Good Summer Day

So, it's July! How is summer going? The kids are doing okay at their new clipboard chores. I'm ready to follow up better now that our missionary is off and things have slowed down (kinda) from that big event. The kids are enjoying playing night games outside, especially with the new laser guns that Corey got Wes for his B-day, and a few more sets for fun.

Today was a good day because #1 - I prepared and served a delicious dinner and we sat down together to eat it! I served a vegetable lasagna (store bought), green salad, garlic bread, and I looked up a Purple Carrot recipe that I didn't get delivered but I thought looked good: Stuffed Sweet Potatoes! I couldn't find gai lan (Chinese broccoli). Google said an okay substitute was regular broccoli or bok choy, I went with the bok choy cause it's fun to say. I think I'll look up a purple carrot dinner every day and when I serve it, I'll give the little introduction Purple carrot provides. I started to read it to the kids as I was preparing it - they laughed and didn't let me get past the second sentence: "Simple and hearty, this recipe is as nutritious as it is vibrant. The velvety texture of sweet potatoes deliciously contrasts with crunchy cucumbers and zesty chickpeas." "Mom! Stop!" Corey came home right on time at 6:30 and he and I both thought it was delicious. The kids were happy with the lasagna and garlic bread. Lily had a friend over today and I asked her mom if she could stay for dinner (they have Lily over a lot!) That added pressure probably helped me, maybe I should invite people over for dinner more often.

Reason why it was a good day #2 - The kitchen is clean! and it's only 10 pm! Last night it wasn't clean until midnight. Saturday night it wasn't clean until 1 a.m (I had taken a nap though) so I'm getting better. I like waking up to a clean kitchen. I made the bed everyday, maybe I can start to clean the kitchen and shine the sink every night. The kids have their bedrooms all newly arranged and clean, and I've still got a bit of work to do sorting all the discarded clutter and seeing if there is anything we should keep in it. I listened to this Rich Roll podcast tonight while I cleaned and sorted - with Rangan Chatterjee. Really good stuff. Long, but awesome. Give it a listen while you fold laundry. I set an alarm on my phone to help us remember to take the kids phones. They are addictive, and this is a social experiment we're all embarking upon and trying to figure out - but we need to be aware of how they affect our energy, mood, and health. His Four Pillars books sounds good, just put it on my wishlist.

I'm feel like I'm head back to the "get healthy" zone after being kinda off the wagon for a month. I derailed during our trip to Newport and haven't found my rhythm again. The pregnancy probably has effected that too, and I'm still lower energy that usual (I can't get up in the mornings, so sad, I'm missing out on my hikes!) but I'm doing good and feeling a little better each week, should hopefully be feeling normal in anther week when I'm out of the first trimester.

Christmas 2017

Natalie! You made it! Today is CHRISTMAS!!!! 

Merry Christmas little girl! She's been waiting and counting down the days on the calendar on the fridge for a whole month. Now it's finally here, time to cash in! She was probably the funnest one to watch. We went for the shock and awe with a big present first - one from Costco that earned a lot of bragging rights last year when Sophi got one (Dori last year) - a big coloring set with crayons and markers - Disney princess this time. Natalie and Sophi both got one. They were the "biggest" presents, so they were quite pleased. This should keep them busy for a week or so.

So, Corey and I didn't head to bed until 5:30 this morning, so we slept in and kept ignoring requests to get up until 10:45. When we came out, they gave us their presents from under the family tree in the front room, where they slept. That room was trashed - wrapping paper, MnM's, you name it all over the floor. Then we headed into the side room where the gifts from Corey and I were. Since we didn't get around to putting names on them last night/this morning, the kids picked up presents one by one and formed a line by Corey and his laptop, where he informed kids who the numbered gift was for.

Me on my 8th trip out to the garbage can. Daniel wants me to hold him. 

Another highlight of my Christmas was watching these two play with their wood cars and floor mat.

Cute cute little guys, you can hear them zooming and vrooming their cars - too cute.

Lots of art kits for kids, papers and pens and markers. A few electronic things. A Forks Over Knives cook book for me from and a subscription to Purple Carrot, which I'd never heard of before, but he said it's like Blue Apron, but plant based. Cool! I'm excited

After all the opening was over, Daniel was just laying on the ottoman in an almost drunk-like stupor

It was like he was just basking in the overdose of it all, made me laugh.

The kids did their best to find an open space on the floor where they could park and spread out their loot.

Front room and side room are trashed, but the girls found an open spot in the kitchen. It's getting hard to walk around here...

Daniel found someone's chocolate from their stocking - I held him at arms length until he was safely in the tub to be properly un-chocolated. Sorry, don't mean to make you sad, but don't touch me!

So it's just been a big messy Christmas explosion all day, which I guess is how it should be. Kids are happy, no one feels slighted that I'm aware of. I think a great Christmas memory was delivered to our family with help from lots of Christmas angels, you know who you are, thank you. I think the kids would all say it was a good day.

Mother's Day Moments

A funny moment from this morning - I had just gotten Owen and Daniel out of the tub. As I was trying to get Owen dressed, Daniel came over and got on top of him to give him a big hug.

It was cute, so I took a picture. They were jibber-jabbering something that I didn't understand, but they kept giggling and hugging. I thought it was an appropriate mother's day gift to me from these little boys - "Look Mom! Your children love each other!"

It was super cute so I started a quick video and then I got a pretty funny moment on camera.

In case you couldn't tell, the funny moment is around 33 seconds. They are pretty cute and funny little guys. At church Daniel and his little girl friend were holding hands again, he's just being affectionate to everyone today!

They're so cute!

After church, we went to Corey's brother's house for a Mother's Day bbq. I made some of this Purple Carrot Egg-less Salad (super delish!) and also brought some of these vegan sausages - Field Roast and Tofurky Italian sausage, both of which are very good and Hyrum and I quite enjoyed them. The kids played in their cousins' dress up clothes.

We have no idea what Natalie was, but she wore it with confidence.

Lily taught and then led the kids in singing "Mother Tell Me The Story" We had a good time visiting until reality brought us back - Wes heard from his cousin that he wasn't allowed to use non-Churchill people in his SBO skit for his campaign for Governor that is due tomorrow.... the video we recorded yesterday thus had 2 neighborhood kids who would/could disqualify him. Looks like he's gonna have to get up early and come up with a plan B!

I Am A Purist!!

I've probably mentioned it here a few times, that I have a teenager that gives me a run for my money. It is thanks to him that Corey and I are in the advanced parenting course "Parenting 505" as explained in this talk by Elder Lynn Robbins -

A sweet and obedient child will enroll a father or mother only in Parenting 101. If you are blessed with a child who tests your patience to the nth degree, you will be enrolled in Parenting 505. Rather than wonder what you might have done wrong in the premortal life to be so deserving, you might consider the more challenging child a blessing and opportunity to become more godlike yourself. With which child will your patience, long-suffering, and other Christlike virtues most likely be tested, developed, and refined? Could it be possible that you need this child as much as this child needs you?

Yes, I need my Ethan. So, last night for dinner I made a Purple Carrot thing which was quite delicious, if I do say so myself - Dosa Lettuce Wraps. As usual, Mel and Hyrum liked it, and everyone else wanted something else. So Ethan was making some french toast for himself but wouldn't make it for anyone else, so I started making it for the rest of the kids. And Ethan's hands were gooey from dipping the bread in the egg and milk mixture, as were mine, but he kept asking us to do things for him - poor more milk into the mixture for him, flip his toast with the spatula, open the fridge, etc... not cause he didn't want to contaminate things with his messy fingers, but he didn't want messy things to contaminate his fingers that he was touching his toast with. He is so concerned about messes in all their infinite variety. Last week on Wednesday, it was "steak" night, (haha! Cauliflower steaks that is - gotcha kids!) and I knew most of the kids would be like "What the freak Mom!?!?" so I made sure there were more options: I made the Butternut Squash Caponata, had a big fresh pot of potato vegetable soup and had some leftover spaghetti. Ethan came to dinner and after surveying the options and quickly concluding that there was "nothing" to eat, he went to make himself some spaghetti. "There's some leftover spaghetti right here." "How long has that been there?!?!" "One day (might have been 2)" "That's OLD!! Natalie probably put her fingers in it! Little kids could have sneezed in it! I'm not eating that!" This was one of the first sit down meals we all sat down for in a while, and Corey wanted Ethan to sit down with us, thus he replied "You can't make more spaghetti. This is what's for dinner" "No!!! Please can I make spaghetti!!?!?!" "No. This is what's for dinner." "AAHHHH!!!! Why!?!?" But, after a little more venting and throwing back his head to scream at the ceiling, Ethan, bless his soul, did sit down and eat some soup. Good job Eth! So, that was a longer than needed to be story to give an example of how Ethan is a purist. He does not like his food to be touched by little kids. He never makes peanut butter sandwiches, cause who knows how many sibling germs could be in that jar. He won't even use an already opened jar of Nutella for the same reason. He must be the first to use an item. His sanitation takes priority, he means business! Corey teased him last week saying "You don't bring in enough income to this household to demand such high standards for yourself..." Ethan will not use the hand towels to dry his hands, even the clean ones in the drawer, cause you just can't really trust anything to be clean around here. He only uses paper towels. I didn't grow up with paper towels and it seems so wasteful to me, especially with the great frequency that Ethan uses them, but it is helping me be patient and long suffering and I've learned not to say anything about it (though I still think it and have to grit my teeth), and I even (albeit reluctantly) buy paper towels now and then (cause if I don't buy them in bulk at Costco, Corey will pay for the overpriced ones at Smiths). Don't let Eth see you cough at the table though, and don't even think about talking to him if you've got a cold sore on your lip. Poor Wes has sore chapped lips from playing his trumpet in this dry Utah winter weather, and thus Ethan picks on him "Why do you have cold sores all the time?!?! You're so gross!" And do not, heaven forbid, be sick around him, or he'll give you a tongue lashing for contaminating the air. SO, sorry, not trying to rag on Ethan, just giving some very common example around here of how Ethan demonstrates that he is a purist. The phrase "I am a purist!" comes to my mind often when these exchanges and episodes happen around here. And that is why I'm typing all this up, so that I can share this phrase that has been in my brain for the past 7 years - a line from this SNL political sketch (see minute 9:10) where Ron Paul was being questioned in a mock debate sketch by Shepard Smith:

Shepard Smith: You were, uh, painted into a corner last week when you were asked a very pointed hypothetical question about liberty. So let's do that again! 

Ron Paul: G-g-great! 

Shepard Smith: Let's pretend you are a representative of the federal government walking down the street. You see a house on fire. Do you act? 

Ron Paul: [ shaking his head frantically ] Nooo!! That's none of my business! 

Shepard Smith: What if... the house is full of puppies? Puppies with their noses pressed against the glass. Do you act then? 

Ron Paul: No! That is NOT my place! 

Shepard Smith: What if... the puppies were making this noise: [ he moans like a helpless puppy ] And they're all wearing bows. What would you do? 

Ron Paul: I'd let the puppies BURN! I am a PURIST! The puppies should DIE!! 

Shepard Smith: Well... Ron Paul, you stuck to your guns! Your weird, old guns! 

I thought that was so funny. And that quote from a pretend Ron Paul runs through my head often around here when Eth's worried about germs. "HE IS A PURIST!! THE PUPPIES SHOULD DIE!" Corey told Eth tonight that he's gotta learn to relax about gross stuff or there's a good chance he's gonna get his butt kicked on a mission when he can't offend his dinner hosts when he's served a plate of bugs~

That is a picture from one of our neighbors on his mission in the Philippines (March 13, 2016 entry) The weirdest thing I had to eat on my mission was menudo, that was pretty nasty, but ya gotta eat it up with good manners. Though I'm sure I would have had a hard time being brave over a plate of bugs! It will be fun to see where our kids go. I'm excited to be able to hear about all the things they will learn as missionaries.

Hibbert Gathering

My little brother who moved to Texas is in town this week. They went up to Idaho for a family reunion on his wife's side, and on their way home they were ale to swing by and say hi to their old neighborhood and family and friends here in Utah. We all gathered at our house yesterday for some food and visiting. The house was full of a dozen conversations taking place at the same time, it was fun to see and hear the bustle of activity!

Adults mostly visited. When you finished one conversation, you were able to go and join another one in progress.

Ethan and my mom -

Some of the adult cousins brought their boyfriends! That was exciting.

All our little kids are grown up. Joseph is the first missionary of the Hibbert grandkids, but I don't think he'll be the first wedding. The teenagers played chess...

and younger cousins were running around and playing inside and outside and everywhere.

Daniel loved his uncle Jared tickling him -

He'd squeal and then chant "Again! Again!" It was funny cause Daniel was so wary of some of the adults, but he chummed right up to Jared.

Jared asked Daniel if he'd come home with them. I don't remember if he said yes, but he did go running into his arms, which could be taken as a yes. "Can we keep him?" I agree, Daniel is a keeper!

Natalie's birthday is tomorrow (Tues) and my little sister's birthday is today, so we had some early birthday cake for dessert.

So that was fun. It would be nice if we were all closer and saw each other more, but we do have fun when we are able to get together. We talked about getting a family reunion planned for next year, our last one was 3 years ago when Owen was a baby (so cute!)

That was yesterday. Today I opened the horned melon my mom brought over last night. She knows I always think it's fun to try new weird looking food (like romanesco broccoli or the sugar apple, and Beka told me yesterday that she saw Joseph's rambutan fruit at Harmons, we're gonna go get some and try it in his honor) So I had the horned melon for breakfast. Not very sweet, was kinda like a melon with a slight banana taste. Plus lots of slimy seeds. It was good though, I'd eat it again.

We had Mexican dinner tonight with this Mexican Quinoa salad by Purple Carrot, everyone loved it, gotta love dishes with mangos in them! And final activity of the day - I took the kids to a park they hadn't been to in a long time - Mountain View Park.

The bigger kid area wasn't very toddler friendly, so I was glad to get these two kiddos over to the smaller one.

For a little bit atleast.

Soon we joined the older kids cause Abi was calling me to come see this really cool ride thing. This contraption that spins around. Abi would run and they would all turn and then she'd grab on and let herself get flug around on it too.

They all got on and I pushed them, but not as fast cause Owen and Daniel were in the seat now. Hold on tight little boys!

We stayed until it was very dark, then ran by the store for some Red Button pink animal cookie ice cream for Natalie's birthday. Birthday junk is here again tomorrow!

Childhood Dream

I keep trying to write down what we eat for dinner, and I think that once I get a month's worth of meals, then we can just put dinner on repeat. But I keep forgetting to write what we have. But I remembered Monday - we had veggie burger and fries. And I remembered yesterday - coconut rice bowls with orange chicken and teriyaki shrimp. And today was a busy Wednesday with people coming and going at different times, so I made mac n' cheese for the toddlers, and a Purple carrot salad for Corey and I, it was meh. But I'm glad I'm recording meals. I don't really remember anything my mom made for meals when I was growing up, other than rice and chicken with some cream of chicken soup in the rice. Oh, and stuffed green peppers (I didn't like those, but I remember my older sister would request them for her birthday meal, and thus I was not excited when it was her birthday). So even though I don't remember what I ate as a child, I'm sure that my mother fed us all everyday, seeing as I am alive and survived to adulthood. So part of me wants to record that mundane stuff here so that the kids can know about it, in some future day when they are living their own lives and trying to remember parts of their childhood, which will just be a fading dream.

(That is a good picture to post after saying "fading dream" huh?) That was Owen asleep at the top of the stairs this morning. He's doing pretty good at sleeping in his new area, in Mel and Abi's room, in his pink chair. As Corey headed downstairs and out for work, he saw Owen at the top of the stairs and said "...there's a dragon!" Yes, Owen the little sleeping dragon, be careful not to disturb him as you make your escape!

One good win today - I bought a little copper sponge over the weekend, I used it on the stovetop today and it looks so clean! Yay! And something cute this evening, I was doing some lifting and Owen came and joined me with his two 3 pound weights.

I heard something that I liked recently - the Keisers said how important it is to exercise at home and show our children how we incorporate these healthy habits and then they will start to develop them too and will make it a part of their lives. I thought that was a good idea. I've been thinking I'd like to join a gym, but maybe now I won't, cause I do really like the idea of my kids learning by watching my example here at home.

Steak Night

We have a new way of enjoying "steak night!" around here, and tonight was it. Although, my kids know that "steak" can't mean what it used to mean if their health conscious mother is the chef. And they would be right in their assumption. They came to dinner (a sit down dinner! yay, my second one this week!) where they were surprised to find a platter of cauliflowers "steaks" at the table. I thought it was pretty funny. "Hey kids! It's steak night!" Ethan rolled his eyes at me, "that is NOT funny, mom..." Hyrum, my healthy partner in crime, thought it was a little funny.

This is a Purple Carrot recipe. The only thing I was missing tonight was the kalamata olives, so I used capers instead. Kalamata olives are a new item on my radar that I'd never noticed before. So I was surprised and pleased on my most recent trip to Costco to find they are sold in bulk, cool!

A Few Plant Based Favorites

Thought I'd just recommend a few of our plant based favorite foods -

Ricemilk - it's everyone's favorite, we usually buy the Kirkland brand in the green box at Costco. We don't even have drama about anyone missing cow milk. We like the original ricemilk over the soy or almond drinks, although I use almond milk in my green smoothies. Speaking of green smoothies - My current go to smoothie recipe is below: (WARNING - you need to have to have tastebuds that are not desensitized from an overload of sugar and fat to enjoy this, so work up to it slowly if you need to by adding more blueberries and bananas at first, and my bananas, blueberries, and spinach are usually all frozen):

• 1/2 to 1 c. non dairy milk substitute
• spinach
• frozen blueberries
• handful of baby carrots
• banana
• ice to taste

Purple Carrot Meal Delivery - I've mentioned these guys a few times. Great delicious meals delivered to your door. And, if you don't want to fork out the money for that, go look up the recipes and try them, you can do that for free! i usually have the best luck finding all the ingredients at Smiths. Two of my favorites: Stuffed Sweet Potatoes and Chickpea Saag. You can search here for links to other recipes I've made and mentioned here on the blog. I'm making the stuffed sweet potatoes tonight. And as a tip, I usually have the best luck finding all the ingredients at Smiths. Like, I looked unsuccessfully for Mango Chutnety at Good Earth, Whole Foods, Fresh Market, googling it, looking at Walmart, before finding it at the nearest store to us - Smiths just down the street! So Smiths' is usually where I go first now for rare or less common items and I've had good success.

Restaurants - For Lily's birthday dinner date we went to California Pizza Kitchen - the Shanghai Power Bowl was amazing! We also love Aubergine - they have so many plant based options. We don't get out there often enough for me, but I just love it - delicious salads and for your sweet tooth - "nice cream!"

And, for when you need nice cream to go - I just discovered this delicious dairy free dessert this week, it is "so delicious" - introducing So Delicious Cashew Cookies and Cream. I bought it last week and remembered I had it last night. I had a little bit last night and enjoyed the rest by myself today. I promise I'll share it with my kids next time. But I had to try it out first to know if it was good, so now I know and next time I'll buy enough to share with everyone. I'd show you what it looks like all pretty and served in a dish, but I can't, cause I ate it all.

Hyrum is going to love this - I am happy I've found some perfect "nice" cream for his birthday on Sunday!!

More WFPB

Last Monday, Jan 10, Corey and I were on our health care patient portal looking for Daniel's covid test results from his Friday nose swab, and we didn't find it (so I called the pediatric office and they were able to tell me) BUT Corey did see something else in his patient inbox - a note from his doctor from freaking JULY saying that he is pre-diabetic. They should have called, too, or something, cause he never saw the note. It also said for him to come back in 6 months to get it checked again, after following some diabetes diet and attending a class, which he didn't do. But now that we know, we're starting. I went to youtube to search for a few vegan videos to refresh my brain from when I was fully on board in 2017, and I got some of my plant based books off the shelf downstairs, and I'm recommitting to plant based eating. A few videos to watch - 

How to Reverse Diabetes in 3 Steps -Neal Barnard

A Nutritional Approach for Reversing Diabetes - Neal Barnard 

Preventing and Reversing Diabetes with Dr. Michael Gregor

I was going to announce my plan to Corey, but he'll eat whatever I make, so I just need to recommit myself to Whole food plant based dinners. We're going to finish using meat and stuff in the freezer, but I'm doing the shopping from now on and we're not bringing anymore animal products in. Last night for dinner we had a delicious dinner that Mel made for us once. She really liked this website "Pick Up Limes" and the time she made Loaded Chili Sweet Potato Fries is imprinted on my brain. It was very very good. So I made that last night. Yum!

I shared a picture with Mel to let her know I was thinking of her! We are so excited that she is coming home from her mission in like 6 weeks!!

I might start our Purple Carrot shipments again too. It's a good resolve, and I'm taking baby steps. I know that planning out meals is the big key to success. Abi is going to help me. So, other than a recommitment to healthy dinners for the rest of my life, it's been mostly the same ol' same ol. Last month I bought a computer for my long lost second uncle cousin (?) Dennis and mailed it to him today. We've been keeping touch after we discovered each other in the fall of 2020. His 2010 miniMac was getting slow or something and he asked if Corey, with his computer expertise, could help him find a trustworthy replacement. We were able to find a refurbished 2012, I picked it up in Lindon, but Dennis didn't want me to mail it yet for fear that some package thief would nab it, so now that the holiday shopping is well over, it was safe to mail. Things are good.

Healthy Daniel

Last night we had a sit down dinner again, yay for me. I made Red Okra Curry. It was my own creation, adapting it from a Purple Carrot Red Curry Ramen. I've used this as a base recipe before. This time we used rice instead of ramen, a side of zucchini instead of carrots, and I added some okra to the pot of curry. The kids all tried it (cause Corey had brought home some Dunford Donuts as a reward for the children who tried the food I prepared). A handful said the meal was good. The rest said it was tolerable. Tolerable - that's good enough for me, I'll take it!

Daniel often follows me around when it's meal time. Here I am eating my dinner in Ethan and Hyrum's room one night at the beginning of February, (which is why sit down meals needs to be one of my priorities this year...)

I asked Corey to take a picture of Daniel eating my salad. He's such a healthy little guy. Lily used to eat my soup, and she is still a healthy eater, maybe cause that is what she and we have been telling her for years. We'll start that up with Daniel now too!

So Daniel likes to share bits of the salads I make. He's likes beets and tomatoes.

This morning Daniel sat by me on the stairs and we enjoyed the leftover okra and curry for lunch. I looked at him and said "Daniel, I bet you're the only 1 year old in America eating okra right now..." He is such a healthy little kid! A few weeks ago, on a Costco trip, I picked up a few samples to give to him. But he didn't want the pizza, or the buttered bread, he didn't want any of the normal foods. But as we were standing in line at the check out, that little kid grabbed the package of mushrooms, popped his little fingers through the plastic, pulled out a mushroom for himself, and started chomping on it like it was a big juicy apple. I looked at him and thought "You are so weird! I love it! Go Daniel, you eat that mushroom!" Here he is eating a mushroom at home.

Testing it out... Hmm...

Yeah, I'll give it a go, this is the healthy stuff that's good for me, right mom?

Yes Daniel, that will keep you alive and well. So help me, I would love it if this kid never learns the word McDonalds and never has a fond memory of any fast food joint. Well... I will allow it if it's in a foreign country. But I"m determined for Daniel to grow up with memories of outdoor parks and hikes in the mountains instead of playplaces! That is my goal. There might still be hope for Owen, but Natalie's got a big sugar dragon and love "Nicdonals". She wants cereal for breakfast and lunch, hot chocolate for a snack, and yogurt for dinner. Those are all things Corey grabs when he does his little grocery run on the way home from work. I know I know, he's only trying to be helpful. Yesterday it was helful cause I did want some kale which I'm going to use tonight (Roasted Tomato Gratin! It's a new family fav) but we're gonna go over our grocery budget again sweetie. And it's hard for my gratin to compete with Yoplait if it's around... we gotta work together a little more. Natalie, I'm sure, would have finished off the yogurt Corey got yesterday had I not hidden it in the fridge in the garage.

But little Daniel, my goal is that forever, instead of reaching for the sugary yogurt in the fridge - he will reach for the hummus! Just kidding, that's not a goal... cause he already does that! Here he is eating some steamed yellow squash.

(I just love baby squats - how their legs just fold up, so cute.) Daniel also enjoys eating roasted seaweed.

Sophi, Natalie, Owen and Daniel all love the seaweed cause I started young with them (Sophi eating it in her carseat) - but not the kids Abi and older, they all think it's stinky and gross (Wes replused by it years ago). It's pretty funny how it is all crispy and they shove it and crinkle it into their little mouths.

I have to eat the seaweed secretly, cause if the kids catch me or hear the crinkling, they'll come eat up the whole package, and another, and another. But I guess that's a good thing, right? I should encourage it when they find plant based foods that they like. Yes, I'll try to support good things and not squash them.