I finally cut my hair off

Yes thats right, I cut it all off. I have been wanting to do that for a really long time, but have struggled with the idea of cutting so much off, but yesterday I decided to just do it, and that no matter what the outcome I would be OK with my short hair. So I went and saw my friend ( and niece ) Leisha at (Regis salon in Orem) who has been cutting my hair for a little over two years now so I trusted her ability in making sure I was happy with it. I also knew that she would talk me out of something if she knew I would hate it. (i.e I am not allowed to cut bangs) I probably cut off 6-7 inches. I wish I would have held out a little longer so I could donate my hair to "Locks of Love" but lets be honest, but my straggly thin hair wouldn't make a good wig anyway. So here Is my new cut. Let me know what you think?

Adventures in Babysitting

So yesterday while I was tending my sisters 3 kids, my niece Maddy went to the bathroom. She was taking a bit longer then usual, so as I walked in the house to go check on her she came outside and said "I just needed to cut my hair," And when I looked closely she had cut her already struggling to grow hair into a MULLET! I couldn't help but laugh because she already has a mullet because the front of her hair just wont grow. When her mom got home, she ended up cutting it into a short bob, and it turned out really cute. For the record, her dad was the one who left the hair cutting scissors out on the counter.

This is what was on the floor of the bathroom
The new "Mullet"

The New Haircut!

Wheat night!

Our relief society had a enrichment focused on recipes made from wheat and powdered milk on Thursday night. I made Whole Wheat Sugar Free Zucchini Bread. (which is my mother in laws recipe, so I can't take all the credit). My friend Angie wanted me to get her a copy of the recipes I use to her, so I decided to just post them on here!

Zucchini bread

3 eggs
1c. oil
1 c. Honey
2 c. Zucchini (blended)
3 tsp. Vanilla
3 c. Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Salt

Blend together: Eggs, oil, honey.
Mix in other ingredients

Spray the bottom of 2 loaf pans

Bake Time: 45-48 mins
Bake Temp: 350

Whole Wheat Waffles (also from my mother in law)
2 eggs (separate yolks and whites)

Beat:
2 egg yolks
5 Tbs oil
1 Tbs Honey
1 1/4 c. Milk

mix in:
1 1/2 c. Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp. Baking powder

Egg whites: Make stiff and fold into the batter

Pumpkin Cookies (also from my mother inlaw)
1/2 c. shortening (or butter works well too)
3/4 c. Honey
1 egg
1c. Pumpkin
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 c. raisens
2 1/2 c. Whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. Cinnamon

Cream: Honey, shortening, & egg.

Add: Dry ingredients, & pumpkin. Fold in raisens

Bake temp: 375
Bake time: 9-11 minutes

German Pancakes (this is one of Kory's staple foods, and kids LOVE it)
6 Tbs Butter
7 eggs
1 c. Rice milk
1c. Whole wheat
1 tsp salt

Cut butter into small 1/2 tbs slices and spread onto 9x 13 pan, set aside

In a blender mix: eggs, 1 c. rice milk, and salt. Slowly pour in Whole wheat to avoid clumps.

Turn on oven to 425 and place pan of butter in the oven. watch and listen for the butter to bubble. (be careful not to let the butter burn!)
Pour the batter directly into pan.

Cook for 18 minutes, or until the top is dark golden, and crispy.

Those are some of my favorite recipes, all of which I got from my mother in law, and my husband, who I think got them from her as well. I didn't cook with Whole Wheat until I got married, and now that is all we use.

One mans trash is another mans TREASURE!

So, when we bought our house back in December, the first thing we decided we needed was a coat rack and a coat hook tree. We both wanted the antique looking wood kind. But we also didn't want to spend a lot on it either. But we never found one. Only metal ones, that we felt didn't have the same charm we were looking for.

But good things come to those who wait, you see two nights ago we went a searching in Kory's grandma's house for this keyboard so I could take lessons from his sister Kelli. However, after an hour or so of searching, the keyboard couldn't be found...thats when we noticed it.

Right before our eyes the whole time we were done there was exactly the coat hook tree we had been looking for. It was in fabulous condition. So that is what we ended up taking home instead. I didn't get my keyboard, but I did find the coat hook of my dreams!

What the heck!

Can someone explain this weather? This was taken 5 minutes ago...

flowers in FULL bloom!

Here is an update on my flowers, I am pretty happy about them

My Mom

I have to post this picture of my mom. I absolutely love it. As I look at this picture I see so much of her love towards her family. I am always impressed and amazed by her strength and long suffering. I don't know if I tell her this enough or ever, but I truly admire her in every way. She is a wonderful mother, grandmother, and wife. This picture shows just how much she loves and adores her family and children. She devotes every minute of her time to her family, and to the gospel. I know that if I needed her to, she would drop everything to be by my side. I have never once seen her do her calling half heartedly. Even when she was feeling inadequate, she put her trust in the Lord and allowed him to show her just how talented she really is. I love her with all my heart, and couldn't have asked for a better mother. She is my hero.

Quarantine

So after last weeks dust fiasco, we decided that we should try to some how contain the mess this time to just a small fraction of the house. So on Monday night, Kory taped every inch off around the bathroom and the front room with plastic.


Today we finally got to take them down after our last day of demo on the bathroom, and I must say I am so glad we decided to put them up. The plastic did a great job at keeping the dust in the small area, and it pretty much lasted the whole 5 days, and I didn't have to clean all our blankets or wipe down our entire kitchen again! yeah for that!

Kory also thought of this great idea of making a door with the plastic. That way we could come and go without having to tape it over again, and it would still keep the dust from seeping out. It was pretty clever, and it did a great job!

Zoe however was not ok with it and got really frustrated when she couldn't get to us, and on multiple occasions tried to jump through the plastic.

I am really excited for our bathroom, it is coming along, we are hoping to put the vanity in by the end of this week, but we also ran into some issues when we removed the walls, so we will see about that.

Kory's Saturday Project

After many months of waiting, we finally started to remodel our bathroom. By we, I mean Kory. He worked really hard all day Saturday to get it started, and he made huge progress. And while most wives might have been a little upset about coming home to a dirty and dusty house, I was thrilled, and impressed with all that he had accomplished.

First Kory took down our existing closet.

The demo from our first closet

Then he took down these walls







Then he cut a whole for the new bathroom door, and framed the door.





Kory has missionaries and the elderly do all his dirty work...Just kidding, they saw Kory and his dad loading the 2x4's into the house and stopped by to help, but all that was left was loading the sheetrock...I was just glad I didn't have to help him this time.





Kory found these "Funnies" from the 70's used as insulation in our wall. They had a 6 page spread!


We didn't realize how much dust would get over everything so we didn't cover anything...except the electronics, so needless to say I spent the evening, and all day Monday washing every square inch of our house.

A busy busy Saturday

This Saturday was a pretty busy day for us. I helped host a baby shower for my sister in law, and it turned out really good. I really only helped with making one of the games, decorations, refreshments, and drinks. Ashley did the most work, and she did a good job.

Here is the game I made, it was more of a while guests arrived they filled out these pages with a guess. I had a lot of fun making them and it was really hard for me to part with them.


Here are some more pictures of the shower.

Aislynn's Cake Shop

Today I helped my sister throw her daughter a fabulous birthday party. It had a bakery theme, and the girls had a blast! All the hard work we put in to it really paid off, because the whole day went smoothly...except for of course the parents showing up right at 4:30, and we had still more stuff to do...but it all worked out. We also kind of let them go crazy on the frosting, and well, I am sure most of the parents where just thrilled by all the cupcakes they took home with about 4 inches of frosting on them.

The itinerary went as followed:

Decorate and make aprons and chef hats.

Play pin the candle on the cupcake. (I was really shocked by how many girls were peaking!)

Open gifts

Decorate and eat cupcakes.