Bad Haircut

When it comes to haircuts, I hate paying money for them. I'm way too cheap. I go to Bo Rics on Tuesdays to get 2 dollars off the 12 dollar haircuts and then I only go about once a year. In an attempt to persuade myself to quit with the Jane Eyre updo look I've been sporting for the past two years, I cut it so short it will no longer fit in a pony tail at all. I haven't had it this short in like four years. It's above the collar line and it is NOT what I asked the girl for at all. I wanted a simple A-line cut, you know with the hair longer in front than in back. She asked if I wanted the back layered and I said sure. So what does she do? Hack off and layer the front! And then she whips out this razer like thing to shred the back of my head. I all ready have thin hair and she made it thinner back there! She didn't even check the layers at the end and so the left side is noticbly longer than the right. Being the totally chicken and fraidy cat of face to face confrontation that I am, I left without saying anything. I drove home repeating, "My hair will grow back." Elyse, who went with me to get her hair cut too, kept saying "You look different, Mom. You look not like yourself." Fortunately, I got home and Matt said he really liked it. He says I look "modern" now. I don't think he's saying it to be nice. I think he's glad the pony tails are gone--I guess anything is better than pony tails. If I keep the fronts tucked behind my ears, it doesn't look too bad and you can't tell how uneven it is. And now it dries in less than five minutes and takes hardly any time at all. Hurray for small blessings. I'd post a picture, but I have a fear of photos with just me and my triple chins in them. I guess you'll see it in the family photo that comes out at Christmas (my hair takes forever to grow).

Kid Friendly Recipe

My high school friends are posting recipes the month of June and I missed the week of the kid friendly recipe. I've been racking my brains trying to think of something my kids eat with gusto that isn't pizza, mac and cheese, hamburgers, or spagetti. They do like chicken and will eat it in any variety unless I make it too spicy. Here's a recent one I tried that everyone "seemed" to like. They may hate it the next time I make it. Teriyaki chicken with roasted scallions 2 T soy sauce 1 T rice vinegar 1/2 C honey 1 garlic clove, minced 1 t grated peeled fresh ginger 1 whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 lbs--I use the pkg of thighs and drumsticks), cut into 8 pieces 4 bunches scallions, greens cut into 2 1/2-inch pieces (4 seemed like a lot, so I use just one or two to add to the rice) 1 T vegetable oil coarse salt and ground pepper 1. Preheat oven to 450, with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a med. bowl, combine soy sauce, vinegar, honey, garlic, and ginger. Divide sauce between two bowls; use one for basting and reserve other for serving. 2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil (use a couple layers because you DON'T want this sauce burning on your pan. It will not come off). Place chicken on sheet, and baste. Bake on upper rack 20 min., basting twice with pan juices. 3. Transfer to lower rack; baste once more. Continue to cook until thermometer inserted into a breast (avoiding bone) registers 165, 5 to 10 min more. 4. Meanwhile, on another rimmed baking sheet, toss scallions with oil; season with salt and pepper. Roast on upper rack until crisp-tender, 10 to 12 minutes. To serve: Remove chicken from pan and spoon however many servings of cooked rice you need, over the pan juices (you can drain most of that out if you want). Layer scallions over rice, sprinkle sesame seeds on if you want (toast them first), lay the chicken overtop, and drizzle with reserved sauce. Serves 4 adults, but with kids it'll feed six.

Jam, Jam, Strawberry Jam

One of the things I love about living in Michigan is the great produce you can get for fairly cheap prices. Every June we find a farm and pick strawberries. And every year I tell Matt we only need one large box of strawberries and every year he insists we NEED two. He doesn't realize how few berries you need to make jam. You need sugar. Lots and lots of sugar! So Monday I spent about four hours hulling berries, two making eight batches of jam, and another hour slicing up all the extra berries and freezing them for mid winter strawberry shortcakes and smoothies in the spring. I still had two large bowls sitting in the fridge so yesterday I made three loaves of strawberry bread. Now, my hamstring muscles are killing me from bending over for an hour and half to pick the berries, and that muscle between the thumb and finger aches as well. Next year I'm only getting one box! I swear it it. One box! I must be searching for pain. Yesterday, I insisted we ride our bikes to playgroup. We played in the park, swam in the library kiddie wade pool, signed up for the summer reading program, then we all looked at our bikes and realized we were all ready too tired and sweaty to ride home. The breeze that picked up was nice and helped us get home again. Today, my rear end hurts like no other. I shuffle around the house like an old woman and then wince when I sit down. Perhaps I should do three hundred crunches this afternoon, if I'm working my up the body to torture myself. I'm so out of shape. One of the goals this summer is to try and be more active. I'm trying to plan something every day for me and the kids to do outside together and not just me watching them play. Is this going to kill me?

Family Trip

Hello friends and fam. We just got back from our big family trip for the year. Overview: Flew to L.A. and drove to my brother's house in Visalia. Slept the night, got up at 4:30AM because it's three hours earlier there and the kids don't understand that, and drove to Yosemite National Park. On our way into the park, we stopped by the Giant Sequoas and then met Matt's sister Kelli and Fam at the visitor center. During the two days at Yosemite, we hiked Yosemite Falls, ate lunch at the Ahwahnee Lodge, hiked to Mirror Lake, tried to swim in the Merced River (freezing, painful cold and infested with mosquitos), stopped at some other waterfall, and saw a coyote on the road. Back to Visalia for two days to play with my brother: saw some of Matt's old mission apartments and member homes, swam all day, went to the farmer's market, ate yummy Mexicam food. Next, we met my parents in San Diego: ate at the Sea Side Village, played on the military beach on Coronado Island (thanks Dad for getting us on base), totally enjoyed the San Diego Zoo and Sea World. Elyse was uber excited about seeing live panda bears. She's a panda fanatic. She now has a collection of four, and a book, and plans to buy a panda webkin when she saves more money. My parents also came with us to DisneyLand for a day before heading back home. We stayed on for two more days and did just about everything we wanted to do in the California and DisneyLand parks. Luke loved the Buzz Lightyear ride. The last time we went on it, he saw the carts and said, "Happy Luke! Happy Luke!" Elyse loved all the roller coasters and Paul, surprisingly, loved Splash Mountain and the Pirates ride. My favorite thing about the trip: holding hands with all my kids. Because of crowds or moving quickly from place to place, I always had a little hand in mine. Even when no one else was around, Elyse would put her hand in mine and Luke was doling out hugs and kisses galore. I love summer! I know I've said it before, but I love actually spending time with the kids in a non-rush atmosphere. During school I'm always rushing them to and from school, friends houses, etc. I just don't feel rushed in summer. Now that we're back in Michigan time, the kids are sleeping in until 9 or 9:30. Wow! It's great. Here's a few pics. Sorry, there's so many.

Favorite quote from trip (overheard at Yosemite): Park Ranger to a family: Hiking is great for kids. It's like child abuse, but without the marks.

Tornado

The West side of Saginaw had a small tornado blow through last night. Our side of town just had rain and thunder. I had no idea there had been one in town until my father-in-law drove us through the "wreckage" tonight. We saw twisted trees, trees with bark ripped right off from top to bottom, a tree on one building, and lots of downed lines. Amazingly, few home were touched. We'd drive down a street and see torn and ripped trees, but the houses were perfect. One warehouse collapsed and only two homes had trees on them. Most of that side is without power for the next few days, but man are they lucky their homes are intact.

Mid Michigan Childlren's Museum

Yay! Saginaw finally got a Children's Museum. They put it close to the scary side of town and it's still rather small, but it will be fun place to go during the winter when we get stir crazy. I took the kids on the last day of school and we had ball.

Dessert

For June' 10th's Dessert, here's a recipe I found in the Every Day Food Magazine. I love this. It even won the blue ribbon at the Saginaw Ward Cookie Contest two summer's ago. Cheesecake Squares Makes 9. Prep Time: 20 min. Total Time: 2 hrs 5 T plus 1 t unsalted butter, room temp. 1/3 C pakced light brown sugar 1 C flour 1 pkg (8 oz) bar cream cheese, room temp. 1/4 C granulated sugar 1 large egg 1 T milk 1 T fresh lemon juice 1/4 t vanilla extract 1. Preheat over to 350. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with two cirss-crossed rectangles of parchment paper, leaving a 2 inch overhang on all sides. 2. With an electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar. Add flour, and mix until just combined; set aside 1 C for topping. Press remaining dough into bottom and 1/4 inch up sides of prepared pan. Bake until golden brown, about 10 min. 3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla; mix to combine. 4. Spread filling in crust; crumble reserved dough on top. Bake until filling is set, about 25 min. Cool slightly, then cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before cutting into squares. I like to spoon pie filling over these when serving them. My favorite is raspberry, but cherry works well too. My friend made a variation of this with canned cherries under the top dough layer and sprinkled all over with slivered almonds. Delicious.

School's Out!!!

Today is the last day of school! I cannot shout Hurray loud enough. Goodbye alarm clock. Goodbye all the kids socks with heels full of holes--hello sandals! Goodbye homework and remembering to hand it on on Fridays. Goodbye projects! Goodbye scrimping toilet paper rolls, egg shells, old socks, etc for teachers without enough money for craft projects. Goodbye crowded elementery school parking lot. Goodbye to having to get dressed in the morning to walk my preschooler to his classroom--hello pajamas until 10am. Goodbye playground woodchips that get scattered all over Elyse's room. Goodbye to running glasses to school because Elyse forgot to wear them. Hello Summer! I love you summer! And we're kicking it off by going on vacation Monday. We'll visit my brother Mark, Matt's sister Kelli, and my parents while driving around to Yosemite, The Giant Sequoas, Visalia, Sand Diego, and Disney Land. I'll post some pics when we get back after the 20th.

Recipe Month

Some of my blogger friends are sharing recipes this month. The first one is What Recipe Do You Like To Share? (Sorry, Ari, mine's Thai too!) I had a college roomy who went to Thailand on her mission and she taught me a couple dishes when she came out to visit me once in Detroit. This one was a family favorite and the one I serve to first time missionaries and friends that come over for dinner. Elyse asks for this one every week (but then she picks out all the onions and basil. Crazy girl) Stir Fry Basil (Everything in this recipe is according to taste and I never measure, so all these measurements are approximate) In a wok or large fry pan, heat peanut or canola oil (1-2 T) and add 1-2 garlic cloves, minced, and a few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes. When the garlic starts to brown, add 1/2 of a thinly sliced purple onion. When onion is translucent (about 5 min) add the meat. You can use a pound to a pound and a half of ground pork or about 4-5 chicken breasts sliced thin. When the meat is browned (and mostly cooked all the way through), add 1-2 spoonsfuls of sugar, around a 1/4C soy sauce (I just sprinkle over the whole pan till it looks like I hit most of the meat), and around 1 C of oyster sauce (found in most mega marts and in asian cooking stores). When everything gets nice and bubbly, turn down the heat to low and cover the top with two chopped beefsteak tomatoes and a bunch of torn basil leaves. Let it wilt for about eight to ten minutes. Stir everything together and serve with sticky rice. We usually serve this dish with an easy cantelope salad. One cantelope sliced thinly, chopped, or use a melon baller. Add the zest of one lime and the juice and 1/4 C honey. Mix it all together and serve.