Korean

Tyler served his mission in west Seoul, South Korea. He hated rice before he left. Now he could live on it. He's converted us too. While I was pregnant I craved Korean food, particularly Bul-go-gi and Jap-chee. mmmmmmm. (uhhhh, that's how you pronounce these words , not spell them).

Here is his newest recipe, Sam-gip-sall. "Grilled" onion, garlic, Korean pork bacon (not cured, saltier), Sesame oil drizzled over kosher salt, and some red paste (sam jong?), with rice on small lettuce leaves. The kids devoured it. If you haven't tried Korean food, you're missing out, IMO. If you're new at it and going without someone whose eaten it before, Bulgogi is always safe and Dolce Bi-bim-bop. Yum!

5 months

Our little Cecily is now 5 months old.

She is my first child that I don't want to grow up. Yes, I just wanted the first two to hurry and grow up. But now that they are, I don't see why I was in such a rush! I certainly prefer babies over toddlers (Correction: even over small children). They're much easier for me to handle. They don't talk back, run away, and she'd stay in the corner if I'd want her to.

Cecily is my first edible child too. Did you ever have one of those? Perhaps all of yours have been. But I've never kissed a baby so much I wanted to eat her.

Plus who can resist these chunky cheeks? And those thighs. They are so squeezable. And she's so cuddly.

But her best features are her smiles and her sleep routine. I love going into her room to her smiling face. She's so happy! And she's the best sleeper yet. Makes life so much easier. I love it!!!

At her 4 month appt. she ranked in the 75% for weight and 90% for height. I've never had such a long kid at this age. No wonder she's grown out of those 3-6 month clothes.

She's choked down rice cereal. Managed green beans without gagging but prefers the snitches of sweets from her parents like grape jelly and popsicles.

Another milestone is that she likes baths now!!! Yay! She goes crazy and kicks and kicks, just like in the womb.

She loves to play with toys, being with family and is a little more clingy to me around strangers.

She won't take a bottle anymore, still falls asleep in our arms and is warming up to tummy time.

Don't grow up so fast little bug!

Boys will be boys

Samuel's newest pal is Creigh, my 1st cousin and his once removed? They're almost the exact same age plus the same energy level and intensity. And they both have great imaginations and ideas.

When they're not playing the wii, wrestling, talking about playing the wii, playing with fake weapons or chasing each other, they are most definitely pestering Jocelyn.

When Creigh was over the other day, and Jocelyn finally asleep, they thought it would be fun to trap her in her room. So they built a fortress out of whatever they could find laying around.I indulged them.
They made themselves look scary with fake blood (ie, red washable marker and tape), set up a trap of "hot water" and a plastic bag full of air, just in case she stepped on them and would be scared.






And then they waited.

And waited.

Grew impatient and decided to play the wii.

I decided to take pictures instead of get angry at their mess, which I inevitably had to clean up later.

Then they heard the door open.

This was her reaction.


Not quite as high as they expected. She started to climb over it and so they decided just to shut the door in her face.

She laughed.

Go Jocelyn!

Sisterly love

This is what makes me happy :)



When Jocelyn is not half stepping on, poking, accidentally waking up or pestering Cecily, she might be nice to her.

It took weeks longer for Cecily to smile at Jocelyn than for the rest of us. I wonder why? (sense the sarcasm). Now Jocelyn is happy when Cecily smiles at her and I keep reminding her that it's when she's being nice to her. Wow. What a concept. I hope Joc will learn that sooner rather than later.

T-Ball

Beautiful mountains. Check.

Hot sun. Check.


Shoes on the right feet. Check.

Bee's black and yellow shirt. Check.


T-ball glove. uhhhh, left at home.


Oh, well. This is T-ball for 5/6 year old kids after all. Pretty casual.

Samuel played T-ball for the first time this season. He LOVED It. Totally worth the $30.

My favorite moments: The mob of kids running after the ball OR all of them watching as the ball flies through the air and lands on the ground between 3 of them. One is picking his nose, the other daydreaming and the other might, just might, be running after it. And then maybe he'll actually throw it to the right base. Lol. It's so fun.

They did actually improve as the season went on.

Samuel proved to be a pretty consistent hitter,

slow runner

and strong thrower. He's in his element anytime he's in a social situation with other kids. I'm proud of the growing guy!

First Irrigation Day

It's like playing in the ditch after a huge rainstorm. They kept asking when it was going to get warm. haha.





Floating pine cones through the gate, all sorts of treasures discovered after the winter, and a little wooden, splinter heavy bridge. And then they started to have fun which meant no shoes and other unmentionables.

Do Not Disturb

As I may have mentioned before, I am living in the detached house of my only living grandparent which is a huge blessing. Being close to family is wonderful. And the home is just the right size for our growing family. And one of the best things is the yard. We've been able to garden and spruce up the wildly grown place a bit. It's a bit heaven here. I sit and write this and I can feel the cool breeze of the night and hear the wind gently caressing the leaves of the trees. Another of the greatest features of the yard are these mature trees. Everyday I hear a thud on our roof. I've finally learned that it's falling pine cones hitting the rooftop and sometimes rolling off. But I digress.

There is an apricot tree. Perfect for eating, drying and jam making. Yum! But the better fruit will come from a better tended tree. I called over an experienced neighbor to give me a tutorial and his wisdom on the subject was most helpful.

And today I thinned a tree for the first time ever. Yes, I'm a novice. It was fun, hot and now my hands are sore. But it was a fulfilling thing to and I think I'll be more happy once I see the bigger fruits of my labors.

Here is a sneak peek of our new neighbors. We, the mother and I, both scared each other. I was climbing up and she swooped right over my head and starting chirping. The rest you can read about here. And there are some cute photos of the kids here too.

Can you see the nicely constructed nest?

And the edge of the nest...

A sneak preview....

And a better glimpse...

Here they are! Four of them resting so deeply. I can't wait to hear their little chirps and perhaps see their little heads poking out in the near future.
Such a pretty color, eh?

They will live, won't they? She won't go and eat them now or something since I was in her territory? I don't know very much about birds....

Relief Society

Alright friends!
I've been called to be the Relief Society party planner. haha. Not quite like that. The RS Enrichment activity leader person.

So I need your suggestions......now that we can do our own thing each month or quarter or whenever the doors are open to so many options.

What I need to know is what works for you and your ward? What has worked in previous wards? What do you like or dislike about activities? What were your favorites? Least favorite?

Please, pass along your ideas. Thank you!

OH, and don't forget to pass on the word about the PDF Pattern now in my shop! Offer still good until this Friday!

Funny Things

Doesn't Cecily look like she's wearing a bib? Or a tie-dyed shirt? Well, she's not. It's drool. and she also looks like she was stung by a bee or something, she's so puffy. Otherwise, I really do love this shot. Jocelyn has a fever, unbeknownst to us, which is probably why she's cuddling with Tyler.

During FHE one night I was teaching about the little children sitting at Jesus' feet. Jocelyn let us know that she did not want to sit on Jesus' lap. Surprised, we asked her why. She said, "Because I don't want to smell his breath." I don't know where that came from!!?!?! We reassured her that she'd probably would want to sit on his lap anyway, even if he did have bad breath.

When Samuel is in trouble Jocelyn's nose all of sudden turns "brown." Jocelyn, "Oh, Mommy, you're so beautiful", "I cleaned up like you asked me to", "You're the best mommy ever." Uh-huh Joc, you got a little shmootz on your nose. Actually, I think it's pretty funny.

Samuel is on a huge art kick lately. All year at preschool he would come home with notes from his friends with drawings, stories, messages handwritten by them. Samuel never once volunteered to return the favor to them. He has never been interested in coloring or drawing so much until he started watching Tyler play Final Fantasy XIII (13 now is it?). It's actually a decent game, fantasy fighting, no blood, a storyline, etc. Now he draws dragons, machines and other creatures that actually have faces and functions and color. It's been fun to watch. Here he is drawing during Tyler's FHE lesson. Surprisingly, and just like his father, he was listening just as if he weren't drawing. He can focus well. And he still sticks out his tongue when concentrating, just like my mom and just like her dad. Sorry for the blur, I took this while nursing and with my left hand. And I was never one gifted with coordination.

Recipe

These taste as good as they look.

Pecan oatmeal pancakes, topped with bananas and buttermilk syrup.

Restaurant quality. Check out the recipe here.

My Aunt Julie and Uncle Mark shared these and the recipe with us over Memorial Day. Tyler was craving them one morning so he quickly bought some buttermilk and pecans and served these up for Saturday morning breakfast. They are soooooooo yummy.

PDF Pattern

It's here!!! It's finally here! In October my dad generously took step-by-step photos of me sewing the birthday banner that I sell in my shop. And now I've finally made it into a PDF file that can be purchased and emailed right to you! Free shipping! And now you can sew one yourself! Wahoo!

Check it out here. And thank you to my dad, Dave & Georgia of this shop, and Carrie, Rachael and Ashley who were my "testers." Thank you!

And because I love you all so much I am offering a discount to you. Normally the pattern sells for $5.99 but I'll sell it to you for $3.99 for ONE WEEK only! PLUS if you blog about it and spread the word to your friends, they can get a discount too. Not as awesome a discount but still a discount! They can receive the pattern for $4.99 if they identify you as your friend!

Here's how it works: If you don't already have an Etsy account, sign on, purchase the PDF pattern via PayPal and then I'll reimburse you the discount. Just be sure to leave a note in the final stage of purchasing that you're my friend (I have to know you personally to be considered a "friend"). And if you're a friend of my friend, do the same.

Happy Sewing! Remember this offer is only good through Jun 11th!