book club

i love my book club.

i love reading books that i otherwise wouldn't have picked out myself.

i love discussing things that dont have anything to do with my kids or birth.

i love hearing ideas that i hadnt thought of on my own.

i love book club.

last night we reviewed the Alchemist, which i really enjoyed. it was a very quick read and had some thoughts in it that i truly loved.

here are my two favorite quotes from the book:

"the world we live in will be either better or worse, depending on whether we become better or worse.And thats where the power of love comes in. because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are."

"the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself."

the second one really hit home for a couple reasons. first of all, in the past, i used to worry to an extreme level about being safe while chris was working nights. i couldnt sleep. i was paranoid and it took some sharp words from my dad to get me to snap out of it. and lately i have had some pretty overwhelming fears about things that are out of my control. like my kids. i have been so so so absorbed in feeling like i would never be able to handle it if something happened to them. i think most moms go through this after they have their first baby. and i did to a certain extent. but for some reason since charlie has been here, i have experienced real true fear. like i have never known before. i have stayed up with panic attacks thinking about what i would do if one of the kids got hurt or i lost one. and this part in the book was kind of like a shake to the system. i need to stop worrying about it because i've made myself a basket case for no reason and i need to start enjoying now. and of course i dont like to think about it, but if something ever did happen, then thats when i should be worried about it. not now. i dont know if any of that made sense to anyone else, but its (obviously) been on my mind so much and it feels good to write it down. it feels like i've officially let my fears go. and it feels great. great enough that im not even going to re-read this to see if i made any major mistakes. and that feels great too.

ok, onto something much sweeter...

please pretend those saran wrap marks arent there :)

this was last nights treat.

"To Die For Banana Cake" with cream cheese frosting.

luckily, no one died because the cake was THAT awesome, but it was pretty tasty for a banana cake. usually when its my turn to bring the treat, i like to try and tie it in with the book, but the book never mentioned bananas. we just happened to have an abundance of overly ripe bananas on hand so thats why i picked this. some of the ladies wanted the recipe so i'll put it after this picture of charlie. he was doing some serious concentrating in his jumper this morning after our bike rides...

here is the recipe:

banana cake

(9x9 pan or double for a two layer cake)

2/3 C sugar

1/2 C sour cream

1 egg

2 tbs softened butter

2 mashed ripe bananas

1 tsp vanilla

1 C flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

preheat oven to 375 for a metal pan and 350 for glass. grease and flour pan(s). cream together sugar, sour cream, egg, and butter. add mashed bananas and vanilla and mix well. add flour, salt, and baking soda and mix well. pour into pan and bake 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. cool completely, then frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Beat:

1 8oz pkg softened cream cheese

1/2 C softened butter

then add:

1 lbs powdered sugar

beat till fluffy

then add:

1tsp vanilla

and beat

i decorated mine with pecans, which was delicious

enjoy!

special delivery

Louie Elizabeth Call

may 19th 2011

6 lbs 8 oz

18 1/2 in

8:40 am

welcome little babe

is that not the most adorable face ever?

for the record, i guessed her weight exactly!

im so proud of alli! she had to go into her labor knowing that anesthesia was not an option due to some surgery she had while she was a teenager for scoliosis. and she did it!!! she is so brave and i love my little sister. she is constantly amazing me with the person she has become. she and jacob will truly be some of the greatest parents ever.

i have never seen a dad be more excited or anxious for their little one to arrive than jacob.

i couldnt help but tear up a bit while reading the sweetest e-mail that he sent to the family this afternoon about the arrival of little lou

"She has beautiful dark hair and is very alert and curious about this new world around her. She weighed in at 6 pounds 8 ounces and was 18.5 inches long. She is very healthy and strong.

Allison is doing very well. She's ready to get back on her bike!"

picnik

have you heard of picnik.com?

its awesome if you are computer illiterate like myself. its a great FREE website that allows you to edit/alter photos and is SUPER user friendly. ive used it several times to make easy birthday party invites, or to edit pictures without getting frustrted trying to figure out photoshop.

i just did a couple from my all time favorite set of pics that we took at the beach yesterday. applied the cross-process effect and rounded the corners and voila! a fun little collage.

charlie's been inked!

if you are scared of photoshop, but want some easy editing, check out picnik!

mum's day mayhem

we had a fantastic weekend! these pictures are all mixed up and im feeling too lazy to get them in the right order. so, in a rather large nutshell, here is a snippet of our weekend:

at the beach with larissa, ev, sophie, and rikki this morning:

at the farmer's market saturday morning:

mini golfing on saturday evening:

the kids were free and since it was mother's day weekend, i was free as well. totally awesome! the totally NOT awesome part? it still cost ELEVEN BUCKS!

and because i always have food on the brain, the guys grilled pizza for us yesterday that was out of this world! chris is a grill master! love that man of mine!

my pops also was a baking genius and made scones! wowwie do i love scones. all greasy and pippin' hot and drenched in honey butter. they were tasty!

i spent some time making my very first dulce de leche and then added it into my very first attempt at making ice cream. this is what it would have looked like, had i remembered to take a pic

the ice cream was pretty yummy. not incredible, but it was still pretty good. i added some salty cashews but wished there was a little more salty-ness to it. the dulce de leche was really easy to make, but i think i cooked it a little long because the caramel flavor was almost overwhelming. to make the caramel, i just put a few cans of sweetened condensed milk in the crock pot and cooked on low for 9 hours. easy peasy.

speaking of yummy, isnt little quinn the sweetest? jack and ellie call him "quint" and have asked to see pictures of him several times. i think delayna enjoyed her mother's day quite a bit this year :)

my mumsie is visiting quinn, tony, and delayna in DC right now and we miss her so! she is truly the best example in the world of what a woman should be. i miss her smile, her jokes, her words of wisdom (without being "in your face" words of wisdom). i miss her hands that are so capable and so willing to work and help. i was remembering this weekend how much i love her hands. i used to stare at them during church when i was little and trace her veins with my finger. i used to watch them as they made rolls for us, all floury and then oily from dipping them quickly in butter before tying them in nots. i used to watch them as she would paint her murals or help me with my science projects late late late at night. as she greased and ungreased bike chains. as she held my hand going through the LDS temple for the first time, along with my wonderful mother-in-law janie (who is equally amazing). the list goes on and on. i love her hands.

mom will be gone until july. she is headed to rexburg at the end of the week to spend time with my little sister, alli, who is having her first baby in a couple weeks... i cant believe it!!!

may i suggest...

... never ever EVER washing a pull-up with a load of laundry on accident (or on purpose either). holy guacamole.