A Tough Week To Be Jane...

This has definitely been a bad week for little people named Jane Eleanor Alexander. She fought a fever of 103 for three days, got pushed into a door frame by her "loving" sister, and never gets to go to dance class or preschool! Life just isn't fair! Here are some pictures from her "week O fun."

Schweaty hair and a really high fever...at least Daddy's cuddling her :)

Gracie's "I don't know what you're talking about" face. Little devil.

The hugest, most alien goose egg of all time was brought into existence on Janie's forhead. Grace pushed her down and she hit her bedroom door frame on the way. I was so freaked out I ran downstairs and woke up mom and dad to look at it too. I almost took her to the doctor's, but she fell asleep after I held ice on it for a while and so I just let her take a long nap. Poor thing. It was truly sickening to see. It has healed really quickly and all that's left is a greenish bruise that's fading each day.A much happier girl...she loves to hang out and "help" me do the dishes. It's kind of like a race to see how many dishes she can pull out while I'm putting more in! (Usually she wins and I just give up on the dishes altogether :) She can't resist all the sippy cups...that's why she's reaching up into the top basket. Maybe she's experimenting with fermentation and I keep jacking up all the test results!

Quote of the Day:

"For two people in a marriage to live together day after day is unquestionably the one miracle the Vatican has overlooked." - Bill Cosby

Song: Satellite, Guster

Home Again, Home Again

We got home last night from our trip to Reno...eight hours in the car with my two kids and I was about to go Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on their...butts. It was totally worth it though because we had such a great time with Dennis and Tawny! They made us feel so welcome and their house is so clean and comfortable that we felt right at home. We played Loaded Questions and Chicken Bones (at which Denny will proudly tell you his winning score of 4 points! I think it's some kind of a record...especially for a first timer! Yeah, he schooled us all.) And we had tacos and steaks and Round Table pizza! Them's the makings of a great few days! We even drove up to lake Tahoe and were amazed at how very beautiful it was. Sunlight glittering on a lake (or the ocean) is one of Heavenly Father's most beautiful works of art. We're glad to be home though so I don't have to worry about the girls pulling down D's curtains anymore...don't ask :)

Question of the day...
What can you find at home that you find nowhere else?

Over the river and through the woods...

We're heading to Nevada in the morning to visit Dennis and Tawny! Joe has to give a work presentation in Reno on Tuesday night, so the girls and I are tagging along so we can kick it with our homies! JK We are so excited to go and see their new digs and play some games with them. I wish they lived closer so we could hang out more often. Oh well. We'll just take advantage of mileage reimbursement from Joe's work :)

Quote of the Day:

"In America, there are two classes of travel: First class, and with children." -- Robert Benchley

MNF

Monday Night Football = lots of reading time for Heather! I seriously do love football season, but for me, background noise is usually the way I prefer to take it. It gives me lots of time to do things that I don't have time to do during the off season. For example, today we bought our very own copy of Loaded Questions. It's a great game that we play every time we're with the Alexander clan. I found it at Target and got one. So, while Joe was occupied with kickoff, I cleaned out our game cabinet and got rid of a bag of garbage and a few games that we never play. I took out all the girls' games to be stored elsewhere so that I can make it the RULE that in order to open the game cabinet you have to know what a maxi pad is for. Grace, the Queen of Chaos can make quick work of a game cabinet, leaving destruction and despair in her wake so next time she's at su casa, lock it up! You think I'm joking.

Have you ever read a book that was so great that you just didn't want to put it away on your bookshelf? I finished reading Dune a couple of weeks ago and it was so good. Just SO, SO GOOD! I do love a hefty dose of Sci Fi every now and again, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I liked it so much, but Dang! It was GREAT! If you like that genre, I highly recommend it. I'm sad that I had to update my widget to show that I had moved on to another book :( LOL.

"Show me the books he loves and I shall know the man far better than through mortal friends."
~ Dawn Adams ~

We Are Family

Here's the last installment of pictures from our fun family get-together. We were so sad that we didn't get to stay and have fun in Torrey, so we were glad to have another family fling that we got to participate in.

The Fam...minus one angel who's making sure Gracie and Janie are hiking safely :)

The cousins all played dress up and this outfit was by far the favorite :) It was Zoe's halloween costume a few years back but on this trip it was a cat AND a horse for all to enjoy!

Here he comes...the zulu chief, cheif, chief!

Dad rocked everybody at pool!

There was a nice walking path along the back of the condo, next to the golf course. Pretty~

Grandpa and Janie (and IceBat).

Grandpa and Gracie in the "gondol" - that's what the kids called it :)

Check out that view behind them! It was quite spectacular! Somehow though, with kids running around you can't spend much time looking at the view...you're fixing skinned knees, rocks in shoes, cries of "carry me, carry me!" etc.

We played lots of games at night and Joe and I even learned a few new ones that are keepers! Speed Scrabble was fun, so was Chicken Bones...Andrea and Ryck's domino game creation that is complicated and pretty hilarious ;) We're eagerly awaiting the Chicken Bones blog unveiling sometime soon :) All in all, GREAT times! We missed the Pope family though and hope they're settling into their new abode in Washington. Love you guys!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

We got back last night from a 4 day family vacation up in Ogden canyon. Joe's parents, our family, and the Tanners were all there and we had a blast! There were 5 cousins altogether...ALL GIRLS! And they had a grand old time playing together all weekend!

Playing up at Snowbasin resort...

At the park in Eden...

My little beauty...

Janie, the Halloween cat :)

Poor Janie got pretty tired each day, as she didn't get to nap :( But she was a good sport most of the time :)
Big dimple :)
The girlie gang!
Doing the chicken dance to a polka band...it doesn't get much goofier than that!
I love this action shot of Zoe!

Janie loved these rocking banana chairs. She would rock out :)

Okay, so this was how the sleeping arrangements were SUPPOSED to work, but little Gracie freaked out when she woke up in the dark and didn't know where in the world she was, so she slept in our room on the floor for the remainder of the trip.

They liked the closet under the stairs for coloring, but we weren't supposed to know they were in there because it was their "secret" :)

Up at Snowbasin...

In the Jacuzzi on the last night. When we finally took them out they were beet red and hotter than the 4th of July :) LOL

We had a really wonderful time and wish that our Tanner cousins lived closer so we could play more often. We love you guys!

Lots more pictures tomorrow...

Gracie and Dayton's Awesome Preschool!

Grace and Dayton attend a home-based preschool a couple of blocks away from our house. They adore their teacher (who has the patience and gentleness of a saint) and are learning all their letters, numbers, reading, shapes, etc. etc. Here are some pictures that their teacher posted on her blog...

Last friday, all 6 boys in the class were absent! The girls had a blast dressing up, since it was all-girls day! Gracie is the frog standing on the couch...LOL!
Little Froggy getting dressed up...

Here's dayton building an exact replica of the eiffel tower!
Gracie is inside a huge bubble! Can you see it??
All the kiddos with their Fall wreaths that they made last week. Most of the kids thought they were hats...:)

Milk Toast and Squeaky Bean Soup

Hey ya'll! Jen asked for the recipe for Milk Toast and the Squeaky Beans were SOOOO delicious (ask mom...we ate half a pot by ourselves last night) that I thought I'd post that one too. Here they are:

Milk Toast

Half a stick of butter
4 or 5 T flour
Milk
1/4 C or so of white sugar
Toasted Bread

In a medium saucepan, brown the butter. Add flour and whisk until it soaks up all the butter and makes a thick paste (add as much flour as you need for this, my measurement was a guestimate). Add milk to about 3/4 of the way up the side of the saucepan. Whisk over medium-high heat until the milk starts to simmer and thicken. When it can coat the back of a spoon, add sugar (this measurement is also a guestimate...add as much as you like until it's sweet enough for you.) Whisk a few more minutes until it's nice and thick.

Toast two pieces of bread. Break it into bite-size pieces and put it in a bowl. Add a few ladlefulls of the milk mixture on top. Eat. Enjoy. Repeat.


Squeaky Bean Soup

1 pound bacon
1 onion, chopped fine
4 or 5 potatoes peeled and quartered
large bag of greenbeans tipped and stringed
Salt and/or Mrs. Dash seasoning

Brown the bacon in a soup pot. Add onion and cook with bacon until clear. Add potatoes and green beans and water to just cover the veggies. Boil until potatoes are done. Check for seasoning...I usually have to add two hefty pinches of kosher salt to make it salty enough. Add some Mrs. Dash if you feel so inclined.

Serve with sourdough bread. Enjoy!!!!

Mom says these are "depression food" dishes because they ate them during the depression. But I think they're "depression food" because I eat them when I'm depressed and they make me HAPPY! Love you all!!

Missing Joe...

Joe's been out of town two full weeks this month (separated by one at-home week) and it has really been lonely without him :( (I know, I know, poor me, boo hoo, right?) Well I miss him a lot, dang it! He flies home tomorrow morning and the girls and I can't wait to go and pick him up at the airport.

We've been keeping pretty busy this week with preschool, library story time, and my humongous project...sorting and separating all of the girls' toys into four big bins for rotation. Phew! I am so proud of myself for finishing that task. We ended up with three big bins of toys and two big bins of stuffed animals. Yowza. That's all I'm gonna say.

This morning I made milk toast for breakfast and for dinner we're having squeaky bean soup...I must have the spirit of Grandma Bean with me today or something. She was such a sweet lady. I hope that I can be a kind hearted woman like she was...eventually...when I've gained more patience and tolerance...and a frizzy perm. Just a few days ago was the one year anniversary of her death. I'm sad that she's gone, but happy that she's square dancing with Grandpa Bean this very minute.

"I'm going to marry a Jewish woman because I like the idea of getting up Sunday morning and going to the deli. " - Michael J. Fox

Silly, Silly, Silly

Life in our house could easily be described as "Silly" for the majority of the time :) Here are some pics of our silliness...

I love the hairnet :)
Shakierra dressed her up for her "purple passion" themed wedding.

Two seconds before Joe took this picture she was whining and howling and then he aimed the camera at her and she took up the cheeseball act :)

Oh, and guess what! Costco has those delicious french chololates again...not sure what they're called exactly but they're dusted with cocoa powder and come in a pack of two boxes. If you like chocolate then seriously, pick up a box next time you're there. They do not dissappoint!

(Aside: A lot of my posts seem to be about food lately...hmmmmm.)

"There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will." - Robert Frost

"Uh. I can hear you getting fatter!"

If you're the first to name the actor and the movie from the title of this post, I'll send you a care package of these yummies (if you want them). Are they healthy? Um, not so much. Are they "holy crow those were delicious" tasty? You betcha!

I cut this recipe out of Wondertime magazine (thanks for selling subscriptions Myles!) a few months back and finally got around to trying it out today. The results were uber-delectable! Gracie had fun placing the crackers on the sheet and then the pecans onto the crackers.

Pecan Crispies

2 packages of graham crackers, broken into sections

1 C pecan halves

1 C butter

1/2 C sugar

1/4 C brown sugar, packed

pinch of salt

Heat the oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet (or two) with foil and spray generously with PAM. Cover pan with graham cracker sections. Put a pecan half (or two) in the center of each section.

Combine butter, sugars and salt in a saucepan. Stirring constantly, bring to a rolling boil. Working quickly, spoon syrup over the crackers - first onto the nuts to glue them down, then onto the rest of the cracker.

Bake 10 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Cool pan on rack for 10 minutes, then quickly lift crackers off the pan with a spatula and cool on foil or parchment.

Enjoy!

Tiny Dancer

Gracie has started taking a ballet class once a week! (instead of doing gymnastics, since that was so far away) She loves it and looks absolutely DARLING in her tights and leotard :) Here are some pics of her in her getup.

They come out of class all together each time and Gracie always makes a bee-line for this trike in the teacher's garage :) Her tricycle has had a flat tire (which we have fixed three times! count 'em, three!!!) and she has never really gotten to ride it. Poor thing is going to be way underdeveloped in the bicycle riding department until next year. Sheesh! Dayton is ready for a bike without training wheels already! Oh well :)

Enjoy the new tunes! The song of the day is Roy Orbison's Mystery Girl. One of my favorites (even though Joe can't stand RO) :)

Grandma Sue's House

The other day I asked Gracie, "Who is your favorite friend to play with?" And she replied, "Grandma Sue!" So in honor of that endearing response...here are some pics of us hanging out at Grandma Sue's house the other day.

Truly, we belong together (eye rolling smiley needed here :))

Myles serenading himself with a poem and a rose :)

Gracie in her Elmo undies and Grandma Sue!

Janie and Grandma!

No explanation necessary.

Pretty lady!

Myles mid-worm :) We have a whole series of these shots...I wonder if I can put them all together with funny worm-ism music? :)

Don Williams

The other day I bought an Alison Krauss CD and loved one of the songs on it. It is called "Lay Down Beside Me" and it is a really beautiufl love song. I listened to it a bunch of times and then it finally dawned on me...this sounds like it should be a Don Williams song! Well guess what? I searched for it on iTunes and it IS a DW song! Do I know my DW or WHAT??

Okay, there is a slight possibility that I've heard DW sing the song in the past and just forgotten all about it until that epiphany. But in any case, I was all pleased with myself that I had been so clever! LOL

I found a video of the Don singing this lovely song on YouTube and posted it right over there...right there ---> Do you see it? Top right corner...right THERE! So if you feel so inclined, sit back and let the best voice in country music serenade you :)

Ya'll come back now, ya hear?

Continued...

Two posts in one day! It's either feast or famine around here, eh? Here are some more new pictures...

Janie's a big kid now and got a new carseat to prove it! Wierdly enough, she doens't like to watch the DVDs in the car like Gracie does. Hmm.

Doesn't she look just like Jim Carey's In Living Color character who irons her lips? LOL

Here's the same hairdo...just at the END of the day. Notice the oreo crumbs around her mouth. "Oreo? What oreo? I know nothing about said oreo!"

A Normal Day...

I thought this was a sweet picture of Janie. She's been extremely fussy the last week or so and she's driving me nuts, so pictures like this remind me of how sweet she really is...even if she's teething right now :)

Her best good cousin Myles! Isn't he a handsome scout? He hung out with us this weekend while Ape and Brad went on their 2nd anniversary celebration! Congratulations guys! Myles is getting older so fast that it's freaky! Love you bud!!

Here's Gracie all decked out in bug-catching gear! I was pretty darn pleased with myself for catching her a huge-mongous praying mantis hiding in the carrots in our garden :)

Janie's walking all over the place these days! She wheels off balance quite often, but it's cute to watch!

Joey's on a business trip this week and his girlies are missing him bad...so is his lady :( He gets home Saturday, though, so we're glad he doesn't have to stay over the weekend.

Well, this is seriously the driest, most boring post ever, so I'll end the misery here...No, Here!

"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance." - Franklin P. Jones