5 Love Languages for Children Test

This blog is sort of becoming my online brain, so I'm going to post this here, since I just spent about 10 minutes googling it to try and find the link that I wanted ...

The Five Love Languages - good book with good ideas and a lot of it rings true to me. (I'm Quality Time). There is a simple test here for you to use to find out what the love languages is for your kids.

Now I just need to figure out how to have a master family binder or something where I keep all these things, so they don't all just get lost in the "important papers that I need to do something with" pile on my desk here... speaking of clutter, that's another book I probably need to re-read. Do I need a filing cabinet with a file for each kid, or do I organize important things by item?

Spinach Salad

Here's my signature Christmas Salad -


Toss:

Spinach
Sliced Mushrooms
Red Onion
Toasted Almonds
Craisins
Crumbled Bacon

Dressing:

1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. olive oil
1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. poppy seeds
1/2 tsp. dry mustard


Substitute xylitol for sugar and turkey bacon for bacon if you want to be more healthy. Also, for flavor's sake, NO Bacon bits or "real bacon" bits - it's just not the same. Cook your bacon/turkey bacon up from fresh and crumble it.


* Disclaimer * this is a "green salad", but do not be under the assumption that since it contains a lot of greens that it you can eat all you want - seeing as it's coated with that crave inducing sugary vinegar dressing and greasy bacon you will want to go back for seconds. It is OH SO GOOD, but remember, usually if they taste this good to your tongue they are not that good for your waist. Which is why we indulged on this salad for our holiday parties this week but Parties are Over! and I'm back on the wagon with my resolutions today on new years eve - Getting a jump start on the new year, (which means only one piece of cheese cake today!) oh yeah.

Cross Play

I love to see the kids playing, especially when in their games one toy type gets to go live in another toys' world. My Mom calls it "cross play" and says toys that you can cross play are the best, cause your kids can imagine more and get more creative with them.

So here we have some cross play - we have a Lego Minifigure Ewok who has been invited to go play in Strawberry Shortcake land at the Itty Bitty Berry Store - Orange Blossom even shared her dress with him.

And a giant T-Rex presiding - making sure everyone plays fair. :)

Ben Breedlove

Just in case you haven't heard this story yet, I first read it Wednesday on the local news website then again today in my inbox from Positively Positive.

Those Were The Days!

I've been laughing as I stroll down memory lane - There is the house I grew up in, with what would become my sweet set of wheels during high school waiting for me in the driveway - oh yeah, white stationwagon!

Dressing up little sister in a pretty pink dress with a - what is that mink thing draped around your shoulders, Beka? Neil's toy Chewbacca?
Nice orange and brown patterned wall paper behind Grant... such a cutie in his high chair.

Ah, the Littles... keeping your dolls and furniture safe in a ... peanut butter bucket?

Anyone remember Poochie?

Knight Rider?

Playing "He-Man and Ponies"?


That was our favorite thing to play. We must have been mid-game when I decided to take a nap. And check out the fabric on that couch!!!!

Chicken Pox, from the pre-vaccine days...

Dressed for Halloween -
Sliding down the stairs on the plastic to protect the dark brown carpet from getting browner?

7 people driving to Disneyland in a 4 door - Nissan Sentra - lay down the seats and protect your area from intruders

Pig Tails - and what was that thing hanging on the wall behind you Trice?

Nice shorts, Neil!

Cleaning Tip: Breastfed Baby Poop Stains

How to get out that major staining yellow mustard newborn nursing baby poop:

1) Get OxiClean
2) Take soiled clothing and put it in a container/bucket/whatever with OxiClean and water
3) Let soak for 24 hours - and magically.... IT'S GONE!!
4) Finish up with a toss in with your regular load of laundry


You'd think after 8 kids I would have found something to do this, but alas, I was at a loss. I was talking with a neighbor and wishing out loud that some way, somehow, that there was some thing that could save the 0-3 month clothing that yellow poop ruins. ("HOW I WISH THERE WAS A WAY!!" - Brian Regan on "All By Myself" = Hilarious) She had the key and gifted me a container of OxiClean - it's a miracle cleaner! Thank you, Elasha!!
newborn poop stains breastfed diaper blow outs blowouts stools color infant poop stain removal

Think a Little Deeper

Loving this blog today - "Stand A Little Taller" - I'm enjoying browsing through her posts, and reading some of her thoughts on the NDE books she's read. (I just read this one, I hadn't heard of this family or accident, should probably watch the local news more...) - What she shares is making me take time to pause and think deeper. I don't get much of my "to-do's" done everyday, but I do have time to read, think, and ponder. Here's another post I thought was great.

There is so much we don't know. There are many things which I believe strongly, some other things that I know, some things that I think I know (aka faith) - I do not claim to have all the answers. One thing that I do KNOW is that Man is nothing - in the sense that we are small and basically powerless over most of our lives. I remember when my first baby was born and I was trying to learn how to help him latch on and nurse - and it occurred to me - if he didn't figure this out, I was pretty much out of luck getting food to him. Thank goodness babies have a sucking reflex - totally Divine design. I don't believe that anyone would look at the Rosetta Stone and think it was carved by wind and rain. No one would look at a cell phone and not recognize that there is a designer behind it. Cell phones, computers, cameras - all amazing inventions, but no camera man can create compares with the human eye, and the eye is just ONE small part of our remarkable bodies. I know there is a designer behind the human body, behind the earth, behind the solar system and the galaxy, and we know there are GALAXIES without number, amazing. Here is a tiny glimpse (or watch it on youtube here)





I believe and know there is a Creator and Designer. Man is nothing, but we are also everything to HIM.

Living Life Single Handedly

Shannon's Life Lessons #4 : Read other people's accounts

Here's one for us moms out there when we need a little perspective.

Que Linda!

Por nuestros amigos en Chile y Costa Rica - algunos fotos mas de la nueva reina de nuestra casa que ahora tiene cuatro meses Es la reinita Sophia, o como la llama su hemana mayor - Fifi


Que linda, no? Me encata sus ojos - ella tiene los ojos de su padre - grande y bonito.

Heaven and the Savior

Corey got me this book "Heaven is for Real" for Christmas and I finished reading it today. Corey and I have read lots of books like this and they always fascinate me. Has helped my thoughts be more on Christ, who is the reason for the season, as we all know. This one was a quick read and I finished it tonight, then got online to look up the picture "Prince of Peace" that they reference by Akiane Kramarik -


which led me here, which then reminded me of some things Tomas Kofod said during a fireside that we went to back in 2000 ... (cue year 2000 journal entries -)

First, before the fireside where Tomas spoke, we had gone down to temple square to see the movie "The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd - Here's what the newspaper said at that time: -

Salt lake Tribune Religion Section C for Saturday, March 25, 2000. It is the main article on C1. It said that all actors who had a major role had to be temple worthy. The film maker Keith Merrill was told by President Hinckley, “It will be the most important film the church has ever made.” Then Pres. Hinckley said “I have never seen a depiction of the Savior I liked.” They said finding the right person to play Jesus was like finding Cinderella. They looked at “every available LDS actor in the world, eventually considering more than 500.” Merrill gave screen tests to 64, then selected three to present to the First Presidency. The result? LDS leaders told Merrill to “keep looking.” In desperation, the director sent a call across the Internet and received an email from Tomas Kofod, a Danish convert, asking about the part. Kofod had been an exchange student in Utah more than 10 years earlier, had lived with a Mormon family, then returned to Denmark and joined the LDS Church. He became an accomplished actor, performing with the Royal Danish Shakespeare Company. Kofod was brought to Utah for an audience with the First Presidency, and they like him immediately. Kofod’s Danish-accented voice had to be dubbed by Will Swenson. They said His blue-eyed Scandinavian looks are not meant as a church statement about Christ’s appearance, instead, viewers should see Kofod as presenting “the feelings of Christ that were acceptable to the First Presidency.

So, after reading that in the paper, I was really excited to see the portrayal of Christ. We went and saw the film at Temple Square later that month in 2000 and just loved it.

The next year, we went to a fireside where Tomas Kofod spoke on 24 June 2001 (I'm so glad I have these journal entries - making me remember that I need to keep writing and recording today cause I'm going to forget everything about my life right now and it will be lost forever if I don't write it down!!!) Just going to paste this whole entry here...

Sunday, 24 June 2001

This afternoon we went over to Corey’s parent’s house. The single’s ward where Mark and Nancy attend was having a special fireside and Tomas Ambt Kofod was the speaker. He is the man who played the part of the Savior in the Church movie The Testaments of One Fold and One Sheperd. It was a spiritual feast. I felt the spirit so strongly and felt so edified after hearing him speak. I want to come to know the Savior better. I am going to study the Book of Mormon more faithfully - President Benson said that is the tool that the Lord has give us to draw us nearer to Him.

Some things Tomas spoke about was the miracles involved in him even finding out about the part. His wife sent her very first email to her friend in Orem, and her friend got on the computer when she got home from work, which she never does, and saw the email from Tomas’ wife. She sent them information regarding tryouts for parts in the Church film, which she had seen on the internet earlier. That information was only on the internet for that one day. Everything about it was miraculous, from him finding out about the part, getting out of other acting commitments to come and try out, getting his ticket to fly over in time, and then finding a replacement after he was given the part. He said when he was getting his make-up on before his screen test, he looked out the door saw “Christ after Christ” walking down the hall, they were all tall and had deep voices (Tomas kept making jokes about how skinny and small he was). He also said he didn’t like his nose, and after taking a look at himself he asked the make-up artist to put more make-up on each side to shadow his nose a little better, and after she did and he saw himself in the mirror, he said he was looking into the eyes of his Savior. He told of how he got sick on the night before they were going to start filming, and he prayed and pleaded for help to get better, but felt his prayers weren’t getting past the hotel ceiling. It was late and so after pouring his heart out he decided it would be best to go to bed and try and get some rest. As he was laying in bed, a voice came to his mind, as clear as any voice he’s ever heard. The voice said he was sorry to make him sick, but this was the only way to make him humble enough to hear. The Lord told him he needed to be more humble and told him many other things he did not share with us. He said if a person had rebuked him that way, he might have been offended, but he didn’t take any offense, but listened to the counsel. Another time he got sick when they were filming, but it wasn’t to humble him. He was given a blessing, I think by the director, where they rebuked Satan and commanded him to leave.

One more entry of another fireside where we listened to two other actors from the film-

Rick Macy, the man who played Helam in the Church film The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepard, came and spoke, along with the lady who played Mary Magdalene, and Merrill Jenson, the man who wrote the music. It was a wonderful fireside. I invited my parents and Corey’s parents. Corey’s parents came and so did Mom and Rebekkah. The main message: it was all real. You can’t act a testimony. It was an amazing spiritual experience for all of them, and the film has truly strengthened my testimony and touched my soul. Rick Macy said that Tomas Kofod, the man who played the Savior, is such a humble and Christlike man. He was the person for the part

Then searched around online and I thought this was a book - but I think it's just in audio cd, will probably order it sometime. It is probably a recording of a fireside similar to the one I attended.

Ski Bums

Corey's become a major ski bum. He's taken some of the kids skiing every day this week. He thinks he probably holds some record for taking the most kids skiing the most times during one week. We're loving having the ski resorts 20 minutes away, especially since we missed out on all the fun last year. I haven't gone yet - I'm home with the nursing baby and that's okay by me. I think I'd like to go up in February for our anniversary or something, but for now I'm fine to be lazy and let Corey do all the hard work, I'll take over when they're all trained :)

Alta Ski Resort has a great deal that we try to take full advantage of - Ski for Free after 3

So we go up around 2 and warm up on the tow rope, then they're ready to go when the lift opens at 3.


4 year old warming up her skills again


She's got it! Ready to try the mountain with Dad


Yesterday he left the 6 and 4 year old kids home so he could take the older kids down the harder runs - even did a black diamond they say.

Ethan bragged that he crashed into a tree.


Glad he had a helmet on. (Aren't we such responsible parents! Oh yeah!)

Chocolate Spinach Protein Shake

I have one of these shakes almost every day - takes care of any chocolate cravings with the added bonus that it's got a major servings of greens for health and vitality!

Blend:

1 cup of water
1 handful of spinach
1 heaping Tablespoon of Cocoa Powder
1 scoop of protein powder
5-8 drops of vanilla Stevia
1/2 frozen banana
1 tray of ice cubes (half filled)

Then sprinkle with 1/2 c. cereal

Step One:
Get your blender - add 1 cup of water and a handful of spinach - start easy on the spinach if this is your first time, I've warped my tastebuds so much that I can add a ton and not notice it


Step Two:
Add Stevia, cocoa powder, and Protein Powder


Making sure there's enough cocoa powder will over power the spinach taste


Step Three:
Add frozen bananas and ice
I slice my bananas length wise and put them in sandwich bags to freeze, then break them in pieces when I put it in the blender



You'll want to put them in the pitcher in this order - start with the water and spinach to get the blender blades at the bottom of the pitcher going nicely, powders next so they are locked in the middle, topped with ice and bananas to keep the powders in.

Blend into a nice and yummy brown and green goop!


Great thing about it, most of my kids don't pester me asking if they can have some. My toddler loves it though, I usually share a cup with her

Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of cereal - Honey Sunshine is the best for chocolate protein shakes - tastes like an ice cream cone!



Total Calories = about 310
1 handful of spinach - 20?
1 heaping Tablespoon of Cocoa Powder - 24
1 scoop of protein powder - 140 (Cytosport Whey)
1/2 frozen banana - 60
1/2 cup Kashi Honey Sunshine - 66