Tag Were It!

We were tagged by Kaleena and Josh to tell 6 disturbing/ unique facts about us. So here it goes.
Cherilee
1. My profile is different on each side of my face. (I have this extra piece of cartilage in my nose on one side) gross huh!
2. I don't know if I am left or right handed. I write and eat with my left hand, everything else I do with my right hand.
3. One of my favorite things at work to do is clean out people's ears.
4. I hate to shop for personal clothing items like slips, nylons, bras, underwear, p,js. These things are usually done by Greg. (He says the women in the stores always glare at him) I love him for it. Because if he didn't do it, it wouldn't get done.
5. When I was a senior in high school I got an "A" and a "U". I guess this is impossible now, after your citizenship grade gets to a "N" it starts coming off of your grade. I was really bored, so I played game-boy during class.
6. I thoroughly wash my dishes twice. I wash my dishes and then put them in the dishwasher to be washed again, and then I turn off the drying cycle to save time and energy. Crazy, but I do it.

Greg
1. I can't stand stuff in the bed sheets. (Very sad for Cherilee, No more midnight munchies like popcorn)
2. I snore if I sleep on my back. Cherilee usually plugs my nose and mouth and I end up turning over.
3. I can switch hit in baseball really well.
4. I once missed so many days of my billard's class that the teacher told me the only way he would pass me is if I beat him in a game. And I did.
5. I own the entire Louis Lamour collection. (Wife hates westerns)
6. I was dragged by a fire truck when I was the fire chief of Honeyville when responding to a fire call.

Okay, now we're supposed to tag 5 other people. We pick Chani, Mallory, Kim, Jamie, and Jaydale.

Banana Crumb Muffins

I got tired of making banana bread every time the bananas got to ripe. I found a really yummy recipe for Banana Crumb Muffins. This one is a keeper for me.




1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and oil. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Attitude-- It's Everything

Sometimes I wonder how it would be to live in a "glass house" where everything seems perfect. Would life really be better? Would I be happy? Would it be happily ever after? Well I guess life is all how you look at it.

I Love You

As I listened to General Conference last weekend, I made a mental note in my head of several things that I needed to do better. One of them was to tell the people you love that you love them. Although I tell Greg everyday that I love him the most, sometimes repetitive things go in one ear and out the other. So as the prophet instructed us all to do. I will try a feeble attempt to let you know, Greg, how much I love you.

You may have noticed that over the years I have let the little things go. I no longer complain about the hair shavings dumped in the sink instead of the garbage, the mountain of tools in our garage, or the VISA purchases that are not written in the checkbook because you are a wonderful husband and father.

Our children love you very much. You are kind,understanding, and find time even working two jobs to be a dad who is always there. You have kept every promise you have made to me since we were dating, and you honor your priesthood. Our family has been blessed because of you.

I love you so much. You are my best friend. I can talk to you about anything. You are stable and constant, and help me through all my emotional needs. You help me accomplish all of my goals. You support me through all of life's decisions that I have made (right or wrong) and you know all my mistakes and faults and still love me unconditionally.

You have tolerance with my cooking and all my crazy wonderful ideas. And you love the special things that I do. You share the responsibility of housework and treat me better than I could ever ask. Thank you Greg for sharing your life with me and for loving me unconditionally. I love you! Cherilee

P.S. I bet you a milkshake it will be a week before you even read this.

A Broken Heart

Yesterday, our Himilayan Netherland Dwarf gave birth to three baby kits. The baby kits didn't survive because they were born outside the nesting box. Although we have delt with the loss of new born kits before (that comes with raising and selling rabbits), we have never had to deal with the death of the mother.

Himi, the mother, passed away this morning at 7:00. Himi just didn't look right after giving birth yesterday, and I told Jensen that she may die. He gave her some fresh hay and plenty of water, and dad put the heat lamp by her and we left her alone to rest.

This morning, Jensen came in and told me that Himi was still breathing, but not moving. I told him to bring her in the nesting box and I would try to get her to eat to gain some strength. When I saw the rabbit, my heart went out to her, here she had lost her babies, and was holding on to her own life. As I picked her up I noticed how limp she was and I tried to syringe feed her, she took a couple of swallows and then lay limp again. I laid her in a towel and petted her, after a while, I tried again to feed her. As I laid her down, I noticed that she opened up her mouth and her eyes, and she was gone. I told Jensen that I thought she had just died. He burst into tears and ran out of the house.

I then was remimded how fragile life is. How it comes and goes. I have never seen death come before, and it was an amazing experience. It brought back memories of bringing my own children into the world. I realized how much a mother loves a child that she would give up her own life to bring another into the world. If it wouldn't have been for the good doctors that knew what to do, I would have lost my own life as well.

I tried my best to console Jensen, but a child's love for an animal runs deep. We talked about her and reflected upon her life. Netherland Dwarf rabbits have a history of not making the best mothers, and we talked about what a good mother she had been and how her legacy lives on. We talked about the passing away of Grandma Great Anderson and how her legacy lives on in each of us. Some way or another she left a piece of her in our hearts and I told him that the he will have a place in his heart for Himi as well.
I tried to find some pictures of Himi, but I only had pictures of her kits over the summer.
This is Jensen with one of Himi's babies when it was two weeks old.
Another picture of Himi's babies that were born in May.

When Good Things Go Wrong

Please help Andrea review the nursery rhyme "Little Miss Muffet" was the note that was sent home from kindergarten last week.
How silly I thought. I try really hard to help my children be prepared for kindergarten by teaching them of course their phone number, colors, shapes, and patterns. But I also teach them how to read, their addition facts, and nursery rhymes.

That evening I got out the good old nursery rhyme book and asked Andrea to tell me the rhyme Little Miss Muffet. This is how it went.

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet
Eating her Nerds and gained weight.
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

I guess I will have to add vocabulary words to my list of kindergarten pre requisites.

Curds - solid part of sour milk: the solid substance formed when milk coagulates, used to make cheese.

Whey - watery part of curdled milk: the watery liquid that separates from the solid part of milk when it turns sour or when enzymes are added in cheese making.

I wonder if children understand these definitions. I didn't know what enzymes were until 7th grade. Wow! I'm impressed what things kids are learning these days.

So, Andrea and I worked really hard on this nursery rhyme all week and at the end of the week she was able to say it correctly. I guess no matter how hard you try to get your kids prepared for school, some things just go wrong.