BYU Blues

My little sis just started at BYU this week. Brigham Young University, of course. It's been tremendously fun chatting with her on the phone, hearing about her first week and helping her proofread her first assignment. I'm ridiculously happy for her. But I'm a little blue too. (I must look it too because when I went to get Maggie from her nap she said "Happy mom?" So I put on a smile. For her. Even though she had just woken Kate from her nap.)

Don't get me wrong. My life is just about perfect.

1. I'm practically a celebrity in our little town.
Person: "What does your husband do? Did you say he's the city manager?

Me: "Planner. City planner."

Person: "Oh right...what does he do again?"

2. I have two darling daughters who are incredibly sweet and fun.

3. My husband works 1.5 miles from our home and I get to see him at lunch each day. (This gives me added incentive to have a productive morning and look presentable before noon...usually.)

4. I have a home. And it is comfortable. And beautiful. And perfect for our stage of life. And very much our little piece of paradise. (Though it might have a bit more curb-appeal if I would weed more often. And if the seeds we planted in our pretty flower pots didn't grow up to look so much like weeds. Hand-watered weeds.)

But still, I love BYU. I miss it. It was my first home away from home. And it felt like home. I looked forward to going there almost as much as I always looked forward to getting married and starting a family. In fact, I was so excited to go there that I would get on the BYU website frequently from about tenth grade on and daydream about being there. I even found this spot on the site where they had just random pictures of people playing on campus (maybe it was on the housing page) and I would look at them thinking, "That'll be me someday...", even though the pictures were from the early 90s and everyone had bad hair. (I probably shouldn't admit this. It's a little pathetic.)

BYU was where I fell in love, had my first kiss, and started my own happily forever after. I miss walking to the library. I miss meeting friends at the Wilk. I miss going to devotionals and even forums. I miss finding computer kiosks to check my e-mail for love notes from Mike. I miss ice cream cones from the Creamery. And lately when I go running in the heat and humidity, I miss those cool mornings and "four seasons in one day" that I used to make fun of. I miss running around the Provo temple and watching the sunrise over Utah lake. I miss watching the young moms from Wymount jog with their kids in jogging strollers, hoping that would be me someday. (It is. Though I'm not in Provo, where the weather would be better for it. Right after we were married, Mike went and sped through college so he could support me in style. We left Provo for Lehi my senior year at BYU--super-senior year if you must know--and Maggie was born while we lived there, so I didn't get to do much of the BYU mom thing. Drat. Just kidding...mostly. Thanks honey.)

So now here I am in Kansas, happy as can be, but also wishing I could be living near BYU so I could have my amazing sister and cousins over for Sunday dinners, like all the cool people did. And also missing the East Coast and my amazing family...but that's a post for another day. Yes, I'm a little homesick for BYU.

Yep, I'm Married to Him

Mike came home all smiles from work the other day. The reason? He referred me to this article. After, I was done reading he said, "Yep, you're married to me."

Unfortunately, I hadn't read the end note on the article so I didn't get it. Hope you do. It's good to have a husband who keeps the sportscasters on their toes. ;)

Another recent news item worthy of note: Mike found out he was accepted to the University of Kansas Masters of Public Administration work-study program! So, that's exciting/scary. I think he's worried about not having as much time to spend with us girls between work, his Young Men's assignment, and now school. But he's good at organizing his time, so I'm not too concerned. Maybe I should be?

Father's Day turned out well...in the end. It started when Kate woke up at 5:30 screaming/crying--for her very abnormal. This woke up me (of course), Mike (poor guy), and Maggie (who could not fall back asleep). I was feeling less than chipper. I woke up with a scratchy throat and headache thinking, "Why does today have to be Father's Day?" For the past two weeks, it seems I have been dragging a little, I think because Kate had some nighttime wake-ups and, since she and Maggie have spoiled me, I wasn't used to them and never managed to catch up. But after tossing and turning a while with Kate in my bed and Maggie tossing and turning in her crib listening to "her songs" I got up and went out to the living room with the girls and finally started to come alive. Still, when Mike came out close to 10am (we have late church) the strawberry-cream cheese braid was still on the rise, the living room already had toys strewn about, and our Father's Day card was half-done on the table. And I was trying to finish some cupcakes for my little Sunday School class--not remembering it would be Father's Day, I had promised to bring cupcakes to celebrate some birthdays. In all, Father's Day morning was not exactly as I pictured it.

I was a little frustrated at first. If only I hadn't been so tired, either the night before or early in the morning I would have done more. See I have these visions of the house always being perfect on every holiday: breakfast steaming on the table, dinner prepped and dessert done, homemade presents and cards ready, wrapped, and waiting to be enjoyed. This has happened a few times, but more of the time it has not. And I guess that's okay, because our holidays have all been pretty good, despite not always living up to my big plans. But my plans really are always AMAZING, I must say. No one can plan like I can.

At least our Sunday roast was started, the bread was done for dinner, and we had a Father's Day present. It could have been worse. Actually, it was good. Really good. And the rest of the day was wonderful. Church was good, the food was good, the card got done and with the presents were well-received, Mike and I had several nice hours alone while the girls recovered from their 5:30 wake-up with a long nap. It was good (that's the theme if you can't tell). I just wish I could have made dinner for my own Dad too. And maybe my wonderful father-in-law as well. They are pretty great.

I love Mike so much. I really am glad I'm married to him, and not just because he's chummy with Greg Wrubell of BYU Radio (though I'm probably not supposed to tell anyone he periodically sends off sports-related emails to sports news anchors). Mike's still as fun to talk and dream with as he was when we were dating. Probably more so. And he's such a good dad. Maggie just adores him and Kate grins like she does too (of course, she's usually grinning...except when Mike's wonderful parents got stuck babysitting her on a fussy evening last week...darn...at least the Chamber of Commerce dinner had fabulous free food AND we won our centerpiece--a stuffed lion and children's toy doctor kit!--so I wasn't too sorry I went with Mike :/ ).

And Mike loves his girls right back. I love the way he always calls me over to see cute things they are doing and admires adequately when I do the same to him. I love hearing him sing with Maggie as he rocks her at bedtime or watching him sing and play with her at the piano. I love how he gets down to play with the girls when he comes home at lunch.

I have one terrific dad, so I'm glad my girls have one just as good.

And somehow, Monday I woke up refreshed. So we're having a good week.

Cafe Rio Craving

After a disappointing attempt at Thai green curry, I recouped with a yummy Cafe Rio-style dinner earlier this week. In all fairness, I think my expectations for the curry were too high. It was decent, but I expected it to taste EXACTLY like the one I loved so much at a restaurant near us in Utah. Not so much.

However, the sweet pork Cafe-Rio-style style salads came out perfect (for those of you that have never been to Cafe Rio, it's a Mexican grill restaurant popular in Utah). I looked at several copycat recipes online, combined and simplified.

I had a pork tenderloin I had gotten on sale and stuck in the freezer a while back. I thawed it and stuck it in the crockpot with a can of medium red enchilada sauce and 1/2-1 cup brown sugar. Some recipes also recommend adding some root beer, Coke, or Dr. Pepper, so I threw some soda in too. I cooked it on high for 3-4 hours, shredded the meat, then put it back in the crockpot for a couple more hours on low.

When it was about an hour to dinner I got started on everything else.

To give the rice some flavor, I cooked white rice as directed, but added a little lime juice, garlic, cilantro, and butter to the rice cooker along with the rice and water.

I made some fresh pico de gallo--diced an onion, a large tomato, and a jalapeno, added some fresh chopped cilantro, the juice of a lime (you could add some zest if you're feeling fancy), some minced garlic and salt (alternately, I have used garlic salt in place of the garlic and salt). I covered and chilled until dinner.

Then I cut some corn tortillas up into strips and fried those, lightly salting them after they were done.

Last, I made the dressing. I just used some ranch we had in the fridge and blended it in my mini food processor with a tomatillo, fresh lime juice, a clove or two of garlic, and a bunch of cilantro.

After I chopped up some lettuce and warmed up some black beans, it was time to assemble.

Tortilla, rice, beans, and cheese (I had some pepperjack and cheddar)--warm in micro or in oven to melt cheese--then put on the meat, lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream, and dressing. Bon appetit! (Disclaimer: This may not be the exact order they do it in at Cafe Rio, but it works for me and the result is yummy. :) )

Also, I didn't have an avocado on hand, but if I had, I would have mashed that up with some garlic salt and lime juice for fresh guacomole. Definitely next time!

Thanks Mike's sister Debbie for the idea and to Favorite Family Recipes for major recipe inspiration and the picture.

Six Months!

I've been calling Kate six months for a couple weeks, but now it's official!

Recent Accomplishments:

1. eating paper

2. rolling and creeping ALL OVER the place

3. chewing on things (Besides paper, she has a special affinity for wooden puzzle pieces.)

4. splashing (We went to the pool last weekend.)

5. finding books and magazines so she can eat more paper

6. sitting up for a few seconds (I think she could a lot longer if she didn't want to stand up so bad. Her legs are always going like she's on a pogo stick.)

Loves:

1. getting entwined in cords and ribbons

2. putting things in her mouth (especially paper)

3. being tickled

4. playing peek-a-boo

5. "flying" on her tummy

6. baths and pool time with Maggie

Next on the docket:

Rice cereal

We love our little paper-eating Kate with her darling grin, heart-melting laugh, and kissable cheeks. I love the way she will be playing and talking to herself when she wakes up from a nap, then I come in to get her out of her crib. She looks up, sees me, and simply lights up. Being a mom is the best.

6/15/10--Update: Kate has tried rice cereal. She is reserving judgment.

Square Foot Garden Update

Here are some pictures to show the progress of our square foot gardening efforts. We've strayed somewhat from true square foot gardening principles by mixing our squares slightly with some white onions and flowers throughout, but we are nonetheless proud of our efforts.

An overview.

Yellow squash with merigold border.

Rhubarb and cucumber. A bug of some kind has gotten into the rhubarb, but it is fighting to survive.

Our zucchini. Last night's storm knocked off many of its first blossoms, but this should just give us a more manageable number of vegetables.

(Clockwise) White onions, beans, strawberries, carrots. The onions have been the surprise success story of the year. They have grown fast, well, and have been pest free. The beans got eaten down pretty well by the deer, but have made a strong comeback. The strawberries have not produced much, but have given Maggie something fun to pick. The carrots probably need to be thinned, but seem to be doing fine anyway.

The tomatoes were purchased as the very smallest starts with six in a pack for $1.50. We got a cherry tomato and big boy variety. They have really taken off.

Three types of peppers and cantalope (upper right corner). We're still not certain that these are in fact peppers and not weeds, so we inter-planted some more white onions to hedge our bets.

Finally, here is a picture and video of Maggie eating ice cream after our gardening tonight.

5 Months and 2 Years

Kate is growing so big! She turned five months on the ninth. She smiles and rolls and laughs the days away. She just brings us so much joy. One of her favorite moves is flying: She gets on her tummy and raises her limbs in the air. It's completely charming. And she still has such an easy-going personality. She will just play quietly on the floor while I make dinner or be toted around as I do chores around the house.

Maggie still adores her. She loves to push Kate in the stroller, have Kate join her for baths, or have Kate sit on her tummy so they can interact more closely. She joins Kate on the floor for tummy time and calls all her baby dolls "Tate" (she used to say "Kay," but now the focus seems to be on the end sound). If Kate needs something and starts crying, Maggie is often first on the scene with coos of,"Ohhh, bay-bee, ohhh. Ii's o-tay, Tate" ("Oh, baby, oh. It's okay, Kate"). Though of late, I will admit Maggie is starting to understand the concept of "mine." I'll be making dinner and hear: "Mine...[snatch]...dank you, Tate." At least she's polite, if a bit greedy. :)

And Maggie had quite a special month. She turned two years old! After a couple practice rounds with grandparents, Maggie finally had her big day. She was overjoyed for another opportunity to blow out candles, eat cake, and open presents. In addition to the goggles and swim toys from her Wanlass grandparents and a darling Snow White dress-up doll set from her grandparents Gotfredson, Maggie got a couple books she loves, some alphabet puzzle tiles, a DVD (her first!--I loved The Swan Princess as a child--hope she does too), an outfit, and...dum-da-da-dum...her very own, fully loaded purse complete with cell phone and lipsticks. She loves purses, phones, and make-up, and I knew she would love the lipsticks that came with this purse as their lids were removeable. I had been so excited to give her this purse, as it was kind of hard to find exactly what I wanted--unthemed, interactive fake make-up, and not overdone on the lights and noises. Her reaction did not disappoint. She carries her purse around with her all the time, constantly is reapplying her lip-stick, talking on the phone, or using her keys, and wanted to sleep with her purse for the first week after she got it. (We woke up to her cell phone ringing rather than cries of "Mama, Dada.")

How grateful I am for my little friend! She is growing much too fast. I can't begin to put into words how much Mike and I love our Maggie. She is so sweet. She does her share of unrolling toilet paper rolls and emptying drawers, but she also does more than her share of brightening our lives. She loves to be happy and wants everyone else to be as well. Whenever I am looking serious or concentrating on something or otherwise not wearing a smile, she tilts her head, beams up at me and says "Happy Mama?" with an encouraging look. How could I not break into a grin at that invitation? Could you resist it? Even if she had just pulled out every wipe in a 250-count package while you were changing the baby's diaper for a minute? I didn't think so.

Here are a few of many things we love about our little girl:

-how she loves us and her baby sister Kate--Maggie loves to sing "We Are a Happy Family" and makes sure none of us are left out. And no one can doubt her love for Kate. She sometimes smothers her with it...literally. :)

-her preference for Primary songs--Maggie goes to sleep listening to her "songs" every night and is often found plunking on the piano and singing one. "Temple" (as in "I Love to See the...") and "Circle" ("As We Gather in a Circle") are her current faves.

-that she is our little imitator--I hear and see myself in the way Maggie interacts with her dolls, Kate, and even Mike and me. She says, "Hmmm...let's see..." when we ask her what song she wants to sing or snack she wants to eat. She loves to walk her stroller around the house, purse on the handle, baby on board. She drops everything to change her baby doll with cries of "Oh no! Messy, yuck..."

-her cute way of expressing herself--Grapes are "ovals" (she noticed their shape one day at snack), orange juice is "yellow juice" (Mike thinks this is because I dilute her juice :) ), "hold you" means she wants to be held and hugged, "I-youuu" is "I love you," "help you" means she needs some assistance, and she still uses a few of her signs from her early days (drink, please, and lipstick). But every day she is getting better at verbalizing her thoughts. Too soon many of these cute expressions will be mere memories.

-her ribbon-dancing skills--Maggie loves to turn on our digital piano's demo songs. She then runs to get hair ribbons from my bathroom and comes back to put on some moves. She usually makes sure we each have a ribbon to dance with as well. And she dances well sans ribbon as well. Our favorite moves are her straight-arm spin and her fast-feet hip-hop.

-how she loves counting and letters and shapes and colors--Maggie often finds opportunities to use her talent for counting, though sometimes she counts a little differently than I would: "two, three...two, three" or "one, two, three, four, eighteen, eighteen..." though she is getting pretty good at one through ten these days. And she loves to spot letters and numbers in her environment and gets excited anytime I am wearing any. She says letters at random much of the time, but recognizes a bunch of them as well, A, E, O, Y and M among others. I know she has known O since she was about eighteen months. Isn't it amazing how kids just pick things up according to their interests? It's not like I've been drilling them since, c'mon, she's two. And she is always pointing out colors and shapes as well. We have a lot of fun conversations: Mag: "Pink, mom?" Me: "Yes. That's pink." Mag, pointing to something else: "Green?" Me: "Yes. The apple is green. Good job!" Mag, pointing to her cup: "Purple, mom?" Me: "No, not purple." Mag: "Blue!" Me: "That's right. You're so smart, little girl." We don't really get too deep yet. :)

-most-of-all her unbounded enthusiasm--Maggie just lights up our lives. She is so happy. She is always smiling and humming cheerfully. She loves to have fun, to do things, to go places. She often requests to go "out-sie" (outside) or on a "wok" (walk). She loves going to church and the library. She never wants to leave the park where she can go on the "side" (slide) or on the "wheee" (swing). And she loves to get out the Family Home Evening manual (we use the nursery manual, "Behold Your Little Ones") and says "Ah-ha" to get things rolling. (The Gotfredson family has always said "Aloha" to start their family nights since their Hawaii days.) She loves to bake, do activity verses, and read books from dawn to dusk. She loves fruit and all things sweet and rejoices with cries of "ohhh, mmm, yuuum" when we take out a tasty snack that meets with her approval. She follows me from room to room and helps me with chores. And when Daddy comes home she is glued to his side and out helping in the garden. She is the best little tag-along we could ever hope for.

Maggie, it is impossible to name all the cute, adorable, and endearing things you say and do. We just love the whole enthusiastic little package that you are. Thanks for being ours!

Salad and Breadsticks

Made this for dinner tonight. Gotta love salad weather!

I was first introduced to this Taste of Home recipe when my sister-in-law Lisa made it for a family function last year. Found the recipe online and had to pass it along.

The version I made was nearly identical and found on Mel's Kitchen Cafe blog (where I see a lot of other fun dishes I want to try). I just made a third of the recipe and served with toast. It was the perfect amount for Mike and I. (Maggie had a little, but was more interested in some leftover spaghetti.) I also lessened the amount of oil a tad, left out the water chesnuts (as I had none) and pepper (didn't seem necessary), and replaced honey-roasted peanuts with toasted almonds. Alternately, you could leave out the chicken for a nice side salad. (I think that may have been how Lisa served it.) Anyway, I have some leftover dressing and can't wait to use it on a salad for lunch tomorrow!

I love cooking fresh and from scratch. "I'll take good food over bad food any old day of the week"...anyone else ever watch The Ghost and Mr. Chicken starring Don Knotts? It was a childhood favorite. (Mike always teases me that I was in some sort of time warp in my tastes in movies and music as a kid, because I know all these oldies and don't remember the stuff that was popular. I've always blamed it on having no older siblings, but maybe I was just oblivious, because my younger sisters are the ones that have to introduce me to new stuff.) Anyway, I thought every once in a while I'll post a recipe that's worth sharing. I had several soup recipes I meant to post this winter for my sister and mom, but I guess I'll get to that next winter.

Spinach Chicken & Pasta Salad with Teriyaki Vinaigrette from http://www.melskitchencafe.com/

Dressing:
1 cup canola oil [I liked less]
1/3 – 2/3 cup bottled teriyaki sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup cider vinegar
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Salad:
16 oz. bow tie pasta, cooked al dente, drained and cooled
1 bag fresh spinach (9 – 10 oz)
6 oz. craisins
2 (11 oz.) cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, drained and slivered
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
4 green onions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
6 oz. honey roasted peanuts [I liked the almond substitution]
2 cups cooked chicken, tossed with 2-3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

In a blender, combine all the dressing ingredients and blend until well combined and smooth [I just whisked mine in a measuring cup with a mixer]. Mix about 1 cup of the dressing with the cooked pasta in a large bowl and marinate for at least one hour. Combine the remaining salad ingredients in a large bowl. Just before serving, add pasta and toss. Add dressing to taste and toss. Serve immediately.

Also, I found this breadstick recipe this winter. I think it's terribly fun and easy and make it all the time now. If we hadn't had leftover artisan bread we'd been needing to use up, I would have served these with the salad.

Easy-Peasy Breadsticks from http://www.makeitdo.wordpress.com/

•1 1/2 cups warm water
•1 Tbsp. sugar
•1 tsp. salt
•1 Tbsp. dry active yeast
•3 1/2 cups flour
•1/2 cup melted butter
•1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
•lemon pepper (or seasoning of choice)

Mix together warm water, sugar, salt and yeast. Allow yeast to activate (about 10 minutes). Add flour and stir in with a fork until dough holds together. Turn out onto floured board. Knead lightly into a ball. Divide into 32 equal portions [I don't usually get quite this many]. On floured board, roll out into bread sticks. Dip into melted butter and then into Parmesan cheese. Place onto greased cookie sheet (16 per bakers half sheet.) Sprinkle with lemon pepper. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. This gives the bread sticks about 10 minutes to begin to rise. Cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

May be made in the morning and kept in the refrigerator unbaked. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 – 45 minutes (depending on how warm your house is) before baking.

They can also be reheated on a cookie sheet then next day at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes.

[I've also used leftover homemade pizza dough for my breadsticks (I use a recipe that came with my kitchenaid stand mixer), then shaped and baked as intructed in this recipe.]