The Witch and the Duck Bunny

A while ago I posted Aaron's story "The Volcano". For today's Saturday's Story, I want to share Kaylee's story that she wrote and illustrated in 1st Grade..."The Witch and the Duck Bunny". I sure hope that their teachers encourage them to write this year because I sure love reading what they come up with! So without further delay, I now present:

The Witch and the Duck Bunny

by Kaylee

Once there was a duck who lived in a pond.

Then there was a witch. She had lots of problems with her wand.

The witch saw the duck. She was very happy because she wanted to try a spell on the duck.

The witch waved her wand and she said "Hocus-Pocus" and then the duck...

had a big, round, fluffy tail! The duck screamed "HELP, HELP, HELP!!!"

And the witch said "HA, HA, HA!!!"

Then the witch waved her wand again and the duck had big, floppy...

ears! The duck did not like it.

The duck grabbed a pail and filled it up with water from her pond.

Then the duck poured the water on the witch.

The witch vanished!

But the duck was still a duck-bunny.

Then the duck-bunny poured water on herself and the duck-bunny was a duck again!!!!!

The End

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

I made these for a backyard BBQ with some friends and they were YUMMY! There are a lot of ingredients, but most of them I already had in my pantry and all of them combined make for some very flavorful BBQ chicken!

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches:

• 4 lbs chicken breasts**
• 12 rolls
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 cup ketchup
• 12 oz bottle of chili sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce (optional)
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (optional)

Combine sauce ingredients together in a 4 qt. slow cooker.  Add chicken and stir to coat. Cook on low 7-8 hours. Remove chicken and pull apart. Stir back into sauce. Serve over rolls/buns.

**I used chicken breasts with bone and skin, cooked it in my slow cooker in 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth on low for 7-8 hours. Chicken with bone and skin comes out a lot more tender. When the chicken is falling off the bone, take it out and remove skin and bones (comes off very easily) and shred chicken. Discard the liquid in the slow cooker and combine the shredded chicken and sauce ingredients. Cook on low until warm.

I have made this recipe both ways and I like the second way better because the chicken is more tender.

Keeping "Kool" and Ready for School

The Summer is wrapping up (I just got butterflies inside...I am SO GLAD). I know that I have had enough of the summer break when Kaylee and Aaron can't stand to be around each other anymore, Nathan is screaming at them, and if I hear "I'm bored" one more time I will scream...wait, I already have. We are trying to squeeze every last activity into our last week.

Kaylee and her cousin have been trying to plan a sleepover all summer and we finally made it work.  They kept themselves busy by making a traveling Kool Aid stand.  They made signs and colored pictures to give to their customers with the purchase of a cup of Kool Aid.  Then they loaded the cups and Kool Aid into the wagon, taped the pictures on the side for decoration, and the little entrepreneurs lugged the traveling Kool Aid stand up and down the street and around the block...making $1.50. Way to go girls, you made more money than I did!

Kaylee and Aaron's school clothes also just arrived (I ordered most of them on-line because I refuse to take them shopping...more about that on a Monday's Madness post). I must say that pointing and clicking was the best way to school clothes shop! I gave the kids some options within our budget, they chose, I clicked, and the UPS man delivered. 

Today we had a little fashion show so that Kaylee and Aaron could try on their new clothes..notice that Aaron is a one-pose-model...he needs a little work in that department :)

Nathan, Izy, and I cheered them on:

I was doing cartwheels inside!

The summer has been hot, the school clothes have been bought, this week the kids have fought, I wish we had more summer time....NOT!

My Own Kind of Best Mom

I sometimes find myself comparing myself to others...I think that it is human nature. My internal dialog goes a little like this; "I wish that I could run a marathon like Cathi", "I wish that I had patience like JaNan", "I wish that I could cook like Sandi". I think that comparing yourself to others can be beneficial when you use that as motivation to work on things that you want to do better...but usually I just get discouraged with myself. As I was reading A Mother's Book of Secrets I decided that I need to be my best self and not try to be the "best" that I see in others.

"Most days I am flying by the seat of my pants, but each day that I really put my heart into it I think I come a little closer to being the mom I want to be. I want to be the best kind of mom I can be. The secret isn't to try to be the best mom I see in so many others. It's to analyze what my own strengths are, to build on them, and to apply what I know to my parenting. That way I become my own kind of "best mom." And that's what my kids need me to be."

Photogenic Four-Month Old

Usually when I have taken my kids to get their baby pictures taken, the photographer has to make a fool of herself by making funny sounds, faces, and dancing just to get a little courtesy grin...they really have to work for that smile. On the bright side, it sure makes it easy to pick which pictures to buy when there is only one or two good ones. This is the best that we could get out of Nathan:

Travis on the other hand started giggling the minute the photographer started shooting...she had it easy! She was able to take picture after picture of his huge, adorable smile. The only problem...choosing which photos to print. Here are some of my favorites of my photogenic, happy little Travis:

Nathan the Tornado

WARNING: this post STINKS!

The minute Nathan wakes up and he jumps out of bed and his feet touch the ground he turns into a little tornado. He seems to destroy everything in his path or make a mess everywhere he goes.  I feel like I am going from one natural disaster to the next...never able to keep up because while I am cleaning up one mess, The Tornado is touching ground in another room. He is just SO full of energy!

The other day, the worst "natural" disaster of all struck our home...more specifically, Nathan's room:
(can't say I didn't warn you)

This picture does not do it justice...(and yes, I am getting a little obsessed with this blog to actually pause in the middle of this catastrophic mess to take a picture)...The Tornado decided that he did not want to wear his poopy diaper and proceeded to take it off, smear it on the floor, step in it and walk around his room, use the carpet as a wet wipe, and then go and play with his blocks.  I opened the door and the smell hit me like a ton of bricks. I just stood there in shock, not knowing where to start, or how to clean it up...a BIG thanks to my Sister-In-Law for bring her carpet shampooer over and cleaning his carpet!!!

I took a picture as proof, and possibly for blackmail purposes, grabbed Nathan, shut the door, and hosed him off in the shower. As I was scrubbing and sanitizing him, he asked me "What monsters eat?" to which I replied "Little boys who take their diapers off and smear poop all over." He got a thoughtful look on his face and didn't say another word. I know this was a bit harsh; it was one of those maddening parental moments.

Does anyone have any tips for taming a tornado?

Oh, by the way, this is my 100th post...sorry it is so "crappy"!

Temples and Homes

A few days ago I was finally able to leave Travis (thanks Elayna) for a couple of hours and go to the temple...my other kids were at Grandma's (thanks Mom).  It has been over four months since I have able to get away from the chaos of life and go to the temple.  As soon as I walked in, I was overwhelmed with the peace, beauty, and cleanliness of the sacred temple.  It was so refreshing to be back! I really missed those spiritual feelings...and then I remembered this from the Bible Dictionary:

"Temple. A temple is literally a house of the Lord, a holy sanctuary in which sacred ceremonies and ordinances of the gospel are performed by and for the living and also in behalf of the dead. A place where the Lord may come, it is the most holy of any place of worship on the earth. Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness."

Did you catch that last part...only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness. It really made me stop and wonder...is my home a sacred place, a holy sanctuary, a place where those who enter feel peace, beauty, and refreshed? I know that at times it has been, but usually I am so caught up in the everyday craziness of life that I forget that my home can be a sacred, special place like the temple. It is time to get my priorities together and try to create that atmosphere in my home more often!