Cool Beans

I've been on a huge bean binge lately. I just can not get enough of them. I discovered how to make my own re-fried beans super yummy. I learned that when you cook the beans to add chicken bouillon! So easy and it makes such a difference in flavor. In fact, Abby and Rex gobble them up every time I make them, so I can't complain about that. Here's what I do. I throw a 1/2lb of beans in the crock pot with a bunch of water. I have been using pinto beans, but black beans are good too. I'll add about half a bulb of minced garlic, some pepper, and about 5 teaspoons of chicken bouillon. I get this done in the late morning and by dinner, the beans are ready. My other secret to great beans is to re-fry them in cast iron. I use a dutch oven, but a skillet could work just as well. I put just a small spoonful of lard in, because I like the fat in it, but you don't really need it. I let the bean water reduce and I mash the beans up. I like my beans nice and runny so it doesn't take very long, but if you like thicker beans it might take a little longer. I've been making these every week. I love dipping tortilla chips into them. I don't think I can ever go back to the canned re-fried beans from the store ever again! I tried once and was a little grossed out by them. Beans really are the magical fruit!

Boys are dominating...

My brother and sister-in-law just had their ultrasound the other day and found out they are having a boy. I could've sworn it was going to be a girl. This is the way it works in our family. All of the siblings kids usually round each other out in the boy/girl category. In the beginning, the boys dominated until Tad decided to have a bunch of girls and it evened out a bit. Now the boys are starting to dominate again, which leads me to believe that mine HAS to be a girl. If it is not, then the universe is not in alignment. That would leave the score Boys: 9 Girls: 5. It's not even and frankly, it's just not right. I need a girl to even the score to Boys: 8 Girls: 6 and then my other sisters-in-law are going to have to get cracking on making some girls. What do YOU think it will be? I have included a poll on the side for your convenience. Make sure you vote for girl, otherwise you are going to be so embarrassed when we find out. :)

'Roid Rage

This pregnancy has been an interesting one. Other than feeling tired, I haven't been sick. I haven't even thrown up once! However, my emotions have been all over the place. Now, I like to consider myself as un-emotional. I think of myself as very logical and controlled, preferring humor to any other emotion. Lately, however, a new emotion has begun to take the limelight for humor. Anger. Now this is what worries me. With the slightest provocation, I can feel my blood start to boil and I start to get violent. My poor kids have taken the brunt of this problem. In fact, the other day at dinner, Abby went to get a knife from the drawer instead of sitting in her seat so we could say a prayer. At this, I started to get so mad. How ridiculous is that?? Let the poor girl get a knife. Let's just say we were lucky that Craig was there. I feel like the incredible hulk - the smallest thing just sets me off and I turn into a crazy woman. I think Rex was actually afraid of me at one point. Craig thinks I might have 'roid rage. Thanks for the input, Craig.

Craig recently bought a punching bag for our garage/gym. I've used it once and felt pretty good, but I'm afraid if I use it everytime I get angry I will 1)Be out in the garage for most of the day and 2)one day I might slip and punch one of the kids instead. That would be undesirable.

To combat this new trend, I decided to take a religious approach. I prayed for help in controlling my anger and read my scriptures and also my patriarchal blessing. Today has been a good day so far. No violent episodes and the kids were actually pretty happy most of the day. It's still early, so I'm not relaxing just yet, but I think I just might get a grip on these crazy emotions. Has anyone else dealt with this kind of thing? I am in unfamiliar territory here. I've never even gotten PMS or anything like it. Maybe I'll start using Abby's "mad" pillow. I'm sure she'll get a kick out of that.

The rumors are all true!

Well, maybe not ALL of them. But the one about me being pregnant sure is! I finally went to see the doctor today and I am 9 1/2 weeks along with a due date of March 26. I'm glad I finally know now, because since I found out, I've been insisting to Craig that it must be twins or I'm really far along because my belly popped out almost instantly. Craig's theory is that since I've lost weight, it just shows more. (I'm happy to say that at my 1st weigh-in, I actually weighed about 10 lbs less than my 1st weigh-in with Abby! I'm pretty happy about that!) But, I digress...

This one has been interesting from the start. I was still nursing Rex until about a month ago and I had never gotten my period back. The only reason I knew was that one day I was playing with Rex and Abby on the floor and fell asleep for about an hour, WHILE they were climbing all over me. If that's not a sure sign of being pregnant, I don't know what is. So I took the test and it was very much positive. Since I have Kaiser, it took about a million years to get my first appointment, and finally I have all the stats.

The cool part is that Kaiser always does an ultrasound for the 1st appointment. With Rex, I was only 7 weeks along, so I couldn't really see anything except a blob on the screen, but this time, I actually saw the baby's little legs and feet kicking. I think I instantly fell in love with the little bean. :) The heartbeat was nice and strong. It looks like, so far, we've got a nice and healthy baby. It must be a strong baby, to have survived the battle I had with food poisoning a while back.

I haven't felt too sick this time around. Just tired and a little queasy. And now, my story is told.

Earthquakes

This morning I had a new and exciting experience. It was the first time I felt an earthquake while I was peeing! My normal protocol for earthquakes is panicking and pushing down my kids as I head for a doorway. This morning, however, I had to change that. I had to stop mid-pee (which is quite a feat in itself) and I started to head for a doorway, but this one was just a quick jerk and then it was over, so I didn't have time to get to the doorway.

Back in the 90s, after the Northridge/Landers quake, I was terrified of being on the toilet or in the shower during an earthquake. In the aftermath of those quakes, I would take showers at lightning speed and go to the bathroom as fast as I could. Now, after having experienced it, I guess it's not the worst thing that could happen, right?

Glazalicious Salmon

We Just tried a new salmon recipe and I think I am in LOVE with it. Probably because it has a really sweet glaze on top, and you can't go wrong with any kind of glaze. So here's the recipe if you're daring enough to try...

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
4 (6 oz) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Combine 1st 4 ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Place fish on a foil-lined baking dish coated with cooking spray, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Preheat broiler. Brush sugar mixture over fish, broil 3 inches from heat 3 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

I wanted to lick my plate and the pan, the glaze is so good, but I couldn't because we had guests. Enjoy!

Abby's Birthday

Abby's awesome panda bear cake.

I realized today that I am a bad mom. I was going to go through the pictures and video of Abby's birthday and realized that I had only a couple pictures of her cake and only a video of her (and by her, I mean me) blowing out the candles. She really did have a fun birthday with friends and loved all of her presents. Next year I hope I will do a better job, although I've never been a good picture taker.



...and the kids sneaking some cake the next day.