I think the kidlets are going to loose their minds when they see how incredible their life could be if we LIVED at a waterpark full-time. I know Kaitlyn would be all for it. :) I'll send updates of the event.

Happy 2010

Here's to starting FRESH in 2010. We had such a great Christmas break together. Kaitlyn learned Santa Clause is her friend and Liza developed a very serious fear of the man in red. This was our first time staying home for Christmas in 9 yrs. We of course missed seeing friends and family and the usual holiday traditions, but we made the most of it and relished not standing in lines at the airport, living out of a suitcase, and being scheduled to the hilt trying to fit everyone and everything in. We spent 2 1/2 weeks at home loving our little family here. We played games, slept in, ate great food, watched movies, and literally just loved being together. Good times and great memories. We will be going home next year for Christmas which also made this year that much better because we knew it was a rare occasion.

We got to actually participate in all of the ward and school Christmas parties. It was really fun to not miss out.

Happy New year! We got to go to a party at some friends house and it was the real deal. Kaite even stayed up the whole time. We watched, in true Canadian form, the US/Canada Hockey match to celebrate, there was tobogganing in the back yard (not sledding, eh), and really great food. Great times, good costumes, crazy kids.

Kaitlyn's first snow man. We named him Larry.

My 3 yr old is so big! We went to the ward for a Christmas day dinner the bishop put on for who ever wanted to come. It was fantastic and made our Christmas day feel official.

The spoils of Christmas morning

The only present Zach didn't take back was the fantastic breakfast. Cinnamon Rolls, Egg Casserole and fresh fruit. YUM, YUM, YUM. I live for food like this.

Christmas eve we went to another party with friends and it was the greatest. Santa even showed up. Liza might need therapy.

We took the girls bowling for the first time. HILLARIOUS. Kaitlyn is an incredible bowler if the ball just can stay fast enough to make it to the end and have enough force to knock the pins over. GREAT MEMORIES!

Mostly we did a lot of this though. SNUGGLE AND SLEEP. What a good time.

The end.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Happy Thanksgiving!

You're reading it right, we've just had a lovely Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday. I successfully provided the entire turkey feast this year... it was exciting... the turkey was only 2 hours late to get out of the oven while the rest of the food was getting cold. That's at least an improvement over last year when the turkey came out totally dry because I added no fluid. :) You live and learn. We planned on 4pm for dinner so it wasn't a big deal to eat at 6. :) Zach's parents and grandparents drove out for 5 days and joined in the festivities so it's really felt like a holiday. Plus, it's supposed to start snowing any minute now. Very festive.

Since the cold is coming on strong, I've been a baking/cooking fool. Butternut Squash Bisque, pumkin pie(actually that was Zach), apple crisp, stuffed green peppers, bran muffins and Banana Pancakes. yum... I'm making myself hungry. I've decided that's my favorite way to show love... foodf, probably my favorite way to recieve it too.. Just like Dad. I don't know how the love language book missed that one, Dad and I are all for it. That's why I love the family cookbook so much. Thanks again to everyone and especially Marisa. Since I can't personally cook for you here's a great recipe I've found lately that isn't in the cookbook:

Oat Bran Muffins

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups oat bran (I just used regular bran)
  
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup chilled applesauce
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Line or grease 12 muffin cups.
   
2. Blend together brown sugar, oat bran, flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add eggs, chilled applesauce, and vegetable oil. Mix until well-blended. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Let stand 10 minutes.
3. Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

We continued a year old tradition of going Apple Picking at a farm outside of the city that is really fun. We got a HUGE bag full of Empire, Gala, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith. I'm salivating already about what we'll be eating. I'm thinking we'll keep it simple and delicious by just having baked apples stuffed with granola tonight... again, yum. Anyone want to come visit us in Ontario? We love visitors. It was so great to have Zach's family here and make great memories. Hope you all enjoy what's left of your Fall. :)

Triathalon Man!

Zach signed up for a triathlon a few months ago and after all the training yesterday was the day. His classmate was a really good motivator to do it and they raced together. We camped over at the lake it took place at and we're not sure that either of us got even 3 hours of sleep the night before. yikes! It didn't seem to phase Zach, but I had to take a nap on the beach after. :) tough work for me!

The horn is about to go off, the excitement in the air was thick!

This was right after the race ended. Zach wasn't even too tired or beat up. (it was a sprint, but STILL!) Tough hubbs. It was really exciting to be there and hopefully next year I'll be racing with him.

There was no stopping them from the temptation of sand and mud puddles. Yes, I'm the mother that put them both in white... oh it gets worse!

SERIOUSLY! I still have these clothes soaking downstairs. She was having such a good time, it seemed almost worth it. Liza has defiantly passed the phase where she'd be happy to just watch. In the past 2 weeks she's grown up so much! She repeats many words, although you can't understand them usually, eats like a 5 yr old, and squawks when she's unsatisfied for any reason. Watch out! But she's so happy and her laugh is the sweetest thing in the world.

It has been a great summer. We were all over the place.. hence no blogging. It's so nice to be home again and get back into the swing of things. We went to D.C. and stayed with my sweet cousin and her family, home to Utah a couple times for weddings, reunions, and family, and camped all over Ontario. It's been nuts, but a good kind of crazy.

The Perfect Weekend Break!

I just had the most exciting/relaxing/enjoyable weekend anyone could possibly have! Sadly, I was missing my hubs and cute 3 yr old. Luckily I had some stand-ins to care for my separation issues. I have 6 best friends from high school and we're still best friends and LOVE seeing each other whenever possible. WELL, one of them got married last weekend and we all congregated for the big event. 2 days of travel for 2 days of weekend bliss was TOTALLY WORTH IT. I can honestly say I enjoyed every second of it. I almost teared up when the plane was flying through the valley. I've never really felt homesick before but it hit me starting with Spanish Fork all the way to the airport. Liza came with me but thanks to the greatest family ever I never really saw her... J/K but it's close. She was really happy while I attended wedding festivities. The first night we all met up at Cheesecake Factory and as I drove to get there I had the windows down, the music blasting, and a huge smile on my face. It's incredible how great it feels to turn music up and let wind blow because there are no children in the car. I wouldn't trade it for singing "wheels on the bus" but every now and then it's SO refreshing. After the wedding on Friday I spent the rest of the time with my sisters and Zach's family and it couldn't have been better. Spa night, movies, early morning water skiing, nieces and nephews, the friends, the family, the sun, the heat, the temple, the sleep, the late nights, the food, the JOY! I am really blessed to have so many people to love!

Falling off the Wagon

I fell hard. I've been in a rehabilitation process for months now. Thanks to the encouragement of a couple stanch supporters... you know who you are... and the addition of a new template - THANK HEAVENS- I'm back on the wagon. I tell you what! Change is my favorite thing. Once I switched my template I had absolutely NO desire to even come to the blog but a little re-decorating and we're in business.
So true to form... I've lost all of your blog addresses again. I'm on a mission to start hoping through sites but if you don't see your link please leave it for me. THANK YOU!!!
My little sabbatical was not without adventure. This is what we've been up to for the past 4 months:

Lots of This! It's no wonder I've been MIA. I've got a whole song and dance routine worked up with the Lyrics "Pee-Pee on the Potty"

The Bruce Peninsula over the 4th with my Brothers family. BEAUTIFUL!

SOOOOO much of this. Thank you Canada for having such great beaches!

It doesn't matter how many times we've been to Niagara Falls, we never get sick of it! Zach's sister came for 10 days with the cousins and then we came back the next week with another sister. PARTY TIME!

The Williams Wild Adventures

Well Family of ours,

The Williams have done it again. We're on another crazy adventure. This is Zach's Spring Break from school and we decided last week we should go see something new. So, we booked a couple cheap hotels, crossed the border, and booked it down the interstate to.... Gatlingburg, TN. That's right. Just a short drive past Pigeon Forge. Now there's a destination! Seriously! You wouldn't believe how much family fun entertainment is packed into that nook of the Great Smokey Mountains. Some friends of ours in London came to Gatlinburg with their family and said it was fun. We got looking around and found that Knoxville and it's surrounding area looks like a PARTY and we'd never been to this part of the country. It was an 11 hour drive which would have been fun enough, but as luck would have it Kaite managed (Zach writing now, as Liza is demanding to feed) to do a number all over the car seat and clothes. Car sick?? We don't think so, maybe just a very sensitive gag reflex, but the sheer volume was incredible. THis really nice, young guy at the gas station in Tennessee bought us some paper towels and jugs of water and brought them out to us as we were cleaning her up and said he'd been there before with his kids. Another guy in the bathroom that couldn't have been more than 25 or so yet saw me cleaning up the aftermath, I apologized for the disaster and he said not to worry, he'd been there before with his 4 kids. The whole event would've made great lyrics for a country song. The people may tawk kenda fonny but ye shore caint beat da hauspitality.

We are currently in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. The Smokey Mountains didn't disappoint. We would definitely go back. Gatlinburg is a gem of a town, a mix between cozy ski village and a family theme park with plenty to do. We spent St. Patricks Day there and didn't have to shield Kaitlyns eyes from anything. We kept the kids out late which left them wound up for a night all together in the hotel room. During the hour of getting to sleep every time Liza would make even a peep Kaitlyn would whisper loudly " Liza, be happy!!!" and then Liza would become quiet upon which Kaitlyn would whisper "Tank you!!"

After arriving this evening we spent a little time at the beach to Kate's delight, and tomorrow we had promosed Kaitlyn an entire day at the beach which she talked about all the way over the Appalacian mountains. That and the big, big slides at Mickey Donalds are definitely highlights for her.

Zach and Mar

My 2 Sweet Girls

My great friend Kristen came over this morning and took pictures of the girls. WHAT A SWEET THING TO DO BECAUSE THESE PICTURES ARE KILLING ME I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.
THANKS KRISTEN!!!

I just can't get over this look on Liza's face.. I'm not sure what she's trying to say but she tries to say it a lot. :)

This expression is NOT hard to interpret on the other hand. I'm thinking: "You may get me to sit here and even hold Liza but her crying is so not my problem."

My sweet Kaiters

This is the Liza that I know and love. She is really such a sweet happy little baby.

This is the happiest picture we got of them. It's shocking that about a hundred of pictures later, we end up with 1 picture that has 2 smiling girls. It's like a special gift children possess.

My favorite.

Our Recent Family Fun

I think it would be fun to include a "great hair" picture for Kaitlyn in every post. There is obviously a theme going on here. I think I could do a book of pics from her life thus far just of crazy hair. She's got the market cornered

Grandma Bentley came to visit 2 weeks ago and we just sent her home :( Boy we had great times. These sugar cookies were a highlight. This is Melanie's sugar cookie recipe from the Garden cookbook and talk about DELICIOUS!!! She's not kidding.

We all decided Liza looks like my mom from the eyes up. Probably more than that but the eyes and forehead are really a like. Smart girl, Grandma's a babe. I love this picture of them.

Daddy-daughter time is the greatest. Zach's such an incredible Daddy and it shows. Kaitlyn woke up from her nap today and immediatly wanted Daddy to be home to play with. He and Kaite have a tradition of being thrown around on the couch and playing every night. We're lucky

ahhh Grandma and the girlies.

More cookies! I have a cookie fedish lately. these are actually Melanie's cookies again but in their suggested ball format which was equally delicious. Kaitlyn is really sweet with Liza, she especially loves to see Liza's toes. Go figure.

First things first: Bumbo chairs are miraculous. Liza's been sitting in one since she was 2 months old and yet it somehow still fits Kaitlyn. Liza fell asleep sitting up in it. It was HILARIOUS. Plus, this is a great shot of the cute Mary-jane tights. love them.

"Bibbidy Bobbidy Boo" She can't actually say that but I'm working on it because I think she makes a fantastic fairy princess. Zach's sister Jessica gave her these dress-ups for Christmas and she uses them EVERY SINGLE DAY. What a cute princess.

My little peach fuzz. Just these last couple weeks I've started feeling like I'm coming back into myself if you know what I mean. the first few months with a newborn is rough. I am always trying to catch up and stay afloat but I finally feel like atleast some days I'm alert and coherant. Always good news.