Caroline

Utah style Sugar Cookies

Here is my Valentine’s gift
to the rest of you
that I don’t sleep with.
I wish I could send you a warm cookie
through my Ethernet cable,
but since we haven’t figured that one out yet,
I’ll give you my recipe.

I call these 
Loralee’s Sugar Cookies
(I got the recipe from my boss
twenty years ago
Her name was Loralee.
Go figure.)
This recipe makes about 60 medium size cookies
so be sure you have some plates ready to share
with neighbors
or make them on the day you are running a marathon.
1 1/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
6 tsp. baking powder
Cream together the shortening and sugar.
Add eggs, milk, and vanilla.
Sift in the flour, salt, and baking powder at the same time
Mix.
The real trick with these is to let them be a little sticky.
Don’t think you need to add more flour.
Refrigerate the dough for about an hour.
Then the next trick is to roll them out thin.
No more than 1/4″ thick,
like pie dough.
They will puff up a bit
in the oven.
Bake at 350 degrees
on the middle rack.
for 8-10 minutes.
In my current oven 9 minutes 
was the magic number.
Let cool.
Frost with 
Buttercream Frosting

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter – partially melted
4 – 5 cups powdered sugar
2.5 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2-3 Tablespoons of milk or cream
(for you cheapos out there
like my mom,
you have to buy the real vanilla
and the real butter
it makes all the difference
I get mine at Costco)

Enjoy.

Mustache you about those beards

While having cream of wheat in the kitchen Thursday morning, 
here was the conversation.
Caroline (in her alarmed voice): “Mom, we have beards again.”
Me: (referring to the photos on the wall) “Who did that?”
Caroline: “Abigail.”
Me (laughing): “Why would she do that?”
Caroline (in all seriousness): “Because she’s a brat!”

I have loved these photos in our dining room.
They have given us a whole lot of entertainment.
One of my favorite times was when I noticed
that the kids had switched the order of the photos
so that they read
Ice-cream is better than your love.
I guess that would be an honest statement
depending on whether or not
you have an available bowl of ice-cream.
Funniest part is that by the time
this busy mom noticed
the kids swear they had been rearranged for
at least a month.
Maybe ice-cream is better than my love.
Sometimes I am too busy serving my family
that I forgot to stop and make sure they know
that I love them dearly.

Caroline Temple

In 2011 I posted a picture of Sophia’s clay monsters.
Today in my draft box I came across 
this video of Caroline’s destruction of it.
How time flies.
And how this little Caroline (Shirley Temple) got all grown up
is beyond my comprehension.
I miss the baby stage.
I really do.
How entertaining toddlers are.

How she has grown.
Funny quick story about Caroline
and her Shirley Temple like talent.
When we were at Abigail’s choir concert back in December,
the choir director assisted the choir
with their accapella number
with their three start notes on the piano.
Three year old Caroline
took her cue
and loudly
very loudly
sang
each note
in succession
in perfect pitch
with the lyrics
la la la.
We all chuckled
which egged her on more.
Which was a really bad thing
considering the choir
was about to sing
Angels we have heard on high
and Caroline took our
laughter as a cue
that she was invited to
a sing-along
with every round of
Gloria.
Proud parenting moment.
I need to get this girl in pre-Broadway classes.
Instead I bought her a pair of tap shoes
at the thrift-store.

We will have a perfectly happy picture!

My mother-in-law requested family photos for Christmas.
In an effort to keep the Christmas budget,
we opted for my mad raw camera skills.
Yeah, I took one photography class
so that makes me qualified right?
Wrong.
So very wrong.
Add in
a dog on a leash,
a crappy crappy tri-pod
some cold weather
and a
“as stubborn as I’ll get out”
nine-year-old
and
wa-la
eventually
you have me screaming:
“We will get a perfectly happy picture.
Gosh danget.”
That got some smiles.
We can always count on laughter
to see us through.
And laugh, we did.
Like always.
Here are some good outtakes.
I was trying to test the shot
and I had already set the timer
so they entertained themselves
through the 10 sequential shots.
We got a bunch of great shots
and in about 10 of them
Caroline was sticking out her tongue.

I like to call this one
“Don’t drop the dog.”
The funniest part was that
I had no idea this was even happening.

When we got home, 
Sophia came into my room and said,
“Mom I learned something important today.
You can’t put a dog in the simba pose for a picture
like you can a cat.”
It wasn’t until I went in to edit the photos that
I understood what she was talking about.
Please, don’t eat my head.
 These are the best that we got.
I really like how the scarf pose
turned out
minus Abigail’s expression
and the random blanket
on the grass.
Don’t even worry about the discarded
old fashioned sled.
Geez.
I really don’t know what I am doing.
We got our perfectly happy pictures.

Merry Christmas Faye.
These will be on their way to you
in your Christmas package
as I know you won’t be able to figure
out how to print them from here.

Oh and sorry,
I forgot to do a pose
with LG.

Maybe next year.

"Caroline"

Caroline wants to share a picture of herself.
“Make it bigger mom.”
“Perfect.”
How old are you Caroline?
“4” (she’s three)
What’s your favorite color?
“pink”
Who’s your favorite person?
“I just love you and dad.”
(now she is climbing the treadmill singing
what doesn’t kills you makes you stronger)
“Look mom, this ball of playdoh is dry.
We can’t play with it any more.”
(chucks it at the monitor)
Luckily she missed because it’s harder than a rock.
What else do you want to say?
“I want to say ‘no’ mom.”
No about what?
“No, about nothing.”
“Do you wanna see how you do jumping?”
(She has taken off a piece of the printer
and is catapulting the hard piece of playdoh.)
Have I mentioned this girl
never EVER runs out of energy.
What’s your favorite song?
“I don’t know.
I really want to get back in your lap,
I’m getting so tired.”
(I made her get down shortly before the climb
of the treadmill. She can’t keep her hands off the keyboard.)
“Mommy, I want to see more pictures.”
“Do you want to match this with dad?”
 What do you mean?
She points at the text on the monitor.
“Right here, do you want to match this with dad.”
What do you want for your birthday?
“A stone -ger.”
What’s that?
“It means you freeze and play tag.”
(grabs the mouse and clicks on something
that luckily just opens some random window
and doesn’t erase this whole post.)
Caroline.
You are going to ruin the typing.
“I wanna go away from the computer.”
The end.
Oh, the point of the post.
To tell you
Caroline really really really
loves her bigwheel
that I made LG buy her for her
3rd birthday.
It was nostalgic for me
and it has been more than fun
watching her tear through 
our neighborhood, the park,
the soccer field,
and anywhere else we let her
tag it along.
Even though I run 
approximately 15 miles a week
I can’t even keep up with her
when she’s on that little bike.
We are in trouble
with this one.
She didn’t come with a manual.

The Art Fart

I really hope Sophia doesn’t decide to read the blog today.
I do believe she’d die of embarrassment.
I must write though
because it’s stories like this that I don’t want to forget.

And I do forget.

I forget as early as next week if I don’t write it down.

LG’s been playing with new camera more than me. I love it.
We finally got Sophia into an art class.
She has shown a real propensity for art since she was a toddler,
and I am so grateful we finally have the means to help her along.
Check out her very first project.
I dare you to say she’s anything less than a prodigy.

And now, here’s a little art fart funny from Friday.
I went into the studio to tell Sophia that I was there to take her home.
She was happily working on a picture of SpongeBobSquarePants in colored pencil.
Next to her was the cutest boy about the same exact age
working on what looked like a tribal tattoo.
They were both having a blast doing the art thing while bantering back and forth.
It made this mom very happy to see Sophia in her element.
When you know something about your kid, you just know.
And I have always known that Sophia has the soul of an artist.

Minutes later Sophia bounds out to the car and we head home.
I zone out thinking about all I have to do
to get out the door that evening in time for
a friend’s birthday party and a choral concert of my nephew at BYU.
All of the sudden Bella and Sophia are cracking up.
I ask them what was so funny.
Through fits of laughter they tell me.

Sophia – Nooooooo, don’t tell her.
Bella – I have to. Sophia likes __________!! (I can’t remember his name)
Me – (Not surprised in the least.) What’ so funny about that?
Sophia – Nothing. Nothing.
Bella – Well, Sophia and _______ were messing around hitting each other and being silly.
Sophia – STOP! Bella don’t tell her.
Bella – And then Sophia…
Sophia – (butting in because if the story is going to be told, she’s going to tell it) We were just playing around, and all of the sudden I farted. It just came out. I couldn’t help it.
Me – Oh my gosh, how embarrassing. Did you just die?
Bella – It gets worse mom.
Sophia – So then the teacher comes in and asks us if we need anything.
Bella – And _____________ says, “Do you have a clothespin?”
Me – Did it stink?
Sophia as red as a beat – “I guess so.”

This may not seem funny to any of you, but it’s moments like this when I just love being a mom. It is so fun to watch your kids grow up and become adults who are embarrassed by bodily functions.

Now, here is something to make it up to Sophia whenever she reads this story.
Sophia brought this home last year from school after the class all wrote down anonymous compliments.
She is one cool kid, even with the gassy gas.

And me, you ask?
How’s the photography going?
Well, it’s going when I squeeze in the time.
Here is one of my practice shots
while I was outside the art studio waiting on Sophia.
We are learning about aperture.
Photography is art.
Maybe I should leave it up to Sophia.
It’s a lot more complicated then I expected.
(That’s why I’ve dragged LG into the hobby,
he’s my scientific go-to man.)
Check out my the website of my super cool teacher.

Here’s a photo of another one of my cool kids.
She’s taking a cooking class right now.
I’ve always known that Bella would grow up to be a beautiful cook.
Shooting action is more difficult
especially without the right lens
but here is our Abigail.
I always knew she’d grow up to be a soccer star.
Caroline.
Notice that she’s reading dad a bed-time story.
At 6 pm.
That’s how it goes around here.

Isn’t he cute?
I do believe my car is in need of a wash.
And here is LG’s latest project.
An expose about the life of a housewife.
Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.
All the time.
Even on Sunday.

Singing in the rain

When it rains, it pours.
I am sitting in the hospital with my dad right now.
He’s been here for 5 days.
He’s on the upswing and I am so grateful.
I am extremely grateful for my wonderful husband
who tells me
“Go, I’ll take care of everything.”
A few weeks ago,
our family lost
my nephew Braxton.
He’s dancing in heaven now,
where I imagine 
he can choose the weather.
Sitting down to my laptop this morning
I am happy to find these old photos.
What a great reminder that
sometimes
the best time to dance and sing
is when it rains.

My Baby

I do believe Caroline may be my last child. She is almost three and we haven’t gotten pregnant again, so I think God may have decided that four is enough for us.

Well if God didn’t decide it, Caroline did.
This kid is hard to handle. We love her dearly, but man she’s a handful. She is like the energizer bunny on crack. Serious.

It could just be that we are getting older, but I don’t remember our other kids having as much energy. It could be that she is the spoiled baby but I don’t remember the other girls having as much personality. It could be that she is just Caroline so I can’t remember my other girls being as cute. {I can say the same thing about all my girls}

Last night as we were having family prayer, Caroline was making us all laugh. It’s a common occurrence. She doesn’t have to do much but be herself and we are all in stitches. Last night she was just smiling. That’s it. But she kept doing it right as we were about to pray. She would get all serious when dad told her to be reverent but as soon as we were about to pray she would smile all huge. Of course none of us can take our eyes off of her.

There are so many things I want to remember about this kid that I haven’t written down. When they happen I think I have to write that down, but as soon as I sit down to type, they are just gone.

Caroline’s hair is out of control. We have always just let it be because she pulls out any hair thing as soon as we put it in. Her hair is always in her face. Lately she has taken up the preference for it to be out of her face. She will say, “I think I need a haircut.” That means I need a hair thing. The other day after Abigail had put her hair in pigtails she said, “I think I need two haircuts.”

She just got potty trained and she will say, “I think I need to go potty.” Not “I need to go”, but “I think I need to go.”

Every night after we lay her down to bed with her milk sippy she insists on bringing the sippy to dad when she is finished. I can’t take it from her, she has to give it to dad. She is such a daddy’s girl, but all of our girls have been daddy’s girl. I can’t say that I blame them.

She is a social butterfly. She loves other people. She especially loves her sisters and their friends. The other day while Abigail’s friend got in my van Caroline sat at the window blowing kisses shouting,  “I love you mom. I love you Katie.” What a dollface.

When we transferred her from bottle to sippy cup she was all confused. We were so bad and didn’t even do it until after she was two. Then my mom came to visit and introduced her to chocolate milk when she liked her plain milk just fine. Since then she has always requested her “chocolate milk bottle sippy cup.” All five words have to be used. End of discussion.

When she poops in the toilets she gags. I am assuming it’s the sight and not the smell that bothers her because she only gags when she looks. It makes me laugh.

She hates bugs. I never thought I would have one of those but she is downright freaked out by them especially if they are the kind that can fly.

She talks all day and sings ALL day. She makes up songs all the time. Her favorite song lately. “I love my mom. I love my mommy.” That’s one I can’t hear enough.

She always wants to color or paint. Nothing unusual about that, but I have to watch her good because she doesn’t stop at the paper. She has to use her body as a canvas and will even try to paint anything else she can get her hands on. One night when LG and I went for a date she got her hands on nailpolish. Nailpolish has been banned to the garage as we’ve found that she is deadly with it. I was glad that Katie was over because it forced me to keep my cool. We had to scrub scrub scrub carpets, walls, furniture and even all of Caroline. I think we got it all cleaned up, but it was NOT fun.

She always wants her pink blanky, AND her yellow one, AND her green one, and any blanky that she sees. “Mom, I need my blanky. I need my blanky with the flowers. I need my red one..” The girl is articulate and deliberate.

Getting her off the paci was painful, but after about three attempts over 6 months, she finally gave it up. She is also stubborn.

Piper is her best friend, and so are any other children that she happens to meet at the grocery store or ChickfilA or the park.

She wants to wear her church shoes everywhere. They took the place of her rain-boots that she wore for the whole year of 2011. She wore those until she literally couldn’t get her feet in anymore.

She is obsessed with eating bubblegum and using make-up. I can’t keep enough pink bubblegum or lipgloss in my purse. She finds them no matter what I do, and she uses as much as possible. The one good thing about this is that I always have a way to pacify her. At least for a few seconds.

She refuses to be contained. She doesn’t want to stay in the shopping cart or the stroller or even the bike trailer. We had to upgrade to her own seat on the back of dad’s bike because she was pulling the titanic on family bike rides. She had no trouble wiggling out of her seat belt and climbing to the top with her arms wide open so she could feel the wind on her face. She is the only child of mine that I have actually found myself justifying those crazy parents with the leashes.

She loves to play on “Phia’s i-pod” or “Bella’s i-pod” or “Abigail’s phone” or “Dad’s phone” or “Mom’s phone”. She also likes to leave all of these in impossible to find locations throughout the house and even in the yard if we don’t watch her close.

I am sure none of you are actually still reading this, but it makes me feel better to get a few things down so that in two weeks or two years but especially in 20, I will remember what this little girl was like.

Dear future Alice. I know you haven’t forgot. This kid was a handful and 1/2. And yes, she really was that cute too. Thank goodness. God knew what he was doing when he put that huge spirit in such a beautiful body.

Jesus Said Love Everyone

The other day at work one of the students asked me 
how I was always in such a good mood.
Why not?
I have so much to be happy about.
Like this for example.
Last week, as I was reading,
I heard Caroline break out into a song.
It was a song I had not taught her.
She must have learned at church it in nursery.
And she sang every single word
out of the blue
while playing with her puzzles.
See.
So much to be happy about.
Toddler Translation:
Jesus said love everyone.
Treat them kindly too.
When your heart is filled with love,
others will love you.
Caroline just reminded me:
Look mom, that’s me.
I’m naked.
{smiles}
Yes it was during bathtime
that I remembered to pull out the camera.