Catching a Free Ride

April 30, 2008

When we heard Front Runner was going to be offering free rides we were eager to try it. Due to a too full Saturday we were unable to go until last night. Of course, after listening to some of my siblings I think it actually worked out better. We arrived at the station at 6:00.
The train was about to leave, but we decided to wait so that we could get a seat up on top.
While waiting we had fun trying to keep Eliza from falling on to the tracks. After about 15 minutes of waiting the next train showed up. We were able to score seats up top. These seem to be the most prized seats. The kids spent the first 10 minutes of the ride just looking outside enjoying the scenery.
Once we hit Layton we got off and caught the train coming back.
By this time Eliza was getting a little bored so she spent her time whipping her hair around and trying to pull the emergency lever. Everyone had a great trip and we hope to go on it again.

One Meal Three ways

April 26, 2008

Every once in awhile we will get uninvited to a Sunday dinner. I am then faced with the dilemma of trying to figure out what to make. For some reason I feel that we have to have a really nice Sunday meal. One of the things I love to make is a Pork Roast. The only thing I hate about it is eating it for the next week. By Friday I am begging Greg to go out to eat so that I don't have to eat roast again. A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across these recipes in Family Circle I was excited to try them. Last Sunday we were once again uninvited from my in-laws house so I decided to give them a try. I first started with a 4 1/2 lb roast. I covered it with Olive oil, Salt and peppered it. I popped it into the oven at 400 degrees for 1 hour 20 minutes. Forty-five minutes before it was to come out I popped in some potatoes too. Everything tasted wonderful. For my next meal I made Pork Fried Rice. In the recipe it calls for eggs and water chestnuts. I left out the eggs because Greg doesn't like them and I left out the water chestnuts because the vegetables I bought already had them.

Pork Fried Rice

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 box (5.2 ounces) Asian-flavored rice mix
• 1 pound pork roast, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (about 21/2 cups)
• 1 bag (16 ounces) frozen Asian stir-fry vegetables, thawed
• 1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoons hoisin sauce (or ketchup)
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 scallions, chopped

Directions

1. Add eggs to a large nonstick skillet. Cook until set and remove to a plate. Cut into strips. Wipe out skillet; prepare rice mix in it following package directions.

2. During last 7 minutes, add pork, vegetables, water chestnuts, soy and hoisin. Stir in egg and cook, covered, for remaining 7 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and stir in sesame oil. Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with scallions.

We really enjoyed this. It had a great taste to it and the leftovers were also really good.

The last meal was sandwiches. I was a little scared to try them, but man they were really good. If you don't have a grill I think you could bake them in the oven and have a very similar affect.

Cuban Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 1 loaf (12 ounces) crusty Italian bread
• 4 dill pickles, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1/2 pound roast pork, sliced (about 8-1/4-inch-thick slices)
• 4 slices Swiss cheese (about 1 ounce each)
• 8 teaspoons yellow mustard

Directions

1. Heat grill or grill pan. Cut bread in half lengthwise, then crosswise into four equal pieces. Layer each bottom piece with a sliced pickle, 2 slices of the pork and 1 slice of cheese. Spread the cut-side of each top piece with 2 teaspoons mustard.

2. Stack tops onto bottom pieces, and flatten to 1/3 original thickness. Place sandwiches on heated grill and weigh down with a heavy pot. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until nicely grilled and cheese melts. Cut in half on the diagonal and serve.

So next time you make up a roast and are wondering what to do with the leftovers try one of these. They were excellent.

Buying into the hysteria

April 24, 2008

As many of you have probably heard by now Sams Club and Costco are rationing rice. Greg was the first one to hear about this and decided now was the time to get serious about our food storage. We looked at what we had and decided that we were in pretty good shape, but it wouldn't hurt to get some of the big basics before the prices went through the roof. So yesterday morning I ventured out to get some rice. I headed over to Kitchen Kneads and was shocked by how many people were there. I was able to get my 50 lbs of rice and leave, but just barely. Later that day I headed over to Sam's Club to pick up a couple of items. There was a line for the rice and they had lower the amount that people could buy from 4 bags to 2 bags. Before we left they had sold out of the rice. When I came home I told Greg about what had happened that day and he made a comment that if there wasn't a rice shortage now there would be. It was basically a self-fulling prophesy. We are living in crazy times.

A sound sleeper.

April 20, 2008

As many of you know Eliza has not been the best sleeper for us. We always have trouble around daylight savings time and for a little while we had trouble getting her to sleep at night. Finally it seemed as if she was going to settle down and be a good sleeper. Eliza was taking 2-3 hour naps and then sleeping for about 11 hours at night. This only lasted for about 3 weeks when she decided that she no longer needed naps. We tried everything under the sun to get her to take a nap, but to no avail. On the positive side we did notice that she was sleeping very well at night and in fact most nights we could put her down early. The only problem has been that she will fall asleep anytime she is in a car or anytime she slows down. We will find her asleep in bizarre places all the time. Last night we found her in the most bizarre place so far. Greg was giving Eliza a bath when he noticed that she was being really quite. When he peeked into the bath tub he found her fast asleep laying on her back. He was able to completely wash her hair and all of her body without waking her up. She didn't wake up until we got her out. It was really funny. I can't wait to see where she will fall asleep next.

Why I had kids

April 17, 2008

This morning was one of those mornings you hope you never forget. While trying to get ready to go to Music group the kids got into a huge fight. There was screaming, yelling and quite a bit of tears. Once everyone had been sent to their room and been disciplined, I once again tried to get everyone out the door. Everyone was in a foul mood and I was not looking forward to music group. As we entered the building Forrest and Eliza were in front of me. In the main entryway some people were standing around talking. This scared Eliza a little so she reached over and grabbed Forrest hand. Forrest seeming to sense her unease held her hand and lead her around the strangers. They then walked hand and hand down to the classroom. This is when I was really wishing for a camera. I wanted to remember this moment forever. They were being so sweet together. Forrest was being a great older brother who really cared about his little sister. It gave me hope that one day they will be best friends. That is of course if they don't kill each other first.

Poor Greg

April 14, 2008

Greg: Who were you talking to on the phone?
Me: Valerie.
Greg: What did you guys talk about?
Me: I was telling Valerie I would babysit all of her kids the first weekend in May.
Greg: WHAT!!!
Me: I am trying to be nice.
Greg: Is it their anniversary?
Me: No, they say that it is important to have alone time with your husband. Do you want to be responsible for them getting a divorce? If they get a divorce there is a very good chance she would come live with us. Do want that?
Greg: Well no, but I don't really want to watch her kids either.
Me: Think of it as a preemptive strike to avoid having to watch them 24/7.

How to Wake up in the morning

April 13, 2008

Me: You seem tired this morning.
Forrest: I am, but stretching gets the tired out.
Me: That is good to know.
Forrest: But it only gets the sleepy tired out, not the tired from playing all day out.

Hanging out on the Farm

April 12, 2008

On Thursday Shirley picked up the kids and took them up to the Baby Animal fair in Logan. This was to be Forrest birthday trip, but since Eliza loves animals we let her go along too. The kids had a really good time. The first thing they did was ride the horses. This might have not been the best choice.
Eliza was very patient waiting for her turn
and giggle the whole time she was riding the horse.
Forrest of course took it all in stride.
After the horse ride Eliza tried to ride every animal that she could. Before Shirley could stop her she ended up sitting on a baby calf. Lucky for us the calf didn't seem to mind.
Forrest loved holding the bunnies and really loved holding the baby chicks.
Eliza wasn't too sure at first,
but she warmed up fast and started picking them up by their nAfter a very fun day they came home very happy and very tired. That is until Forrest thought he could still smell the stinky cow smell. After throwing all the clothes in the wash and assuring him that he was just tired we sent him to bed. Later I ran something out into the garage and when I came back in I could smell something stinky. I immediately realized that Forrest had been smelling the Salmon we had had for dinner. Poor kid I was trying to convince him it was all in his mind. Next time I will have to use the oust.

My Very Polite Boy

April 12, 2008

This morning we had another soccer game. Every time Forrest would kick and miss the ball, but would hit someone he would say sorry. After awhile it started to get really funny. Between the grunts and groans you would hear sorry numerous times. I don't know if I should tell him that when we play sports it isn't really necessary to say sorry every time you accidentally kick someone or just let him keep saying it. It is nice to know that all my reminding him to say sorry is finally sinking in.

A weekend adventure

April 5, 2008

When the temperature is just right and there is fresh snow we will try to head up into the mountains to go snowshoeing.
We start off trying to get our snow shoes on. If it is really cold this can be very difficult. Your fingers usually freeze before your snowshoes are tight enough that they don't fall off.
Once everyone is set Eliza gets thrown into the back pack. Where she catches a ride.
She loves just hanging out in her carrierr not having a care in the world. This will last about 15 minutes and then she wants out.
Of course by this time Forrest is tired.
Very, very tired. This is when the hard work really begins. We start looking for animal tracks, playing hide and go seek and having snow ball fights. A word to the wise don't run with snowshoes on. You will just get snow down your back. Eliza of course is still going full steam ahead. She doesn't slow down for much.
Since she is so light she can go anywhere and never worry about breaking through. After awhile I start making the kids pose for pictures.
Forrest is great to stop and pose.
With Eliza I have try and catch her when she is holding still. This is not very easy.
Of course while I am doing this Greg takes this opportunity to leave us. He is all about breaking a new trail. After playing for about an hour and having gone almost 1/2 a mile we turn around and head home. I am exhausted, but the kids had a lot of fun.

A sleeping Child

April 1, 2008

Awake to the sound of your child crying. Roll over and pretend you are asleep hoping that you husband will get her. After several minutes realize he is doing the same thing. Get up and find your child sitting on the floor crying. When you pick her up realize she has wet through her pj's. Quickly change her and try to put her back in bed. Figure out that she think it is morning and wants to go play. After several minutes struggling with her decide to let her sleep in your bed. When you bring her in husband moves to the very edge of the bed hoping that he won't get yelled at again for hogging the bed when there is three of you trying to share it. Put child in the center of the bed and get in yourself. Have child immediately snuggle up to you. As you try to move away from her fall out of the bed. Climb back in and suffer through the repeated jabs by elbows and knees. Child soon realizes that your thighs are really warm and use them to warm up her icy cold feet. Have the child sit up numerous time to jabber, poke you in the eye and try to get down to play. Husband finally reaches his breaking point and gets up to put her back in bed. Husband spends 15 minutes rocking her and she falls right back to sleep. Spread out and enjoy having the whole bed to yourself before your husband comes back to bed freezing cold, snuggles up to you and uses your legs to warm up his feet. Finally fall asleep 1 hour 1/2 after you first woke up. Decide this is your punishment for judging your sister every time she would tell you how her child wouldn't sleep and you would think to yourself that she was just doing it wrong. Come to realize that your first child was a golden child with sleep and you were just very lucky.