Cinnamon bears? YUCK!

With six of us in the house (I really should count Nanna, our gargantuan dog, in that head count since she gets into anything she pleases), it is hard to keep treats around the house. They get devoured pretty quickly. I won a gift basket for Valentine's Day that included a small bag of cinnamon gummy bears. I was trying to cut back on sugar and my kids don't care for them, so I shared them with my Sunday School class. Sara broke down and ate one to discover that she really likes them! After church she claimed the rest of the bag and finished them off.

Sara and I soon realized that it was rather exciting to have found a treat that the boys in the house despise. They turn up their noses and run, while Sara and I enjoy a few now and then. Not that I buy them very often, but I do like to spoil my only girl with treats once in awhile. We tried a cheap brand to discover they weren't all that great. I'd left them in the car, in a drawer where I typically keep granola bars for emergency sustenance. Zack discovered them after church last month and decided to try one since he was so hungry and there were no "good" granola bars. He went for another, and yet another. I was shocked. I put my hand to his forehead and asked if we should head to the ER to see what could possibly be wrong to make him like cinnamon bears! (I enjoy teasing my kids now and then.)

We have found that buying cinnamon bears in most of the grocery stores costs too much. Harmons charges about $8 a lb. That's crazy! I did find a small bag of cinnamon bunnies in the Easter candy section at Walmart for a couple bucks, but Sara wasn't as keen on them. So tonight, I dropped my teenagers off at the library and took the little boys to Peterson's to buy some meats on sale. Elijah and Joshua wanted to spend part of their allowance on a treat. While they were deciding, I figured I'd check to see if they had any cinnamon bears. I found a 5 lb. bag for $8. AND, it's the brand we like, SWEET, no really, that's the name of the brand. Anyway, 5 lbs! Luckily this is not like chocolate where anybody wants to binge, it'll actually last us a good long time. Only three of us will be slowly working through that great big package. Cinnamon bears, YUM!

Project Popcorn

We had JUST finished Zack's science fair project, when Elijah brought home the paperwork for his first science fair project. UGH. Ok, let me clarify. I didn't help with Zack's project, just constant prodding for nearly two months. And the JUST part was actually something like Friday to Monday. Zack turned his in on a Friday, Elijah brought home the paperwork for his on Monday. You've got to be kidding me! The good news is that Elijah's teacher gave us a list of ideas for age appropriate projects. Hallelujah! At least I was thrilled until Elijah started reading them to me...ALL FOUR PAGES. Holy Cow! We ruled out anything that had to do with plants or bugs. I don't have a green thumb, and we already have enough critters around here. We put a star next to anything that sounded remotely fun.

There were several popcorn ideas. Elijah decided on the one testing different brands of kernels to see which brand pops the best. With Matt's influence, we also decided to do this on the stove, the old fashioned way. YUM! We bought four types of popcorn: Orville Redenbacher's, Pop Secret, Jiffy Pop, and the generic brand. A friend added some Amish popcorn to the group and we figured that was plenty to keep us eating popcorn for many nights to come!

In order to have a control group, we chose a random brand, timed it and popped it 'til it quit popping, then popped the rest for the same period of time. We used 1/2 cup popcorn to 3 Tbsp. oil, turned on the heat and put the lid on. One batch a night was plenty for us to eat what we were testing! Then after we ate the popcorn we set aside the kernels that didn't pop to be counted.

We started eating popcorn all the time without keeping track for Elijah's project. Next thing I know, we're running out of popcorn! Elijah was burned out from taking notes on each batch of popcorn and so the days turned into weeks and next thing I know, it's the day before the project is due. Luckily I had purchased a project board. So...Sunday between conference we started popping popcorn to do round 2, which was to pop the kernels until they stopped on their own. I think the kids ate one batch, and the other three batches went to waste, but we kept all the kernels.

As we're matching the leftovers kernels round 1 with round 2, I discover that we haven't done round 2 for Pop Secret. AND there's no more Pop Secret in the pantry. Oh boy! Being Sunday and coming up on the next conference soon, I was determined to get this project finished. We decided to include Pop Secret without round 2 results, but a side note saying this was apparently a family favorite since it all got eaten, and was particularly fun since it pops larger kernels! In the end, the generic popcorn popped the most leaving very few kernels, with Pop Secret close behind. Elijah had hypothesized that Orville Redenbacher would pop the most kernels.

Elijah did nearly all the typing in order to post his information on the project board. I typed up the column "Other Observations" which wasn't a required part of the project anyway. We put the information on popcorn colored paper, and also taped the results of leftover kernels in baggies onto the board as well as samples of what Amish popcorn looks like popped and unpopped, and generic popcorn popped since it was the winner! The board was awesome! When we showed the board to Sara, she commented, "Wow! None of my science project boards ever looked that good." My response was, "You never let me help." "Yup," was her response. Crazy kid.

Each student in Elijah's class had to get up in front of the class to tell about their project. Elijah's took the longest at about 10 minutes. Apparently he did a very thorough job...with the help of his detail oriented mother! Sadly, we will never know if Pop Secret would leave fewer kernels unpopped than the generic brand in round 2. Makes me want to search the stores to buy another container just to see! That's the yummiest homework we've had around here in years!

Skunk Tailes

Last night I was ready to hit the hay and began my usual bedtime routine. I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and realized I needed to take my pills first, when I smelled THE SMELL. Oh no. This can't be! It was the smell of a skunk and not just the usual wafty stinkiness. It was the smell of a skunk that had just sprayed right outside my bathroom window. YUCK! Ooh, gross. In case you've never been this close to a skunk that has just sprayed, it smells like burnt rubber, that's still burning. The smell is so strong that it can make you heave and possibly puke.

In case this realization isn't enough, I also realized that I had just sent Nanna outside to potty for the last time before bed and putting two and two together means that Nanna was the reason the skunk sprayed; therefore, Nanna had been sprayed by the skunk. UGH. It's 11:00 at night and Matt and I are realizing this has to be dealt with immediately. Nanna is an indoor dog and when I forget that she's outside to potty once I'm in bed, she starts to bark and won't stop 'til I let her in. Bringing her into the house stinky is not an option.

First we tried to find Nanna and couldn't, so I went to the side window which is in the TV room and looked out. I found her all right, skunk in mouth shaking it for all she's worth. I'm betting she was pretty mad at the creature. It is in her bread to kill, so it didn't surprise me. The search began for the ingredients to getting rid of such strong smells: 1 quart hydrogen peroxide, 1 cup baking soda, 1 teaspoon dish soap, 1 gallon water, all mixed into 1 bucket. I was relieved to find a quart of hydrogen peroxide in our food storage, otherwise I would have had to go back to Wal-mart. Then the search began for clothes for Matt and I that we could possibly throw away, depending on how bad it is while we're outside scrubbing Nanna.

Matt went out to evaluate and discovered, no, the skunk is not dead, just badly wounded. So target practice ensued. He pulled out the .22 rifle and took aim. In the dark, looking for a black creature through a scope that has not been sited in in quite some time, the shots began. The first one startled the neighbors horses away. It also startled Nanna. Luckily she didn't go to see what was going on. Several shots later, the skunk was dead. Finally. Still stinky. Matt drug it into the light by the side of the house to take a picture. Proof in case someone tried to make a formal complaint about us using a gun within city limits. Just in case they couldn't smell it.

I put the leash on Nanna and the scrubbing ensued. It was 40 degrees outside, so we were using hot water as not to get the dog too cold or us too cold. As I began I found that the skunk had cut Nanna's nose. Thank goodness her shots are up to date. It's not deep enough to need stitches and should heal quickly. After scrubbing, rinsing and drying, we decided it was time to be done. If only! Then Matt and I had to bathe. Matt decided that second hand skunk smell is just as bad or worse for you than second hand smoke. YUCK! A load of laundry was started immediately with extra vinegar and baking soda in hopes to remove the stench. By the time I was done it was nearly 1 am. Oh the joy.

As I knelt to pray at the close of my day I realized that my lot in life is not so hard. I have many friends going through serious difficulties and dealing with a skunk and some residual smell for a couple days is a drop in the bucket compared to what other people are going through. I am grateful that skunk won't be tromping through our yard all summer. I am grateful Nanna is okay. I am grateful for my sweet husband who helps me through difficult projects like killing a half dead skunk and scrubbing my beautiful dog. When all is said and done, I am richly blessed.

The dough boy!

He's so proud of his pizza!

Chicago Style Pizza Crust

Tonight was Elijah's night to cook and because he was excited about the meal, he actually helped make it! My goal with assigning each child a dinner night is for me to give them basic cooking skills so they don't starve when they leave home! My older kids are doing pretty well. They have a handful of favorites they make regularly without help and they are willing to pull out the recipe book and try things that I've never made! Today Elijah chose pizza. Since I told him we're not going to spend the money on buying pizza, he was all for making it!

A couple years ago I found this pizza crust recipe online and we've been loving it ever since! While helping Elijah measure the ingredients, he asked me if he could take this recipe with him when he grows up and leaves home. What a great compliment! Of course I told him yes and then thought about how cool it would be to give each of my kids a family cookbook of our favorite recipes as they leave home. We'll see if that actually happens. Then again, maybe if I get all the favorites on the blog I can simply print the pages for them.

Chicago Style Pizza Crust:

1 cup warm water

2 1/3 tsp yeast (1 packet)

2 tsp sugar

Whisk together and let the yeast sit for about 10 minutes, then mix together all of the following ingredients until soft:

3 cups flour

2 TBSP olive oil

2 large eggs

1 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp salt

Once dough is soft, knead for 5 minutes, then place it in a well oiled bowl and let it rise 2-3 hours. Punch it down and roll out onto pizza sheets and let it rise again for about 10 minutes. Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes. Makes 2 large crusts.

(I never let it rise for 2-3 hours, only long enough to prepare the other ingredients for the pizza. I also typically add some oregano or italian seasonings to the crust.)

Defining Moments

It's been somewhat of a shocking day for me today. Once in awhile life provides moments that define who you are, but today, it happened over and over again.

My boys are off track, which is always a challenge for me. I agreed to take a dear friend to an appointment this morning since she can't drive herself. She has become my best friend and I enjoy every moment I can with her. On our way home, we stopped at the Water Mart in Riverton for some Gelato. It is my fault that my friend Jenn is hooked on gelato! Now we must stop to get some each time we go somewhere together. My boys were SO excited about this. The store had just opened, and the gelato was not defrosted enough to scoop yet, so we waited a few minutes. In the meantime, Jenn and I visited while the boys put the chairs down around the little tables in the cafe portion of the store. I was so glad there was something to keep them busy and even more grateful that they offered to help in that way.

After taking Jenn home, we continued to run other errands. Matt fixed my light and light cover on the van this morning, which was the last of the laundry list for the van to finally pass inspection. After verifying this at the Tunex (they have taken great care of us) we headed down to Draper at the point of the mountain to register the van. Thus far it has been a very blustery day, but at the point of the mountain, the winds seemed so much worse. I opened my van door and the wind took the door right out of my hands and SLAMMED it against the Cadillac Escalade next to me. Holy CraP! Just what we need, another vehicle repair bill. We climbed back in the van while I took out a business card, circled my phone number and email and wrote a note on the back apologizing. I felt SO bad. My vehicle is nearly ten years old and has plenty of dings. What's one more? Except that the rail across her doors actually helped protect her vehicle from being dented worse and actually left a huge dent in my door.

On our way into the building, I felt like the wind was so bad it might blow away one of the boys. Craziness! The nice thing about this particular DMV is that there is never a line. You walk in, get your number, wait maybe a minute and your number is called. I paid my registration, made polite small talk with the lady behind the desk and we left. The Escalade was still there, but I felt the need to rush to see if the driver was there, too. She was. I knocked on her window and told her what happened. She hadn't seen my note tucked under her wiper yet so I handed it to her and apologized profusely. She felt bad that it had happened to me and said she'd look at it later and give me a call. I told her it was bad and to not loose my number. I don't know if she had someplace to be or what, but she didn't even look at the dent. UGH.

On our way out of the parking lot I explained to the boys the importance of being honest in all your dealings, even if it means you have to spend money on something you didn't mean to do. We also talked about how that lady might have felt if she came across that dent without knowing it had happened and then had to pay for it herself. Teach by example, right?

After picking Sara up from school, Elijah and I started on the pizza, which was Elijah's choice since it's his dinner night. Dinner was planned to be part of our FHE, so we were excited. Then Matt brings me my phone. It's the receptionist at the dentist office. I thought that a little odd. Then she told me she quit her job last week because my dentist, Dr. Daniel R. Dowdle (4019 W. 12600 S. Suite 100), is not being honest in his dealings with his patients, including me. She told me that he should have sent back the crown and had it remade last August, but instead he shoved it on my tooth and then did a filling around the extra space the crown didn't take up around my gums. WOW. I wasn't sure how to take this news, or really what to do about it, but I visited with this lady for awhile about it. She said it's been eating at her for months and she has watched Dr. Dowdle do procedures that are not necessary and bill insurance companies and patients for things that he didn't even do. Of course when the insurance company sees he's billing for things that are not necessary then the patient has to pay for it.

I'm on overload. This receptionist and I have become good friends over the years since we've moved here and I asked her to please keep in touch and let me know where she decides to work as well as keep me posted as to how she's doing and what I might do as an abused patient. She agreed. I told her how grateful I am for her honesty in telling me what happened and how proud I am of her for confronting him about his dishonesty. I told her about my incident this morning and how I used it as a lesson to teach my boys about being honest in all our dealings and how I feel that she is bringing this full circle. What goes around comes around. Her honesty will save me a lot of grief in the future and I appreciate it so very much. That's a true friend.

By this time, Elijah is frustrated with me that I'm on the phone and not helping him with the pizza crust. I didn't feel like I could cut the conversation short. So finally we're working on the pizza crust and I get another phone call. My loft bed is still advertised on ksl.com and a lady wants to know if I'll give it to her for free because they need it badly but can't afford it. I told her I'd discuss it with my husband and call her back. Just two days ago, a guy in one of the RC clubs GAVE Matt a FREE RC airplane. I told Matt I feel like this could be our way of paying it forward. Once again, what goes around, comes around. I called the lady back and told her we'd be glad to give it to her, as long as they can come get it. Hopefully they'll haul it away tomorrow.

Right now I'm simply beside myself with amazement at the events of this day. Even though we had a double dose of bad news, I'm filled with the Spirit of Christ testifying to me that the relationships I have in my life are good. I try to be honest in all my dealings and the Lord makes sure I'm being watched over, even by my fellow mankind.

We sat down in front of the TV as a family to watch Glee together while eating homemade pizza and breadsticks. I know it's not a Spiritual lesson, but it's family time, together. I believe the lessons came to us earlier in the day. What a beautiful family I have, and how fortunate we are.