December 1, 2008 by delightsgal
After dinner tonight, the builder opened the advent envelope for today and I read, “write letters to Santa.” It took me a minute to explain the Santa letter writing to the kiddos, but soon they were happily dictating to me what they wanted to express. Their favorite part was decorating their letters. The dancer was busy for quite a while, drawing small squiggles and saying, “a” and “b.” Some of her squiggles really did look like primitive “a’s.” Pretty fun. Can’t wait to mail their letters with them this week.
Posted in delight | Tagged family, holiday, kiddos, traditions | No Comments »
December 1, 2008 by delightsgal
Reserved our tickets for the Draper LDS temple open house this morning. So excited. Can’t wait to take the kiddos. The builder is especially fascinated with temples these days and is always asking when he can go inside “Jesus’ House.” In fact, I’m not sure what he is most excited for this season: Santa or seeing baby Jesus…:) It will definitely be a memorable morning.
If you’ll be in or around Salt Lake from Jan 14th to March 14th, go online and reserve your tickets (yes, they are free!). Unlike dedicated lds temples, you do not have to be a Mormon, or LDS, to go inside.
I’ll not forget the temple open houses I’ve attended, nor the temple decications. Special memories to be sure. There are so many beautiful places and events to experience in our world. This is one of the rare that are remembered forever.
Posted in discovery | Tagged family, kiddos, lds | 1 Comment »
November 30, 2008 by delightsgal
A few weeks back we began our Humanitarian project, painting blocks for other kiddos. The kiddos enjoyed it, but we didn’t finish all the blocks. So we finished them for one of our advent activities. The kiddos were more focused on painting the blocks this time than the paper. :) Now I just have to come up with a good way to explain that we’re not keeping the blocks.
Posted in delight | Tagged gifts, holiday, kiddos, traditions | 1 Comment »
November 29, 2008 by delightsgal
We did a couple fun advent activities today, but I think the most memorable was our drive around town, looking for Christmas Lights. The builder kept saying, “we need lights on our house too…on the top!” We saw some great light decorations: wreaths, deer, stars, etc. When we saw some lights in a star shape, the builder and dancer thought they were “butterfly lights.” Even the grower was very impressed.
Light looking is so fun. I remember having contests with friends in high school to find the best lights in town. Fun memories…I’m sure we’ll go looking with the kiddos at least one night a week until they are gone.
Posted in delight | Tagged family, holiday, kiddos, traditions | 1 Comment »
November 29, 2008 by delightsgal
The designer is helping me get Christmas presents painted. No, he’s not painting, but he keeps me on task, and helps me get things done around the house so I have time to paint. This painting is for my darling niece Sarah. It is of her blessing dress. Hope she and her parents enjoy it. 
Posted in development | Tagged art, baby, holiday, gifts | 2 Comments »
November 28, 2008 by delightsgal
Another great advent memory, and a great black friday alternative. How can you not adore Utah’s Children’s Museum, Discovery Gateway? Jam packed with exploring, building, and learning activities for kiddos of various ages…yes, I still enjoy it as well. We’ve had a pass now for a couple years, and the kiddos still seem to find new ways to play and learn with favorite activities, and are continually discovering new things we haven’t done before. We enjoyed the museum as a family. It is only the 2nd time we’ve taken the designer. The kiddos love showing him their favorite stuff and doing it with him.
A couple highlights: the dancer and I at the storyboard…identifying each magnet and singing and moving to songs we’ve learned with Miss Kristi and Signing Time, the builder piloting the helicopter (he was soo into it), and the paper airplane and fan that the grower enjoyed with his siblings. He couldn’t decide if he liked it or not, though no protesting. The wind taking his breath away…wish I hadn’t run out of batteries for my camera!
We were a day early to see Santa. Lesa, we’ll have to go again soon! :)
Posted in delight | Tagged family, kiddos, traditions | No Comments »
November 28, 2008 by delightsgal
We love quinoa around here. The designer has decided that he prefers the Ancient Harvest’s spaghetti or linguine pastas. Tonight we tried their pagoda pasta that includes spinach and corn flavors with the quinoa. For the sauce, warm together:
1 cup artichokes, briefly chopped in food processor
2-3 tbs virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp parsley
1 tbs lime juice
1/4 c Gouda cheese
1/2 red pepper, minced
1 tsp salt
Pour over pasta, top with Parmesan cheese, and enjoy along your favorite green salad…yum! A great easy dinner when busy dancin’ with the kiddos!
Posted in development | Tagged cooking, gluten-free, healthy food | No Comments »
November 27, 2008 by delightsgal
The joys and excitement of Christmas is filling our home. I love how excited the kiddos are for the small things: a Christmas tree, and lights! The magic has truly begun. We set up the tree and several strands of lights later, the kiddos enjoyed trimming the tree with a gold bead garland. The tree looked charming in a very simple way. The designer suggested we leave it like that. Why not? Last year I spent most of my days re-hanging the ornaments. I think we’ll hang the ornaments from ribbons around the house instead (high out of reach for little hands). :)
As the older kiddos helped the designer trim the tree, the grower was enthralled with the whole event. He sat right next to the tree, staring and trying to reach the lights. Oh the magic… After the tree was done, the designer put some lights on the house and set up a tree of lights near the entry. So fun for us all. We ended our advent activty by reading Christmas Lights by Ann Fearrington, and Christmas Tree Farm by Ann Purmell.
Posted in delight | Tagged family, holiday, kiddos, traditions | 2 Comments »
November 27, 2008 by delightsgal
This recipe is an adaptation of Ann Dibb’s roll recipe for all you gluten-free eaters out there. I made half of the recipe, due to the small number of gluten-freebies. It made about 2 dozen rolls. If you’re sensitive to dairy, try using almond milk, raw milk, ghee, or raw butter. No, the rolls don’t taste the same but they do taste quite good. Gluten-free never does, but these rolls are still real and true!
1/2 tbs yeast
1/8 c warm water
1/2 c milk ( I used almond milk)
1/2 stick butter
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c raw sugar
2 3/4 c flour (I used Jeanne Baysne’s mix)
1 tsp xanthan gum
- Dissolve yeast in warm water. (plus one tbs of extra sugar to the dissolved mix.)
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add milk, salt, and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Cool to lukewarm (if milk is too hot when added to yeast, it will kill the yeast).
- In a mixing bowl, add beaten eggs and then the dissolved yeast. Mix.
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
- Add 2 ½ c. flour; blend well. Add remaining flour, 1 c. at a time; mix well after each addition.
- Place dough in a greased mixing bowl and keep in oven for 45 minutes. It won’t double in size, but will be considerable larger.
- Spoon dough onto cookie sheet (just like you would drop cookies or biscuits).
- Brush tops of dough with melted butter.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes (until rolls are very light brown).
Posted in development | Tagged cooking, healthy food, gluten-free | No Comments »
November 27, 2008 by delightsgal
The builder and dancer are in the modeling stage…they love to do what I am doing throughout the day. So we do just about everything together: sweep the floor, laundy, taking out diapers, recycle, cook, etc.
Mostly though, they love cooking. I’d created a cooking area for them in the dining room last winter, but it wasn’t close enough to me. When the designer received his license, he offered to take all the reference materials from kitchen cupboards, to his office at work. So I’ve been meaning to make it into the kiddo kitchen for a couple weeks.
So when the builder was sportin’ the latest dress-up gift for the dancer’s birthday, I showed him his new place to cook. He loved putting the dishes and food in the cupboard. All three kiddos have enjoyed since, even the grower can sit there and inspect the items as I cook. Beautiful. Thanks to the designer’s bro’s family for such a great gift.
For a while now I’ve imagined having an island that is partially open, like a cave for the kiddos to do their cooking or reading and still be nearby. Obviously, a small cupboard will do though. I realize not everyone have so many cupboards (all of my art supplies are kept in the kitchen), but if you can make a nearby space that can be easily tiddied, I’m sure you’ll love it as we are.
Posted in discovery | Tagged cooking, kiddos | No Comments »
November 27, 2008 by delightsgal
Sorry it took so long to find the reccipe, it was right under my nose. Yup, straight off the lds church website. There’s so much more to the roll recipe, I can’t forget the message the rolls represent:
Easy Icebox Rolls
(Ann Dibb, via Bea Redden, 1978)
1 package (1 T.) yeast
¼ c. warm water
1 c. milk
1 stick butter or margarine
1 t. salt
3 eggs, beaten
½ c. sugar
4 ½ c. flour
- Dissolve yeast in warm water. (I add about a T. of extra sugar to the dissolved mix.)
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add milk, salt, and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Cool to lukewarm (if milk is too hot when added to yeast, it will kill the yeast).
- In a mixing bowl, add beaten eggs and then the dissolved yeast. Mix.
- Add 2 ½ c. flour; blend well. Add remaining flour, 1 c. at a time; mix well after each addition.
- Place dough in a greased mixing bowl and cover. Let dough rise until it doubles in size. Punch down, cover. Put dough in refrigerator until it doubles in size. Punch down again and replace cover until you are ready to use the dough. It will keep well for several days.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes (until rolls are very light brown).
- Remove rolls from the oven and brush each roll with melted butter.
The dough is pretty wet and sticky when you let it rise the first time. (When I take it out of the bowl, I have a lot of flour on my hands and on my pastry cloth and rolling pin. I knead it just a bit.) Divide dough in two parts. Knead the one section, roll it out about a half inch thick, and cut it with a two- to three-inch circular cutter. Lift a circle in your hand, brush it with butter, crease it with a knife, fold it over (this is Parkerhouse roll style), and place it on a cookie sheet to rise. Bake.
I’ve seldom done the icebox thing. I mix it, let it rise about two hrs., knead it a little, prepare the rolls, and let them rise again (about two hrs.)
I think that one of the secrets is to handle the dough as little as possible and use just enough flour to handle—not too much. I got this recipe out of a ward cookbook many years ago. Then I just made it multiple times in order to practice making it and perfecting my handling of it.
Happy Baking on this fine turkey day and best wishes on your search for the real and true!–delights gal
Posted in discovery | Tagged cooking, healthy food | 1 Comment »
November 26, 2008 by delightsgal
A visit to our library this morning. We checked out Christmas books, cds, and a few videos. No Library story time with Miss Sally today, so it was rather quiet in the library…yes, normal for the library, but not for Wednesday morning. The librarians looked so peaceful today. :)
We chatted with the children’s librarian, Jamaica, about her Thanksgiving…should be a good one. The builder loves Jamaica. The last couple weeks he has gone ahead and taken her books, movies, whatever. He’s got the whole checking out thing down. He just needs his own library card. Jamaica is so patient with him.
Posted in delight | Tagged kiddos, literature, music, traditions | No Comments »
November 26, 2008 by delightsgal
I’m ever amazed at the people in my life that have had, or are recently discovering food allergies/intolerance. I feel your discomfort, disappointment, and know that you are not alone. I remember feeling alone, so alone. But lately, I am finding more and more great food allergy, and real food resources.
If you’re looking for a great gluten-free cookbook for you or a gift for a loved-one this time of year, check out my friend Cassandra’s delightfully gluten-free blog, (a fantastic resource), where she gives this link to a book sale for a past conference overstock of gluten-free wonders:
- Gluten-free Cookies by Jeanne Basye
- Gluten-free Cooking for Dummies
- Living Gluten-free for Dummies
- Cooking Free by Carol Fenster
- Gluten-free Quick & Easy by Carol Fenster
The prices are almost half their retail price!
Posted in discovery | Tagged cooking, healthy food, gluten-free, literature | No Comments »
November 26, 2008 by delightsgal
So my big win with Eco-Libris arrived last week, and the kiddos and I have been greatly enjoying the entire little green books line thanks to their blog and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing.
What I have enjoyed most is the dialogue the builder and I have as we read together. As we read I Can Save the Earth!: One Little Monster Learns to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, both he and the dancer happily cried, “Good job lil’ monster!”, as he made good choices. Though, with The Polar Bears’ Home: A Story About Global Warming, there was so much more to learn. We’ve been focusing on the habitat of the polar bears, how large they grow, etc., but he was very curious as to where their momma had gone and why.
It all comes down to the multi-levels of learning. Good books will offer more as you continue to read them, reminds me of another wonderful book…:)
The grower has mostly teethed on the other two books, maybe once that tooth arrives, we’ll be able to sit and read it together, in it’s entirety!
Posted in discovery | Tagged gifts, kiddos, literature | No Comments »
November 25, 2008 by delightsgal
After naps, the kiddos and I enjoyed our advent activity by holiday dancin’ and groovin’ to Jingle Jazz, a World Market splurge from last year, that is produced by Rock River Communications Inc. My favorite track is Silent Night, by Galactic with Teddy Boultte. Wish Nana and Gigi were here: Nana would love the dancing, and Gigi would be so pleased with our music choice.
We pulled out the scarves that we have enjoyed during preschool. I was impressed. Their moving skills are really improving. Fluidity, rhythm, grace…so fun to watch. The grower loved simply watching us most of the time. As I would move and twirl, he would look up at me with those big blue eyes, and smile. Soon I was helping him move and groove as well. It was a memorable afternoon.
The kiddos were having so much fun that we also danced to Putumayo’s Music from the Tea Lands. Love the library. Can’t wait to look for more great music tomorrow.
Posted in delight | Tagged family, kiddos, music, traditions | 2 Comments »
November 25, 2008 by delightsgal
Posted in delight | Tagged health | No Comments »
November 24, 2008 by delightsgal
For our advent activity today, the kiddos and I enjoyed a couple Christmas stories before bed. At Christmas time, growing up, we could expect to receive a few books for Christmas. This is a tradition I’d like to carry on with our kiddos. I bought a couple books for them. One to open Christmas morning, and one to share during the holiday: Angelina’s Christmas by Katharine Holabird (an Angelina Ballerina book). A sweet story about warming an old postman’s holiday and sharing with others. The builder loved it. I’ll read it to the dancerbefore her nap tomorrow, because she was so busy running around getting more books, that she missed most of the story (I’m finding that she really needs one on one story-time to enjoy it, where the builderis happy for group story-time as well as the one on one).
The second story we read is Melrose and Croc, a Christmas to Remember by Emma Chichester Clark. Gigi gave the kiddos the cute story at Christmas time a couple years ago. Its a great story about friendship and sharing holidays with friends. Similar morals, both books have beautiful illustrations and cute characters.
Posted in delight | Tagged holiday, kiddos, literature | No Comments »
November 24, 2008 by delightsgal
The designer and I love, I mean love, the Bombay House, and any really good Indian cuisine. We had some favorite spots in Vegas, (Mediterranean Cafe for starters), and one of our favorite dishes is the Lamb Saag. I’ve learned to make some great curry dishes, but never had I attempted saag, until this last week.
My bro and his Korean foreign exchange student buddies: Joseph and Yuri came over for a fun evening. We ate chicken curry, chicken saag, whole wheat naan (from Whole FoodsMarket), brown rice, pears, and some cookies for dessert. The kiddos loved Seanna’s friends, and we had a wonderful night together.
Chicken Saag:
2 chicken breasts, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 large onion
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 cloves
6 tbs olive oil
1 tsp garam masala
In a medium saucepan, saute oil, onion, and garlic on medium heat. Put in crockpot with spices (other than garam masala), coconut milk, and stir. Add chicken and cook on low for 3 hours.
About a half hour before eating, place spinach and 1/4 cup water in a large pan and bring the water to a boil. Remove and let cool. Grind spinach & water in the blender. Add to the crock pot with the garam masala and cook for another 10-15 minutes and leave covered until ready to serve.
It was pretty spicy…if you like a milder flavor, use less cayenne. I think we’ll enjoy the saag again this week…sounds delicious right now.
Posted in development | Tagged cooking, family, healthy food | No Comments »
November 23, 2008 by delightsgal
So we began our Christmas countdown with our 1st advent activity:
Pumpkin Cookies! The kiddos love to help measure and taste the ingredients. We made a couple batches: one with whole wheat flour (in the back row), and another that can be gluten-free. I was impressed with the gluten-free version…they tasted great. I substituted the wheat flour with the gluten free cookie lady, Jeanne Bayse’s gluten free flour mixture. I mixed up a big mixture large enough to have on hand for our next gluten-free baking adventure.
Here’s the recipe:
2 sticks of butter
1/2 c turbinado sugar (i found mine at smith’s)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 can pumpkin puree
1 c rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 c chocolate chips
2 1/2 c whole wheat flour
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes
For the gluten-free batch, I combined:
3 c brown rice flour
1 1/2 c sweet rice flour
1 1/3 c tapioca starch
2/3 c cornstarch
1/2 c navy bean flour (i used garbanzo bean)
1/2 c almond flour (meal)
1/2 c sorghum flour
1/2 c potato starch (not flour)
(the mix makes 8 1/2 cups of gluten free flours, I simply took 2 1/2 cups of it…)
Though it took a while to get going, grower to feed, diapers to change, and a motherly break-down moment…but we enjoyed our first advent activity!
Posted in development | Tagged cooking, healthy food, holiday, kiddos | 2 Comments »
November 22, 2008 by delightsgal
For a while now I’ve been getting excited for Christmas and the thought of sharing it with our kiddos who are getting old enough to enjoy it more this year. I want to do something special with them each day until Christmas. Something that they help me do and look forward to each day. I remember baking a Christmas treat with our mom each day for 2 weeks until Christmas. I’m thinking something along those lines.
An advent calendar seemed just the way to do this and help the kiddos visually see when Christmas would arrive. So I pulled out an old box of envelopes that I’ve had since high school (I know, crazy. I think the glue no longer works, so this project is perfect). I cut off a 1/4 inch of one of the sides (so that we can put our daily activity inside).
With the pieces that I cut off, the kiddos and I opened the small papers and wrote things we would like to do together. In general, the builder’s ideas involved making cookies, and the dancer’s responses mostly had ‘pizza’ included. According to the kiddos, we will be making football cookies, a snow fort, pizza cookies, and blue cookies. I wrote dance to the nutcracker, go see Christmas lights together after dark, etc. I’m going to try and post our advent adventures each day, so you’ll just have to wait and see what else we planned.
After we finished our activity inserts, I glued the envelopes shut with a glue stick, so when the envelope is turned vertically, the top is open. We then began painting both sides of the envelopes in hues of red and green. We used paint brushes, our fingers, and did a bit of print making as well. I let them do whatever they wanted, and we all enjoyed ourselves.
As the envelopes were drying, I cut out letters with my holiday Pottery Barn catalog, to spell Merry Christmas, and Bon Noel, as well as some stars, the word peace, stockings, and a reindeer. There is one letter or image for each envelope, besides a few envelope spacers between the words that I left without magazine cutouts. While I was cutting the letters, the dancer was busy cutting magazines as well.
After lunch, the dancer took a nap and the builder and I finished our project. We found some old string, pieced it together, and hung it on our wall in the dining/kitchen area. The activity papers were put into their envelopes (I looked at the calendar as I placed them, to make sure that the activities we would want to do with the designer would fall on the weekend). As I hung the envelopes by wooden clothes pins, the builder took left over string and constructed with it and our dining room chairs. The grower happily played in his swing and watched us. The project took the majority of our Saturday, but I think it will be soo much fun.
As the architect of this advent, I reserve the right to:
- do any of the activities on days other than the envelopes dictate
- swap activities
- change snow activities when their is an absence of snow
- and so forth…
Looking forward to a fun filled holiday!
Posted in development | Tagged art, create, design, kiddo art, kiddos | 6 Comments »
November 21, 2008 by delightsgal
Can’t help it, but wrapping this afternoon makes me giddy thinking about wrapping Christmas gifts. The wrapping has always been an important part for my Grommie, Mom, and Aunt Buffie. They would spend hours and hours wrapping gifts for each other. Fortunately, a bit of this has passed on to my sibblings and I. We love hiding in a room together, listening to Christmas Carols and chatting as we wrap our gifts.
This year I’ve become a bit infatuated with recycled wrapping from my favorite catalogs. I’m wondering how I can make these gifts a bit more of the Season. I’ve already been receiving quite a few catalogs with Christmas Scenes inside. I’ll just have to set them aside and take advantage of their beautiful colors.
Pictured above is a baby gift for my soon to be nephew arriving in a couple months. We’re throwing a shower for my sister-in-law tonight. I hope she has a wonderful time. (The other small number is what the builder wrapped for the baby…).
To see some of my other recent recycled wrapping, click here. And happy wrapping!
Posted in development | Tagged create, gifts, green, recycle | No Comments »
November 20, 2008 by delightsgal
The grower loves his siblings so much that it has become very difficult for him to nurse when they are around. I try and feed him before the designer leaves for work, when he is home for lunch, and when he comes home for the evening. But there are 2-3 feedings that happen while he is gone (one while the dancer is napping, so not such a big deal).
At first I tried to hide in our room and hope the other two would just continue what ever project or adventure they were involved with in our absence. But inevitably, they run into my room and want to see what we are doing. Then of course the grower is done eating and more interested in his siblings.
So I tried to close the door as I went in the room. Not such a great improvement. I tried locking the door behind me. Pounding occurred, so I would tell them both where we were going and what we were doing…that I was going to shut and lock the door. That seems to help, but one morning I could hear them yelling. (It’s only fifteen minutes…can’t we all survive for 15 minutes?) When I returned, the dancer had gotten into the toilet paper and the builder was trying to take charge of the situation.
Yesterday, I turned on the LDS Children’s Hymn CD that they call, “Jesus Music.” It made such a difference. They were singing and dancing along. When we were at the library yesterday, I checked out some Putumayo CDs that were recommended by our music teacher, Miss Kristi. So they danced to the Music from the Tea Lands. Both are wonderful music that I can enjoy right along with the kiddos. And I love exposing them to all kinds of music genres. I think I’ll keep checking out library for great music.
Any more great kiddo music suggestions out there? We love jazz, classical, Latin, world music, folk…
Posted in discovery | Tagged baby, kiddos, music | 3 Comments »
November 19, 2008 by delightsgal
Seasons of Home in Midway, Utah, is quickly becoming my favorite local shop. I stopped in with the dancer and the grower while the builder was at preschool to obtain supplies for the completion of our Christmas Stockings that I’ve preciously written about here and here. At this point I thought the best idea was to find someone to embroider our names on the ribbon of each stocking…pay them. If that wasn’t an option, I thought I would just figure it out myself.
I asked the cute ladies working in the shop and they said that they didn’t do that. So the dancer began looking through all the wonderful children’s books and toys upstairs (she was soo good), as I rummaged through the embroidery yarn with the grower in the baby hawk. (Is it yarn, or string, or what?) Anyways, when I explained what I was doing, the ladies immediately wanted to help me figure out my project. They sent me home to obtain my stockings so we could get a better idea of options.
They were concerned that the ribbon may be too small of an area for a novice as myself to embroider. So as I drove I came up with plan B. Upon returning, I showed them my stockings and explained my new plan: to embroider on small gift tags made of muslin. I don’t want to add more fabric to the stockings for I like their simplicity. I want to use a simple stich to give the old fashioned, hand-made appearance…it should be easy enough for me as well. So they’ll just hang from the ribbon. We’ll see. I need to do some paintings the next few nights, but I think I’ll begin next week.
So the gals helped me calculate and find the needed supplies, and off we went. It’s so nice to have willing help. I love Seasons of Home. It’s a great stop for the talented, the novice (like myself), and the beauty seeking alike. The ladies there are such amazning resources…so many talents to glean from. Its also nicet to chat with friends…I know several of the owners (i think there are 13), and ladies that work there. Thanks gals, I’ll bring them in when they are complete.
Posted in discovery | Tagged create, design | No Comments »
November 18, 2008 by delightsgal
Instead of the typical Ward Christmas Party, our Humanitarian committe has organized a special night of giving and working to make gifts for those in need. Each family is to do a project together before the party and were to take photos of the project. There were lots of things suggested, most of which required sewing skills. :) So we painted blocks…something down our alley. We enjoyed our time together. The kiddos loved painting the paper beneath the blocks as well. I had to keep reminding the dancer to paint the blocks. Hope they will be enjoyed, and look forward to doing a similar project each holiday season from here on out.
Posted in development | Tagged art, family, gifts | 2 Comments »
November 17, 2008 by delightsgal
I just wanted to thank Chad and Andrea for asking about my family and their home in Yorba Linda. Saturday night they were evacuted and met several other families in their ward at the church house. Fortunately, my family is safe, as is their home. Unfortunately, many hundreds of families in the LA area have suffered damage, even the complete burning of their homes to the ground. Several family friends have lost their homes, and I know that we will continue to hear about the devastation from the wild fires. My heart and our prayers go out to anyone who lost or received damage to their homes.
Currently, my parent’s home is being remodeled (the entire first floor…basically everything except the bedrooms upstairs), it has been a stressful time for my parents (especially my mom), my brothers, and my Grommie who is living with them. They have been patient with the garage kitchen, flies for dinner companions, and having to do laundry outside of the home for months (things I take for granted everyday).
Just before my 16th birthday, we had a terrible kitchen fire that damaged the entire downstairs and smoke damage throughout the rest of the home. Photographs were probably some of the few things we could not replace. We had 2 minutes to salvage what we needed, and so I ran to my room and grabbed my photos, journals, scriptures, and my school backpack (not first on my priority list that night). Despite it being Sunday, we went to the mall that night and bought a few outfits as we had nothing but the dresses we had worn to church that morning.
We lived for 7-8 months in a rental home down the street with minimal rented furnishings and kitchen items. Our lives were extremely simple (well, for us kids…my mom was frantically trying to deal with the mess and purchase what we needed once the home was fixed), we enjoyed that time together as a family. Though I couldn’t imagine my family having to experience that hardship again, I knew that they could do it again if they had to.
As time goes on, as the fires continue to rage, the tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, droughts, and hunger continue to devastate (whether literally or figuratively), may we cling to those that we love, continue to ‘prepare every needful thing,’ and reach out to those within our reach who can use our help and friendship. Love you mom and dad, Brig, Jonny & Grommie, soo glad you are safe!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged family, friends | No Comments »
November 17, 2008 by delightsgal
It truly is a privilege to have the opportunity to serve on a jury. Though, I’m not sure if they would ever choose me with all my my strong opinions and non-mainstream beliefs. Nevertheless, I was excused from jury duty for the second time in the past two months. With the grower and his older siblings so small and dependent, it just is not the most realistic time for me to be serving on a jury. So the delight is that one can be excused when it is not feasible to serve. I asked them to call on me again in the next 3-5 years (the first time I was summoned). I’ll probably get another letter in January if there is some sort of pattern involved.
Posted in delight | No Comments »
November 16, 2008 by delightsgal
Growing up with loving grandparents, tons of cousins, aunts, & uncles was so much fun. Now, as we grandkids are nearly grown, many married with kiddos, attending universities, serving missions, and finishing High School & Middle School, it has become more difficult to attend all the family gatherings, even special occasions. But I relish the days when I do get to spend time with my relatives.
Today we gathered, and celebrated my cousin Josh’s missionary farewell, as he will be serving in the Atlanta, Georgia mission within a few short weeks. The meeting was wonderful, he spoke of the “wedges” in life that keep us from accomplishing and reaching our full potential. His testimony was beautiful. We will miss him and hope he has the experience he is desiring.
At the gathering we met his nieces Sadie Mae and Miley for the first time. They were simply precious! I was excited to give them their baby gifts and hope that they will be small things that in time, will help their parents remember this special time that they have had with their lil’ angels.
Posted in development | Tagged art, baby, design, family, gifts | No Comments »
November 15, 2008 by delightsgal
Yes, it’s hard to believe, but other than a Star Wars: Episode III when he was about 3 weeks old, today was the builder’s first visit to the movies. My friend Lesa and I had chatted about taking our boys to the movies, a special, outing with just they and their moms.
So this afternoon, we met Lesa and a couple of her friends and their kiddos for Madagascar 2. We arrived during the previews and though I tried to explain what it would be like during our car ride, the dark room definitely was a surprise. Immediately I spotted Lesa and tried to get the builderto walk up the steps to their row where she was saving us seats. Absolutely glued to the overwhelmingly large screen, he he had a difficult time climbing and sitting down. It was probably a half hour before I was able to convince him that it would be comfortable to sit back in his chair, thanks to Lesa finding us a booster for him. And how long have the boosters been available? I can think of several movies in the not so distant past where a booster would have been handy for me!
The builder enjoyed the movie, the popcorn, and the candy (left over from Halloween) that he packed, all by himself, for he and his friend Jake. About half way through the film, we went out in the hall for a drink. We laughed as he was struck in the face with the water. I offered to take him to the restroom while we were out, but he was already running back in to the theater, afraid of missing anything.
It was a fun afternoon. Thanks to the designer for letting us share this special time together. He and the builder have decided that next time it is their turn and that they will make sure that Jack and his Dad Tom (one of the designer’s best friends), join the crew.
Posted in delight | Tagged family, kiddos | No Comments »
November 14, 2008 by delightsgal
As the Christmas Stocking Saga continues, I am happy to say that, thanks to my beautifully talented and patient mother-in-law, the stockings have been sewn. Here are some of the completed socks. In a matter of days, she had cut out and sewn all 10 stockings (no, we are not currently planning on having 8 kiddos, but if anyone wants to come and visit for the holidays, we will make sure Santa does not leave you wanting).
The first day that we worked on them, she showed me her mother’s tradition of cutting out fabric: using knives instead of pins to hold down and smooth out the fabric. Very fascinating. I really thought this would be an opportunity to learn a bit about sewing and the process, but I soon realized it was enough for her to figure out how to accomplish my vision. I drew and cut out a pattern for her and then of course the work began…making the pattern work.
With the stockings sewn, I’ve obtained some chocolate brown and cream ribbons to attach each stocking to the mantel, or wherever we would like to hang them. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find them this week…weird. I’m hoping that we didn’t throw them away in our cleaning adventures.
Originally, the plan was to embroider our names on the ribbon, but this is being modified…now if I can just get them done by Thanksgiving…
Posted in delight | Tagged create, design | 5 Comments »
November 13, 2008 by delightsgal
So it’s a work in progress, I’ve not decided if I’ll keep working and tweaking this one, or paint a new one…:)
Posted in development | Tagged art, design, gifts | No Comments »
November 13, 2008 by delightsgal
I know, I’m spoiled to spend most days lunching with the designer. On those rare days that he does not eat with us, life is so much harder. Not only does he help me get everyone fed, but he’ll usually help me put one or two of the kiddos down for a nap as well. Yesterday, he had been taken to lunch by a client. I didn’t get to eat until 2 pm. There were too many needs to meet, and I move so much slower when I am hungry.
But when it was finally my turn, I had a delicious meal:
homemade Caesar dressing over top
spinach
pumpkin seeds
snap peas
Parmesan cheese
and
steak pieces (marinated in a homemade balsamic vinaigrette)
It was worth the wait!
Posted in development | Tagged cooking, healthy food | No Comments »
November 12, 2008 by delightsgal
So who’s not already looking for great Christmas gift finds? My Land of Nod catalogue came in the mail last week, and I’ve been trying to peek through it when the kiddos aren’t. A couple great finds in the catalogue:
The builder would simply love to have his own tool set…a stocking gift perhaps? I like that it has it’s own lil’ tool box, and the price is fab.
The kiddos are really into music these days…should have seen the builder and the dancer singing and signing I am A Child of God tonight before bed: priceless. The builder nearly knows all the words now. Anyways, I think they’d enjoy this music compilation. I’m always looking for great music that they will enjoy, and that I will too (since they seem to think they get to be dj most of the time).
Tonight I’ve been on the Land of Nod site to see what other fun gifts they had. On their home page, at the bottom right corner, there is a red box that lets you see gifts according to price…very handy. After clicking the $10-$25 catagory I found the above gifts and a couple more I know the kiddos would enjoy:
The dancer is very detailed, and would love sorting through these cards. Both she and the builder pull quite the funny faces at each other and this could keep them crazy for hours.
This set would be especially fun for them as they sing and play to their songs from kristi’s music class and those they sing in preschool.
Thank you Land of Nod for always offering quality toys and gifts that a mom can be just as excited about giving as the kiddos are at receiving them!
Posted in discovery | Tagged gifts, kiddos | No Comments »
November 11, 2008 by delightsgal
Oh my goodness gracious! I’ve left comments before on some of my favorite blogs, to enter give-a-ways, but never have I thought it possible to actually win! Even more, I can’t believe I won such an inspiring gift!
Ok, I’m getting ahead of my self. Let me tell you about Eco-Libris. They are a company that work with everyone in the book industry as well as readers to ensure that we are making a positive impact with our book printing and reading. Their slogan is “plant a tree for every book you read.” I love their blog, which has great green information that not only inspires you to be better when it comes to green, but to cherish literature, one of the greatest pleasures in life. Check out their site as well as their blog to learn more about their mission and for a list of bookstores near you, as well as publishers that are supporting the cause.
So what did I win? The four currently published bookes within the Little Green Books line: Little Panda, Little Monkey, I Can Save the Earth!: One Little Monster Learns to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle and The Polar Bears’ Home: A Story About Global Warming. (pictured above) The kiddos will be so excited!
A delighted thanks to Raz and the gang at Eco-Libris for their inspiration, example, and education, as well as to Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing for the fantastic prize!
Posted in delight | Tagged green, kiddos | 1 Comment »
November 11, 2008 by delightsgal
How do you find an architect that knows green home remodel and design?
It’s not easy finding green help these days, but it is getting easier. Not only are more architecture schools and environmental programs out there focusing on green building, but, finding these graduates as well as seasoned architects with the eco-friendly passion is becoming more realistic.
When my husband and I graduated from architecture school with degrees in Landscape Architecture, we had learned enough to know the importance of highering an eco-friendly architect to assist us in our home building and remodeling adventures that are beyond our own design skills. We have settled in the Wasatch Mountains between Park City, Utah (home of the Sundance Film Festival, and some of the ‘best snow on earth’) and the Sundance Resort (Robert Redford’s playground). A beautiful and serene place to work, learn, play, and lay our heads each night, though not the most saturated ‘green’ building area.
Where to begin your search (associates, family, friends)
I asked questions of people that I knew, but didn’t find a great green wealth of information this way. My contacts, friends and family at the time, were not in the ‘green’ circle. If your circle is more reliably green, this is a wonderful place to begin your search.
Continue reading this article >>
Posted in gwg (GetWithGreen.com) | Tagged architecture, design, green, remodel | 1 Comment »
November 10, 2008 by delightsgal
My sweet kiddos, all kiddos for that matter, deserve the best. They have a right to parents who love them and treat them with respect.
Not too long ago, I was chatting with my sister-in-law about her mother. She has an amazing mom. Most of us do, thankfully, but my sister-in-law said that her mother never ever raised her voice to her kids. So maybe this isn’t such an amazing thing to everyone reading this, but this made such an impact on me. I thought and thought about it and mulled it over in my lil’ brain.
I wanted to be that mom. I wanted it so bad. So I gave it a shot. It worked for a while (amazingly enough), and then I slipped. I was so disappointed with myself. It doesn’t matter that I can be the person I want to be 90% of the time. I want to be that person all of the time. I keep reminding myself that perfection doesn’t happen over night. But I want to be that mom! So I’m recommiting and am going to try again this week. Wish me luck…I’m gonna need it.
Posted in development | Tagged kiddos | No Comments »
November 9, 2008 by delightsgal
Its not so much the sun going down so early, but I do enjoy the kiddos willingness to bed earlier after a hard day of play. Unfortunately, it has prompted a few 5 am wake up calls…hopefully they won’t last too much longer!
Posted in delight | Tagged kiddos |
