For Vicki, Megan & Sarah

I've been asked for this recipe so many times, that I decided to post it on my blog (thanks to Megan's suggestion). We were discussing Pumpkin Spice Bars last night at Relief Society. That recipe is posted here. Sarah said she needed my recipe for Chocolate-chip Zucchini muffins, and I remembered that I had never posted it. Here it is:

2 cups shredded zucchini
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups applesauce
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 Tbsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups miniature chocolate chips

Spray pans (or use cupcake liners). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix wet ingredients. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then stir dry into wet. Mix just until moistened, then add chocolate chips. Bake 22 minutes for muffins, 55 minutes to 1 hour for bread.

This summer I often doubled or tripled this recipe. No matter how many I made, they never lasted long. We like them better in muffins, and I bag them up and freeze them for later.

Enjoy!

Wake up Call

"Mom, the boys called me stupid," was what I woke to this morning. You have to imagine it in the whiniest voice possible and the pitch-black darkness of a fall morning at 6:30 a.m. It was a late-start Monday, so I didn't actually have to get out of bed until 7:00, and Jojo, who climbed into bed at 3:30 was sawing logs beside me. She sleeps audibly.

With that whiny sentence and some more whining about how hungry she was and then fighting in the kitchen over the last of the cold cereal, they woke the sleeping dragon! I came out breathing fire and showing claws--It was not pretty.

So, here I am at my wits end, and I would pay big money if someone has the solution to incessant bickering. Because all our efforts seem to be in vain, and I cannot stand it anymore. Somehow I don't think duct taping them to their beds is an option. Anyone wiser than me want to offer up some free advice?

However much I'd like to pay for it, frankly I'm still broke. :)

Crash & Burn

On Monday my laptop crashed and burned. Not just a little, oh-do-a-system-restore and you're fine, but all out fatality. I spent the entire day on the phone with Dell trying to salvage my baby. I did nothing else, and the house seemed to be falling in around my ears. Josie and the homeschool boys were in constant motion with no supervision. Alas, the mess!

I thought all was well. For the past two days I haven't even had time to boot up the laptop until last night when I tried to put in a movie for Josie. Media Center crashed. This morning I woke to yet another blue screen. I decided to call when everyone is in bed. I may be up all night. Please, please, please let this be fixed soon!

Field Trip

For home school, we took a field trip to the Vantage Wild Horse Monument. This photo was taken from the parking lot. It is WAY up there.I love this view of the Vantage Bridge.
The view of the monument from the parking lot.
We took the trail on the left-- still, it is steep! I had to carry a twenty-seven pound toddler to the top.The horses up close are very cool. The boys were disappointed by the graffiti.Below is the lead horse.One tired mommy after the hike.

Hit him again, hit him again...

...harder, harder! I had to resurrect my favorite football chant, because Dylan is playing football. He looks so grown up in his pads and shiny pants. He's number 35. And, that guy with his head cut off is Coach and beloved Uncle Paul.

Right next to him is his cousin, number 44.

Dylan has two cousins on the team, which has been very fun, and unbelievably convenient for me, because my husband's brother is one of the coaches, so he picks up Dylan and brings him home from practice. I appreciate this VERY, VERY much.

Look out, little guy! I think you're gonna get tackled!

So fun! These pictures were taken at his very first game. He had so much fun hitting and tackling and running that he didn't really care that they lost. Since then, they have lost twice, and now it's weighing on Dylan. He wants his team to win at least one game. I hope he gets his wish soon!

As a side note, he gets to play his games on the same field that his dad and uncles played on when they were in high school. I think that is kind of cool.

Good-bye Summer, I'll Miss You

I don't know why this is one of my favorite pictures. You can't even see her face, but I love the lighting and how she's holding that handful of grapes. It was actually taken mid-September, and no, we weren't swimming. Her swimming suit was the only thing she wanted to wear that day, so she wore it. I'm going to miss the warm weather. I'm a fair-weather girl, but fall means football and field trips... tomorrow's post.

What Do You Think?

After the first week of school, Mazie got sick. She ran a fever for three days. It scared me. Other than the fever, she was tired, but had basically no other symptoms. Finally, I had Nathan and Veral give Mazie a blessing. The following day, the fever was gone, and she was back to her normal self. She had a cough and runny nose then, but I just gave her medicine and she was fine.

Over the past four weeks, this has made the rounds through our family, Valine's family and Kristin's family. My boys have never had a fever, but Josie had one this week and was really cranky. She slept most of one day, and by the next evening, she was chipper again. One day this week, I was totally dragging. My head hurt, and my throat hurt from coughing. I probably had a fever that one day, too, but I was already taking Tylenol, so who knows? We've all had a cough. (Except for Nathan, who never gets sick.)

Anyway, today I was reading the CDC website about the swine flu. Symptoms: fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose. Other symptoms my include body aches, fatigue, etc.

None of us saw a doctor or went to the clinic. So, what do you think? Do you think we all had the swine flu? It was basically like a head cold with a fever, pretty consistently through everyone that had it.

Simple Pleasures

Mazie picked out this spinning flower from Craft Warehouse. Amazingly, with ten kids on the property, it lasted a whole three days. It was fun to see it out there spinning while it lasted. But, then the toddler boys got a hold of it, and it ended up in pieces. Josie was enthralled with this spinning pink thing. She would hold out her hand and let it spin into her fingers. Such simple pleasures!