Happy Birthday Little Brother

Today TW turned 1 year old. It's so hard to believe that our little baby isn't a baby anymore. On Sunday we celebrated with my family. Here are some pictures from our little party.

He really wasn't that thrilled about opening presents.

And of course, here's the cake again. (Don't look too close).

At first he didn't trust us and wouldn't eat the cake. Then he took a big piece and started sucking on it. Finally, he figured out that it was worth eating.

Courtney and Grandpa washed him up afterwards.

And here's the big boy.

Cheeseburger Soup

Doesn't sound very good, nor is it very healthy, but it was sure good. We had this a few weeks ago. I didn't have celery, so I left that out. I also used beef broth and egg noodles instead of chicken broth and potatoes. I'm making it again tonight, but will be using celery and potatoes. This recipe is even good reheated the next day.

CHEESEBURGER SOUP

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, diced
3/4 cup shredded carrot
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon dried parsley
3 cupschicken broth
4 cups potatoes, cubed
1/4 cup flour
2 cups cheddar cheese, cubed
1 1/2 cups milk
4 tablespoons butter or margarine

Directions
1. In a large pot, brown ground beef and onion.
2. Add broth, celery, carrots, parsley and potatoes.
3. Bring to a boil, and then simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes.
4. In a saucepan, melt the butter and stir in flour.
5. Add the milk, stirring until thick & smooth.
6. Gradually add milk mixture to the soup, stirring constantly.
7. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer.
8. Stir in cheese; continue to stir until cheese is melted then serve.
9. Do not boil.

ETA: Ok, so I made it with the potatoes/celery tonight. I think I prefer the egg noodles. Either way it was good, though. (I had to add a bunch of salt too).

Conference

I love being able to listen to and watch conference at home via the internet. Here are some of the things we did today during this morning's session of conference:

I worked on TW's Birthday Cake.

TW took a little nap on the couch.

Mooch watched a show.

And of course, Allen wouldn't let me take a picture of him, but he was on the computer. We are celebrating Little Brother's Birthday tonight with my parents. I can't believe he'll be 1 year old on Thursday. My baby isn't a baby anymore. I will have more pictures to post of that later, along with some pictures of our camping trip at the coast in September. I just need to load them onto my computer.

Allen

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought it was fun. So, since I haven't posted much lately, I thought I'd do this.

1. Where did you meet? I was on a date with a guy I had never met (from the Singles' Ward). We went to a potluck before our "real" date (free dinner lol), and Allen happened to be there. He was trying to flirt with me, but I was on a date with this other guy (though I was definitely interested).

2. How long did you date before you were married? 4 1/2 months, 4 1/2 months, & 4 1/2 months. haha (We had a couple break ups in there).

3. How long have you been married? 4 1/2 years (I'm sensing a theme here).

4. What does he do that surprises you? He brings me little treats often, but that's not really a surprise. Every once in a while he'll just take the kids and let me go out and take a break, and I'll come home to a clean house!

5. What is your favorite feature about him? His blue eyes and broad shoulders.

6. What is your favorite quality about him? He is very patient and easy-going. He doesn't stress about things that are out of his control and just takes things as they come.

7. What is his nickname for you? Hmmm. I don't think he has one. Sometimes he calls me Sweetie, but every once in a while he'll throw something random out there--like Love Muffin (usually when someone else is around to hear).

8. What is his favorite color? It changes. Usually blue, sometimes brown.

9. What is his favorite food? Salsa. He eats it on everything, but probably wouldn't admit that it's his favorite food. (Not sure that's really considered a food anyway--Maybe that just says something about my cooking).

10. What is his favorite sport? Football.

11. Who said I love you first? I did.

12. When and where was your first kiss? November 11, 2002. At Ocean Shores. I remember the date because it was Veterans' Day.

13. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Play board games, watch movies. Sometimes we play the computer together (Online games). Sheesh. We sound boring, don't we?

14. How many kids and what ages? 2 boys. Big Brother is 3 years old, and Little Brother will be 1 year old on the 9th.

15. Does he have any hidden talents? He has a lot of "hidden" talents. He has an amazing ability to remember facts. (Don't play him in trivia games if you want to win). He has a natural ability to lead people, which sometimes works in his favor, and sometimes it doesn't. People are always drawn to him. He has random people talking to him EVERYWHERE we go, and kids always stare at him and follow him around.

16. How old is he? 33

17. What kind of music does he like? He's not really into music. In fact, he rarely listens to it in the car--he just listens to sports radio. But if I had to pic one genre of music, I'd say 80's rock.

18. What do you admire about him? He is an amazing dad, and so patient when it comes to the boys. He is very charismatic, well-read, and intelligent, and has inspired me to read more.

19. What is his favorite past time? Reading.

20. Is he going to read this? Probably.

Food Storage

I have been thinking about food storage a lot lately . Perhaps it stems from all the natural disasters and economic "woes" we have seen lately. Maybe it's the Spirit urging me that I need to get moving on this. Whatever the case may be, and at any rate... (That's for you, Nika). I have been slacking in this area, and really need to get rolling with it. Until now I've used these excuses: "We're not settled somewhere yet," "We don't have enough extra money," "I don't feel like going to the cannery," "We move too often, and I don't want to lug all that food all over The United States," or "Our place isn't big enough."

We have had a SMALL food storage (about 16-20 cans from going to do dry pack canning when Allen and I were in the Singles' Ward), but we have whittled away at that. Most of what's left is wheat (or other stuff that's past it's expiration date). So, enough excuses! Time to get serious about this--even if it means lugging "all that food" everywhere we go.

I like what our Cheney ward did, so I've put together a plan based on that. (They would pick something each month to focus on--wheat, oil, spices, etc). So, here's my plan for the year:

September: Flour (4 Huge Bags)
October: Sugar (4 Huge Bags), Macaroni (5-6 Large Bags)
November: Water (2 Big Boxes from Big Lots), Rice (6 Huge Bags)
December: Oatmeal (8 Cans)
January: Peanut Butter (5 Large Cans) (We go through A LOT of PB at our house!), Water (again)
February: Salt, Yeast (3 jars), Spaghetti (5 Large Bags)
March: Oil (5 Liters), Jam (5 Jars), Honey (4 Jars) (We also go through a lot of honey at our house).
April: Soup (Cream of Mushroom & Cream of Chicken) (Bulk from Costco).
May: Spices, Flour again (4 Huge Bags)
June: Green Beans, Tomato Sauce, Tomato Paste, Diced Tomatoes (Costco)
July: Pinto Beans (5 Large Bags), Water
August: Oatmeal , Sugar

I realize that this isn't a "true" 1-year supply, but it's a start. There are also lots of other things I'll need--toilet paper, diapers, wipes, toothpaste, etc. But this plan will allow me to focus on a little bit each month, rather than being overwhelmed with it all at once. And as our budget grows, there will be room to add more . I would also like to start doing more canning, and maybe we'll buy a side of beef when our budget allows.

Anyway, sorry for the boring post, people. I just thought if I post my plan here, maybe I'll be more likely to stick with it. :)

For all my sisters, cousins, & cousins' wives.

Grandma Williams has a blog. I would venture to guess that Erin had a hand in it. ;) Go say hi and leave her a comment. http://ggwilliams.blogspot.com/ We love you, Grandma!

The Boys Today

I just thought I'd write a quick update on what we've been going through at our house. Yesterday was a bad day for mom. I'm sure all of you moms have had days like this. And no matter how much you love and adore your children, you just long for a break from the sound of those cute/whiny little high-pitched voices for a moment of peace and some adult interaction (or time alone). Yesterday was one of those days for me. I lived to tell the story, though. Here's what has been going on around here:

Big Brother: He no longer refuses to wear his "big boy" underwear, so I have started to get (sort of) serious about potty training. This has meant a lot of cleaning up accidents, doing multiple loads of laundry, and setting the timer for every 30-60 minutes to ask him if he needs to go. I think I need to be more consistent, but we're seeing some progress. He even went in the toilet while we were camping. Any moms out there have suggestions? Should we forego the diaper at night too?

On another note, Mooch has been really good with Little Brother lately. I think we're past the hitting phase (YeeHaw!), and he has realized that Toh-Toh is actually FUN to play with. It's nice to see them becoming good friends.

Little Brother: I think he's working on getting some teeth because this boy has been nothing but cranky! He wants to be held ALL the time, and when I put him down he follows me around whining. (ETA: He also gets into EVERYTHING--You've seen what happens when I attempt to do the dishes. Today I was chasing his naked brother around to get him dressed after sitting on the potty, and TW was PLAYING in the toilet water! That's it. Baths all around! The only thing Mooch ever got into was the DVDs).

The cool thing? He's started walking more and more lately. He's taken up to 5 steps at a time, and will be fully walking on his own before we know it. Today I've "caught" him walking short distances without being encouraged to do so, so that's been fun to see.