Going Granola

Here is a GREAT recipe for granola. Eat it over lowfat vanilla yogurt (trader joe's is excellent) with fresh berries. You could even get fancy and layer it in parfait fashion.

Granola

4 cups oatmeal
2 cups flaked coconut
2 cups sliced almonds

Mix with hands

Add:
3/4 cup vegetable oil (you can reduce this to 1/2)
1/2 cup honey

Mix oil and honey into dry mixture. Spread out onto a baking sheet and bake at 350° for 20 minutes, stirring twice. When done baking, add raisins, dried apricots, pecans, etc. (I like mine with pecans and raisins, but it's great plain, too).

Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

recent happenings

well, we did it. we moved from jackson, wy to ??? not quite sure where we'll be ending up, probably somewhere in salt lake county, since that's where ben's work is. in the meantime, whilst ben is on some serious business trips i'm staying with my mother in california. so after shoving all of our earthly posessions in a storage unit, i packed up my two babies and drove to cali with my little brother. it's been great being down here with all my family! cash has had fun hanging out with his cousin scarlette, and maggie found a new friend, too!

so here's to the spontaneous, nomadic life i lead! i'm learning to love it.

And then he asked for some milk to go with it...

I came upon Cash eating half of Maggie's oreo cookie, today... at least she's learning to share, right?
After telling him he wasn't supposed to be eating chocolate since he's only six months old TODAY, he looked at me and was all, "Geez, mom, you're such a kill joy..."
Kids. They grow up so fast.

Let's be honest...

A couple of nights ago I went out to dinner with my sister-in-law and father-in-law. As we sat at the booth waiting for our food, Maggie was pointing out various things to us: window, tree, shoes, light, etc. She's at a point where she likes affirmation that yes I am listening to her and yes I see what she does... it goes like this:

"Tree! Tree, mom! TREE!"
"Yes, Maggie I see the tree."
"Tree! Tree! Tree!"
"Yes, that's a tree."

Well, after pointing out several things, she started yelling, "Walrus! Walrus, mom! WALRUS! WALRUS!" I could not find the walrus anywhere, but to try and quiet her I just said, "yes, walrus". She wasn't satisfied. Then she begain pointing to a man a couple tables over from us. I turned to see a bald, portly man with a very bushy mustache. I quickly turned back around and tried to get Maggie's attention turned to something else, while my sis-in-law and dad-in-law laughed under their breath. In hindsight, it was pretty funny, but at the time I was of course mortified. I tried to keep her mouth full of food the rest of the time we were there, and I am hoping that either the man at that table had a very good sense of humor, or that he's very deaf.

Shades of Blue

So, today it's raining. Not just a light springtime rain to give the flowers a drink, it's a full blown rain storm with dark clouds sending down torrents of angry rain and even a little hail. I tried to shrug off my somewhat grumpy mood today by slathering on self-tanner and giving myself a pedicure. And although my legs now look splendidly sun-kissed and my toes are totally sandal worthy, I'm wishing I was somewhere where the seasons play their designated part. No more of this "wintery spring" nonsense. To add insult to injury, my parents just returned from a vacation to Aruba and my dad has downloaded pictures galore of he and my mom basking in the tropical sun, snorkeling in clear, warm waters, and just generally having a grand ol' time. You can see their trip here. BUT BE FOREWARNED: you may find yourself growing irrationally jealous and do something brash- like buy a one-way ticket to Hawaii.

Here are some Aruba pictures I found online. They are going to be my new desktop. Maybe I'll put on my bathing suit, make myself a virgin pina colada, and sit in front of the computer the rest of the day. I was always good at pretending.

How to get Maggie to laugh

1. tickle her neck
2. tell her she can go outside to play
3. put on Shrek
4. take her to see the Bar J Wranglers (a country western music show in Jackson)
5. roll your toungue like a taco
6. give her chocolate
7. take her to a parade where they throw candy
8. give her butterfly kisses
9. be her dad