I get my house back tomorrow night!

PLUMBERS EXPRESS: The painters should be the last step of this four day plumbing process that went over a weekend. We planned it right though so that we would be out of town over the weekend while our house was a mess, but then I had to come back today and cook dinner for the missionaries. I won't turn down an opportunity to serve! (they just won't get to sit on any couches eh?)
We are renting this place that just happened to be part of a action law suit for bad plumbing couplers or something, that if not replaced, we could have a very bad flood through both floors in our house. So to circumvent that, I agreed to let them come fix it whenever they could. It is definitely never convenient to be out of your house all day when you have a 1 year old who needs naps and food. Oh well, we just go shopping right? That is what we did last Thursday, when the plumbers were here cutting about 30 holes all around inside our house. We went to Town Square Shopping Center with two good friends of mine and their sons (two good friends of Gracie's). It was tons of fun. The main event for us was shopping at H and M- I love that store! The main event for the kids was the park area including the water feature. They even had really cute playhouses with a kitchen and sitting areas, two stories, with stairs, windows, and more sitting areas, and a fireman pole. I now feel jipped as a kid... They even had a kid sized "green bush" rat maze for the kids to run around in. Gracie loved that part and the merry-go-round more than the water. She was kind of finicky about the water, maybe just girly. That is going to have to change. We also ate lunch and had frozen yogurt just before we left for home. It was a fun, fun day. Gracie fell asleep for only 20 minutes in her stroller before she woke up for the rest of the day. She was so tired and went to bed early and slept way in the next morning. It was fun though.The next day of the plumbing was inspection, which they passed. Then we left for UT to be with Luke's family which was really good and needed (pics soon). We got home last night around midnight and woke up this morning to more plumbers 7AM sharp. They did the sheet rock and texturing today. So I left after trying to get something out of all the tarps and plastic to eat for breakfast and we went the BEST WORST store in the world: ROSS Dress For Less! I probably tried on at least 5 sets of 8 clothing selections that were all piled on my cart. (You couldn't even see Gracie in the cart, that is how bad it was! I am SOOOO BAD. But hey I never get to go shopping- I don't have to buy anything, I just like trying things on and dreaming and seeing different combinations.) Gracie was so good until the end though when it came to decision time. She was so tired she couldn't stop crying, so I ended up buying $150 worth of clothing and tomorrow when I have to be out of the house again, I will go return it all. It is just for fun you know! Luke doesn't get the return game! It can be a pain, but how else do you do it with kids?
One thing happened though that could have been really bad- there was this child services social worker that saw Gracie escape from my stall out in the dressing room where the mirrors are. She told the dressing room attendant that she wanted to wait for me and Gracie to come out so that she could talk to me about Child Endangerment. Thankfully the dressing room attendant vouched for me and said it was hard with kids and that she would talk to me about it. She did and both her and I thought she was being a little stringent especially because I just kept my tank top on and kept the door open the whole time and was talking to her. I had already let her eat everything in my bag. I guess I should have just stopped everything and gone home. Dang! I just told Luke about it and now I am in trouble with him. Gall! I shouldn't have told him. I don't think it was that bad!
LAST step is painting- tomorrow and they are done. Wahoo! What a pain but now we know we won't be flooded on. And tomorrow I will be going back to Ross to do returns after I try on everything at home!

Head shakin, Stair Stepping, and Signin Away!

Gracie's Loves the Step Ladder and any stairs for that matter. She can go down the stairs now all by herself too by scooting on her bum. The only bad thing is that one time I got the step ladder out for her to stand me while I cooked and now she thinks she needs it all the time. She will no longer sit in her high chair and eat. She has to move the stairs around everywhere and be up on our level. Pretty much, I just let her eat while I am cooking and we say "HOT" over and over while she shoves cheese in her mouth and empties out my upper drawers. It is a really good system cause then we actually get to eat dinner from our own plates while it is "HOT" and not have to feed Gracie the whole time. She still stands on the step ladder next to us, shakes her hips, and gets a little food off our plates. It is quite cute, not the screaming though when I put her in the high chair! The other night Luke put her to bed while I was at YW's and she literally fell asleep saying "HOT!" Luke said her eyes would close but then she would flick them back open and say "HAAAAAHTT!" That happened over and over. I wish I would have been there but she gave me a second show the next morning when I went in to get her, and I said "Hi Gracie!" and she said, "HAAAAAHTT!" Silly girl. Now we are trying to get her to wear a hat and learn the difference between the words "HAT" and HOT!"

Video: Stubborn Head Shake


Video:Show Me Your Signs



I finally got the guts to go through with my long time desire: to see what I would look like with all darker brown hair. Still in the store, I had the usual blonde highlights box and a dark brown shade and a light amber brown. You can see what I chose! I LOVE IT! What do you think?
More pics of it in better light to come soon. You can't really see the red in it here. But this is Gracie and I cooking!

Snippets of Recent Life...

Enough hair for a pixie tail! WAHOO! (Gracie is signing for water)Hanging out with Kara even more cause she is the YW Prez!
Decorating the Carnival Booth at Youth Conference
How do you like my cow? (Cassidy's costume, my neckerchief, Luke's gun, boots, gloves, my bloodshot eyes, Cassidy's cow nose, and 10 towels and 4 blankets)

Luke studying for the AFOQT (Airforce officer qualifying test) Good job hon!
Getting the bike trailer back out with the drop in heat and my buddy James. Hooray!

Robert (my little brother) and Heidi visited from UT (more to come...)
Baptisms at the temple with the Young Women, my new exciting calling!
Loving purses, exercising and getting fit, and lost our last binky!!! We are binkyless...
Blowing up hot dogs in the microwave!! Gross...
Making inexpensive home decor...
Eating everything and loving it!!
7 layer bean dip, we love it!
Slicing bananas with the slicer from the G-parents! It will be nice to freeze banana slices for smoothies instead of making the blender do all of the work!Finally modeling the headband I made from her leftover pant legs...That's life, for now...

Best Alfredo Sauce I Have Ever Made... Olive Garden's or Not- Who knows?

http://secretrecipes.blogspot.com/2006/10/olive-gardens-alfredo-sauce.html
(the reviews of this are hillarious. I wasted time reading all the people argue about whether it was truly the real Olive Garden's Alfredo Sauce or NOT! If you want to laugh go check it out. Luke worked at Olive Garden for a time as a server and he said that he saw the sauce come in a bag that they would either put in hot water or dump in a pot and heat up. So who really knows? Maybe different locations do it differently. Either way- this recipe is sooo good!)

It's company tested and raved about... I actually made it with the medium pasta shells because I didn't have fettucini, but you know what- we all liked it really well like this because the sauce would kind of collect inside of each shell and would surprise you with yummy good-fatness squishing out. It was so yummy. Beware the fat though!
And FYI- It is hard to screw up the taste of anything that has cream, butter, cream cheese, and lots of other cheeses in it. Cook up a little chicken and you have got some yummy chicken alfredo.
I also like to add broccoli pieces to it and put it in a 9x13 pan and sprinkle the top with cheese and bake it for 15-20 min. Then you have got a delicious Fazzoli-like bake. You can even add some ham pieces. Tastes sooooo good- like chicken cordon bleu.

Ingredients:
1 pint heavy cream
1 stick butter
2 tablespoons cream cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese - (to 3/4 c)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
**I used the sprinkle/canned cheese that was half parmesean and half romano cheese instead of fresh and it was fabulous!

Cooking Directions:
In a saucepan combine butter, heavy cream, and cream cheese. Simmer this
until all is melted, and mixed well. Add the Parmesan cheese and Garlic
powder. Simmer this for 15 to 20 minutes on low. You may wish to season
with a little salt and pepper. It has been made with half-and-half, but
heavy cream is preferred.

This made enough sauce for almost 1 lb of pasta! Can sprinkle a little pepper for looks. That is Luke's touch. ;)

Easy Dutchovenless FRESH PEACH COBBLER (THE BEST)

I made this tonight with my fresh yummy peaches from the Bishop's storehouse- someone nice brought them down from UT and we bought them for $1.00/lb. So worth it...

** I doubled the topping for more cake and then sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on top of it right after baking it.

FRESH PEACH COBBLER by Carolyn (Allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 cups fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons shortening
• 1/2 cup milk

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. To Make Peach Filling: In a large saucepan combine 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. Stir in peaches and lemon juice, tossing until peaches are evenly coated.
3. Cook filling over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil 1 minute. Pour mixture into an ungreased 2 quart casserole dish. Keep mixture hot in oven while you make topping.
4. To Make Topping: In a medium bowl combine flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix thoroughly, then cut in shortening until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Add milk and stir until mixture is evenly moistened.
5. Remove peach filling from oven and drop dough onto peaches in 6 equal-size spoonfuls.
6. Return cobbler to oven and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

Finally a Family Photo or two...

Our friend Cassidy is an awesome photographer. The thing I really like about her is that she is not afraid to snap tons of pictures while your kid is moving and being fussy because their just might be those good shots in between all of those which you miss otherwise. Just delete the garbage ones afterwards.
All the free shots I have taken at "Picture People" every month do not compare to these in any way. The workers there just always look at me and say "She's not smiling..." or "Can you get her to sit like this and smile?" and I look right back as if to say "Yeah right, are you kidding me?" and still do it for them anyway which leads to more crying and no awesome pictures.

Cassidy is awesome. I think the whole time she was with us, she was walking/running backwards because Gracie wouldn't be still and then she would body slam the ground quickly to get that "Just right" picture of Gracie. She also named her pictures so the cute labels are from Cassidy.
Strolling:
This one won the contest for "OUR FAMILY" picture of 2009. I love it!
Praying up close: ( I think this would be so cute with a sign that says "Pray Always" or something like that...)
My Daddy and Me:
Gracie Joy: I love her, dirt and all!
Senior Portrait: (I had Cassidy crop this to be like this because I wanted to tease Luke with it. Doesn't he look like a High School Senior? This is the exact same pose and smile of his Senior Pictures. Ha ha! I love you Luke!)
Lead Me: (This one wins the "1 Year Old" pic Contest!) I can't stop smiling when I see it.
Kissy Kissy: She made us do this I promise!
Gracie didn't know what to think of the horse.
I Am Loved:
Holding Hands:
Hold On:
Hold Me Tight:
Hello People:
Guide Me: (I love this one too. Actually this one might win first place for pic of Gracie over the other one. I can't decide. What do you think?)
Grass Makes Me Cry: (Yeah Gracie didn't like the grass too much but I think she wasn't crying in this one. Just running. Look at Luke's face. I love it. And Gracie is just saying- "Don't distract me Dad! I am getting out of here.")
Back It Up:

Who Farted?: (What a good title! We can't really remember what we were really laughing about. So with Gracie's hand like this, who farted is perfect! LUKE DID IT. Look at his face.)THE END:
Thanks again Cassidy... You were awesome. We recommend her to anyone. We absolutely love all of our pics. And it was a fun night. In N Out Burger Included!

49 Layer Delight!

As my awesome father-in-law calls it! His face gets all school-boyish, no more like school-girlish, and he gets that twinkle in his eye and squeals about 49 layer delight when anyone so much as hints about 4-layer delight. My mother-in-law figured out what he liked real quick. So here's the recipe. We have been craving it ever since they were here and I made a half batch for their anniversary. Enjoy!

FOUR LAYER DELIGHT

1 1/2 c. flour 1/2 c. chopped nuts 1 stick butter Mix flour and butter into coarse meal, add nuts. Press in 9x13 baking dish. Bake 15 minutes, 350 oven. Cool. STEP 2: 8 oz. cream cheese, softened 1 c. Cool Whip 1 c. powdered sugar Mix Cool Whip and powdered sugar. Add cream cheese. Spread evenly over crust. STEP 3: 2 pkgs. instant pudding, vanilla or vanilla and chocolate, or 2 chocolate Mix this with 3 cups cold milk. Mix until thick and spread over 2nd mixture. STEP 4: Top with Cool Whip and refrigerate several hours.

Marker Wars- Luke you are my Father!

I love mom's marker bucket because...
well, look you can make swords out of them! Dad showed me how...
And then I walk around real careful-like with my hands out way wide so I don't hit anything with them, or myself. They will break you know!
And then you have to get the right form with the exact right amount of force, just like javelin... And launch it!
What you think it looks easy? Give me a break! Try doing it with a binky in your mouth.
Yes this is my costume that I wear just for marker wars- It brings me luck, only I am brave enough to just wear the yellow underwear, not like others who have a spelling bee or a 5k to run and they wear their lucky underpants "under" their clothes so nobody knows. Try it this way next time. It is way more lucky! Trust me... (tee hee)
I heard that, I do not look like a boy on the swimteam Mom says. This is not a speedo!
Take that, and that dad! Anyone else want to challenge me in marker wars?Aww shucks... stop flattering me dad! I am not the best marker fighter in the world. I'm blushing cause you are too kind.
Wah pow! Cheap shot... Dad had to take a sucker shot when I wasn't looking.
I thought I had already beat him but then he pulled out this good ole' fashioned "get them when they aren't looking after the fight is over" trick.
I still beat him though. No dad, I do not want to switch swords with you. And for the third time, I am not up for a rematch. Maybe another Sunday. You bring the markers and mom will bring the camera, better yet, the video camera. Oh can you show me to my trailer? I need to rest...

K, I am scared... Going Private for Real...BYE!

I just got a really scary reminder of what can happen with your pics on your public blog. I had made up my mind that I was going private after being convinced by my mother-in-law, but I never actually did. If you want to know what finally scared me into doing it go here: http://enlightenedhomemaker.blogspot.com/2009/08/internet-safety.html
I hope I am not too late... BYE! Keep reading though if you want too.
I will give permissions to the people who said so in my previous post. If there is anyone else leave it now!
BYE FOR REAL!

1 luau rehearsal dinner planned:

Equation 1:
112 long green balloons tied and shaped,
48 balloon coconuts grown,
290 5" yellow balloons blown and tied,
96 12" yellow balloons blow and tied while wincing with cut-up jello fingers,
3 balloons popped in face,
18 balloons filled with water and tied as weights,
2 water balloons exploded in face,
1 very wet Hollie,
3 good friends helped when fingers pooped-out,
1 huge ah-hah moment when brain remembered to use the formula 2(pie)r=C to measure the correct circumference for each balloon,
= 10 small palm tree centerpieces and 2 6-ft palm trees for backdrop


Equation 2:
100 waterbottle labels taped,
84 silverware and napkin rings made ,
4 cake mixes turned into
88 cupcakes iced,
1 3-tiered birthday cake for the bride's sister,
1 cute fruit tower made from an un-numbered amount of fresh fruit plus
2 terracotta pots from DI spray-painted gold and
3 chargers from DI spray-painted gold
1 more cupcake tower made from
2 more terracotta pots spray-painted silver and
3 more chargers spray-painted silver
=80 guests "pigged" out and partied




Equation 3:
14 leftover cupcakes put on top of the car
+ 1 ride home
= 14 cupcakes miraculously unscathed


Equation 1 + Equation 2 + Equation 3 =
1 tired, happy Hollie
1 patient, feeling neglected Luke
1 fun ride Gracie
all wondering if Hollie should start seeing some private speech clients to make more money in a lot less time, and a lot less work, with fewer physical and emotional injuries for all involved. hmmmm... what is the cost-benefit ratio for FUN?