Something funny happened on the way to making dinner.....well, not funny. But something happened anyway.

This was our evening yesterday:
I was fixing dinner and we hear (Ryan and I) a loud scream followed by lots of crying from Emma and the boys panicking voices telling us that Emma was hurt, Emma was bleeding and it was bad! Naturally we assumed it was a case of over-dramatics, since our kids are prone to over-exaggeration with wounds and blood. I have to say, when they brought Emma to me, I was quite surprised and grossed out. I couldn't even handle the clean up and had Ryan assess the damages to Emma. Her mouth was all bloody and she was screaming and panicking.
Ryan thought maybe she'd bit her tongue or something, given all the blood gushing out of her mouth. No, tongue intact. (whew!) He marched her into the bathroom with a cup to swish and spit so we could see what was going on in her mouth. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity (but really a couple minutes) we realized that when she had been jumping on the boys' bunk bed (the bottom bunk, of course) and hit her mouth on the wood part of the top bunk, she'd knocked her two front top teeth loose. And I do mean loose! It had me so concerned I called our pediatric dental clinic, but it was after hours and the after-hour number didn't work. (naturally) So then I called our family dentist, Brother Leonard in our ward, and got his answering machine. I was beginning to panic myself. I had visions of a toothless 4-year old and no spacers for her permanent teeth. Smiles are so important. Confidence boosters. I didn't want her to have an ugly smile the rest of her life.
So we called President Coleman, from the Kent stake, who used to be our dentist until he retired. So I'm talking to him when the Leonards beeped into our phone. Pres. Coleman told me that the worst that could happen is her teeth die and turn dark, but that what'll likely happen is her teeth will tighten back up.
So I called Bro. Leonard back and he told me to bring Emma over to his house and he'd take a look at her mouth. I. was. relieved. So I piled Emma in the van, plugged his address into our gps system (I love those things!) and headed over to his house. If you've ever seen Anne of Green Gables, then you know the beauty of the countryside of which the Leonards live. Their neighborhood is one of the most beautiful, woodsy areas I've ever seen. And difficult to repeat the venture without that blessed gps voice directing me to turn right and left. I love that computerized man voice.
Well, Bro. Leonard had Emma rest her head on his lap and he looked and looked. He decided there was a possible fracture to her teeth, given that they are set lower than the rest of her teeth now, and had to even bring one of her teeth forward from the back position it was in. I told you these were loose teeth, right? :)
He said that once the bleeding stops and clotting begins it should tighten up the teeth again. And he told me what Pres. Coleman had said, about the possibility of them turning a darker color and falling out. But he said something interesting. He said that it felt like the permanant teeth had already begun coming in, so she might have lost them early anyway. So it's not the end of the world, really. (another whew!)
So our adventure ended when we got home and I made her a smoothie for dinner since she couldn't eat the chicken meal I'd prepared. No biting down on her front teeth for awhile until those teeth either fall out or tighten up.
Proof she's okay today? Tommy and Emma just came running to me tattling on the other one for hair pulling. Everything's back to normal.

My hero

In Relief Society on Sunday our lesson was on humility and we somehow veered to talking about who our heroes were, the people in our lives who we want to emulate or who we admire for some character trait. When all the sisters were shouting out names, "Abraham Lincoln", "my mom", "my neighbor", etc., there was one person who resonated in my mind. It is my mom. Here is why she is my hero.

She raised me. That should be enough said. But it isn't.

She raised all 4 of us! That in itself should be the end. But it isn't.

My dear, sweet, beautiful mom took excellent care of my dad while he was so ill for so many years. She endured countless hours in the emergency rooms of hospitals, many different well-meaning but arrogant doctors and nurses, and having to worry about if the next meal she would fix dad would send him back to the hospital because he couldn't digest the food from his many health complications.

She would vent to me when she needed to, sometimes angry, more often than not, tearful, about how she could help dad feel better. Slowly the role of wife became that of caregiver. Watching her toil and worry daily for her eternal companion is my legacy of love. My example of long-suffering and endurance. My example of how to treat others with compassion, even in the face of complete and utter frustration in the situation that she found herself in.

Now her example of endurance with resolving the beaurocracy of the Social Security Administration and her pension, and her final victory, albeit very small, was very sweet for her. And for me, too.

Mom, I love you more than words can say. You are my hero. My friend. My mommy still. Thank you for being the level-headed confidant when my world seems to be caving in.

Yummy Hamburgers

First you start with the recipe. I went to http://www.allrecipes.com/ and found a great dough recipe; you may want to change for your favorite. Our family really likes this one though.

Ingredients:
2 cup warm milk (110 degrees)
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup white sugar
2 (.25 ounce) packages instant yeast
2 tsp salt
6 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed

Directions:
1. Personally, I put the milk, water mixture into the microwave until it reaches the right temp. Then while the yeast is dissolving in the milk/water mixture, I melt the butter in the nuker. Then I pour all ingredients into a large mixing bowl (milk/water/yeast mixture and butter, then I add the sugar. I let it sit until bubbly. The internet directions say for 5 minutes, I found that wasn't long enough. More like 8.
2. Next you mix in the flour and stir until sticky. I turned the dough onto a clean and floured counter and kneeded only 3 or 4 times, just to get a nice consistency. Then I put into a tube shape, cut into equal pieces and rolled into balls.  (see pic above)
3. Put the balls onto a greased cookie sheet and let rise 20 mins in a warm kitchen, or while kneeding set you oven to the coldest temp it'll go; once reached, turn the oven off and then put the balls of dough into warm oven. This rises in 20 mins, on the dot!
4. Take the risen dough out of the oven, preheat oven to 375F; bake the rolls for 15 mins. Cool slightly and then split them in half horizontally to fill with your favorite burgers.
Here is a picture of a finished roll. Delish!

So, after the rolls are in the oven, I start the potatoes. Just wash some spuds, then slice them into 1/4 inch slices. Put in a cold water bath to wash out all the extra starch. This takes at least 15 mins. So while the rolls are baking I'm prepping my fries.

After the cold-water bath is completed, you can heat up your frier. First you cook the fries for only about 2 to 3 minutes, let sit for 10. Then you cook in the oil again for about 10 minutes, maybe longer if you have thicker potato slices.
Once done, take out and let drain completely. To make it just that much more unhealthy, sprinkle with Johnny's. Oh, one tip on the fries. Before you put into the oil, make sure the potatoe slices are dried off, or else you'll have some pretty interesting bubbles and splattering. But then, hey, what's a little excitement in the kitchen, anyway, right? It adds spice to life! :)








Here is the finished product, all plated and ready to be served to a waiting family. Great for movie night.

Hamburger and homemade fries

Notice that we do have veggies! So it isn't a complete nutritional wasteland. :) And what's one meal out of the many we serve our families that isn't so great on the food pyramid anyway? It's definitely a cheaper version of eating out at a restaurant, and bonus, the kids will drink milk with their meal at home whereas at a restaurant they'll want pop. So at least there is one redeeming factor, right? Am I justifying too much? Do I feel a little bit guilty that it wasn't a low-fat meal? A little. But you've got to mix it up once in a while and have some fun in your kitchen.

Hope you all enjoyed my first attempt at posting a meal I made. I don't know if I'll do it again. It's a lot of work posting this kind of dialogue.

"I don't have anything for you to do today, Ryan...."

Those were Mom's famous last words the Saturday we went up to visit Nana and lend her a hand. We got there, Ryan asked what she needed. She said there just wasn't anything he needed to do, to just sit and relax. A few minutes later she was outside directing him like an orchestra director would, "Please, Ryan, can you cut this branch?" It went on and on for awhile with Ryan cutting and pruning the trees along the fence line with the koi pond.
Then she said that she needed help with the filter in the pump for the pond, it just wasn't working properly. So Ryan opened the back up, put his large hands into what he called "a fit for an Asian person, not a big guy like me" and was able to unclog the clog. That's him stamping down the branches in her yard waste receptacle. He was so glad to be able to help. He doesn't like going up there and doing nothing. He feels useless.

Here the kiddos are on the bridge of Nana's pond at the end of the day. Awwww, aren't they sweet?

sweet little Emma

So the other night Emma is sitting on my lap, facing me. We had just finished her favorite game with me (still) of patty-cake. Then she looked all serious at me, and asked, "Mama, I love you so much. Will you keep me forever?"
Cue the heart melt. "Of course, I will keep you forever."
Emma: "So then will you make me a princess and lock me up in a tower to keep me safe?" Her eyes keep getting bigger and bigger. "And can you make my castle pink?"
I just love my little Princess Emma.

random things said during prayer by tommy lately

thought you'd get a kick out of something tommy said during family prayer the other day. he actually says this most every time he prays now.
ready?
ok. here goes.
"...and please bless the homeless with whatever they need. Food, clothing, shelter, jobs...basically everything they could ever, ever need, except for maybe coma or death."
i kid you not. he actually says this.
and i crack up (quietly, of course) every time.
then he asks me (after prayer is closed) why i crack up. then he says, "oh, I know. It's the coma and death thing."
very astute of you, tommy.
very astute.

saying goodbye

How do you say goodbye to the one man who has been so pivotal in your life, who helped shape who you have become? That is my next task, to say goodbye to my dad. He passed away last night after suffering for over 20 years with such poor health it was more common than not that he was in the hospital. We used to jokingly refer to it as his "favorite hotel room" and his ambulance rides as his personal taxi service. I suppose it was our crude way of coping with my dad's continued failing health.
After valiantly surviving more than anyone should endure, he has finally earned his paradise. My mind is reeling right now, so if I tend to ramble on and on and not make much sense, I apologize. I'm also not at my own computer, I'm at the boys' computer so I don't have access to any of my pictures that I would've put on this post of my dad and me.
I found a favorite recently of my dad holding me when I was an infant. He's laying on the couch, playing airplane with me. I think I'm about 10 months old in the picture or so. I'm wearing a red sleeper and have a pony tail sticking straight up on top of my head. I love that picture.
I am so thankful for the peace the knowledge of the gospel brings to me. I know that families are forever, I know that he's in paradise with his family who went before him, including his baby brother who died on dad's first day of kindergarten. That must have been some reunion!
So Dad, thank you for all you taught me. Thank you for your "drives" on paydays. Thank you for your dates and time spent together, for the Paul Bunyan Restaurant Christmas Eve Frango Mint milkshakes as a little girl. Thank you for your good example of a righteous man and priesthood holder. I love and miss you greatly and can't imagine having this baby without you standing in the circle to bless it. Until we meet again.