Lego Master

Nolan's Lego Creation.

Crocs

Jarom is a Strate through and through. He has been cursed with super wide feet, which over the years has presented a problem in finding sandals he can squish his ample feet into. I’ve never really succeeded in finding a pair, so this year after contemplating what to do for him in regards to summer footwear I decided that Crocs were the way to go. We headed off to the store, where I tried to convince him that black would be a lovely color for him to buy, but he insisted on the shiny bright blue ones.

Jarom has loved his Crocs, he wore them everywhere without me begging and pleading with him to put them on, always a bonus.

Yesterday he went to put them on and we realized that during the cold weather last week when I had to turn the heat on, he had left them on the vent and the hot air had melted them. Grrrrrrrrr.

These pictures of Jarom are him trying to look sad about his crocs, but since I already bought him a new pair he didn’t succeed. I thought the pictures were cute.

Killer Bunnies Update

Ok, so I really hate to say anything bad about my favorite game on earth Killer Bunnies, but the purchase of the green deck was a huge disappointment to me. The green deck introduced the Zodiac cards, which I feel do little to improve the game. If it was possible to skip this deck I would suggest it, but it’s not. HA HA

However, the introduction of the Twilight deck has renewed my love of the game. Lots of fun new cards that make the game take new twists and turns.

Victoria Day

I guess I’m developing a bulk blogging system. It seems I don’t post forever and then I post more than I really should.

Victoria Day
Since the weather man predicted such horrible weather for Victoria Day we decided that taking our kids mini golfing would be a wonderful way to spend a rainy afternoon. This was our first time to the Golf Dome and the kids loved it; Nolan’s little introduction to golfing, a couple of days before, had him unusually excited to participate in something I suggested. We all had a good time… I of course would like to say that I was the champion but it would not be the truth, I was a close second… ok maybe third… alright I was the big loser. It doesn’t really feel all that good to lose to a four year old, although he in counting challenged so that may be a factor in my fourth place position.

When the last putt was sunk, and the kids had enough of pretending to play the video games we ended home. Since the weather man was WRONG and it turned out to be a beautiful day, we decided it was perfect weather for a backyard weenie roast with the Northcotts, our first one of the season. A very enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.

Golfers

Many of you may be aware of Spencer love of golfing. He patiently waits for the boys and me to head to Alberta for the summer so all his spare time can be spent on the golf course. In an effort to be able to spend more time on the golf course Spencer has been plotting to get Nolan his own set of clubs. What mother would say no to quality time spent between father and son? Thanks to our friend Ryan, Nolan is now in the possession of a set of golf clubs. Saturday morning, Spencer took Nolan and his friend Leon to the driving range. Nolan loved it; he had more of a hockey approach to hitting the ball, whacking it as far and as hard as he could. He still needs to master the finesse that goes into golf. I’m sure he’ll be a pro in no time.

BETRAYAL

As many of you may be aware there has been a feud going on between Anne (my sister from another mother) and Shane (my brother currently residing in Thailand). Shane has been vying for top spot on my blog link list for quite some time now. Because of my deep bond of friendship with Anne, I was VERY reluctant to change the positioning of my links. A private e-mail sent me from my brother begging and pleading with me to change him to the top of the list, combined with the birthday present my brother so gave me, tugged at my heart strings and even though I knew it would be causing pain to my best pal, I relented and moved him to the top spot.

Imagine my surprise today, when I was merrily reading over everyone’s blogs and I happened to notice that on my brother’s blog I had been demoted to second place. I refreshed the page many times thinking that something had been mixed up in the loading of the blog page, but I kept coming up second. Then I clicked on the link thinking maybe he has just miss labeled, but it wasn’t my blog page that appeared.

The gloves are coming off.

Soccer and Baseball

The kids and their spring time sports are well under way. I think this time of years just flies by, because we run from one sporting event to the next.

Nolan decided to play baseball this year instead of soccer; a choice I was very surprised at, but I thought it was probably good for him to try different sports. He loves it. He seems to be a natural, and with the genes he inherited it’s not really a surprise. My grandpa Blumel was an awesome baseball player.

This is Jarom first year playing soccer. I think he loves the idea of soccer more then soccer itself. He is very excited to put on his uniform and shin pads, but when he gets to the field, he loves to lie on the ground, play with the feather floating around the field and tackle his own team mates. If it was someone else’s kid I would think it was very funny. Not so much when it’s your own.

Happy Day!!!

Nolan’s front tooth finally fell out. It was a happy day. I’ve been trying to get him for WEEKS to let me pull it out. But he wouldn’t consent; he wanted us to pull it out while he was sleeping. The tooth was so loose I know I could have pulled it out with my fingers, but every time I tried he locked his jaw shut.

Where have all the snake gone?

A couple of week-ends ago we loaded the kids in the van and headed off to the Narcisse Snake Dens (located about 1 1/2 hours north of Winnipeg). This is an attraction I have always wanted to see here in Manitoba. It is the largest gathering of Red-sided garter snakes in the world. Right here in our backyard!!! How could we not go? I’ve always heard tales of there being so many snakes that they were falling off the tree branches in huge clumps, the dens were covered with hundred, even thousands of snakes sunny themselves and searching for their perfect mate.

Well, this was not the case, the one Saturday we were able to go. It was cold, and raining and the hundreds of snakes crawled back in their dens and waited for the sun to shine before they were willing to put on a good show for the tourist. I think we saw maybe 4, ok there could have been a little more, but there was no where close to the numbers I had been expecting.

On a brighter side, because of the cold weather the snakes were very slow moving and the kids were able to handle them. Nolan wasn’t to sure about the snakes, but in the end held one long enough for us to take a photo. Jarom loved the snakes, a little too much some might say. He was letting the snakes crawl all over him, putting the snakes over his eyes and kissing the snakes. It was great!

Radio Troubles

Lately I've become more aware that my kids are listening to song on the radio.

Nolan is frequently humming the tune to and singing the lyrics to “Don’t Cha” by the Pussycat Dolls. Spencer and I have tried to stop him, but he seems to have passed his musical talent onto Jarom. At least Nolan limits his singing to home and the van, Jarom on the other hand thought that the passing of the sacrament was the perfect time to loudly sing “Don’t cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?” I’ll let you imagine the mad scramble that ensued to cover up his mouth.

Book Review #8 Bel Canto By Ann Patchett

I’ve tried many times to write a review for this book and for some reason it is not working out for me; either because of time restraints or not really knowing how to sum up this book, I’m not sure. I actually in the end really enjoying this book quite a bit. It was recommended off a book club book and for the first 100 or more pages I couldn’t figure out why. It is a little slow in the beginning, but by the end I was so engrossed in the characters I found myself longing for, although knowing there couldn’t possibly be, a fantasy ending.

Bel Canto is the story of a Japanese business man who’s only real joy in life comes when he is listening to Opera. He is enticed to visit a South American country, who is hoping he will build a factory there, by the promise of a private concert by one of his favorite sopranos. During the concert the party in over taken by a group of terrorists hoping to kidnap the president of the country and ransom him for the release of their country men. Since the President decided to stay home from the party to watch his favorite soap opera the terrorist are at a loss of what to do; this beginning the story of the captives and their captors and the entwining of their lives.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

I read these books at the same time so I figured I would post them together.

During a snow storm Dr. David Henry delivers his twin children, first a boy, then a daughter born with Downs Syndrome. He quickly makes a decision to send the child away, telling his nurse to take the girl to a home. David then tells his wife, Nora, that the child died. The book continues on with their lives and their struggle to live with the decision David made.

Memory Keepers daughter was a beautifully written, although it was a very depressing and heartbreaking book. I would not recommend it to anyone and never plan on reading it again.

2 Weeks of Non-Stop Fun

Here it is…the last two weeks of our lives; I hope you have lots of time; I’ll try to keep it short and sweet. I seriously can’t believe all this was only two weeks ago, it all seems like forever ago.

Temple Trip to Regina Our stake set a goal last year called 2007 in 2007. For the week-end of Good Friday a stake temple trip was planned with the goal of completing 2007 ordinances over the course of the week-end (we doubled the goal… so exciting). Thursday after school I loaded the kids in the van and headed off to pick Spencer up from work, we meet up with our friends the Northcotts in Headingly, then hit the road. We stopped in Brandon for supper, which only took 1 ½ . Not sure why, I guess none of us were too excited about getting back in the van so we just sat , talked and watched the kids play in the play structure. We finally arrived in Regina around 12 and our kids were so exhausted they went right to sleep. Yippee!!!!

Tricia and James had their first session at 8:30 so all their kids came and hung out with us and then we did a switch when it was mine and Spencer’s turn to do our sessions. It was wonderful to sit in the temple and know almost everyone else in the session. A completely different feeling then ever before… Wonderful.

While Spencer and I were at the temple, Tricia and James took the kids to the science center. Apparently it was a great way to kill 3 -4 hours; providing 3 floors of nothing but fun. After we were done, we all headed off to Chucky Cheese. The kids thought he had died and gone to heaven – nothing but pure fun. They loved it; games galore. Finally we loaded the kids in the van and arrived home around 2:30.

Nolan Story
As we were driving up to the temple Nolan said, “Hey look, they have the Golden Boy (statue on top of the parliament building here in Winnipeg) on top of the temple. I told Nolan that it was actually the Angel Moroni and not the Golden boy, to which he replied, “ohhhhhhhhh, so this is where they had that great big battle”.

After we arrived home, we all unpacked, cleaned up our house in anticipation of Kaye’s visit and did some grocery shopping. Then we headed off for the 4th annual Northcott/Court/Taylor Easter Egg Hunt

The egg hunt was as you would expect, met with much eagerness on the part of the kids. We once again joined with the Northcotts, the Taylors have moved on the greener places, and their presence was sorely missed. The kids love gorging themselves on chocolate.

Later that night we went to picked up Kaye from the airport. The kids were so excited to have her arrive. They had been asking for months when she was going to be here.

Easter morning the kids awoke to find the Easter bunny had filled their baskets with lots of fun things. Jarom got a puzzle and coloring book and Nolan got a make a volcano kit and magic writing paper.

After dinner we loaded our Easter Eggs in a basket and headed off to the park to start a new tradition. Rolling the Easter Eggs. I remember doing this with my family and even though Nolan was very skeptical that it would be fun we all managed to have a great time rolling our eggs down the hill. Spencer would have everyone believe that he was the champion egg roller, but in truth, I was the best roller of all.

We had a wonderful week with Kaye here. We went to visit the Zoo, had yogurt cones and Gelato. The kids love Kaye’s visits so much because she spends so much time playing them. Jarom was in play date heaven; he loves to sing songs and do finger plays, all of which Kaye is the master of. I love the visits because I get a break, who wouldn’t love that? Best of all, for me, I had to leave for Youth conference on Friday and Kaye was so nice to watch the kids while I was gone. I was such a treat not to have to arrange babysitting. THANK-YOU Kaye!!!

Fat Lips

I know that many of you have been waiting for me to post an update of the last week and a half of whirl wind activities, don’t worry! Tomorrow I promise to provide a post so long (pictures and all) you are going to go blind from staring at the computer screen to long.

I did however want to quickly want to share this story.

Tonight we were going to Nolan’s swimming lesson and he asked me if I wanted to have fat lips. I was a little surprise at the question and asked him why he asked that question. He replied, “Well, when I read the yogurt contain it says Fat Lips 0g”. I immediately realized what he had read and killed myself laughing. I did try to control myself, but it was hard.

Check out the label if you’re not familiar with a Canadian nutrition label or want to see what Nolan saw.

Book Review #7: My Sister's Keeper

After having 2 kids, Kate and Jesse, Sara and Brian decide their family is finished. When at the age of 3 it is discovered that Kate has a rare form of leukemia, her parents decide to have another baby that will genetically match Kate in every way; providing Kate with much need stem cells. What was suppose to be a one time donations from Anna to Kate turns into a life long experience of Anna being subjected to many medical procedures whenever Kate experience a relapse. The two sisters become so interwoven in their identity that Sara must struggle for her release by hiring a lawyer to get her medical emancipation.

This is a book that I normally would steer clear of; it took me through so many different emotions. Seeing the point of view of Anna, basically just existing to be a donor for her sister. Viewing the situation from the eyes of her mother, Sara; being a mother myself, could I let my child die, when there is another one that could save her? At the same time knowing that I am sacrificing one child to save another. It was a complicated book. However, I could have said that it was a good read, except that the author ends the book in such a way that leaves the reader stunned; something so totally unexpected it is almost unforgivable.

Easter Egg Dying is always one of my kids’ favorite activities of the year. Jarom tried to make his allotted 6 eggs last as long as he possibly could by transferring them from color to color to color. He was still trying to continue coloring while I was dumping the pigments down the sink.

Nolan has developed in his egg dying; trying to go more artistic. He drew some wonderful designs then dip, drew again, then dipped again resulting is a beautiful colorful creation.

The kids love their Easter eggs and are constantly picking them up for a look… every time they touch one I wonder how many of the egg will make it to the Easter Egg roll on Saturday.

Childrens Museum

Well today officially marks the end of Spring break. Nolan was off to school bright and early this morning. Surprisingly there wasn’t too much weeping and wailing- from me not him.

This was a fun week with the kids. We did all sorts of fun things. Friday we went to the children’s museum with the Northcotts and with our friends the Hutchinsons. Every other time I’ve been to the children’s museum I haven’t enjoyed it much, but this time it was tons of fun…. 4 hours after we arrived the kids were still going strong. One this I realized this spring break is, life is so much easier with a four year old, than with a three, two or one year old. Jarom seems to have turned the corner and is easier to go out in public with. The exhibits were able to hold his attention longer than .5 of a second.

The kids had a great time exploring the underwater exhibit made entirely of Lego’s, playing in the train, sliding down the tree house, climbing into the beaver den and digging in the tub of rocks and water. The kids dug in the rocks and water forever. I’m thinking this summer I should just get a swimming pool; throw in a couple bags of rocks, some water and Presto, hours of entertainment for my kids. Jarom also had a great time putting on a puppet show. I was the only audience, which was probably a good thing because all he did was kill off the puppets.

The Biker's Back

Yesterday I heard the screen door slam; I thought Nolan went outside to dig in his snow cave. But when Nolan came downstairs I realized it was Jarom who went outside. I went to see what Jarom was doing and surprise, surprise he was not in the backyard, I went to find him and heard his little bike wheels riding down the road. When I finally saw him, he gave me a smile of pure happiness and said, “Mom, I Love riding my bike”.

Nolan
Jarom loves action figures, especially ones that come with a horse or a motor bike. He recently found a Playmobil guy that I was saving for a special occasion and has been pouring over the pamphlet which shows him all the other Playmobil guys he can collect. He and Nolan have a plan of all the guys they are going to buy. Nolan was telling Tricia how much Jarom loves Playmobil and said, “I am going to save up all my money so that I can buy Jarom those guys he really wants”. Nolan has always been unnaturally generous and kindhearted. He makes me so proud.

Spring Break!!!

Friday officially marked the start of Spring Break. I love Spring Break! It is a little taste of what summer is going to be like. I love having my kids home and being able to do fun things with them. I love the carefree nature of life. I love not having to make 4 trips to school every day (6 on Tuesdays and Thursdays). I love not having to force feed my kids breakfast before I send them out into the world. I love not having to ask them 15 times to brush their teeth, get dressed or get their coats on; we are off to do fun things so asking once is all that is required.

Yesterday we went to the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature. There is always a lot to see at the museum and this trip was one of the best since Jarom was old enough to understand everything a little bit better, ask questions and tell me stories about things he knew. He only set off the alarm twice for going in areas he wasn’t allowed to go. Nolan and his friend Greg dressed up as voyagers and guessed the different pelts of lots of different animals. Nolan was especially interested in the Red Fox because he recently finished a report on Red Foxes that was quite impressive.

Today we made an early morning trip to the Zoo with some friends from church. They all have little kids, so Nolan brought his friend Leon along making everyone’s trip much more enjoyable. We’ve been the Zoo lots of times, but it’s always fun to go and see the monkeys and other animals. Because of the weather, lots of animals were out and about and moving that we normally don’t get to see in action. Usually the animals just lay on the stands in stupor of boredom. I’m sure most of them have been locked up for the winter so their still small cages must feel extra large after of winter indoors.

#6 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

I know you have all been anxiously awaiting my review; sorry. I posted the picture and then ran out of time to do my write up. Such is the life of a busy, busy, busy stay at home mom.

I could probably go on and on about this book forever, I loved it or I guess I should say, was enthralled by it that much. In fact, I tried to convey my thoughts on the book the other night to James, Tricia and Spencer, but after a while their eyes started to glaze over, so I figured my 15 minutes were up.

Summation of the book:

This is the story of two Laotongs (“same olds” an emotional match between two Chinese girls that lasts throughout their lives). This story tells of their foot binding, arranged marriages and life as Chinese girl/women. I would highly recommend this book; as I have previously mentioned, I love books that introduce me to Chinese and Japanese culture. This book provokes alot of thoughts about the mistakes we make as women and the essential need we have to be loved and understood. I think this story would make a wonderful book club book.

Ok, I realize that I didn’t summarize this book every well, but there is so much in this book that I loved that I’m not sure what to write about.

I give this book 5 out of 5 starts *****

I am currently reading “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult. It’s an emotionally hard book; I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into when started reading it, but now that I’ve started I have to find out the ending.

Round 2

Behold the latest display of love between brothers. You may all remember the black eye Nolan gave Jarom last year... I’ve included a picture just incase you somehow managed to forget. On Sunday during a very competitive game of basketball Nolan tripped Jarom and Jarom landed face first into the same T.V. stand that caused the black eye. Unfortunately the picture is unable to capture the full degree of the swelling and bruising, but it’s a dewsie. It’s only going to worse as time goes on and the bruise starts to works it’s way to the surface.

March is my least favorite month of the entire year. The ground is still covered in snow, it slowly starts to melt revealing all the dirt, grime and garbage that has collected over the winter; every once in awhile we are teased with a day or two of warmth that only make the cold windy days that much crueler. But the worst part of March is that the kids have been stuck indoors for 5 very long months and have the worst case of Spring Fever. The fighting comes to a climax and we all go to bed at night dreaming that the snow is gone and the weather is such that we are able to frolic outside. It’s a good thing the Groundhog saw his shadow this year or I may have been driven to drink myself into a Coke induced oblivion.

Book Review #5 - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

This book is unlike any other book I’ve read. Mark Haddon has written from the perspective of Christopher, who has autism. While out walking in the middle of the night he comes across a dog that has been murdered with a garden tool; Christopher decides to become as his favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes, and solve the mystery of Wellington’s death. On his quest to solve the crime, he uncovers things he was never meant to know.

This book is very interesting because Christopher comes across some very emotional situations. Because of his autism, he is unable to react in an emotional way, but rather uses logic and mathematics to understand and deal with what the situations at hand.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars ****

Basketball Star

Saturday was Nolan's last basketball game of the season. The kids played a great game. I couldn't help but feel proud of them as I watched them dribble with one hand, bounce pass, rebound and score; all of the players have improved so much since our first practice. It was rewarding too see.

I loved coaching the team and I hope that I can coach again in the future.

Lucky Charms

I have inherited a no sugar cereal policy from my mother. Growing up our cupboards were full or healthy, hearty cereals, such as Shreddies, Raisin Bran and I think I even remember a box of Grape Nuts sitting on the pantry shelve for so long that it had an inch thick layer of dust on it ( you know it’s bad when even the parent won’t eat it). Once in awhile I stray from my policy and break down and buy my kids a box of cereal that we have affectionately named “Crap Cereal”. This was just such an occasion on our shopping trip on Monday.

Jarom saw a box of Lucky Charms and declared it to be his favorite cereal. Chalk one up for the creators of all Lucky Charms commercials; they obviously know their target group. I ended up buying the LC and the second we walked in the door, Jarom had the box open and poured himself a bowl. After school Nolan entered the house and it was like he had a sixth sense that a box of crap cereal had somehow made it into the house; he had a bowl poured before I even had my coat off. I think the beloved box of cereal last all of 3 hours. Every time I turned around the boys were sneaking a bowl. Now for my confession… I had a bowl too and it was Good!!!

Book review #4 - Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Under the revolution of Mao, thousands of Chinese young people were sent to mountains to live with peasants to be "re-educated". This is the story of two friends, Luo and Ma, who after a time come across banded literature. Luo falls in love with a peasant girl, who is the daughter of the mountain tailor. Luo reads the little seamstress Balzac hoping to educate her simple mind, making her more acceptable to the society he comes from.

I’ve always been fascinated by books from other cultures that allow me a glimpse into their traditions. This book was delightful as I found myself totally engrossed in the lives of the characters. I would highly recommend this book.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars ****

CariBoo

Jarom is a big time gamer. He loves to play pretty much any game that is available to him… not sure who he inherited this wonderful quality from. As a result I am always on the lookout for new games. I picked up Cariboo after Jarom played it with his Speech Pathologist and I realized the value in it. It is a delightfully fun way to get kids to learn their number, colors and letters. Jarom being a typical boy has no desire to learn these; hence the only way for me to get him to learn is to trick him into it. Anyhow, on with the game explanation; there are 6 or 5 balls (not really sure which) that you drop down into 3 holes, after a little shake the balls land under doors which the kids open according to the cards they draw. If by chance they are fortunate enough to pick the door with the ball inside, they drop the ball into another hole leading to the tumbling tidepool. When all the balls have gone into the tidepool a treasure chest opens to reveal the jewel. It’s a fun quick little game that I am sure all kids will enjoy. It's for ages 3 and up and retails for around $15. I had a hard time finding it and finally snatched up the last one at Wal-Mart.

Book Review #3 - An Assmebly Such as This

Author Pamela Aiden has big shoes to fill when she decided to take on the characters of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. An Assembly such as This shares their love story through the eyes of Mr. Darcy. This is the first of a trilogy, ending when Darcy and Bingley leave Melbourne and head back to London.

I enjoyed this book as it dives more in Mr. Darcy and the complex man that he is. I was a little surprised and at times gagging over Fitz’s obsession with Elizabeth. He spends three quarters of the book fixated over Elisabeth and is unable to have a thought that does not include Miss. Bennet; although, all this obsessive behavior on the part of Mr. Darcy does make the proclamation of his love seem more understandable.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars ***

Laundry

Every Monday is laundry day. Since I hate doing laundry so much, I try to have it be a one day all day event, instead of making it drag on forever being a task that is always on going. If my Monday is busy it usually turns into a two day event, but still that leaves me 5 laundry free days that I can devote to more fulfilling tasks such as, cleaning the bathroom, picking up Lego and knight figurines. Anyhow I have recently come to realize that every week I do 1 load that is purely kid Pajamas. I can't believe that. I’m thinking of implementing a sleep in your underwear policy. Think of all the Laundry that will save me over the years.

Jarom Funny – last night during scripture study we were talking about King Benjamin; he was preaching to the people about how we are all beggars and we should share with those who need it because ultimately everything that we have comes from our Heavenly Father. To drive home this point, Spencer asked the kids where our food came from, thinking they would answer Heavenly Father. Jarom answered, "Ummmm, the plate".

Getting Air

Yesterday we had the pleasure of attending the ward primary sledding activity. It was the perfect day to go sledding; lots of snow, nice temperature, and great company. Jarom was a sledding master. He loved tobogganing down the hills. As soon as we arrived at the hill, he jumped in his sled and off he went. We didn’t even really see much of him until the end of the activity. Every once in awhile I’d ask him if I could take a trip down the hill with him to which the reply was always, “NO!!!” Nolan invited his school buddy Leon and they had a great time racing down the hill and seeing who could get the most air off the jump.

Cousin Cosmo's Greek Chicken

I made this recipe for supper tonight and it was so yummy I wanted to share it with everyone. I posted the recipe as I found it on allrecipes.com, but I made some changes when I cooked it.

I didn't coat the chicken in flour before cooking it, just added a little to the sauce to thicken it up (it was still very runny). I also omitted the water and chicken bouillon and added a can of chicken broth instead. I added twice as much spinach as the recipe called for and next time would add even more. Probably three quarters of the bag.

Cousin Cosmo's Greek Chicken

Original recipe yield: 6 servings
PREP TIME 20 Min
COOK TIME 20 Min
READY IN 40 Min

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried oregano
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups water
1 cube chicken bouillon, crumbled
2 cups loosely packed torn fresh spinach leaves
1 ripe tomato, chopped

DIRECTIONS
On large plate, combine 1 tablespoon flour, salt, and pepper. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine cheese, lemon juice, and oregano. Set aside.
With a meat mallet, pound each chicken breast to 1/2 inch thickness. Spread cheese mixture on each chicken breast, leaving 1/2 inch border. Fold chicken breasts in half; secure each with toothpick. Coat chicken breasts with flour mixture.
In large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook chicken breasts for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, until golden. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups water, chicken bouillon cube, and remaining flour; pour over chicken breasts in pan. Add spinach and tomato to skillet, and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink inside. Discard toothpicks before serving.

Hockey Night in Winnipeg

Last Saturday night Jarom went to his first hockey game. Spencer frequently gets free tickets to sporting events from work and up until now it has always been Spencer, Nolan and one of Nolan's friends that went. Last time the boys were headed off to a game, Jarom bawled because he couldn't go, we quickly realized it was time for Jarom to go. They all had a great time at the Hockey game! Nolan was especially happy because the Moose won.

Humorous Anecdotes

A couple of weeks ago for family home evening we talked about the First Vision. On Monday night for FHE we were talking about what a testimony is and what we needed to have a testimony of. When Jarom turned over the picture of Joseph Smith, he excitedly yelled "hey, this is that missionary who went in the tall grass and said a blessing"; Ummmmmmmm.. close.

Birthday Bash

As many of you may know, my mom celebrated the big 5 0 last week. Since a person only turns 50 once, I flew home and surprised her. We couldn't really let the occasion go by without something to mark the importance of it, so Rachel, Patrice and I, (with Morg footing the bill) planed a big party. We had a tropical theme; serve fruity drinks, shrimp trays, chicken wings, veggie trays, fruit trays and then a fondue. It was lots of fun. I can’t wait for my mom to turn 60 so we can do it again.