Merry Christmas!

What do you do when you want to do a Nativity for Christmas Eve, but you only have 1 baby girl and 7 boys?  You bribe of course.  I offered Owen $5.00 if he would play Mary.  He is smart.  He said he'd do it for $6.00.  He even agreed to wear my princess Lea wig to make it more authentic.  Baby Crew was the perfect baby Jesus and baby Evelyn was a beautiful angel.

This...is Tasty!

Several years ago I discovered Kneaders hot chocolate.  It was divine and I would find myself picking some up regularly throughout the winter. I can't even tell you why it was so good...but it was.  A year or so ago they had the nerve to change their recipe.  How dare they!  And sadly, it is not nearly as good as it once was.  I keep trying it, hoping they would change back, but I don't think that's going to happen.

Since then, I have tried to find a replacement that was as tasty as that hot chocolate and I have yet to find one.  And, I am picky.  If I have to get out of my car and get cold to buy it, then it's not an option.  Have I told you I'm lazy too?   That leaves fancy store bought brands at the grocery store or a drive through.  

But yesterday I found something that is pretty darn good.  Not quite as good as the Kneaders hot chocolate, but pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself.   It calls for these 2 ingredients.

First you need to buy some store bought hot chocolate mix.  I would skip on the Swiss Miss and buy something better than that. Make the hot chocolate according to the directions but don't add as much liquid as it calls for.

Once it is hot and steamy add a little bit of heavy cream.  This is what makes it thick and I've found this is what most hot chocolates out there are lacking.  It doesn't take a lot and it's up to you to decide how thick you want it.

And this is my little discovery.  These delightful mint truffles from Hershey.  Now I'm a big fan of chocolate, but if you line up chocolate brands and I had to choose one, Hershey would not be at the top of my list.  However, these are really good.  So good I can eat them one after another.

Toss one of these babies into your hot chocolate and let it melt.  It adds a bit more chocolate flavor and just a hint of mint.  Delightful.  I'm guessing these are seasonal because I found them in the Christmas candy section.  I plan on buying a load of these and then hiding them from myself only to be used for hot chocolate.

And there you have it!  Enjoy!

This Boy is Changing...

Right before my eyes.  So fast I can almost see it.  These were taken about 11 months apart.  He's not a boy anymore.  He's a young man. 

Creative Writing

Back story  (cliff-notes version)


About a month ago, Tyler and Emily brought their dog Ailee over to play with our dog.  Before they let her into our backyard the boys gathered up the chickens and put them back in the coop.  Unfortunately a chicken was left out and we didn't realize it.  Ailee found her and by the time we noticed, Ailee was beginning to eat her.  We didn't know what to do, so we said a few kind words about Butterscotch, put her in a trash bag and threw her into the trash.  End of story.

Current Story

Chase's teacher sent home a Thanksgiving recipe book.  The book is full of recipes told by her students.  They are all very humorous.  Here is Chase's recipe  for chicken.

"Chicken is better than turkey because you can get gravy on it.  You buy a chicken that is not alive because you get them at stores and I have not seen any chickens that are alive at stores.  We have chickens, and one died, but we are not going to eat it because it still has a little bit of guts in it.  A dog ripped the rest of the guts out, but it still has a little bit of guts in it so we threw it in the trash instead of eating it.   The people at the store kill the chickens and gut them out with gloves.  They take feathers out with their hands.  Then they put the heads in the trash.  The rest is just the white chicken. The rest is all ovaled.  You cook it for 15 minutes until it is not burned.  It looks the same, but it is hot.  Set the table with forks and plates.  Eat the whole thing, but not the bones.  They are not in the chicken."

Loved it.

What I'm Grateful For

The other day I was sitting in our family room.  I can't remember what I was doing, but I was probably avoiding some work that I needed to do and instead was enjoying a book or trying to get to the next level on Candy Crush.

The back door opened and in came Owen from school.  He yelled "Hi Mom!" before he even saw me.  Right after he said that, it kindof struck me as bizarre.  Why would he say hi if he hadn't even seen me?  Then I realized that he knew I was home.  He knows that I am always home when he gets back from school.  He doesn't need to see me to know that.

It was a small little validation to myself that I was doing something right.  I am grateful for many things in my life.  But today, I am grateful that I have been able to stay home with my kids.

Workin' in the Dark

Since this past spring we have been working on one side of our house. You know, the side of the house that no one sees that is full of weeds and anything else that gets tossed over there? Scott has been slowly, but surely building a new chicken coop. Although he still has the trim and some odds and ends to finish, it is functional and our ladies are enjoying their new home. We have even trained them to use a pet door, so we don't have to open and close the little chicken door morning and night.

Last week we decided that we would put some landscape fabric down, buy some rocks and finish the area. I had this grand idea to shovel rocks for FHE and then go out for ice cream after. That is all find and dandy except that it now gets dark at 5:30. We didn't even get out there until 6:30. But we didn't let a little darkness stop us. We put on our coats and hats, turned on the outdoor lights and shoveled away. We finished just in the nick of time. The cold weather is here to stay I'm afraid.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas....

Although all my kiddos have been telling me what they want for Christmas for several months, this is my first written request so far.  I found this on my bed about a week ago.

 

This one I found on my bed about 15 minutes later.

 

Luckily, I never take any of these things seriously because they change their minds about weekly.

It's good to know that the stores aren't the only ones that like to start the season as early as possible

2nd Annual Larsen Halloween Dinner!

So Proud of my Owen!

Owen was up at 6:30 in the morning the day he was baptized.  He was very excited!  So proud of this good decision he made. 

Meet Skorpy

Because Chase had a compound fracture, the Canadian doctors had to go in and clean inside his arm before they could set the bones.   According to Chase's local orthopedic surgeon, they did a good job up there.  However, they really didn't think twice about how his scar was going to look.  When he had his cast taken off a few weeks ago, we finally got a good look at it.

It is a doozy.  And, to Chase's delight it looks like a bug.  He actually thinks it looks like a scorpion and started to affectionately call it Skorpy.  So the name has stuck.  And now when we ask how his arm is feeling we also ask how Skorpy is doing as well.  Pretty cool for a boy.

It took him about a week to start using it again and now, you wouldn't even know that he had broken his arm.

Behind the Scenes

Turning in all his schoolwork and homework. Yep

Keeping his socializing to a minimum at school. Yep

Coming home from school and doing his homework without complaint. Yep

Having a good attitude about what he needs to do.  Yep

So proud of this kid.

Italian Vegetable Stew

"The more a child is exposed to new foods the more likely he/she seems to try and become familiar with them.  A child may need 10–15 tastes of a new food to develop a liking for it so giving up after a few attempts will generally fail to introduce the new food."

10-15 times.  Really?  Is that all.  I would like to challenge that.

 Yesterday I picked another recipe from my favorite recipe website, America's Test Kitchen.  I thought it looked good and when I pick out new recipes to try, I rarely think about what my kids would like to eat.  I know that is totally selfish of me.  But hey, since I'm the one cookin' I get to pick out what we eat.

I bought all the ingredients and chopped them all up.  It wasn't until this stage in the recipe, that the thought occurred to me "My kids are going to hate this." Bell peppers, zucchini, potatoes, eggplant, garlic, tomatoes and onions just to name a few.  Seriously good stuff. 

 Once I finished making it, I knew I was going to like it.  It smelled heavenly.

And sure enough. I set it on the table and immediately got grimmaces all around.

One child tried it and said it was o.k. I'm thinking he was just being nice. 

One child decided he could eat the potatoes and the soup part. The only parts he liked. He then reluctantly admitted that the soup part tasted o.k., but it made his mouth hot.

One child wouldn't even touch it and then decided he would strain everything out except for the soup part and potatoes when I told him no more rolls until he ate some soup.

And a fourth child watched the three other ones and copied their behavior.

They either filled up on the Rustic Dinner Rolls that I also made from this website. Dairy free I might add and quite delicious.  Or they just picked at their soup and pretended to eat it, knowing that was all they were getting for dinner.

Scott and I both thought the soup tasted great. But sadly, with this kind of reaction from my boys I may have to shelf that recipe for awhile.

Which brings me back to my first statement.  Only 10-15 times? No way. I have made countless recipes with the same vegetables over and over and over, hoping that they would start to like them. And still, they refuse to eat peppers, tomatoes and onions and anything that is green or leafy or different in any way whatsoever.  So whoever makes these kind of statements is living in a dream land as far as I'm concerned.

As for me, I will continue to make recipes that include these ingredients with the hope that someday they will like them.  Someday......

Saying No No to Dairy.

Owen is a tough little guy.  Ever since he was a little one he has struggled with eczema.  I have taken him to many doctors only to get told the same thing.  "We don't know what causes it.  Your best bet is to just put a lot of lotion on him and keep chemicals off his clothes."

And so I have. You name it, I have tried it.  After going to see another allergist this past spring, I have been vigilant in making sure he bathes daily and gets lotioned up twice a day.  His skin has never looked better, but the eczema is still there, just waiting for me to miss a day.

Not only is he itchy most of the time, he has some allergies as well.  Juniper, weeds, grass, sagebrush and cats are the ones we know about.  If I give him a Zyrtec, that helps the runny nose, but he is still very congested and ends up snuffling all day.  And speaking of a runny nose, if you look closely at his nose you will see a white line.  I have learned from several doctors that that is a sure sign of allergies in children.  Their nose is constantly running and they are constantly wiping it. 

A few weeks ago, I decided to take him to an ear, nose and throat doctor. When I told her his symptoms and problems, she was not at all surprised that he had allergies and eczema.  She is having some more in-depth tests done right now to see if she can find any more allergies, but until those findings come back, she has recommended that he not have any dairy for a month to see if that helps.

No dairy?  That is terrible.  Life is not happy without dairy, I can tell you that.  Even though I doubt that is going to be the magic bullet, I feel like I have to give it a dry.  I nicely volunteered Scott to abstain with him so he isn't alone, with the agreement that I come up with dairy-free meals for all of us.  Scott has eczema as well, so they might as well try it together. 

So that is what I am doing.  Checking labels, making substitutes, leaving things out and hoping this month will fly by.  If nothing comes of the dairy, I'm just hoping the tests will show something that can help this kid.

It's off

After 9 1/2 weeks, Chase finally got his cast off. 

Does he look excited that it is off?

Does he look ready to use his brand new arm?

Nope. 

He came home from the Dr. with a splint to wear during the day and he does not like it when we take it off.  He is scared to death to move it.

Right now we are trying to convince him to get in the shower.  It desperately needs to be washed.

It will be interesting see how long it takes for him to realize that his arm is healed and it no longer hurts.

Life of an 8 year old

Owen celebrated his 8th birthday this week.  He was very excited to get a "gear bike" for his birthday.

What is this 8 year old like?  Let me tell you.

+He is my most active child with a seemingly unlimited supply of energy.

+Loves to play with his friends everday.

+Loves to play soccer and is quite good at it.

+He is a ladies man.  He is going to be nothing but trouble when he gets older in this regard.

+ Loves to collect things.  He has a drawer full of everything you can imagine.   Anything from gum wrappers, to rocks to paintbrushes. Whatever he finds, he stashes in his drawer.

+Will occasionally tell a lie and then when caught, say he was "just kidding". 

+Loves steak and pizza.

+Very and I mean very particular about what he wears.  Everything has to be just right.  When he finds items that meet his strict standards he will wear them over and over, even digging them out of the dirty clothes.

+Is good at math.

+Has a pretty good case of eczema that keeps him itchy and rashy if we don't stay on top of it with lotion and bathing every day.

+Patience is not his strong point.

+Sleepwalks

+Plays the piano, but is not a fan.  We will see how long it lasts.

+Likes to asks the same questions over and over.

+Likes to play the Wii, but generally prefers to be active.

+Enjoys drawing and coloring.  If you remember, years back he was my naughty child and would color on almost anything.  He is much better now, but we still will occasionally catch him coloring on stuff he is not supposed to.

+Gets along with most people.

Almost done

4 casts and 6 weeks later Chasey's arm is almost healed. He got his last cast on yesterday. 2 1/2 weeks more and he will be done. Little kids are so resilient. He hasn't let a broken arm slow him down in the least. Here he is, trying out his new bike. Scott and I felt like Goldilocks and the 3 Bears trying to find the right size bike for him. But once we found it he was good to go.

Found this on my white board last night

And My Baby Goes to Kindergarten

It is hard to believe, but my baby is old enough to go to Kindergarten. For months now, I have looked at him and thought that there is no way he is old enough. I didn't think this with any of my other boys, but Chasey is a different story. Maybe because he is my baby. Maybe because he is a little guy. He was so ready to go and didn't even look back! I'm so excited for him!

Canada

About 13 years ago, Scott and I and some of our friends went on a trip to Banff. I was around 15 weeks pregnant with Taylor. I know I was 15 weeks pregnant because around 12 weeks I was still sick as a dog and I told Scott if I didn't feel better we wouldn't be going. At 14 weeks I woke up and felt sooo much better. So off we went a week later.

Ever since that trip we have wanted to go back. The scenery is absolutely beautiful. 13 years later we made it back with just a few more bodies with us.

We visited a lot of lakes and did a lot of hiking. During the parts where we were driving, audio books kept the boys from killing each other in the back seat.
Moraine Lake


View of Lake Louise as we were hiking up to Lake Agnes.

Canoeing on Emerald Lake.

Peyto Lake

You are probably wondering if I did any Photoshopping of these lakes to make them appear bluer than what they really are. I'm not that smart. These are straight from my iphone. And yes, they are really this blue.

Not only are they blue, they are so clear and calm. I have so many pix that I took that shows an almost mirror image of the mountains and sky in the water.

We visited some lovely tea houses. Ever wanted a treat at the top of a long hike? Canada has a few tea houses that are at the end of some of the trails in the Banff area. They are up high in the middle of nowhere, however, they offer a decent selection of food and desserts for your picking. We hiked to 2 of them and enjoyed hot chocolate, apple and blueberry pie, and yummy biscuits. And there is no guilt when you have hiked up to them.


View of Lake Louise as we were hiking up to The Plain of Six Glaciers.


We saw quite a few impressive water falls. This one is Takakkaw Falls.


Athabasca Falls

And it wouldn't be right if we didn't visit a few glaciers as well. This was a beautiful hike. We hiked up Parker Ridge to view the Saskatchewan Glacier.

We saw our share of wildlife. 3 bears, at least a dozen caribou, a few elk, a wolfe and a fox, mountain goats and some marmots as well. The only thing we didn't see was a moose. However, I was informed by a reliable source that moose are reclusive and it is unlikely to see them by the side of the road.


And it wouldn't be right if we didn't have some drama added in at the end. On the second to the last day of our trip, Chasey fell from the monkey bars and broke his arm. It was bad enough that we had to drive 4 hours from Jasper to Edmonton so he could have surgery to fix it. Poor kid. He was a trooper though and will have quite a memory from this trip.

Despite the bumpy end, we all had a wonderful time. The boys enjoyed the scenery and hiking as much as we did. Till next time......

Straight from Chase

"I love everybody in the whole world. Except for Satan. He is a butt face."

Amazing.....

So proud of this boy! He was the organist for sacrament meeting yesterday. All 3 songs, plus pre and postlude. He did amazing!

I am a lucky mom.

Still around...

I'm here. I really am. Just haven't taken the time to post anything lately. But here goes.


This handsome guy just finished the 7th grade. He continues to stay busy with soccer, piano, organ and hanging out with his friends.


He also likes to make grocery lists for me on the white board. How nice of him.


Ben Ben spends his time taking self-portraits of himself on my phone. When he's not busy with that he tries to stay on top of his social schedule. I need to get him his own calendar so he can keep track of all of his play dates. They are non-stop!


He loves the "Vordak the Incomprehensible" book series and I often find him reading in his bed.


Owen decided to take on whittling for two days. Inside the house. With no thought of using the trash can that was right next to him.


He is also quite the soccer player and prides himself on running down all the competition on the field. And he does. Do you like the soccer jersey he made for himself? He wanted to look like Lionel Messi. Don't know who that is? Well, you obviously don't have an older brother that idolizes him.


My birthday was somewhere in there. 37 I believe.


Chasey just finished pre-school. Wow. Can't believe I'm done with preschool age kiddos.


He also likes to spend his time adding to his collection of rocks and sticks that he keeps in the corner of the house by the back door.


Scott and I took Taylor and Bennett to see "The Piano Guys" at Abravanel Hall. They put on a great show!


The big news is that Scott turned the big 4-0. He opted for a low-key celebration with just the family and instead...


took us down to Colorado so he could ride a 50 mile straight up the side of the mountain bike race with his biking buddy. We cheered him on for the 2.8 seconds we saw him whizzing by. And that was it.


After the bike race, we drove a little further up the road and ended up at Mesa Verde National Park. Pretty cool place for adults and kids.


I mean what kid wouldn't like climbing a 30 foot ladder...


climbing up a trail with a huge drop-off on one side....


and squeezing through a tight tunnel.

Mine certainly did.