These are a few of my favorite things...

number one when a dog bites... ouch!
number two when a bee stings... I'm allergic!
when I'm feeling sad... single tear!

Just kidding that is a SNL skit with Will Farrell from who knows how long ago.

Yesterday as good things happened to me I thought these could be considered my favorite things (for the day), and I thought I needed to keep a record of it. Here it is.

I love it when I have Abigail and Isabelle on my lap on the couch. I love it when they scream in excitement at each other and then laugh. I love it when they take turns screaming at each other. I love the facial expressions they make to each other and the excitement that is on their face when they see each other up close.

I love it when I am cooking dinner and Chris is playing with them and he encourages Abigail to fight back. Isabelle is so curious and when she sees a new toy (that Abigail has in her hand) she without fail reaches out and grabs it from Abigail. Last night Chris encouraged Abigail saying steal it back, defend yourself, and fight back! I couldn't help but laugh as I heard this... but don't know about this in the long term for teaching the girls good things...

I love finding good recipes online and altering them to fit what I have in the fridge and making a MAGNIFICENT meal. Yesterday I didn't know what to make for dinner and so I googled "chicken recipe" and found the Kraft Canada website. It listed the top 10 chicken meals. I made what they called "parmesan chicken wraps" but I would NOT call what I made that...
I cut chicken breasts in half as to have a pouch where I could put a filling (as I don't have a meat pounder so I couldn't wrap the breast around a stuffing). I filled the chicken breast with blendered cooked broccoli and cauliflower (that I had in the fridge from a few nights ago) and added a couple scoops of cream cheese, some basil, oregano and salt and pepper and blended it all together. After the chicken breast was stuffed I dipped it in beaten egg and rolled it in cracker crumbs. I then put some pasta sauce on it and grated cheddar cheese. I cooked it for an hour at 375 degrees. With the left over pasta sauce I added herbs (oregano and basil) and salt and pepper and a cut up yellow pepper and let it simmer for a couple hours on the stove. When the chicken was almost cooked I boiled some spaghetti noodles and called it done. Chris raved about it and I shoveled it into my mouth... needless to say it was a good dinner!

I love it when Relief Society and Elders Quorum lessons spark a question or two that lead to Chris and I spending the evening (or him all day) researching and learning together.

THESE are a few of my favorite things!

Saturday Night Already?

Sometimes it is the weekend before I even realized it is past Tuesday! This week flew by. I am sure the nights out visiting teaching added to the speed of this week passing, or the fact that Chris had his first two exams in school this week.
Abigail got two teeth this week! She was slightly fussy one day and I thought "oh maybe she is teething" and didn't check. That night she woke up (unheard of) in giant sobs. The next morning I felt her little gums and boom two teeth poking my finger. The next morning they were all the way through! I was so happy. Her getting teeth was such a difference than my other little girl. Funny that she got them at EXACTLY the same time! Maybe she is the reason I got two babies?
Abigail has been up on her knees for about a week or two thinking about learning to crawl. She has started rocking back and forth on her hands and knees and it is the cutest thing ever. She has moved forward once but it is a slow process.  Isabelle on the other hand started to get up on her hands and knees about 3 days ago and tonight during our carpet time after baths she was up on her knees and moved it forward only to fall quickly onto her face! But with excited encouragement from her Mama she kept trying for the next 30 minutes. It is so fun to see them both learn how to do something. They both learn how to do it in different ways and have different abiltities and talents that are evident as I watch with anticipation as they learn to crawl. This is joy!

Lessons I have learned

In the last week or so I have been thinking over and over again that days are SO MUCH BETTER when I exercise. Every time I stay awake in the morning instead of going back to bed when the girls do and I exercise I am on top of the world. For me waiting until the end of the day makes it harder, Chris is home and I am MUCH more tired. When I do exercise my house is cleaner, I make better dinners, I stay on top of laundry, I am happier, I smile more, I think of others more, I play more with my babies and make them laugh, I spend less time on the computer, I eat better (unless I make pumpkin muffins)... the list could go on AND on BUT what I am trying to say is that every day is better when I exercise. There are still the moments when I think ahh maybe not today but once I start I feel great! I love getting sweaty, feeling my heart pump harder and breathing deeply. It is a gentle reminder (or not so gentle) that I am taking care of my body. Who doesn't want to be happier, make better dinners, and all around feel more satisfied?
Something else I have learned is that you can't exercise if you feel poorly about yourself or that your worth depends on wether or not you exercise and soley on what you look like (or don't look like). IF you do, you are doomed to fail, because the one day you don't makes you feel like a complete FAILURE. This is something that has taken me years to understand. Perhaps I still have more to learn about it, and perhaps this isn't true for everyone, but it is for me.

Sweet Potato Soup

Today  I spent about 3 solid hours in the kitchen (don't worry I wasn't neglecting my babies). The girls were asleep for at least 2.5 hours of it- they had to catch up from yesterday when they had a whopping 1hr and 45minutes of sleep! Stake conference and post stake conference festivities left them two tired babies. Abigail fell asleep AS soon as we put her down. I'm talking we put a binky in her mouth and wrapped her up in her blanket and she closed her eyes. It was so cute and funny. I digress, back to the kitchen!
Today I made pumpkin muffins (heavenly), sweet potato soup, quinoa patties AND three types of food for the girls: sweet potato, acorn squash and butternut squash.The soup is amazing. Chris said that when he was coming home he could smell it from outside! I made this soup last year too but I don't think I ever served it for dinner. I told Chris on the phone today "I am doing something different for dinner tonight so don't say anything bad about it!" I think I have served soup for dinner less than five times since we have been married. One was last night when we had tomato soup and tuna melts!
Anyways the recipes are so good I wanted to share them. They are perfect for the season. Also the girls LOVED the butternut squash- my work (which was practically nothing) was not wasted!!

African Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 4 1/2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup chopped, unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• 1 bunch chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Mix in the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir in the tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrot, and continue to cook and stir about 5 minutes.
2. Pour water into the saucepan, and season the mixture with salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.
3. Remove the soup mixture from heat. In a food processor or blender, blend the soup and peanuts until almost smooth. Season with cayenne pepper. Return to the saucepan. Whisk in the peanut butter, and cook until heated through. Serve warm topped with fresh cilantro.

NOTE: I did NOT put in the tomotoes!

Pumpkin Muffins

• 1 small sugar pumpkin, seeded
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. Split pumpkin in half. Remove seeds and strings. Place on baking sheet, cut side down. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven until tender, about 90 minutes. Remove pumpkin pulp and puree in blender. Measure out 2 cups pumpkin puree; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together 2 cups pumpkin puree, vegetable oil and eggs. Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until smooth. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

NOTE: I of course did not waste  take the time to cook a pumpkin BUT if you did have one left over it might be a great use for it! I just used pumpkin from a can and I didn't have quite enough so I put in half a cup of apple sauce to make the full volume required (2cups).

Persevere and YOU will Triumph!

This weekend FLEW by. It was Stake Conference here in Nanaimo. Chris and I were able to attend the adult session on Saturday night, alone, and it was one of the best meetings we have been at in a LONG time. This of course was highly influenced by zero distraction by our sweet little angels. Chris and I both soaked up the Spirit and were taught many truths! After the session was over we went out for dessert at Earls and that was delicious as well. My favourite quote I think of the whole weekend was told to us by the wife of the traveling member of the quorum of the seventy. She said that one night when talking to President Monson he said to them “Persevere and You will Triumph!”

This statement stuck out to me for several reasons.  I want to have it made into a wall sticker and have it be my family’s motto. When I was in high school or maybe just after, my parents adopted the saying, it was:  “we do hard things”. I always like this BUT it made me feel like we do hard things because we can, because we have character or because we must as it is a part of life etc. I LOVE this new one because it says we do hard things AND it will be worth all the effort because you will WIN… you will conquer… Victory will be yours! Or in other words in the end all your hard work will pay off as you receive your eternal reward for your diligence! Lately I have been feeling that life is hard and just bogged down by all the things I feel I need to do or do better at or weaknesses to overcome. I also have been feeling like there are so many things I need to do that don’t really know how to do yet. Great perspective came when I heard that quote. I sometimes worry that I won't be able to properly teach my children a great work ethic. I feel like this quote if taken to be a moto can be used to teach our children to apply principles of work in all areas of life: sports, reading, education, music, and really ANY goal they set their minds to!

Nobility of Women

I have just finished cleaning my house. I have been doing laundry for almost two days straight. I hadn’t even let it go that long (a week and two days), but our washing machine is so small and I noticed that the 33minute cycle just wasn’t cutting it so the next one that fits our needs is a whopping 55minutes! Tonight I cleaned the bathroom and washed the floors. I even moved everything off the floor (bins, large toys, chairs) in order that it could be a wonderful thorough clean. I wanted to take a quick break before I wrap Kate’s bridal shower gift and make a card. What better way to take a break than to blog?

Today I had what feels like a practically perfect day! The girls and I dropped Chris off at work and then proceeded to Tim Hortons for breakfast and then to Walmart for a shop. Sadly, Walmart is the only thing open at 8:45am. We got home at about 9:45. I quickly put the girls in bed, changed into stretchy pants and worked out and showered before they fed at 11. The above for me makes for a great day, but it got even better. By noon the girls were EXAUSTED and went down to bed. I had a delicious lunch and then cuddled my over tired having, a hard time falling asleep, Abigail (she sleeps in our bed during daytime naps so they don’t wake each other up). We ended up both falling asleep. I woke up and gently removed myself from the bed. She woke up and put up a pathetic fight and was back to sleep within minutes. Isabelle and Abigail slept until 2:20 and 2:45 respectively. What did I do while they slept? I prepared dinner but MORE significantly I read the new Relief Society book. I had lunged into reading it as soon as I got it but haven’t lifted it up as often as I would have liked.

Yesterday my mom told me about how much she is loving it and this re-kindled my desires. In my efforts to me more focused and have some study time of my own I decided to recommit myself, YET AGAIN, to reading good books or scriptures when the girls sleep.

Well the book is AMAZING. I already knew it but now I want to tell everyone about it! You know how in life there are things that bog you down, stress you out, make you feel like life is hard? I.e. money, exercise, weight, friends, relationships, responsibilities, work, school, etc etc. Well I think we all have those feelings but as I read that book I felt all my stress wash away, I felt all my loneliness wash away and I was filled with peace, joy and happiness.

What made me feel like this? Well I have been thinking about it and I THINK it gives great perspective on living the gospel. It lets you learn from others experience. It helps you realize that you are a woman and allows the flame of divinity burn brighter within you. It shows you that people live through hard things grounded in their faith. It gives examples of other people experiencing the hand of the Lord in their lives daily. It teaches of the profound responsibility, opportunity and gift we have been given to be a part of the world wide Relief Society Organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It teaches us to have faith, hope and charity; to strengthen home and family, increase personal faith and righteousness and help the poor and needy. In essence it teaches the purpose of Relief Society.

Why is this important? It teaches us as women what it is we need to do as Disciples of Christ in this day and age. It teaches us of the importance of who we are as woman. There are many organizations in the world today that profess to do good but none compare to the millions who are members of this largest women’s organization in the world. What we are doing is not new. Since the church was organized woman have been doing what we are doing. The circumstances are differnet but the principles of the gospel are the same. What are we trying to do? To do good to improve ourselves and to teach and uplift our family is what we are trying to do as women. We are also trying to return home to our Heavenly Father.

I will only share one quote that stuck out to me today. It was very powerful to me because I know I get caught up in seeking others approval OR in other words seeking to have others notice what I do or the progress I make. This often leaves me feeling like the things I do are not good enough because not all the time someone compliments the work or the effort etc. (I don’t think I am alone on this… women seek others approval… it’s a fact of being a woman). This is the quote by Eliza R. Snow “We like to be appreciated but if we do not get all the appreciation which we think is our due, what matters? We know the Lord has laid high responsibilities upon us, and there is not a wish or desire that the Lord has implanted in our hearts in righteousness but will be realized, and the greatest good we can do to ourselves and each other is to refine and cultivate ourselves in everything that is good and ennobling to qualify us for those responsibilities.”

This made me think of lots of different things. It applies to all of our relationships and also the duties we perform. I think we can get so caught up in feeling taken for granted for BUT in the end none of it matters as the Lord will reward our righteous efforts.

I don't want NO brown banana

Yes it is true the girls started eating different solid food this week! As you may have guessed from the title their first food after rice cereal is BANANA! The first night Abigail was very intrigued and enjoyed the new experience from the beginning. Isabelle was NOT happy when I started feeding it to her. She made the faces that Abigail made when she started eating rice cereal. By the end of the feed she had warmed up to the idea. Tonight the girls were fussing and I was like well I guess I better get them ready to eat and I fed them and they ate so much. Isabelle loved the banana tonight. Usually when I am feeding there is a pause of 2-3 seconds between each scoop PLUS the time it took to give a spoonful to the other babe. Well tonight it was scoop, scoop, scoop. No pauses. They were loving the food and swallowing as quickly as they could and were ready for the next scoop as soon as I was done with the other! Feeding them both is so funny. They sitting in their chairs and seeing the house from a different vantage point. I bought two bunches of bananas on Saturday today we are down to one, I have been eating so many because I know the girls don’t want any brown bananas!