Easter

We celebrated Easter at my parents the day before. My mom spent a lot of time preparing an easter egg hunt for the children, which turned out to be a hit! It certainly was my favorite part of the evening, watching the kids get so excited! It was so fun to spend time with my whole family, everyone was all together for the first time in a long time. I really enjoy spending time with all my family members, but especially my nieces and nephews. Lucy, Nick and Carly's baby, is getting so big! Wes and Jess's kids just LOVE her. They cannot get enough, always wanting to hold and feed her. She is pretty irresistible!

Towards the end of the night, I pulled out my old cash register for Morgan and Carson to play with. They LOVED it, although I was probably more excited to teach them how to use it than they were in learning how to use it! haha

On Sunday we went to my in-laws for Easter dinner. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera. We had a fun time talking and laughing while enjoying a delicious meal prepared by Paula.

Lazy Boy

Our basement is really cold, so while I'm working on homework (sometimes hours at a time) I turn on the space heater. One of Ziggy's favorite things to do is to lay by the heater. There are times when he is literally pressed against it. I have to move him away a lot of the time because his fur gets so hot I'm afraid he'll catch on fire.

{I don't want that kind of a hotdog!}

Btw, THANK YOU THANK YOU to those of you who gave me suggestions for my dishwasher and glasses. Lemi-Shine and Dishwasher Magic worked wonderfully. I'm in shock with how clean everything got!

Come Back Phosphorus!

I cannot even say how frustrated I am with how my dishes are washing up. Ever since the "phosphorus" was taken out of dish detergent, my dishes (mainly glasses) have a terrible film on them. The gross thing is that the particles from the dish soap are starting to cling to my dishes, so having a dishwasher does nothing because I am washing each individual piece after they get washed! I have tried numerous remedies, but none have worked so far.

Don't these look like non-drinkable glasses? And yet we are drinking from these everyday.

I swear Michael and I are going to get sick from all the caked on particles...ah, I can't even go there. Just thinking about it makes me cringe.

Here is what I have tried:

-Vinegar

-Finish Powerball Detergent

-Jet Dry Baskets

-Jet Dry Finish Liquid

I probably should mention that I do have hard water, which probably isn't helping.

Is anyone having this same problem? Have you tried anything that works?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. :)

Homemade Granola

My night class on Monday was cancelled, so I thought... Why not make some granola? I've had this recipe on my mind for a while now, but getting around to making it was another story. After finding out I didn't have class, I was elated and practically sped home with one thing on my mind. I stopped by Gregory's Wheat Shop to grab some of the ingredients and then got to baking.

This recipe was taken from "The Little Red House" and the blog {ourfinehouse}, which I've absolutely fallen in love with.

I now love knowing exactly what I am eating with this granola.

I have been eating it as cereal for breakfast as well as using it for yogurt parfaits...delicious!

Recipe

{From The Little Red House & ourfinehouse.wordpress.com}

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

4 cups oats

2 cups puffed wheat (unsweetened)

1 cup unsweetened coconut

1 cup chopped almonds (not ground)

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1/4 cup wheat germ

3/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tsp vanilla

Steps: 1. Mix together in bowl until well coated

2. Spread onto 2 parchment-lined baking sheets

3. Bake for 30-40 minutes

My Tips:

*If you can't find puffed wheat you can use unsweetened puffed rice.

*Make sure to check it in the oven every 5 minutes or so; it can easily burn.

{My oven cooks fast, so I was done baking at 20 minutes}

My Hair

I had to take a picture to document this moment. I just got my hair done and finally am loving the way it is starting to look, finally! I cut my hair super short a few summers ago and have been waiting for the day that it is all one length again. Other than a few hairs in the front on the right hand side, it's pretty much all around even, yay!

Oh yeah, I need to thank my helpers along this journey:

Redken All Soft Heavy Cream & Folic Acid Supplements

I already know this is a lame post, so just ignore it if you don't care.

This is a big deal for me and I am celebrating it. So there!

This Week I...

• have done too much homework (although very glad I did)
• went on my first group road ride (started at Bike Fix and went out to the airport & back)
• trimmed and mowed the lawn for the first time this year (had to be outside enjoying the wonderful weather yesterday!)
• voted for Naima 3 times, but she still went home :(
• had a BBQ and watched "Nanny McPhee Returns" with Wes, Jess & their cute children
• learned @ Camp Kick-off that I can start a fire with a 9 volt battery and steel wool (who knew?)
• got a new calling
• made dark chocolate covered cinnamon bears...my favorite
• put up Easter decorations

...And now I can't wait for Michael to come home. He is racing as an expert in the iCup in Hurricane today, which starts in 2 minutes! He left Thursday and made a work trip out of it too, so unfortunately I won't be able to see him race. {But I'm cheering him on from home!}

A Touch of Spring

The other day I noticed our bush sprouting some buds. The next day they were blooming and beautiful. Oh, how I long for spring. It cannot come soon enough this year.