Sydney and Maddie's Hair

I twisted the sides and made braids and curled the
ends. It took only 5 minutes. I am learning...

Maddie's is just pigtails that are curled the cute way Lindsey taught me. We will try harder hair do's this weekend.

We Survived the first week of school!!!

Hey, Just a quick post to tell everyone we survived the first week of 7th grade, 4th grade, 1st grade, teaching and staying home. I really have enjoyed these past few days of cleaning and cooking, I wonder if this is what all moms who don't teach piano do. Hmmm.. well, I will go back to teaching Sept. 8th. I want to give myself a little longer vacation and get the kids back into the daily routine of homework. This is what the kids say when asked how was the first week of school. Maddie says, "The first week was very fun and some kids in my class already got refocuses, and the bullies are still bullies and my friends are still my friends. So it's just like last year, but different teachers." Sydney says, "Good, it was great. Well, the first recess Alora brang her webkins, the cheeky monkey, to school. I have that one too. And there's another good part because , at first recess we thought about a fort, that's very big, and a fort is made out of trees and ours is good, because we can pretend that these little berries, which are poison, but we just pretend to make blueberry pie. Alora is nice. Eyona was nice on the 3rd recess, because she let me on her team." McKay says, "Maybe a little long, but it's fun. We get a long lunch starting at 12:20. My penpal from Poland sent me a letter and treat and he seems really nice." Abby says, (when asked how her first week home with mom ..)"I don't know. My eye is burning."
Well, that's what the kids say.

Everyone went BACK TO SCHOOL!!

So the kids and Ryan went back to school today. I think everyone had a good morning, got up early, got their practicing done, had a good breakfast, read scriptures, and everyone was happy. I hope this lasts the whole year. Everybody was so excited to go to school today. I really hope McKay can figure out his locker. Abby wasn't too happy about being the only one left behind. She starts preschool again after labor day.

Here's an old picture Ryan found...

Here's an old picture Ryan found at the school as he was cleaning up, getting ready for the new school year. Who are those cute kiddies? This picture is from Maddie's blessing day, and is almost 10 years old. Wow, anyway, McKay just taught me how to add a picture from my post, I was adding it as something else. I am excited to learn this new way. I'll see if I can add some more... Ok, I think it works. We'll see..

The Yard Sale is Over!!

So, the Yard Sale is over. My two friends Pauline and Hannah and I thought we would do this yard sale together. We put it in the Greybull and Basin papers, and there were a lot of people that came, since we were having 3 separate sales. It was kind of like a trip through memory lane, as I got rid of baby clothes, swings, high chair, maternity clothes, etc. I could remember all of my babies wearing each little outfit. It made me miss them at that age. But really why were we holding on to all that stuff? We got rid of boxes and boxes of clutter that Ryan and I couldn't bear to get rid of, that we have moved a couple of times, probably those boxes from Provo in 1996 that said, "Summer's clothes she never wears..." that we loaded up in the UHaul to come to Burlington. (I remember one of the brothers saying, "Huh? What ?" when they read the outside of the box.) That still makes me laugh when I think about that. The greatest news of the day, was that we found the lost golf clubs in the basement. I love being right. Ryan was sure I got rid of them, and I told him, I would never throw anything away your dad gave you, but he really thought I did, and there they were!! We made enough money to pay for all the new school clothes and supplies for the year, so it was a good trade, plus we really have cleaned out our house.

About the slide shows...

Hey, about those slide shows with pictures, if you are new to this like I am , you just have to click the X to see the pictures underneath it. I just barely figured that out, I am sure no one else had that problem.
We just got back from a wedding reception here in Burlington. One of Ryan's old students who is at BYU now, married a girl whose father is Jeff Judkins, a famous coach, so Ryan just loved talking to him. It was like talking to a celebrity. It was fun, I hardly ever get him to go to those things. I am running out of ideas for wedding presents, so we gave power tools.
Well, I better go keep cleaning out the dressers, we are having a yard sale here on Saturday, the kids think they are going to be rich, they don't realize that we are just trying to get rid of stuff. It's a lot of work! Plus I am going to be embarrassed when people in Burlington see how much junk I really have. Oh well, I will feel good after it's all over.

Recipe for Oreo Cheesecake

Ok, so I just got back from going to Homemaking, whatever, it's called some long name I don't know but it used to be called Homemaking, so that's what I am calling it. Well, the teacher was a cute thin young girl talking about nutrition and diet and exercise, and all I could think about was , I just want to go home and eat a whole cake. I don't know what's wrong with me.
So anyway, here is the recipe that will blow your mind. It's from a neat cookbook that my friend Anne got me hooked on, called The Essential Mormon Celebrations by Julie Badger Jensen.

It's actually called Cookies and Cream Cheesecake
3 Cups finely crushed Oreo cookies (36 cookies divided) -- My friend Brenda uses a blender,
I used a rolling pin and big ziploc, it's kind of a mess if you get holes in it
1/3 Cup butter or marg, melted
2 (8 ounce) pkgs cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 Cup whipping cream, plus sugar to sweeten
Chocolate bar shavings , for garnish

In a bowl, stir together the 2 cups of crushed oreos and butter or margarine. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate or springform pan. Freeze or refigerate until firm.
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add sugar and vanilla. Blend well. Whip and sweeten cream; fold whipped cream and remaining 1 cup crushed oreos into cream cheese mixture. Spoon into chilled cruse. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Garnish with chocolate bar shavings. Makes about 6-8 servings.