Oh Canada!

The 2010 Olympic winter games have affected me in a very strange way.

Not only do I now want to become an Olympian snowboarder, but it seems I favor the Canadian pronunciation of the word 'out'. Tonight while chatting with my family I kept saying 'oot' instead of 'out'. My brain signaled that it had come out all wrong, but every time I would try again... oot just kept coming, well oot! We all had a little laugh, but if this silliness continues, I might have to pack my bags and head up north. :(

Over and oot!

Vegging Out.

I have been on a personal mission to get my family to eat more vegetables. This has been no easy task, and they haven't been too happy about my enthusiasm towards this matter- except the baby- she'll eat almost anything. After a few attempts of healthy eating, little complaints started rolling in. Complaints over vegetables- now isn't that silly? I decided it was time for me to get sneaky. For the last few weeks I have been mixing in all sorts of veggie goodness into meats and soups, salads and sweets - smiling with pride- feeling oh so creative... Shredded carrots and squash are well hidden in sauces. Peppers, spinach and celery are too! HA! They hadn't even noticed the added flavor until tonight. Tonight I got caught. I had just finished shredding a HUGE mound of carrots to mix into the ground turkey when I heard my husband in the kitchen. He questioned the orange stack. I confessed...

-H O W E V E R -
Dinner turned out really good. Even the naysayers thought so. I think it was all the extra vitamin A. Point for me!

I am going to keep on being sneaky. It is for a good cause after all...

Need some ideas for your own family? Keep on reading.

1.Homemade spaghetti sauce
While I am cooking the meat (we use ground turkey) I add in shredded carrots, zucchini, onions or peppers. They are hidden by the sauce and aren't easily detected. This idea also works really well in meatloaf too.

2.Breakfast scrambles My family loves scrambled eggs, so I take this opportunity to add in a little handful of extra vitamins. Onion, pepper, spinach and mushrooms can be diced small enough to not attract too much attention.

3. Soups
I like to make soups and stews, and I have found that I can add spinach and it will not be easily detected. Spinach shrinks in size when cooked, and I will often add a few handfuls of fresh spinach leaves to quite a few of our dinners.

4. Stirfrys.
I use stirfrys as an excuse to showcase my family's most tolerated vegetables. Works every time.

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Three against one.

Sometimes I feel sorry for my husband because He is completely outnumbered amongst us girls. If he thinks it is bad now, I hate to tell him that the estrogen levels are just going to keep rising as the years go on. . . He is a pretty good sport about all of the girly-ness in his life. He tolerates our need for girl activities, plays along during pretend play time, babysits dolls, and even lets Haley "style" him every once in awhile. He doesn't know it, but his never ending patience with three very demanding girls makes me love him even more. Someday I hope that we are blessed with a son... so that Ezra can have a little escape from the frilly pink that lines our house on a daily basis.

* Photo- Ezra trying to take a nap while being "styled" with stickers.

That counts... right?!

I speak a very, VERY small amount of Spanish, but Ezra is fluent.

We have tried to teach Haley a little bit. She knows her numbers, colors, and some letters in Spanish.

I think knowing a second language is an important and helpful skill to have in life.

Imagine my motherly delight when I overheard Haley teaching her younger sister a second "language"...

Haley (holding a ball) says to Kaitlyn: "ba, ba, ba, ba, ball. That's how you say ball in Chinese!"

Hmmm.

Technically, I don't think that will qualify as a second language. Looks like we still have some work to do...


Actual Chinese word for ball: qíu (chee-o)

http://www.simple-chinese.com/learn-chinese/lesson-15/index.html

Amen!

This past Sunday Haley left the snack and toy-filled world of nursery and joined the rank of a sunbeam in primary. It was very exciting for our family, and we spent part of saturday preparing for her great move. We practiced the sunbeam song, how she should behave in class, and how to get ready for the prayer. She was ecstatic and had a wonderful first primary experience. Since sunday I have caught her singing different melodies from church, and offering to say prayer with a little bit of help. The only catch- she likes to skip right to the 'amen' part when she thinks we've said enough.

Tonight while Haley was having her bath we read, "Sister Eternal" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. In the book, He mentions going to the LDS church for the first time... so I say, "The Church of Jesus Christ..." and before I can finish, a loud "A-MEN!" comes from the bathtub. It made me giggle; I am just glad to know she is catching some of my lessons on prayer.