Front Page Karate

Meet my friend Carole Taylor. She ROCKS!!! She's my mother's age and earned her black belt this past April! The local newspaper here did a story on her that showed up on the front page of the Sunday paper. To check it out click HERE. Seriously click it and see if you can find me hiding in the background in two of the pictures. 

She looks sweet but she'll kick your butt!

Want to see how even more talented and amazing this woman is? I know you do, so click HERE. Click on "items" and enjoy! (I was given one of these as a wedding gift many years ago before we'd even met.) I absolutely love this women - and let's just say it's an honor to know her.

And finally...I've added a new button on my sidebar. Can you figure out which one? If you have children who are interested in this kind of stuff, or maybe you're the one whose interested (I know that Carole and I am) this is an EXCELLENT resource! You just can't beat it. Give up? Just click HERE.

Locks of Love

See this hair?

I dare you to take a brush through it. Really, I dare you!

The time had come to donate it to Locks of Love.

Good bye not so lovely hair!

Now she is lovely! All dressed up and nowhere to go.

Can I tell you just how much I L-O-V-E the new do?

SO MUCH! 

I hope she never grows it long again.

A Winner of a Recipe (No, not Chicken Dinner)

I don't love cooking but I do love to eat. Cooking is a means to an ends motivated by delicious food. And nothing leaves me feeling quite so content as when my husband and children actually eat and enjoy what I've made after "slaving" in the kitchen instead of say....relaxing or watching someone else cook dinner.

Well, this recipe is a winner and (lucky you) I'm going to share it! A great thanks to My The Food Nanny. She rescues dinner. This might also be a good way to use some of those delicious things you have growing in your garden.

Penne With Sausage, Red Potatoes, And Green Beans
Serves 4 (To feed my family and still have left-overs for Hubby's lunch the  next day, I double this - with the exception of the sausage.)

8 oz uncooked penne pasta
4 small red potatoes, quartered
8 oz low-fat spicy bulk Italian sausage (I haven't been able to find this low fat.)
1/4 C. minced yellow onion
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 C. chicken broth
1 T. olive oil
1 T. butter
(You decide how much more fat you want to throw in your dinner. Personally I thought the sausage added plenty of it so I put in just a small pat of butter for flavor. You can also make this meatless in which case I'd add the extra butter and oil.)

1 lb fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in half
1 T. coarsely chopped fresh parsley
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/2 C. grated Romano, Asiago, or Parmesan cheese, plus additional

1. Cook pasta according to pkg. directions. Drain.

2. Steam or cook potatoes in boiling salted water until tender. At the same time steam or cook the green beans.

3. Meanwhile, brown the sausage in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion is soft and the sausage is completely cooked. Pour in the broth and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in the oil and butter until the butter melts. Add the green beans, potatoes, and pasta. Mix well with with a large spoon. Add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Decrease the heat to low and sprinkle 1/2 C. of the cheese over the mixture. Cover the pan and cook a few more minutes until the cheese is melted.

5. Serve immediately in the same pot or spoon the mixture into a large, shallow serving bowl or deep platter. Pass the extra cheese.

IF Sand Dunes

Free prime entertainment in Idaho Falls! Sweetie and I sat in the van watching the kids wear themselves out on the dunes. The most fun EVER? Heck ya! I thoughts of my many outings here growing up - romping and jumping; building campfires and roasting hot dogs and hot dates. Well, I don't actually remember if they were hot dates are not but it was still dang fun no matter who I was with. What's not to love about this place? As I watched my children enjoy themselves, one question plagued my mind:

Are the dunes smaller or am I just bigger?

Parenting Breakthrough

I'm trying to teach my children how to work Giving them a cushy little life at home will make them want to stay here when they're grown and never leave (ever). But what if they do leave and I'm not around to do everything for them? I have to admit however, that allowing my kids to pitch-in is actually a lot of mental-work for me because I have this strange idea that I could do the job quicker and better (Okay that's definitely not strange) but I try to hold myself back because *"Ah-ha" Moment* giving children responsibilities builds self esteem and helps them to feel important and capable. We all want to feel important right? A few years back I found this really wonderful little book by Merrilee Boyack entitled The Parenting Breakthrough. If you're trying to raise a child this is an absolute must read. I love it!

Over the years I've tried a lot of different ways of assigning and implementing chores. I've used charts, stickers, money, rubber worms (yes, rubber worms), yelled and even begged. It's good to at least do SOMETHING, but I found I would get so frustrated trying to keep track of rotations and rewards I'd slack off and pretty soon the kids were getting away with doing nothing at all. What was worse were the heated "discussions" that ensued because frankly, my kids will throw a temper tantrum if I just spring a chore on them that hasn't been previously assigned .

This summer, I simplified and it seems to be working! I wrote down all the things that really need to be done in the house and since I have four children, I split them into four groups and entitled each group A, B, C, & D. Each child has a group of chores that they do for the entire week. We rotate on Mondays.

This is what it looks like:

A
Sweep
Set, Clear, & Wipe Table
Put Away Laundry

B
Unload dishwasher
Fold Laundry
Wash Walls

C
Load, Dishwasher
Toilets
Dust

D
Dishes by Hand (Whatever doesn't fit in the dishwasher.)
Vacuum
Garbage

Besides supervising, I decided I would always be in charge of mopping, washing & drying clothes (in general) and cleaning the rest of the bathrooms. My kids know how to do those things so I may rotate them in later but this seems to be working really well for now. And yes, I make my four year old do whatever chore he is assigned but I help as needed.

I don't offer a consistent reward for getting their jobs done, but sometimes I'll offer a Deal-of-the-Day kind of thing and they know they don't play with friends until chores are done. Magically, because they know what is expected of them, I don't hear even a fourth as much complaining. For example, if I ask someone to go take care of the rabbit (notice it's not on the list) expect weeping and wailing and nashing of teeth...

I would LOVE to hear what you do in your home!

Camping Memories

There is only one thing better than reliving your best childhood memories; that's having your husband and children experience those memories with you!

Sometimes I'm asked what my family traditions were growing up. One of them is definitely camping as a family. When I was really little and through grade school we would often go to Granite Hot Springs which inspires lots of memories of my cousins, mosquitoes, the naturally heated moss-bottomed swimming pool, and the treacherous hole-laden rocky dirt road trying to get there. And because of said road, we finally gave up on that campground and most often pitched our tents (or actually parked the camper) in Island Park instead.

Getting ready to float the Buffalo 2010

Too me, it's a little bit of forested heaven. Every year we would get out the boats and canoes and float down Big Springs or float on tubes down Buffalo River surrounded by trees and wild life in abundance. I have thankfully never seen a bear but have had many moose sightings and even a moose encounter that had me praying for a miracle.

P.T.ed

In continuing tradition, last year we took the kids camping in Island Park. We nearly laughed our heads off  one morning when we woke up to find our camp had been "T.P.ed" or in this case "P.T.ed" by the tree squirrels who had discovered our paper towels sitting on the picnic table. Ah, forest animals...

Yellowstone Lake 2009

Just a half hour away from Island Park is Yellowstone; as in THE YELLOWSTONE PARK. Being from Idaho Falls I have been there so many times I can't even count. But aside from all the obvious attractions one of my most favorite memories is visiting The Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone. I always wished I could be one of the singer/actors there - looking beautiful, singing, charming everyone and making them laugh. But alas, I don't sing or act. Two HUGE requirements me thinks. Nevertheless, I'm always thrilled to be spectator.

Can I just tell you how giddy I was a few weeks ago to take my husband and two oldest children to the Playmill for the first time?! I got the most pleasure from watching them smile, laugh out loud, and eat fudge! The best part of the night is when I FINALLY got my 5 minutes of fame on the Playmill  stage. No singing or acting required; just a birthday and a smile. A dream come true? Not quite...but I'll take it.

A little souvenir

Building tradition and memories