General Conference Weekend

What did we do this past weekend?

Well, we stayed cooped up in our house (going a little crazy, to be quite honest) and enjoyed conference. It was nice, and probably would have been even better if Matt could have been home to enjoy it with us. 

I tried to do somethings to keep the kids busy, but I have to remember their attention span is pretty short!

I had some packets for Luke to work on, conference bingo and the little candy buckets.
Every time he heard the words, prophet, temple, family or scriptures he could pick one candy out of that bucket. At first I was worried that this might not be a good idea....but then I remembered his short attention span! And he didn't really hear a whole lot, therefore he didn't eat too much candy. :)

I also stuck up a few photos for on our "Conference Wall" to help remind him that we were suppose to treat this weekend like church and to be reverent. I saw a cute thing where every time they heard what was pictured they could put up a sticker or get another treat or something....but I wasn't that prepared.

He thought he was so funny to be holding the Ninja Turtles dvd in this picture.

Conference for us is at 12 & 4pm....not a great time for meals or to have Devin nap during conference. He seems to only nap in between sessions. So we had an early lunch, a late snack (our "snack" table) and a late dinner and eventually daddy came home! But...then had to run off to Priesthood session. Whew!

I really did enjoy the weekend, but I wouldn't say it was all that relaxing this time around. 

Oh, but I did get to make some delicious granola!!! It's so yummy and so easy. No more of that store-bought stuff. If you like almond flavor you'll love it. Here's the recipe!

Deliciousness in my kitchen

Peach season = A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

We have been eating so many peaches.

Peach cobbler.

Peach parfaits.

Peach smoothies.

And for the first time ever, peach jam.

 

A little confession. I didn't can this. It's freezer jam. I ran out of my freezer containers, so this one is for our fridge and it looks so much cuter in a can, than a plastic container.

Other bit of deliciousness...these bad boys. 

Peanut butter goodness, smooshed between salty pretzels, dipped in chocolate.

Wowzers!

Here's the recipe.

Happy Green's Patrick Day.

Luke is SO into holiday's this year. It is so fun, he asks what the next holiday is every day and thinks every day is/should be a holiday. So, since V-day, he's been so excited for St. Patrick's Day. And now he keeps asking if we can clean our house and decorate for Grandpa Johnson's birthday that's on Monday....so we might be having a long-distance birthday party for you dad! He's a funny kid.

All along he can't seem to get the name right either. He calls it Green's Patrick Day. And if you ask his what the name of our church is, it gets even better. He says, "The Church of Jesus Christ of St. Patrick's Day."

We're working on that one.

Luke and Dev in their green clothes. Notice Luke's green mittens?

We had such a fun day planned. We had a little play group at our house. I made these totally awesome rainbow cupcakes, go here for the recipe. I am still amazed by them and they really weren't hard to make. The kiddies decorated their cupcakes and colored leprechaun pictures.

We had more babies than kids here, so we had some serious tummy-time going on.

These two rollers, aren't they adorable?

Dev was so excited to have all his friends there...

I think. :)

It was so fun. The kids were wild, as usual, but it helped Luke get some of his wiggles out. The weather was gorgeous! In the 60's. After our friends went home we spent much of the afternoon outside. Played in the swampy backyard (Luke had to change his clothes 3 times, because of slipping/splashing/getting soaked in the puddles-I hope it dries out soon), walked to the park and the library.

Matt got home and we decided to go out and grab a Philly sandwich at Penn Station-yum! My heart is still hurting though.

It was a great day! By the end of the day Luke was begging Matt to take off his green shirt so he could pinch him.

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Here are a few random pics I thought I'd post too.

I was preparing my lesson for YW last week and Dev was sitting up nice and cozy next to me. I thought it was so cute, so yes, I bothered Matt for a half hour to come take a picture, because I'm always the one behind the camera. Isn't he cute?!

And just a few things I love.

First, him. 

He is hanging the rods for my kitchen curtains (that I still need to make). He is always so helpful and so willing to help! I love it.

Second, he is a total nerd and sometimes wears his beanie like a dork. Usually folding the sides up to look like Robin Hood (not in this pic).

And third, he had this day off, we ran errands for me, he let me buy some new shirts, he played with the kids and kept them busy, he helped me do things that I needed to get done, and watched the kids as I ran out the door for YW's that night. And on top of that, my friend needed a babysitter asap and he watched anther little almost-3-year-old, and put Luke and Dev to bed-ALL while I was at YW's.

He did all of that in a day. Can you see how amazing he is?

Yeah, he's totally awesome and I love him.

Provident Living

I've recently taken a big interest in some good things (for once! jk).

I want to learn more about food storage, bulk it up, rotate and use it more often and eat and make healthier meals. I have been reading up on gardening, because we're going to be starting our first garden soon and I am SO excited about it! I know nothing (sorry mom, I never really paid much attention. Except for when I couldn't find you in the mornings, I figured you were out in the garden....) about it and want to learn as much as I can, with hopes that I will have success this year! I can't wait to go pickin' out on the farms this summer. I want to learn how to can fruits and vegetables this year. I'm excited to do a farmers market-type program this summer (it promotes healthier eating around here).

The other morning Luke and I pulled out the Nutrimill to grind some wheat, since we were out and we needed more bread. I love my wheat grinder. It is amazing. It doesn't just grind wheat it blasts it. It's awesome. It grinds much more than wheat, but I've always been too chicken to do anything else. 

There's nothing like fresh, warm, whole wheat flour. It smells so good.

Well, after grinding the wheat, I almost ran out to the store to buy some cornmeal that I needed that day, and the thought occurred to me, "why not grind up your own?!" So I did some research beyond the users manual (because I was scared!). I threw in some popcorn in and viola! It was beautiful!

We love cornbread and Matt only likes a special kind that his mom makes. I read that if you grind your own cornmeal it tastes way better than store bought. It does have a much more vibrant color and tasted better.

Just to compare. The whiter cornmeal, on the bottom was store bought.

After that, I wanted to grind up everything I had that my grinder could take!
Well, I didn't, but now I am much more excited to learn more ways to use different grains in my cooking and baking.

I'm also on this Quinoa kick. If you haven't seen/heard about the recipes I posted on our family food blog, you've gotta try them. Here's the link. Search for "quinoa." The stew is my favorite! 

As I learn more, I will post more! I think it's so fun to learn new things, especially when they are so valuable to know!

My latest favorites

In the past week I've found some awesome deals and new favorite things around my house...just thought I'd share (that's how excited I am about them!).

Don't you just LOVE this face?

Besides Devin being among my favorites, this little beanie, 50 cents! My boys have rather large noggins so he's in a big kid one and Luke is in an adult one...

These bowls. A.d.o.r.a.b.l.e.

49 cents!

  

Wait, it gets even better...

The adorable bowls were wrapped in these sheets of paper, which kept my 3 year old occupied for at least an hour.

Awesome? I'd say so.

Last week I threw my good friend a baby shower and used some of the cute bowls (I just couldn't give them all away) and filled them with chocolate covered pretzels as the prizes for the games.

Cuteness.

Then at JoAnn's (I haven't been in forever, but I'm starting to get my craft back on) I got this fabric for $5.00 a yard (50% off). I am SO excited to make curtains for my boring kitchen.

Speaking of crafts. I made this cute pillow for the love day. The best part was I had everything to make it!

I found it online somewhere...but not sure of the site.

Another favorite...these girls. At Marilyn's baby shower, we had a grand ole time, until 1am...gesh!

Still going....

This vegetarian (I am not vegetarian btw!) stew....so good! You won't be sorry. Here's the link.

And the girl that I got this delish recipe from, also gave me these super cute vintage alphabet cards. Love them!

I've struuuggled with decorating Luke's room, but it is very, very slowly coming along. 

I found this pig at the dollar store (for yes, a dollar) and it has inspired me for his whole room, strange? Maybe.

One of our favorite things is to hit up the after-holiday sales...where we usually just get way too much candy, but this time I found this too! A cupcake stand for only $2.50!

On the big V-day, I made these fortunate cookies. You heard me right, I made them! Here's the recipe for those. 

And what's Valentines without our favorite sugar cookies???

Oh and another favorite thing, I found some Van Huessen (sp?) zipper ties for Luke at JCPenny...for $2! Score. He looks so handsome too. Sorry no picture.

What are some of your favorite things?

The Birthday Bash

Monday, January 31st, was Luke's 3rd birthday and it was a cold, but beautiful and sunny day!

For weeks, seriously, we've been counting down (we even made a chain) for this day.

I thought it would be fun to have Luke have a little birthday party with his friends. Don't be offended if you weren't invited, he was very specific on who he wanted there. He especially wanted "Spencer, Yogan, Julia, McKay, Sam, Dave, Meg, Doug and Katie (his cousins, aunts and uncles)" there, but I tried to explain to him (showing him a map, several times) that they all lived too far away.

I know that the trendy thing right now is to have lavish, over-the-top, adorable and themed birthday parties (which I would totally do if I could pull it off!), but I wanted to keep it simple and that was enough work for me! 

We had quite a few little friends and their mommies over for games, snacks and fun!

The spread.

I didn't want to serve cake and ice cream to kids ages 19 months-4 years old at 10'o clock in the morning, so I found these adorable little cupcake boxes (top left in the picture) and sent each child home with a cupcake.

Luke asked for "cone hats and cupcakes" for his birthday. My friend made the cupcakes and they were so yummy! Maybe it had something to do with me not having to make them!

I think my favorite thing on the snack table were the animal crackers. I dipped them in Wilton vanilla flavored melting chocolate. They were a hit and quite addicting.

I planned two games and that was just enough for all those little hoolagans. 

We played "Don't Eat Pete" and it was a hit!

We played with Skittles (the Crazy Core kind-they are so good) and it was hilarious to see how almost all of the kids kept sneaking and eating them, it was just too tempting.

Then we headed downstairs (where the music was set up) to have a cup cake walk. Each kid got a little wrapped present, a nurf ball. I think they all had fun.

Here are some of the guests.

Isn't she the cutest little thing?

Marilyn, one of my closest friends out here, who is most likely leaving me very soon (sniff, sniff)-holding my baby on her 8 month pregnant belly. Kate and her baby Eliza, who is also leaving me (in fact almost all of my friends are leaving this year), and Janelle, who is one of the few not leaving!

These hats were just so cute!

Luke even got a few gifts. I had to snap this picture of him, sitting in front of all his guests, digging for gold and his mind off somewhere in la la land. Classic.

Here are some after-party pictures of my sugar-high, messy-faced three-year-old.

 He is so silly and he knows it.

During the party and throughout the rest of the afternoon, every now and then Luke would sneak away from me, go up to my room and find an unopened gift (that he was suppose to wait to open until Dad got home), open it and bring it down stairs to show me. He was so spoiled this year by his friends and family-especially the grandparents! 

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing several games (thanks mom!), his latest favorite thing to do these days. We made a Fun-fetti birthday cake (I think it was more for Matt). He picked the frosting color and wanted lots of sprinkles. I think it ended up looking like a giant doughnut. If you've ever seen Better Off Dead, it looked like the nasty jello thing his mom makes, that walks off the table. Haha. But it's what Luke wanted.

He also got to choose what we had for dinner. Which was green eggs and ham, orange juice and blue waffles.

We sang, blew out the candle, had cake and ice cream, nearly died from a sugar overload and then opened a couple more presents.

We all put birthday hats on to sing to Luke. We put one on Devin and he instantly started screaming (and this kid rarely cries). We thought it was funny, because of his reaction and then we realized the string probably snapped on his face. Poor Devin.

Couple of toy highlights: 

The bow and arrow (he loves Robbin Hood) from us. We soon realized he's not coordinated enough for it, no wonder it says ages 8 and up. But check out that face, that's his "fight off the bad guys" face.

Matt gave him his old Palm Pilot and Luke thinks it's the coolest thing ever. It has games and he can draw on it.

Gma Johnson gave him a doctor case full of doctor "tools" that light up. He especially likes pretending to throw up in the emesis basin-or as normal people know it-one of those barf tray things. Matt was teaching him all the correct-doctor words. And he loves turning into an evil villain doctor and giving us shots.

Whew! It was a fun, but exhausting day. I was so happy to hit the sack that night. 

Luke said he had a great birthday and is already asking for toys he wants for his next birthday.