Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm "lucky" to have such great kids (who will wear funny hats so I can take a picture!).

Fun at Ward Ski Party

Ok, so I ranted and raved on my last post about winter. But as I said, there are good things about winter. One being skiing. Our family had a blast at the Ward Ski Party at Beaver Mountain. It was the kids' first time skiing. We're pretty sure Addie was the smallest person on the mountain. She loved the lift the most I think, and did alright skiing. She was tired and cold by the end, but it was Kyler who didn't want to leave! He did awesome for his first time. His aunt Leslie did a good job teaching him. He asked the next day when we could go again. Fun time!

Winter, be GONE!

I have Spring Fever bad. It's not that I don't like winter. There are fun things in winter like Christmas, Valentine's Day, skiing, sledding, and my birthday. And I think freshly fallen snow is beautiful. I'm usually very patient as I wait for spring. Cache Valley's winters are known for being a little longer than the rest of the state. And I'm ok with that...most of the time.

But this has been the longest winter of MY LIFE. There are probably two reasons for that. One: This will be our first spring in our new house and Mike and I are anxious to work in the yard. Two: Both kids have taken turns with the stomach flu, so we haven't been out much the last couple weeks. I have Cabin Fever. And I'm ready to go outside and play and walk to the park without freezing!

Old man winter...I'm done!

Primary Talent Show

Our ward had a Primary talent show a week ago. It was so much fun! We asked Kyler if he wanted to whistle because he is such a good whistler. He said "No. I want to do basketball!" So we set up some chairs on the stage and he dribbled around them and passed the ball to Mike, while I commentated. Go, Ky!

With Addie, everything is a song. So we practiced the chorus of Follow the Prophet with her. We rehearsed with a microphone at home and Mike took her to the talent show early so she would be comfortable with the stage. We weren't sure if she'd actually do it. But she surprised us. She grabbed the mic from Mike and started belting out her (very short) rendition of Follow the Prophet. It was so funny! I laughed so hard I was crying. The "attempt" at a somersault at the end just adds to the funniness. Here's the video. She surprised me and started so quickly I missed the first few seconds. Funny Addie!

Junior Jazz

Kyler started his first year of Junior Jazz in January. He plays at the Logan Rec Center and his team is the Hawks. He's having so much fun. He has a great coach and is learning a lot. It's fun to watch 1st and 2nd graders play. He only has two more games left, but then soccer starts in April. (His other favorite sport!) Go Jr. Jazz!

Dominoes

I came up with this after-school snack last school year when Kyler was in Kindergarten. We call it Dominoes. It's graham crackers, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. Kyler now helps me make them and he's very particular about the number of chocolate chips on each Domino. When he was in Kindergarten, we'd say, "Eat the one with the least number of chocolate chips..." I think he still eats it that way. Now, Kyler asks for them almost every day after school. Yum!

"Sweet" Food Storage

I decided to start using the dry milk that's in my food storage. I used it a little in the past for making bread, that's pretty much it. But a web site www.funwithfoodstorage.com inspired me to use in a lot more often. So recently we were making a dessert and it called for sweetened condensed milk and we didn't have any. You can make it from your dry milk! The dessert turned out great. I like the website. It also gives tips on planning and buying your food storage, but I mainly use the "eat it" section. I now use the dry milk in any (almost) recipe that calls for milk. I save the fresh milk for drinking. You can also make evaporated milk and condensed soups (haven't tried that yet). On the website she explains the difference between instant dry milk and non-instant dry milk like what the LDS church cannery has (that's what I use.) A while ago I was feeling ambitious and made my own yogurt from dry milk and an old heating pad as an incubator. Sounds weird, but it worked! I mainly used the yogurt in my smoothies. Here's the recipe for the sweetened condensed milk from non-instant dry milk.

Sweetened Condensed Milk (14 oz can)
1/2 c. hot water
1 c. dry powdered milk
1 c. sugar
1 T. Butter
Blend VERY WELL in blender.