Mothers Who Know

Amish Friendship Bread

I have a bunch of Amish Friendship Bread starters up for grabs. They are going to be ready to bake right in time for Thanksgiving, so they could be a nice little addition to your feast! If anyone wants one, just say so!

Crazy 8s

Crazy 8s

My 8 favorite TV shows

1. Dancing With the Stars

2. American Idol

3. The Next Food Network Star

4. The Tonight Show

5. Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives

6. AFV

7. Ellen

8. LOST

My 8 favorite restaurants
(in no particular order)

1. Chili's / Applebees

2. Red Robin

3. Lonestar / Texas Roadhouse
4. Fortune Cookie

5. Sweet Tomatoes

6. Mimi's Cafe

7. Zuppas

8. Olive Garden
* Two that I have NEVER been to but am DYING to try are Goodwood and Tepanyaki. I have a feeling they would be among my faves.

8 things that happened to me yesterday

1. For the first time, my 1st grader got 100% on her spelling test! (She almost had the bonus word, too, but missed it by one letter.)

2. Some of the carpet was installed at the new house.

3. vacuumed all the new carpet
4. had to unclog the vacuum when all the carpet clogged it up
5. Someone called to schedule a showing for our current home, which they are potentially interested in renting.

6. read a lot of my book (currently The Looking Glass by Richard Paul Evans)

7. finally tried one of those Arby's pepperjack melts (okay, so I tried two.... all that vacuuming worked up an appetite.)

8. primary program practice

8 things I look forward to

1. moving into the new house

2. Thanksgiving

3. Christmas

4. getting my hands on Richard Paul Evans' newest book, Grace

5. expanding my family

6. clearing up this ridiculous bout of acne (I'm twenty-nine years old! What is this?!)

7. seeing Wicked

8. having all of lifes current stresses in the rear view mirror

8 things on my wish list

1. buyers/renters for our houses

2. to be all moved and settled in at the new house

3. a family vacation

4. a real date with my husband (It's been too long.)

5. Prop 8 opponents to cool it and accept that the people have spoken

6. the economy to bounce back

7. the housing market to recover

8. Wicked tickets (still haven't bought them)

8 people I tag
Anyone who hasn't done this one yet. :-)

Entrepreneur

Carolyn is a very imaginative girl. Where Kylie generally craves constant attention and interaction, Carolyn is content to play on her own for hours. She's crafty and creative.

On a recent day, those wheels in her head had apparently been turning as she thought of ways to turn a profit.
She got a bunch of blankets from her room, folded them up, and placed them in a pile. She also gathered together several books. Then she called for me.

There was a sign, hand printed in her own cute penmanship, placed on the blankets. It read, "Blankets for sale."

The sign she is holding with the book says, "Story time. It will cost you one quarter."

Thankfully, I just happened to have a few spare quarters.

In all fairness, it turned out she wanted to use the money to pay me for dinner.

Silly girl.

Potty Time

Isaiah recently decided on his own that he wanted to try sitting on the potty. Since he is only 21 months old, I had not planned to even introduce the idea for at least several more months. It seems like everyone I know who has potty-trained boys has had a difficult time with it, and, frankly, I have not been anxious to experience it for myself.

Kylie was about this age when she first expressed an interest, and she went on to pretty much train herself within a matter of weeks. But she was advanced (and still is) in many areas, and I don't think I will get that lucky again.

The first time Isaiah wanted to try it out, I was more than happy to let him, and I even gave him a Jelly Belly as a reward. After that, he would see the jar of Jelly Bellies and ask for one, but I made the impromptu decision that those would be reserved for potty treats.

Several times a day he would look toward the jar of Jelly Bellies, then (as the light bulb went on above his head) announce to me, "Potty!" as he turned and raced down the hall toward the bathroom. I wondered if he was actually learning anything or if it was more of a trained response like Pavlov's dogs - in this case, sitting on the toilet = Jelly Belly.

So whether this is the start of real potty-training or just a fluke, he HAS legitimately "utilized" the toilet three times now. He even tells me ahead of time sometimes. Who knows if this will lead to anything, but for now we are very happy with the way it's going.

Fall Colors

Our family went up Big Cottonwood Canyon a few weeks ago to enjoy the fresh air and beautiful scenery.


Carolyn and Isaiah saw a duck on the water at Silver Lake.


Carolyn climbed quite high up this mountainside, and Kylie climbed a bit, too. They both had great fun checking out all the rocks.


Isaiah checked out the rocks, too. He liked to pick them up and throw them over the edge. His didn't make it as far as Daddy's (in fact, most of them didn't even make it over the edge), but he was happy to do this over and over again.


Jeremiah helped Kylie and Isaiah find some leaves in an array of fall colors. They had one in every shade.


Isaiah and Jeremiah decided to do a little climbing.


Carolyn could have played on that mountain all day.


Kylie liked sliding down the mountain.


Isaiah loved roaming the unfamiliar territory.

We had such a great time!

Protect marriage!! Protect children!!