The Divine Miss Em

 

Two weeks ago, Emma gave a talk in Primary. The topic she was given was, "Prophets foretold about the birth of Jesus Christ". Despite acting shy around people she doesn't know, she actually really enjoys getting up and speaking in front of others. She often has asked if she can give a talk, and we explain to her that that's not how it works -- they have to ask you to speak, you don't really volunteer for it. And you have to give other kids a chance to speak before you get another turn.

So, we came up with this little talk for her. We focused on prophets from the Book of Mormon, and colored some pictures for her to use for visual aids. The pictures actually work as triggers to help her remember which lines to say.

On the day of her talk, I was prepared to stand next to her as she spoke, to help her with the pictures, and be there as moral support in case she forgot her lines. As it turned out, she decided to do it all on her own, and I just sat in the back of the Primary room.

She did an amazing job, much like this practice run-through that we did at home before church. I think you'll probably agree that she has a knack for memorization. Enjoy!!

(This was off my phone, and you might want to turn up the volume to hear her. Thanks!)

 

P.S. Seven lines obviously wasn't enough. Note to self: longer talk next time.

Hello, Mr. Christmas!

I just have to share what happened at our last Family Home Evening, two nights ago, that made us all giggle to pieces. But to tell the story, you need a little background information.

On our Christmas tree, we have a novelty light accessory.  It has two connected parts. The first is an ornament-looking control:

 

(That's supposed to be a music stand with a conductor mouse in the center.)

 

The second part is an in-line box:

 

 

You use your own tree lights, and instead of plugging them into the wall or into a timer you plug them into the green box, and that plugs into the wall. If you can see it in the photo, there are different settings. We have it on Voice Control.

 

So, the little book-looking ornament has a list of the songs it can play. On voice control, to activate it, you say, "Hello, Mr. Christmas."

 

It will answer (in a man's voice, with a proper British accent),

"Well-l-l, Hello!"

"To see what I can do, say 'Lights on!' or 'Play a carol' "

 

If you say, "Lights on!", it will turn the tree lights on and say, "Ta-Daaa!!"

If you have it play a carol, you can select from the list, say the title, and it will play the music and the tree lights will blink in time with the music.

 

If the lights are already on, then when you say, "Hello, Mr. Christmas", it will say,

"Well-l-l-l, Hello!!"

"To see what I can do, say 'Lights off' or 'Play a carol'  "

 

Even when it turns the tree lights off, the white LED light over its own music stand-ornament stays on all the time.

 

Remember, all of this is done in a British accent. And you can't interrupt it. If it's speaking, then it doesn't register anything you say, until it's quiet again. Hmmm.... I wonder if Brits are like that, too?

 

Anyway, it's rather a nifty little thing, but we didn't get it ourselves. Grandma Huffaker bought it for us a year ago, I think. She has one for her own Christmas tree, and she thought Emma would get a kick out of being able to control the tree lights by herself.

 

The ironic thing, is that the unit can't recognize Emma's voice. Maybe it's too soft, too high, or she just needs to speak more clearly. At any rate, she can't control it on her own yet. It just doesn't respond to her. It also has a motion-activation setting, but in our family -- we've got way too much happening around it for the tree to randomly turn itself off or on, or start music.

 

Ok, so .... having told you that.............

 

 

Two nights ago, during our Family Home Evening, we were sitting in the living room and discussing upcoming events and activities and obligations during our busy Christmas season. We were all talking, sometimes at once, sometimes one at a time.

 

We never heard anything from the tree that whole time.

It kinda makes you forget that Mr. Christmas is even there.

 

We had our opening song, prayer, discussion, ......

NOTHING from the Christmas tree, at all.

 

Cameron, who was sitting at the opposite end of the living room (farthest from the tree), was asked to give the closing prayer. So he began,

 

"Our dear Heavenly Father, ..."

 

"Well-l-l-l, Hello!!"

[Proper British accent]

I think we all gave a little jump, .... and then we all LOST IT!!

Nobody could keep from giggling all during the rest of the prayer.

It was like an Alma the Younger moment. In case you were wondering, Heavenly Father does answer prayers. And He does it in a proper British accent.

Have a great day, and enjoy this beautiful Christmas season!!

Fall Requirement: Pumpkin Bread

So, I started this post almost two weeks ago. And then it hit me.

That is, the worst cold I've had in years, ... HIT me. Like a brick, that is.

And I feel bit guilty for being a baby about it, especially when the same cold hit Todd a few days before, and he worked right through it, and didn't miss a day on the job or anything. Me? I laid around and slept most of that Sunday away, and I just plain felt like crap. So, I broke down and went to the doctor about it, because I did not want to deal with the sinus infection while I'm trying to do a bunch of holiday stuff. I'm not a big one for going to the doctor. When I went to my pharmacy, they commented that I don't get sick much. They'd seen me about a year ago (an infection), and then the last time before that was when Emma was born. Been to the doctor twice in 5 years, and one of those was for childbirth? Yep, that's me!

(There was also the issue with the pharmacy not finding me with current insurance coverage. A nasty little lie that Todd dealt with a few days later. We have a refund coming to us now. May I say that we are NOT fans of the new health care coverage? Our plan is dropping us in January, and we are scrambling to get "finalized" for a new plan. Todd spent 1/2 hour on the phone -- on hold -- today, only to be given a different number to call. And when he called that number, he was informed he needed to call the original number. Oh, the frustrations!)

But, I digress.

The real point of this post is that I made pumpkin bread Saturday morning. I had actually started it Friday night, but knowing I didn't want to stay up late enough for it to finish baking, I just set up a little mise en place the night before, and baked first thing the next morning.

I rather like this recipe for pumpkin bread -- and so does the family. It's an adaptation of the Betty Crocker recipe, just a couple of small changes. It rises well, and is not so flat-in-the-pans like a lot of quick breads can be. Here's the recipe....

2/3 cup shortening
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 can (16-oz.) pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons lemon extract
2/3 cup chopped nuts
2/3 cup raisins

So, a few notes here:

1. I have become a believer in butter-flavor shortening. When you need the shortening to do the job, but you want it to taste better, this is your product.

2. The size of the pumpkin cans has changed slightly over the years. I think it's only 15 ounces now. No matter. It's the small size can.

3. I love-love-love lemon extract in this recipe. You don't taste it as being lemony, but it makes a difference overall. Trust me on this one.

4. This is one of the few recipes that I use nuts in. I'm not a big fan of nuts IN things. I'd much rather munch them straight. My preference is pecans for this recipe, but walnuts were what I grabbed. They work fine, too.


Anyway... Let's get going!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of two 9"x5" loaf pans.

(By greasing only the bottoms, it gives the rising bread something to grab onto -- on the sides of the pans. If you grease the sides too, it probably won't raise as high. And I use non-stick baking pans.)

Mix shortening and sugar in a large bowl. Like, pretty much your biggest mixing bowl.

Add eggs, pumpkin, water, and lemon extract.

Blend in dry ingredients, except nuts and raisins.

 

Stir nuts and raisins in by hand. This is so you don't chop up the poor raisins in your beaters. Resist the temptation to take a big fingerful of batter into your mouth. Pour the batter into loaf pans.  I know I said two large loaf pans, but this time I did the small ones.... gift size. I use 5 smalls for this recipe. Bake about 1 hour, ten minutes -- until loaves test done with a toothpick. Cool slightly.

 

Ok, well if you're baking the smaller loaves, you'll cook for a little less time -- you just kind of have to judge it. Check them at about 45 minutes. You still want them to test done with a toothpick.

 

Loosen sides of loaves from pans with a skewer or spatula. (I'd use a butter knife, but I am loathe to scratch my non-stick pans!!) And then remove the loaves from pans. Cool on a rack, cooling completely before slicing.  Really. They slice SO much easier when they're cool.

Yep -- that's it!! I wrap them in foil if I want to freeze them for later. Or eat them right away. Or bring them to that day's Relief Society Super Saturday at church. Whatever!

Sooo yummy!!

Happy Birthday, Alyssa!

19 years ago, she arrived. A week late, but in a hurry to get here. I couldn't wait to dress her in bows and ruffles and ribbons and lace.

Now, in a few short weeks, she will be off to college, and on her own. And I'm going to miss this girl. I'm trying not to think about it, though, because I will start crying.

On her birthday, (8 days ago! I'm caught up on this blog!!) I managed to get her to pose for some photos I wanted to take. I'll try to convince you that I was going for that retro-industrial look. You must try to ignore that we took these pictures in the back parking lot at Welenco. And, ..... ADVANCE WARNING.... there are a lot of photos here. But I couldn't help myself. Because I really love the personalities coming out here. It's awesome!!

So with minimal commentary [hopefully] .... here are the pictures taken on Alyssa's 19th birthday. This is our daughter, Gorgeous:

 

(I think that last one is my favorite)

 

(don't you just love "attitude"?)

 

 

So the story behind the photos is that Darcie was just over my shoulder, posing and making faces at Alyssa.

 

 

And you should know something about these two.

They are each other's best friends.

It's one of the qualities about them that I love so much. It would be so easy for sisters that are so close in age (22 months apart) to be at each others' throats, but that is not the case here. I love that they have such a close bond, and I must figure out how to keep them close once Alyssa is moved away. Thank goodness for Skype and Snapchat. Really.

 

So.... the photo story isn't just about Alyssa.....

 

 

 

Emma was there, too, but after just a few pictures, she was ready to go throw rocks in the puddles. Glad I got her in here enough pictures to count for something. Because right after this, things started to get silly....

 

 

 

 

 

(that last one is another favorite of mine)

 

 

 

 

 

(That was their impression of Lewis and Clark!)

 

 

 

And then, ..........

 

the photobombings started.

 

 

... and then, she got Emma in on the act. You can kinda tell that Emma wasn't quite "in" on the joke.

 

 

(That was the high-5 from their softball pitcher-catcher routine all last season. I actually caught the whole routine on camera, complete with Emma running through the foreground, but it would have been WAY too many to include here.)

 

Yep, we love our Darcie, too.

 

After pictures, the girls went off to a movie together, and that evening was Alyssa's birthday party with the family.

 

 

(Emma was trying to do "heavy, heavy hangover", and Alyssa was bending down to help her out as much as possible.)

 

 

Thanks for making it to the end of this VERY long post. I hope it gave you a glimpse into

our girls' personalities and the reality of what we live with around this house EVERY DAY.

 

A very big Happy Birthday to our Alyssa. She is so amazing and she will leave a hole behind when she moves on to the exciting college life in January. We are so proud of her and the wisdom she shows beyond her years.

 

And though we're in NO HURRY for her to find a nice young man to marry, {are you listening, Alyssa??? NO HURRY!!!!!!!}, I hope when she does find him, that he will realize what a treasure she is. Awesomeness comes 6 feet tall and gorgeous.

 

love you, Sys!!

 

--Mom & Dad

 

Wordless Autumn. Well, Almost Wordless.

 

I was thinking I would do a wordless post. But then I remembered that I can't keep my mouth shut. I have a friend who says that she can't say good-bye in less than 20 minutes, and I'm the same way.

 

At our last house (actually visible in the background of this first photo), I remember looking outside my window at my neighbor's yard one fall day. The tree in their back yard was dropping leaves like rain. In one day, that tree lost almost every leaf on it. Which made the raking task pretty straightforward.

 

I am not so lucky with our trees. An area that is raked up will probably need to be raked up again in another few days. Here is just one raking day.....

 

 

 

(Look closely, and please tell me you can see it...)

 

 

 

(At our house, this is always the job of the youngest leaf-raker.)

 

Love these kids!!