If you are sick...

I normally do not use this blog to complain... however, today I am writing one such post. Kevin decided to stay home from church because he had a pretty bad cold and wasn't feeling that great during the night. Laurie stayed home with him so she could take her morning nap and we figure that if one of us stays home, it's probably a good idea to keep Laurie home - the less she's around a lot of people, the better.

Haili and I sat behind a lady who was obviously sick. She could not stop coughing. I decided to count how many times she coughed during the service. After ONE-HUNDRED coughs (yes, you read that right!) I decided it wasn't worth it any more and decided to switch seats. I am still extremely nervous being around people who may have a contagious illness!

I know that it's difficult for parents to stay home when they are sick, especially when they have children. HOWEVER, please think about the risks involved when you do go to work, school, or church when you are sick. You are giving your illness to others! Please remember that there are people (adults and children alike) who have weakened immune systems. They can't recover as easily as the normal person. If you have to go out, consider wearing a mask... that will at least offer some protection.

In short, if you are sick... please stay home if at all possible!

There's my spill for the day. I don't mean to offend anyone - just wanted to offer some words of wisdom from a heart mommy.

Babysitting Blues

OK... so for the very first time, we hired a babysitter to watch the girls while Kevin and I went on a date! I suffered some serious anxiety the entire time. We were gone for 3 hours (to a university Indian cultural night that included dinner and dancing!) but it felt like forever. I was just so nervous. The girls did well and I survived! Kevin and I are already planning our next date...I just hope it gets easier to leave our cute girls. We won't be able to go out often because of RSV season - so we're trying to get in as many dates as we can!

Cute kiddos

Our trip to the zoo

I met a friend at the local zoo the other day and our girls had so much fun! Since Laurie is getting better at sitting up, I put her in the stroller facing forward for the first time. She LOVED being able to see all the animals. Whenever she would see any animal, she would scream and laugh! Too bad I forgot my camera... Haili's favorite were the monkeys. I have to admit, they were pretty dang cute.

Kevin informed me that he is going on another trip in the near future. Hopefully this will be his last one for a while. Bleh. However, on a good note - Kevin is changing his schedule around so that starting in a couple of weeks, he'll get Fridays off! Sweet. I'm excited for that!

Green Tomato Pie

My friend gave me this amazing pie recipe. It's delicious! Give it a try and you won't regret it, I promise!

Love Apple Pie

5 c hard green tomatoes, sliced
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch salt
2 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp butter, melted

Choose hard green tomatoes that are very dark - no hint of yellow. Slice thinly as with apples for apple pie. Mix the slices well with the other ingredients. Place mixture in an unbaked pie crust. Cover with a top crust and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until lightly brown and bubbly.

We made this pie yesterday and it was a HUGE success. One of my favorites! Instead of a top crust, I tried this topping:

3/4 c butter
1 c flour
1 c sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 c chopped walnuts (optional)

Just spread it over the pie and bake!

Every day for a month!

Brace yourself! I am going to post daily for the next 30 days! I have really been slacking in the blogging department lately. Wish me luck.

Kevin recently returned from a 3-week business trip, his second one since he started his job at the end of May. I really can't complain, because Kevin LOVES his job and we feel blessed to have a stable income. We're just not fans of these long trips! They wanted him to stay for an entire month... thank heavens he was able to come home early! I think I would have gone crazy. Of course, I have a cousin whose husband is in the navy... when he goes "out of town" it's for months, not weeks. I honestly don't know how she does it!

Laurie is almost 16 months old! She is almost sitting up by herself. She is starting to put some weight on her legs, which is a good sign. I doubt that she'll be walking by her second birthday... but I have hope that she'll be crawling by then! I have a feeling that once she becomes mobile, there'll be no stopping her!

Haili is as cute as ever. We are going to be getting her a cello in the next month or so. She loves to sit on my lap as I play and she loves to dance to all the Suzuki Book 1 pieces. I also have a mini bow that she loves to do bow exercises with. Since we'll be in semi-seclusion this winter, we thought it would be a good idea to get Haili a cello. We'll have plenty of time to practice while we strive to keep Laurie healthy by staying home most of the time!

Here's to a hopefully uneventful RSV season!

An Overdue Update

Hello Everyone!

I know, I know. I haven't posted an update in over a month! Guilty as charged. We've had quite a busy summer. Here's what we've been up to:

1. We closed on our house on August 20th.
2. We painted our house (3 bedrooms, hallway, kitchen, and half the living room)
3. We moved in!
4. We moved OUT (and cleaned) our rental house...we're glad that's over!
5. We've packed and unpacked - I guess that technically goes along with moving, but I just had to throw that in.
6. Haili had the flu (not swine, thank goodness)
7. She gave it to me (that wasn't fun)
8. We've had 2 recent trips to Primary's for Laurie - both of which were uneventful (yay!)
9. We bought 2 koi to put in our 120 gallon fish tank in the basement. Our goal is to one day have a koi pond in our back yard - as these koi can grow to be two feet long! We named the white fish "Yoda" and the orange and white one was named "Nemo" by Haili. We bought them from Utah Koi in West Jordan. If you ever have the chance to stop by - it is the COOLEST place. This lady has this amazing pond in her back yard. You can feed the fish by hand. It's awesome.

That's basically what we've been up to the last little while. I have promised some friends that I would post pictures of the house... those will come soon! I just need to unpack the box with all of my camera equipment... wish me luck!