Was That REALLY Necessary?

I've been amazed by the things people feel the need to say before.  Like those who comment on how you look when you're pregnant.  Or if you haven't lost the baby weight.  You know...THOSE people.  Lately, I've realized that being 27 with 3 little kids is an anamoly here.  In AZ it was the norm.  So lately, I've been getting a lot of "Wow, you must be busy."  "You've got your arms full."  "They must keep you running." 

But today, the electric guy came and said "Hi!  I hear you have a problem with your lights."  Then he saw the girls and he said, "Oh, I see you have a lot more problems than that!" 

I should have said, "Wow, that was rude."  But I didn't.  But I should have.

All in a Day's Work

As I was getting ready for bed last night, I thought about my day and stood there amazed at how much I was able to get done.  I don't post this as a "look at me" because these full days happen in every home where there is a mother.  I post it because I am amazed at the gift God has given women to do so much in a day because, afterall, much is required at our hands and we need the added blessings to do it all. 

So, yesterday, I fed Avery at 7:30 but was exhausted from going to bed at 1am the night before that I asked Braden (who didn't have to go to work until 11) if I could lay down for a little longer.  He took care of the girls until I got up at 8:30.  I put Avery down for her morning nap, got dressed, had breakfast with the family (which Braden had made), then ran to the library with Taryn to pick up some books we had requested.  We got home, said goodbye to dad, and read a dozen books.  They took their bath, got dressed and ready, then they went to read and play for a while.  I defatted my beef broth I made the day before and bagged it for the freezer while they played.  Then we had lunch, read more stories, and I put them down for naps.  Shortly thereafter, my visiting teachers came and stayed for about an hour.  After they left, I started cleaning up the house which was in shambles.  I cleaned the bath tub, toilet, vanity, and floor in the bathroom, then tidied Avery's room, the basement, the living room, and the kitchen.  When the girls woke up, Taryn went and played while Keara and I prepped everything to cook a whole chicken fryer and broth.  Then we went upstairs sand organized my sewing supplies which had gotten quite out of hand lately.  I finished cleaning the dining room and then we picked apart the chicken and finished the broth.  Then we started making dinner, ate it, cleaned up after it, got in pajamas, and then started making cookies.  First we made sugar cookies, then chocolate chip, then reese's pieces, then oatmeal, then oatmeal raisin (company is coming today, hence the cleaning the house).  In the middle of it, I made frosting and we decorated the cookies.  I put them to bed, fed Avery and put her down, then finished the rest of the cookies.  In total, we made 150 cookies in about 2 hours.  Amidst all this, I did 4 loads of laundry, which I folded after putting Avery to bed.  Then I cleaned up the house again, mopped the floor, did the dishes, put the laundry away, and finally plopped on the couch with Braden at 11:30 pm to watch the end of the Suns' game.  (NOTE: he works late on Thursdays and then plays basketball from 9-10:30 pm)  It was completely disappointing to see them lose when they had fought to well to win, but oh well.  Woven into all of that was also taking care of 2 pooped pants with my potty training 2 year old, nursing my baby 4 times, and entertaining the three girls while trying to be superwoman. 

So, as I stood there in the bathroom, brushing my teeth, I had two thoughts.  First, it is a good thing God created women because if there were only men, only a couple things would get accomplished each day.  And second, I'm pooped.  Thank goodness for sleep.

Blog Updates Updates

I have decided that going private has its advantages and disadvantages.  But the biggest disadvantage I've found is that no one knows when I've updated if they rely on google reader or their blog list to tell them that I've updated.  So, instead, add http://www.bradenandcheri.blogspot.com/ to your google reader or your blog list and I will post there when I have updated.  So you can either just come here to see the updates or you can go there and click on the link to redirect you here.  Does that work?  Let me know if you have a problem with that. 

Size Matters

Not really.  And in our family, size doesn't mean a thing.  We just have small babies who are dwarfed by their peers.  I watched my friend's daughter the other day and I have to keep reminding myself that she is just 6 weeks older than Avery.  She can crawl, stand with support, and cruise.  Avery...can't.  Not yet.  I think she's on the brink of crawling.

One thing Avery can do is EAT.  She loves eating all our table foods now.  We hardly give her baby food at all.  And she got a tooth in last week!  Well, not really IN, but it has broken the surface!  For now, she just has really strong gums.

You Get Porridge! And It is HAPPY to See You!

To borrow a line from Mulan, I had to smile when I opened my raspberry sorbet on Mother's Day and I saw this. 

So, smile, darn ya, smile.

Give Me Some CREDIT!

I love store credit.  I love forgetting that you have store credit and then one day remembering and being able to go pick out something seemingly for FREE.  I feel the same way about gift cards.  I love gift cards.

My MIL gave me a tiered buffet server for my birthday.  SO FUN!  She knew I had been wanting one for so long and had borrowed one from friends on occasion before.  When we went to move, however, she asked that I double check to make sure it wasn't broken before packing it up.  Sure enough, it was broken.  So I took it back to BB&B and got store credit, intending to buy it again once we got here.  But a couple weeks ago, I passed a yard sale in a really upity neighborhood and found this beauty for $5.  It's four tiers instead of three :)

Part of the beauty of this server was now I had store credit...for whatever I wanted....So Braden and I stopped by BB&B the other day and had a ball trying to choose what we wanted.  It took a full hour...in just one section.  We only looked at kitchen things.  Gizmos and Gadgets.  Our favorite.  Finally, we decided, more because we wanted to go home rather than because we found the perfect things.  We chose a set of three jelly roll pans to replace my other cookie pans that are hardly functional anymore, a silicon mini muffin pan, a sugar shaker for cinnamon sugar, and Braden chose white cheddar popcorn flavoring.  We enjoyed mini blueberry muffins on Mother's day...they were adorable!

If I learned anything in going to BB&B, it is that there are SO many things that I would LOVE to have in my kitchen.  There were adorable mini cake pans.  Or individual bundt cake pans.  Or cereal containers, zesters, cutting boards, pie plates, bread pans, frosting tips, pastry mats, cupcake holders, cupboard tiers for spices, mesh colanders...the list could probably go on and on.  I think one of my dreams in life, besides being amazing at sewing, is to continue to get better and better at cooking and baking.  I think those three things are my greatest hobbies and passions (of course, besides the things that matter most).

One Man's Junk is Another Man's Treasure

Well, I'm not a man. 

On to other things.  Like I said, we went garbage picking.  Dumpster diving.  I LOVE finding a good deal on the side of the road.  My sister has the BEST stories to tell about getting things for free, but that's for another day.  For us, Saturday morning was bulk pickup day.  Different neighborhoods are assigned a Saturday when they can put out ANYTHING.  And I mean anything.  Just pile it by the side of the road and the trash guys will come load it themselves.  No need to schedule or pay extra for it.  Just put it out and it will be taken away.  Either by the trash men or the dumpster divers. 

Jonathan and I saw a toilet across the street from his piano teacher's house which got us started on a marathon of trash piles.  We grabbed a different toilet (not broken) in case our landlord approves us finishing the basement bathroom.  We took 3 large trash bags filled with those ball pit balls.  Probably just going back in the trash but Jonathan really wanted something for himself.  And then, we saw it...the mother of all dumpster finds...

We have really needed a computer desk.  We hated the one we had in AZ and have been perusing craigslist to see if we could find one here.  But we couldn't find what we were looking for.  We just knew we wanted certain things (place for the tower, a filing drawer, shelves, etc.)  So as Jonathan and I drove by a street, I thought I saw a desk at the end of the road.  Sure enough, there it was.  It was covered in stickers but was in otherwise good condition.  So we folded down all the seats in the car and tried to get it in.  Jonathan may be big for his age, but he's still only 8 and couldn't really help get that desk to the car.  I struggled with it myself, throwing out something in my back, when finally a nice neighbor lady came to our rescue.  We got it loaded and then I had to unload it myself at our house.

Then I measured the space.  Oh dear.  The desk was about 4 inches too long.  So, Braden got out his little hand saw and cut off the ends.  Perfect!  A couple cans of spray paint later and a coat of mod podge to finish it off, and we were in BUSINESS!  WOW!  I love how it turned out. 

Thanks Jill for teaching me to always see the possibilities within a piece of furniture!  I can't tell you how many things I saw along the way that I knew you could make beautiful! 

A Weekend Away (okay, maybe only a 5 miles away...)

Last weekend, we had the FABULOUS opportunity to stay at my brother's house with my nephews while he and my SIL went on a much needed anniversary trip.  We LOVED it!  My brother kept thanking us for it, but honestly, it was a treat for us.  I can't even begin to tell you how much we love those boys.  And our girls adore them!  They each have a favorite.  Keara loves Jonathan, Taryn adores Nathan, and Joseph can't get enough of Avery. 

Susan runs the most crazy life with these three boys.  We woke up on Saturday, had breakfast, I ran out the door with Jonathan for piano lessons while Braden stayed home with everyone else.  They were supposed to do their homework while we were gone.  That didn't really happen, but oh well.  Anyway, after Jonathan's piano lesson, we went garbage picking.  Then we got home for lunch.  Right after, Joseph left for his track meet, Braden took Taryn and Avery home for naps, and Keara, Nathan, Jonathan, and I took Nathan to a bass recital rehearsal.  We dropped him off and K, J, and I went to a park to pass the time.  Then we ran back and picked up Nathan, drove across town, praying to get to Joseph's meet in time to see him run.  We arrived 45 minutes after his race time...but thankfully, the meet was running 45 minutes behind!  We pulled up just in time to see him running by on his second lap.  We jumped out of the car and were able to see him run the rest.  He did great!  We went home, dropped everyone off, then jumped back in the car to take Jonathan to soccer practice.  He got home a little later, we had dinner, and then, phew...We all went bowling.

Braden, Joseph, and Nathan had a bit of a competition going and they REALLY didn't want the bumpers up (it kind of messes up spins and curves they put on the balls), so Jonathan was a good sport and played, even though he mainly got gutter balls.  He still ended up with 80 points, so we were proud of him! 

I guess this is why you should warn people when you're going to take a picture.  Not one person in this picture looks like they are having a good time.  But believe me...it was fun!

Braden ended up winning, which was REALLY good because Joseph had been giving him a hard time about losing at everything.  Apparently either Braden has slacked on his skills or Joseph is getting better.  But at least there is one thing Braden can still beat him at...

Bailey Baby Design

My friend here makes these adorable baby items and I thought I'd share them with you.  She makes all the appliques by hand and does a BEAUTIFUL job.  Her sewing is impeccable.  Check out her website at http://www.baileybabydesign.com/ 

Free Stuff

I just got this email and thought I'd pass along the info. 

"As part of his doctoral studies, John Hilton III is "studying what happens when books are made available for free." He worked with "Deseret Book and they have made 8 of their books available for free." They can all be downloaded at http://www.deseretbook.com/free . Several of the books are ones you might be interested in. The books are:


1. Please Pass the Scripture (by me).
2. What I Wish I Would Have Known When I Was Single (by John Bytheway).
3. Women at the Well (by Richard and Jeni Holzapfel).
4. Digging Deeper (by Robert Eaton).
5. 10 Secrets Wise Parents Know (by Brent Top and Bruce Chadwick).
6. Growing Up: Gospel Answers About Maturation and Sex (by Brad Wilcox).
7. Saving Kristen (by Jack Weyland). (fiction)
8. The Hidden Path (by C.B. Andersen). (fiction)

If nothing else, I recommend that you go download them all and save them for future reference as they will only be available online for free for a short time."

"Could you forward this information on to others who might be interested? I want to help share these great, free resources with as many people as possible. Some of the books help you get more out of the scriptures. Others are good for parenting. Some are just plain fun. Go check out http://deseretbook.com/free . I hope you like the books!"
--John Hilton III

I Have SO Much to Do Right Now...

...but I just had to post this really quickly.  I was just putting away our griddle from pancakes this morning and I thought about how cooking bacon on a griddle kind of leaves this grimy film that gets more and more cooked onto the griddle and never really comes off.  Okay, so now you're up to speed with my thoughts.  That's when I realized I hadn't posted about the GREATEST way to cook bacon!!!  I'm a new convert to this method and I LOVE it.  I first saw it on Our Best Bites and thought it looked awesome.  But then when my friend Liz mentioned that she cooks bacon that way too, I knew I just HAD to try it.  And guess what?!  It makes the BEST bacon ever AND there is no babysitting a griddle, getting spit at by grease, and having nasty melted blubber all over your floor, counter, and griddle.  Ahhh...

So here's what you do (go to Our Best Bites for pictures and detailed instructions).  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Cover a cookie sheet with edges with tin foil.  If you want, put in a rack so the bacon isn't cooking in its fat.  But if you don't care and want the extra flavor, just line the pan with the bacon.  They can be right next to each other, touching even, so you don't have to worry about spacing them.  I can fit a whole package on one jelly roll pan. 

Pop it in the oven, set the timer for 12-16 minutes (I like mine on the extra crispy side) and then forget about it...until the time rings.  Then, pull them out of the oven, line a plate with paper towels, transfer the bacon to the plate to drain, and enjoy!  It is AWESOME!!  C'mon, admit it.  You're going to find an excuse to use bacon just so you can try this...

That's How You Know

Enchanted is our favorite movie.  If you haven't seen it, you should.  Our girls have seen it too much since moving here.  What can I say?  I have let the TV babysit my kids once or twice while trying to get things unpacked and organized.  But we're starting to see how well they know this movie now and, needless to say, we haven't let them watch it in a week.

Every day, both Keara and Taryn interject quotes from this movie into real life and we think it is hilarious.  Sometimes, they just quote it for fun.  Other times, it really works.  Here's a snippet of their latest quotations:

Daddy (in church): Taryn you need to sit up on the bench.

Taryn: Forever and ever?!

Taryn (at almost every dinner): This was so yummy!  I didn't know food could taste like this!

Keara (when Taryn was driving her crazy):  I'm so...so...ANGRY!!

Taryn and Keara (when mommy kept saying no): No?  Is that the only word you know, no?

K&T (whenever they feel like it): Oh Giselle!  We shall be married in the morning!

They refer to the song as "Ah ah ah ah ah" like Giselle sings to beckon the birds and animals.  They sing the songs randomly throughout the day, especially "That's How You Know."  One day, Susan was taking care of Taryn and had stepped out for a minute.  When she came back, she found Taryn sitting on their couch, clutching the DVD case of Enchanted singing, in her beautifully raspy voice, "How do you know?  How do you know?"  It is so sweet.

Anyway, like I said, if you haven't seen this movie, DO.  It is great.  I love it, Braden loves it, the girls love it.  The music is great.  The story is sweet.  Watch it.  Tonight.