April Fool's Prank!

So it's not April Fool's yet but I thought I'd share this idea with y'all in case you would like to use it. One of our favorite things to do with our kids is to do April Fool's jokes on them. Not mean ones, just fun ones. I discovered that Family Fun Magazine has fun ideas. It all started when I did one for Alexa when she was probably 4 years old. We made her a fake grilled cheese sandwich. It was made by toasting two slices of pound cake and filling it with orange frosting. It really looked like the real thing. We told her to hurry and finish her dinner and we'd give her a great treat. She was so excited. After she ate I put the grilled cheese in front of her. The look on her face was priceless. She was so disappointed and said she didn't want that as a treat. We finally convinced her to eat it and she loved it. We've also done meatloaf cupcakes for dinner (also found on Family Fun website.) Anyway, back to why I am writing this. I witnessed a prank today during Sacrament Meeting. It was all I could do to not laugh. Olivia brought 3 colored pens to church today. Alexa and Maya borrowed them from her and when she wasn't looking they switched all the ink so they wouldn't match the lids and when she opened the one she wanted to color with, it was the wrong color. It took her a while to figure out what was going on. (It is Olivia, our little blonde, you know.) I asked Alexa if she saw that idea somewhere or if she just thought it up. She came up with it on her own. I thought it was clever but then again, I get all my ideas on-line.

McKenna Louise

So, I realized a few weeks ago that I hadn't taken many pictures of our darling little baby. She has really been growing and I thought I better capture a few moments. She LOVES to put everything in her mouth - no matter what it is. And she has always loved to play with her feet. She just discovered she could do her two favorite things at once. Play with her feet by putting them in her mouth. What a genious.

Here she is trying to grab the camera to put in her mouth, of course.

Look at that smile. This baby was cutting four of her top teeth at the same time and she still managed to keep a smile on her face. We couldn't believe how pleasant she was even with all those teeth cutting through. We still think she's the "perfect" baby.

I had to capture this moment. She drank her entire bottle with her leg in the air like that. Go figure.

Yummy!

I love the days when I feel like I am a great homemaker. It's a rare occasion for me so I try to find things that make me feel that way. i.e. sitting down reading stories with my kids, getting the laundry ALL done, having all the bathrooms clean all at once. Organizing a few drawers, having a meal menu planned out for the week, etc. My mom told me my sweet sister-in-law (who is about to have her 8th baby) says that she feels good when she has just gone grocery shopping and has her cupboards full of food. I have to agree with that one, it's a good feeling. I am sure I will never be caught up in my life and I will never stop feeling like I have lots of room for improvement when it comes to being a great homemaker so if I just focus on these small tasks that I have completed, one at a time then I think I will have the ability to feel better about the homemaker that I am. One of these "small" things that I think qualilfy as a great homemaker is when I can get dinner prepared WAY in advance BEFORE the after school rush hour hits. Today is that day. It is only 1:45 and dinner has been cooking for about 15 min. now. And when dinner time hits, we just set the table and eat up. No trying to help with homework, feed a baby, keep Maya busy while homework is being done, help with piano practicing and trying to get dinner done. Not today. I love it. Since dinner is done I am able to post this and thought I'd pass along this great easy recipe so all of you can have this wonderful feeling. I have to give credit to Tim because he actually made it up BUT I am the one who made it today. I also think it's worth posting since I fed it to my sister and her husband and they seemed to have liked it. Also, if you have a recipe like this that can be prepared ahead of time, pass it along.

One whole chicken (we buy the ones at Costco that are a 2 pack because they are so large and have a lot of meat on them. We have plenty of leftovers, which we like.)
2 cans chicken broth
2 cans tomatoes (diced, stewed, whatever you like.)
1 sliced onion (we also like to use red onions, but again, whatever you have in your cupboard.)
1/2 to 1 bag of baby carrots
A few stocks of celery (cut to about the size of the baby carrots.)

All you have to do is use a pot that is big enough for the chicken with the lid on. Heat it and pour some EVOO in it. Salt and Pepper the chicken and then brown it in the pot. After it's browned throw everything in the pot. (Actually, I throw the onions in first around the chicken just so they can sautee in the oil for a little while.) After everything is thrown in let it come to a boil and turn down to simmer for about 3 - 4 hours. Then serve with mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, or even baked potatoes. We do mashed so that we can put the chicken and all the yummies from the pot on top. The chicken will be so tender that it will just fall apart. No carving necessary.

Here you go, Marque!

Some of you may know our dear friend, Marque. He is such a good guy and we love him. He just reminded me that I needed to update my blog because it had been a good two weeks. Sorry, for the delay.

On Marque's blog he had a nice feature of Donny Osmond. It reminded me of this fabulous picture I have. I couldn't resist posting it. I hope you enjoy this, Marque. Does Sarah know about this fascination you have with Donny?