Amazing Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Last night we celebrated Rebecca’s 21st birthday at YSA FHE. I wanted to make a cake; she wanted chocolate. I wanted it to be yummy, but I wanted to take a Sunday afternoon nap so No Frosting. We tried this recipe from the Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor cookbook. It was simply delicious, decadent, rich, and amazing!

PAM with flour for dusting the pan
1 package chocolate cake mix (original said German chocolate)
1 package (big box) chocolate instant pudding
1 cup sour cream (16 oz. tub)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1-1/2 cups Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Mist & flour a 12-cup Bundt pan. Shake out excess flour. Set pan aside.
Place all ingredients in a stand mixer  except the chocolate chips. Blend for a minute, scrape down the sides, blend a few minutes more. Batter will be thick & well-combined. Add chocolate chips & mix. Pour into Bundt pan & smooth prepared batter with a rubber spatula. Place pan in the oven.
Bake the cake for 58-62 minutes, until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger & is just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool on wire rack for 20”.
No frosting or glaze needed. Just lots & lots of ice cream or milk. It is very rich.

Random September shots

   

The boys ran the Midnight Flight Race in Anderson. Chris surprised us all with a time of 20:23. Ryan ran 24:26.

Jared continued playing soccer – practice & games are Friday night & Saturday morning so it doesn’t conflict with any other events (a minor miracle).

Ryan came down with the flu first & then the other kids & I followed swiftly behind. We were well-cared for by friends who brought us dinner & gave priesthood blessings. We had 3-4 bad days each & then it was better. The boys missed a whole week of school and had LOTS of homework to make up. Jared took the nap of the century last Thursday & slept from the minute he got home from school until 7 the next morning! The best part of that night? Scott finally got home from Wichita!!!!!!!

I had my hair done by a new guy. Since I went on a late-night run for Play Dough to Target, I had the checker take my picture – how many pictures of the 365-pictures of the day include the photographer? Not many.

Ryan is back to playing baseball. His finger is mostly healed – it just hurts if he pushes on it. (Don’t push on it…)

The Boy Scouts had a court of honor. Ryan earned his Tenderfoot & Chris earned a few merit badges &  his On My Honor award. It’s great that we have dedicated scout leaders that keep the boys moving along.

Memories without Pictures

Most of you probably know that I LOVE to take pictures! I have been working a resolution to take a picture a day for the whole year. There are many events and days in my life that do not have pictures to go with them that are very special. If I had a digital camera, I would probably have a million photos, but instead I just have the feeling in my heart.

Meridian Magazine had an article today about the origins of the Primary songs. I am especially fond of I Am a Child of God and my memory took me on a quick little review of some important events of my life. This might be boring but I need to capture the feelings now.

My Baptism: October 22, 1983. I had been attending church for years and finally decided that I wanted to be baptized. I started attending seminary and getting huge doses of the Spirit every day & realized that I wanted to feel that peace every day of my life. At my baptism I requested the song “I Am A Child of God”.

Temple Square: I met Scott in a physics class at the University of Utah when I was a freshman in college. His opening line? “Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?” We dated for a long time. One activity that we did with his parents was to go to Temple Square for FHE. While there, the missionaries pleaded for volunteers to work five hours per week. I was so inspired by the message that I asked how I could sign up. Soon, I was working every Saturday afternoon from 12:30-5:30. I was set apart as a full-time missionary and committed to learn the tours. I eventually knew three tours – the Life of Christ (upstairs near the Christus), the church history tour (around the grounds), and the Book of Mormon tour (South visitor’s center).  I was able to see a major shift as the church brought in full-time missionaries to replace the member volunteers. I still remember Sister Barnes & the powerful testimony that she brought on her mission. I was able to sit in on discussions & to see lives change. It was very powerful.

On one Saturday afternoon in September, I was invited to go to the Tabernacle to see the General Women’s Broadcast & sit on the third row!!! I knew that I was sitting in VERY reserved seating. I turned & asked the woman behind me why she was sitting in this section. She sweetly replied, “I am Naomi Randall. I wrote I Am A Child of God.”

One other Temple square memory, because the men let the sisters leave their shift early so we could go to the women’s broadcast, we filled in for them for the General Priesthood Session a few weeks later. One Saturday night I was standing near the door to the Tabernacle so I could see the prophet, Ezra Taft Benson. As I looked in the door, President Benson took off his suit coat & invited everyone else present to do the same thing. (If you know which talk this was, please let me know.) As he took off his coat, he just GLOWED and inside I felt very much that he was the prophet that the Lord had chosen to lead his church!

These darling children are singing the song in the Tabernacle on Temple Square (the egg-shaped building). I love the words & the message. When I learned to play the piano (as an adult), several (lots) of kids from the ward were taking from the same piano teacher as I was. When we went for our practice recital at a nursing home, I played the piano & all the Primary kids who were taking piano sang while I played. Very sweet because I was the Primary chorister at the same time.

Better run! If you want, let me know your favorite children’s song – Primary or otherwise.

Recipe for Disaster

One traveling husband + Three kids with the flu + One mom with the flu + Hungry stomachs

Mix generously for eight days.

Note to self: Paper plates & bowls for emergency kit.

Update

: I am so proud of my kids!!! Without me saying a word, Chris realized that this pile of dishes was over Mom's head & unloaded the dishwasher. Unloading the dishwasher prompted Ryan to load the dishwasher and then hand wash the rest of the dishes. I will post a picture in the morning, but the dishes are gone!!! Now if only the homework backup could be so easily taken care of. :)

Funny side-note: Scott's co-worker was looking over his shoulder as he [Scott] looked at this picture. The guy said, "She must have really been sick!!!"

Quote for the Day (& an update)

“A man does not work only for the sake of producing, but to set a value on his time. We feel more satisfied with ourselves and with our day if we have stirred up our minds and made a good start, or have finished a piece of work.” --Eugene Delacroix

Today, this week, this season – I have had a hard time having enough health and energy to feel that I have accomplished very much. When all is said and done, what value is there on my time? Are we accountable for the use of all of our time or just the healthy time?

Having the flu has been a major bummer & I am starting to feel discouraged today. The kids and I have been locked in the house together for a week. EVERYONE e.v.e.r.y.o.n.e. is going to go to school tomorrow. And I am going to try to do something productive and something restorative, not necessarily at the same time or place.

Update: Jared is not going to school tomorrow. He still has a fever and added diarrhea to the equation today. He is still his happy, perky self but his body is fighting a tough battle against the flu!

I wanted to give him something from the BRAT group (bananas, rice, applesauce, & toast) so I dug into the food storage & found freeze-dried bananas and a big jar of applesauce. I have plenty of rice & toast but fruit sounded better. I opened the bananas & gave him a sample. He smiled & said, “Hmm, better hide these!” … He didn’t continue liking them but the initial taste was positive. Then, after applesauce, he said, “It’s good! You’ll really have to try some mom!”

Cousins!

Cousins are built in friends – love that these guys are so good to each other. My kids really look to them as examples. So grateful that they are good ones! We drove down for Tanner’s farewell – he’s going on a mission for our church to Quito, Ecuador. His farewell talk at church was Amazing.

 

Here’s the same kids in 2002 & 2003. Can you believe how much they’re grown?! Brandon is missing in the first two pictures – he is married with a darling wife & baby girl now. And I think he was at work when we took the Christmas picture – I can still hear Spencer saying, “Shouldn’t we wait & take a picture with Brandon?” Yes. We definitely should have waited.

 

Frequent Flyer's Club

What do you get when you combine an active 11-year-old, a bag of skittles, and too much time in a doctor’s office waiting room? Pure & simple silliness. Ryan (probably) broke his finger at his baseball game last night. It was very purple & swollen & ugly so I insisted on taking him in to the after-hours clinic.  You can kinda sorta see the purple-ness of the middle finger of his left hand. His fingernail peeled back & there’s a purple stripe on the back of the fingertip.

 

 

There was a hint of trouble when I saw FOURTEEN cars in the parking lot. We filled out four pages of paperwork, waited in the TV waiting room, went for X-rays, waited in the little orange-walled waiting room, and then the doctor told us that it was probably broken but hard to tell on kids. While waiting for X-rays, the physical therapist came out to check on us. He saw Ryan’s name & wondered if it could be the same one that he treated last year. (Yep!)

 

 

I just had to walk away & think how great it was to capture some funny moments with a boy whose been a little serious since middle school started. Isn’t he adorable???

 

Movie Trivia

I saw a darling idea for the soon-to-be big TV wall at this blog. Scroll down to the TV picture. :)

We play a game around Scott’s laptop with lines from movies. He plays a sound bite & all present try to guess the title of the show. I am pretty bad at it – even when I have played the game 20+ times. We say A LOT of movie lines in our everyday conversations. Our kids collect lines from shows – Jared will say, “I know a good line …” and then proceed to say a line that he thinks is repeatable. Here are a few favorites:

• “Honey, where’s my SuperSuit?” (The Incredibles)
• “Are we there yet? “ … “We’ll get there when we get there!!!” (The Incredibles)
• “It’s just the way things are.” (Babe)
• “The four food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corn, & syrup!” (Elf)
• “I’m not dead yet!”
• .

Side note: I really miss little kids being home & watching Disney movies with them. The kids don’t watch the same great things any more. I’m glad that they’re growing up, but I still miss the good-old days!

What are some of your all-time favorite movie lines? What are some of your favorite quotable movies? We like Finding Nemo, Napoleon Dynamite, The Incredibles, Toy Story, and more. I will add a few more as I think about them throughout the day.

Jared LOVES to play soccer

Jared found some of Christopher’s old (very old) shin guards & decided then & there that he was going to play soccer this fall. I secretly wished that he would not remember when sign-ups came around, but he reminded me every day.

On Friday night it started to rain and lightning right before practice so it was canceled. He was SO disappointed!!! Not so disappointed that video games couldn’t make everything better though.All was not lost though as the first game was the next morning.

 

 

 

Jared diligently listened to most of what Coach Nick said. He had to sit out for the first few minutes because he had missed the only other practice (and he had never even been to a soccer game before).

His enthusiasm was so pure – it was really fun to watch. I am sure that soccer will get serious very soon, but it was nice to see him just scrap around with a bunch of like-minded kids, unaware of scoring and strategy.

Jared has on red shoes. He was great at chasing the ball, getting in and kicking a bit, and SKIPPING. Whenever he wasn’t running after the ball, he was skipping on the field. It was seriously one of the best soccer moments of my life!!!

Christopher’s Cross Country Saga

Chris is running x-country for his high school this year. He enjoys it when his calves are not cramping up & CRAMPING his style. Yesterday, he was running when he was stricken by exceedingly painful & severe leg cramps. He fell to the ground and would have quickly recovered if the friendly (& possibly bored) paramedics who work next to the campus had not driven by and seen something to do. I had to tell them that I did not want him transferred to the hospital & sign something stating that I understood that he had been treated.

Fast forward 24 hours. Scott got off work early. Jared waited in the car line (extra long since I was late). Ryan walked to the car instead of waiting. We drove one hour and thirty minutes to the town of Salem. We excitedly walked down the hill to see Chris race. There were three high schools there and almost ninety runners. It was going to be a great race… except the coach would not let Chris race. OK, I can see his point – let him get a practice under his belt before letting him run off in the traffic & everything. But (and it’s as huge as the state of Texas) BUT – do you think it might have been nice to notify the parents of his disqualification??? Almost four hours of extra driving and an hour waiting for the last runners to come in. Could you just pick up the phone & let me know of a detail like your kid’s not going to run?

You better believe that I am going to count the time spent driving to and from the meet towards my service hours for the school. I took bagels and tangerines for the runners so I think it’s legit.

The following are some photos from the trip…

    The post-race pep rally – Chris could have probably placed in the race. He had turned in practice times faster than the winning times today. At least they are having a rematch on September 10th.

Lake Keowee – love the green foliage, the blue water, and even the color of the red clay on the shore.

Random friend pictures

         

The Rohms, the Wallaces, the Barlows, & the Andersons – our lives are richly blessed by great people in our lives. With my picture-a-day project, i have tried to capture more of the day-to-day happenings & people. It’s funny that with all the pictures I take, I still miss so many.

OK, today’s imponderable. Why do all of my cameras eventually lose their ability to take sharp, crisp, and focused photos???

Happy Birthday babe!

 

We helped Scott celebrate his birthday on Saturday & Sunday. He wanted to hang the Christmas tree in the garage so he spent a good portion of the afternoon putting a bicycle hanging rack on the roof of the garage & then hanging the 10-foot Christmas tree from the rack. We went out to dinner at Lieu’s & tried two new items – Mandarin rib eye steak and seared scallops – both very good but not very Chinese-y. After dinner we went to downtown G’ville & walked around. It was very crowded because of the US bike racing tournament that was happening this weekend.

 

 

 

Scott is a great guy for a million reasons – let me give you the first ten or so that pop into my head.

• He is a great husband! He is so sweet & loving with me – and really wants me to be happy. Our 21st anniversary was August 22nd. I still choose US!
• He is a loving dad! Every night he plays a game with Jared when he pretends that Jared is not on his back while he carries him upstairs. He helps Ryan with his pitching. He helps Chris with ideas on running faster.
• He is a devoted home teacher. A few weeks ago he took part of a day off to go help one of his families with a kitchen project. He totally loves this family & wants to help them every way that he can. He sees most of his families every single month.
• He is easy to live with. He doesn’t have a short temper & he is hard-working.
• He honors his parents. I haven’t ever heard him say bad things about his mom & dad. He tries to live the principles that they taught him.
• He is a natural athlete. Whether it is running, skiing, tae kwon do, flag football, softball, mountain biking, tennis, diving, or whatever, he is a great competitor. Most people work for years to try to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but Scott did it on his second try.
• He is a good cook. He can cook & bake almost anything.
• He is a good problem-solver. When something doesn’t work right in the house, he frequently engineers a solution. When he wants to build a piece of furniture, he quickly draws up the design on a CAD system & I can see exactly what he’s making.
• He is fun-loving. He knows all sorts of games & activities to do with groups of people.
• He wants to do what is right. He is truly a great person!!!

A really bad day

How does a bad day earn its unique classification? Let’s see. I think that Thursday/Friday meets the criteria.

The kids & I were loading the dishwasher & tidying the kitchen late Thursday evening when I noticed that there was a puddle of water on the floor & the dishwasher hadn’t fully drained. I was a little bit excited to think that we might possibly be able to replace the loudest dishwasher in the world with something a bit quieter & much more efficient at washing dishes. On a hunch, I went downstairs to see if the water was leaking through the floor & into the guest bedroom. It was pouring through the moldings around the window!!! And the biggest problem of all? Scott was in Wichita & it was almost 10 p.m.

I called the Barlows (again!!!) and blubbered something about the pipes & the water. He told me that I needed to check underneath the sink to see where the water was coming from. Under the sink? Nothing there… oh… water & lots of spinach under there. And did I mention that in the seven years and five days that we have lived in this house, I have never even given a second thought to the piles of stuff under the kitchen sink. Once we quit running the faucet and pouring things down the drain, the water problem went away. I used our handy dandy $20 2.5-gallon shop vac & sucked away the water and spinach and then went to bed. Don’t you love Ryan’s sign to help remind us to not use the sink?

The next morning I had an appointment with Honda because my check engine light had been coming on for a few weeks. I dropped off the car & the shuttle driver took me to the airport where I picked up Scott’s car from long-term parking. My service guy called & said, “Do you have a pen & a piece of paper???” Bad news and none of it covered by the extended warranty. Luckily, we went 93000 miles before having to pour some money back into the van. Pretty reliable. And the service guy told us that once we complete X, Y, & Z, we should be good for another 90k miles!

This picture was taken by Crystal from the backseat when we were lost in D.C. in March. I love that you can see both of us & the car – a rare view.

I realized while I was out driving around  that I did not want to have Scott fixing the sink when he got back from his trip to Wichitia. I called our contractor friend & asked if he could come & fix the problem. He was there within two hours and fixed it and then didn’t charge me for the repair.

Scott’s flight from Wichita to Atlanta was delayed – causing him to miss the connecting flight. The next two flights were booked so he was able to rent a car ($200 for a 3-hour rental:!@) to drive home. We were so glad to have him home!!! And I was really glad the contractor came so Scott wasn’t up at midnight trying to repair the sink.

Update: I forgot the rest of the day (and probably the worst thing of all). While the boys and I were scurrying around to pick things up for Scott, I moved Jared’s bed against a different wall. The A/C had leaked through his mattress a few times & I wanted to make sure that everything had dried out. It had not – I think that there is mold under the carpet. It was still wet in a small area & has been wet for weeks and weeks. :(  We pulled the moisture-preserving plastic folder off the spot & turned the fan on. One day when we are really, really brave we will peel back the carpet & see if there’s any further action needed. [Realistically folks, it’s been at least two weeks. It can wait until we have  a free half day.]

Funny thing. While the day was happening, I felt like it was the end of the world. Writing about it three days later, it doesn’t seem like it was all that bad or insurmountable. I wish that perspective was as easy to gain at the moment I need it rather than just in hindsight.

The Alligator King and His Seven Sons

Too cute!

Charity Never Faileth

 

“Charity Never Faileth” stems from the first Relief Society meeting. The sisters were asked by the Prophet Joseph Smith to assist the brethren “in looking to the wants of the poor—searching after objects of charity, and in administering to their wants.” The sisters took this call to heart and became a society devoted to seeking out the poor and needy.

For the last two weeks, I have been poor in spirit and pretty needy as well. I have longed for something to help me kick this long-lasting bronchitis thing that I have.  I am on my second round of antibiotics, eight different allergy/cold/cough remedies, and various ice cream bars & juices. I have not felt this sick since… mono? the flu? walking pneumonia? I honestly can’t remember.

For several days (or probably even a week) my 11-year-old son Ryan helped me do everything necessary throughout the day. He brought me drinks & Tylenol & made me lunch & took care of his younger brother. I was too sick to get off the couch to make (or even think about) dinner. After working from 4 a.m.-6 p.m.  Scott was hungry & not thinking about dinner either. We ate some good fast food & I was a regular at Bruesters for their Italian ice. I should have had some meals in the freezer that were easy to pull out & prepare in the crock pot but I didn’t. (Good preparedness thought though.) Honestly, I didn’t ever say to anyone, “Could you please bring me dinner?” because if I would have, they would have. I just couldn’t even think straight. (And a few people even asked and I said no.)

Today, my long-time friend Mimi called to tell me about a mutual friend that she had met & enjoyed talking with. She told me that I sounded awful & then said, “I’m bringing you some of Dr. Morse’s garlic chicken noodle soup!” She showed up this afternoon with chicken noodle soup, rolls, orange juice, a bouquet of roses, and a heart full of love. She immediately sat me down & made me eat soup & then said, “I think I’ll just clean up your kitchen for you.” (We had a YSA party here tonight… and the house hadn’t been picked up in two weeks… and we were on a deadline …and I was in no condition to do it myself.) She totally cleaned my kitchen (better than I could ever do). She tenderly ministered to my long-sick-and-sad heart. She blessed me beyond measure. I just kept hugging her & sobbing. I could not find the right words to express just how thankful I was.

I call this the Julie Jacobsen principle. When we lived in Washington state, we moved from Renton to Maple Valley (20” away). The house that we bought had a few issues – divorced single guy who had dogs & berber carpet & loved the colors blue & grey. Julie & her husband Mike invited us to come & live at their house for 3-4 days. She fed us breakfast & dinner. She kept Christopher (4-1/2) all day for days. She let her husband Mike work late into the night helping Scott to rip out the carpet & paint the entire house before the carpet installers arrived. Julie once said to another friend that when she served, instead of thinking, “Is this enough?” She said that she tried to think, “Have I done everything that I could?” 

I am so blessed to be surrounded by good people…

• who give my kids rides to school
• who bring my kids home from baseball practice
• who check in on me every single day
• who keep my kids extra long at the pool so I can take a nap in a quiet house
• and many more things which I have undoubtedly forgotten to mention but for which I am eternally grateful.

Thank you. I am inspired.

I am feeling better & hope to continue to do so. I hope that I can have a more giving heart. I hope that I can be more prayerful, more faithful, more able to give Heavenly Father the opportunity to bless me. I hope that I can be an instrument in ministering to others.

12 on the 12th August

 

I hesitate to post this because it was such a lame day. However, I have been taking photos for 15 months now & don’t want to blow the streak. Luckily, most days are better than this one. I have LOVED doing the 12-on-the-12th project for all of the months except this one. I was feeling so horrible yesterday that I couldn’t even bring myself to take pictures. I took nine but had to do make-ups on the 13th.

 

• Chris went to his 3rd day of school. He overslept a little but was able to get ready in 15”.
• I went to the doctor & got medicine for the horrible cough thing that I’ve had going on. I have sat on the couch & watched HGTV 24-7 for three days. I like HGTV, but not that much. I am now taking Singulair-Claritin-Mucinex-2 inhalers-prednisone-Zithromax & hope to be feeling much better by the weekend.
• #2 & #3 came to Costco with me where we bought a *cough*healthy*cough* lunch of hot dogs, pizza, soda pop, & a smoothie.
• We stopped by Blockbuster on the way home so that we would have something besides the same-old TV shows to entertain us all afternoon.
• Ryan had to have an appliance put in to hold space for his 12-yo molars. And he got a tooth pulled with roots that resemble the robot attacking the city in the Incredibles movie.
• We went to pick up Chris at school because it was raining & x-country was canceled.
• Continuing on the healthy kick, the boys went to Jack in the Box for dinner while I had leftover steak, rice, & vegetables. And a quick little trip to Bruesters for a pink lemonade Italian ice & a pint of double chocolate chunk ice cream.
• Chris presented his Eagle Scout project idea to the Scout committee. They gave some great suggestions at writing a more complete plan & it seems like a go.
• We sent the kids to bed & settled in for a good night’s rest when Jared came & announced that his bed was wet. And he is very potty trained. The ceiling was leaking (again) because the air conditioner froze & thawed & drained into the pan & overflowed into his bed. :( Scott climbed up into the attic & vacuumed out the mess with our new little 2.5 gallon wet-dry vac. ($20 well spent)
• Ryan hung out until about midnight when he was exhausted enough that he didn’t care that his tooth on Tylenol still hurt.

Some days are just better than others for posting. The day before we had a birthday/pizza party for Jared at our neighborhood pool. Luckily, the prednisone should help my sunburn too.

Once upon a time…

Travis & Lisa were sealed in the Columbia Temple on Saturday. They were beautiful & glowing. Almost all of their family members were there. We knew that we were witnessing a sacred event & felt privileged to see it.  We love them both. Here are a few of my favorite pictures -