Proud Mama Moment

Today Daniel was ordained to the office of a deacon and received the priesthood. I’m so proud of all the good choices he makes. I know that sometimes it is a challenge being the oldest because he knows all his younger siblings are watching him, but he is continually proving to be a good example to those around him. People tell me all the time that he is a great kid and I have to agree. He is friendly and easy to get along with. He is becoming quite responsible and making good decisions on his own. He is now one of sixteen in his quorum and I'm hoping that all these young men will be able to support each other outside of church. Once again, I’m so proud that Daniel has chosen to take this step.

Mmmm…Cheesecake!

It has been a really long time since I’ve had real cheesecake. Not only was I on Matthew’s diet the entire time I was nursing Malia, but while I pregnant I had gestational diabetes so that much sugar was off the menu. As I neared the end of my pregnancy and prepared for my walk on the allergen-free side, I had every intention of blatantly defying my strict pregnancy diet just once and indulging in a slice of allergen-full heaven.  But due to Malia’s haste to arrive, I never got the chance.  I’ll admit I did a little happy dance when Kev walked in the door today with a Cheesecake Factory bag. So here I am, a year and some change on the other side of the gestational diabetes and today I finally got to partake of some creamy, milky, nutty goodness. It was carbalicious.  And so, so tasty.

A Dozen

Daniel is twelve. In one more year he will officially be a teenager and I am unprepared in a myriad of ways. But at least I have another nine months to ponder my unpreparedness before he hits middle school. Anyway, Daniel has had a birthday and is now twelve. On Friday he invited a bunch of friends over for pizza, Avengers cupcakes and a movie (The Avengers, to match his cupcakes). They were all very well behaved and they had a good time. I love that his parties no longer require me to plan a myriad of activities to keep everyone entertained. It makes planning and execution pretty simple. There was no way I would have been able to pull off a more complicated party last week. I would not even have gotten the cupcake toppers done if Kevin and Daniel had not helped. So simple parties are good.

On Sunday we shared an Avengers cake with my family. A bunch of my nephews have already crossed over into teen-hood, and looking at them reminds me that Daniel is not far behind. How does time go so fast?

Hallelujah!

This year Kevin’s parents got all of us tickets for the Messiah Sing In at Abravenal Hall as a Christmas present. Last night was the big night. Daniel and Nathan followed along and sang as best as they could. Nathan nearly sang in that big dead spot at the very end of the Hallelujah Chorus, but honestly I think he did great for being nine and sight reading Handel. Both boys think it is something we should do again. 

I did a lot of sight reading as well. I hadn’t realized just how many of the songs I had never sung before. And I was surprised at how few people were there, but I guess that is just a sign of the changing times. It seems like fewer and fewer people are engaged in the classical arts. But it is not something my family is likely to set aside anytime soon. I’m glad my boys enjoyed themselves so much. And that they have an appreciation for music that does not include an electric guitar. Not that I'm dissing rock music. I just love that they are so well rounded and can appreciate a variety of musical styles.

Matthew’s Solution to the Whole “Malia Standing Up and Pushing Out the Screen Door” Problem

She really is a good sport, you know. She didn’t even complain.

One Little Monkey...

So here’s the story: I took the boys to see a play (“Once Upon a Mattress”-very fun show!). Kev stayed home with Malia. Apparently she dropped a piece of Lego Duplo into the shape sorter and then stuck her hand in through one of the holes to get it out. Once she had the Lego in hand, she could no longer get her fist out. So she stuck in the other hand to try to get the same piece of Lego. And then she was stuck. She was clutching that single piece with both hands and she wouldn’t let go of the Lego. Kev had to wiggle his fingers in and take the Lego away to that she could get her hands out.

Who knew that we were in possession of such a fine monkey trap.

Pin With Abandon, Execute With Caution

Pinterest is a big thing right now. Most of you have probably used it. I have found about a million cool things on there. I’m not a huge pinner or anything. I don’t look at it every day. But it is fun. And I’ve picked up some neat tips. So when I pulled out one of my favorite sweaters and discovered that there were hideous yellow stains on it, I remembered seeing a pin about getting yellow stains out of white clothing and headed over to Pinterest to look it up. It is a simple tip: mix 2 parts hydrogen peroxide with one part dish soap and put it on the yellow spots. Let it sit for a bit and then wash. I tried it out last week but I didn’t let it sit for very long because I didn’t want to damage my sweater. The site where I got the info showed it being used on white t-shirts which can stand up to a lot more abuse than a sweater can. So I was cautious and nevertheless was pleasantly surprised that the stains were considerably lightened.

So today I had planned to repeat the whole procedure to see if I could completely eliminate the stains. I mixed, soaked, and then threw the sweater into the washer with a white towel to balance the load and without any detergent because there was already plenty of soap. If only I had really thought that one through before proceeding. But then all y’all would not have the pleasure of snickering at my lack of brain power... For those of you who don’t have front loading washers, here is a tidbit that will become vital knowledge in just a couple of minutes: if you get too many soap suds in the washer the water won’t drain. That is why there are different detergents recommended for use in your high efficiency front loaders. So when I happened to peek in partway through the wash cycle and notice that there were suds ¾ the way up the washer door window, I started to think that I might have a problem. But I had a white sweater and a big fluffy white towel in there so I was seeing those as well and it was not all suds, right? Right?! Wrong. When the machine finished the cycle there were still suds halfway up the washer window. Not a good sign. I ran one more rinse, desperately hoping it would at least decrease the amount of suds, but to no avail. If anything, the more it got splashed around the more voluminous the suds became. At that point I knew it was time for plan B.

Plan B involved laying a big baking sheet with sides and several towels down in front of the washer and arming myself with a medium sized mixing bowl (a good size for scooping suds), a roll of paper towels and a garbage sack. In spite of the lack of brains that began this whole adventure, I am smart enough to know that in order to get the suds out I was going to have to open the washer and that opening the washer meant that gravity was going to help those suds get themselves out of the washer…which it did. But due to my mid-disaster planning, I actually ended up with very little soap or water on the floor. I scooped up suds and deposited them in the garbage sack until I could get to the sweater and towel. Then I put those in the biggest bowl I own and placed them in the sink to be rinsed. I continued scooping suds and water until it was no longer deep enough to be scooped with the bowl. Then I sent Matthew for the turkey baster. The entire time I was doing all this I was thinking about all those t.v. shows and movies that feature an idiot who puts too much laundry detergent in the washer and ends up knee-deep in soapy water. I’m usually a pretty smart chick, but let me tell you that I have my moments…and this was definitely one of them. Although as far as stupidity goes, if this is the dumbest thing I do all year I will count myself as lucky.

(This is after I got the sweater and the towel out of the washer. All that stuff left in there is suds and about an inch or two of water. And that garbage sack? Completely full of soap suds. I kid you not. I didn't know what else to do with them. If you ever have an opportunity to buy a house with a sink in the laundry room, don't even think twice about it. Just do it.)

Once I had gotten as much water out as I could, I used paper towels to wipe away as many suds as possible. Then I ran another rinse cycle with an empty washer to see what would happen. Luckily for me, the water drained, the suds diminished and three pre-wash cycles later I was able to put the rinsed sweater and towel back in the washer. End result? Although they are not completely gone, those stains appear to be faded enough that I can wear my sweater without feeling like a slob. And the inside of my washer is squeaky clean. :-) It could have been so much worse. I was really hoping that I wouldn’t need to call Kev at work and tell him that we needed to call a plumber to come get me out of a watery mess. And I really, really didn’t want to mop the floor. (I know, my priorities are a bit mixed up. But I really hate mopping.) So in spite of losing my entire afternoon to the mishap, I think it turned out as well as I could have hoped for.

So let me comment on the whole peroxide/dish soap thing. It works. Just be careful how much you use. Or don’t be careful but then don’t come crying to me when you can’t find your turkey baster.

One final word of advice: if you do not own a turkey baster, go out and get yourself one posthaste. I only use mine for actual basting once or twice a year but I use it for more random things than I had ever thought I would. So go. Buy yourself one. When you are in the midst of a stupidity induced near disaster, you’ll thank me.

The First Snowman of the Season

How Malia felt about being left inside while I went outside to take a picture: