Goodies

As a little girl Christmastime was my favorite time of year and it still is! I remember my mom working in the kitchen baking and candy making for hours to get her goody plates ready for our family and friends. Homemade treats are my favorites and so I try to continue that tradition a little bit in my home. I can't say that I make all of the same things that my mom did, but I do make some of the basics. Today I've made fudge. It is a recipe I got about 9 years ago and I love it! I can't mess this one up. It sets up perfectly every time and is a big hit with my husband and kids! I've decided to share it so that you guys can enjoy it, too!

Fool-proof Fudge

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces (6oz)
1 cup milk chocolate pieces (6 oz)
12 large marshmallows or 1 1/4 cup tiny marshmallows
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Butter a 9x9x2 inch baking pan or line pan with foil and butter foil. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, butter and milk. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil over medium heat; reduce heat. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in chocolate pieces, marshmallows, and vanilla. Continue stirring until smooth. Stir in nuts, if desired. Spread in prepared pan, Chill in refrigerator about 4 hours or until firm. Cut into 1 inch squares. Store in covered contoainer in refrigerator or freezer. Makes about 2 lbs.

I double this to make enough for a 9x13 pan.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Just a little thought...

Today I took Preston to see the Geneticist. We've been waiting for several months to get him in again. Not that we have any high hopes, but we're always curious to see if anyone has any answers for us as to what is going on with him medically. As far as that is concerned, we're still wondering. But I did gain a little insight from the visit.

When the doctor first came in the room he asked us a little bit about Preston and where he's at academically. I explained to him that I'm really pleased with his progress and I owe a lot of it to the excellent school he attends. Preston has made great improvements in the two years he has gone to this particular school. We adore the faculty there and they seem to really love Peanut (and all of the boys, for that matter). The doctor seemed amazed at that and jokingly said he should refer all of his patients in Davis County to attend our school. I laughed and said that I definitely realized I was lucky and that our school is indeed an exception to the rule here in the state of Utah.

As the appointment went on (it lasted almost 3 hours), we discussed some new testing that they would like to run on Preston. The tests are really expensive and meet a lot of resistance from many insurance companies, particularly Medicaid. We currently have that for the boys as Lain is out of work and we couldn't continue on cobra benefits. Because of the state of the economy right now, more families are on Medicaid and they are really watching the big expenses. The doctor said that maybe we could get lucky with this like we did on the school thing. I laughed, but then I realized something; luck has nothing to do with the things that have occurred in my life.

Almost 3 years ago, I woke up one morning, strolled into the kitchen and told my husband we needed to sell our house. We had only lived in it for 10 months at the time. That evening we put a sign in the front yard. Two weeks later, the house had sold and a couple of weeks after that I was moving into this special little money pit! The moment I drove through this neighborhood, I KNEW this was where we were supposed to be. I had no doubts. Now, here it is almost 3 years later and my children are thriving. They are doing so well in school, have excellent friends and we are in the most amazing neighborhood imaginable. Before he started kindergarten, the specialists said Preston would have to use communication devices to function at school and that he would probably be mainly in a functional skills-type setting. It may seem trivial to some, but my son speaks full sentences now, writes his name and can read a lot of sight words. He is in a general education classroom for 2.5 hours a day and resource the rest. My heart is full because of the miracles that I continue to witness in my life.

Life is not easy. In fact, it can seem down right crappy at times. But, I know that through all the trials, come these moments of joy and happiness. These moments when I feel so depressed because I have such bad "luck" pass and I realize that luck really has nothing to do with it. I have adversity and I have blessings. The Lord is here for me through it all- good and bad. The thing I need to do is recognize His great hand in my life and acknowledge Him for the days of good fortune and rely on Him when that "luck" turns sour. I'm grateful for the Spirit and the ability I have to receive inspiration when I need it most. I needed it today. I needed a reminder that God lives and remembers me. His hand is in my life daily and my children bear constant witness to that.

I guess I am pretty lucky after all! Don't you think?

What The???????

La dee dah... I was going to run my bath water today and looked down to see this waiting for me!!! I have never seen such a creature in my life. I think it must be some sort of spider-centipede hybrid- SICK!

Then it occurred to me, I haven't seen a lot of the things I am experiencing here in the good ol' Beehive State. Spring is here, and with that comes the beauty of tulips, lush lawns, beautiful mountains, birds singing and gracing my yard with their presence, streams running full, and the most enjoyable evening temperatures I have ever felt. BUT this all comes with a price.... CRITTERS!

The spiders are out in full force right now; the cobwebs in my house prove that. Ants are building up their little villages in my gardens. Mosquitoes are chomping at my skin already. My front windshield looks like someones art project with smashed bugs- from in-town driving! Almost every night I can smell the fragrant aroma of skunk booty. Nice. And now this not-so-little friend tries to join me in the bathtub.

The point?? Well, I guess everything has its price. I wanted to have a yard that made me feel like I was in the great outdoors. I've got it AND all of its inhabitants. BUT as soon as they come into my house, I stop being nice. This poor fella met the bottom of a flip-flop and took a final spin down the commode. To some the end is not pretty. Sorry guy, I had to take a bath!

Sarah Who?

It's been a long time. I really have no excuse. My biggest problem lies with Twitter and Facebook. I am an addict. I really love how easy it is to put up a quick status and walk away. It's also been a lot of fun to catch up with people from my past. So, what's been going on around here? Not too much, but I'll try to fill in the month and a half long gap...

Lain still has no job. He's been searching and searching, but we can't live on the meager salaries he's been offered. People are really paying a lot less than what used to be the norm. It's starting to get stressful and we're looking in other areas now. I don't want to leave, but we'll cross that bridge when and IF we have to. We just have to keep all of our options open. He is starting to advertise for bike repairs again. Hopefully we'll get a few repairs and tune-ups here and there to help supplement the unemployment money coming in. We're staying as optimistic as possible- having faith that Heavenly Father is watching out for us. I know that in time this will all be something we look back on as a lesson learned.

I have been trying to lose weight again. My baby weight from Abbie just wasn't coming off the old way. (That way being eat like a pig and exercise every once in a while.) So, I've joined Weight Watchers and the weight has slowly been coming off. I really feel better now that I've been eating healthier. I'm happy that my kids are still young enough that they might be better eaters when they are my age because of the changes I have been making for our family. I miss baking TREMENDOUSLY, however. I do it as a stress reliever. So, now I have more stress. :) Not really, I just read a bit more now! Plus I've been running again (or at least run-walking). It's so nice to get out at night and get some good exercise. I really enjoy the weather here in the evenings.

The kids are doing really well. The boys have a little over a month left of school. This year has just flown by!! I think we'll have a fun summer. We've started back into baseball season for Adam. He really loves it! I'm glad we were able to get him involved in that again. It's good to keep these boys busy. Abbie is growing like CRAZY! She is so tall. She's off the charts for her height. The doctor called her "ginormous." Needless to say, she is not a petite child. I love it! She can hang with her brothers so well! She is rough and tumble and loves to play outside with them. It's fun to watch her grow, but leaves me sad, too. She's my baby and she's growing up faster than any of the boys did. Why does it have to happen that way?

All in all, the Dukes are doing well. We are grateful for the many blessings we receive on a daily basis. We have healthy kids, a great neighborhood, a happy marriage, and more weeds to pull than anyone we know! The Lord's hand is in our lives and we feel His presence in our home. We know that if we keep on truckin' we will be blessed even more! I plan on posting more often now since Lain won't need the computer for school over the summer. If you want to catch up with us more often, though, just take a peek at our facebook pages!!!!

Bread Baking Addiction

I have been on a bread baking kick for the last few days. My husband and kids can't seem to get enough of it lately, so I just keep making more. It is really easy and is so inexpensive to make. I have a smaller KitchenAid mixer, and this recipe is the perfect size for it. I only have to use my dough hook- no hand kneading necessary. It doesn't get much better than that! Here's the recipe if you're interested:


BASIC WHITE BREAD FOR KITCHENAID

½ cup low-fat milk
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 packages active dry yeast (4½ tsp active dry yeast)
1½ cups warm water (105 F to 115 F)
5-6 cups all-purpose flour (Mine ends up being about 5½ cups.)

Place milk, sugar, salt, and butter in small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool to lukewarm. (Lukewarm is baby bottle warm- you shouldn't notice much of a difference from your body temperature. If you get it too hot- you will kill your yeast.)I do this step in the microwave on high for about 1-2 minutes- much less work!


Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 ½ cups flour. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 1 minute.


Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, and mix about 2 minutes, or until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl. Knead on Speed 2 about 2 minutes longer, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough will be slightly sticky to the touch.


Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.


Punch dough down and divide in half. Shape each half into a loaf, and place in greased 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½ -inch baking pans. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.


Bake at 400* F for 30 minutes, or until golden brown**. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks. (Mine is done in under 20 minutes, so make sure you keep an eye on it.)


**For an extra special touch, rub butter on tops of loaves immediately after you take them out of the oven. I love that!


I hope you guys try it and love it. The crust is really tender and the middle is soft and fluffy. It really is the easiest bread recipe I've ever made. And the taste is MMMMMM! Go ahead, be brave, bake bread!

Natural Disasters

I just got this from the FEMA website.

The Different Types of Disasters and Hazards:

Chemical
Dam Failure
Earthquake
Fire or Wildfire
Flood
Hazardous Material
Heat
Hurricane
Landslide
Nuclear Power Plant Emergency
Terrorism
Thunderstorm
Tornado
Tsunami
Volcano
Wildfire
Winter Storm

For some reason, it doesn't list "four children." I'm not quite sure why. In my experience, they can cause quite a bit of damage. My house is proof of this. I've taken a few pictures to prove my case.

This is a picture of my living room right now. It was spotless before they came home from school.

This is a picture of Abbie's high chair. It's been wiped up a little, but will need its nightly bleaching soon.

And, finally, this is my older boys' room. It is a sty. I have informed them that as of right now, "Nice Mom" has gone away and her replacement, "Mean Mom" will be here until the house is spotless. We cleaned out Abbie and Campbell's room yesterday and found a small smorgasbord under Cam's bed. DISGUSTING! The food was beyond recognition. Did I ever think that was possible in my house? NO!!!

Children are amazing little creatures. They are so much fun, but such little savages at the same time. I never thought that kids could be so time-consuming! Being a mom really is like working two full-time jobs. They keep me hopping.

Another thing missing from FEMA's list is "husbands." I have a hubby with a little bit of a clutter problem. I go through piles of crap weekly trying to weed through them to find the stuff we actually need and get rid of what we don't. Bless his little heart he just can't throw things away. He comes from a family who saved EVERYTHING. I came from a family with very little sentimentality. The two worlds do not mix well. Clutter makes me nuts. I find myself lying awake at night thinking about ways to attack the craziness without making him think he's married to a psycho. (He might very well be.) I've come up with some great ideas, but I haven't implemented a single one of them.

Here's a picture of the computer desk right now. The pictures on the desktop are mine from my facebook addiction problem. The rest is stuff that hasn't made it to its place in the file cabinets or bookshelves.





This is a picture of Lain's side of the bed. I'm sure you're impressed with our dinky little laminate side tables. Our room is so gigantic that these are all that will fit on the sides of our bed. Don't worry, though, we are maximizing our space there. Check it out.




As much as I'd like to blame every disaster in my life on everyone else, I can't. My procrastination should make it to the top of the natural disasters list. I have a number of unfinished projects throughout our house and seem to start new ones all the time. It's a little insane. This is my to do list as it is written on my white board right now:


To Do:


Stain shed/swingset

Trim ceiling paint

Fix closet doors in boys' room

Fix drywall in bathroom/ paint bathroom

Hang towel bars

Fix sink (I should erase that because it's done. However, it should be replaced by, "fix garbage disposal.)

Paint range hood white

Paint basement

Prune fruit trees before spring


That list has been up there FOREVER!!! I have been putting Lain to work on it a little since he's been out of work. Here's what our bathroom looks like right now. It's progress, but who knows how long it will look like this!





So as I sit here typing away on my blog, I have 27 loads of laundry piled up, pee on the floor around the toilet, and my sink looks like this:




I guess I had better get busy before any other natural disasters come my way. Why can't someone take me away from all this and put me up in a hotel for a couple of days while a cleanup crew comes in and takes over? Just kidding! What else am I gonna do?

Valentines Fun- Late again!

Valentine's Day was kind of crazy at our house. We have all been sick for a couple of weeks now, so the usual cookie decorating and valentine making didn't happen. We were able to get a couple of little things done, however, and I actually remembered to take pictures!

I volunteered for Campbell's kindergarten class Valentine's party this year. I was in charge of the craft. It's harder than I thought to find something easy enough for little 5-year-old fingers yet hard enough to take up the time that the kids were in my rotation. I found this little flower on MarthaStewart.com and added the pipe cleaner stem to hold the flower up. It was really fun and the kids loved making them! The sad thing was that Campbell couldn't even be there. He had strep AGAIN! (Our whole family is on antibiotics because of this, BUT that's another story.) I saved some for us to do at home. Didn't they turn out cute?

I'm assistant room mom in Adam's class and helped with the snack in there. My friend and I did a healthy snack because the kids were already decorating sugar cookies in another rotation. She made some yummy dips and apples. She also cut cheese with a heart-shaped cookie cutter. I made breadsticks shaped like "X"s and "O"s. We're supposed to bring store-bought stuff, but it's really hard to find healthy store-bought things. We cheated. I did buy the canned breadsticks, though. I think that should count. Adam said the kids liked it all. I couldn't stay because I had to take Preston to the pediatrician. (He had pinkeye.)

The kids had a lot of fun eating candy and reading their valentines. Hopefully next year we will be healthy enough to do some more fun stuff at home!

Loving It!

I know, I know, "Come What May and Love It." Right? Well, it's coming and I'm really trying to love it.

Last week the water heater stopped working. The plumber came and fixed it. $775 later we had hot water again. YAY! That kinda made my stomach turn, but such is life with an old house. I can love this. Worse things could happen.

They did. That night Lain was let go from his job. Manufacturing companies just aren't spending as much so his company's numbers were down. Lain was the low man on the totem pole- BYE BYE! So, here we are again with no job, 4 kids and a crappy old house. I am loving it.

I had a root canal this morning and Preston's been barfing all day. Loving it! I have a big paper due this weekend that I am totally lost on. Internet classes do NOT rule. They are very hard to manage while your toddler is climbing all over you and your kids are fighting over someone hitting the "pause" button on the Wii remote. I decided it is Lain's moment for school, not mine. I dropped my classes today. There is only so much I can deal with at once. I'm a wimp! BUT, I'm loving it!

As negative as this post sounds, I really am happy! My decision to take Elder Wirthlin's advice this year has really helped change my perspective. I am grateful for the little things and I'm trying to seek for learning in my trials. I know we will be okay. There are bigger things out there waiting for us! Besides, look at this cute little girl......

That's all I need to help put a smile on my face!



Hope you all are LOVING IT!

Long Time, No Blog...

The Holidays have come and gone with no blogging for Sarah.

December was a crazy, but great, month. I had a hysterectomy on the 12th. My mom came up to help out with the kids and I didn't want her to go home! We sewed a lot and I got to eat some of my mom's excellent cooking! I really appreciate her coming. Preston's birthday was on the 13th (as was my Anniversary) and he had fun having Grandma here for that. It was a good day for him.

I did really well with my surgery. The first week, I didn't feel like I had had surgery at all. I felt really great. AS SOON AS MY MOM LEFT, I had pain! I guess I partied too much with Debi! Thankfully, Meg came and stayed for a couple of days, and we laid low the whole time. It was great to spend time with her, too. I popped a couple of pain pills and we built the cutest snowman ever! GOOD TIMES! I'm feeling great now!

Christmas was wonderful! The kids had a lot of fun playing with their new toys and we just enjoyed spending time as a family. Abbie got a new play kitchen and she adores it! We also got the family a Wii and it has served as an excellent source of bribery for the kids. The problem is, it is HIGHLY addictive. That doesn't help out when you have papers to write and homework to do! If only there were a way to incorporate the two. HMMM.....

Now we're back to the daily grind. Lain and I are taking our classes. The kids are in school and life is just rolling along. I am trying to keep my New Year's resolutions of 1)Come What May and Love It (Elder Wirthlin's talk from last conference- a MUST read) 2)stick to my budget 3)get skinny and take better care of myself. So far, #1 and #2 are coming along, but my surgery has not helped out #3. I'm hoping to get back to the gym this week! I have been trying to eat better, though.

I hope all of my blogging buddies will have patience with me. I will try to write more. I miss the blogging world! I'll post some pics from the Holidays!