Sunday School teacher

(Almost) every Sunday for the last four years I have taught the YSA Sunday school class. Sometimes the weeks get really busy & I don’t prepare my lesson as early in the week as I should. Except this week. I made a commitment on Sunday to prepare in advance – especially since I am running a half marathon on Saturday & my brain will be mush. The lesson is about the Good Shepherd. What a great concept – aren’t we each shepherds for each other?

Okay, so why the blog post? Because I just realized tonight that Sunday is STAKE CONFERENCE!!! Hahaha on me. Instead of our normal meetings, we meet together with other Latter-day Saints from the area & listen to our stake president & other leaders speak. NO SUNDAY SCHOOL!! The weeks that I prepare early are the weeks that I don’t have to teach. Silly.

Spring Break, part 1

The kids’ spring breaks did not coordinate this year between the elementary/middle schools & the high school/college. Bummer. Chris and I had a whole week to hang out, go to the gym, and write a college psychology paper. We did make one attempt at having fun – we drove to Charlotte – actually HE drove to Charlotte. (BTW did you know that you can’t cross the state line with your learner’s permit? Now I know.) There was only one truly harrowing moment & otherwise we both survived. We went to IKEA, REI, & Nordstrom’s. I guess it wasn’t that much fun for Chris, but at least he was able to hold on to the steering wheel for a few hours & give me a few more grey hairs. (He is getting better!! He started driver’s training & should be able to take the test soon.)

In addition to our grand adventure, the kids have all spent a lot of time playing basketball. We pondered giving the kids a hoop for Christmas but skiied instead. One day while I was driving home early on a Saturday morning, I noticed that our neighbors had their hoop for sale for $50!!! I said, “We’ll take it!” I had to set time limits because they like to play so much. ( 9a – 9p) The kids also play baseball in the backyard, darts in the basement, & chess & Risk. Chris & Ryan were even able to go paintballing last week with a bunch of kids from church & school.

What’s happening?

Time is passing swiftly by. Mainly so I don’t forget … life is really hectic these days!!

Family

• Ward Temple Day – the temple is 1.5 hours away in Columbia. We all drove down & enjoyed spending time together as a family & with the ward. Scott, Chris, & Ryan went early & did baptisms. Jared & I came down later & stayed outside. I took pictures while Scott did an endowment session.
• We still enjoy our frog Pacman. He likes mice called “hoppers”. They are rather cute, but he is very satisfied after eating one.
• See the compost? We’re trying to enrich our garden. Lesson learned? Hamburger buns have so many preservatives in them that they do not break down, even after a full month! Yuck.
• White chocolate cupcakes – Jenna made cupcakes with a friend for EV’s baptism. These were not your ordinary cupcakes - they were delicious!
• I am totally in love with The Food Nanny Cookbook. Every single solitary recipe that we’ve ever tried has been wonderful. In fact, they are always best in class. I love the idea of sitting down to dinner with our family each night. We are not perfect but we are really trying.
• We hosted the semi-annual General Conference Sunday morning breakfast. I was delighted that Sunday came when I realized that I was never going to make curtains out of the fabric that I bought 7-8 years ago. Instead, I made tablecloths by cutting 6.5’ lengths of fabric! You cannot see the new tablecloths – just the round Christmas cloth. (We like giving every holiday an equal opportunity all year long.)

Scott

• Busy at work with the same project.
• Seemingly refreshed from a longggg weekend skiing in Utah with friends
• Traveling to Clemson a few times a month for church meetings
• Helping at Ryan’s & Jared’s baseball practices
• Preparing for the Nashville Marathon at the end of April
• Getting lost on a long run & ending up near the airport.

Jenna

• Trying to clean off the desk, finish taxes, & drowning in paperwork
• Exercising – step aerobics, spinning, Pilates reformer, running, whatever sounds good that day
• Contemplating the Nashville Half Marathon – swinging quickly towards not doing it because I haven’t gone much further than 6 miles since early March
• Running kids to school x 3, baseball practices & games x 2, piano lessons, Cub Scouts, young mens, etc. (Scott helps A LOT!)
• Jared’s team mom – concessions schedule, snack schedule, etc. Not hard, just one more thing.
• YSA Sunday school , family night, & dances.

Chris

• Homework, homework, homework.
• Multi-page paper for college psychology
• Running – mostly finished up physical therapy (except he didn’t get the t-shirt) – bruised meniscus – hip seems better too
• Taking the ACT – math was easy (lots of TRIG)
• Starting drivers training – doing much better. He drove to CLT with me during spring break. It was quite the adventure!

Ryan

• Baseball, baseball, baseball. He is playing on a travel ball team with his team from last summer.
• Piano lessons  (begrudgingly) – he plays well enough that sometimes Pacman (the frog) sings along.
• BASKETBALL – we bought a hoop from a neighbor & the kids play A LOT!
• Getting taller & filling out. He is getting very muscular.
• Running – not as much since we got the basketball hoop. However, he ran a 50 second 400-meter lap at school. The teachers were so surprised that they asked him if he had cut across the middle of the field. He is speedy.

Jared

• Injured his arm. He was vacuuming inside of Scott’s trunk the other day when he happened to get his arm smashed by the trunk. I was pretty sure it was broken – it just looked misshapen & even felt crooked. We went to the ER, got in a room right away, & watched Toy Story 2 & Happy Feet until we got the results. His arm is still bruised but he is much better.
• Playing baseball for the Rattlers. He likes to play 2nd base & catcher. His coach gives him drills to help him with his hitting.
• Totally into reading the Percy Jackson series. Currently on The Titan’s Curse. They are a little difficult but he really enjoys them.
• Teaching himself how to play chess & playing checkers & chess with his brothers whenever they are nice enough.
• Pinewood Derby – came in 2nd place to his best friend Cody. He was a great sport & was happy that Cody got an award too.
• Cub Scouts – his troop went hiking at a local lake. He has wonderful scout leaders.
• Sweet, happy, smiley – a joyful little boy.

Happy life!

General Conference: Memories and Waffles, Egg Casserole, and Salad

 

Every April and October, our church gathers together, literally (in Salt Lake City) and digitally (around TVs, radios, & the internet) to listen to living prophets deliver messages of counsel & encouragement.

For a 2:33 explanation on why conference matters.

We happily stay home in our jammies & watch BYU-TV. Another tradition associated with general conference is the breakfast. Scott’s family had this tradition for a long time & we have carried it on with our kids and our YSA’s. I did not take a picture every single year, but here are some that I found.

 

    

This weekend we have spent eight to ten hours watching General Conference. It’s been great! Except that when all is said & done, we are tired from sitting so much. I tried Tried TRIED to stay awake yesterday but must be fighting off something. I slept most of Saturday. The boys did better than I and watched almost every single speaker without complaint.

This morning, we invited the YSA’s over for our semi-annual tradition of conference breakfast. We had waffles, strawberries, whip cream (in a can!), turkey bacon, egg casserole, & orange juice. Scott is a speedy waffle maker.

Conference Waffles or Pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk (or 1-1/2 cups milk plus 1/2 cup Greek yogurt)

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs, the buttermilk, and milk. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once, stirring just to blend. The batter should be slightly lumpy & quite thick. Let the batter rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

Heat a lightly oiled waffle iron or skillet. Cook until golden brown. Slather with butter & (if your name doesn’t rhyme with Tina) drizzle with syrup. (bleck, bleck, bleck!)

 

Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Casserole

18 eggs (3 cartons liquid eggs)

1/4-cup milk (optional)

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 cup sautéed onions

8-10 slices bacon, crisped & broken into pieces

Put onions, bacon, & cheese in 9x13-inch pan. Pour eggs & milk over. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, & Old Bay Seasoning. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until cooked all the way through.

 

After Conference Salad

1 Aidell’s Chicken and Apple Sausage, grilled

1 oz. goat cheese, crumbled (I used Trader Joe’s individual serving)

Salad greens (spring greens plus spinach)

Tomato

Snap peas

Blackberries

Salad dressing: I think this would taste good with honey mustard or raspberry vinaigrette. I just ate it plain.