Do you vacuum your vacuum?

Today I got out the vacuum and had to take it apart to put the belt back on. It's hilarious to watch my kids when the vacuum is out.

Oaklen has loved it from day #1 and will sit there and stare at it until it's on, then when it's on he'll follow you wherever you go. Now that he's older he uses his fisher-price popcorn popper vacuum and "helps" out.

Salem usually sits on the couch and then runs and sits on the other couch to watch.

I got the drill to unscrew a couple screws on the vacuum and now I know how Darrell feels when the boys are always wanting to watch him do everything. They get such a thrill out of tools and especially power tools! :)

Oaklen - August 2007

The business of being born

Darrell and I went to tonight to see the documentary "The Business of Being Born." It was a great show! Ricki Lake is the executive producer and she takes you through how the United States is so backwards as far as birthing is concerned. Midwives only attend about 8% of the births in the United States, whereas it's higher than 50% in other countries. At the time of the film, the US was the 2nd worst in maternal death rate, since then we are the worst.

I challenge you to know the facts about birth and to make wise, informed decisions. What's preferred by the medical industry isn't necessarily best for the mom and baby. Some births need medical interventions but the majority of births don't. Birth is a rite of passage, it doesn't have to be a medical procedure.

http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/

Zoo day

The last Wednesdays of the winter months (Nov - Mar) are free for the zoo. Marie Gentry and I went, it was pretty fun! It was attack of the strollers, I've never seen so many in my life! :) We got a few good pics, although afterward I realized that we didn't get any of Marie and I together!

Dylan & OaklenIsn't love cute? These monkeys are intertwined...

Salem in front of the big elephant

This big elephant is new to me, it's been years since I've been here

Oaklen loved the big cats

The giraffes were inside today

Okay...I had to take this mainly because Salem and Oaklen love the book "Everyone Poops"

THE END! :)

Most used small kitchen appliance

Guess... What is the most used small kitchen appliance at our house?

A coffee grinder!

We first got one as a wedding gift, only the words "coffee grinder" were scratched out on the box and "flaxseed grinder" was written with marker in it's place. I admit I didn't use it at first, it was stored away in a closet for a while.

After I had Salem I got it out and started using it to grind rice, millet, flax seeds, or beans for baby food. It's so great! This Bosch coffee grinder lasted 5 years then we finally had to replace it. I got a cheaper Toastmaster one but it's been just as good. These cost anywhere from $10 - $30 so they are quite affordable.

I use the grinder every morning to grind flax seeds to sprinkle on my hot cereal or cold cereal. I also use it to grind rice, wheat, oats, or millet for the hot cereal, or a coarse flour. You can use it to grind beans and make a quick bean dip, grind split peas to make peas porridge, grind garbanzo beans to make hummus. It's so fast and easy!

Okay, there's my commercial, now go out and buy one! :)

Happiness is... Part II

Here's another round of happy things. It's been a running list for a few weeks so now I'll finally post it.

Happiness is...
Finding the last "drive cart" at the grocery store
Watching my boys eat cheerios with a fork
Finding a lot of "red-band" bananas
When the grocery store actually owes you money after all the coupons & sales (yes it's legal.)
Being able to get up earlier in the morning to exercise
Empty laundry baskets and hampers
Listening to "Movin 100.7" (I gets me goin'!)
Hearing Salem pray...about his light saber!
Singing the good morning song to my kids
Playing "My father owns a grocery store..." with Salem
Watching Darrell speak or conduct a meeting at church

Heather's Hummus

Heather's Hummus

Ingredients:
1 cup Garbanzo Bean Flour*
3-1/3 cups Water
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup Tahini (ground sesame seeds)
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Cumin, ground
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 cup Olive Oil

Bring 3-1/3 cups water to boiling on medium heat. Whisk the garbanzo bean flour into the boiling water. Cook 1 minute stirring constantly. Turn heat down to medium low and continue cooking 5 minutes. Let cool.

Add the garlic, tahini, lemon juice and mix until smooth. Then add the cumin, salt, pepper and slowly pour the olive oil and mix thouroughly.

* NOTE - I grind my garbanzo beans in my grain mill, but you can buy bean flour too, or probably just use canned or cooked garbanzo beans.

Pottery day at Preschool

Salem attends the preschool at Highland High School. A few weeks ago, they got to visit different areas of the school like the library, the pottery & art room, the choral room, the dance room, etc.

Today he brought home a cool pottery mug. He made it when they visited the art & pottery room and then the teacher finished.

Salem is so proud of it! He wrote his own name on it, notice the backwards "S." Since then he has learned to turn the S around, but it'll be cute for him to look at it as he gets older.

Moony stories

There is going to be a lunar eclipse in Salt Lake tomorrow:
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2691620

I was showing this news article to Oaklen & Salem and remembered a few stories about the moon.

1. About a year ago, Salem was contemplating and thinking about the word "sunny." Then he said to me "Mom, when the moon is out is it moony?"

2. My mom tended the kids at her house a month or two ago. It was time for bed and Grandma got Oaklen to fall asleep by holding him and letting him gaze out of the skylight looking at the moon. Ever since then he enjoys and recognizes the moon. He notices it sometimes even when I don't.

Isn't it great to have the fascination of a child?

3. My mom always used to sing a good morning song to me. I've passed it on and now sing it to my kids. It goes:
"Good morning merry sunshine,
How did you wake so soon?
You chased away the little stars
And shined away the moon!"

Except my mom would always make me say "moon" to make me wake up. I've done the same thing. Salem says moon but sometimes he says a silly word to finish like "pizza." This week Oaklen has finally "gotten it" and now says "moon" at the end of the song.

Home Improvement Weekend

We made the most of the long weekend and started redoing the "orange room." This is the last of the bedrooms that has been waiting to be changed.

Darrell is amazing! He got up bright and early on Saturday and Monday to work the WHOLE day. (And also went to The Home Depot 5 times.) Our boys were in utter delight to watch Dad use the cool power tools and see him build a new wall.

My job was to make sure Salem & Oaklen were safe. It was sometimes hard since they wanted to be in there with Daddy. They got their fair share of enjoying the construction. Here are some pics:

Newspaper hats

When was the last time that you made a newspaper hat? It's been so long for me that I had to google how to make a newspaper hat! Salem and I made them during "Mom & me" time while Oaklen was asleep.

We were grateful to get the Sunday comics from my brother, Cabot, to use for Salem's hat. I used an Albertson's ad.

Being a mom has brought me back to the fun childhood memories. I challenge you to see if you remember how to make a hat.

How Salem got his name

Salem's primary teacher asked that all the children bring a written story about how they got their name. I just typed it and thought I'd share it on this blog.

How Salem got his name

Salem’s mom & dad were reading in the Book of Mormon one night, as they always do, and Heather (expecting her first son) read aloud Alma chapter 13:
(Alma 13: 17-18)

17 Now this Melchizedek was a king over the land of Salem; and his people had waxed strong in iniquity and abomination; yea, they had all gone astray; they were full of all manner of wickedness;

18 But Melchizedek having exercised mighty faith, and received the office of the high priesthood according to the holy order of God, did preach repentance unto his people. And behold, they did repent; and Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace, for he was the king of Salem; and he did reign under his father

She stopped reading and said to Darrell “How about Salem for our son’s name?” They thought for a minute and said “Na” then kept on reading.

Days later Salem’s parents came back to the name Salem and thought about it again. They decided that they liked the name. It was original, and it meant “peace.”

His parent’s chose Wallace for his middle name since it was Darrell’s middle name (named after his maternal grandfather) and also Heather’s father’s middle name.

From that day forward Heather & Darrell’s first baby was named Salem Wallace Hendriksen.

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

Home again, home again, jiggety jig! We arrived home on Thursday evening. It was a great trip to Maryland and Washington DC. This is just a quicky post, I'll post pics later...

Greetings from DC

Darrell and I are here in Maryland visiting my Aunt and family. It's our 6th wedding anniversary. We have been able to go to the Washington DC temple, Mount Vernon, and a little bit of Washington DC so far. It's been fun! My kiddies are with their grandparents so we miss them, but it's been great to get away. Here are a few pics to enjoy...

Darrell resting as we're sitting in the relaxing first class area of the plane. My step-sis Jill got us buddy passes and we were lucky enough to even be in first class, thank you! :)

Darrell and I outside Washington DC temple. It was rainy that day, but the temple was beautiful. I think this is the first one that I've been inside of, outside of Utah.

Darrell was trying to get a nice picture of the temple and I surprisingly jumped up to be in the picture. "Aspire higher..."

Darrell and I waiting in line to go in the home of George & Martha Washington at Mount Vernon in Virginia.
Darrell and I at the base of the Washington Monument. The White House is behind us.
Darrell with my Aunt Loueine and Uncle Cliff in front of the Washington Monument.
My Aunt & Uncle took us out to eat for our anniversary to the Cheesecake factory. It was great!

Tag - Survey

My friend Marie tagged me, so below are my answers. Feel free to put this on your blog but I'm not going to "tag" anyone since I don't know who has already done it. :)

1. Best thing you cooked last week... Curried Split Pea soup. It's a regular at our house now. The recipe is on this blog already.

2. If money, time and babysitting were no object, where would you go and with who... It would be fun to take a Mediterranean cruise with Darrell, and maybe some of my closest friends.

3. When was the last time you cried? Three weeks ago in the middle of sacrament meeting during the song "Be Still My Soul." It was meant to be that we should sing that song. (You were inspired Pam!) I needed Heavenly Father to tell me that everything is going to be okay with my new calling as Primary President, as long as I just trust him. " In ev'ry change he faithful will remain... Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake To guide the future as he has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake; "

4. Five things you were doing 10 years ago: 1. Preparing for high school graduation 2. Writing to Darrell on his mission 3. Working at Raytheon Aircraft 4. Cheering at a basketball game 5. Dragging state street, oh the good ol' days...

5. Five things you were doing 5 years ago: 1. Working at Overstock.com 2. Remodeling our front room & kitchen (I just swept, Darrell did the work.) 3. Watching my belly expand from pregnancy 4. Emailing my mom on her mission in Mexico 5. Going to Young Women activities as YW 2nd counselor

6. Five things you were doing 1 year ago: 1. Settling into our new and improved ward 2. Meeting my future Sister-in-law, Jen 3. Watching Salem build his first snowman 4. Enjoying staying home with the kids 5. Listening to Salem talk about his first day of Primary

7. Seven of your favorite hobbies: 1. blogging 2. piano 3. dance 4. trying healthy recipes 5. listening to audiobooks in the car 6. playing with photoshop 7. playing with the fam

8. Five favorite foods: 1. pasta 2. chocolate 3. bananas 4. broccoli 5. tomatoes

9. Seven places you've been: 1. Malta 2. Italy 3. France 4. England 5. Switzerland 6. Germany 7. United States

10. Five Favorite Memories:
1. My Italian Honeymoon... :)
2. Going to the bowl game in Las Vegas
3. Snuggling with my mom every morning after I woke up, even when I was in college
4. Laying on my Dad's shoulder/chest on the bed while we watched Star Trek and hearing him laugh and his chest & belly go up & down
5. Jan 7, 2000 - Darrell's first kiss...it was magical!

Snowed In

Today was a blizzard. We went to our institute class this morning, and the class ended early so that we all could get home safely since it was snowing so badly.

We've spent the rest of the day having fun inside...

Salem drew Oaklen a picture of a cat

We drew a picture of a snowman since it was snowing.

Oaklen had a ball!

Salem and I were puffing up our cheeks and the other person would squeeze them to hear a funny noise. It's mild entertainment, Darrell and I used to do that all the time when we were dating. Candace will remember! :)

Today Salem has been a fire chief, puff the magic dragon, and is currently a pirate.

Oaklen plays with the phone, he's always trying to get it!

Then...we went downstairs. The highlight of our day? The mail man! :) It was obvious that he had come when we saw the footprints on our porch.

A rad guitar player

The first knowledge I had of Darrell was known as a "rad guitar player." My friend Christian kept telling me that I needed to meet this "rad guitar player" named Darrell. Well...Christian didn't tell me that he was the tall dark and handsome love of my life! :)

Here's the story of Darrell's latest guitar. Every year on December 26th Darrell gets this sudden urge that he NEEDS to buy something immediately. (It probably is sparked from some of the money that he receives from Christmas.) On Dec 26, 2006 he decided that he HAD to have an acoustic guitar. I thought it was a worthy thing to need/want since it makes him happy to play the guitar and at least he's not playing video games or watching movies all day! :)

He devised a plan on how to get the guitar that he always wanted. First he sold one of his electric guitars and a few other things. Then he was going to take on a 2nd job just to pay for the guitar, and quit after he had acquired enough money to pay for it. He didn't want to use any money that we usually earn; he wanted to "work" for his guitar. Cute, huh? Well cute that is...he got his first "uniform" job working graveyards at Smith's grocery store. He got on his uniform and realized that this was the first uniform that he's ever worn, so I took a picture:

That job lasted one night. He worked at his day job (Datamark) on Friday, came home for an hour then went to Smith's. He worked all night long, then came home and crashed all Saturday morning. It was hard to work two 8-hour jobs, so he quit Smith's.

Then he found another job working a couple hours in the evening at Circuit City. He worked there for about two weeks, things were going well, but then our world changed (for the better.) The stake re-aligned the ward boundaries and Forest Dale ward was merged with Lincoln ward, plus we needed to move buildings. Darrell (1st counselor in the bishopric) felt the weight of this change, and realized that he needed to quit the 2nd job to help our new ward transition. He summed the money that he had already earned and realized that he could buy a nice acoustic guitar, just not the "one that he's always wanted." He quit Circuit City, bought a Taylor Big Baby acoustic guitar, and helped settle our ward.

I love him for all that he is. Before I ever knew him as a plumber, personal chef, friend, mechanic, husband, father, electrician, bread winner, painter, gardener, landscaper, carpenter, spider killer, computer technician, builder, maid, tile layer, furniture mover, chauffeur, counselor, and genius, he was first a "rad guitar player."

To hear one of his songs that he composed and also played go to this link:
http://www.garageband.com/song?|pe1|S8LTM0LdsaSjZFCyYWA

Typical morning with my two boys

I got up at 8AM and saw Salem already up and playing with toys. Darrell already left for work. I finish my shower, open the door and see that Oaklen got up and Salem is reading him a book. We get dressed and I plead with Salem to change his clothes. Every morning he wants to be some certain character. Today he wanted to be Clifford the Big Red Dog. He had on a red sweater, a red short-sleeve shirt on top of th sweater, and red pants. "I have to be a red red today Mom, because Clifford is red!" Well...I finally gave in and let him wear that just so I could take a picture of him and put it on this blog.

We went downstairs and before we eat, Salem (as usual) said the prayer. Oaklen folded his arms today, that's exciting! Oaklen went to the cupboard and got his bib out to let me know he is hungry

We ate a typical breakfast. Oaklen and I had millet with walnuts, flax seeds and banana. Salem usually has an egg, either hard-boiled or "scrambled." Today he chose the "scrambled" version which means it's nuked in the microwave and looks like an egg pancake.




After we eat I look at the clock and realize it's already time to take Salem to school. He grabs his show & tell items then we rush out the door.

Pretty fun huh? I wouldn't miss any minute of it. :)

Couponing - Pinching Your Pennies

Some of you know that I use coupons. I have even taught some couponing classes. My main source of knowledge comes from pinchingyourpennies.com. You can print shopping lists from specific grocery stores. The list tells you how good the deal is, if there is a coupon, and where the coupon is located.

I think this link will always show the current shopping list. Just select which store in the drop-down menu.
http://pinchingyourpennies.com/coupons/store_sales.php?

Or, here is Albertsons's list for Wed Jan 23 - Jan 29.
http://pinchingyourpennies.com/coupons/store_sales.php?id=UT_Albertsons_Jan23_Jan29


Here is a little blurb that I have from one of my coupon class handouts:

Pinching Your Pennies (PYP) – This is a forum site that is amazing! Find deals on many things and post questions to others about deals, shopping & more. It has a list of deals for the week for each grocery store and a list of all available coupons.

http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/

Here are a few highlighted links & forums:

PYP Price Points Printable (Price Book)
http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/PYPPricePoints2.pdf

What’s a good price for…
http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16991

Sale Trends
http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47124

Coupon List
http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/CouponList.php

Grocery Deals Newsletter sign up
http://www.pinchingyourpennies.com/newslettersignup.htm

Back up for Books

Sept 2007

Oaklen getting into mischief

Whenever Oaklen wants to read a book he gets a book, turns around then starts backing up to sit in someone's lap. He is very comfortable in someone's lap to read the books. He likes to take the person's finger and point to the pictures to have them say the word.

He says the word "book" but it comes out saying "boot." He likes the T sound instead of the K.

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

Oaklen was looking at a book about fish and then I started saying "Heeeeere Fishy Fishy Fishy!" Salem wanted to know what it was from. I told him about a clip from Bert & Ernie. I found it on youtube and we got a good laugh.

Here it is: