Snow, Snow, Snow

Mark just could not wait to try out his rip-stick! It took Ken 45 minutes to shovel the driveway Monday morning before work and Mark was so thankful. By the time he was ready to go to school the front walk to the driveway was almost totally clear, and he knew just how to fill the time waiting for his ride to school.

Abbie loves making snow angels! Walking around the backyard.

Family Events

Yesterday we had a delicious family dinner to celebrate Steph and McKay's engagement and hear all about their travels to Washington DC and the details of the proposal. After dinner I put the finishing touches on Mark's alligator, giving it some eyes. I was a little worried about doing the scales on 24 cupcakes, but they turned out to be pretty easy after all.

We all sang and Mark blew out the candles we put in the alligator's tail and then he commenced with the gifts. A remote control car. (Jessie has volunteered to keep this in a safe place for Mark.)

A scouting t-shirt. Mark is SO excited to be a Cub Scout! He also got a set of CTR rings you can paint yourself and new scriptures. This morning for our family scripture reading Mark sat by me so we could share his new scriptures. When we started reading Mark informed me that he wanted to be the first one to read from his new set.And a rip-stick. Jessie went with me to pick it out on Friday and then almost spilled the beans at dinner that night. We stopped her in time and pretended it was a fish tank. That confused him enough. After the party Mark got to have a sleep over at Grandma's house. At lunch today he shyly told me he was up until the first 10 minutes of his birthday!! Grandma is some party animal.

Dancing Cards

Today was Pioneer Day for the 4th graders. At the end of the day the parents were invited to come watch the square dances the kids had learned. (Since everyone at my house has a cold, Ken was here to watch sleeping Spencer and Mark and Abbie.) It was a lot of fun to watch the girls all gung-ho and the boys shuffling along, well, all of the boys weren't shuffling, but quite a few were. They preformed the Texas Star and the Virgina Reel. Then the parents were invited to do the Virgina Reel with the kids. I'm not used to being the "boy" and so I messed up once and the girls all thought that was hilarious.

Here is the preview of some of the cards for Stamp Day. Hope you enjoy the seek peek and I'll see you next week!

Family and Horses

Spencer the silly....Spencer the cute. Do you love those blue eyes? And that innocent smile can be so deceiving. Last week Grandpa Fry came for another visit. Sadly it was for a funeral in SLC. On Tuesday Abbie, Spencer and I enjoyed a taco salad lunch with him at Ken's mom's house. While we were there Abbie got a short horsey ride and she and Spencer got chased in circles around Grandma's house. That evening we had a group here for dinner. It was great to visit and the kids especially loved Grandpa reading them a hilarious book we got from the Cheerios box, The day dinosaurs came with everything.

Jessie and Mark have started a new fun thing. Horse vaulting. Basically it's gymnastics on horseback. Today was their third lesson. They have been super practicers during the week and it really paid off. I believe that this is "flag" position. It was so dusty in the barn it was hard to get a good picture.

Getting ready to stand....
Mom! I let go of the grips! Jessie was so excited that she had enough balance to try standing while the horse was walking.

Cream Cheese Potato Soup

This soup goes great with corn bread.

8 medium potatoes, peel and diced
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 a large onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. pepper

3 cups water

8 oz. cream cheese

1 can evaporated milk
1/4 cup flour

milk

In a large pot combine veggie and spices in water (the water should just cover the veggies, add a little more if needed). Bring to a boil and simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until the veggies are tender. Mash slightly with a potato masher and add the cream cheese in chunks. Stir over low heat until the cream cheese is mostly melted. Combine milk and flour with an electric mixture. Stir milk/flour mixture into soup returning the soup to a boil to cook the flour. OR combine milk and flour in a small pan; over medium heat stir constantly until it starts to bubble. Then pour the thickened milk into the soup and stir until well mixed. If the soup is too thick add a small amount of milk to reach desired thickness.

A day of Sledding

The last thing we did before my mom and sisters left was go sledding. We also brought two of Ken's brother's kids with us and had a ton of fun. Unfortunately for Spencer sledding overlapped his nap time and although he started out with a smile... well you'll see. Abbie joining Ken and Spencer. My mom and sisters.

Mark and Jessie walking back up the hill. We were at Spanish Oaks Elementary, I think.

Abbie speeding down while I was marching back up the hill. Isn't it crazy how half the time you end up going down backwards.

Can you believe that Ken and I fit on this tiny sled?

Don't you love the hair blowing out behind Megan. My mom opted not to ride a sled and so we gave her the camera and she was strategically placed half way down the hill on a photo mission.

Several times when Mark got on a sled he picked the ones with a sly smile and ended up crashing. After about the fourth crash we was ready to go home, but I convinced him to go a couple of more times with me promising to keep those crazy sleds under control. I didn't want him to go home sad remembering that sledding wasn't quite so fun. Luckily I was able to keep my promise of "no crashes" and we had fun.

Spencer's nap time comes and goes....at some point Spencer decided that he would NOT get on a sled; he just walked around the top of the hill sliding a bit on his belly in his snow suit. I think Rachel grabbed him and stuck him on Ken's sled just in time for him to catch a ride down the hill.

Kyle, Becca, Rachel and Abbie rebuilt a jump someone had started.

Do you love this picture?!?

I went over the jump too. Rachel thought it was so funny to watch all of us and so we sent her over it too.

Rachel's turn.

Abbie's favorite person to ride with was Becca. They went again and again and.....

Kyle's turn. I was lying on my stomach just to the side of the jump to try and get some real action shots.

A little jump can sometimes be something to scream about!

Fun with Family

While my family was here we watched the new Emma movie. I thought it was very good. I really enjoy it when I find something that makes people from history become more like real people and not just someone I "know" about.We had a low key birthday celebration for my dad. We were all so sweeted out from Christmas that we didn't even make dessert at all. Rachel got him this very cute book by Jan Brett about a .... did you guess a chicken....well you probably would have if you know my dad. He read it to the kids and they were entranced.Then we all got ready to read scriptures. This is how you get ready for scriptures, right? With a nice comfy pillow.

Whenever I see my sisters I always end up with a series of pictures on my camera that I don't remember taking. I think I had about 15 pictures of Abbie outside eating snow this time.

We are having so much fun building new tracks with Spencer's additional track and bridge pieces he got for Christmas. Well I guess I could only say that for me, because I'm the only one who builds tracks for Spencer. It's so fun though, like a giant puzzle. Anyway, Spencer loves to scoot his train around the whole time I'm building (mostly being in the way and trying out the pieces I've just attached) and when I get the last pieces hooked together, he done playing with the train and is ready to move on to something else.

Mark got a great new kids game called Sleeping Queens. It's by the same company that makes Rat-a-tat-cat and Duck, Duck BRUCE. I just love these games. Fun for kids and parents -- that's always an added bonus.One night Jessie helped Rachel and Mom make egg rolls. She had a blast and was even brave enough to try them. She decided "they aren't my favorite" and gave hers to someone else to eat.
For some fun, Mom and Rachel picked up some fortune cookies while they were out shopping to have with dinner too. We went around the table cracking them open and reading our fortunes. When it was little Abbie's turn she could not figure out how to crack hers open. It was pretty funny watching her try. Becca came to her rescue and she finally got to see her fortune.
For New Year's Eve we went to Ken's parents until about 9 to play games and snack. Then party-pooper mom dragged everyone home and put them to bed.

Christmas come and gone

Here are a few Christmas pictures. Jessie and Abbie got a couple pairs of toe socks. Ken had to help Abbie put hers on.

Spencer got a little Lighting McQueen car and played with it all morning. He'd stop to come open a present and then go back to playing with the little car. After a while he got tired to running across the lid of the piano and threw all the stockings off the couch and onto the floor so he could use the couch as his runway. At some point the heater came on and he noticed it and ran over to lay on it and warm up a bit.Abbie got a new game that all the kids have loved. The game shouts out commands and you jump on the little pod things.This year we started a new tradition. After all the presents were opened we cleared the living room floor and had a wrapping paper "snowball" fight. This year we did parents against the kids, but my partner deserted me to take pictures and I was the only target for a while. It was a ton of fun! After we were all tired out from running around everyone pitched in to help clean up the mess.

Mark's favorite thing this year was a computer version of monopoly. Now we don't have to count out the money and mom doesn't step on hotels left on the floor.

Corn Potato Chowder

This is Jessie's absolute favorite soup. She had six bowls of it tonight. Now they weren't huge bowls, but she ate more than I did.

3 cups water
6 to 7 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 an onion, chopped
1/2 a green or red bell pepper, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. chicken bouillon
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

8 oz. frozen corn

1 1/2 cups milk
2 Tbsp. corn starch
8 oz. cream cheese

Boil the potatoes, onion, peppers, and seasonings in the water about 10 minutes. Add frozen corn and return to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are tender. Whisk the corn starch into the milk and stir into the soup. Add the cream cheese in small chunks and stir until the cream cheese it melted and the soup has thickened.

*Sometimes I add more peppers or corn depending on what I've got in the freezer. The taste of the peppers with the cream cheese really give this soup its tasty flavor. (I use the Neufchatel cream cheese.) Sometimes I have to add a little more salt.

A Call for Help

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has released this further clarification of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) (PL 110-787).

CPSC Clarifies Requirements of New Children’s Product Safety Laws Taking Effect in FebruaryGuidance Intended for Resellers of Children’s Products, Thrift and Consignment Stores
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In February 2009, new requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) take effect. Manufacturers, importers and retailers are expected to comply with the new Congressionally-mandated laws. Beginning February 10, 2009, children’s products cannot be sold if they contain more than 600 parts per million (ppm) total lead. Certain children’s products manufactured on or after February 10, 2009 cannot be sold if they contain more than 0.1% of certain specific phthalates or if they fail to meet new mandatory standards for toys.
Under the new law, children’s products with more than 600 ppm total lead cannot lawfully be sold in the United States on or after February 10, 2009, even if they were manufactured before that date. The total lead limit drops to 300 ppm on August 14, 2009.
The new law requires that domestic manufacturers and importers certify that children’s products made after February 10 meet all the new safety standards and the lead ban. Sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards.
The new safety law does not require resellers to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties.
When the CPSIA was signed into law on August 14, 2008, it became unlawful to sell recalled products. All resellers should check the CPSC Web site (www.cpsc.gov) for information on recalled products before taking into inventory or selling a product. The selling of recalled products also could carry civil and/or criminal penalties.
While CPSC expects every company to comply fully with the new laws resellers should pay special attention to certain product categories. Among these are recalled children’s products, particularly cribs and play yards; children’s products that may contain lead, such as children’s jewelry and painted wooden or metal toys; flimsily made toys that are easily breakable into small parts; toys that lack the required age warnings; and dolls and stuffed toys that have buttons, eyes, noses or other small parts that are not securely fastened and could present a choking hazard for young children.
The agency has underway a number of rulemaking proposals intended to provide guidance on the new lead limit requirements. Please visit the CPSC website at www.cpsc.gov for more information.
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I did it! For the first time ever I investigated an issue and wrote my Senators and Representative.

A law was recently passed that requires all items that are intended to be sold to children under the age of 12 to be tested and certified that they do not contain excessive amounts of lead or other dangerous chemicals. While we all want safe products for our children, this law was written so badly that I think it causes more problems than it solves.

Rather than re-hashing the issue, I pasted the text of the letter I sent below. Would you do me a huge favor and contact your Congressmen too? You can copy and paste the text of my letter or write your own, but please do it!

If you want more information, check out these websites:
She Does Hair - I know it’s a hair blog, but there was a good post on this subject.
I-Petitions.com - You can sign this petition without making a donation. It will automatically prompt you to donate, but it sends your signature before it asks for money.
Consumer Product Safety Commission Overview – This is a 13 slide PowerPoint – It’s a whole lot easier to follow than the 63 page rule!

Here are links to find your Senators and Representative. Thanks! You’re all great!

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Dear (Insert Senator or Representative Name):

I am writing regarding the recently enacted Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) (PL 110-787). I am sure you have received many form letters related to this issue; I considered sending a form letter too, but I wanted to capture my own thoughts.

Based on my understanding, this regulation will have significant unintended consequences that will harm small manufacturers, including small home-based businesses of normal people trying to support their families without relying on the government for help. And although this legislation was designed to protect consumers, I believe its negative effects greatly outweigh its intended benefits.

In many cases, the new testing is unnecessary as many products have already undergone extensive testing. Many products are inherently lead-free, so the requirement that every product intended for use by a child be tested and certified is … well, ridiculous!

This legislation unintentionally harms millions of honest, hard-working “micro-entrepreneurs” in this country. What about the person who knits baby blankets and sells them for a small profit? Or people who make and sell homemade birthday cards for children? Will they have to certify that their yarn, paper, and rubber stamps are lead free? These items have been safe for years, and they will be safe in the future. How can we justify spending hundreds of billions of dollars to stimulate the economy, then pass this type of regulation that undermines an entire segment of small business?

The outcome of this new regulation that I find most galling is the impact that this will have on thrift shops and the Americans who rely on them. Charitable organizations such as Deseret Industries, the Goodwill, and others that provide low-cost clothing to those in need will no longer be able to sell those goods unless each item of clothing has been tested. These organizations will have no alternative but to throw these needed and useful items away. At a time when unemployment is reaching record highs and it seems there is no end to the economic catastrophe all around us, eliminating a safe, effective, low-cost source of clothing for those in need seems…worse than ridiculous! It’s wasteful and wrong.

Rather than just complaining, I want to be a force for good. Here is a solution I came up with that I think meets the objectives of this legislation while minimizing the adverse effects I have discussed. Instead of banning all items that have not undergone this testing, simply require businesses to disclose whether or not their products have had additional testing.

I am so totally frustrated by this experience that I am turning to my Congressmen for help. I cannot require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to bring some sanity to these rules, but you can. Thank you for your time. I know you are very busy, but I would appreciate receiving a reply to my letter.

Have you thrown out your Christmas cards yet?

Instead of throwing your cards away -- donate them. For more details click on the link.

http://www.stjudesranch.org/help_card.php

After February 2009 when St Jude's Ranch stops accepting them, here is another lead:

I'm the card coordinator for Operation Quiet Comfort and am collecting the card fronts (store bought and hand made) to make into the cards for next years holiday shipment. OQC supports over 60 combat support hospitals and the cards are completed with personal messages and given to wounded troops and the medical staffs that care for them.

My address:
Diane Schneider
6305 Cape Charles Drive
Raleigh NC 27617

Cheesy Potato Soup

Last night for dinner we had one of our all time favorite soups. I got the recipe from a friend in Phoenix when we lived there. I love getting recipes from friends because whenever I make them I'm reminded of the good times we had. Thanks Audra!

2 stalks of celery, chopped
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 to 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
6 to 7 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
3 cups water
3 chicken bouillon
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. rosemary
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 tsp. pepper

1 to 2 cups milk
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)

Combine veggies and spices in water. Boil until veggies are tender (you can cover if you want) 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat and mash with a potato masher without draining off the water. Stir in milk until it reaches desired thickness. Stir in shredded cheese and reheat stirring until the cheese is melted.

I love the flavor of thyme in this dish!

The BIG Surprise

My biggest Christmas surprise was that on the 23rd around midnight my mom and dad and two sisters showed up at our house!!! (Ken knew they were coming and I finally caught on that something was up when he wasn't ready for bed and it was getting pretty late.)

On the 24th we prepared to go to SLC for the annual neighborhood sing with my grandparents with some fancy hairdos. It was fun to play around.I love this picture of dad. (Ignore my messy fridge!)My parents were going to spend Christmas day with my dad's parents in SLC and Rachel really wanted to see my kids open a few gifts so before we went up to the sing we did. Spencer really liked the puzzle snake from Aunt Heather and we all got hissed at. Rachel and Dad found these straws with strawberry milk powder in them. The kids were dying to try them out. After Abbie finished her glass of milk she played a little flute music for me.We made it up for the last 10 minutes of the sing (after a few bathroom breaks on the 1 hour drive to SLC, but no wet pants -- thank goodness! Sometimes potty training seems to drag on FOREVER!) At the sing there were a few portable fire pits to help keep us warm. Grandpa helped set up the lights again this year with some help from the cousins. Do we look cold?