The Big One-Oh

Sad. I just realized that I never even mentioned my 9th anniversary, which was on August 16th. Oops. Well, to be honest, it wasn't that big of a deal. I mean, nine years... what's that? One less than ten, that's what. Not very exciting. We played it pretty low key - we got Chinese for our dinner and Happy Meals for the boys. Oh - and we bought each other traveling sprinklers for the lawn. Totally romantic, I know. (Actually, we both lurve the sprinklers, so there you go.)

Anywho, not much to be said for the 9th anniversary, right?

Not so for the tenth - we're goin' on a cruise, baby!

Which is funny, because before I had kids I totally looked down on cruises. Lame! If I wanted to go on vacation, I wanted travel. See foreign lands, tour fabulous places, get lost where no one speaks English, walk until my feet fall off.

But now? Now the lure of sleeping in, spa treatments, sunny beaches, watching movies in a pool at night, someone else doing all of the cooking and cleaning, grandpa and grandma taking care of the kiddos at home... well, that's just too much temptation for this momma. I've been obsessing about going on a cruise for quite a while now. I've been researching, reading reviews, saving money, driving Lance nuts. I even tried to think about being on a cruise while I was in labor with Cole. (You know, the whole 'going to a happy place' thing in order to get your mind off of the pain.) (It didn't work.)

So why am I bringing it up today? Because we just booked it. We'll be outta here for a whole week come May 9th. (Mother's day - appropriate, no?) Why May when our anniversary is in August? Cheaper, better for scheduling, and I just couldn't wait any longer.

The big one-oh is going to be the Best. Anniversary. Ever.

At least until the big two-oh. :)

Doughnut Quest

I'm on a quest, my friends. A quest for a good cake doughnut recipe.

See, this will be our fifth year having our Halloween Donut Party. I thought that in honor of this momentous occasion it would be fun to add a new type of doughnut to our menu. But I can't just add any ol' cake doughnut. It has to be good - nay - great. Because, and I don't mean to toot my own horn but I will anyways, my regular yeast doughnuts are great. And any doughnut less than wonderful will not be allowed at my party.

So I have decided to test out a few cake doughnut recipes this month. As you can see, I have great support for this endeavor.


Today's was Sour Cream Cake Doughnuts from The Joy of Cooking. The recipe was simple to make and sounded pretty tasty. After the dough chilled for a few hours I cut out the doughnuts.


And then fried up a few.


And then dipped them in cinnamon sugar.


Verdict? Meh. Not bad, but not great. A little dry. (And, after sitting out for only an hour, a little rubbery. But I suspect that's because I maybe over-mixed them a little.)

Not that this stopped my boys from enjoying them.

(See Spencer in the background? He's rushing over to get a doughnut before Josh eats them all. Because he would.)


So, not a winner. But all wasn't lost because I did discover an awesome new way to make doughnuts that will be debuted at the party. We have named them "Monster Doughnuts". Intrigued? Are they monsters because of the size or shape? The color? The taste? You'll just have to wait and see.

Unless you send me a great cake doughnut recipe. Then will I not only make you a batch of Monster Doughnuts, but I might even name them after you instead!

Joshie's Wife (and Lance's Snarky Comment)

Raspberry Jam

Is there anything prettier than the color of freshly made raspberry freezer jam?


I just love that bright red. I could keep these out all year as a centerpiece.


And it tastes sooooo yummy. Of course, 3/4 of each bottle is sugar, so of course it tastes good.


And the fact that the raspberries were free makes them taste and look even better!
(Thank you, Svedins, for letting us pick your raspberries!)

Days of the Week

Josh has recently become obsessed with the days of the week. No less than five times a day does he ask "Mommy, what day it is?" Unfortunately, the conversation generally goes something like the one we just had this morning:

Joshie: Mommy, what day is today?

Me: Today is Friday.

Joshie: No! Today is Sunday.

Me: No, today is Friday. On Sunday we go to church.

Joshie: No! It's Sunday because the sun is out! NO!

Me: Nope, it's Friday.

Joshie: No, it's Monday.

Me: Friday.

Joshie: Monday IS Friday.

Me: Whatever, dude.

Me (under my breath): It's like arguing with an insane person.

Joshie: I knoooooowwwww.

Long Day

Today was a long day.

First, Cole woke me up at 5:15am. Yeah, I know it's not that unusual for babies, but he's been sleeping in until 6:30ish for a week or two, so this was, quite literally, a rude awakening.

Even ruder, he wouldn't go back to sleep after he ate. I finally got him back to sleep at 6:15. Since my other kiddos usually wake up at 6:30am now (why?!?) I just laid down on the couch and waited for them.

I woke up at 7:30. Oops.

This meant we had to rush a little for the bus. True, our bus doesn't get here until 8:25, but when you have a kindergartner who takes a good 20 minutes to get dressed every minute counts. Which meant we were all pretty cross by the time Spencer got on the bus.

Blah blah blah... you don't want to hear all of the rest of the boring long day details. Just know that it was long.

And then this came in the mail.


My day brightened.

And now it's gonna be a long night.

Collegiate Kiddos

BYU Baby - Rise and Shout!

Future Cougars

Boilermaker Baby

BYU or Purdue starting defensive linemen - 2024 & 2027.
(Whichever offers the better scholarship!)

P.S. Typed one-handed while nursing a hungry little cougar - oh the talents motherhood develops!