Peppermint Hot Chocolate

I promise you will thank me for this one! Every time I make this, I really can't believe how yummy this actually is. It is really that yummy. I got this recipe from someone on the Enrichment Committee in the Pittsburgh 1st ward and I don't know who it is, but bless her and this delish drink. I made it tonight for Bunco and what a perfect night for it. It was 22* on the way home and tomorrow the high is going to be 14*. Yep, the good ole arctic Midwest. Well, at least I have this hot chocolate to drown my sorrows in.

1/2 pint chilled whip cream
6 hard peppermint candies, crushed
4 cups milk
8 ounces white chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Add crushed mints to whip cream and beat until stiff peaks form. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.

In a small saucepan, heat milk to a simmer and mix in chocolate. Whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Add peppermint extract.

Pour hot chocolate into mugs and top with mint whipped cream.

Serves 4.

Thank me later.

Procrastination

Why do today, what I can put off until tomorrow, right?? I am the world's worst procrastinator. In college, my professors would tell us about a paper at the beginning of the semester, but then there I would be, the last week of the semester, pulling all nighters to finish it. I'd had three months to work on it, but what's the fun in being responsible? My previous post is about my father. He would die if he knew how much I procrastinate. I don't think he's procrastinated a day in his life. Organized, organized is he. How come that's the second trait I can now think of that I'm not going to inherit from him (the first being the aforementioned beautifully white hair).

In order to tell you what I've procrastinated doing, I need to back up. Do you do anything crafty? I love to spend my time crafting. And of course, once I'm done with said craft, I need someone to admire it. Jeff is my someone. So, as I emerge from the basement with the craft of the week, I expect him to ohh and ahh over it. And then, inevitably the last thing he will always say, is, "You know, you should make more and sell them."

Now, I love him for thinking my creations are worthy of another's hard earned buck. However, the reality of it is - that's just not gonna happen. For several reasons. The first three reasons start with J, D and A. It's not like I have tons of extra time. Fourth, I'm intimidated. Worried that I'd fail and no one would like me (or, I mean, my crafts). Then, fifth, I think it would stop being a hobby, and more of a "have to do" type of thing. So, for all these reasons, I've never attempted to sell anything I craft together.

I do have a friend who I met in Pittsburgh, and her name is Vicki. She is super, super talented. She's an artist, where as I am a crafter. More specifically, she's a painter. And she's one of those moms who are so talented, their craft is worth selling. Vicki came up with a really great idea for something called, Puzzlekins. She actually had a toy manufacturer buy her idea, so now it is sold nationally! This is something she's been working on since I met her in 2002. Isn't that amazing?

Well, now to the part where I've procrastinated. She was hoping that her blogging friends would help spread the word about her cute puzzles for the Christmas season. Moms helping moms, you know? She'd asked us to get the word out by today and if we did, we'd be entered into a give away for her Puzzlekins. Now, would I like to have won a puzzle? Of course. But more importantly, I procrastinated getting it up in the timeline she'd wanted. Because what did I sit down to do just a minute ago? I was going to show my blog readers these really great puzzles a fellow stay-at-home mom made. And then, I went to her blog, only to realize, she'd asked us to do it by noon today. See, she asked on December 1st, so I've had 9 days to do it, but of course I put it off, and now I missed it.

So to Vicki, I am so sorry I didn't do this earlier. I am so happy for you and your Puzzlekins. I love that you are a mom and an artist and that you're making both work. Unfortunately, I put this off, and I would hate for you to think I did it because I didn't care about it. Procrastination just happens to be one of my many bad habits!!

So, here they are folks! They're so great. I haven't gotten my hands on the house or pirate ship, yet, but I have seen a nativity one and they're so fun for little imaginations.

If you are interested, you can buy them here at:
smallworldoftoys.com
Pocket Full of Therapy
Target.com (note: not in Target stores -- only online, and it looks like they may have sold out of the pirate ship... so for that one go to Smallworldtoys.com)


Vicki also does many more amazing things in addition to puzzles. She does beautiful portraits and did a Russian nesting doll of my whole family that we all love! If you are interested in her blog, look over there to the right and she is the Vicki of Vicki and Jake on my blog roll.

Our White Grandpa

A few years ago, a neighbor asked me if Jeff was adopted. I was surprised that she'd ask, and she was a little surprised when I told her he was. Then she asked,

"What nationality are his parents? Are they black?"

What??? Probably ranks up there as one of the strangest questions I ever been asked. And that's sayin' something considering this "peculiar" religion I belong to.

"No, they're your average, white, born-and-raised-in-Utah type of people. Why would you think they were black?"

"Well, Delaney was talking about her white grandpa and her brown grandpa today. I've met your dad, so I know he's white. I just assumed his dad must be another nationality, or maybe black."

Then it dawned on me.

She was talking about their hair! From the earliest age possible that I can recall to memory, I've always looked for the gray crayon to color my dad's hair. Or, just ended up using the #2 pencil. However, by now, it is definitely white. A gorgeous shade of white that I can only aspire to, but know I will indeed never attain. And so, that's how he became our White Grandpa, and Grandpa Clark became our Brown Grandpa.

I just want to let our White Grandpa know how much we love him. And support him. Life has not been great for him over the past few weeks, and we just want him to know we think he's the greatest.

When I went to college, there would frequently be short messages on my machine that went like this:

"Hi Kel. It's Dad. Have I told you lately that I love you? Well, I do. Love you. Dad."

So Grandpa, we just wanted to tell you lately, that we love you.

The Magic of Christmas

We started a tradition last year with the kids using the Elf on the Shelf. For those of you that aren’t familiar with this, a magical elf comes to live at your house prior to Christmas. His job is to watch how you act during the day and each night he magically returns to the North Pole to give a report to Santa on how you were that day. We named our little visitor Scout since that is basically his job. Each morning, the kids wake up to find Scout magically moved to a new location in the house. One rule about Santa’s elves is that they are not allowed to be touched or else they may lose their magic and can’t return to the North Pole to provide Santa the daily update.
Here’s where the story gets interesting. Yesterday, we had a cleaning service in to do a deep clean on the house. The cleaning lady was working through the family room while Jackson was at school and dusted the shelf that Scout was sitting on. Well, she moved Scout to the other side of the shelf instead of putting him back in the same spot. It wasn’t more than 5 minutes after Jackson came home from school that he realized that Scout had been moved. He started to investigate as to how Scout moved. After talking to Kelli, me and Delaney, he came to the conclusion that the cleaning lady was the culprit. Then the panic settled in as he realized that someone had touched Scout and he may have lost his magic. Kelli and I reassured him that we were sure he was fine because the cleaning lady didn’t know the rules.

Fast forward to prayers that night with Jackson… Kelli was out shopping and the girls were already in bed. Jackson and I did prayers and after the standard blessing on our family and our house and being thankful for the invention of Legos, Jackson then says the following. “Bless Scout that his magic won’t be gone and that he can go back to Santa and tell him that we were good and that he can fly back here and be okay.” As I bit my tongue and giggled a little, he finished his prayer. I smiled at him afterwards and then he said as he measured a small distance between his thumb and pointer finger, “Maybe Jesus will give him a little bit of magic back so he can make it to Santa and back.” I responded “Well, Jesus doesn’t really use magic, but I’m sure Scout will be here in the morning.” I never realized the balance I’d have to deal with between gospel doctrine and Santa Claus. Better to strike the balance than to dash the imagination and hopes of an 8 year old completely wrapped up in the magic of Christmas—it’s too much fun.

Marco Island!

Well, we're back. Last Monday we left for 5 days and met Jeff's parents in Florida. Marco Island, Florida, to be exact. I don't think there was a cloud in the sky for all 5 days. The weather was warm and resort was super family friendly. We can't think of a thing we'd change. Well, maybe one...when they started playing Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving, and you hear, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" while laying out by the pool, it just doesn't have the same effect.

We stayed at the Marriott resort there and they had endless amounts of fun things for the kids to do. Every night at 7 pm, they did a movie on a big blow-up screen by the pool. We caught Madagascar, Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving and Herbie Fully Loaded. Delaney watched all of Herbie from the pool.

The first day there, Grandma took Delaney to get her hair done. Not only did it look super cute, but I can't believe how maintenance free it made her hair for the whole trip.

She is still sportin' the look here at home and is thrilled to pieces when someone mentions it to her.

My older kiddos are pretty low-maintenance when it comes to vacation at the beach. All they want to do is go to the beach or the pool. Every day. All day. They never get bored. Here's Jackson working on one of many sand castles for the week.

And enjoying one of the two pools they had at the resort. I've never been to the Gulf Coast of Florida, but the sand is as white and soft as flour. Plus, there are more sea shells to collect that you can imagine. Delaney loved collecting them and spent most of her days collecting, cleaning and organizing them all. Little bit OCD (we think she gets this from her Grandpa Critt).
This picture of Addie Cate makes me want to nibble on her all day long.

This is the reaction we got when we dipped Addie's pigs into the cold beach water.

We got a much better reaction when she went into the pool. They kept it at bath temperature, because us crazy Northerners come down and come heck or high water...we're swimmin'! I love her bathing suit ($3 on clearance at Carter's) and the big kids couldn't keep their hands off her in the pool. All in all, it was a successful first swim for Miss Addie.

Thanksgiving at the resort was great. That morning they did cider and donuts for the kids in the lobby, while showing the Macy's parade on a big screen. It didn't last long for Jackson and Delaney (too many commercials!), but the food was good. Thanksgiving dinner was perfect. Neither I, nor my mother-in-law, love to cook. So, we didn't feel like we were missing out on getting to prepare a feast. The hotel had a yummy Thanksgiving Buffet that was more food than we could even sample. And the best part, as Barbara reminded us, we didn't have to clean up, either!

All in all, it was a great week. We left wishing for more and we're now home to snow today. I suppose the consolation prize is the fact it's now the Christmas season. Snow is okay with me as long as it's Christmas. Come December 26th, though, I'm going to be ticked at this weather.


Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a wonderful week! We love getting to spend time with you!

Eight is Great!

Jackson, this post is for you. I'm sorry that it is November 22nd, and I'm just now getting this post written. I waited until after your baptism so I would have more to post. You know, pictures and the like. And then, I realize that I am not the mom I wish I was. Because, I didn't take hardly any pictures of your baptism. It's not because I don't love you and want to preserve that memory for you. Life just gets in the way and that day, at your baptism, things got busy. It's interesting how my family means more than anything to me, but somehow it's all the little things that distract me from you. What I would have wanted more than anything was to spend time with you at the church, taking pictures and capturing the moment. Instead, there are 10 people that stop me to talk and before I know it, the moment is gone. I missed getting pictures of you in your white clothes. I missed giving you that one more kiss or hug before the whole thing started, letting you know that indeed I am so proud of you. Those moments got filled with small things of little significance that I cannot now remember. I'm sorry I let those things get in the way. I promise to try harder in the future. I promise to tell that well intentioned well-wisher to please "Hold that thought" because I need to be with my son. I promise to prioritize the moments in life that will be important forever. I guess this is just my way of saying "I love you", even though I don't have much to show for it.

Okay, with that out of the way, I want to share with you what makes you great! Here are my 8 favorite things about you:


1. You're such a great big brother. You have so much patience when it comes to Addie. When you get home in the afternoon, the first thing you want to do is find Addison, and if she is asleep, you are bummed. You make breakfast for Delaney in the morning and help unbuckle her car seat. You sit in the third row of the car without complaining and you watch Tinkerbell to make your sister happy.

2. You amaze me at how well you build things. I can't believe the Lego sets you are able to do. You're much better at it than me. Your teacher says Math is your best subject and you do your homework most nights with very little complaining. I love how you enjoy learning and I hope you always have that thirst for more.

3. You were beaming at your baptism. Several people commented to me about that. I am proud of the decisions you've made. I can tell you are trying hard to make the right choices. You are proud to be one of Heavenly Father's children and you work hard to let Him know that.


4. You've never met a stranger. You can talk to anyone, anywhere, at anytime, for any length of time! You don't have a shy bone in your body. Last summer when you flew by yourself to visit Grandma and Grandpa Clark, when you got off the plane, everyone leaving the gate kept saying, "Bye, Jackson". It was apparent that you'd gotten to know many people on the flight.

5. You love your family. All of your extended family. You want to know what is going on with who. You are the oldest cousin on my side and all those little boys look up to you. You also have some little boy cousins on Dad's side. I hope you continue to set good examples for them.

6. I love that when the sun is shining, there is no where you'd rather be than outside. Riding your bike, playing at the park, golfing, baseball, you name it. There are so many things to entertain you on the inside of a house, I'm so glad that you still choose to be outside. Now that it is getting cold again, you even love to be outside in the snow. Grandma and Grandpa Critt gave you some ski gloves for your birthday and I love that you ask everyday if you can wear them, even though we haven't gotten any snow yet. Wishful thinking! You definitely don't get that from me, your dad is the one who loves the cold and snow!

7. You are a loyal friend. You and Steven are such a pair. One hardly exists without the other. I think most visitors to our home have met Steven on at least one occasion. I love the friendship you have and hope that it lasts forever. Your very first best buddy was Corbin. He called you on your baptism day. And you two talked for quite a while. How great that you have a friendship with so much history. It's not easy to find great friends, so when you do, I hope that you put in the work that it takes to keep them. I hope you always remember that a good friend is one who makes you a better person, not one who expects or allows your worst.

8. You are patient and sensitive with your mom. Yep, me. Last year for your seventh birthday, I was newly pregnant with Addison and super sick. So, I forgot to send treats to school on your birthday. When you came home and told me, I felt awful. I started to cry. And then you were the one consoling me, letting me know that the package of Red Vines that Mr. Cronin gave you to share with the class was sufficient. (For the record, I remembered this year!). Not too long ago I sent you to school on a field trip day without a sack lunch. You ended up having to eat hot lunch with the Kindergartners once you got back. Again, I felt terrible that I forgot. But once again, it was you telling me why it was alright. And then, when you went on your field trip to the flag factory last week, you were nice to remind me to send a sack lunch.

I can't believe I've been your mom for 8 years. I don't feel old enough to have an 8 year old! I don't know how I feel about you now being accountable for your actions. Some days I'd rather take the "blame" and let you go on - free of accountability. But then I remember that's not how it's supposed to be. I know I joke that I'm going to make you eat nothing but junk food and not let you sleep at night so you won't grow any bigger. But, deep down, that's not what I really want. I have loved every second of the past 8 years, and I can't wait to see what the next 8 hold!

Happy Birthday, Friend. I love you.

Mom.

Wise men

I've started to get Christmas out. Yes, I realize it's early. I've actually never gotten Christmas out this early, but we're going to Florida all next week, so I thought I'd get a head start. Plus, since I was sick and preggo last Christmas, all I did was the bare minimum. We're lucky the tree was up and I had the kids decorate it, so there were no ornaments above 3 feet, except on the side where they could stand on the arm of the couch and reach higher (yes, I let my kids stand on the couch). Anyways, I feel like it's been two years since I've gotten any decorations out, so I started early this year.

We have this Fisher Price Little People Nativity that I love because the kids can play til their heart's content and I don't have to worry about them ruining it.

Tonight Delaney was playing with it and one of the wise men fell on the ground.

Jeff says, "Delaney, you dropped your king."

I said, "That's not a king, it's a wise man."

Delaney then picks up another wise man off the table and asks, "Is this the foolish man, then?".

Love it.

And the winners are...

Kerry S. and Vicki L.!! Kerry, I am going to send you the red and pink one and Vicki, I will send you the yellow one.

Kerry, I have your address, but Vicki, I don't have your new one. Will you email me with it?

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Jackson is getting baptized, so family is starting to trickle in already. I'll post about it once the weekend is over.

Crafting

This week I've been busy gearing up for Super Saturday. For those of you unfamiliar with this Mormon term, it usually refers to an entire day of crafting. However, growing up, it is what we called stake dances, so maybe us Mormons just love the title "Super Saturday". It references something big and exciting (or that's what the planners of said event would have you believe). And it always involves refreshments. Yesterday was our Super Saturday (the craft kind), complete with crock-pot soups and more dessert bars and cookies than you can imagine. I taught two classes, the first one were these daisy pie pin cushions:

I also taught these Christmas pillows - a pattern copied from Hillary (Yes, the same Hillary with the great salad recipe. I aspire to be like her when I grow up!).

I love to do crafts in my spare time, and my sewing machine is running at least 4 days a week. However, I only do straight lines. If a project involves anything more than a straight line, you've lost me. I don't like patterns because I'm not a perfectionist, so they never come out right. However, I saw a child's smock that was so cute on Etsy, but the seller wanted $40+ for it, and I wasn't about to spend that for Delaney. I'd found some fabric that I thought would be perfect so... I made up a pattern.

Can you believe it? I can't either.

It's reversible as well, with the argyle on bottom and flowers on top. But, as you can see I made it too big. I'd like to say I learned a lot from designing my first pattern, but I didn't really, and am still confused as to how it ended up so big. However, I'm happy with the concept.

When it came out too big for D, I made Jackson try it on (yes, he was mortified). It fit him perfectly, so it is going to my baby cousin Alli, who is 8 as well.

Now, at the end of a busy craft week, I realize, why let Alli have all the craft fun? Why not share the love with my blog friends? I already have many darling pincushions (thanks to Rach and Spence for the newest addition to my collection). I don't need the samples I made for Super Saturday. So, I'm doing a giveaway! If you would like either of the pincushions pictured above, please leave a comment. I will then pick two commenters at random (thanks to random.org) and send the commenter some pincushion love! So comment away! I will close the giveaway and choose the two winners at midnight on Thursday.

Halloween

Yep, I'm late. Every single blog I read has long since had their fall/Halloween pictures up. Well, better late than never. I actually started composing this on Tuesday of last week, but between kids being sick, church responsibilities, and getting ready for a Super Saturday craft day, it's been a crazy week. So, here is it, a week+ late!

We went to the pumpkin patch the day before Halloween. When you wait that close to Halloween, it's deserted there. So, we had the place to ourselves and all the lopsided pumpkins we'd possibly want to choose from.

Yes, it was seriously deserted. Usually those fields are full of people, but I suppose no one decided to wait as long as us. Their loss...I held out for a nice day and sure enough it was sunny at 65 degrees, so it was worth the wait! Here are Jackson and Delaney, all alone on the tractor train.
Miss Addie waiting patiently in the stroller as brother and sister enjoy the afternoon.

Once they picked their pumpkins, it was a quick run by the Mac store for dinner, and then onto carving. Here are their pumpkins, sketched out by them and executed with much help from Dad. (Note to those who know about Jackson's weak stomach...he didn't disappoint this year either. Once the top was off and the guts were out, he gagged.) Delaney's is on the left, Jackson's on the right. Addison did have a small pumpkin, but when we went to carve it, it was rotten:(.

Grandpa Critt sent his traditional Halloween treat this year in the form of chocolate pumpkins. Delaney is wearing the twirly skirt I made for her.

And it didn't disappoint. Boy, does it twirl!!

Illinois has strange trick-or-treating hours. Here, they trick-or-treat from 4-6 pm. So, never in the dark. Which kind of takes away some of the fun, in my opinion. Here is Indiana Jones, complete with a tattoo from the school Halloween party that says "Gimme Candy". Classy, right? We're nothin', if not classy!

And, little Miss Addison in her Halloween outfit from her Great Auntie Carno.

Here's our very own Sleeping Beauty. She's the favorite princess because she's the pink one (this coming from the girl who will only eat Strawberry yogurt because it's pink). Yikes, look at that spider web in the corner of the house! There was a time I wouldn't have posted this picture because of it. But let's be real, how often does sweeping the outside of my house come to the top of my priority list??

Here are all three as they headed out the door. Can you believe that here in the Arctic Midwest it was actually 78 degrees that day? In fact, as they headed off at 5:00 to start trick-or-treating, I checked the weather and it was 72 degrees. No coats required! In fact, the only reason D is wearing a shirt under hers is because it itched. I don't think we'll get many more Halloweens like it, but we'll take it!

Hope everyone else had a great Halloween! We're still drowning under loads of candy. This morning Delaney was begging Jackson for a lollipop from his bag of candy. He kept telling her no (gotta love siblings!) and she was getting more and more upset. I walked in to try to call a truce, only to discover the lollipops she wanted were actually in her bag of candy. They have so much of it, they don't even know whose is whose.

Miss Addison

Is anyone wondering if Addison actually exists? I know, I haven't put any pictures of her up. Life gets busy, kids get sick (see post below) and somehow I don't have many pictures I've taken of any kids, let alone the littlest one.

I did finally go get her pictures taken last week. I HATE having professional pictures taken. It's such a huge stress for me. I worry about what the kids should wear and then I worry about whether they will smile and then I worry about whether any pictures will even come out cute enough to buy. So, then I worry about whether I'm going to look stupid by having to walk out the door without spending any money and wasting the photographers time. I seriously wear work-out clothes to the photography studio because I get so stressed, I'm literally sweating by the time we're done. Yes, I know...so this is why I hardly ever get their pictures taken.

But, this time we had luck!! Addie did a great job and was happy. And, the photographer was cute and was great at getting her attention. So, here is a little of what we ended up with (sorry about the copyright symbols).








Our cute Addie at 4 months old. She has followed suit with all the other Clark babies, and she is a crier. She has been quite naughty the first 4 months of her life, but things seem to be turning around the past week. We think she's had reflux, and she's on a cocktail of medicine that now seems to be working for her. She sleeps well at night, as long as she's in her bouncer. So yes, at 4 months old, she still sleeps in her bouncer. She is also still swaddled at night, another thing we have tried, but been unsuccessful at weaning her from. She looks awfully uncomfortable all swaddled tight in her bouncer all night, but she loves it and I assume she'd let us know if she really was uncomfortable. I just worry that we're going to have to take her to the chiropractor for the next three years because of it. On a good note, there is a pediatric chiropractor opening an office down the street on November 1st, so we're good!

Jackson and Delaney love her more than I would have ever imagined. Here we are 4 months later, and the "excitement" of having her here hasn't worn off for them. When Jackson comes home from school, the first thing he does is look for Addison. And, Delaney is more patient with her that all of us combined. She receives endless amount of coos and cuddles from them. A few too many sometimes. And, heading into cold/flu season we might have to reevaluate how many kisses she gets. But what a great problem for Addie to have! Too much love from her siblings. And I appreciate how much they love helping. I've always worried that 4 years in between each of my kids would be too much, but wow, when you have an 8 and 4 year old helping, it's amazing how much easier having this baby has been! They are so willing to rock and entertain while I'm running around like a mad woman trying to leave the house on time.

Having a baby after getting to a stage where we had no diapers, no naps, no strollers, no bottles, no bibs, no diaper bags, no sippie cups, etc. is quite the adjustment. However, we would do it a million more times to have Addie here. She brings a joy into our family that was not there before, so because of that, we count her as one of our most favorite blessings, every day!

Hillary's Salad Recipe

Thank you everyone who responded! And, I agreed with you all. I thought the dinner "needed" the salad as well. So, some of you are probably wondering how the night went. Let me back up to Friday night, first. Saturday was my birthday, so since we were throwing a shindig here on Saturday, Jeff and I went out for our birthday date on Friday night. For my birthday date, I wanted to go to dinner and then go shopping. Yes, since it was my birthday, Jeff was going shopping with me. Jeff had actually taken the day off, so the birthday date started at 4:30 pm!We have these two sisters who come to babysit for the price of one. Something about loving to watch a little baby...whatever the reason, I love them for taking on our three. So, Jeff and I had just finished dinner on Friday night and we are literally at the door of Nordstroms to let the shopping commence, and his cell phone rings. Of course it's a call from home and one of our two cute baby-sitters says, "Hi, Brother Clark...I just wanted to let you know that Delaney has thrown up 4 or 5 times."


Wha??? What about me shopping, kid-free for the next 3 hours? What about that huge dinner we have at our house in 24 hours?


So, once we find ourselves back home, we find a very pale little girl. No fever, but definitely not feeling well. She continued to throw up so at that point we decided we had to cancel the party. So, no soup, no salads, no rolls. However, that did go hand-in-hand with no cleaning, no scrubbing, no dusting, so that was nice!

Now, to get to the point that you have all been waiting for. I got the approval from Hillary to post her salad recipe, so here it is. I promise it is super yummy and ALWAYS a hit!

Salad:
1 head romaine lettuce
1 bunch red leaf lettuce
1 reg size carton cottage cheese
1 red onion, sliced very thin
1/2 lb. grated swiss cheese
1 lb. diced and sauteed bacon

Dressing:
3/4 c. vegetable oil
3/4 c. white vinegar
1/3 c. sugar
1 t. dehydrated onion
1/2 t. dry mustard
1 t. poppy seeds
1/2 t. salt


- Combine dressing and let stand in fridge for 3+ hours (I've actually forgotten to make this ahead of time before, and it's still okay).

- This makes enough for 10-12 people. It's such a great recipe for a big group!

Opinions Please

Let's talk talents. One talent I definately lack in, but appreciate in others, is entertaining/cooking. I have many aunties, sisters, sister-in-laws, mothers, and friends who excel in this useful area. So, all you talented people (or if you don't posess this talent, I still need a response), I need your opinion.

We're having an Elders Quorum social at our house on Saturday evening. Lots of people are bringing soups, and then Jeff and I are doing Mom's rolls, and more people are bringing desserts. My question is, should I do a salad too? I think I know that I should, but Jeff says no. I think he says that just because he doesn't want to have to worry about it. Yes, it would be more work, but not too much more. I'm starting to think that soup, salad, rolls and dessert sounds like a better dinner than soup, rolls and dessert. Do you agree? If you were me, would you do it too?

As an incentive to get people to weigh in on this important decision, if I get enough votes, I will post the recipe of said salad. Why would this be motivation for you? Because, it is Hillary's/Donna's salad recipe and every time I make it, people go back for 2nds, 3rds and there is never any left. But it is simple and makes tons, so that's why it's perfect for this weekend. So, there's your bribe for helping out. Let the voting commence - salad or no salad?

Photo Tag

Stephanie Y., one of my most favorite friends from college tagged me for this photo. The way it works is you go to your photos on your computer. Go to your sixth folder, and in that folder, find the sixth picture. This is the one in mine. The folder was titled "2005-06 Winter"

In this picture, Delaney is about 18 months old. Delaney still loves ice cream this much. It is her incentive every night to eat dinner so she can have ice cream. I found some 100 calorie ice cream sandwiches at Target. So, every night, if she's eaten all her dinner (or an acceptable amount), she's allowed to have her ice cream square. She forgot a few nights ago, and once she'd brushed her teeth and gotten in bed, she remembered. Jeff wouldn't let her have it then, and so she layed in bed ranting and crying having missed out on her square.

I tag Stephanie R., Tiffany A., Michelle W., Monique F., Vicky L., and Brynn D. to go find their 6th photo in their 6th folder. It was fun to see what came up in mine.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

I have come to understand that parenting is a series of successes and failures. Two steps forward, one steps back. Most days I hope to end up on a forward step when all is said and done. Back when I was 19, I spent a day with Susan Jones in NYC. She's a great friend of my moms (and mine), and for the day, it was just us two gals in the city (lukewarm water and all). Somehow in the course of our many conversations that day, she was talking about the role of a mother. I've never forgotten how her words impressed on my 19 year old mind that the role of the mother is one of eternal importance. The most important thing I could do as a mother is understand that I am responsible for their spiritual welfare and well being, she said. Completely, she said. No one else's job, she said. The buck stops with you, she said. And so, I've often thought back to that May day in NYC, 13 (ohmygosh!) years ago, when I first started thinking about being a mother.

So, what's a girl to do? Try and do Family Home Evening as well and as often as possible. Teach my children the importance of prayer. Have gospel-centered conversations in our home. In a perfect world, I would be the perfect mother of perfect children who sponged up all this information. Many steps forward, and nary a step back, right?

Oh, how I love to celebrate the steps forward! I remember when Jackson was 2, we were visiting my parents. One morning Jackson woke up and we went down to the kitchen for breakfast. "What did you dream about last night, Jackson?" my mother asked. "Jesus" he replied. It melted her heart and of course I was delighted that I've taught him so well, that yes, indeed, he dreams about Jesus.

What about the instance a few weeks ago, when Delaney told the little neighbor girl that she couldn't marry Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid because she needed to get married in the temple? Or the other day when picking Delaney up from her friend, Lily's house. I was talking to Lily's mom, Karen, as I was walking out and Delaney interrupts us to show us all these letter "t"s she's written all over the driveway. Such a good girl, she's working on her letters! But then she tells me, "Mom, these are crosses. You know, the kind Jesus died on." Um, a little morbid, but true, and so I file it away as an example of one step forward. See, they are listening and absorbing and I must be doing something right, right?

Well, then there are the one step back moments. How about the time when Jackson was 4 and we went down for a trip to Washington DC? We are driving along the highway and as we come up the hill, there above us, glowing in the early evening dusk, is the DC temple. "Jackson, look! What is that?". "Mom! It's Cinderella's Castle!".

Jackson is turning 8 in just 3 short weeks. This means he'll be baptized soon. So, we've been having conversations, FHE lessons, and lots of planning going on surrounding this event. Well, this past weekend, Delaney is skipping around the house singing a primary song, "I can't wait until I'm eight...". "Delaney, why can't you wait until you're eight?", Jeff asks her. "So I can be a cub scout!" Yep, I can file that one under the one step back category.

And then there are those times when they *almost* get it. The idea here is that the execution is just a little fuzzy. A few months back, for a week or so, Delaney was telling us that Jesus has a bad brother, and his name is "Mushroom Head". This went on for days, and she was not to be convinced that his name was anything other than Mushroom Head. So, she gets points for understanding that Jesus does have a bad brother, but we have to work on his name.

And then last night, I call Delaney in from coloring on the driveway. The latest craze at our house is to draw a "town" with streets and buildings all over the driveway and then they drive their bikes/trikes/scooters all over the streets and get errands done. Delaney points out to me her temple that she's drawn.


"Isn't it beautiful, Mom? It has a pink roof and a purple and yellow door." So, see, she's *almost* got it.

So, most days at the Clark house are not two step forward days. We have a pitiful number of one step back days. We have a lot of *almost*s and often times the step forwards could be reinterpreted as a coincidence. But for now, I am grateful for the examples of my friends and family, who make two steps forward look easy enough to keep aiming for.

Family Home Evening

There are probably holiday purists out there who are frustrated with cross-promotion across holidays. Peeps are no longer just an Easter treat. You can find them for Valentines, Halloween and Christmas, too. Candy corn now comes in Christmas colors, too. So, when I first saw the Haunted House Gingerbread House a few years ago, I turned up my nose. Gingerbread is for Christmas. Period. Well, the other day I was at Joann's and they had kits for the haunted house ones, and I succumbed when thinking I could do it as a FHE activity. Of course, I'd like you to think we had a lesson, songs and prayer as well that night, but let's be real - this thing took up the whole night:


As you can see, even though I followed the directions precisely, the frosting still was drippy, but Jackson and Delaney had a blast. Here they are, working away:

And then posing with their scariest faces:

And now, here it sits, on the dining room table, on the table runner I finally finished. I had it all done last Halloween, except for hand sewing the binding. And well, most know how my last year has been, so I didn't get to it until a few weeks ago.

A comment about the comments

Thanks so much for welcoming me with such open arms into the world of blogging!! You are too kind. Most feel surprised at the number of comments, so let me assure you - it's beginners luck. I promise my life is neither inspiring nor interesting enough to warrant this kind of response again. This is just what happens when you spam your contact list.

I'm not getting married again nor am I having a baby again, and those types of posts on people's blogs usually solicit quite a response. So, my first post was a one-hit wonder, but I sincerely appreciate the love! Now that I know my blog isn't going to exist in complete oblivion, I will continue posting the mundane minutia that is our life most days. Anyone interested in infant reflux, the fact Addie fell asleep without her paci last night(miracle!), or Beverly Hills Chihuahua? If so, I hope you will continue your readership!!

Hello Bloggers!

Well, I've joined the club. Everyone asks if we have a blog, so why not join the "cool kids" and start one? I have to admit I'm a blog stalker, so I might as well allow myself to be blog stalked in return.

I do have to preface that I'm not very techno savvy...this is something I blame Jeff for. He does everything techinical for me, so therefore I have no motivation to learn anything. So, it might take me a while to make my blog look all cute and fancy, but I will get there, folks. Don't you worry.

Okay, so something funny happened today, and I immediately thought my mom and sister would get a kick out of it. "If only I had a blog", I thought, "I'd be able to show them this." So, here's a funny story, just for Steph and Cath.

Delaney loves to make crafts at preschool. LOVES to. Jackson never made crafts in preschool, so I assume this is a girl thing. I, however, hate the papers upon papers that accumulate because of all these crafts. I have recieved about 30 portraits of myself that Delaney colors on a regular basis. Well, hand over the mother-of-the-year award right now, because I'll admit 99.9% of them go into the garbage and she never notices, so I think it's a win-win. She loves making them, and I love my counters clear, so everyone wins. However, today she produced a "save worthy" picture. You'll even notice in the picture that it is indeed on the fridge.



This is not a picture of me, it is actually a picture of her brother. She walks out of preschool, hands over the picture, and says, "It's a picture of my brother. Doing the robot dance." I couldn't help but laugh. Jackson does indeed think the coolest dance move is the robot. And, I'm so proud to see that her figures now have elbows. Their arms still come out of their heads, but at least we now have elbows!

Once we got home, I told her how cute I thought her picture was, so I was going to put it up on the fridge. She then asks,

"Mommy, where is the secret hiding place you put all my other pictures I make."

Playing dumb I reply, "What are you talking about?"

"All my other pictures. I can never find them, but they are beautiful."

To which I reply, "If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret then, right?


Maybe it's not as win-win as I thought it was...