Poor Child's Lazy Boy Recliner

Just a few of my Trophies...

Just Think Happy Thoughts

So when I need to just relax or push through a labor pain or overcome an anxiety attack, I like to have a few happy thoughts stashed away in the recesses of my mind. I have a few happy vacation spot thoughts and some lovely family thoughts and then I have my collection of happy Sting thoughts.


It may be a little hard to tell, but this is the part where he was looking at me and singing to me...


It was a great night with friends!




I like this picture. This guy behind the Tylers has attended the JP School of Photographic Posing.

Whipped Cream with a Cherry on Top

Today I was in serious need of some happy times. This could possibly be the longest week ever, or maybe I am just suffering massive withdrawls from my #1 man, whose flight home is delayed 3 hours and leaves me with time to post. My day started off very nicely with a thoughtful little treat on my doorstop from a dear friend. James' comment when he realized I had a friend cool enough to buy me gift certificates to MikeyD's-"Mom, you are sooooo lucky to have such great friends!!" (Understatement of the year!) Subtract the middle part of my day and fast forward to 6pm for the next cool part. I took my boys to Open House at school, which proved to be delightful. They were so excited to show me around and tell me about all their school things. James even wanted to show me which restroom he uses daily. They both acted as if I had never set foot on campus before. I'm choosing to feel good about this and look at it as so cute that they are so excited to show me around. (As opposed to adding to my massive guilt about being a very absent mother this school year, I'd never let myself go down that path!!) After the Open House, I treated the boys to a trip to Cheeburger Cheeburger. I let them get whatever they wanted, we all pigged out. The highlight of the evening was going to be getting milkshakes with whipped cream and cherries on top. Believe it or not, they didn't have whipped cream or cherries. Oh well, it was quite wonderful anyways and we were all giddy afterwards. David got a little fresh with Betty Boop. What can I say? We were caught up in the moment I guess!

Update on the playhouse: It's from our local Costco, cost under $300 and it was quite easy to assemble! Well worth the time and $$$

Weekend Fun

David is the best little helper around.

Entertaining Uncle in the new house.

Impromptu Mendenhall baseball game.

Proof James can hit the ball, frequently and hard, just not at games.

Caramel Bars

I've received a couple of requests for the Caramel Bar recipe. Here it goes:

2 1/4 cups oats
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Mash all these ingredients in a bowl until crumbly. Then cut in half. Mash half of it into a 9x13 greased pan. Bake 10 mins @ 350.
Take one jar of Mrs. Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel Sauce(you can cheat and buy the store brand if you don't really care how good they taste..in other words, stick with Mrs. Richardsons, trust me.) and combine in a bowl with 4 Tbsp. flour.
Layer 2 cups of chocolate chips then caramel sauce. Then pat out the remaining dough and place on top. Cook for abother 20 mins at 350. Wait until completely cool to cut into squares.

A big shout out to Parms for passing along this awesome recipe. Enjoy!

But I Don't Wanna Share!!!

I'm feeling a bit like a two year old this afternoon.
When you're feeding grownups, this is what you make....
These carmel bars are irrestible. I have a hard time controlling myself when they are around, and I definietly don't want to share them with the under 10 crowd.So, here's a nice backup to offer the chillins.

Easy cake mix cookies, perfect for enjoying in your makeshift theatre under the dining room table.

Problem Solved.

I've had this little problem brewing at my house. My sweet little David is like a pot on the stove ready to boil over. When he's good, he's great, but when he gets off track, he has a tendency to "go to crazy town". Ever since Nana arrived, he has been particularly out of whack. He's not so great with change. He like things to be a certain way and stay a certain way. (see posting on OCD-Game on!) After Women's Conference and all the great talks I heard there, I was reminded that I am totally entitled to receive inspiration regarding my children, even with their little day to day problems. I've been so prayerful lately about David and how to reach him, he's always been a bit of a challenge to figure out. He's been incessantly asking me if he can go to ESS-that's Extended Student Services, after school child care. It seems ridiculous because I am home now, why would I pay someone to watch my kids while I'm here? But, honestly, yesterday I was considering it. Then today I go to pick him up from school today and all of the sudden, it hits me, this kid needs karate. He is about the same age James was when we put him in karate. He's got tons of energy, is extremely intense and for some reason has a lot of anger inside, so I don't know why but I had totally not thought of karate as an outlet for all of that until today. We headed over to USSD and talked with Sansei Brian. David was so stinking stoked it was hilarious. He told David he could come to class tonight and from that moment on, David has spoken of nothing else.


I'm so grateful for inspiration. This was a case of me being at my wits end and then the answer finally came to me. Not only is this little guy infinitely important to me, he's infinitely important to his Heavenly Father.

"When your heart tells you things that your mind did not know, that is the gift of the Spirit..."

Abby Talk


Some of Abby's recent musings:
"Mom, I want sugar."(why beat around the bush?)
"I can shoot the coyote dead!"(after James was crying about being scared of a coyote)
"I have a tick too?!"(while we were discussing James' recent tick)
"Mom, your hair's a mess."(her first words to me this morning)
"My hair's a mess!"
"I gonna swim like Ariel and Flounder!"(swim lessons start next week)
"I'm so beautiful it's wonderful!"(ahh the confidence of a two year old!)
"I go to Lauren's house, I'm not going to push her, she's a nice girl."(Female Realtionships 101)

The Streak Has Ended!

A mere fourteen games into the season and the record has been broken. James had his first hit today!


We have no actual pictures of him at bat, suffice it to say that we stopped taking the camera to games about 5 games ago. We never totally lost hope though!

There's nothing like the joy of getting something you have wanted so bad and waited patiently for.


I don't want to speak too soon, but I sense the tide is turning for the Mendenhalls.....