Confessions of a mother of identical twins

1. I once gave a prescription medicine to the wrong baby.

2. I took both babies to the doctor, only one was sick, and didn't realize until we were done that I had them check, weigh, undress, etc., the wrong baby.

3. I was in the rocking chair, singing to AVA a song at the top of my lungs about how much "I love Addie Jo oh so" and how "Addie Jo is my favorite girl that I ever did know" and "I love Adalie wherever I go" and so on and so on (and so on). It wasn't until my song was over that I realized I was singing to Ava. I tried to make up for it by quickly adding, "and I love you Ava too!"

4. Last week we went outside to play in the water for TWO HOURS in the PEAK HOURS of sun. That night while giving the babies a bath, I realized that I applied sunblock to Adalie two times, and Ava no times. She got a horrible sunburn and I feel very bad about it.

Summer Lovin'

A penny saved . . .

I love using coupons. With gas and grocery prices on the rise,
I am more glad than ever that I do.

People keep asking me to post and brief explanation of couponing on this blog. Here it goes:

1. You need to subscibe to the Sunday paper, this is where I get most of my coupons. I get 6 Sunday papers delivered to our home. I suggest getting one per person in your family.

2. Organize them by week, date them and keep them together. (There are three different types of coupon inserts Red Plum, SmartSource and Proctor and Gamble)

3. Hold on to the coupon until a great sale comes along and matches the coupon.

4. Find a website you like that does all the work for you, they oganize the coupons and match coupons to sales for you and rate the deal, 5 star deals mean it is time to stock up.

5. Some websites I use or have used are : pinchingyourpennies.com (free) , grocerysmarts.com (also free, the password for Utah is g84csg. You can have them come to your home for a presentation that is great for beginners, it is very clear. You can contact them about getting a password for your area) and couponsense.com (this one costs money and is also in AZ for all those AZ friends of mine) I have never used these, but have heard of them: couponmom.com and thegrocerygame. com.

Be patient while you start building up coupons and soon it will get easier. You will start to see trends in sales and you will know how much to pay for certain items.

I have couponed for about three years and in that time have never paid for :
toothpaste, toothbrushes, deoderant, razors (the good kind), shampoo & conditioner, salad dressing and more. I shop for items when they are dirt cheap and buy as many as I have coupons for (this is why I get six newspapers, so I can stock up)

I pay very little for groceries and have a large food storage. Even though I have done this for three years, I continue to be amazed at the savings I recieve and the quality of the items I am getting. I get a huge variety of things from toiletries to groceries to cleaning and laundry supplies. If you aren't couponing, get started! It is WELL worth the little effort it takes. I am happy to answer any questions you have or help you learn these websites. I love to see other people succeed in saving.

Dinner & movie

Did you know if you test drive 1 of 8 chevrolet vehicles at a Rocky Mountain Chevrolet dealer, they will give you a $40.00 gift card to Wingers or TGIF and two movie tickets? All you have to do is take a car for a test drive. Click here for info.

We all scream for ice cream (and cookies)

Simple Summer Dessert
1. Make some chocolate chip cookies (or buy some)

2. Crush cookies on the bottom of a spring form pan and drizzle with Magic Shell. Freeze for a few minutes.

3. Place cookies around the edges of the pan

4. Fill with a half gallon of your favorite vanilla ice cream and drizzle with Magic Shell again. Freeze for a couple of hours.

Just great

I tend to worry.

Aaron is in the Philippines.

This is what I saw this when I woke up :

A photo of what looks like Manilla right now, the city Aaron is in.

I sure hope he knows how to swim.

Just Like Her

This is my beautiful neice Meghan who flew on an

airlplane all by herself to come visit.

When she arrived Julia (was in her pajamas) looked at her very carefully,

left the room and came back looking like this:

What a deal!

If you want to learn how to shop like this:

(click on image to enlarge)

and you are available this Tuesday evening (the 24th), email me, leave a comment or call me and I will give you the details. If you don't want to learn how to shop like this, I think you are crazy, it's true. This is my reciept from a shopping trip a few weeks ago. I got 5 kitchen cleaners, 6 boxes of band aid's (Hello Kitty and Barbie, mind you), 4 boxes of Post cereal, a Kraft salad dressing and some fruity mento's to keep my kids quiet in the car. All that for ONE PENNY. (This is a FREE class and a FREE service) You wouldn't believe what I pay for our food, shampoo, baby wipes, razors, deoderant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, the list goes on and on and on! A lot of times this stuff is free, like my reciept shows.

Father's Day

I wish everyone could have met my dad, what an amazing man! I want to share a few things about him:

- FUNNY, HILARIOUS as can be, he would often have everyone rolling w/ laughter!

- Smart with a capital S! Sharpest mind, the amount of knowledge his mind held was amazing.

- Nicest, most sincere, kind, humble person on this planet, he made friends where ever he went, no matter who was there. We never went anywhere, ever without him knowing someone.

- Patient, I do not have a single memory of him raising his voice or EVER getting mad.

-Spriritual, loved to read the scriptures and loved to learn about church history

- Athletic, awesome at any and every sport he ever tried

-and Handsome to boot!

My mom's place

I asked my mom if she would mind if I shared some pictures of her house. It is such a beautiful place to be. Here are a few of my favorite views, if you haven't been to visit her, you really should. It looks like a magazine:

looslitaken.com

Here are a few more of my favorite pictures from our shoot by Peter Loosli @ looslitaken.com Ava

James

Adalie Jo

Julia

Family Pictures

We have a friend who is a WONDERFUL photographer. There were so many good pictures, I could NOT decide which to order. Here are a few of the pictures he took. I am going to post more of my favorites soon. Click here to visit his website, and click here to visit his blog if you need a good photographer call him, we are SO very happy with the results. Thank you Peter!!

Looslitaken.com

Nightly Routine

Every night sweet little Julia makes sure ALL off her animals and dolls are comfortable and then, in whatever space is left, lays down to sleep. Half of her body is usually hanging off the bed, all to make sure her little friends are comfy cozy.

James really wants to get the Lego Indiana Jones game that comes out this week,

he was hard at work today earning some money:

Some of the happy customers

Forgive me Weight Watchers, for I have sinned.

I have always wanted to know how to make yummy cinnamon rolls, I think I did it =)

New Recipe Sunday

Following are what we had, recipes and our personal reviews. (Reviews come from Dawn, my sister-in-law who went to Scottsdale Culinary Institute and is a fabulous cook and pastry chef, my mom who loves to cook, has the best stocked kitchen in America and makes even the simplest dish taste extra special. Eating at my mom's is one of my favorite indulgences and finally me, I don't consider myself half the cook Dawn and mom are, but I sure am good at eating and reviewing. I like to read cookbooks, cooking blogs and looking for new recipes to try.
First up, Corn Salsa Salad:

This came from my friend Bobby, and we all gave it 5 out of 5 stars, so fresh and tasty. We did add a can of green chilies to the original recipe. This is my new staple to take to summer picnics and barbeques. It is fresh and healthy.

2 cups cooked corn (we used fresh corn on the cob)1 avacado
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 small can mild green chilies
Dressing:
2 Tbs. Olive oil
1 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp lime zest
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Mix together and serve as a salad or salsa.

Parmesan Roasted Asparagus

This is an Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) Recipe. Definately 5 out of 5 stars, I could eat this alone for dinner and be very satisfied. I will be making this to compliment many family dinners to come.

2 1/2 pounds fresh asparagus (about 30 large)

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay asparagus in a single layer on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 to 20 minuites, until tender. Sprinkle with th eParmesan and return to the oven for another minute. Serve with lemon wedges.

French Bread Rolls I found this recipe on a cooking blog and it was so easy and, DELISH! I was proud of myself for making yummy bread, I have made rolls maybe twice in my life and for some reason have always been intimitaded by bread making. We all gave these 5 out of 5 stars (Dawn even gave them 6 out of 5!) Click here for the recipe.

Divine Breadsticks

I thought these were just so-so (2 1/2 to 3 stars) My oven was turned off after baking the rolls and so the time and temp got all messed up, that may have had something to do with them not being "Divine" in my mind. Click here for recipe. I might give them one more chance someday.

Garlic Chicken Farfalle Pasta

This one also got average reviews (3 stars), I really liked it, I just didn't die over it and don't know if I will think to make it again. It is VERY flavorful and spicy. If you want to try it, click here for the recipe.

Icebox Oreo Cheesecake

This was our dessert, if I remember right, it got 3 to 4 stars. We will post the recipe on Dawn's cooking blog soon. If you like cheesecake, you would probably like this one. Dawn said she would make it again, in a different size spring form pan and sprinkle more oreos on top

Overall, dinner was great. I love new recipe Sunday.

Football

Yesterday was the last football game of the season, this boy was THE defensive champ. I am pretty sure he pulled more flags by far than any other player (I could be a little off, afterall, I AM his mom) He got five or six touchdowns and loved every minute of every game. We look forward to many more football seasons to come.

Anniversary

+

5 moves
2 states
2 college degrees
5 jobs
4 kids
happy times
sad times
30 pounds (or so, damn it)
lots of fun, laughter & love
the world's most patient husband
Nine Years
(and much, much more)
=A very happy couple

Pair-adise

Happiness is. . .
being a mother AND an aunt of twins

Just the girls

Cousins, Friends

(missing you Jolie & Leah)