Wiggle Worm

After church today, the kind brother who helped with Sunny during Sacrament Meeting came to talk to us. He looked at Sunny and asked if she was still being a wiggle worm.

"When I was holding her on my lap, she was wiggling all over the place," he continued.

"That's because I had to go potty!" Sunny exclaimed.

"Well, why didn't you tell us?" he said.

Yum, Science!

Kandy is participating in the Science Fair this year. Her choice of project? How exactly does the amount of baking soda affect cookies? Well, I'll post all the results a little later. I must say, though, that this is one time when science is delicious. We have had lots of chocolate chip cookies around this week! We have made cookies 3 days, and while they all look a little different, we haven't found one yet that didn't taste good--at least the first day. If you leave out the baking soda, they are chewy the first day and hard as bricks the third day. I don't know what (or if) she'll win, but I wonder if there is an award for the most fattening science project!

Successful Fiasco

Dinner was a successful fiasco tonight. How is that possible? Well, I would like to share with you our culinary experience.

It started relatively early in the day when I asked myself the dreaded question, "What should I make for dinner?" This was followed by typical questions, such as, "What do I want for dinner? What do I have in the house? If I make that, what would the kids eat?" I settled on a yummy Indian Lentil soup. Ben and I love it, and it is low calorie. (Granola is not a low-calorie breakfast, so I was looking to compensate.) So that's what I planned on. What should I feed the kids, though? Most of them won't eat the soup. I decided to try my hand at naan, which for those of you poor ignorant souls who haven't eaten Indian food, it is Indian bread. I found a recipe that while not exactly traditional, it caught the spirit of the thing and was bland enough that I knew my kids would like it. So it was all settled. Now, this particular soup comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, America's Test Kitchen's The Best 30-Minute Recipe. I have altered it for the Crock-pot sometimes, but I had to choose between making the naan and starting the soup. I started the naan, and the baby woke up. He was unusually grumpy and insisted on my holding him.

I figured I could at least assemble the ingredients and have one of the girls sort the lentils while I held him. I went to the cupboard. No lentils. I went to the basement. No lentils. No coconut milk, either. Oops. Meanwhile, the naan was rising, so I felt like I should stick with an Indian theme. I looked in the same book and found a recipe for Pork Vindaloo. Yum! I figured that in a pinch, a pork roast would do for a pork tenderloin. I did what I could with a baby on my hip until Ben came home.

Now, I love my 30-minute cookbook, but the recipes almost always take more than 30 minutes the first time I prepare them. Even when I'm experienced, a lot of them take 45 minutes. The beauty of it is, though, that you can make something in 30-45 minutes that normally takes hours, like lasagna. The soup took closer to an hour to prepare, at which point I realized in a panic that I had ignored the naan. I made the naan and rice as quick as I could, and we all sat down to dinner about 6:30.

I was fully prepared to hear my children complain vociferously about this weird soup I made. We dished some up for everyone, and I was totally surprised to hear: "This is great! I love this! Make this again! Can we have this every night?" Especially from my pickiest eater, Sunny. I was floored. And thrilled. And it was very yummy. It was as yummy as the pork vindaloo I have eaten at restaurants. The bread was too bland for me by itself, but dipped in the vindaloo it was a chunk of heaven! Butter and honey on it was also excellent.

The planning and preparation were a total fiasco. The final product and reception were a smashing success. We'll be having leftovers for dinner tomorrow, and they're all excited about it. I will never understand their taste buds! Sunny balks at spaghetti sauce but she'll eat pork vindaloo? Crazy.

Resolutions

In all the craziness of the holidays, I could hardly think of any resolutions. As things have calmed down, I have come up with three:
1. Lose 20lbs by June 1.
2. Exercise at least 3 times per week, even if it's just dancing with the kids for 10 minutes!
3. Write thank you notes. I have been terrible at this. Sunny just got a thank you card from one of her friends for a birthday gift. The mom wrote it, but the child signed it. It made Sunny so happy, and I know thank you notes lift my spirits. I have found thank you notes in storage from my wedding and from baby gifts! Some are written and addressed, some are missing addresses. They weren't sent though. Oops! So I want your opinion: Since they are already written, would you send them even though they are 10 years old now?

Why I Love Companionship Inventory

When I was a missionary, we were told that every week, we should sit down and discuss anything that was bothering us about our companion.

Since Ben and I are both return missionaries, this has continued as part of our marriage. Every Sunday night, we sit down together. We discuss the schedule for the week, look at our finances, track our progress on goals, and finally, we bring up anything that is bugging us about each other.

I prize this time together. Being on the same page with schedules helps the whole family. During Family Home Evening, we summarize anything that may affect the kids, and they tell us anything we forgot. This minimizes surprises during the week. Keeping tabs on finances and goals keeps us united or gives an opportunity to resolve any differences in what we want to spend our money on. On the occasions where something is really bothering me about Ben or our relationship, we have an automatic time built in to discuss these things instead of uttering the dreaded phrase "we need to talk."

Finances and relationship issues can be so emotionally based. When they come up, we're not always thinking straight, and we can say things we regret. If there is a relationship issue, I take a few days to calm down. Sometimes I realize it's not really worth bringing up. Often, though, it just gives me time to contemplate the best way to talk about it. In this environment, we can approach things with concern and love, and rarely do we feel attacked or get defensive, both of which prohibit problem solving.

I am grateful for my mission for a lot of reasons, and the fact that it taught me this principle is one of them. Ben and I have a very happy marriage, and I'm sure this is one of the reasons why. I look forward to this time each week. More often than not, we don't have any relationship issues to talk about, but when they come up, we have a great way to deal with it.