Chocolates 2010. Day Four and Five.

Well friends, I am done.
Done with the big stuff anyway.
Still have a few batches of toffee to make for the family.
I'm just gonna go ahead and shoot straight with you...
this was an off year for me.
The Caramel Curse of 2010 nearly did me in.
But I didn't let it get the best of me--
I fought on! And in the end I prevailed!!

And now, after a very long week of candy making
and a very lovely book group fondue party
held last night
hosted by yours truly, featuring the
famous Chinese table,
where I was able to share the chocolate bounty
with a Pack of Chicks I adore
I am more than ready for a long winter's nap...
could someone tell my kids??

P.S.
I heard through the grapevine that
Adam said that my chocolates
are the best part of Christmas.
If my kids think that then it is all worth it.
Because when I was growing up,
I felt the same way.

Yes, Virginia, Chocolate does Rule the World.

Chocolate 2010. Day Three.

The day started just before 5. That's 5 in the AM.
Dipped my little heart out for a few hours.
Made my day, actually.
My dipping high carried me almost to dinner time.
From then on, it's been a little sketchy.
Seeings how the day is now almost officially over,
I think it's time for my sleepy little head to hit the pillow.

On a completely unrelated side note:
If one of your children comes home from school
complaining of an ear ache and you,
trying to be nice and also trying
to stop the complaining in
the fastest, most efficient way,
think to yourself that a warm towel
might feel nice to the child and
decide the fastest way to provide said warm towel
might be to put it in the microwave...
THINK AGAIN.
There is a distinct possibility that you may come
very close to setting your house on fire
and certainty that you will make your
house stink.
Really bad.

Chocolates 2010. Day Two

So, I think the fact that I got the year right shows an improvement from day one.
Upon my mom's suggestion and my husband's request I took it a bit easier today.
I mostly spent the day doing one of my other favorite pass times....cleaning.
Let's face it. A clean house = a happy farmgirl.
Tonight I was back in the candy making business.
Everything is shaped and ready to be dipped.
Tomorrow is dipping day.
woohoo.
That's my favorite part.
I was born to have my hands covered in chocolate.

Chocolates 2010. Day One.

From the trenches.
After 14+ hours of candy making I am almost too tired to form complete sentences.
This was a long day.

Some good things:
-My kids are beyond thrilled. Tis the season and they are oh so excited about the chocolateness of our house.
Yes, they are truly mine.
-In the process of checking a really big item off the Christmas time 'to do' list.
-Speaking with me madre three
(was it three? honestly i'm so tired i can't remember--at least three)
times today on the phone.

Some not so good things:
-Having the first center of the day not work and needing to recook it.
*good news, in the end it turned out great*
-Needing to threaten to chop Grant's finger off if he touched the center again while I was beating it.
-Dropping a 10 lb block of chocolate on my little toe.

My brain is far too close to the state of mush to muster much more.
As Scarlett would say, Tomorrow is another day.

Allow me to introduce...

The new family pics.

Brought to you courtesy of Robyn, one of my best besties.

Grant D

This delicious little man is my Best Boy.

Elsie Girl

She is the sweetest girl who ever did live.
And I'm really not kidding about that.

Goose

I love this crazy girl.
She is entertainment nearly nonstop.

Audz

Did I blink?
Because someone switched my little lady in for this all grown up model.

Adam

Not totally sure where we would be without this big fella.
He is a huge help, and a huge tease.


Me and Mikey

Life has thrown us a few curve balls in the last couple of years,
but me and this guy will conquer the world together.
Some day.
Okay, maybe not the world.
But our small little corner of it.

Because, really, any one that can make me laugh like this
on a regular basis,
after everything we have been through,
is a keeper.

Thank You Robyn.

I love them.

The Day.

• This morning I got up and ran three miles.
• This morning three and a half hours before I got up to run three miles I moved myself to the couch to avoid sleeping next to a chain saw like sound coming from the other side of the bed.
  
• This morning after getting the children off to school I straightened up my already fairly clean house.
• This morning I started some laundry so as to avoid being buried alive by laundry come Monday morning. The last load is still waiting patiently in the dryer for me to fold it.
  
• This morning I went to the temple with my visiting teaching ladies.
• This morning I wondered when I would be old enough to be a temple worker. It seems like something I would love to do.
• This morning I was doing a little people watching while waiting for my visiting teaching ladies, I also wondered when I would be old enough to wear a dress with sneaker type shoes and black pantyhose and feel okay about it. Oddly enough, it also seems like something I would like to do.
  
• Today I went to Walmart to do my once a week what-do-we-need-to-get-by-until-next-week-? shopping. Walmart was crazy busy.
• Today I sent my two big boys off for the annual scout trip to the air show in Vegas.
  
• Tonight for dinner my children had cold cereal while I made a pan of brownies.
  
• Tonight warm brownies and milk are what I had for dinner.
• Tonight Grant was disgustingly filthy dirty, I put him in a bubble bath and just let the bubbles do the work for me.
• Tonight I opted to not put the youngest to bed. Grant fell asleep watching a movie.
• Tonight the girls all went to bed right around the ten o'clock hour. (VERY, VERY LATE for our standards.)
• Tonight I should have been working on a sharing time for Sunday. Instead I watched the Biggest Loser on hulu, while eating warm brownies and milk.
• Tonight I ate WAY too many brownies.
  
• Tonight I am wondering why I am writing down such randomness.
• Right now I am thinking it is time to call it a night.
  

The Chart

Here you go, Bobbi.
Here is my job chart.
Really, it's nothing special.
I have tried many a different way to divide up the chores.
This is my favorite BY FAR.
Everyone is in charge of a room for an entire week.
Some are easier and less work than others, but we switch so it doesn't really matter.
Grant is a floater and helps who ever strikes his fancy at the moment.
The kitchen ultimately is mine, but we take turns doing the dishes.
Everyone is responsible for their own bedrooms.
I haven't had to function so efficiently this year, last year when I was doing day care full time + two other part time gigs--it was a must to have everyone pitch in.

So all of this is contingent, of course, to when I am really feeling my inner task masterness.

Keep the Commandments.

A few years back (like 5+ years) me and my beloved decided we needed to set some simple guidelines for our children to follow.
Being the creative, fun loving parents that we are, we decided to call them the "Family Commandments" and posted them prominently on the fridge.


As with everything every good parents does, it was very well received at first, but after time lost a little pizazz and the newness factor--eventually it was taken down and forgotten about.

Forgotten about, until the other day when I was searching the computer looking for my trusty job chart.

(Yes, I will admit that it is November and I am just getting the 'school time job chart' back up. What can I say?? I REALLY like doing the work myself when I am sans children. Yes, yes, I know, I know--how will they learn if I don't give them the opportunity?.... I will now go hang my head in shame.)

So, where was I?
Oh yes, the job chart.
I found the job chart in a file and also ran across the good old "Family Commandments". I thought to myself, Self- that was a great idea you and Mikey had all those years ago--you should print it out and post it again.
So that's what I did.See? Right down there, bottom left on the fridge.

Right there under the job chart for all to see.
What I didn't account for are the older children I am now housing...

Children that would leave notes such as this:
And just in case you can't read it, let's get a close up, shall we??

Bunch'a smart ankles!

Halloweenfest- 2010.

One day of Halloweening is plenty for me.

This year we celebrated for a full week.
And I do mean FULL.
Yep, I'm really good with the fact that it
lands on a Monday next year and
we can just party our little hearts out all in one day.

So, here we go-
The Halloweenie Mother's recap...
(and let's face it, who am i kidding?
i'll say it loud and proud.
i really am a
halloweenie mother)

We started out the week with the traditional Monday
before Halloween pumpkin carving FHE.
This year my normally pumpkin carving loving husband
was not feeling the groove so much.
And definitely not finding the time to help carve 5 pumpkins.
So we opted for a
Girl's pumpkin
and a
Boy's pumpkin

Grant does a great scary pumpkin impersonation, btw.

As per any good Halloweenie mother's standards,
costumes were what ever you decide you want to be.
(...and we can dig up around the house and out of the Halloween box)

This year we had an interesting mix...

Grant.
Who celebrated
preschool and nieghborhood party #1
as a pumpkin.

Who,
after destroying said pumpkin costume at
preschool and neighborhood party #1,
then decided to be a bird.

And a darling little bird he was, indeed.
Until, of course, we attended the elementary school
costume parade
(which equals an hour of hard play time
on the playground equipment for the boy)
and neighborhood party #2.
By this point, well, let's just say the darling
little bird boy had done a bit of molting.
No worries!
On to our last costume of the season,
the trick or treating costume,
costume number three.
A ghost.
(see how that Halloween box just keeps giving?)
Umm, ya- I couldn't get a half decent picture of him.
He was very into character.

Elsie.
Elsie's costume was also a work in progress over the course of a few days.
Initially she wanted to be a vampire.
Then she wanted to be a vampire / prisoner.
But, in the end she just couldn't hide her true colors,
added a purse and some shades,
and became a vampire / prisoner / super model.


Lucy.
Goose's costume was a revival from last year.
Well, sort of.
She was an old lady last year.
She wanted to be an old lady again,
but since that's just crazy to repeat like that
she decided to mix it up a bit...
She told me she wanted to be
Ethel from I Love Lucy.
I told her I wasn't sure how to make that work.
NO WORRIES, she says to me,
I'll just make a sign.
I love the fact that
a) she never considered asking for a ride to school
and
b) she gave me much entertainment watching my
little old lady daughter ride down the street.

This next picture has nothing to do with Halloween.
It just makes me smile.
It's from Red Ribbon week,
Crazy hair and hat day.

Audrey.
Audz decided some time ago that she wanted to be a secret agent.
This was quite possibly the easiest costume ever.
She was a real trooper and took Lucy and her friend trick or treating.
Wow, I almost forgot night two of Halloween week...
Audrey's Orchestra Halloween Recital.
Another FULL night.

She's in there somewhere.
(Please, try to control your jealousy over me
and my amazing camera.)

Adam.
Adam talked his dad into driving down to Partyland Thursday
night on their way home from work.
He picked up this amazing wig and created a costume.
It was lovely.
Really.

But, Adam's favorite part of Halloween was this...

Sitting on the porch all night and freaking people out.
It was lovely.
Really.

Last, but certainly not least...
Mike.
He was clearly exhausted and must have been slightly
delirious because he put on this little number to take the kiddies
trick or treating.

Here's a little Mikey trivia for you..
The last time Mike wore that coat on Halloween
was 17 years ago,
the Howl at USU,
he went as a flasher,
he was
hoping to run into a little lady he had recently met,
someone we all know and love,
a certain
farm girl.
;o)

There.
Now, how's that?
Do you feel as worn out just reading
about it as I did after living it?

So long, Halloweenfest Week!!

The Delmonte Factor.

Here's just a little something I've been thinking about.....

Way back when--way, way back in the day--back in the
high school summer days I had a job.
My first "real job", in fact.

*THERE ARE A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT
I WOULD LIKE TO MENTION RIGHT HERE*

#1: While this was my first 'pay check job' I want NO ONE under and illusions that it was my first working experience...farmgirl's the name,remember?
Work & Me, well, we've never been strangers.
#2: As a youngster I could of been the poster child for picky eaters. No, really. 97% of what I survived on was treats and breads. Oddly enough one of the few vegetables I ate (and really enjoyed) was canned green beans.

So, about this first real job- it was at the Delmonte plant working in the green beans.
I worked there for three summers.
Three summers, ten hour shifts.
That adds up to a whole lot-o-time spent at Delmonte.
I actually liked it there.
Much fun was enjoyed.
But the smell....
The smell still remains, lingers deep within the olfactory memory tissues.
All these years later, open up that can and
I am right back at the belts sorting through the beans, at the cookers sorting through the beans, at the forklift driving the pallets of beans, in the lab doing quality control on the beans---just like it was yesterday.
You know what happened?
I can't stand canned green beans!
Clearly having far too much exposure to something I really enjoyed the taste of ruined it for me.
Even though my memories of working there are positive I still CANNOT stomach canned green beans.

So,
My question/quandary is this....
Why does this not work for sweets?
My exposure is vastly more than that of the green beans.
How come I can eat and eat and eat those dag-um treats
and still go back for more?
Certainly I have had more sweets than any normal person.
And yet, I rarely seem to tire of them.

Kinda makes ya go
HHmmmmm?

The Folks came to Town.

My parents' annual visit has come and gone.
Well, I don't know if it's really annual...but, it's been annual for the last three years--so I'm calling it "the annual trip".
And, maybe if I name it that- it really will be ;)
Last year when she came down to do a chocolate demonstration with me, my mom and I went on a shopping spree and obtained all of her grand-kid gifts.
It was such an awesome experience that despite there being no chocolate demo this year she still decided to come down and hit the stores with me.
We had a great time and got all 28 kiddos gifts purchased.
Yes, we really are that amazing!
AND, now this is the really important thing....
we didn't pay full price for ANYTHING!!
Oh, how I love a deal!
Helping other people spend money is a special gift of mine.
Me padre was the babysitter extraordinaire and kept Grant during many an hour of shopping.

Yes, yes a good time was had by all....
but, really let's just get right down to the very best part.
Not only did they bring me a lovely
Green River watermelon, delicious apples from Thelma's tree
and 50 lbs of amazing Idaho potatoes,

They also brought me this-----

And a little bit more,
like this-----

If any of you are saying,
"Wow, farmgirl, Simply Lemonade is good....??"
Let me set you straight.
It's MILK!
Milk I tell you!!
Right from the farm!!
Mmmmm.
Milk, it does a body good.

Made these tasty little treats all the more enjoyable.

And because I always like to share the goodness....

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

1/2 cup butter (room temp)
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
powdered sugar

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at time, beat each until blended -add vanilla, beat until blended. Mix dry ingredients separately, then add to wet ingredients and mix just until blended. Make round cookie dough ball thingies, roll in powdered sugar, place on baking sheet. Bake 350* for 9-11 minutes.

p.s. I squoosh them down a tiny bit before baking.
p.s.s I also add chocolate chips to the mix, shocker- I know.

Enjoy.
Best if served warm, with ice cold farm fresh milk.
:o)

If you lived inside my head.....

during the past 18 days since I last posted
you would have enjoyed many great posts to this blog.
In fact, if I could blog straight from my brain I would post several times a day.

Just thought I should let you know.

Because
(i'm going to let you in on a weird little secret of mine....)
sometimes I think in blog post talk.
Don't judge--I never claimed to be normal.
Yes, I know, you thought I was strange before and now I have confirmed it.

Well, there ya go...

FYI
Things are looking up around here.
IT'S ABOUT DARN TIME!
And I COULD NOT be more pleased about that.

And, yes, for your reading pleasure I do plan to make blogging a regular part of my life again.
But, it might have to wait just a bit longer---
Me madre and me padre are coming to visit for a few days==woohoo!
And I have a work writing assignment that needs to be done by the end of next week.

Sooooo,
be patient my peeps.

Farmgirl loves you.

Not a fence-sittin' kind of a Gal.

I hate indecisiveness.
It's slightly bothersome when I see it in other people, drives me absolutely crazy when it's me.
I know this is ridiculous, but it really bugs me that I don't update this blog.
That this blog, that I once so enjoyed, is yet another source of frustration for me.
Believe me when I tell you that I have plenty of frustration already.
I have frustration out the ying-yang some days!
Frustration that makes me want to gauge my own eyes out with blunt object, then rip all my hair out by the roots, then bang my head against the wall until the cows come home.
(Or make and eat lots of warm, chocolate comfort food--which is the option I tend to fall back on.)
I want to be that funny gal that blogged sometimes multiple times a week.
Really, I do.
But I'm not.
That gal is burnt out.
Burnt Out.
I know there is still funny, quirkiness left in me...it's just a little harder to tap into these days.
And since I established this blog as a funny, quirky place I never feel quite right about tellin' it like it really, really is.
Are we good with that?
Is that an option for me?
Can I still use this thing to ramble?
Cuz, you know, rambling is one of my many gifts.
Besides the whole "not feeling the funny"--I have been so freaking busy just keeping my head above water for the last year and half that it is seriously hard to find the time to blog.
Now, I know I'm not the only one with stuff. Everybody has stuff. I know that.
At the moment, I just happen to be really sick of mine.
The point I am so round about the way trying to make, because I usually do have a point--just takes me a while to get there--is this:
I'm a do-er or a don't-er.
I'm no fence sitter.
I'm a blogger or I'm not.
So, what's it going to be self?
Is you in or is you out?
Well, when you put it that way...I guess I'm in.
I just might need to make up new blog rules in my head.
Yes, in my head I have blog rules for myself.
My rules are that I blog AT LEAST every week/week and a half.
How 'bout we change that to two weeks to a month....
Guilt free.
See, that's the key. Guilt free.
Okay, I think that may be doable.
I feel much better now.
Glad we could talk.

Small Mercies

When September hits here in the St. G people like to pretend that it is actually time for autumn weather. We pull out our long sleeved clothes and admire them longingly. Our bike riding children think they need a hoodie to ride to school in the mornings (never mind the fact that they come home from school with sweaty, beet red faces). We start sorting through all those wonderful fall-esk recipes, maybe even put a pumpkin spice smell in the old scentsy.

People even attend parades held at 5:00 in the afternoon. That's right, the very hottest time of the day. Not just any old parade, the rodeo parade. That means that there are people dressed to the nines in all sorts of cowboy attire. H-O-T. Hot.

Now, we all know that I am not a native to the extreme temps of the St. G. I am not crazy enough to take myself and the chitlins out to battle the heat to watch the rodeo parade. Especially not when we have already experienced the REAL Rodeo Parade in Preston, you know-- That Famous Preston Night Rodeo. That's a parade.

Certainly I wouldn't go to the parade and stand on the sunny side of the street, finding my only form of relief is to stand perfectly still in the blissful shade of a power pole. Dragging children with me, one of which has absolutely NO stamina for discomfort of any degree. That's crazy, right? Well, not if you are attending the parade in support of your children. One handing out fliers and the other one in the marching band, marching -of course- on the sunny side of the street. I'm a good mom like that.

Now, what do we get when we go to a parade?? What's the draw for all children ever where?? The candy. We did come home with candy. Candy that was sorted in the family room and then eaten in the family room. Good thing I have the whole No Food in the family room rule, huh? After the candy eating fest some (surprisingly enough) ended up smooshed into the carpet.

I tell you all of that to tell you this...
the real reason for this post.

But first, a
Side Note:
My children are their father's children. We all know this.
They look like him. Hello? All blond headed people.
They act like him. Teasing galore.
They talk like him. His crazy slang words for everything known to man.
They work like him. When they really concentrate, the tongue is really working. Weird, but true.
They like what he likes. Music, food, movies.
Don't get me wrong, I happen to really like the guy- but, c'mon throw a gal a bone!

Enter: The Small Mercy.

Just when I am beginning to think that NO ONE has picked up on any of my traits--when I am thinking that not one of my off spring have been blessed with the cleaning gene. The heavens parted and a miracle occurred...

Of her own free will and volition, my daughter, the fruit of my loins, without a word from me
saw the above mentioned carpet candy culprit, went and got a knife and attacked!

This is what these tired, work and care worn eyes of mine beheld...

This blessed, beautiful girl taking initiative and cleaning something. Seeing a need and filling it.
There is hope!

And here we are, her wondering why I am photo documenting such strange things and her sister unable to miss out on any photo opportunity.

You know friends, I am wanting some big things in life. Wanting/Needing. I get myself all down in the dumps sometimes just waiting and wanting something to happen, something to change. I need to remember in my busy life of waiting, working and wanting not to miss the small things. The small things like a girl seeing a simple thing like candy on the carpet and cleaning it up.

da-boyz

When Grant was born I had a few people comment to me

that while it would be fun to have another boy,
they would be too far apart to really do anything together.

They were dead wrong.

Adam has the whole
"best brother" status in the bag.
(competition there is not too steep)
He made a $5 garage sale purchase for his little buddy that
may have moved him into "rock star" status.
Behold....
The Big Tractor.
*back story*
I was gone when this new toy was acquired.
I had only seen it in action in the backyard,
in the backyard on the patio,
motored by Grant's own two little feet.
It can do more.
Much More.

This evening I looked out the office window to witness this...


Adam helping Grant load a big rock,
maneuver it across the yard,
and dump it.

Isn't that so sweet?

Ya, well--
After that was over they decided they needed to show
me what The Big Tractor is
really capable of.
This....
And this....

And this...



Ohhh, these crazy boys of mine...
I sure do love them.

P.S.

It's a darn good thing their
father wasn't around
or the adventure
would have been
taken to a whole new
level.
It kind of scares me a bit
to think about what that might
have been.

Reasons not to blog-

• Still feeling like school has just begun and I am not accustomed to the change yet: translation......I am still giddy every day when the house empties and I am free to clean mostly unencumbered, therefore I take that option instead of blogging.

• Took a little long-weekend trip. You know, the kind that involve a week and a half prep time and a two week recovery time.

• Change of church calling. Switching gears from Young Women's back to Primary Presidency. My absence from Primary was short lived, very short lived.

• Can't recover from the shock of a few of my children's milestones enough to really want to document them.
  

• Did I mention something about milestones? Things like this...

Yes, that's my little buddy all geared up and ready to head

off to Miss Debbie's preschool.

This picture really documents what I was thinking,
which was,
"Ex-Sqeeze Me,
Tell me again why I agreed to this?!?
I CANNOT send my baby away!"
It also documents what he was thinking,
which was,
"For reals Mom, let me go in already!!
Gil and Miss Debbie are waiting."

• On that very same day, in my very same life....this happened-

This guy had the nerve to have another birthday
and went ahead and turned
15
on me.
Rude, right?

• It was a day. What a day Mom had!

• Not wanting to come to grips with the fact that that very same 15 year old came home today with a drivers permit. WHAT THE WHAT!?!

• I'm sorry, did you read that right....? Read it again. I have a child with a DRIVERS PERMIT. See if you can sleep tonight, I know I won't be. This freak out will last well into tomorrow.
  

And so, as you can plainly see....
There are a multitude of reasons for me not to blog.
But,
I did any way.
Doesn't that just thrill you all right to pieces?
Just right down to your very core?
Ya, I thought so.