Happy-Late-Thanksgiving

hope every one's holiday was wonderful! We enjoyed a road trip to cali to celebrate thanksgiving and baby t's blessing Sunday. It was a great trip- we had a wonderful time and traveled safely the whole time. The roads were clear of snow, and people for the most part. No one likes hearing about someone else's vacation for very long so that's all I'll post about it. Besides this one last tid bit: we had the BEST luck with black friday shopping and we're so freaking lucky we got it all to fit in the car. (seriously a little case of claustrophobia on the way home because we were a little full). Lets just say that every item on our list of doorbusters was available for us (not to mention that we got the last or second to last one on the shelf every time!)!
the end.
love
amanda

ps. thanks to nana and papa for giving corban an early birthday gift (a portable dvd player) so the drive back wasn't as grueling as it could have been :). Many people were worried about our travels sans a portable dvd player.

these are a few of my favorite things

• my babies. (especially when they ask to snuggle up under a blanket on the couch with me to watch the Brady Bunch)
• my husband. He's the best one ever invented. Cooks, cleans, works, loves me, loves his boys more than anything, and honors his preistood.
• my home. Warm, cozy, plenty of space, and still loves me even when it's not always spotless.
• Crafts that have no purpose other than doing SOMETHING with friends.
• Baking. Favorite ingredients include: Butter, Sugar, Flour, and Cinnamon.
• Snow. Snow. Snow.
• Hot Chocolate.
• Frozen Hot Chocolate. (from DQ, you haven't lived until you've had one)
• sleeping babies.
• laughing babies.
• Being healthy.
• Living so close to so many people that love and care for us.
• the gospel.
• those who sacrifice their time and talents for the well being of others.
• Husbands that take their wives to movies like new moon.
• hoodies.
• Fuzzy slippers.
• Blankets. Lots of blankets.
• Being able to do hair when I'd like.
• Pillows-fluffy yet firm is always best.
• Cars
• Snowmobiles
• Waverunners
• Boats
• Swimming pools
• Strollers
• phones

Happy Thanksgiving this week. Enjoy your family, friends old and new. Eat well, Sleep well, Travel Safely.

love

amanda

Essentials

So when our food storage challenge ended Saturday night I was able to go to the store to get groceries. We really only needed the essentials. We made it through the challenge week with diapers wipes and formula for Gabe but wouldn't make it through Sunday without picking those up. So off to walmart at 10pm. I picked up Diapers, Wipes, Formula, 1 Gal. of milk, Margarine, a can of spray whipping cream (almost just the essentials...) and two church outfits for the boys for our family photos over thanksgiving. The total you ask???
$156.36
Moral of the story you ask??? babies are SO expensive. 3 months and Gabe can hopefully drink milk. cross your fingers. Granted, we always buy two cans of formula at a time so we're prepared (lucky habit that was formed before we even had the challenge wouldn't you say?) so that runs us $50 anyway...but really does something that straps on to catch poop have to cost so much??? And don't say washable diapers- I'm not that good of a mother, I refuse to put poop soiled rags into our washing machine. This is why I was not a Pioneer! The washer and I made a deal: I don't put poopy stuff in it- it washes my clothes so I don't have to. I'm sticking to the deal.

To make a short story a little longer: super Saturday is this Saturday. hope it goes well. hope the food is good....and I hope people aren't angry that there aren't any crafts for them to pay for.

foodie reigned in.

I think that this week may be our UN-healthiest week ever. For me at least. If something doesn't sound good to me, I just don't eat it. Period. That simple. So when the option is oatmeal for breakfast again- or nothing? I choose nothing. I've apparently been the milk natzi this week. I've tried to make our gallon of milk we opened sunday morning last this whole week incase I need it for a recipe. The other morning for breakfast I decided corban and I deserved a treat for not having our morning cereal everyday like we have been always. So I thought we should make some pudding for breakfast. I told him that it called for 2 cups cold milk as I was getting it out of the fridge. I go to pour it and corban says: "Don't waste it mom." in a very serious-life or death tone. After I had mixed the pudding up and poured it into bowls he said all sorts of sweet things: "Oh THANK YOU mom! You're my Hero!" "You're my lifesaver!" Sometimes it's really nice to have such a vocal son. And sometimes it's nice to do something that isn't necissarily healthy for you or your son's body, but healthy for his happiness in getting a fun treat.

I've determined that we definitely NEED to accumulate some healthful food storage recipes like my sweet aunt Liesa Card has outlined in her book I Dare You To Eat It. (http://Idareyoutoeatit.com) Liesa will be coming in february to do an adult activity to teach us more about provident living and food storage.
I realized that we will have to get canning some meats because even though we've been able to pull them out of the freezer this week- if we didn't have power that would be a different story.
On top of that we need to learn the art of planning ahead! That has been my near-downfall this week. If I was taking the boys out to run errands and we'd be out during lunch it wouldn't cross my mind that I needed to make us some sack lunches instead of grabbing something while we were out. There were a few close calls like when we were passing a new mcdonalds that was doing almost everything on their menu for 99 cents...or smelling yummy foods while we were at IKEA getting a high chair for gabe.
Just tell me when this is over so I can go to the store- I miss it. You'd think with all this IN time my house would be cleaner- it's not. It's more messy. Such a pain. Where are the house cleaning fairies?? If you know give me a shout. thanks

Emergnecy Preparedness

So yesterday as we were hustling into our sacrament meeting at 1:02 a dear sister from the ward stops us and says we are just the family she was waiting for. (uh oh.) "Here" she says as she hands us a paper. "The bishop picked you to do this chanllenge-they'll explain in sacrament meeting." And she walks away. I look down at the paper and see:

Magna Stake - Are we prepared in 2009? Series Event

Food Storage CHallenge

Live for 1 week out of your food/supply Storage

We have learned a lot about Emergency Preparedness this year ... now it is time to see what you learned and if you are truly prepared for an Emergency Event in your life.

Challenge: Your family will live off your home food and supply storage for 1 week!

When: Beginning Sunday November 8th...right after your Ward Block through Saturday November 14th.

Rules:

You cannot go to the store for anything! (exception: prescription drugs.

You may use your home utilities including city water.

If you run out of an item or find you do not have something, you may trade, barter or buy items...but only from other families involved in the challenge.

Let's not- and say we did.

I know we'll do fine because I have an amazing storage room full of canned foods and such but it's just the principle of the thing.

(I hit the Smith's Case Lot Sale a couple weeks before we moved in.)
Believe me it's not this organized any more but it's still just as full- maybe even more full.

It's someone saying "you can't go to the store". That makes you want to go even more!!! Maybe that's just my personallity. Anyway, we're glad that we bought formula for gabe last week and we just cracked open a gallon of milk this morning- but we'll definitely purchase some "morning moo" after this is all over. Possibly we'll learn some other must haves. We've realized how blessed we are in many ways as we joked around about how we could survive on our mac and cheese stash alone.{notice the picture above second shelf from the floor on the right? mac and cheese. check :) } Jack frequently gets to bring home different meats from work for many reasons- either a tipped pallet (nothing wrong with it but the consumer won't accept the shipment) and late shipment. So we have a freezer full of chicken, beef, and some salmon patties (check those out at Costco they're salmon filets ground into patties and they're fabulous- and about a buck/pattie which is cheap for salmon) The kicker of this is that the bishop mentioned something about "could you live off your food in your house for a week?" in an email last week. Jack and I thought- "yeah, maybe, it probably wouldn't be that bad- soups, pastas, rice, beans, and canned fruits and veggies. We should be living this way ANYWAY." But we didn't imagine we'd have to do it this week. Jack and I would like to have the other two families that were assigned to participate over for a dinner together this week so we'll get to work on figuring that out. Wish us luck in keeping the variety going instead of just making mac and cheese every day. Cause you know I'd do that in a heart beat ;) .

little things

So just some stuff that's been rattling around in my brain:

• We don't have ANY family pictures of all four of us. *edit* we have halloween pictures.
• We NEED a dishwasher like a year ago.
• I shouldn't go after-halloween sale shopping tomorrow morning- but I'm going to anyway.
• My boys are the cutest ever-if not very very crazy.
• Gabe loves Corban with all his heart.
• Corban loves to wrestle Gabe.
• I'm glad I'm not chasing Sam round these days plus my boys, I'm glad that my dad is LOVING having him.
• I love our home.
• I'm grateful corban's potty trained-however many times he has to go at inopportune times.
• I love that we have two working cars.
• I'd love to do more hair than I'm doing, but only by a little more.
• I wish the house cleaning fairy would visit more often. (or at least the mood to clean would strike me more often)
• I wish my vacuum didn't make the house smell like popcorn every time it's used (apparently you shouldn't vacuum up buttery popcorn unless you like that smell every time you vacuum)
• I shouldn't be complaining but it feels nice.
• My days are going to fill up quickly-very shortly.
• I should post halloween party photos :) maybe right now, maybe tomorrow....we'll see.
  

I think that's about it. phew that feels better. you should try it.

oh ps. let's have faith that whatever needs to happen is happening at the time it should happen and that we can be strong enough for it when it happens.