Uh oh!

 
I'm sure you all have perfect kids right! Well in my family I do not! So I (ok well Pinterest) came up with a solution/game of sorts. Its called the Uh Oh Jar. When the kids do something wrong, whether it be disobey, lie, hit, say unkind things, are disrespectful, whatever, they have to pick a consequence from the Uh Oh Jar. This has been a life saver! In the Uh Oh Jar we put all sorts of consequences, such as To clean the game closet or the garage, mop the floor, or dust. What has become the favorite "consequence" is to do service for someone in the neighborhood.

we have little piece of paper they pick from when they get in trouble

  So a quick story to go along with this. We had my niece come stay with us for about a week over the summer and we were using the Uh Oh Jar. There was a bit of fighting so my 2 daughters and my niece had to pick out of the jar a few times. Well I think the fighting became a game because the 3 girls would pick out of the jar and if they didn't get the service slip they would pick again. Until  they got service for someone in the neighborhood paper, and the next thing I knew, about 45 min passed and they were still gone. I decided I better go check on these girls. I found them down at the front of the neighborhood and they had gone to every house up to the point where I had found them, knocking on each door asking to do service. They had completed several projects, such as taking out trash, watering flowers, or just visiting with people. When I told them they were only supposed to go to one place and they needed to come home with me they asked if they could please visit the rest of the houses.  It was so cute and you could tell how good it made them feel.
  So in more ways than one the Uh Oh Jar has been a success. It has taught them how to serve and enjoy service without receiving anything in return and has helped me get a few things around the house done. Not that I am always perfect with the Uh Oh Jar, but it does come in handy.

Real Heroes Dont Wear Capes

I'm married to a cop.  He is on call tonight and his dinner sits on the stove, cold.  Ill heat it up for him when he gets home, hopefully before its time for breakfast.  He was on call the week of Christmas too.  He got a phone call at 2 am Christmas morning and I was trying to figure out how I was going to keep my two year old away from the stack of presents sitting in the living room.  But thankfully, I was able to pray with my husband this morning and give him a kiss goodbye. My husband was home on Christmas and God willing he will come home tonight.    There are many law enforcement wives who arent so lucky.  Their cop isnt coming home tonight....or any night.
        There is one such wife in Utah who just spent her first valentines day as a widow, and another who sat at her husband's bedside as he recovers from a gunshot wound to the head.  On January 30th Sgt. Cory Wride was killed after he pulled over to help a man whom he thought was a stranded motorist.  A short time later, Deputy Greg Sherwood was shot in the head as he tried to apprehend Sgt. Wride's murderer, but miraculously he survived. I wont lie, every time I hear of something like this happening a part of me says a silent prayer thanking my Father in Heaven that it isnt me....it isnt my husband.  But it is somebody's husband.  It is happening to somebody.
                                                 

A few years ago, before I had even met my husband, I was pulled over by a Highway Patrol Trooper in Utah.  This trooper pulled me over for the stupidest thing which, I actually found out later, wasn't even something he could pull me over for (but honestly, that doesn't really matter).  I was a witch with a capital B to this trooper.  I was not nice and just a snot.  I asked for his name, his supervisor's name, saying I was gonna report him and make sure he got in trouble for being such an a-hole.  He didn't give me a ticket because like I said, I hadn't done anything he could give me a ticket for.  A few days later we were at my Grandparents house and I was telling the story to some of my cousins.  Of course as I'm telling the story I'm proudly saying how snotty I was, what a jerk the trooper was for even pulling me over and that he couldn't even give me a ticket.  My Grandpa heard me telling my story and he stopped me, saying he didn't want to hear another word about how I had disrespected an officer of the law.  Ill never forget the lesson my Grandfather taught me that day (thanks Gramps!).  My Grandfather told me these officers put their lives on the line every single day to protect us, and they deserved respect for what they do.  He told me I should have been grateful to this officer and I should have thanked him for his service rather than argue and berate him as I'm sure others had done that day.  I find it rather ironic that I would end up being married to a police officer and getting a first hand view of how officers are treated and the sacrifices they make on a daily basis.
                                               

       Every time my husband leaves the house for work I say "I love you!  Be Safe!" and there is always a thought in the back of my mind that it could be the last time.  I cant explain to you the feeling when your husband is supposed to be home at 3 am and he still isn't home at 3:10.  The pit in your stomach that just gets bigger as the minutes tick by and he isn't answering your texts or phone calls. The fear that grips you when you wake up from a nightmare of your husband getting shot and he doesn't pick up the phone....for hours.  There have been a few nights I have literally prepared myself to get that knock at the door because I am convinced he isn't answering because something is wrong. 
       The other night my husband was getting ready to go work an off duty job working security at a bar (do you realize most police officers have to work multiple off duty gigs just to make ends meet?).  As he was getting ready he said, "Babe, if something happens to me, always remember how much I love you.  Also, please make sure you always tell my kids how much I loved them.  I want them to always know how much I loved all of you!"  Ill be honest, I got physically sick when he said this.  Of course my mind went to the worst immediately and I was asking if he had some type of premonition, did he think something was going to happen to him that night.  I went so far as to ask him to call and tell them he couldn't come in just to make sure something wouldn't happen.  I think he regretted even saying it once he saw how upset it made me.  He reassured me he wasn't saying anything was going to happen, he just wanted to make sure I knew how much he loved all of us.  Needless to say I didn't sleep well that night until he finally got home at 5 am.  This is the reality for police officers and their families.
       Why am I telling you all of this?  It isn't to complain, I promise.  My husband knew what he was getting into when he made the decision to become a cop and I knew what I was getting into when I married him (ok, not totally but I had an idea).  I tell you this because I ask you to stop and think the next time you get pulled over.  Usually if you have been pulled over it is because of something you have done.  Most cops don't enjoy pulling people over and they don't just do it for fun.  Most cops don't want to give tickets.  They are human.  They know tickets are expensive and they know what a burden they are putting on you and your family.  That being said it is their job.  If you get a ticket it is because you broke the law, not because some cop is trying to meet a quota.  You can be a jerk and cuss that police officer and that police officer will turn right around and give their life for you and their family.  Which leads me to the real reason I am writing this post.
         Traffic stops are one of the most dangerous jobs police officers do if not THE most dangerous.  I am more nervous about my husband pulling someone over than I am about most other calls he goes to.  Police officers have NO IDEA who is behind the wheel of that car.  When Sgt. Wride pulled over that day he thought he was helping a stranded motorist.  He even got out and spoke with the driver and passenger for a few minutes.  He went back to his car and was shot as he was looking up information on his computer.  He was shot through the windshield of his car.  Deputy Sherwood was also shot through his windshield as he was pursuing that piece of trash (who was killed by other officers after he hijacked a car driven by a mother and her two year old child).  If the patrol cars had bullet proof windshields there would be a completely different ending to this story.  I am writing this post to ask you to do your part to protect these men and women who protect you and your family every single day.  Sgt Wride's family has started a petition to put bullet proof glass on all patrol cars.  I am asking you to take a minute to sign the petition by clicking here and  help those who so selflessly help you.  I am asking you to please share the link and ask your friends and family to do their part as well.  We only have until March 7th and we still need a whole lot of signatures to get to the next step.  Please do what you can because I promise, real heroes dont wear capes, they wear badges!                                                     

Lets Talk about Reality

I was supposed to write a post on Thursday. Each of the sisters try to post something once a week. I haven't written for two. I want to tell you why. 

When my sisters and I were talking about starting this blog, they all had these incredible ideas of things they could post, and share, and write about. They are all incredible wives and mothers. I was worried about not having anything to post about that people would want to read. But then my little brother sent me this: 

"In a blog filled with how-to's and fancy meals, we need you to bring it back down to earth, to tell these women that there is more to life than what you can make, that that woman inside needs to be examined from time to time. How to be honest, accountable, faithful. How to reach their full potential which has no correlation with how many crafts they can do. You need to remind them that you sisters are all women just like them who struggle, laugh, cry, and sometimes just get too tired to do anything."

I want to tell you about a woman I know who tried to be perfect at everything. She was crafty, she was thrifty, she made incredible meals, she had 5 kids (at one time 3 of them in diapers), she sewed Easter dresses, she had all of them looking perfect for church on Sunday. She had them all doing piano lessons, dance, and sports. She was the perfect mom.

Little did people know, she was struggling on the inside to be that perfect person that everyone thought you should be at that time. She turned to prescription medications and became addicted to them just so she could get through the day. This is what she resorted to because she thought she had to be perfect in the eyes of society. Is this what we as women should be doing to ourselves to be what society thinks we need to be?

How many of us feel that way? How many of us feel like its almost a competition? Especially with things we see on pinterest or different blogs. The awesome pictures our friends post on social media portraying how "perfect" their life is. I am here to tell you, you do not have to be "her." In fact, please do not be her! Yes pin and post and things for fun but don't do it because you think you have to. Please start showing yourself without makeup when you take the kids to school, please let people know that your child maybe sat in front of Curious George all day because you just couldn't do it. Please let others know that you struggle. We can't build each other up and support each other if we all just think things are perfect and that we are the only one that struggles with one issue or another. You could be struggling with parenting, you could be struggling with weight, you could be struggling with spirituality, infertility, depression, marriage problems, a wayward child, drugs yourself, and the list goes on. It is a silent battle that we deal with on your own everyday and we shouldn't have too. I want to share one of my struggles with you.

Growing up I always pictured how my life would turn out. Graduate high school, marry a returned missionary, and have lots of kids! That is the only thing in my life that I wanted. It still is. I was going to be the perfect wife and mother. I KNEW that is what my purpose in life was to do. 

After high school I sent off a missionary and wrote him pretty faithfully for 2 years. He came home and the timing was just off. He would be ready and I wouldn't. Then I would be ready and he wouldn't. I dated quite a few different guys and things just never worked out. 

I never planned on going to college for a long period of time let alone graduate from it (cuz I just wanted to be a stay at home mom) and yet here I am today with a bachelors degree in nursing. I saw all of my friends get married and have kids. One tough day for me was when my little brother got married before me. I really struggled with that. I was now the only sibling in the family that wasn't married. Why was my life turning out this way? This is not how it was supposed to be! I was not meant to be a lone, and yet that is how I feel.

Over this period of time I started wondering what was wrong with me? Am I not pretty enough, is it my size, am I too loud, too opinionated, too educated, is it because I don't like snowboarding and hiking, is my hair the wrong color, am I not funny enough, too sarcastic, too conservative, etc. etc. etc. Why am I not married? People ask me that all the time "So how come your not married yet? Is something wrong with you?" I am sick of trying to figure out an answer to that ever present question.

So here I am 28 and single. Yes I have a career, I have a house, and I am an aunt to soon to be 12 nieces and nephews! Don't get me wrong, I love those things, but what is my purpose now?

This is what I have been trying to learn about myself. What is my purpose? My sweet 7 year old niece told me the other day when we were talking about my job as a nurse "it is like you are saving a piece of the world."

I was kind of taken back by this comment. Here I was this whole time WAITING for my purpose in life to happen to me, WAITING to be the perfect wife and mother, WAITING on a marriage that I thought would bring me to my full potential. While I have been waiting, I have been missing out on what potential I have and what purpose I have already been fulfilling. 

I'm not going to say I have found it and am great with the way things are, because it is something I have to work on everyday. But I will say, that through some experiences I have had just recently and decisions I have had to make, I have really had to take the time and find my worth.

I was having a conversation with my dad and we were talking about how I was always trying to change things and control things. A new car, a new house, a new hair style. I discovered that through these changes I have been trying to make myself worthy to me. Does that make sense? My family can tell me all they want that I am an important part of them, my boss can talk about how I am a key team member in their company, my patients can tell me about how great I am as their nurse and how they couldn't do it without me. But until I love myself, and have a sense of self-worth those are all just small drops in a cup. 

So this is what I am trying to do. I am working on loving me for who I am. Learning about me and who I am and who I want to be. This is something that I have just started to let myself face and I have a long way to go but hopefully we can do it together. Lets learn to love who we are for what we are right now. Not love who we think we will be when we have this or that, or can do this or that. What is one thing you love about yourself today? Right now? In this moment? Recognize it. Build on it. Cherish it. Hold onto that small piece of self-worth you have right now. Just for today. Be ok with that piece and tomorrow you can worry about the next one.

Cute easy bow tutorial

I am always in need of a pink bow.  I think the bow troll comes and eats them in the middle of the night because they always disappear.  This is an easy bow to make and looks super cute. 

Supplies for 1 bow: 

(I always make my bows in pairs in case of pigtails. )

1 stretchy ponytail holder

3-5 different ribbons cut at 7 inches (personal preference)

Lighter 

I gathered 4 different pieces of pink ribbon.  I mostly used scraps.   Cut all pieces at 7 inches.  I like my ribbons a little long (see picture).  The shortest you should cut should be 5 inches. On this bow I just cut my ends with a straight cut.  It is also cute to do a v cut or a slanted cut.  Heat seal your ends by just running the end of the ribbon through the flame of a lighter.  This makes it so your ends don't fray.   

 Tie the ribbon in a double knot onto the ponytail holder.  

 Notice the you don't have to fill up the whole band.  Most likely you will be doubling or tripling the hair band so it will fill in the gaps.  

They look so cute in the hair.  I love the fun funky way these bows look in the hair.  They are super easy to make.  

 Here it is from the back side with two pigtails.  These ponytail holders usually don't hold the hair very well so I will secure the pony with a elastic band and then add the bow.  

Here is a picture of some more I have made.  I added some scrapbook fibers that I had on hand to a couple of the bows.  I just wanted you all to see the difference in using different sizes of ribbon.  

Olympic Closing Ceremonies Russian Style

My husband lived in Russia for a few years and so what better for the closing ceremonies for the Olympics than to show an easy Russian favorite that you can prepare for your family. It's one of our family favorites its called Russian Pelmeni. It resembles a gyosa. It is generally eaten at Holidays or celebrations.

this will pretty much be all you need

dough

1-egg

1-pinch of salt

1/2 cup cold water

add flour until firm

I did this in my kitchen aid then added it into the bag

add dough into a plastic bag and let sit sometimes squeezing bag. You will do this for about 20 min. 

Meat

1-lb Hamburger (you can also do half hamburger and half sausage)

2- tbs garlic

1- onion

salt - to taste

pepper- to taste

you mix it all together raw. And leave it all raw.

I know gross. Sorry guys!

Next Step is to roll out your dough and place your meat into it. You can make to circle as big or small as you want. I just took one of my daughters sippy cups. It actually seems like just the right size.

you then take and pinch all sides together and take the 2 ends and bring them together they kind of look like tortellini.

this is just a bunch finished

Next Step is to boil water 2-3 bay leaves and 4-5 boullion cubes.

Places your pelmeni in the boiled water stir the bottom for a minute. The meat is still raw and don't worry it will cook as it is being boiled. As soon as you see the pelmeni come to the surface they are done.

this is just showing you it still in the pot with Pelmeni  rising

most Russians like to eat it with the broth that you cooked it in and adding a spoonful of sour cream. Thats how we eat it and its really good.

Well I hope you try it. Our family loves it and it really is good! Enjoy!

Saving Memories

For my post today I wanted to share with you a fun idea that I added to my daughter's baby book. When I had my adorable baby, she had a little bit of a struggle when she came into the world and spent some time in the NICU.  I had an overwhelming support system from my Facebook family to help me get through this troubled time. I wanted to come up with a way to preserve all those nice comments and congratulations that brought me so much happiness during this really hard trial we had to face in our life. I'm really bad at scrapbooking; however, I recently discovered a store by my house that sells Memory Works and Simple Stories. They have albums, pocket page protectors, cute paper, stickers and a bunch more. You can also find them on amazon or through Google. Here is what I came up with.

For the first page I took what my husband said to announce her into the world and then what I said.

 

The next page was for some keepsake items.  I included things like her little name tag and a little Turkey foot print design we made in the NICU (she was there around Thanksgiving). 

Then I printed all the comments I had from Facebook and glued them on cute paper and placed them in the slots throughout the pages. 

One thing I really loved about doing this project was that it was so easy.  All I had to do was slide everything into the little pockets and it looks so good! 

I hope this helps you out.  I just love looking through all the amazing things that people said.  It really helps me remember all those feelings I had during that time and how I was able to get through everything. I also can't wait to show my little girl, when she gets older, how all these people care about her so much.

Who Wrote the "Book of Love".... Why You did.

Today is the day of LOVE so what is better than posting about some sort of gift. Well I thought about something that is more meaningful than just gadgets, clothes or jewelry. It can be a last minute gift and not expensive at all. And it goes beyond just a day.  A few years back at Christmas, out of the blue my husband's employer stopped paying him. It was completely unexpected and really brought on a lot of stress and worry. As we were deciding what to do for Christmas, we determined that we wanted our kids to have a good Christmas. We bought them presents and gave up our own. But the thought came to me that I still wanted him to have something. So to all of you who may be on a tight budget or who are looking for something last minute, or want something a little more sentimental, this is surely a gift that keeps on giving for years. It can also be passed on for generations. Here it is.

I made my husband a Memory Book of sorts where we write to each other.

the many "riesens" why I love you!

this is the inside cover the explanation of the book and the date  we started it

random page in the book and a letter he gave me when he gave me a girls weekend.

My husband and I will write when we have feelings, thoughts, gratitudes, and when we feel the other needs to be uplifted. We put it on the other persons side of the bed. I love to go back and read it. It rekindles my love for my husband. And in years to come my kids will see the love that we had and have for each other. Kind of gives me the Nicholas Sparks' "Notebook" type of feel.  And look.... My kids don't even know about this book and i found this on it and I have to laugh.

its a sticker that says "my heart's dearest"

So, you can make a cute little dinner at home or a fun dessert (maybe the chocolate covered strawberries and Italian Sodas from the previous posts on here). Write a little something in your own book and you have a great meaningful Valentine's with the one you love.

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

  

An Old-Fashioned Valentines!

            I love the season of LOVE! But when you're on a tight budget like me and you're putting your husband through that last semester of College and having that extra mouth to feed, you need to be a little creative. This year for valentines we were going to stay home maybe have a few friends over and have a great relaxing night. I wanted to do something a little different that we don't normally do on a normal day. I thought it would be fun to have some fun old fashion drinks that would be great for our whole family to enjoy.

                     Old-Fashioned Italian Creme Soda

                 I'm really  loving that there's so much you can do with the syrup flavors and the different concoctions  you can make with them. Here is how I made these:

 Ingredients:

(this is for one glass maybe 2 with small glasses like mine)

1/2 cup carbonated water ( I have a soda stream so I just make my own but you can also buy club soda)
2 or 3 ice cubes
2 tablespoons of Vanilla Torani syrup (you can buy this at Walmart for about $3.50)
You can also get the syrups at any restaurant supply kind of store (like Orson Gygi in the Salt Lake City area) 
1 tablespoon of Raspberry Torani syrup ( I bought sugar free from Walmart but it's much better not sugar free, if you don't mind  the extra calories.  You can buy this here) 
1 tablespoon half and half
whip cream till your heart desires. 

Directions:

     The first thing I did was combine all the syrup and carbonated water together in a separate measuring pouring cup and stirred it together with a metal spoon. * Also you can decide if you want more raspberry or vanilla flavoring, I did a lot of experimenting and this one was my favorite, but have fun and make it your own.
I then poured that into my fancy cup with the two ice cubes and measured out a tablespoon of half and half and poured it over the top.  Next is the topping of the whip cream and I was very generous with that! When you're ready to drink it, give it a little swirl with your straw to mix it up a bit and it seriously is so yummy.  The best part is you can get a lot of bang from your buck with each cup costing around $0.20.  ENJOY!!

We love you "Berry" Much

Yesterday was my Father in laws birthday so I just had the inlaws over for dinner.  We had chicken pot pie and it was SO good! I would give you the recipe but I got it at.....Costco.  Seriously, I love that place! Anyway, I wanted to do a little birthday / valentine gift for my in laws so I decided to do chocolate covered strawberries and say "We love you BERRY much". It was SO cute and so easy!! 

I saw the easiest way to make chocolate covered strawberries on facebook one day.  I tried it and after making a few changes I love it.  It is so quick and easy I make it all the time.  (I will say, they arent the prettiest strawberries.  I actually tried a couple different ways to apply the chocolate to make them prettier, but I wasnt successful.  I was in a hurry though because I was making these and trying to get them done before my inlaws got here.  If you try them yourself and find a way to make them "pretty" let us know!!)  I had my little helper today and Im lucky I had any chocolate left!

All you need is chocolate and strawberries.  I use four chocolate bars for one ice cube tray of strawberries.  (Florida strawberries are in season right now and they are so sweet and delicious!) First you need to cut up your strawberries and put the pieces in an ice cube tray. I find it easiest to just cut the top off and cut them in half.  Lay them flat side down in the ice cube tray.  

Next, you need to melt your chocolate. I know there are different ways to melt chocolate so do whatever works best for you.  I melt mine in the microwave.

To melt chocolate in the microwave cut your chocolate into small, equal size pieces.  Make sure they are equal size so they melt evenly.  Put your chocolate pieces in a microwave safe bowl.

I use my pyrex glass bowl.  You need a bowl that will stay cool enough that you can pick it up with your hands during the heating process.  If the bowl gets too hot for you to touch, it is too hot and will burn your chocolate (if you burn your chocolate just add a few pieces of unheated chocolate bar and it should be ok).  You are going to heat your chocolate for anywhere between 1 - 2 minutes (depending on your microwave and the chocolate), a few seconds at a time stirring in between. I do 45 seconds to start and then take it out and stir.

Use a rubber spatula and stir the chocolate.  This is what mine looked like the first time I took it out.  After stirring, put it back in for 15 more seconds, take it out and stir again.  Do this as many times as you need to before the chocolate is completely melted but not burnt.  I only had to do it twice.

This is how mine looked the last time I took it out.  Now its time to cover the strawberries. This is where I tried to get creative.  I tried dipping a whole strawberry in the chocolate and also dipping it and covering it with a spoon.  Neither worked very well for me.

So, my suggestion is just covering the strawberry halves you put in the ice cube trays with chocolate using a spoon.  As I said, they aren't the prettiest strawberries (also, I had taken so long trying to find other ways to do the chocolate that my chocolate had started to set by the time I just covered the berries.  I had to hurry and just glop the chocolate on, so they are even more sloppy looking then usual...sorry!)

Once you have covered all of the berries put the tray in the refrigerator (the original recipe I saw said to put them in the freezer.  This works faster but, not only does it freeze the chocolate but it also freezes the strawberries.  Once the strawberries thaw they seemed to be runny and didnt taste so good.  When you put them in the fridge it still solidifies the chocolate but the strawberries maintain their natural taste and texture). It takes about an hour for the chocolate to solidify enough to work with.  The longer you leave it in there the harder the chocolate will get.  Once you take them out, the easiest way to get the berries out of the tray is with a knife:

Now, in my hurry to finish I didnt get a picture of just the berries out of the tray. But I did get some pictures of them in the bags.  I bought clear cellophane bags from the dollar store that came with silver ties.  I made tags out of my scrapbook paper that said "We love you Berry much" and I had my little girl "decorate" them. I thought about making them all cute with valentine stuff, but my family would rather see my little girl's drawing than my hearts.  So, it may not look all professional, but to me it is perfect!

Happy Valentines Day!