One

One, uno, un unum, einer, een, um, один, en, 1

One nation under God

One drop in the bucket

One Little Monkey jumping on the bed

One is the loneliest number

“In the arithmetic of love, one plus one equals everything, and two minus one equals nothing."

A jet with only one wing could never fly.

A man with only one eye could never see straight.

A book with only one page would be boring.

A tree with only one leaf would be nearly dead.

A one calorie cookie would be a mere speck.

A fork with only one prong would be a sword.

A song with only one note would have no harmony.

A car with one headlight would be a traffic ticket waiting to happen.

A test with only one question would be too easy.

A butterfly with one wing could never flutter nor fly.

A razor with one blade would leave lots of stubble and nicks.

A salad with one piece of lettuce would be, well, not a salad.

Today I am without my other half.

I am incomplete.

I am like a fire with only one charcoal briquette.

Cold.

I love you, my lover.

I'll keep your side of the bed warm for you, if my heat does not go out, that is!

Sheer Wonder

Wordless Wednesday

Lemons and Pickles

After I made the chocolate slushie the other day I could not get slushies out of my brain.

Then as I was grocery shopping I spotted this bag of beautiful lemons.

Our eyes met and it was love at first sight.

I just had to bring them home with me.

Their destiny?

Lemon slushie, of course!

I love my blender.

I peeled 3 lemons like an orange and put the whole darn thing in the blender, seeds and all.

Then I added 2 cups water and 1/3 c of honey (hence the dark color).

You could use 1/2 c of sugar instead and the color would be perfectly yellow.

I blended that all up for quite a while, until the whole lemon was totally pulverized. That way if there had been any seeds they were totally undetectable.

Then I turned off the blender and filled it up with ice cubes and blended more until the ice was totally pulverized.

The result?

Perfectly sweet and tangy lemon slushie.

So, so, so refreshing on a hot, hot, hot day!

Why was it such a hot day, you ask?

You see I had been canning these beauties all morning.

Yup, I made homemade pickles.

I googled a recipe for dill pickles and found about 1,000 variations for the same thing.

I took the really simple route and made my pickle brine using 3 parts water and 1 part vinegar and pickling salt. Then I added 1/2 T dill seed to each jar and boiled them in the water bath for 10 minutes. And voila!

Home made pickles.

The only problem is that most of the recipes say to let them sit in the brine for 4-6 weeks (to let them cure) before you eat them.
HA! Like that's gonna happen.


I did have left over cucumbers and brine after I ran out of jars and dill seed so I just put the left over cucumbers in the brine in the fridge with some red onions.

They have been in there for a few days and are perfect. These may hold me over for about a week, unless the kids find them, then they'll be gone in about an hour.

I love summer.

I can't wait until I have my own baby cukes growing in my very own garden!

Not to mention tomatoes and corn and peppers and onions and watermelon and squash and zucchini and green beans and herbs. The possibilities are endless.

Ah, I love summer!

On Being the Mom

Are you a mother?

Do you have 1 child running around your feet or 20?

Or none?

If you are a mother you'll know exactly where I'm coming from.

If you're not, then just imagine.

I love being a mom.

It is hands down the most rewarding thing I have ever done.

It is also hands down the hardest.

No one ever taught me how to be a mom.

If you know me well, you'll know my mom was, well, absent.

She was physically there, but at the same time she was gone, in another universe.

It's hard to explain and I could write a whole novel about that in itself.

Simply said, she did not teach me how to be a mom.

Not the kind of mom I wanted to be anyway.

So this 'being the mom' stuff is so new and at times scary for me.

I fear I am not doing enough.

I fear I'm not doing it right.

I fear I don't hold them enough and just love them enough.

I fear my house is not clean enough.

I worry about if I feed them the right foods and if they get enough to eat.

I worry about if they are getting enough sleep.

I worry about some sort of harm coming to them.

I worry they squabble too much.

There is no one at my side telling me, "You're doing a good job." or "That's it, keep going, you'll get the hang of it."

But somehow I know I'm doing OK.

At least so far.

I am loving this journey we call motherhood.

I love to laugh with my kids.

I love to play in the sunshine and the snow.

I love to sing primary songs.

I love to eat watermelon and let the sticky juice run down my arms all the way to my elbows.

I love to play at the park.

I love to read bedtime stories.

I love to dip my toes in the river water.

I love hiking in the mountains with a baby in the backpack.

I love road trips.

I love baby kisses

I love catching bugs and putting them in jars.

I love hearing their noisy chatter first thing in the morning.

I love to kiss their sweaty heads after they've fallen asleep.

I love their laughter and their songs.

I love their artwork.

I love just being a part of them and their daily lives.

Sometimes I wish so hard I could keep them little forever.

But I know that is in vain.

I know they will grow and be gone before I can even blink.

Last week I gave a lesson in Relief Society from a conference talk that President Monson gave in the October 2008 conference called Finding Joy in the Journey.

It really touched my heart in so many ways. Here is my favorite passage from that talk.

"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly."

I am trying hard to capture every moment I can so I can keep all of these precious memories for the rest of my life.

I try to appreciate the journey every day.

Sure I have my moments when I'm stressed out and I'm not as patient as I'd like to be, but for the most part I am just loving my kids the best I can every moment.

I try to be patient and understanding to their sensitive feelings.

I try to teach them to work even though I know I could do the same task 10 times faster if I just did it myself.

I read scriptures with them and have family prayer daily, even when they are too wriggly for their own good.

I wake up with them in the night if they've puked or have had a bad dream.

I comfort them when they're sad.

I am trying to be a good mom so I can tell my kids things no one ever told me about being a mom, like nursing a baby for the first few months hurts like nothing you've ever felt and you'll wish you had an epidural for that pain instead of labor.

I will tell them to wipe their girls' bottoms front to back.

I will tell them that having a baby is like having someone take your heart out of your chest and wrap it up in a little pink or blue blanket.

I will tell them to read to their kids starting the day they are born.

I will tell them they may as well buy stock in the diaper companies for all the diapers they will be buying.

I will tell them breast is best!

I will tell them there will be sleepless nights and silent tears.

I will tell them they will learn a new meaning for the word prayer.

I will make sure they have a rocking chair.

I will share my recipe book with them.

I will tell them that some days as a parent are really lonely, even with 8 little hands all around you.

I will tell them they will feel inadequate for the job some days.

I am trying so hard to be a good mom so that when my kids become parents I can whisper in their ears, "You're doing a fantastic job!"

and

"That's it, keep going, you'll get the hang of it."

Somewhere, My Love, There Will Be Skies of Blue

We have been having so many great adventures.

We were really tempted to do school work this morning. I had all the kids down stairs with our morning devotional all ready to start, then I noticed a message on my cell phone.

I made the mistake of listening to it before we started school.

It was Lisa and she wanted to go to Snow Basin for a horse ride today.

How could I resist?

If she were going anywhere else I may have been able to say no.

But Snow Basin? How could I?

Just look at those gorgeous leaves. They are so new and bright. They make me so happy just looking at them. The wild flowers are starting to bloom, too. In another couple of weeks that mountain will be covered with the most beautiful blue bells you have ever seen.

It was our first time back to our favorite horse riding spot since last fall.

It has been too long.

Snow Basin is up, up, up in the mountains and it takes longer for the snow to melt up, up, up there than it does down, down, down here.

Oh Snow Basin, how we have missed thee!

We have missed the sweet music of the mountains. The birds chirping above us, the sound of the river rushing at our feet, the sound of the baby oohing at all the majesty, the sound of the horses breath as they trot, the sound of the clip clop of the horses hooves, the sound of all the little bugs buzzing around.

We have missed the scenic vistas and wonderful hiking trails.

We have missed dipping our toes in the crisp water of the river.

We have missed eating our lunch in the shade of the twinkling leaves.

We have missed spending the afternoon with Grandpa and Lisa and Jessica and Jo.

We missed the wriggly fuzzy caterpillars and the purple butterflies.

Being back up in Snow Basin today felt a little like coming home after being gone much, much too long.

When we got home and got the car unloaded we were ready for a nice cool treat. I made the kids a super tasty chocolate slushie.

We drank them in the hideously long grass of our back yard and wished the day would never end. Oh, OK, since you asked so nicely I'll give you the recipe. You'll die when you see how easy it is.

Super Yummy Chocolate Slushie

Ingredients:

2 c milk (I use rice milk since we have dairy allergies, but cow milk works, too)

1/3 c agave nectar or honey (or 1/2 c sugar)

2 T cocoa powder

Ice

Directions:

Put the first 3 ingredients in the blender then put in ice, blend on high until it's nice and slushie. I don't measure the ice, I just keep putting more in if it's not slishie-y enough(let's just pretend for today that slushie-y is a real word, K?) .

See, told ya, it's as easy as it gets. The kids think they're getting some kind of special treat and I get CHOCOLATE!

Does life get any better than this?

Take Cover!

Just look at this cute, cute baby!

He sure dose love the tubby. He knows just how to make mom give him a bath, too.

As I was busy getting dinner ready and the kids fed before Doodle's dance class this evening Doodle screamed from the top of the stairs,

"The baby exploded!"
I waited a second expecting her to finish her sentence.
The baby exploded a tube of toothpaste.
The baby exploded a roll of toilet paper in the toilet.
The baby exploded a tube of makeup all over the bathroom.
You see, I knew the problem was bathroom oriented because that is where he always is when he does his damage.
I was half right, he was in the bathroom.
Doodle went on, "Well, at least he was near the toilet when he exploded."
You guessed it, he had a massive poo explosion, the likes of which we have not seen since he was a newborn.
It was all the way up to his neck and down his legs.
It even dripped a big steamy blob on the floor.
*gasp*
Thank heavens for linoleum.
I know, I know you did not need to know this.
I posted this experience for one person only.
OK, two people.
Josh and Tiffany, congratulations on your pregnancy!
We hope you enjoy every minute of parenthood!
We sure do love you guys.

Nature's StairMaster

How was you memorial day?

Did you do anything fun?

We had a blast.

We met our family at Mr Bird's mom's grave in the morning. We also visited Mr Bird's grandparents graves and had fun listening to his dad tell fun stories about his parents.

For lunch we all came back to our house for a potluck lunch.

We played in the sunshine with cousins for hours.

Look at our baby chicks. They are not quite babies anymore. I guess now they are considered pullets (hens under a year old). have you ever seen a chicken sit so happily in a cup holder before?

My little niece, marina was fascinated with the little birds.

Of course grandpa could not let our horse, Shadow, sit in the corral all by herself.
He so graciously offered to hold onto her so she could join the party too. She did a wonderful job of mowing our lawn which, by the way, is shamefully long right now.
But hey, who has time to mow when there is so much fun to be had?

My niece Jordana's philosophy is that life is a photo shoot. She is always posing for a photo. I think we finally caught her off guard with the chicken on her shoulder.

What's the matter Jo, afraid she'll poo on your cute outfit?
Michael was determined to get her to fly.
She was perfectly happy to roost right where she was.

Baby Cakes was so funny with the birds. He'd barely touch them them giggle and hide his face.

How about a chicken hat?



Doodle had so much fun with her cousins. Moriah loves horses almost as much as Doodle.


After we were done eating and playing we all loaded in the car and headed for my favorite hiking trail.

Waterfall canyon is gorgeous this time of year.

Most of the trail goes right past the river. At the very top is a beautiful waterfall.

We call this section nature's StairMaster, although this is much steeper than most stair cases around. Talk about a good bum work out.

My kids love their aunt Lisa. She has the most beautiful smile. We were looking back at pictures from about 4 years ago, when Doodle was just little. Lisa was holding her but had sunglasses on. I asked Doodle who was holding her. She looked for a while then finally said,

"LISA! I can always tell it's her by her pretty smile!"

This really is a tough hike, but as you can see we stopped often to take pictures.

The kids did awesome.

They had so much fun with their cousins and climbed those rocks like little troopers.

At last, the falls. The spray from the waterfall was so nice and cool on our hot tired bodies.

This is the biggest I've ever seen these falls. I think it's the earliest in the season we've ever gone and all the spring run off is still coming down fast.

The view down the canyon of the Ogden valley was also breathtaking. This photo does it no justice.

We had a few bumps and scrapes along the way. Here are my little troopers showing off their battle wounds.

Kid quote of the day:

Beano: Johnny got two mosquito bites today.

Dubs:Two?!? Well I got 51 mosquito bites today.

Beano: Dubs (insert his real name), if you had 51 mosquito bites you would be a mosquito bite!