Daniel..

I received this e mail from Daniel's teacher:

Today right before we took our Flashcard Test Daniel raised his hand and said, "I don't gamble, but I'd bet I get the highest score out of the class on this test." I laughed and told him that we'd see. And he did get a 100. Tell him good job for me.

Stephen Vrska
Stafford Middle School
7th Grade Texas History & Spanish

I just love this boy!

Batter Up...

I read 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families by Covey a few years back. I was impressed that he suggested that we need to have a motto/ theme for our family. So I have been on the outlook for one for my family. I have paid attention to families that seemed to run efficiently and had love in their home to see what they used. I have looked for a long time and finally I have found one. I brained stormed alot of ideas such as Kindness begins with me, Obedience is key, We are a serving family, No empty chairs. Just nothing hit the spot. Conference was coming and as I prepared for conference I had decided to listen specfifcally for a motto/theme for our family. In this past Conference Eyring used Please no empty chairs in one of his talks. I liked it because it was concrete. You can visualize every member of the family sitting in a chair. But it lacked something for our family. A few days later it hit me what our theme/motto would be. I coudn't wait to tell my husband. When I told him he said "That's it". Our theme/motto is "Step up to the plate". You see, we are a baseball family. This is concrete to my boys. It's something that they understand. It's meaning is vast. It can be applied to so many facets of our lives. It's meaning is to be the best we can be in all aspects of our lives. We presented the idea to our boys for FHE. We are a team. The prophet it our Coach. He will not let us loose. Jesus owns the team. He is rooting for us. All we have to do is make it all around the bases. First base is baptism. Second base is honorable mission. Third base is temple marriage and Home base is the Celestial Kingdom. It's all for one and one for all! Now... Let's play ball!!

Peanut Butter Cookies

I know that I haven't blogged in a long while. Much has been going on around this house. To help me ease back into blogging, I thought that I would start with these wonderful cookies. These are my boys favorite cookies, especially Daniel's.

1 c peanut butter
1 c butter
1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Cream peanut butter, sugars, eggs, and butter. Add the powder, salt, soda and vanilla. Mix. Add flour. Bake 350 for 12 to 15 min.
*variation: Double the recipe and add 1 cup of rolled oats and a bag of chocolate chips.

I always add chocolate chips and oats. These are very yummy and makes a lot. Perfect for my family. I hope you all enjoy it too :)

Friends...

Today I was totally shocked and saddend to hear of Sister Branch's passing. I loved that lady. She was quick to laugh and easy to be around. We went to many movies together. I loved spending time with her. She was a dear friend. We lost contact after a while since we were in different wards. You know how that goes. Her husband home taught our family for a couple of years. He administered to Nathan when Nathan had his traumatic brain injury. I know that she is in heaven now. I will miss her. I pray for her husband and daughter. I know that it will be hard for both of them.

Losing a dear friend, makes me think of my own life. We never know how long we have. We must make our minutes count. Friends and family is what it's all about. How I wish I could have talked with her one last time. I hope that we will meet again. Until then goodbye sweet friend. You were so dear to me and were there when I needed you! I will miss you.

Chess or Chest...

A very popular game in our family is chess or chest as Qualan says. Everybody loves to play this game, but there is one problem. Nobody knows how to lose gracefully. Today Qualan wanted to play me a game of chess, but Chiron was not letting me so Dad took over for me. Qualan played a good game, but lost. What a sad moment.

Apronistic....

Richard and I decided that we needed some new aprons. So I made us up one. Here we are all in our aprons! Aren't they cute :)!!

Summer Learning...

The number one question that my boys have asked me this summer is "Does this stain?" After saying yes hundreds of times and trying to soak and scrub stains out of my boys clothes, I had an epiphany. I was going to make my boys some aprons!! I took them to the store and had them pick out their own fabric. The boys decided that they wanted to sew their own aprons. I thought that would be a great idea. Everyone needs to learn something new. The boys did a really good job! They love their aprons! And I am glad to say they have already been stained saving their clothes :)