Sweet 16

16 years ago today I married my best friend!

He is my greatest ally

He is my confidant

He is a wonderful father

He is the smartest person I know

He is the most compassionate person I have ever met

He accepts me for who I am

He is the love of my life!

I hope the next 16 years are as good as the first have been!

Thankful Thursday

Here are the things I am thankful for this week:

Burn pads with menthol in them

(I swear the stupid apricot syrup just jumped out and burned my wrist, not my fault)

Band aids

(stupid incredibly sharp mandolin)

an almost healed cold sore

(not grateful for the new one that is sprouting on the same lip)

zucchini bread

(I have a great recipe)

fresh produce that I grew with my own hands

fresh ground nutmeg

new cake decorating supplies, and the funds to sign up for the class to learn how to use them

the last day of ESY for Lou Lou

my 16th anniversary

extended, entertaining, and forgiving visitors

(Poor Leah we know we bore you to death, but you still keep coming to see us anyway)

making unexpected money for things that I love doing

dutch doors, dog doors, swinging gates, and the thought of a new toilet

quiet time

Wordless Wednesday

Garden update

Nuff said!

Menu Monday

Ok, so I am relatively certain that this could end up on a post here.

We have been obsessed with watching The Food Network lately, especially Challenge, and Ace of Cakes. So I figured hey that looks like something I would like to learn.

Of course I don't do something smart like enroll in a class,

NOOOOO!

I have to try to do it myself.

The first two attempt at this were not very successful.

This is actually my third.

The first was edible but not very pretty and my second had the consistency of cardboard...

that would be because I wrapped a box in fondant.

No we did not attempt to eat it!

This is the first one I am willing to take a picture of and own up to making myself. It looked a little to plain so I added some "embellishment". I know cheesy but hey our anniversary is coming up so I figured why not.

So here is the finished result.

This is my first attempt at cake decorating, so be gentle!

Random Friday

I really don't have much to talk about this week...

I could talk about the cooking class that I have been having for the kids in the neighborhood, and how it is a roaring success...

Home made jam yesterday was a big hit!

Or, I could talk about how having my kids home isn't as bad as I thought it would be, mostly because we have been so busy...

Thanks again for the pool V!

I could state how excited I was to find out that school starts two weeks earlier than I expected this year...

August 24 can't get her soon enough!!!

Or I could talk about how I really need to go school shopping for my kids, but I don't have the money, so I don't know how I am going to arrange that...

I miss my discount! =(

I could tell everyone that I am more tan now than I have ever been in my entire life, but if I stand next to anyone else I still look pasty white....

Seriously I have NEVER been this tan!

I could talk about how I am going to teach myself how to cake decorate...

I don't see why not I have taught myself almost every other crafty thing I have ever done...

Found a recipe for fondant online... wish me luck!

I could even mention that I am going crazy trying to figure out how to make changes to my blog because the help that was promised hasn't come yet...

(hint hint)

mostly I just want to post my tunes and go do something besides sit at the computer....

so...

Tunes

1. Meant To Live- Switchfoot

2. Ulysses- Franz Ferdinand

3. Cool for Cats- Squeeze

4. Won't Go Home Without You- Maroon 5

5. Drive- The Cars

6. Baby Pain- Intaferon (LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS SONG!)

7. It's My Life- Talk Talk (the original version of this song!)

8. Smalltown Boy (Run Away)-Bronsky Beat

9. Oh My- Mellowdrone

10. Only You- Portishead

Wordless Wednesday

The Ugly Step Sister

Do you ever have one of those weeks when you just feel ugly?

This is my week for that. I have a cold sore, which makes my lip swell up to twice its normal size. I hate these things, I have had them all my life. At one point I was on a prescription for them but I ran out and I never thing of getting it renewed when I am actually in the doctors office. In fact I don't think about it until I get a sore and by then it is too late.

Plus it was expensive!

I also have a mosquito bite on my eyebrow. I hate it when I have these things on my face. Not only can I not keep myself from itching but they are actually quite painful too.

It feels like I have a boulder sitting under the surface of my skin!

I have been trying to get more sun lately just to see what happens, so I have a larger amount of freckles lately too. I cannot express how much I hate these things. I think it is extraordinarily unfair that I am the only one of 4 children that ended up with these stupid things all over my face.

So that is me this week, if I could crawl into a hole and hide for a week I would. At least there isn't a lot of things that I have to do. Cooking class, and picking up my moms dog from the breeder.

Maybe I can hide in the deep dark office for the week...

So tell me what makes you want to hide?

(I also have a canker sore on my tongue, not that anyone can see that, but it hurts)

Camping post #1

On Friday we got a late start so, when we finally got up to the place that we wanted to camp at everything was full. We plodded on and finally ended up here (or just past it anyway).

We found a beautiful place to make camp, up at Monte Cristo.

We ended up needing a few items, some of which became pretty popular toys.

(Yes that is a fly swatter, she loved it!)

Although I didn't bother to beautify myself for the entire weekend, I did consent to have a few pictures taken.

We were camped up amongst the trees but some of us decided to go a little higher.

(The scope of this picture is lost in the fact that you don't see that this stump is 6 feet tall)

There was some absolutely beautiful scenery, and gorgeous color!

On one of our sight seeing trips, the mayhem in the car prompted me to hand The Bug my camera and knock herself out.

These are the result.

This is a lovely shot of my Ipod, and the tag we got to show were had paid to camp until Sunday.

This is a lovely shot of the back of the drivers seat.

Nice picture of S ignoring her.

Lou Lou bored.

And lets not forget a self portrait.

All together a pretty good weekend... but wait there is more... later anyway.

Random friday stuff with some tunes

It is a pretty rare thing when we can get a good picture of Lou Lou. My niece Mandy seems to have a knack for this kind of thing. Which is why I handed her my camera the other day when we were at Grandma's house. This is just one of the ones she came back with. I love seeing my child looking "normal" it doesn't happen often. I know I know that sounds awful but part of her "disorder" is that she makes these horrible faces all the time, so it is very gratifying when we can actually capture her "on film" making a pretty face. I messed with the color and light on this one a little to give it a soften look.

( I have no idea why this is all underlined, and I don't know how to fix it!

It did this when I tried to move my images around)

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Cooking class is going well, I had 11 kids in my house the other day. Trying to teach that many kids was a little daunting I have to admit. I thought it went pretty well though and they all said they liked it and several came back for Thursdays lesson. We have made banana bread, breakfast cookies (much to the dismay of The Bug, she is a little burned out on them), Chocolate cupcakes (with zucchini in them) with strawberry cream cheese frosting, and home made spaghetti sauce. I am thinking next week it will be home made cinnamon caramels, and strawberry peach jam. I have to admit that even with all the chaos, I am really enjoying this. I may even keep it up after summer is over.

(It appears as though my font has changed too!)

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We are going camping tonight! This is always a challenge with an autistic child. Hopefully it will go well. Our little pop-up trailer helps a lot. It is pretty funny to watch it at night and see it rocking back and forth as she is trying to go to sleep. I will update you all when I get back and let you know what kind of mayhem ensued.

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I found a page on Facebook the other day for the place I used to work when I was 16. I still have dreams about that place, OK not often but occasionally. It freaks me out ever time. I worked there for three years! My two best friends worked there, I even got my boyfriend at the time a job there. I swear I ate (literally, it was a fast food place), slept, and breathed that place. It kind of caught me off guard seeing people on that page that I haven't seen in almost 16 years! Can you guess what we made?

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Here are the random tunes for the week:

1. Whats On Your Mind (Pure Energy)- Information Society

2. Decode- Paramore

3. Poker Face- Lady GaGa (I am ashamed to admit I actually paid for this song)

4. Ocean Breathes Salty- Modest Mouse

5. Hey-Ho Away We Go- Fruer

6. Title and Registration- Death Cab for Cutie

7. Every Breath You Take- The Police

8. Fascination Street- The Cure

9. I Melt With You- Modern English (You should see The Bug dance around to this, she thinks it is so awesome because it is on the Sky High soundtrack!)

9. Everlong- Foo Fighters

10. Blue Savannah- Erasure

Seeing Double

There is something about having a sister. I have both an older sister and an younger sister. I am two years younger than V and four years older than L. V and I were always close growing up and while this wasn't always the case in adulthood things have improved in the last couple of years and we are once again enjoying that same close bond we had as kids. I think one of the things that has made us a lot closer is that we both have a set of twin girls (hers are identical and mine are fraternal... get that!). They, like V and I, are two years apart. Mine obviously don't really have that twin bond that most twins have but her girls definitely do. The last couple of weeks I have been trying to have her girls around as much as possible, not easy seeing that she lives in Tooele and I am in Layton (about an hours drive apart). I like having them around because they give The Bug something to do and I like that I am getting to know them better.

Last night while we were watching Willow with them I sat on the couch and braided my hair. One of them saw what I did with my hair and requested that I do the same to hers. Well when her sister saw the result she wanted the same. It was fun sitting them down and doing their hair, I felt like it was a good time to just listen to them talk and giggle together. They are pretty cute. There was a constant running commentary about the movie, with all sorts of questions about what was going on on the screen. It was actually pretty funny.

I like that my kids actually have a relationship with their cousins. It has been really fun having them around and getting to know them better!

Wordless Wednesday

This is what my incredibly sweet husband brought home with him last night....

just because!

It's nice to finally meet you!

(The elusive Motherboard Sher, the freaking Sun, and me, all windblown from the ride to SLC in the Jeep.)

On Friday night I went with these ladies....

(Denae, Sher, Amber, Val, Wendy?, Me, and Motherboard. All well fed and not wanting to leave.)

...and met these ladies...

(Motherboard, Amber's sister... sorry I forgot your name... and Amber.)

...and celebrated this ladies fabulous news...

(Sher, and I , seriously she is in almost every picture!)

...and discovered that this lady is a complete camera hog...

(Denae's Daughter {I will not post her name because I don't know if her mom would appreciate it}, Denae, Melissa, Sher, Me, and Motherboard.)

...and laughed so hard that I thought my cheeks would never recover!

Thanks ladies for making me feel welcome and a part of the group, I had an awesome time!

I am deeply sorry if I forgot any one's name or left anyone out!!

HEARTS AND HUGS!!

Some random stuff that happened this week and some random music Just to make this title longer.

I went to a "party" on Tuesday with some "friends" (I say that in quotes because I only knew two of the ladies there in person, but by the end they were all my friends... right?) I got to meet the great Motherboard, (I was not disappointed!!!) and hang out with Sher which I haven't done for a long time. I also got to get to know Jo a lot better. Plus I met Veronica and Amber who were new to me but beyond cool. So in other words I had a girls night. This is something I don't do often. I don't have a lot of girl friends. I have never decided why this is or of there really is an underlying reason for it. I just don't hang out with my friends often. When I do I completely enjoy myself, so I don't know why I don't do it more often. I guess I just get bogged down with life sometimes and forget to take time for myself.

On that note... I am so excited for tonight's meet and greet where I get to meet the fabulous Amber and Denae.

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Did anyone see this post. Well I am still mad. I cannot believe that she did this to herself..... OK I know time to get over it.

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We got together with S's family last night and had a really good time. All of the older kids get together and play "night games" after dark. This was the first time The Bug could really participate. It was so good to see her playing and doing things that were age appropriate. I liked seeing that.

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I am trying to start a cooking class for kids in the neighborhood, or for any kid interested for that matter. I am having some trouble with it. Tuesday was the first class and I had a whopping four kids, one of which was my own. I held it again on Thursday and no one showed. Thank goodness my little nieces were here for a visit so I could have it for them. I am starting to get discouraged. This is very much like having a home party for me. Everyone appears to have a lot of enthusiasm for the party but no one shows up. I think I am going to send out a flier in the neighborhood and see what comes my way.

Wish me luck!

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This has been a busy week around our house, at least it is for me. We have had something going on almost every day, sometimes two or three things at a time. I am kind of looking forward to just relaxing next week.

I miss laziness.

Here's some summertime music:

1. Man on the Moon- REM

2. Read My Mind- The Killers

3. Dig- Incubus

4. Doot Doot- Fruer

5. Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well- Mike Doughty

6. Heavy- Colective Soul

7. Fake Do-Gooders- The Eames Era

8. Roxanne- The Police

9. I Melt with You- Modern English

10. Clumsy- Our Lady Peace

Wordless Wednesday

NOT LAUGHING!

This is The Bug who is 11 years old and should know better than to take a pair of scissors to her own hair!

This is what The Bug and I did for family home evening last night!

This is the result!

NEITHER OF US ARE HAPPY ABOUT IT!

Menu Monday

For a short time, early in our marriage S and I lived in a little town in upstate New York. Broome county where we lived is famous for being the birth place of IBM and the comic strip BC and, is one of the few places in the country where you can find this particular "delicacy".

I love them!

They are one of my favorite summer time things and one of the things that I miss most about NY. I even brought an entire gallon of this marinade home with me on the plane last time we visited. So since they are obviously not available in Utah I have had to find my own recipe. This is the recipe I use and it is pretty good.

Spiedies

1 Lb. chicken or pork cubed for skewering

1 cup oil (I like to use half olive oil and half vegetable oil)

3/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tbsp. sugar

1 onion finely minced (or 1/4 cup dehydrated onion)

4 cloves minced garlic

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 1/2 tsp each thyme, rosemary, marjoram, basil and oregano, or...

2 tbsp of italian seasoning

1 loaf sliced italian bread (good luck finding this if you are in Utah!)

Combine all but meat and mix well. Add meat and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. This is so much better if you can marinate it for two or three days, but keep and eye on it and make sure it doesnt go bad. Skewer meat and grill. Wrap 1 slice of bread around one skewer of meat, hold tight with bread and remove skewer. Enjoy!

This is exactly what it should look like!

Seriously people DO NOT put condiments on this, I know there will be a temptation to add mayo or something else but it doesnt need it! Just try it like this and see how good it is!

I Promise you will like it!

If you are too lazy to make it yourself you can order "Spiedie Sauce" here

Five random things I have learned from gardening... oh and I guess some tunes too

Horses like to eat the tops off of sunflower plants (that's twice now!). There is only one left... hopefully it is far enough away from the fence... we'll see.

We will be having cherry tomatoes... soon.

I need to turn on the macro setting on my camera.

Pumpkins are very prolific, and we will be selling a lot of them this fall.

Nothing fertilizes like horses!

Random tunes:

1. Lukin- Pearl Jam

2. Desperately Wanting- Better Than Ezra

3. The Resolution- Jack's Mannequin

4. Humming- Portishead

5. Soul Meets Body- Death Cab for Cutie

6. Vittorio E.- Spoon

7. West End Girls- Pet Shop Boys

8. Borderline- Madonna

9. Gives You Hell- All American Rejects

10. Nemesis- Shriekback

Path of Destruction (A Photo Essay)

As some of you know I have an autistic daughter. Lou Lou can be very destructive. For some reason lately this has been a lot worse than usual. We kind of expect some sort of regression in her behavior during the summer because no matter how hard we try we just can't provide the kind of structure for her that her teachers can in class. After all there are about 5 teachers and only one of me. This week has been particularly bad, she has weaved a path of destruction through our house for about the last two weeks. Thank heaven for the extended school program, so she has somewhere to go for a while so I can clean up.

Do you see the goose egg on her forehead? Well that is self inflicted. She has this thing with going up stairs lately. She has to go up them two at a time. Usually I hold her hand while she is trying to do this but on Sunday she pulled her hand out of mine while we were coming inside. We have a rather large set of wooden stairs on our back porch. I was distracted I admit, we had friends over and I was talking and thinking of other things when she pulled her hand out of mine. Plus she has become really good at stairs since we moved into a house with 50 billion of them, so I wasn't too worried. Anyway we were coming up them and she was right behind me, when I heard the thump and turned around to see her sliding down the stairs with her legs tucked under her in fetal position. So she slid down on her shins, OUCH! She landed on the cement and scraped up her elbows, and knees and got a hit on the head too. She still won't go up the stairs normally I have to keep reminding her that she fell and that she doesn't want to do that again.

Anyone remember this post? Remember how proud I was that she was starting to write her letters. She has gotten really good at her E's especially. See she has used our nice leather chair for practice!

Note to self: Do not leave autistic child alone in family room with unlocked cabinets... on second thought do not leave autistic child alone... EVER!

And these are just the things I happened to get a picture of.