Crafty time

This last weekend I went down to my sister DeAnne's house for a girls/craft night. I stayed up until 2:30am finishing this (and two other) sets of letters. The other two are for Christmas presents, but I like the way they turned out so much that I might keep one of the other sets (it says a different word) and make another to give away.

Thanks DeAnne for a great night and fun craft!

Cross dresser

After church on Sunday, Cooper changed into his pj's (Sunday tradition). I left my boots laying around and Cooper thought it would be fun to cross dress.

He could barley stand up in them!

Please help me...

what do you have on your workout play list?

Girls Night Outt

Saturday night I went out with three friends who I grew up going to church with. Heather and I are in the same ward now and Kimberlee is getting married in May and will also be in our ward then. Shelley, darn her, lives in Illinois, but was "up here" (or is it over here?) for a visit. We went to Applebees and had a great time!

Me and Shelley

Kimberlee and Heather

Jogging

Well I have kept my goal and have jogged on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Yesterday morning I was really tired and didn't want to get out of bed, but did. I really had to push myself to jog, it was like my body was pushing against me. Hopefully this will get easier. Also, on the days that I jog, I am really tired for the rest of the day. I thought exercising was suppose to give you more energy...

Big Horn Show

Jeff took Mason and Cooper to the Big Horn Sport and Recreation Show this morning. Jeff's Dad, my Dad, and my brother, Michael also came along. I, on the other hand, had NO interest in going, so I spent time running other errands.

If you look closely at the pole, there is a leopard climbing up it.
My cute boy.

Here is a video of the leopard.

When the boys got home Cooper told me that he learned about Cats....big ones.

Bountiful Basket

There is a company based in Utah (I think) that is gets fresh produce at really cheap prices and then passes those savings onto their customers. They just started this program in Spokane a few weeks ago. The people who assemble each basket are volunteers, just one more way of saving money. This week I decided to get a basket to see if the produce is any good and if it really is worth the money. For $15 I got:

15 red potatoes

8 tangerines

6 grapefruit

13 apples

7 bananas

1 head of lettuce

1 bunch of celery

2 bunches of asparagus

3 cucumbers

1 lb baby carrots

3 beats

The only thing I have no clue what to do with is the beats. Anyone know what to do with these?

Reminder

Lets play a round of "name these pictures"

Any guesses?


The first picture is red hard wheat.

The second picture is red hard wheat ground into wheat flour.

Did anyone get either picture right?

The real reason I posted these is because I FINALLY used my grain mill I got for my birthday. Every time I have made pizza dough, post grain mill ownership, I have thought to myself, hey self you could make some wheat pizza dough! Then my lazy side would kick in and say nah that would take WAY too much time. Well yesterday I kicked the lazy side to the curb and ground some wheat. Yummy! That pizza good! And the best part was that it only took a few minutes to grind the wheat. Eating the yummy pizza, reminded me of how good the food was that I ate at a class I went to where I learned how to cook with wheat.

The second reminder I got was from Mason. While I was rolling out the pizza dough, Cooper was playing with the un-ground wheat. Cooper spilled some on the floor. I looked at the spilled wheat and said, "ah crap". Then Mason said, "Mom you are really good at saying things we are not suppose to say".

Thanks for the reminder Mason.

Flash Freezing

Tuesday I got another 40 pound box of fresh (never been previously frozen) boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.58/lb. These chicken breasts are so big! They are at least twice the size of Costco's frozen chicken breasts. Last time I got the chicken I made 16 meals and froze them. With the remaining chicken I portioned it into amounts our family would eat and froze those portions in freezer bags. I really liked doing it that way, but if we had someone over for dinner I had to thaw out another bag, even if I only need half of it.

So this time I decided to try flash freezing. I'd never done it before, I just knew that frozen chicken (or other foods) from the store have been flash frozen first so that the chicken isn't stuck together in one big clump, thus allowing you to use the right amount of chicken or other food for each meal. I looked it up on the internet and all it said was to use cookie sheets and put wax paper over the cookie sheets, then place the desired food on the wax paper, being careful the food is not touching, then freeze until completely frozen (2-24 hours). Sounds easy enough, well it was!

The first batch I froze, I portioned into meal sizes and added in the bags either BBQ sauce, Italian dressing, or an oil/honey/soy sauce/garlic marinate. I ended up with 9 meals. Now I am so excited to fire up the grill!

The second batch I cut the breasts either in half....

or in strips....and froze them. Then I put them into freezer bags. I ended up with three gallon size bags of halved breasts and one gallon bag of strips. My freezer is so full of chicken now. Not only do I have this 40 pounds, but a few weeks ago frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts were on sale at Safeway for $1.69/lb so I got 28 pounds then. The same chicken is on sale again at Safeway this week, I am seriously considering getting another 20 pounds. Am I crazy? I don't know...we do eat way more chicken than any other meat... and I do have room in my freezer for it...but then I wouldn't have room for anything else if there was a great sale on another food item.

A sure way...

to get all your markers taken way.

Mason's "art" is not so noticeable. (He has a yellow mustache and beard.) Watch out Leonardo da Vinci!

Cooper's allergy test relults

I just got a call from Cooper's allergist. The nurse said that Cooper is VERY allergic to peanuts (yeah we knew that). She said that the test results came back with the highest possible number, so I guess the good news is that his allergy can't get any worse. Is there any possible way that he will grow out of this since he is as allergic as a person can be? Yes, but only time will tell. So unless we want Cooper to stop breathing, no nuts for him. Sorry kid.

Jogging

A week or so ago I went jogging with my sister DeAnne-that felt really good, but I wasn't very happy with my self that I couldn't jog for a good distance without wanting to stop. I have to admit, I have not worked out regularly in at least six years, and that stint only lasted a few months. Before that, it was when I was a Sophomore in High School. I was in great shape then. Too bad for Jeff that he didn't know me then, he would have thought I was H. O. T. During my Sophomore year I took an aerobics class from a great teacher, who had a gift for motivating even the laziest person. During that year we jogged M, W, F and did step box aerobics or some other aerobic workout on T, Th. After a very short time I was able to run 6 miles during the 75 minute class period. Pretty good eh? Well that was the last time I was in THAT good of shape.

I have been wanting to start jogging again for a while now, but I have used excuses like: "with a husband, two kids, a house to run, a church calling to fulfill- I don't have time" and "it's too cold out, the road might be icy, I would fall and hurt myself". Well, the same sister I mentioned above just completed a 5K run this weekend. I finally decided that if DeAnne can find the time, then so can I. This weekend I set a goal for myself that I would run M, W, F and do some toning on T, Th, Sat. Then when my mussels and body get used to jogging a bit more I will jog on T, Th too.

This morning I was up at 6:45, stretched, and out the door by 7:00. I jogged/walked for 30 minutes. I would say that I jogged at least half of that time. Hopefully over the next few weeks I can build up to jogging the entire time and lengthen the time I jog for too.

Thanks DeAnne for giving me the inspiration I needed!

Bowling Birthday

Mason and Cooper were invited to their cousin Magan's 6th birthday party today at a bowling ally. The best part of bowling....the shoes.

Mason with his cousin Connor
Mason bowling, with Daddy trying to help him with his "technique".
Cooper's technique-getting down on his knees and pushing his ball.
Cooper waiting, and waiting, and waiting to see how many pins his ball would knock over.
Cooper with his Great Grandma Long

Mason bowling

Cooper bowling

Cooper trooper

Earlier this week Cooper had to get his blood drawn to see if he is still allergic to peanuts. Cooper did really well, considering his age. I held him in my lap and held his "extra" arm down, while one nurse stabilized his other arm, and another nurse drew his blood. Cooper did cry while this was being done, but once the tourniquet (rubber band thing) was taken off his arm he did stop. I'm not sure when we will get the results, probably this week. My hopes are not high that he will no longer be allergic to peanuts. Maybe someday.

Once we got out of the office building, Cooper became pretty lethargic so once we got home he drank some OJ and perked right back up.

Can you see the "lethargic-ness" in his eyes?

Giveaway

My friend told me about a giveaway from the Dress-Up Drawer. The giveaway is for a Mikarose dress. Sadly, I've never heard of the Milkarose clothing company before- they have some really cute stuff- I've really been missing out! Go check it out and enter to win!

http://thedressupdrawer.blogspot.com/2010/03/monday-is-finally-here-i-have-such.html