Rush of School Starting

Do you ever feel like August is just a made rush to get a million things done?  Goodness, that's the way it was this year.

And not only that, but it was SO HOT on top of it all.  Like 100 degrees with 90% humidity making the heat index over 120.  Miserable, I tell ya.  Nothing worse than living in the swamp/marsh in the midst of a heat wave!

Our first order of business was getting some much needed dental work done.  Titus and Isaac have really intense mashed up teeth.  As such, they get these weird cavities.  (Eli has lots of room between his teeth and has no cavities--thank goodness he finally gets a break in the health department.)

Titus' dental appointment was the first day of school, so he only attended a half day of preschool .  He did well, was kind of goofy on the laughing gas, but was pretty chill.
Isaac's dental appointment was the second week of school, he missed the whole day of school.  He was did well, but was under the laughing gas and dental work for an hour, so he got motion sickness really bad and threw-up when we got home.

Isaac also started piano the first week of school.  He was really excited about it!  Good for him!  His teacher is a good 15 minute drive from our home, so me and the little boys try and find a park to play during Isaac's 45 minute piano lesson.  So far it's been going well… EXCEPT it was really hot for a few lessons in a row.  Eli and Titus were pretty miserable.  But it's cooled down a tad.

Isaac has really enjoyed piano.  It's none too hard to get him to practice, and he really excited that he's almost memorized a few songs.  When Matt plays with Isaac at the piano they can be there up to an hour.  Eli and Titus are excited about Isaac playing too, and they're anxiously awaiting when their going to start lessons!

Oh.  And THEN I had to get the Honda Pilot's air conditioning fixed.  Man, that was so awful having that broken.  So happy to have cool air in the car!!
So our first two weeks of school were kind of hectic.  But we were still able to play at the pool, Matt and I were able to go one a "day date" while the boys were at school, Titus bashed his forehead, and Eli took school pictures as a hot mess.

Let's Miscommunicate… AGAIN!

I can't tell you how many times it has happened between me and Matt.
Many times.  Many, many, many, many times… I'd like to think that most couples do have their communication issues, that we are more the rule than the exception.   But there is one area which I think elevates our communication issues to a whole new level.

It is being from two totally different cultures.  I am Southeastern/East USA.  Matt is West/Canadian West.  We use different words, we have different ideas, etc.
I know lots of couples with each person being from a different country/region.  And I think you guys will appreciated this story::

Okay, so.  For the last 9 years Matt has been talking about making "scones" by frying bread dough, and I've been like: "What THE HECK are you talking about?!"  To me a scone is a baked biscuit, hard, and fruit filled.

How can one make a biscuit from frying dough?  I was totally stumped.  I looked up all these scone recipes, trying to find one that had "frying" in the instruction.  Didn't find a one, just lots and lots of recipes of fruit biscuits.  I even tried a basic scone recipe for the family one time, but Matt didn't even touch them.  I was pretty certain Matt was mental, and had no clue what he was talking about.  

This past weekend these elusive "scones" were brought up again.  I really wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery, so I started a really in depth search… BAM!!  I found them!  SO.  In the Mormon West "scones" are what the rest of America call "fritters".  Well shoot!  I can make some fritters, now!  Get me some oil, get me some powdered sugar, we are about to have a frying good time!  We ended up having some fritters the next day for dinner, and Matt was in fried-bread heaven.

So I really don't know why the Mormon West calls fritters "scones".  It's kind of strange, but I'll go with it.  Matt let's me call my Dr. Pepper "coke", so I really shouldn't hold "scones" against him, you know?  I'll teach the boys my way, and Matt will teach them his way, and all 3 will come out of their childhood really confused.

This is the recipe I used to make these "scones" aka FRITTERS. (click HERE) It's pretty good.  I didn't have any white flour on hand, and my whole wheat white flour worked wonderfully.  And please do make them thick, like 1/4 inch.  The thin ones aren't near as delicious.

Matt's FAVORITE Meal

One of the best things that happened to me when we moved to GA two years ago was becoming friends with an amazing woman, who just happens to be half Italian and therefore an amazing foodie with amazing foodie recipes.  Oh, and she's willing to share!

We had dinner with Lizzie and her family once, and she served us Gnocchi/Gnudi.  Holy CRAP.  This was life changing.  Ricotta, parmesan, basil, and toasted pine nuts.  GLORIOUS!  After we left Matt told me it was the best meal he had ever had.  I was like, "Oh man, I need that recipe; for the way to mens' hearts is through their stomachs!"

The next day I got the recipe, and for the last two years I've been teaching myself how to perfect this cheese dumpling and heavy cream sauce beauty.

You can also find this recipe on Ashley's MakeIt-LoveIt blog (click HERE).  Ashley and I were neighbors in our BYU-I days, she then moved to GA and became friends with this same Lizzie…. Small world! :)

I'm not going to lie, making the Gnocchi/Gnudi is a labor of love, but WORTH IT. 

So, without further ado, here is the recipe in Lizzie's own words: 

Gnocchi/Gnudi dough:

2 cups ricotta (I use part skim)
2 eggs
1 cup shredded parmesean
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 cups flour

mix all ingredients except flour together Than gradually add the flour. You may need less depending on how big your eggs are. You want a soft, not too sticky, dough. The dough is easier to work with if its a little chilled so I usually scoop a portion and put the rest in the fridge while I roll it out.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a 1/2 inch rope and cute the pieces about 1/4 inch thick. Then roll each piece on the back of a fork to give it the ridges. That is just to help it hold the sauce, so don't go nuts over it. Place them onto a cookie sheet covered in waxed paper and refridgerate until you are ready to boil them.

Sauce:

1/2 cup butter
2 ounces of prosciutto chopped
10 torn basil leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 cup cream
1/2 cup shredded parmesean

Beat 1/2 cup of cream until whipped, set aside. Melt butter in a sauce pan, add pine nuts and cook until the nuts brown a little. Add 1/2 cup cream and bring to a light boil, cook one minute then turn down heat. Add Basil and prosciutto. then fold in the whipped cream and the parmesean.
Add gnocchi to boiling water. Once they float, they are done! Remove and mix with sauce, serve presto.

Also, if you want to make something fun and easy and delicious, check out this GIANT chocolate chip cookie on Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  It won't disappoint!  (click HERE)

SCHOOL STARTED! FOR EVERYONE! IT'S AMAZING!

The boys started school on Monday, August 3. 

The night before, on that Sunday, Matt had personal interviews with each child and then administered Father's Blessings with each child.  It was pretty special, for this was the first time that Matt had been around for the "First Day of School".  

Anyway, they were all very excited to start school, but maybe not as excited as I was!  They are all in full school, going from roughly 8am to 3pm.  (Oh, and did I mention that they are all in DIFFERENT schools?!  Yeah, that's a headache, but it's been pretty easy to navigate… Just the car-rider line is for.e.ver.)

The day of the first day of school Matt had been able to stay home in the morning and help all get everyone ready, and then walk each kid into school.  It was pretty easy to drop everyone off, just a bit of a walk for Eli and Isaac since the parking was awful and we had to park in a neighboring neighborhood.  

Isaac is in 2nd grade.  Was really easy to drop him off since he is now a pro.  He was excited about school, but knew that it was going to be work.  However, on his first day home he exclaimed, "Wow!  Second grade is really easy.  We didn't do any work today!"  But he changed his tune a week later when real homework came home and it took him almost an hour to focus and get it done. (Homework time is now closer to 15-20 min, but it took a while for him to get in the groove.)  

Eli is in Kindergarten.  Holy shmoly, he was pumped to be a Kindergartener!  Had been talking about entering Kindergarten since the beginning of preschool of the previous year.  When we walked in that morning he couldn't keep the smile off his face, no matter how hard he tried!  The first week back he was excited, but after the weekend break he was pretty much broken hearted to realize that he had to go back.  Poor guy.  

On the second day walking him in to school (for again I parked, since the car rider line was a disastrous  mess), he was half-way down the sidewalk and turned to me, "Mom, I don't need help walking in."  I was like, "Okay…???"  Then two seconds later, after two steps, he half turns and mumbles: "Mom, I need you to come with me."  

On the third day of school he grasped my hand, saying, "I need you to walk all the way with me."

On the fourth day of school he was just content to walk in with me beside him.  

Eli and Isaac are now mostly bus-riders to school.  Eli thinks he's really grown-up now! It's hard to let these kids do such big things…. The older they get, the more and more I realize how little they are.  Make sense?  

Titus is in Pre-K.  It is a full-day program at a montessori school.  Georgia has their preschools (and other education) funded by the Georgia Lottery.  Since it's state run, the state requires the preschool to be all day and 5 days a week.  At first I hated the idea of him, or the other kids, gone all day for 5 days, but I quickly got over it!  Hahaha!  Anyway, Titus LOVES being in a school and having his own class with his own backpack and his own friends.  I think he felt like he was missing out last year when his brothers were in school.  But he's now set, and a real "big kid."  

I drive him to school.  It's nice that it's just two minutes down the road.  

Let's Wrap this Up :: Idaho/Canada Vacay, Part 4

We started our drive from Canada on Tuesday, July 29, around 9 or 10 in the morning.   Before leaving the plains of southern Alberta, we HAD to stock up on our Canadian candy, easily spending over 50 (Canada) dollars.  Worth it, I'm sure.

Once again, the boys didn't want to ride with me and Matt.  So our car (out of the 3) became the "needs a break from kids" car, and "I need a nap" car, for any of the adults.  It was really easy for me to drive and listen to a pod-cast via one ear bud, while a passenger took a nap.  Matt rode the last half the drive with Tyson to help with kids and such.  Me and Marcie had a fab time in our kid-free sharing tunes. She has really fun music and I do not.  But that wasn't a great surprise, was it?

Our last full day in Boise was spent having some park-time with a great friend and her awesome kids.  I've been very fortunate to make a good buddy or two where ever I've lived.  But why do we all have to live so far apart?  That's frustrating.
We spent the last half of the day with Boise family, swimming and talking and eating and having fun.  Seriously, Matt has some cool relatives!  And there was cake and ice-cream to celebrate Matt's upcoming 31st birthday, along with an aunt's and a cousin's too.

We woke up bright and early Thursday, July 31, and headed for the Boise airport.
It was a long day full of travel.  Once we made it across the country via airplane to Atlanta, we had to drive to our home which is 3.5 hours away.  We didn't make it back to coastal GA till like 10 at night our time.

We were ZOMBIES the next few days.  However, we couldn't be totally lazy since the boys were starting school on the following monday. PLUS Matt had to pick out a birthday gift!  Since the "going shooting" with the boys back in the first part of the Idaho vacation, Matt had guns on his mind.  I was like, "whatever, man," so he picked one out and bought it.  Apparently getting a new gun for a birthday is really fun?  He's very happy bout it, so I guess it is.

And then Monday happened and the boys started school (a post to come) and Matt had to go back to work, and our vacation and our summer officially ended.  WOW!

Family Palooza :: Idaho/Canada Vacay Part 3

The exact sequence of events for the next part of the trip gets a little blurry.

I KNOW there was a family wedding on Saturday, July 26th, and I KNOW we took Sunday as kind of a rest day… But then… Did we really do everything else on that Friday before the weekend, and the Monday after the weekend?  Man, no wonder we were completely pooped after this "vacation'!

Both of Matt's parents are from the same area of Alberta.  We were able to spend sometime with both sides, and filling our days with lots of fun.

There was horse-back riding with Grandpa Dudley and Uncle Kevin.  That was a BIG hit.  Boys really loved riding the small horses.  Isaac got comfortable enough after a bit to ride the pony by himself.  Each of the boys were determined to figure out how to rope the plastic goat, and riding the 4wheeler with Uncle Tyson was a blast!  Seriously, he let them go as fast as they wanted.  Probably clocked out over 50mph, crazy men.
A great highlight from the horse riding was Aunt Marcie accidentally letting the horse run as fast as it wanted, with her barely holding on for dear life.  She was finally able to manage to slow the horse down, but it gave us all a scare!  And her son, Mr. 2yr old Jaxon, decided his name was "Cowboy" from that point on.

I also remember having Chinese take-in one night with Grandpa Steed, or as the boys called him "Grandpa Steve", and staying up late and playing games with just us adults.  That was fun, for sure!

Grandpa Steed was a great host, and was really able to connect with his great-grandsons.  They loved his stories and the one-on-one time offered to them.  Plus he has a tree-house, a trampoline, an awesome old truck, and some sweet pellet guns.  Pretty paradise for a 4, 5, and 7 year old.

The day of the family wedding was full, and fun, and long, and full, and fun.  Yeah, it was long, but there was a lot of opportunity to talk to family members that Matt hadn't seen in a long time.  Overall it was a really good day.  Matt has a great family, and it's super fun to talk and hang out with them.

Okay.  So I do KNOW that we went to Waterton National Park on Monday.  GOT IT!
We left early that morning, and set off for the great Rocky Mountains, and they did not disappoint.  Super beautiful, guys.
Marcie and Tyson weren't sure if Jaxon could do a hike, so they went off to explore, while the rest of us set up to climb Bear's Hump.  Bear's Hump is like a mile hike up the side of the mountain.  It was actually kind of hard!  Isaac and Grandpa Steed lead the way the whole time.  Crazy awesome.  I was in the back, and not on purpose, haha.  The little boys were able to hike most of it on their own.  Good for them.
Once up the mountain the boys had a lot of fun feeding all the chipmunks.  Everyone was watched over really well, but I was quite certain on the of boys would follow a chipmunk off the side.  Cause that's what these boys do!  However, everyone was safe, and I was nervous without a reason… A lot of pictures were taken, and then we headed back down again.  This time Eli and Matt lead the way and they beat everyone down by like 15 minutes!
We then met up with Marcie and Tyson and Jaxson and had some yummy foods.
Afterwards we went to the lake and the boys began to have a blast in the FREEZING water.  Seriously, how do they do that?  But they had a great, to be sure.
After the water-fun, Deanne and Darren and Grandpa Steed took all the boys back to home.  Me and Matt with Marcie and Tyson stayed behind in Waterton, for Marcie wanted to take some editorial shots of me and Matt.  How could we say no?  Professional photographs, and a night without kids?  Sweet!

Those pics will come soon, but for now enjoy seeing what our 4 full days in Canada looked like: