PB Granola

11 c. rolled oats
2 c. coconut
3 c sliced almonds
1 c. vegetable oil
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. chunky peanut butter
1 1/2 c. corn syrup
1/2 c. honey
2 T. vanilla
1 T. cinnamon

Preheat oven 325. Combine dry ingredients in a huge bowl. Heat wet ingredients til sugar dissolves and it's well combined. Pour over dry in stages and stir until evenly coated. spread on 2 large cookie sheets with rims. Bake 45 minutes or so, stirring every 10-15 minutes, til dark golden brown. Cool and stir frequently.

Stir in:
1/2 c. craisins
1/2 c. golden raisins

Store in air tight container. So, so yummy!! I am cheap and don't usually add that many almonds, but it's still a big hit at our house among the peanut butter folks. Those who don't like PB (Lydia) thinks it smells and tastes as bad as PB itself. :) I'm looking for an equivalent regular granola recipe for her.

one CRAZY book

Have you read this? Whoa!! I loved the whole book and then got to the end and wasn't sure I even liked it anymore (I really don't like violence or gruesome things and so there were a few pages that really made me queezy). But as it's settled into my thoughts, I am convinced Martel is an absolute genius of fiction and the story is intriguing, full of meaning and things to consider. Is that not a great book? The jury is still out on whether I'd actually recommend it - and which "ending" I prefer. But I won't spoil it for those of you who intend to read it despite all this....

great website

I've just gotta share the best website for finding the cheapest books online - it searches all the websites for you! It works best with an ISBN, but any keyword is pretty handy, too. The girls used to love to read books under the table... can you believe how much they've grown up since then?

Ellie's little lie

Let me preface this story by saying that I have a mission to make my kids try new foods, not because I want to make them gag at the table (I'm sure that's what they think) or because we're out of what they like. I just think they have to know what they think about foods - and doesn't it take a few times before kids get used to a new taste? Sometimes they have to eat things they don't like. For example, oatmeal. We all love it but Ellie and she still has to eat it. And quesadillas for Lydia. I just can't make adjustments for everyone's tastes. Well, except for mine, of course. I don't make anything I don't like! :)

So last night we had homemade mac and cheese (check out Rachael Ray's recipe for one of our family favorites) and a basic spinach salad with mushrooms, almonds, dried cherries and red onion. The girls love spinach, but they each had to have one dried cherry and one mushroom. Lydia always gets the worst over with immediately and saves the best for the end. So she finished hers and said the mushroom wasn't so bad. Later in the meal, I looked over at Ellie and saw hers was missing, too. "How was your mushroom, Ellie?" I asked. She didn't skip a beat and said, "it was pretty good." And dinner moved on. A few minutes later, Ellie pulls a little spinach leaf out from under the rim of her plate with a mushroom resting inside like a passenger on a tiny green boat. She must have said something like, "actually, I didn't eat my mushroom yet" (Ellie loves to use the word "actually.") I was totally shocked and at the same time had to laugh. What a classic kid thing! She still insisted on eating it last, which is her preference and I can respect that, but did finally do it and didn't even gag. It was a great opportunity to talk about how it feels to lie. Later at bathtime we had this conversation:

Me - I bet you felt pretty worried after you lied about the mushroom, huh?
Ellie - yeah
Me - Like you couldn't think of anything else until you told the truth?
Ellie - yeah
Me - Didn't you feel tons better after you told us the truth?
Ellie - yeah

As you can tell, she had a lot to say on the matter. Actually, I could tell she felt ashamed and didn't want to talk about it. I told her I was proud of her for choosing the right and telling us the truth even when it's hard. In the end, I hope she's learned a good lesson from a harmless little lie. I am honestly grateful for perfect teaching moments like these. And you know I'll be checking under her plate for a few days, at least.... :)

Happy Birthday Derek

What a guy! I am so grateful for Derek, for the super fun dad he is to our kids, for taking care of our cars, our computers, our yard, changing lightbulbs and nasty diapers, giving horsey rides when he's tired. He used bricks from our yard to made a really neat path by the fence last summer, he planted at least a hundred bulbs for me in the fall, he listened to me worry about paint colors, painted with me 2 weekends in a row and then told me I chose just the right color. I give him mediocre haircuts (okay sometimes they are down right bad) and he always tells me they look great. He gets up with babies in the middle of the night, covers up the others if they've kicked their blankets off and lets me sleep in on Saturdays. He lives the Gospel with all his heart and sets such a good example as head of our family. He's my best friend and the best thing that's ever happened to me. Happy Birthday Derek!

free recycling

When the City of Maple Valley switched to Waste Management for our garbage collection, we were notified that recycling is free. We were given a complimentary can and everything. Instead of paying about $30 every other month for waste and recycling with the old company, we now pay $30 for waste collection with free recycling! That part was amusing. But what really gets me is the size of the cans. The little one is shorter than Lydia, it really only holds 3-4 kitchen bags worth of trash. The recycling one is large enough for all of our children to fit in (not that we'd consider recycling them). If this isn't a compulsory recycling program, I don't know what is. It is critical that we recycle or our "cup runneth over" in the literal sense. It's been a game with me ever since to see if we can fill that monster recycling can. And you know what? We can! It helps that it's only picked up every other week, but still... Are we good Washingtonians or what?

Super Tuesday

Can I just say that as much as I've looked forward to Super Tuesday, I'm almost sick with worry it won't go well for Mitt Romney and that makes me all frustrated! Kudos to Alice (see link at the side for a great blogger!) for getting in at the grass roots level. I kind of kick myself for not having the guts to be more involved. Washington isn't even cool enough for Super Tuesday, but here's to my absentee vote for Mitt! I'm still hoping like crazy this it really is a super day for his campaign and that it's not over yet!

here we go!

So Leisy wanted to know my new calling - 1st counselor in the Relief Society presidency. I'm excited, a bit overwhelmed since my time management skills are somewhat lacking lately (like there's never enough!) and I don't want to use my 4 small children as an excuse for not doing my best. It'll be great for me to get to the sisters better in our ward, I'll certainly be stretched and I just love Relief Society! It's classic, though - our first meeting is tomorrow at my house and Lydia is home sick so all 4 kids will be here! I'll quarantine Lydia in her room to read (she cheered when I told her!) and keep my fingers crossed on the rest of them. I'm sure it'll be fine. The other women in the pres are amazing and I'm excited to get to know them better and serve with them.

so grateful for President Hinckley

What a beautiful funeral service this morning! My heart was full of gratitude for President Hinckley's life of sacrifice and devotion. I want to be better because of him. More willing to give of my time, more patient and loving with my family and a better listener. Didn't you love Elder Eyring's comments about how it'll all work out? And President Monson's stories? I'm grateful for him, too, and his courage to fulfill a calling as prophet and for his life of compassion. What a wonderful thing to have living prophets on the earth, a smooth transition at the passing of one to the sustaining of another. I am just so grateful today for prophets of God.