Brazilian Lemonades

you don't even know how much i love brazilian lemonades!  so i googled and got a recipe and posted it.  enjoy!

4 juicy limes (try to find ones with thin, smooth skins; they're the juciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)
1 cup sugar
6 cups cold water
6 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk.  place the can in hot water for a while before opening; this will make the milk pourable.) i use 3-4 tablespoons cause i like it more limey.

mix cold water and sugar well and chill til ready to use.  this can be done ahead of time.  wash limes thoroughly with dish soap.  cut of ends.  cut limes into 8ths.

place 1/2 limes and 1/2 water into blender and pulse five times.strain thru mesh strainer into serving pitcher and repeat with remainder limes and water. dump pulps down the garbage disposal.

add milk, stir, serve over ice and enjoy. serves 4

What am I missing

how do people do it? you can't tell me that all these people that do crafts are stay at home women. how do they afford it if they are? by the time i get my kids taken care of and off to school (during the school year) and i get to work, then i come home, there is no time for crafting.
i used to craft all the time--but i didn't have lots of funds. well what really happened was: i did daycare and crafted with the kids--then got paid for it. so now i am working away from my home and that must be why i have no time to do these things.
the lady that posted this pic said, i know i am sick of fabric flowers too. huh? i know life is slower here in my pretty little valley, but i only started seeing these fabric flowers about a month ago--out of town. so now my mom has a couple on a head band and i think they are soooo cute. so i googled fabric flower headband tutorials and oh wow! jackpot! so many tutorials. what are these people doing? i am starting to wonder about my choice of working. but how do i pay for my hobbies?

Is it me that makes this mess?

been a while blog world! don't know why i blog cause since i am so inconsistent, no one checks it anymore. that's ok. i am throwing this out there anyway....

as i have gone thru my married life, more specifically, my married with children life, i always have a little bit of guilt cause of the finger prints on the walls, the dirty floor that was clean a few minutes ago, the not so perfect house that others seem to maintain so easily. my dear husband, my wonderful step mom, and one of my good friends often tell me that i am not hard enough on my kids and that i don't expect enough.

in february, i got so sick that i couldn't get out of bed. i didn't care what my house looked like, thank goodness for troy who does care about both me and the house, cause he took over and as always, rocks it way better than i ever have, adding of course, to the guilt i already had. no biggy. i didn't care and i am used to it.

well as i was able to find how to make myself better, and started taking the medicine, i started to slowly come out of the non caring attitude. keep in mind, the non caring has only been since february, the guilt has been since forever. anywho, i slowly was able to see that for my entire married with children life, i expect myself to do everything. why is that? i have my guesses, but i don't really care about that either. so i started to assign my kids chores--i have always assigned them a dish day and daily room cleaning (which for some reason they rarely followed thru with), but now i am expecting that they do the bulk of the housework. slaves? they at first thought so...until i asked them if they ever saw me making any of this mess. for instance, muddy shoes or hands, was it me that walked on the carpet or ran my hands over the door. no.

so the very first thing i did was to take away the daily dish chore (assigning each kid a day of the week for dishes) because inevitably, some were always left over for the next person the next day. so now everyone does the dishes every meal. it started out really good, then stopped working, then i almost gave up and went back to the old way, but i told them that as long as it took them to figure out how to work together, then that was how long it was going to take to do the dishes. there have been some instances that i have had to shut my office door for 3 hours while they got it done.

i also stopped nagging and started following thru with good and bad consequences. the natural ones are sometimes the hardest. but that too has gotten lots easier.

so yesterday we all had a pow-wow and i told them they are completely old enough to not call me at work and get me involved in their arguments etc, and that i expect my house to be gorgeous when i get home. i try to work from home half of the day so i am not gone all day long.

yesterday they got done all that i expected, when i got home i did the check, and then they were able to do what they wanted. wyatt and emmett got some friends together and i dropped them at the reservoir to go fishing for a couple of hours and liv went swimming. she ended up with the pool to herself for a 1/2 hour--the community pool!

today the laundry has been folded, all the doors washed with a rag and a magic eraser, living room is dusted, and kitchen is clean. it feels good.

be happy! it only took me 19 years to figure it out.

mongolia

i thought that i would post this link for all of you who don't live within ksl broadcasting areas and who maybe missed it. this story is about mongolia and the winter and summer problems they are/have faced. it was interesting. click here

things i love

so today i wanted to list the things i love. why am i feeling this way? because i have a headache and every time i have a headache i start to feel sorry for myself. automatically i start to think that i have a brain tumor. i have known 2 people in my life that died very suddenly from this very thing, one just a couple of weeks ago. with this in mind i started to chastise myself and told myself to think of thinks more positively. this is typically a trait of mine with one exception-my health. i don't really know why cause i think i am relatively healthy all things considered. i do know however that i will die from either colon cancer or a brain tumor. so here it goes:

i love....
my hubby
my sons
my daughter
animals
not having a headache
my part-part-part time job at crossroads
my part-part time job at the crisis center
photography
wrestling
taking care of troy
riding horses
a clean house
smelling
eating
snowboarding
television
pandora
il divo
twilight
pride and prejudice
jane austen
my durango
my testimony
primary
music
clothes
food
snow
spring
flowers
dirt
heat
my dad
my dad's wife
my grandparents
my husbands parents
the ranch
walt
friends
my sisters
my brothers
their children
idaho
the usa
my husbands grin
costa vida
pop
playing the piano

i may add to this periodically. i may not. hope you all have a great day!

All Better

so i forgot that i am trying to blog more. i missed a major event in liv's life. her first stitches. well here is a pic of her recovering thumb. said thumb lost a battle with a tomato paste can on february 1st. oh boy the house was in an uproar, and not only the daughter but also a couple of the sons were freaking out! ha! it was actually kinda funny. troy was making dinner, liv wanted to help so she started pressing on the can lid and troy walked in just in time to see her place her thumb on the edge of the lid (we have all done it). to make it really cool, i cut my thumb (same hand when i was twelve) on a can and received my first stitches that way as well. so he grabbed her and put her thumb under the cold water. the boys came yelling downstairs to get me (which was unnecessary cause i could here the girl) and i came up to see a huge gash all the way across the pad of said thumb. i wrapped it in a towel and went to brigham for stitches (troy came too). we had to call the grandmas on the way, lots of tears, red and swollen eyes and face, and sobs. when we got there she looked at me and said "can you tell i been crying?" ha! on the way to the exam room the lab guy passed us in the hall at the dr. and said "wow looks like fun." and liv said "i don't think it's funny please" and he tucked his tail and went back to the lab. the injection was a great time, recommended to all parents to live thru. once it was numb she was an old hand. she did well and received 4 stitches (i would have done 5). the boys called 5 times while we were in the dr. and they made her get well cards. show and tell was great that week. we took the stitches out a week later. now the skin is just peeling away and it is healing great.

emmett's guinea pig whistles when we walk by. we got her a ball, but she can't quite figure out how to run in it yet. she is spoiled and now won't eat her food unless given no other choice. she loves lettuce, grapes, carrots, asparagus, and fingers.

i have grounded the chill'un from the chihuahua. i have decided that all roads to potty training hell lead to chill'un and their lack of understanding a routine. no matter how much i tell them to leave that dog alone (their dad is telling them too) they don't. so now they are banned. i am the only caregiver and it is working out nicely. training is actually you know-training. how can one train a dog, when it never walks? she is really a good, smart dog, with lots of personality. i will let the kids play with her after the training is complete.

i forgot i had a horse on sunday. poor clancy. he lived thru it.

i got the crisis center taxes done. yippie! more time for me now. i finished "to kill a mocking bird". we moved to an all cash budget. we blew the budget at the crisis center valentine gala dinner and auction when troy bought me a sweet pair of earings, but that is ok. :) i really like the e-meals.com menu. my family likes it too.

well i guess i will sign off for tonight. the olympics are exhausting me. i stay up to watch and then have to get up the next morning. the men's figure skating program is on tonight and they all look pretty trendy (or scary) however you wanna put it.

Hello Again

well, it's been almost a week. here i am again. i know you probably can't believe it. life is great and busy. i made it thru the w2's and 1099's for work. i am almost thru the 990 for the crisis center. i just finished our personal taxes. of course we have to pay idaho so we will wait to file until 4/15. :) we will file the federal and utah here in the next couple of days cause we will get a refund there.

the financial peace university class is going great. it has been all cushy this last couple of weeks as far as homework. this week is a bear. we have to do our budget. then see if we can stick to it. we have our emergency fund tho. we are way excited about that. why do i need to take a stupid class when i know what i am suppose to be doing? well, whatever the reason, it's having the desired effect and that would be the point i guess.

this week i made tomatillo salsa. i also made some yummy dinners. i am finding a new joy in cooking my hubby dinner. why is that? i cleaned off the desk in the den. weird. i know where stuff is. that's even more weird.

my utility bill averages $83 a month. thanks to my wood burning stove. i will have a new appreciation for that now. others are paying upwards of $400 for electric heat. that was a good call. there will be only happy adventures getting wood this year. they were always happy adventures, only now i will have a new perspective.

i am still in the middle of "to kill a mocking bird". i have never read it. i am liking it. i am having a hard time getting thru it cause, when i sit down to read i get sleepy. i am suppose to be crocheting an afghan for the crisis center fundraiser auction. i don't think it's going to get done. bummer. maybe for next year.

the new year's goals are going great. since carlean helped me with my kitchen (we reorganized the entire thing) it has been easier to keep it cleaned. also, i have lowered the boom on the children who live here. i have started to expect way more. it just takes me to remember to not do it all and have the energy to tell them i expect more. it is moving along nicely. we are going to put the commission plan into schedule this week. troy and i have put together the commission bearing jobs in addition to the non-commission bearing jobs. i am excited about that too.

my horse is doing well. fat and way lazy. i was told i should ride him during the winter. this would be great except it is cold and cold and cold outside. i am putting money away for horse schooling. he will go to school in the spring and someone will work on his feet (he is naughty) and break him in. i haven't been on since about october so he will be a snot.

troy is healing nicely. he has the go to start running on a treadmill in march. he can run outside when the ice is gone.

paden is working full time now at kents in tremonton. he is also hoping to be a census worker and work at hess lumber setting up their new store. both of those positions are temporary. he will quit kents in april and go back to rexburg. he is job hunting there now so if he finds something he will have a job to go to when he goes back. he is also back living at home.

i have been getting postcards in the mail from walt. i love it. i have started sending them back. if you want a pick me up, start sending him postcards. it's so fun.

Been A While

ok, so i got tired of the whole blogging thing. now that no one follows my blog now (consequence of not blogging for almost a year) here is what i feel like blogging about. maybe later i will get on the other computer (where my pics are) and put on a pic. here is what i can remember:

paden graduated from high school
paden had surgery on a hernia
troy and dillon went on the high adventure
troy jumped from a cliff and as a reward got a ride to the trauma room in a helicopter
troy had surgery on his leg and foot
had a couple of family reunions
i lost my phone
i was a single parent (troy laid up)
dillon became the heavy lifter (paden and troy laid up)
paden went to college
paden turned 18
olivia turned 8
olivia was baptized (by paden-troy couldn't go in the water)
learned some valuable lessons about myself
got laid off
10 days later got hired back
got a small raise at job #2
got more duties at job #2
volunteered
found my soul after a couple years of stuggle
learned it's ok if i am different
love my hubby even more
had a happy thanksgiving, halloween, christmas, new year
had a party
met and learned to love the missionaries
invited 2 of my friends to hear the gospel
was rejected
gained a new financial perspective
gained a new frustration with and "adult" child
read "till we have faces"
went to florida for a week to see a girlfriend
same girlfriend came to see us over christmas
stayed up late
received a postcard
sent a post card
went to the movies
made it thru lay offs at atk
sad cause our friends didn't
wyatt went lion hunting, treed one
dillon went lion huntin, didn't tree one
wyatt and dillon went deer hunting
2 deer in the freezer
got a chihuahua for liv
got a guinea pig for hoss
told paden no on another pet-he is leaving in a few months
got a horse, rented a corral, bought hay, love horse
had help organizing my kitchen
took friends family pictures, and baby pictures
bribed my kids to not go trick or treating
painted emmett's room
kicked him out to the basement and made a den
got my "office" out of the living room and kitchen
liv started dance and gymnastics
wyatt and emmett started piano lessons
shelly and olivia continue piano lessons
troy learned to walk (still waiting to run)
dillon elected to jr class secretary
dillon attended student government conference in Nampa
wyatt improved his grades with hard work he instigated
emmett is gaining self confidence
i have a new outlook on life in keeping my kids busy
realized that making my kids work is good
have a plan for a screaming sweet yard this year (thanks to my hard working kids)
taught my kids to volunteer for community service
troy got put into the bishopric 1 week after jumping off cliff (he must of known it was coming)
sold my junk-don't miss it
learning not to feel guilt for things past (purchasing the junk in the first place)
liv is afraid of coraline

that is probably all for now. i will see if i can do a better job. maybe not.

I don't wanna be rescued!

i have it bad and i like it. i am so into twilight that i am obsessed. i am scared of vampires. dumb i know, but that is the one thing that creeps me out. i tried hard to not be on the same page as everyone else. my friends were reading it a year ago. then they all went to the movie. and the news hype! then the movie came out on video. i still didn't care. didn't wanna care! then dillon drug it home. we forbade him to watch it. he watched it anyway. then paden read the books in 4 days--all of them. so troy and i watched it so we could, you know, see what our kids are watching and reading. as i am putting it in the dvd player i am telling him that i know it's gonna be stupid, just please suffer thru it with me. all thru the movie, troy was on the laptop and reading a book while watching and me with my eyes and heart glued not believing what is happening to me.

so my friends that are into it told me if i liked the movie i would love, love, love the books! so i watched the movie again. so then i needed to read the books. the ones at the library were checked out. this was tuesday. i was in logan for an appointment and dropped by walmart and bought them. yup all but the third one, they were out of that one. so i got home and started reading it twilight. last night i was in brigham city for piano. this book is all i can think about. so i checked the walmart for the third book, cause i am on the 2nd book now and i'll need the 3rd one like tommorrow. they were out too. so i bought the cd and the movie. i haven't hung up the mini poster in the cd you will be glad to know. i am going to have to borrow the 3rd book. so on my lunch hour today i started the movie again. i am not ashamed. this too shall pass but not for a while i am sure. i have included the authors website link. just a little insight into my life right now. :)
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight.html

Been a while

so it has been a while since i last blogged. we have had lots of things going on. i have posted some events in our lives over the last month. while i haven't been blogging i haven't been reading anyone's blog either. hope you enjoy catching up, i know i will. p.s. i will work on getting pictures of wyatt. as i was reviewing the posts, he is not in one single frame. :(

Emmett goes in for a take down at the Jr. Dragon Wrestling Tournament.

Dillon wearing Liv's Build-A-Bear wig.