Yummy Recipe

This is my favorite recipe for potlucks or when the family gets together (usually for a sports game of some sort).

I've heard it called many things: Fiesta Salsa, Black Eyed Peas Salad but my favorite is Cowboy Caviar.

Here's the recipe with my variations noted:

1 11-oz can corn, drained (calls for sweet white but I think the sweet yellow is more colorful)

1 15-oz can black eyed peas, drained

1/2 bunch cilantro (I do less, cilantro is not my favorite)

5 large green onions chopped

2 cloves of garlic minced (I do 2 cloves with the homemade dress, 1/2 - 1 clove if using the bottled dressing since it has garlic in it)

2 avocados, cut into chunks (I do 3 avocados)

3 large roma tomatoes cut into chunks (I do 5 tomatoes)

Dressing:

Either 1 8-oz bottle of Italian salad dressing

~OR~

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Mix well and let sit in the refridgerator for a few hours before serving. Tastes best when cold and flavors have had a chance to blend.

Serve with Tortilla chips.

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Speaking of food, this is what we had for St. Patrick's Day this year. Since my boys eat breakfast at the babysitters I made then breakfast for dinner. We had green eggs and ham and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Yum!

Happy Birthday Trev!

Today my baby turned 3! He is such an amazing kid and I am so grateful that he is my son. For his birthday today we went to the park to fly kites. It was a perfect windy March day.

We also went to dinner at Applebee's. I had the servers do their singing & clapping routine for him knowing full well that he would either love it or hate it and luckily he loved it. He sat their smiling the whole time. If I had been using my brain I would've pulled out my camera and taken a picture but instead I just sat there and watched his happy little face.

We celebrated his birthday with my family last Sunday and will with Brad's family tomorrow. That means I get to make this cake twice. I am in no way a cake decorator but I thought I did a pretty good job.

First cake above and second cake below

Over the past few weeks I have noticed some changes in Trevor. When we first transitioned him from his crib to a big boy bed which just happened to be a bunk bed in the same room as Tyler he struggled. Ever night he and I would go toe-to-toe about him going to sleep. He was in and out of bed and I was at my wits end. But now, he gets out of bed one time after I put him down and I can handle that. He still requires that I cover him with his favorite blanket but that is a small price to pay for him staying in bed!

His language skills have really grown in the last few months. My sister hadn't seen him for a while and when we went to her daughter's baby blessing she was astounded at what a little chatterbox he has become. During sacrament meeting after every talk, every song or every prayer he would say "time to go to Ba-Ba's [grandma's] house?" (he was excited for the food). He is saying almost everything now although he does have trouble with certain letters. For some reason he is able to say the word 'mountain' clear as day.

He is fearless. This child will approach any animal anywhere, and especially loves dogs. The babysitter has two bulldogs, Bubba and Bentley, that he adores. He's also not afraid to climb any play structure no matter how tall or jump off the top bunk bed at his brothers urging. I also caught him and Tyler going down the stairs headfirst on his old crib mattress the other day. I had to put a stop to that and the jumping off the top bunk immediately. I am not up for any more broken bones in this house.

He is the best eater ever! He will eat and eat and rarely is satiated. He is really good about trying new things and loves vegetables. I feel so lucky to have two good eaters!

His favorite things right now are playing in the kitchen sink with soapy water and cups, measuring spoons, bowls, whatever. He also wants to play outside everyday now that it is getting warmer. He has a little stuffed mouse toy that he carries around with him and has named "mousey". He loves fruit snacks and will try to weasel more than one package a day. And of course, he has his favorite blankie.

Happy Birthday Trevor, Mom & Dad love you!!

It's that time of year again....

Dancing with the Stars starts tonight! Hooray! I know I'm lame but it is my guilt pleasure.

So if you need me I'll be parked in front of the TV.

Brad update

Brad's foot has responded well to the new antibiotic and the infection appears to be gone. He's walking well but it does get a little sore if he is on it too much. He is such a trouper and worked three of the days that he had the IV and was even brave enough to let me take the IV out so the home health lady didn't have to come back. When he saw the doctor for a follow-up the doctor told him that there is a crazy strain of strep going around that is making people very ill and is attacking some the way it did Brad. He had other patients with infections in their extremities that were on IV's as well. Here's to hoping it's gone for good!

Hospital Stay Update

On Friday night we got Brad settled in and I was preparing to leave for the night (it was around 11 p.m.) the doctor had already been in and we had a plan in place. Brad was going to be in-patient for 3 days for IV antibiotics and then probably some at home. If anything got worse he may need surgery. I was OK with the plan, stressed with the other things in my life but you don't mess around with diabetes so I was willing to do whatever it was going to take to get him well. About 30 minutes after they had given him his first dose of Zosyn, a really great broad-spectrum antibiotic, he started to shake and shiver uncontrollably and a had a look of panic on his face. The nurse and I figured this was a result of the infection, nerves (he is not a needle person and had just been poked three times to collect blood cultures and get an IV), and being cold from the infusion. So we got him all bundled in warm blankets and 30 minutes later he was settled down and ready to sleep. So I finally went home and got some sleep, if only for 4 hours.

Saturday morning I woke up early and headed to the hospital. When I got there I found out that he'd had the same reaction to the Zosyn when they gave him the second dose so it was decided he must be allergic to an ingredient in it. Then his doctor came in and said he wanted to get some x-rays to see if anything had changed from the time he saw him in his office on Thursday. Then he told us he thought Brad would be OK going home today with an IV and letting us do the antibiotics from home! We were so excited! Fortunately we already know how to do IV infusions from when I was pregnant with Tyler and had a PICC line. So Saturday morning Brad's parents brought Tyler and Trevor to see their Dad and Brad's brother Jeff and his wife Rachel and their kids Kaylee and Taylor came too so that Lynn and Jeff could give Brad a blessing. It was a wonderful blessing and so comforting. The four kids loved looking out the window to see the helicopters and we even saw one land. Tyler and Trevor climbed all over Brad's bed, helped him eat his food, played with the bed controls and his lung expander thing. We also went to the cafeteria to get lunch. After the boys left Brad got his infusion of the new antibiotic and as soon as it was clear he was not allergic to this one they let us go home. It was wonderful! We went to pick up the boys and Brad's parents ordered dinner from Bucca di Beppo. It was so yummy. And now we are home and I am ready to turn in for the night. I am exhausted but grateful to have my husband home and the outlook good.

Trevor, Taylor, Tyler and Kaylee watching the helicopter land

Worst Week Ever!

After our wonderful Valentine's Day things for us started going downhill quick! On Sunday Tyler was complaining of a sore throat and his eyes were bloodshot. By the evening his eyes were starting to produce green-goop so we immediately took him to After Hours Medical to be checked out. My thought was with Monday being a holiday, if it was Pink Eye and we got him on medication soon he would still be able to go to the 100th day of school celebration on Tuesday (he really wanted to go). So Brad took him in and we were surprised to learn that he had strep throat and that he didn't have pink eye at all, it was the strep infection causing the nasty eyes, plus he had an ear infection too! He was started on oral antibiotics and eye drop antibiotics and within 24 hours was doing a ton better. On Monday morning when Brad went out to go to work (I was lucky and got the paid holiday, he had to work) the Malibu wouldn't start. We still do not know what is wrong with it and really can't afford to get it looked at. We are borrowing his parents extra car right now. Thank goodness for them! Trevor cried most of the night Monday night and then his eyes started to water and become goopy on Tuesday so I took him in but he didn't have strep throat but an ear infection. So they gave us eye drops and oral antibiotics too. On Monday Brad started complaining that his foot was hurting (the one he broke several months ago) but since he gets home from work late at night and I am already in bed in the dark I didn't see it until Wednesday. When I saw it Wednesday night I knew something was wrong and had him call his ortho doctor first thing Thursday morning. The doctor was able to see him quickly and immediately knew it was infected (he had no open wounds or sores on his feet- this is completely contained). When the doc heard we had strep at our house he started Brad on amoxicillin and sent him home. After 24 hours with no improvement and in fact, more pain we called the Dr at 8 p.m. and Brad was directly admitted to Intermountain Medical Center. So I am writing this here in his room, overlooking the east bench (check out the view from his hospital window below. If you look close you can see the Indian head at Murray Park and where they tore down the old Southern Exposure strip joint- I'm just sayin'). He is doing OK now that they have drawn blood cultures, started the IV antibiotics and gotten him settled in. I'll keep you posted.

Valentines Day

(This picture was taken in my newly-remodeled yet totally undecorated office at work. When I get it looking spiffy I will post pictures)

My Valentine's Day started early in the week when Brad sent some beautiful flowers to me at work. They were red roses, pink lilies and purple little flowers mixed with the greenery...and they smelled fabulous! I enjoyed them all week and then took them home for the weekend. On Saturday morning Brad came with me to Jazzercise for Sweetheart's Day where you could bring your sweetheart with you. It was so fun to have him there and let him see what I do there and he even worked out with me. I think all the husbands that came that morning were super cool. We then had a wonderful potluck breakfast. After that my Mom was nice enough to tend the boys while Brad and I went to see a movie called "Taken" with Liam Neesom. It was good. Then we went to Tepanyaki for the first time ever and let me just say that I have a new favorite restaurant. It was so yummy! We totally splurged and got an appetizer of Shrimp and Veggie tempura, Brad got a sushi roll and we both got food at the grill. Did I mention it was fantastic?!? I totally gorged myself and it was worth it. I can't wait until we go again! Brad had to work that night so we had celebrated earlier in the day. While he was at work the boys and I decorated these heart-shaped cookies that I got. They had a hard glaze on them and came with food-coloring markers so we could color them however we wanted. It was fun. I had such a great Valentine's Day and I hope you all did too!

Funny blog

Check this out sometime when you are bored. They have photos and video clips of some crazy things. It ranges from just plain strange to stupid to gross to raunchy. Anyway, I have laughed my head off looking at these. It's www.failblog.org

My boys....

Aren't they CUTE?!?

Kitchen Explosion

Friday is my day off work so I pack as much as I can into that one day off. Last Friday I was multi-tasking by making lunch and looking at the grocery ads at the same time. I put a pan on the stove to boil water while I looked at the ads. Trevor and I were sitting at the kitchen table and Tyler was standing next to the stove changing the batteries in one of his toys. He came over to ask me to help him and BOOM there was a loud explosion and glass flew threw the entire kitchen. It scared the boys so much they ran up the stairs crying and I looked over at the stove and knew immediately what had happened. Instead of turning on the back burner with the pot of water I turned on the front burner that had an empty 8x8 Pyrex glass dish sitting on it. Not good.
To make matters worse, small pieces of fire-hot glass burned my linoleum floor in several places. I've hated my kitchen floor since the day we moved in and have planned to replace it when we can afford to do it so now it has moved higher up on our list. Luckily no one was hurt by this. If it has happened just seconds sooner Tyler would've been standing next to the stove instead of several feet away and most likely would've been badly hurt. So the burned floor and the blown up pan mean nothing compared to the fact that my children were safe. What I really can't get over is why I am so spacey lately. This isn't the first time I have turned on the wrong burned, it's just the first time I had something else sitting on top of the burner that I turned on. I also came home from work the other day to find that I had left my garage door open all day long. Luckily my lawn mower, snow blower and many 2-liters of Diet Coke were still there but more importantly, I don't lock the door to the inside of my house so my house sat wide open to the world for 8 hours one day. It appears as though no one bothered the house but still, where is my brain?!? (Over-worked, stressed out, sleep-deprived....)

These are some of the lovely burn marks on the floor.

My 30th Birthday

For my Christmas gift to Brad I planned a weekend getaway. When we discovered that my birthday this year fell on a weekend we decided to do it then. On Friday January 9th as soon as Tyler got out of school for the day we headed to Brad's parents house to drop them off. The boys were so excited to have a sleep-over with grandma & grandpa I doubt they even noticed we were gone! We then drove to Ogden and went straight to the Solomon Center were we did the indoor skydiving at I-Fly.It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. I hadn't given it much thought until we got there and saw other people doing it and then I realized that maybe I didn't want to do it anymore. But I did and loved it! We both had two one-minute flights which doesn't seem like a lot but when you are inexperienced it really wears you out. My shoulders were sore the next morning from the pummeling they took during the flight. Be watching the sidebar for Brad to post the video of us flying- it's cool. After that we went over to the Ben Lomond Hotel and checked in for the weekend. It is a historic hotel with quaint two-room rooms. I had a couples massage scheduled for us but when we got there I found out that we really had to go one at a time. That was a bummer but the massage was nice.After that we walked from the hotel down historic 25th street to an incredible Japanese restaurant called Tona. I don't like sushi but Brad loves it and I knew I could find something I liked. I ended up getting some veggie tempura, chicken teriyaki and the best salad with a ginger dressing. It was so yummy. The next day we got to sleep in until 9:30 (which was heaven!) then had a really good breakfast buffet at the hotel, packed up and headed home. On our way home we stopped in Layton and saw the movie 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". I thought it was good but it seemed reminiscent of Forrest Gump to me.We then headed home and picked up the boys. It was a short trip but wonderful and I am so grateful to my in-laws for tending the boys for us. While we were gone it dawned on us that there is no good reason for us not to go out of town every now and again. We've only been on one trip without the kids and that was when we went to Indiana for my surgery!! Anyway, it was very fun and I'm so glad I have my wonderful sweetheart to spend my birthday with. Brad got me a new cellphone for my birthday- one that has a camera so no longer will I be wishing I had one with me.

P.S. No this blinged-out diamond cellphone is NOT the one I got!

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008 wasn't very 'Merry' and New Years wasn't very 'Happy' so that is why I didn't post about them. As usual Santa spoiled the boys:

So did the Grandparents. Hopefully next Christmas will be a happier one for me.

Here are some of the kids doing the nativity. From left is Jonas (wiseman), Tyler (shepherd), Noah (Angel holding star), Lucy (Mary), Molly (shepherd), Robyn (wiseman). Since Lilly didn't make her grand entrance into the world until January we made do with a baby doll as Jesus. Avery, Trevor and Hailey were too pre-occupied to participate this year.

We also went to Thanksgiving Point and rode the trolley around to see the Christmas lights and saw the live reindeer. It was fun but very cold.

My Christmas Angels

Oh happy day!

I learned today that my grandpa's leukemia is considered in full remission and he is free to live his life however he so desires. That is huge considering a few months ago they told us to enjoy this Christmas as it would surely be his last. He & grandma just returned from a cruise to the Mexican Riviera. He will be turning 76 on his birthday next week. This is proof that prayer works. When we learned that there were no bone marrow matches for him I felt deflated, like all hope was lost. But not grandpa. He fought back and is healthy and active again. It's been less than a year since his diagnosis and look where he is. He has come so far and I couldn't be more proud. I am thankful for his fighting spirit. For his wisdom and faith because he certainly has more than I do. I know that things can change on a dime. It seemed that he got sick overnight and I know he could get sick that fast again, but for now I plan to relish the knowledge that he is still here- happily feeding his cows and caring for his wife. Nothing could be better.

Are you Sulfate-Free?

I have a hate/hate relationship with my hair. No matter what I do with it, I am unhappy. Over the years it has become so fine and thin for no apparent reason. So I have done a lot of studying and experimenting (and even tried some downright painful things) to try and fatten up my hair. Along the way I learned that we all should be using shampoo, conditioner and product that is free of sulfate and other salts. Not only do they dry out and damage your hair but they clog your hair follicles and make your color fade faster. And, if you find your hair is thinning, sulfates will speed the process. So I wanted to share with you my top three picks for Sulfate free products:

1. A shampoo/conditioner/serum line that my dermatologist has created and is in the final stages of testing so that it can go on the market. It is an awesome line that has helped me get volume and fullness back in my hair. Unfortunately not available to the general public yet.

2. Any of the Pureology line. They have various formulations but are a little pricey. My favorite is the pink bottle which is the volumizing formula. This line is really great especially if you color your hair. You will find your color lasts 2-3 times longer when using this product. The best place I have found to purchase it is Ulta near South Towne mall.

3. L'Oreal Paris just came out with a new line called EverPure. It is being marketed as a 'Color Care System' but being sulfate free is going to be great for anyone worried about fine or thinning hair. It is also reasonably priced and available almost anywhere.

There's my wisdom. Do with it what you will.

Tyler Funny

A few night ago we were at my Mom's house and Tyler said he needed a drink. I asked him if he remembered where her cups were and when he said yes I said "well, go get yourself one". A few minutes later he came back and said "But where is the water Mom?". He is so used to our fridge with a water/ice dispenser that he didn't realize you can get water from a tap!