A laundry-folding man. 
I know, right? I didn't know that cool invention existed either!
And this:
And, yippee, five inches of this:
Get out yer shovels. (Well, not me. I stayed indoors like any smart person would.)
And these (a.k.a. Jenn poison):
Next we will feature our favorite Christmas gifts in a little blog segment I like to call, "Only time will tell if it was worth the money we spent."
Laura got a mini netbook (internet restricted) so she can type her stories. Did you know the great American novel--set to hit stores in the spring of 2018--is about dragons? 
My favorite gift was the coupon book Lincoln made for me. Very thoughtful, plus he knows me well. Here are the best ones:
One coupon for two "be quiets."
Three free "kids not wild."
One free "go downstairs." What? Only one?
3 free "no bouncing balls." Boy, do I hate those bouncing balls!
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 20, 2010
It's all about peace.
Last week, Steve and I were together at the mall doing a little Christmas shopping. We stopped in at Barnes and Noble for a bit. This book was on display:
We thought, "Interesting," and flipped through it. Essentially, it's the story of a Mormon girl who moves to New York as a young adult and experiences the world outside of Mormontopia for the first time. She begins to date an atheist and, subsequently, question her beliefs. The book comically depicts her journey from "blind" belief to disbelief.
In the last four years or so, I have had many close friends decide the church is not true. I keep in touch with them--they have blogs, they email me--and their stories parallel this author's journey, one in particular so closely, I wondered perhaps if she, in fact, wrote the book and used a pen name.
I can relate, in a way. About five or six years ago, I woke up one morning and had the terrible thought that perhaps I believed the church was true only because I had been told so as a child. That all the experiences I'd had that had "reinforced" this were all in my mind. For a couple of years afterward, I only saw the discrepancies in the scriptures, the flaws in the church. I didn't live any differently, though. I still went to church every week and fulfilled my calling. I felt as spurred on as ever to teach my kids the gospel. But I wondered and doubted. And I felt really yucky and anxious deep down inside.
Then one night I had an experience that confirmed to me once and for all that the church is true--that the inconsistencies and flaws serve a purpose, that if everything appeared perfect then there would be no test and no need for faith. And suddenly everything made sense. I felt overwhelmed with peace. The peace that only comes from God and cannot be had by any other man-made source.
Since then I get frustrated whenever I hear a friend's argument, maligning the church on some issue or another. I get irritated when I see books like the above pictured. Because as logical as their arguments sound, there is no peace in it. Not for me. Not for them. I just think all my friends deserve peace. Not just the temporary satisfaction that comes from their embittered, intellectual conclusions.
Last week we were in Nauvoo. I retrieved my camera, and while Steve was doing a session, I drove the kids around and took pictures of them. It was a beautiful, blue-skied day. In the 30's (practically Spring weather). No wind. No cars. No people. Seriously deserted. Quiet. Everything decorated for Christmas. Just me and my kiddos and the temple as a backdrop. A day of peace.
Everything dusted in snow.
Bows and boughs.
They saw some cows and went to get closer.
Then walked back to the car. It was cold.
Little cabin and covered wagon backdrop. Really, really glad we're not pioneers. We love our heated van.
In front of the temple gates.
This is the life, I tell you.Thursday, December 9, 2010
I almost lost my mind, but then I got it back again. (Also, Noelle's birthday.)
I left my camera at the Nauvoo temple, so I haven't blogged in a while. I guess my camera is kind of a blogging crutch for me.
Anyway, these pictures are not my own.
A few years ago a strange man broke into our neighbor's house and even went so far as to explore the house while they were sleeping, looking into their bedrooms. Imagine waking up to that...luckily the husband was home. I'm pretty sure they were freaked out because I was, and it didn't even happen to me. We thought, very seriously for a solid week afterward, about getting a dog. But then I realized that I would rather put up with one night of a burglar than twenty years of dog crap, and that settled that.
Except Laura really wants a dog. And she keeps asking for one for Christmas. And she thinks I'm a bad mom because I won't let her get one. She has told me that repetitively with tears in her eyes, just for emphasis.
A few weeks ago we found this little guy:
I lost my mind when I saw this picture. We researched a little bit and thought it would be a good idea to finally get a dog.
We were about five minutes away from writing the check.
And then my senses returned to me. Potty-training a dog in the middle of the night in the middle of winter? What was I thinking???
Instead, for Noelle's birthday, we bought her a toy resembling this:
It yaps and walks around and is soft and cute. It has an off-button and it doesn't poop. We bought this little dog house for it, too.
This fake dog has surprisingly received a warm reception from all. Almost like it is the real thing. Who knew? And it only cost $15. That's 1% of what it was going to cost us to get a puppy for the first year. Seriously, any idiot could write out a list of pros and cons and still come to the same conclusion that I did.
Also...
Four-year-old Noelle is the best! She gets so excited about any little pink thing. She just wanted a princess balloon and pink cupcakes. How easy is that? I decided to try to make this supposedly amazing frosting for the cupcakes, literally took all morning making white sauce, chilling, beating butter and sugar and flour and milk for, like, 87 minutes, I don't know. They were supposed to look like this (only pink):
For once, I was glad my camera was MIA because my cupcakes did not look like that. I'm not sure why I keep trying to make my life harder than it is with these occasional attempts to imitate Martha Stewart, but I'm pretty sure Noelle would have been more than happy with the Betty Crocker canned frosting.
Tell me what you really think.
I found this "character sketch" Lincoln wrote about his brother yesterday. It goes like this:
Isaac is 7 years old, but what's really surprising is that he's amazing at building. He's little, smart, short, and has glasses and a little round head. With his building skills, he built an awesome spaceship. He's nice, but he has a bad temper. Once, when we were walking home, he was mad, so he stopped and wouldn't walk unless I was 10 feet ahead of him. He's a fun brother. I most of the time like him. (Not the angry little monster, though.)
I thought this was a very accurate observation. Especially the "little round head" part.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Spooky Harry Potter Party
With special appearances by:
Harry himself...
Luna Lovegood...
...and Colin Creevy.
I think one of the funnest things about watching your kids learn to read is forcing your favorite childhood books on them. And even though Harry Potter was published when I was an adult, I still felt it was worth pushing on the kidlets, even if it was against their will. I knew they'd thank me later. Isaac just recently finished the second book for the first time, so we decided to have a Harry Potter party the night before Halloween.
We ate cockroach clusters, pumpkin pasties, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, licorice wands, and butterbeer. The butterbeer was awesome (well, I didn't have any, but it certainly looked awesome). The recipe starts out with a spiced ice cream concoction whipped with brown sugar and butter.
Then you pour hot apple cider over the top. The result is foamy and lovely-smelling.
The kids gobbled it up and then we watched The Chamber of Secrets together. 
Happy Halloween!
Curtain Quest for the Style-Impaired
Not so long ago, I saw that one of my "friends" on Facebook answered some questions about me on a quiz put together in game format. It showed up on my Facebook page like this: "One of your friends has answered some questions about you. Click HERE to see how they answered them." So I clicked on it. One of the questions asked if I were trustworthy and the "friend" answered yes. Another asked if they thought I would ever go skinnydipping. The "friend" selected no. Another asked if I liked brownies, and so forth went the questions and answers. Until the last question which was, "Do you think Jennifer has any style?" The "friend" answered to that one...NO!
I was completely embarrassed and shocked by that. I couldn't even see which "friend" had answered the question. It was anonymous, which was annoying.
The thing is, I already know I don't have style. I know it, oh boy, do I ever. I've never wanted to be "stylish" or trendsetting. My entire style goal is for no one to notice my lack of style. I guess I failed.
Apparently my lack of style is not limited to merely dressing myself, either.
We moved into a new home. It didn't have any window treatments (I didn't even know what a window "treatment" was until just recently. Why don't people say "drapes" anymore?) We needed privacy. I found curtains on sale. I liked them. I bought them. Steve hung them up. I thought they looked fine. My sister asked for pictures of the house and when she saw the curtains (hanging 8 inches from the floor) she FREAKED out. Did you know window panels (another new term I had to learn) must hang all the way to the floor? I did NOT know that. And I must be the only one because after that I paid special attention to other people's curtains and pictures in magazines and--sure enough--they all hang to the floor.
A friend suggested I find some solid fabric and sew it to the bottom of the white curtains I had purchased. So I did. To all four panels (four panels for two windows that are on either side of our fireplace). Then I made Steve hang them up, but two of the panels were shorter than the others, so I just told him to lower one of the rods a little...no one would notice, right? I mean, I wouldn't. (Well...I wouldn't because I am style-impaired.) Steve obeyed my orders, but he thought they looked a little fishy, and, boy, that just wasn't a good sign if Steve thought they looked amiss. So I took another picture and sent it to my sister and when she called me back, she said, "Do you want the truth or do you want me to tell you I like them?"
So then she had me pick out a fabric I liked online and we ordered a bunch and she quick sewed me up four very even panels and shipped them to me and this is the final product. Do you know? I'm smitten with them.
Steve, rehanging. What a patient guy!
The fabric up close:
It must be said...I think the pictures don't do these curtains justice. I was very frustrated that my camera couldn't quite capture the charm of them. But you get the idea:
They also match my favorite pictures hanging in my kitchen (French advertisements for a chocolate shop), and also you get to see Laura last-minute practicing before school for her flute lesson. :)
Now I just need to find some curtains for my dining room. I might wait until next year, when I have recovered from the whole family-room-curtain-debacle-of-2010.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Best buds.
Steve grew in Noelle's estimation this week when he put on an apron and starting cooking. "Caillou's daddy can cook, too!" She said.
He's also not above crowding into a pink tent. That's true love.Gluten-free macaroons.
Foolish, foolish, foolish. I knew if I tried this recipe, it would mean trouble. Luckily I've only eaten three so far (not including the cup-full of "batter" I ate while mixing it up). Now I am going to go do all the things I was supposed to do in the first place instead of making these and hopefully there'll be a couple left for Steve when he gets home from work.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Chicago
This year's oral surgery conference was in the Windy city. Luckily, it was only windy one day we were there. Here's a picture of our hotel room:
View from our window:
City view from Navy Pier:
Ferris wheel. This is as close as I get to one. Once a few years ago, Steve MADE me go on a ferris wheel with him--the big one at Lagoon that is like three times as high (maybe more) than a regular ferris wheel and we had the kids with us and when we got to the top, the ferris wheel paused, and Steve wanted to let the kids spin the cup around, and I totally freaked out and told everyone to stop breathing, and I MEANT it because I am SO scared of heights, and Steve has never made me go on a ferris wheel ever since.
Steve thought this sign was hilarious. I thought the sign should have an age limit, like maybe no one under 18 should be allowed to climb it, because adults should be able to judge whether or not they would be safe climbing the noodle on their own, don't you think? I mean, I might start climbing it and half way up, think to myself, "Whoa, I'd better stop because if I go any higher, I might fall down." I do that all the time when I go to change the sheets on my boys' bunk beds.
The Lego Store.
Cool Lego hangy things all over the place:
The Art Institute of Chicago:
A Rembrant:
A tapestry from the 1500's:
I don't know who painted this, but I liked it:
Yeah, this one is famous, too. It drew quite the crowd. (I think I recognize it from the Cosby show.)
Vincent Van Gogh. Oh yeah...
Toulouse Lautrec:
Toulouse Lautrec, too (I love this one):
Monet:
So.
A pasta place. Yes, that's right! Pasta! I could pick any sauce I wanted and they put it on a delicious rice pasta.
And I had this masterpiece:
Red pepper sauce with proscuitto, shrimp, chicken and asiago cheese. Holy cow, I NEVER thought I'd eat at a regular Italian restaurant ever again. It was soooo good.Then later we ate at Fogo De Chao. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. The meat was amazing. The creme brulee was amazing. But best of all were these:
The bread they serve at every table. Naturally gluten-free cheese bread. Wonderful popover like balls of hot crispy-on-the-outside-cheesy-melt-in-your-mouth-soft-on-the-inside little delights. I ate six without even realizing it. I returned to the hotel and immediately googled the recipe. They are made with brazilian tapioca flour and cheese.
Us (shadow version):
Full steam ahead...
