Gotta Read This!

This book is wonderful. We are reading it for our book club this month and I fell in love with it. It is about the German occupation of the Island of Guernsey that sits inbetween England and France. It is upbeat and whitty. What is really clever, is that the whole book is in letter form. The story comes out as you read the correspondance between an English book author and the people on the island. I give this book 4 stars (4 out of 4 in case you were wondering).

LOVED IT!!!

Miguel and I hit the 9:30 Nordstrom's premier of New Moon last night and we both really liked it. So much better than the first. The directing is a lot better and there is a lot more action. Even your husbands would like it. Go see it.

The tides a coming, man the deck!

I had all three of the munchkins in the tub the other day and decided to pull out the camera. Julianne is obsessed with these boats that have magnets in the ends of them. She kept trying to line them up and would make this hilarious face as she does the sound a boat makes. Her little lips pucker up and you just want to squish those cheeks of hers.

This picture is so funny to me.

The other two like to be mermaids and float in the water.

We went to Pirate Island last night for the first time. Gabriela was so excited. I would give it a "B" for effort, but the staff is a little creepy. It seems like they are the kind of people who would dress up like pirates even if they weren't at work, if you know what I mean. The kids were thrilled, so I guess that's what matters.

Good ole' pirate face.

We ordered this massive 26' pizza, because we had a coupon, so if you're wondering what we'll be eating at home for rest of the week, you can bet your pants it'll be pizza.

You gotta try this!

Here is an awesome recipe I found and your kids will love it...I promise!

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

Ingredients:

1 can large refrigerated biscuits

1 can Progresso Traditional Chicken Noodle Soup

1 to 2 tablespoons butter

1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 shredded mozzarella cheese or whatever cheese you've got

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease your muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Separate dough into 8 biscuits and cut them in half making 16. Place half the biscuits in bottom of muffin cups, pressing to cover bottom and sides.

2. Drain soup. Spoon drained soup evenly into biscuit cups. Place remaining biscuit halves over soup; gently seal each biscuit.

3. Spread biscuit tops with butter. Sprinkle with seasonings and cheese.

4. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until edges are golden brown. To remove from pan, run knife around edge of pies.

This is a good recipe to let the kids help with. Sophia loves doing it.

I'd be grumpy too.

On Sunday we had our Primary program for our ward. I was in charge and had to write the entire thing and I couldn't have asked for a better performance from the kids. It went without a hitch and I was so proud of them. So many of them memorized their parts. Gabriela was able to sing her first public solo. She sang, "I love to see the temple," all by herself up there. I really did get choked up everytime she did it in rehersals. She's so confident at such a young age and so many people complemented her on how well she did.
After she sang, and during the program, she had this pouty face on and just didn't look happy. She would sit on the floor and really looked bothered. After the meeting was over she was in a really bad mood. Miguel asked her what the problem was and she says, "they won't let me sing AND dance up there." Yep, I'd be bummed too if I were her. I'm telling you, she is a performer in the making. Watch out Taylor Swift, she's coming for ya in about ten years.

She Did It!!!

I can't believe it! Gabriela finally gave up her pacifier. This has been my skeleton in the closet as a mother for forever. We limited it to just night time, but she was just getting too big, and I didn't like her having an attatchment like that. I think she had been wanting to give it up for a while, but when I proposed that we take her to the Disney Store and she can pick anything out as long as she gave the cashier her pacifiers, she jumped on it. We made it a really big deal...almost like a graduation. This is a seriously big deal for our family. The other two aren't quite ready yet, but at least we know it can be done. Hooray for Gabriela. We are so proud of her. Can you spot the two pacifiers on the counter?
The lovely number is what she chose and loves it too death.

As we were leaving, I whispered to the cashier guy to just throw them away. He looked at me and said, "are you sure you don't want to keep them." I thought, no way jose, I'm weaning all of us. I don't even want the temptation to give it back.

29 Today!

Last night I thought I was going to have a panic attack realizing that I've been on this Earth for almost 30 years. That's crazy to me! But before I dwelled on it too long, I also started to think about me as a person. Within the last 10 years, or throughout my twenties, I am a completely different person than I used to be when I got out of high school. I've been able to set goals and have become an outgoing more confident woman (that's coming from the little girl who would cry at an Easter egg hunt or when a pinata was broken...I hated competition that much). I've moved across the country by myself, become a college graduate, a wife, a MOTHER, an in-law, a pageant contestant, a member of a college dance team, a competitor, a book club organizer, a primary councelor, a Relief Society teacher, a nursery worker, an HOA activities chair, and the list goes on. It's been good, bad, and even ugly sometimes (i.e.: last week). I've major highs and also some really low points, but through it all I've been progressing and I'm a better, more compassionate, person than I used to be. So if that's what getting older does to you I guess I'll just look forward to the journey. Here's to my last year in my twenties.