Knock, Knock...........

No, I do not have two girls. Yes, the "girl" in the flower dress is a boy.
Yes, someday Fin will kill me for posting this and yes, Cache will probablly beat him to it,
but oh well I had to do it. Ignore the dress and look at how cute these two are.
( mommy goggles are handed out at the door )

How many of you moms out there (not just moms-but dads, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings) have ever heard these words all. day. long?

Here is how my day sounds:

7 am
peanuthead: Knock-knock?
Me: who's there?
Peanuthead: Hair
Me: Hair who?
Peanuthead: hair, you need to get your hair done (ya, it doesn't make sense to me either, except for the fact that I really do need to get my hair done.)
uncontrollable laughter from Peanut head.

9 am
Fin: knock, knock?
me: who's there?
Fin: knock, Knock?
Me: who's there?
silence because fin can't think of anything else to say, and then uncontrollable laughter.

12 pm
Peanuthead: knock, knock?
Me: who's there?
Peanuthead: banana
Me: banana who?
Peanuthead: knock, knock?
Me: who's there?
Peanuthead: banana
I
will
skip the next few lines
because I am sure
you know this one
Peanuthead: Orange you glad I didn't say Banana?
uncontrollable laughter from Peanuthead.

3pm
(repeat of 9am)

5pm
(repeat of 7am)

How do you handle the incessant knock, knock jokes?? everytime I hear "knock, knock" I cringe.
BUT, I do love the satisfaction they receive by thinking that they made a funny and I do love the laughter that follows, therefore I don't give-in to my first instinct, which is to put them in "time-out" whenever I hear "knock-knock?" .

Why can't I be content?

I think I have changed my blog 4 or 5 times since I started posting last spring. I just can't find anything I like, so i am going to make my own.

Cache took my camera to India so I haven't had anything to take pictures with (I have our point and shoot, but I am to lazy to bring it up from downstairs and charge it) so I have been dabbling with digital scrapbooking to waste my time, I am really enjoying it. It is a lot cheaper than actual scrapbooking which is a plus for me. I hated spending the money on supplies. With digital there is a lot of free stuff. I love the word *free*.

I just spent the last 4 days working on our layout for our private blog and I really like it, well at least I like it more than what was there before. So now my next adventure is this blog's layout, so if you see it looking really odd for the next few days you will know why.

My inspiration for this change is cute Paige's blog take a look, I love it.

Sad day

I about fell over when I started my nightly ritual of reading the news and saw that our prophet passed away today. It is sweet that he was able to pass away so quickly and without much pain. I am sure he is rejoicing at being with his sweet wife again. I love that man.

A post for my hubby.

I was reading this post this morning and it reminded me so much of my husband. My heart truly believes this, but I just can't stop shopping. I am going to do better though, we really don't need any more stuff.

Snow day!

I thought I would never say that I am grateful for a repair bill, especially one for $240.00, but today I am. I am a worrier, I hate it, but I am. So, when I woke up to 2 feet of snow outside our bedroom door, I started worrying about Cache's 45 minute commute to work. Well, he wasn't meant to leave because the garage door would not open, not even manually and there was no way for him to get his car out. After some tweaks and some pounding the door was in worse shape that when we started. A repairman had to be called and Cache would be stuck at home to enjoy the continuous snow fall-I secretly rejoiced and my worrying heart relaxed.

Here is one of my happy mom moments from the day, I came into the living room and this is what was there to greet me:

And this is what was in the handle-bar:
This happy mom moment wasn't from today and the picture wasn't taken by me it was taken by Cache at about 11:30 at night, and Peanuthead was fast asleep with this on her head:

photo fun

Finley

Finley and cousin.
This is the place state park
I was trying to make this picture look old.

Halloween in July-Finley
another old attempt

I took this picture right after I got my camera and I didn't know
how to use it yet. There was a really bad color cast and I can't get rid of it
but I like the composition. her coloring looks like a corpse.
Peanuthead's sweet and sassy 5th birthday.

I love 9-12 church, it leaves the whole day to play. I have been fooling around on photoshop and having some fun. These pictures aren't pro, but I am learning.

cold!

I am grateful for the snow, but today I am longing for warm weather.

tagged

Aly has tagged me and I don't usually do these, but this is an easy one not requiring too much thought. so here goes:

MY HUSBAND...

What is his name? Cache
How long have you been married? 8 1/2 years
How long did you date? 7 months
How old is he? he reached the big 30 last year
Who eats more? him. I would be embarrassed to say otherwise.
Who said I love you first? He did.
Who is taller? Cache, by far
Who can sing better? definitely him, he usually doesn't let me sing with him because I mess him up.
Who is smarter? me :) :) how else would I answer.
Who does the laundry? Me, we got a high tech washer and dryer (meaning their digital, not very high tech) and he won't even try to learn how use them
Who pays the bills? Me
Who sleeps on the right side? Me because it is closer to the door so I can get the kids at night
Who mows the lawn? him, except for the time when I was 9 months pregnant and I had to do it.
Who cooks dinner? Me.
Who drives? Cache, most of the time.
Who is more stubborn? Cache
Who kissed who first? I did, I'm a fast mover.
Who asked who out first? He did
Who proposed? He did.
Who has more siblings? Me
Who wears the pants? definitely him

Gamin' around

Our family loves games, and we love finding new ones. My Aunt gave us this game last summer and we love it. We play it for almost every FHE.

It is easy enough for Fin to play but it has enough strategy that Peanuthead likes it too. The person with the least amount of moose in their house at the end of game wins.

Friends!

Aren't friends great? Cache and I desperately needed a night out away from worries, stresses and the life of the unknowns. Because of some great friends we were able to have fun and relax.

We enjoyed dinner at Harry's and afterward went to the movie Bucket List (a very good and funny movie, it receives my recommendation)

poor cache all by himself.

This was my first attempt at merging two photos to create a panorama. It was so much fun!

Thanks Guys! It was a lot of fun. Thank to my parents too for watching the kids even though it was kind of a late night.

A Mother's Moment

I love when kids do things that make you smile and feel so proud to be their mother. Aside from Fin refusing to pee in the toilet and insist on using the floor as his latrine, he gave me a wonderful moment today. I usually don't let the kids play on the piano unless I am with them (I know I am stifling their musical abilities), but today I was in my bedroom and heard Fin gently pounding the ivories and singing "I am a Child of God" it made me smile and I ran for the camera.

Hoping for a Healthy New Year

Here is another blog find (2 posts in one day, I am on a roll). These muffins are so scrumptious. Don't be scared of the bran and the wheat flour ingredients, they're what make you healthy.......and regular :)

Banana Whole Wheat Bran Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat bran
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas (approx. 2 medium)
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 tbls. vinegar added to 1 cup milk)
1/4 cup canola oil (I used olive oil)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I didn't add these)
1 cup granola

mix all dry ingredients (except for granola) in a big bowl. Then mix all the wet ingredients in a different big bowl. Mix everything together. pour into a greased muffin pan or line pan with baking cups. Top with granola and bake for 12-15 minutes at 400 degrees.

Isn't that easy? I made these this morning, and they were a hit. I think I will make a big batch and freeze them so they can be enjoyed every morning.

Fin on his third muffin.

Does anyone else want to join this post for a healthy new year? If you do post a healthy recipe on your blog and leave a comment so I can come and print it out and try it. (Not that I don't already check everyones blog about 5 times a day)

Expanding Our Horizons

A few months ago I saw these foreign films on a blog and thought that Cache and I could expand our horizon a little and venture out to subtitles. Here is what we watched:
We really enjoyed this movie. At first we were a little worried that we would be too busy reading the subtitles to see what was going on in the movie, but eventually we got into a flow and and we forgot that we were reading. It is about a Jewish couple who are going through a lot of challenges and how they exercise their faith to get through them. It was interesting to see the similarities of the Jewish beliefs and the LDS beliefs. This movie is one I highly recommended.
The next show was:
This is a Iranian film and it was good, but not as good as the Ushpizin (Cache fell asleep) It is about two young children from a very poor family with a sick mother and a hard working father. The son looses his sisters shoes in route to the cobbler and is too ashamed to tell their father knowing that they can't afford new ones. The son offers to share his shoes with his sister until they can find hers. The story is a little long and slow moving, but it was interesting to see the Iranian culture.

We are now moving onto to wanting to see some Bollywood movies so Cache can get geared up for his upcoming trip. Does anyone know of any good ones? I have a couple on hold at the library, but I am wary to put anymore on hold without recommendations.

If anyone watches either of these movies let me know what you think.

Words to Live by

I found this quote while preparing for a Young Womens lesson I had to teach last Sunday, it has been on my mind for an entire week now and I think I should share it. It is by Ezra Taft Benson

"I hope we can be happy where we are, be grateful for our blessings-now, here- accept
the challenge that is ours and make the most of it, and not be envious of others..."

I love this quote because I know I get caught up thinking that I would be happy if __________ (fill in the blank). I get caught up in thinking the grass is always greener on the other side of the pasture, when really it is just as green and has just as many weeds-just different kinds of weeds, which in reality I probablly wouldn't want to deal with. So one of my resolutions this year is to show more gratitude for the greenness and the weediness of my own pasture.