Let it snow???

I love all seasons, including winter, but I'm not ready to give up my garden yet. Well, it just may be too late. We had snow for several hours this afternoon. It didn't stick a whole lot, just to the plants and grass. It is cold here today & we turned on our heater for the first time tonight.

However, we did come up for the perfect solution for this chilly night, Orange Creme Hot Chocolate...and for those of you wondering, I did go to the Relief Society General Broadcast, but the signal was lost after about 20 minutes and they sent us home. How's that for short? I'll have to catch it on KBYU later if Randy will give up control of the remote.

My Sad Evening

I had a few troubles last night. First, I heard something fall in the garage. When I went and looked, a portable vacuum cleaner had fallen off a shelf and onto our car. And it did damage!! Notice the big dent in the hood just above the lights. (You may have to view your monitor from an angle to really see it...that's how I can see it best.) It also scraped the top layer of paint. Crazy!

And then, as I was making dinner bottle of spices fell out of the cabinet and chipped my stove. At least it didn't shatter the Ceran top. But still, all sad things for me--and difficult or expensive to fix!

TV Advice?

I'm needing some help here. Sydney would watch TV all day if I let her. She keeps waking up earlier and earlier in the morning to watch it. I woke up at 5:50am today & she was downstairs with the TV on. Of course, we made her go back to bed, but that's ridiculous! I'm at a loss as to what to do with TV privileges. I can't just hide the remote because she also uses the TV's buttons. I think she's too young to understand a point system. I don't mind her watching some, but if I'm not right there with her, I know where she is. Parked. I try to convince her to do other activities, but she resists. So, if any of you have any advice on what has worked for you, please, do share.

Can I just say?

I feel great in my new pants today!!

Shopping...Ugh!

Let me give you a little glimpse into my reality. I really don't enjoy clothes shopping a whole lot. Browsing & digging through racks and racks to find the right color, fit, or deal just don't appeal to me. I have one, count it--one, pair of jeans. To tell you the truth, my mom bought them for me two and a half years ago. (Hear that gasp, even I didn't realize it had been that long!!) They have a tear in the rear area that I have patched nicely, but it is noticeable. For a long time, these were my "nice" jeans. All my other jeans have since gotten holes in them, it's getting too cold for my capris, and my one and only pair of jeans are getting much to baggy on my weight-losing body. And I'm not the only one in need.

We were blessed to have a niece born 7 months before Sydney. Because of Sydney's size, 90% of her clothes have been second-hand from my wonderful sister. We have loved this! However, Jenna is completely opposite of Sydney with the seasons. I have tons of cute 6-12 month summer outfits. It makes me sick not to be able to use them this time around, especially not knowing if I will ever get to again. Well, yesterday I went through my girls' clothes. I brought out the ones for this fall and upcoming winter, and put most of the summer ones away. This brought to light one fact: Jenna has very few clothes for the winter. I had bought a few things in January when they were on clearance, but 2 or 3 outfits isn't going to cut it! Something needed to be done.

So, the moral of this post is: there does come a point where shopping is inevitable. And today was that day. Am I glad I got some new clothes for myself and Jenna? Yes. Am I glad I will be able to have a new pair of "nice" jeans? Yes. Am I sickened by the cost of it all? Yes. I'm obviously no fashionista, but come on. Shopping for clothes is over-rated. And I'll just leave it at that.

**Disclaimer: I had Randy read my post & he said it was only "okay". When I asked him why, he said it "sounds like we are poor and that we don't have anything". Let me assure you, that is NOT why I only had one pair of jeans. Just take it as this...I only had one pair because I would rather choose to spend (or save) my money elsewhere and I'm not a clothes shopper. That's it.

Should I Buy it Anyway?

Jenna has cut her first tooth!

I took Jenna to the doctor today for her 6-month check-up. She weighed 14 lbs, 11 oz. Her weight is in the 25th percentile, height is in the 40th, and her head is still in the 5th. The doctor did comment that her thighs are quite chubby compared to the rest of her body. Let's hope that goes away when she's older! When he was examining her, we both noticed that she had officially cut her first tooth. It's her bottom right tooth in front. It's not super visible right now, but when there's more to see, I'll be sure to take a picture.

I Love

Abreva. Yes, I get yucky fever blisters, but Abreva makes them go away quickly. I also love the warm feeling I get in my heart because of my girls. They are so cute. I love the good health I normally enjoy. (Yes, I am feeling much better today.) Here are a few other things I love: daylight in my house, coupons, & getting up and ready before my girls are awake (although, that one is nearly never a reality!).

When Daddy Watches the Girls...

...this is what happens. I was taking a nap. Randy had put Jenna in the "bouncy bounce" while he cleaned up the kitchen & put dinner on the grill. A while later, this is what he found. I just wish I could fall asleep like that!

Sick Day

Jenna has had a cold for the past few days, and it hit me last night. I've been pretty miserable all day, just taking Tylenol and vitamin C as much as I can. I was able to sneak in a small nap while Sydney went to a friend's house for an hour or so. I convinced Randy to come home from work a little bit early to help me out with the girls, but by the time he got home, we were all down for naps. Since I felt so horrible, I had no plans to make dinner. We decided to go to Bajios to grab a bite. While we were there, we ran into some friends from our neighborhood. They were meeting up with others from the neighborhood at a local park & invited us to go along. We were able to enjoy the beautiful evening visiting with everyone... and I was temporarily able to forget about being sick. Now we're home and I'm as miserable as ever. I just hope I feel better tomorrow. Randy has to go in to work tomorrow & Sunday, which I'm dreading. I'm not sure if I can feel this cruddy & keep up with my girls & house. Now is when I wish I lived closer to my mom or sisters!!

Instruments

Look at the beautiful instruments we made for Sydney's preschool today. We made 2 drums (one for her to share with Kamrie), and a flute. She already had some maraca eggs & a harmonica. She loves music and should have a lot of fun with these.

"I'm going hiking. I'm going hiking."

I just finished re-caulking all of our windows in order to keep our house weatherproofed. I had the blinds pulled out of the girls' bedroom window & Sydney grabbed the turning rod off of them. A few minutes later, I heard, "I'm going hiking. I'm going hiking", over and over. This is what I saw coming up the stairs. Sydney's all set with her sunglasses, cell phone, and walking stick!

She's up on all four!

Jenna's latest and greatest trick is getting up on her hands & knees. She really started doing it a lot yesterday afternoon and hasn't quit since. She's even started rocking back and forth a bit. Sydney didn't crawl until 9 months, but I'm betting Jenna's going to be much sooner. Here are a few pictures of the action...not an easy task when she's constantly moving!

Sweet Baby Jenna

Time has gone by so much quicker with our second child. Jenna is now 6-months old. Here are a few tidbits about her.

*She has lots of dimples all over her face...adorable!

*She is very curious and loves to play with toys or whatever she can get her hands on.

*She is a very good eater. We're still working on her tongue thrusting her cereal out, but she loves to eat it.

*She pushes up on her arms, and is beginning to push up on her knees. She rolls all over, scoots backwards, and is quite mobile.

*She has a very mellow personality. She doesn't laugh very often, but when she does, it's really cute.

*She likes to be left alone to fall asleep. She sleeps through the night most of the time, but when she wakes up, she's often wide awake until I feed her.

I Love

Bruce's Sweet Potato Pancakes

...Soooo delicious! Fall weather. Taking my girls on walks. Being organized. Spending quality time with Randy. Good neighbors. Chatting with friends. Thinking of ways to serve others.

Shepherd Pie & Angel Biscuits

Here is one of my favorite hearty meals.

Shepherd Pie Serves 8

Cooked chicken
½ c. margarine
½ c. onions
½ c. celery
½ c. flour
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can milk
Fresh chopped or frozen veggies…whatever you want
Salt to taste

Sauté margarine, onions, and celery. Add flour to sautéed mixture. Add soups, milk, vegetables, and chicken. Thicken if needed with cornstarch or flour thickening. Pour into casserole dish (or 9x13 pan). Drop or place raw biscuits on top and bake at 350° until biscuits are done (about 20-30 minutes).

Angel Biscuits
(This recipe will make quite a few biscuits. I usually top my Shepherd Pie as needed, then bake the rest to use later.)

5 c. flour
¾ c. shortening
3 T. sugar
3 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 pkg. yeast (or 2 ¼ t.)
½ c. warm water
2 c. buttermilk*

* If you don’t have buttermilk, you can add 2-3 t. distilled vinegar to every 1 c. of milk to make it work.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in Crisco. Dissolve yeast in water. Alternate adding buttermilk and yeast water to dry ingredients. Drop spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and bake at 400° for 12 minutes.

My Sisters

I just got to thinking that my sisters may be jealous about my last post, and all my blogging buddies may think I only have brothers. Oh, no. I come from a large family. Here is a picture of me and my sisters last summer. Seems like I'm the only normal one in my family. Grin :)

My Brothers

Okay, I know I've already posted a ton this month, but I just came across this hilarious picture of my brothers dressed up for Halloween, circa 1998. (Yes, even the one in the dress is my brother!) They are all grown up now, but it makes me laugh.

The Grotto

To escape the monotony that has overtaken our lives on a typical Saturday afternoon (what happened to us??), I convinced Randy to go on a hike. We hiked the Grotto Trail in Payson Canyon. It's a really short hike (.3 mi each way), and at the end of the trail is a waterfall with a pool of water. We didn't stay for very long, but the hike was kid-friendly and beautiful.

Testing, Testing...

I had a fun time this afternoon playing with our camera and using the tripod around our yard. Not all of my shots were great, but I was just trying out some of the features and learning how to use all the knobs, etc. on the tripod. Here are a few of my favorites. I hope they make you happy like they do me. Enjoy!

I Love

...the flowers on my struggling shrubs. Getting my back scratched, tickeled or rubbed. Sydney playing with my hair. Our amazing camera that I'm just beginning to discover. The camera's tripod (to hold my pictures steady!). Coconut shrimp...mmm! Being silly with my siblings. Cool weather.

Park Day

I stayed true to my word and took the girls on a walk to the park. My neighbor, Merri, and her daughter, Kamrie, also went with us. The park is near enough to provide a good walk, if that makes sense. Here are a few pictures of the girls.

Can you believe Sydney and Kamrie are only a week and half apart in age?

Clean Count: 1

I'm one day clean of my no-bake cookie addiction. Applause?! I actually ate really healthly yesterday (I typically do, if it weren't for sugar), and had a V8 when I was craving cookies. My weight was back down to my post-pregnancy low, so now I just need to keep that going. I'm taking the girls on a walk to the park later, so that should give me some exercise. Wish me well again!

Roasted Chile

Are we New Mexicans at heart? Maybe. We (especially Randy) do like our green chile. I picked so many in our garden today that I decided I HAD to roast them (the picture is only half of what I picked today). The process was so quick. Needless to say, our house smells wonderful!

I left her alone...

to paint. That was pretty much our preschool today. So, this is what I came downstairs and found.

Breaking the Addiction

So, I'm needing a little bit of help here...or maybe a LOT! I am officially addicted to no-bake cookies. Randy hates them, I know they're horrible for me, yet I crave them daily. I'm not going to hide anything here--I make 1/4 of the recipe and eat the whole thing warm with a glass of milk. I have stopped losing weight and I'm afraid it will start going up soon if I don't make changes NOW. I typically make & eat them when I'm wanting some down time while watching TV, usually in the afternoon or evening. I know will-power alone won't cut it. Everyone caves. So, does anyone have suggestions on how I can break this addiction? I would love to have some feedback & encouragement!

Labor Day Weekend

I'm not sure where this week has gone, but I'm finally getting around to posting about our Labor Day Weekend. My sister, Dixie, and her family stayed at our house from Thursday until Monday. They were here for a reunion with my brother-in-law's family, but we were still able to spend some quality time with them. Sydney went with them on Friday for a little hike up Payson Canyon and then a barbecue. (Sorry, no pictures.) It felt amazingly refreshing for me to run errands with only one child!

We spent Friday night with Dixie's family...barbecuing hot dogs for the kids and shrimp & veggie kabobs for the adults. Josh's brother's family came over. We then played Uno Attack before us girls went over to a neighbor's house (a friend of Dixie's sister-in-law), who gave Dixie and I TONS of scrapbooking paper and embellishments for FREE!

We spent our day on Saturday with Randy's family. We attended a reunion for his grandpa's siblings & all their children & grandchildren. The reunion was at a beautiful park up Parley's Canyon.

This is our immediate Chipman family, including Grandpa. (Our brother-in-law, David, is the only one missing.)

That evening, we went to an Orem Owlz game with some of Randy's family. Sydney actually enjoyed playing in the playground most of the time.

My favorite blue eyes, with his wonderful parents.
We had dinner and visited with Randy's family on Sunday evening, then returned to our house to spend more time with the Jamison's (Dixie's family). Sadly, I injured my knee while playing Wii bowling. Pretty pathetic!

And finally, on Monday morning, we had breakfast with Dixie's family, as well as my sister, Kelsey, and her husband. The rest of the day was spent relaxing after our busy, busy weekend. We truly do love spending time with our families!

The bed skirt is moving!

Randy and I were rushing around tonight trying to get our girls bathed & our nephews put to bed. Randy set Jenna down on our bedroom floor, since she tends to roll off everything now. I went into our room a few minutes later to get Jenna ready for her bath. She was "missing", but our bed skirt had wet slobber spots on it, and it was moving. Jenna had somehow rolled under our bed and was happily playing on her tummy, with not much room to spare. Too funny!