The first three people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year (anytime).
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may something I sew or take a picture of, or something I paint. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5. The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog.
The first 3 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did, win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!
Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!
Respond if you Dare
Three Years with Jefferson
Jefferson has been waiting for March since I told him it was coming pretty soon in January. In fact, we were once going to march around and clean and he was so excited because if we were going to march, it was surely his birthday! Well, he finally made it and was so happy about his special day that this was his smile going to church (before any cake presents or anything!)
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| From 03-09-09 |
After church he played with his brothers while I made dinner and we got ready to celebrate - never once did he demand to see his presents or eat his cake, which is good b/c nothing was wrapped or baked at that point:) For the cake disaster see below. We had dinner (which was labeled "disgusting" by all the kids) and when Libby and Scott arrived we gave Jefferson his presents. He got a Thomas the Train track with trains he can watch go round and round, a baseball and bat (thanks Truman), and a Bob the Builder game and giant Kit Kat from the Murri's. This is his excitement over the game specifically, but it was a face we saw with each gift. This is such a fun age.
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| From 03-09-09 |
He was so interested in his presents Brian had to bribe him to let us blow out candles and cut the cake. Jefferson LOVES ice cream and enjoyed his dessert for about 45 seconds before heading back to the trains. We all enjoyed McKinley singing Happy Birthday for the real occasion this time.
I don't have a picture, but I let Jefferson eat his gigantic Kit Kat the next day in one sitting - like eating 3 or 4 regular size I think. He broke it into tiny pieces in a bowl and I thought he was going to ask for milk on it and a spoon. Everyone enjoys the new toys almost as much as our biggest kid.
Click on this picture to go to the video of the first time with the track set up by parents...
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| From 03-09-09 |
And here is what I was watching from the other side of the room - picture perfect family harmony for at least half a second:)
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| From 03-09-09 |
Not-So- Perfectly Chocolate Cake
I have been anxiously awaiting Jefferson's birthday so I could try out the Perfectly Chocolate Cake that has been posted on both Katherine and Courtney's blogs now. Part way through the baking of the cake I smelled something burning and checked the oven. The cake was overflowing onto the oven and burning. Nice. So I let it finish and the middle stayed sunken through the whole cooking process with the outsides a bit overcooked.
I was puzzled as I am comfortable baking and things generally turn out. But this was no where near the "perfection" I had heard so much about. So, here are pictures of my Not-So-Perfectly Chocolate Cake and what we ended up celebrating with. Who can name the resulting dessert from our disaster? Think 232.
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| From 03-09-09 |
Another Remodel: Take 2
Over the last week Brian (and his brother Mike) have been hard at work doing some remodel work in our living room. We are very pleased with the outcome.
Life with Jefferson
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| From 10-25-08 |
The other day Jefferson went to the DI with Brian and I had re-fitted his car seat incorrectly after washing it. I did not realize the two buckles that go into the one with the red button went a specific way, so they were switched. I could only get one in by crossing it over to the other side. When Brian came back Jefferson was asleep, but his buckle was fully buckled thanks to the simple solution of turning the red button thing around. I would never have thought of that and later I complemented Brian on his simple and ingenious solution. Turns out he did not do anything. As they were driving Jefferson said, "Dad, I got it buckled!" Sure enough I had been outwitted by a two year old.
We enjoyed a trip to the Mayan for dinner last weekend - ok, enjoyed is an exaggeration. We waited an hour and a half and then ended up at a table for 10 with 12 people and we had to steal chips and salsa from an empty table nearby for which we became the target of many dirty looks from the other waitress in the area.
But after dinner I did enjoy a memorable moment with Jefferson during his potty break. He requested to flush the toilet as he always does in public restrooms and I said sure. He was prepping for the experience and walked me through his plan - so first we say hi to the potty and then we flush it? I said sure again cause I was ready to go, but then wondered why he would say hi to the potty. Then I realized whenever we are in a motion sensor potty I wave my hand in front of the sensor for him and then we sometimes have to manually flush it. All this time he thinks his Mom is waving hi to potties, maybe as thanks or an offering of friendship before completing our interaction with a flush. The world must look pretty strange to a two year old.
Our "JJ" turns three this Sunday and he sure is cute with his brothers and little McKinley. He ends up in our bed every night by the morning and is cuddly until he hits the kick you in the back part of his sleep cycle. The cutest thing he does is recite Article of Faith #2 (because he is 2).
McKinley's Mischief
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| From 02-14-09 |
RAH! RAH! RAH! GO COUGARS!
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| From 02-14-09 |
On our way to the park McKinley (always wearing her backpack) is yelling "Guys!" to the boys so they wait up. She is thrilled to be outdoors and on her way anywhere.
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| From 02-14-09 |
This is what I found when I came upstairs after working on the water issues we had in our basement. She is the worst climber we have had so far. I attribute it to the wonderful example the boys set for her all the time. She had spread three nearly empty bowls of cereal all over the table, so I pulled out the camera and she said "cheese!". I would like to see her pose in her cheerleading outfit in this stance - it looks just like school pictures!
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| From 02-14-09 |
We had to pull the swing out of the laundry room because of the water and McKinley wanted to try out the "rocka". A few minutes later I wondered why she was so quiet and this is what I found.
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| From 02-14-09 |
Thanks to our neighbor who brings the kids treats pretty regularly, McKinley got to enjoy this cupcake. She calls it a "cooka" which is also a cookie. She has an amazing vocabulary, especially compared to Jefferson at this age.
A few of my favorites are
"Dinner!" which she always calls out in the same intonation I use to call everyone to the table.
"Hey!" it sounds like a really offended, heeeey! when the boys steal her binky or take what she is playing with.
"Are you?" which is her word for binky, though she now says binky too. We would always say, "Where are you binky?" looking for it cause she throws it behind her bed, so she assumed it was an are you.
"JJ" this is her word for herself and any pictures she sees of anyone.
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| From 02-14-09 |
McKinley loves accessories - hats, shoes, backpacks, you name it. She loves to get all dressed in the morning, backpack included, and then say, "Go?" at the front door. This is what she sees Lincoln do every day, so she is trying to join in the adventure. This picture is her living her dream for an hour or so on a day that was a little warmer. I feel bad for the kids cause usually I go out with them in the winter and play in the snow every now and then. This year I have not been so nice. Sorry kids! The older boys will play with Jefferson out there, but poor McKinley has been cooped up with me all winter.
Visit to Temple Square
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| From 02-14-09 |
We enjoyed a visit to the Church History Museum with our friends the Elggrens, followed by a walk (or should I say run) around Temple Square. In the picture we have Audrey, Truman, Lincoln, Will and Jefferson. McKinley and little Harrison are in the stroller behaving themselves. At the museum they had the equivalent of a new born care area in the hospital and the kids played doctor to the babies for at least an hour. Apparently they think doctors do a lot of diaper and onesie changing. It was really fun to watch and now Truman wants to be a doctor when he grows up instead of a clown, an improvement I think.
Visits from Russian Grandparents
On Jan 26th my parents came to visit for a few days. For some reason we never remember to photograph much of these occasions, but we sure do enjoy them! We got to celebrate Libbi's birthday at the sledding hill followed by a bday dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Doxey and the Murri's.
Mom and Dad left that Friday, but Dad came back the day Brian headed to Cancun, so it was nice to have him and the girls around over the weekend. I got to play some games, or should I say win some games, against Dad, watch movies in the basement and we even got a baby sitter so we could do dinner and a movie in Provo once Brian was home. Thanks for the visit and we miss you already! 
Bacon Explosion
I (Brian) am having a fun time making food for the EQ party tonight. I thought it would be fun to blog the experience. Here are some pictures and instructions if you want to be a little crazy. Be careful, you will love this more than you hate the 2 lbs you will gain from it.
Needs:
2lb bacon
2lb Sausage
BBQ Sauce
BBQ Seasoning
Artichoke Hearts (Optional)
Stuffed Olives (Optional)
Step 1:
Weave bacon pieces together as shown here. It should usually take about 10 pieces of
bacon to make a square weave. I did this by laying each of the 5 vertical pieces side by side and then added the horizontal row piece by piece. I would fold back the vertical pieces in turn to get the weave.
Sprinkle with BBQ Seasoning once done.
Step 2:
Smash Sausages together into one big ball. Spread the sausage onto the bacon and out to the sides of the weaved square.
Cut up Artichoke, Olives, or grate cheese and put on top of the Sausage Layer.
Step 3:
Cook the remaining bacon you didn't use in the weave. Dice it up and put it on top of the sausage layer as well.
Drizzle BBQ sauce.
Step 4:
This is rolled up in two parts. First roll up the sausage layer from back to front. Squeeze the sausage ends to keep the good stuff inside. Second, roll the bacon around your just made sausage roll going from forward to back. Pinch the ends to keep it all inside.
Step 5:
Garnish if you want. We do this so we can tell which one is which when we get it out of our smoker. Here are the 3 rolls we made: Artichoke, Olive and Cheese.
Step 6: Crock Pot/Smoke
Smoking it is a lot more fun than crock potting it. The reasons aren't quite clear but it is true. I smoke ours any where from 2 to 3 hours depending on how thick the meat is or how many I have in there. I use hickory chips.
If you don't have a smoker then it will fit in your crock pot. Just jam it in there. This isn't pretty food. Just really good.
Like all crock pot food you can do it forever. There is enough grease in the bacon and sausage so very little water is needed. Just keep the lid on and let it go for at least 2.5 hours. The longer you can keep it in there, the better.
Step 7:
Look at it. Look how cool it is. Then take pictures of it.
Step 8:
Cut it up like a yule log and eat it. If you like BBQ sauce then go for it as well. I don't think it needs it.