My Son

I find it fun to reflect on the times when my children were small. I have a 20 year old son who is serving a mission in Russia. So I think of him often because I miss him. I shared in a funny experience with him when he was 3 years old. we had just moved from Florida to Utah so we were staying in my parents basement apartment, until we could find a home of our own. It was a fun experience for all of us. My children had lived in Florida for 5 years and never really got to know their grandparents. So my sons favorite thing to do was run upstairs and climb in bed with his grandparents early in the morning. One morning he found a balloon and ran it upstairs so his grandfather could blow it up. We had purchased the balloons earlier to have fun with them. They were the little long balloons that people make shapes out of. Those of you who know about those balloons they are extremely hard to blow up. When my son came downstairs we were playing with the balloons trying to blow them up. He looked like he had seen a ghost, and he said don't ever ask grandpa to blow up a balloon. We asked him, why? After questioning him he proceeded to tell us the story. His eyes became very large and his expression was so cute as he said, Grandpa tried and tried to blow up the balloon I brought him and suddenly his teeth went flying out. I'd forgotten about my fathers false teeth. I couldn't help but laugh. I think my son was frighten for us all trying to blow up those balloons.

The Fun We Have

My little granddaughter continues to want me in her life. Although she lives across the United States from me she is with me every day. She calls me on the phone and takes me on many new adventures. We play hide and seek. We make meals together. She defends me against monsters. We rock on the rocking chair, we explore the basement, we clean her bedroom and jump on her bed. We sing songs, we get drinks together. All of this is done by her imagination and the phone. In her little mind I am the phone so our lives together are always exciting.

Crazy Granddaughter

I have a granddaughter that lives in Pittsburgh. She is a very animated child, like her mother was when she was little. She entertains me on a daily bases. Her mother called me a couple of weeks ago and related this experience to me. Sierra was in the bathtub the other day she found all her farm animals and put them in the tub with her. Then she found an empty toilet paper roll on the floor, put it in the tub as well. When it got nice and wet she ripped it into tiny pieces. Then she yelled at her mother,"Mom come quick the animals are pooping." She feels our lives with laughter

COOKIN' WITH KIDS

I love to cook with my little girl. I know that it takes a little more patients to cook with your children. However, I think that the bond you acquire in the process is well worth the sacrifice. Last night I told my daughter if she would calm down and go to bed, we would make cookies in the morning together. She awoke exclaiming, "It's time to make cookies!" We went into the kitchen and I rumaged for a healthy cookie to make with her. Instead I came across a recipe from an old neighborhood cookbook that intrigued me called "Bishop's Favorite Cookies." I said to myself, "Self, if a bishop thought they were good, they must be GOOD, because Bishop's have celestial tastbuds." I stood by my daughter as she went to cracking eggs, pouring in more than enough sugar, and extra dabs of vanilla. At they end of the process I realized the recipe was donated by a lady named Debbie Bishop, not a Bishop. However, this lady may have some heavenly tastbuds of her own. I enjoyed every minute of making and eating these cookies with my little girl. I will include the recipe below.

Bishop's Favorite Cookies

1C brown sugar
1C white sugar
1C butter
2 eggs
1T vanilla

Cream well, then add:

2C flour
2tsp baking soda
1 1/2tsp baking powder

Add:
1C oats
1C coconut
1C Rice Krispies
1C crasins, rasins, or chocolate chips

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Enjoy with a tall glass of milk. Remember, cookies made with your daughter or son are always good for you!

TOILET SWIRLIES

My twins are 15 years old. They think they know everything about life. Unfortunately, like the rest of us, you think you know and then as you go through life you realize you really don't know anything at all.

When they were little they enjoyed getting into any mischief they could. I enjoyed the simple little cute things they did. Today I was recalling one such "thing." One day they were both in the bathroom laughing. The unexpected enthusiasm made me nervous. I went running down the hall not knowing what to expect. There they were in the bathroom giving each other swirlies. Now, for those of you who don't know what a swirly is, I will explain it very simply. One person dunks their head in the toilet while the other flushes. Then they trade places. Yes you guessed it their heads are drenched with their hair pointing heavenward like a twist cone.(For the life of me I will never know where they came up with this crazy scheme.) They were under the impression that this procedure made them beautiful. They came out of the bathroom feeling like they were princesses. Through the toddler years I learned to deal with a lot of things. Luckily, when they did their swirlies I never encountered anything in the toilet.

I just hope that as they start in their dating years, I can say,"Swirlies were the craziest mischief they ever got into!"

APPLESAUCE for OIL

Applesauce is a great substitute for oil in all of your cakes, cookies and breads. The finally product may be slightly altered in texture and flavor but you may enjoy the variation. I made some banana nut bread last night. I tried a new recipe my friend gave me and reduced the sugar and substituted oil with applesauce. Then I added fresh ground whole wheat flour instead of the white. The end result was a moist, hearty, filling sweet bread. I have enjoyed snacking on it over the last few days. The best part is I have no guilt about eating as much as I want, but on top of that I am full after a few slices. I will enclose the recipe below. This recipe of my friends is not as good as my mother's banana bread recipe, I think my mothers is better because it is moister, but it is simpler. (I will try the substitution with my mother's recipe, which is located in her cookbook and can be ordered on-line, and let you know how the venture fairs) Here is the recipe I used last night with my alterations.

3/4C sugar

3 large ripe bananas

3/4C applesauce

2 eggs

2C whole wheat flour

1/2C chopped nuts, if you like

1 tsp baking soda

2tsp vanilla

1/2tsp baking powder

1/2tsp salt

ENJOY!

Daughter

High School

I attended a parent teacher conference for my twins yesterday. It was interesting to walk around the school and see people I recognized. Some were standing in the dreaded long lines where you find yourself waiting for a teacher that has entirely to much to say. Then there were others standing in the pleasent short lines with a teacher that explains they are there to get business taken care of and get people out fast. Inspite of all the crazy going on... I did get to stop and chat with wonderful people I have known and haven't seen forever. I ran into this incredible neighbor and she was crying. I asked her if everything was alright. She explained this is her last child and her last parent teacher conference. She said how much she is going to miss coming to the high school and supporting her children. This reminded me of a song written by Trace Adkins called "You're gonna miss this." If you want to hear it you can easily find a version on YouTube. This is the best version I found. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SAFk0j-f4c I just think appreciating every phase of life, even those long lines at a parent teacher conference, is one of the most important things we can do as mothers because life is just too short.