Hi. I’m Bilbo Baggins

What do you get when you cross two Tolkien fans? A little boy who introduces himself as Bilbo Baggins.

My husband has been reading a chapter of The Hobbit to my children one night a week. They grab their pillows and blankets and curl up on the floor of our bedroom and listen to the story.

Yesterday, my husband took them for a stroll in a wooded area near our home and they each pretended to be characters from The Hobbit out on an adventure. A couple walking their puppy, came through and my little son ran right up to them and said, “Hi. I’m Bilbo Baggins.”

Dirty Windows

Loved this message!

Hope in the Future

I hosted a playgroup for some of the moms I know. Above the cacophony of four toddlers, we managed to carry on a lively conversation. 

As I looked around the room I realized that two of the five of us moms were born in America, two others were born in former Soviet countries and another in Latin America. Yet here we were chatting about children, work, and countries we'd lived in like we were the oldest of friends.

Forget Him Not

Last Sunday, I taught Relief Society. Our topic was Elder Uchtdorf’s talk in the General Relief Society meeting, Forget me Not. What an easy lesson to teach.  That talk was one of the highlights of the entire conference for me.

Women can be so hard on themselves. Why that is, I don’t know, but we always seem to be beating ourselves up for some shortcoming.  Elder Uchtdorf certainly picked up on that and his five points were truly inspired:

The Piano Guys at 180 mph

Loved these songs from the incredible Piano Guys:

Gluten-free Cream of Mushroom Soup

http://www.progressosoup.com/soup.aspx?soup=vegetable-classics

Anyone whose grown up in the Rocky Mt./Green-Jello-Belt region knows that Cream of Mushroom soup is a kitchen staple. Almost every casserole, of which there are many ward-dinner variations, has some kind of cream of something in it.

Imagine my delight when while shopping at a regular supermarket I saw Progresso's Creamy Mushroom Soup labeled gluten-free!!!

Some of my husband's favorite mom-made dishes require such soup and over the years, I've tried to make a desirable gluten-free substitute but it's just never been the same. So for all of you gluten-freebies out there, Progresso has heard your pleas.

I can't wait to make my husband's favorite broccoli, chicken and rice casserole that we can all enjoy together. Yipee!!

P.S. They also have a GF New England Clam Chowder.

Get the Bucket

No worries. This is just an ordinary non-puke bucket :).

I’ve been absent from my blog for several days, but there’s good reason. First a back story…

Once our two oldest kids graduated to a forward-facing car seat, they both got car sick within 15 minutes of any drive.  They didn’t grow out of it until they each hit about age four, but blessedly, as their age increased, so did the space between vomitings.

Our little son was especially susceptible. We went on a safari when he was almost three and the road was of course rugged. Each bump was another vomit until he just didn’t have any left. I’m sure the lions had a surprising new smell to wonder at as they went on their evening hunt.

A Little Bit O' Love Going Out

Just sending out some messages of love this Valentine's Day:

My Brain Needs a Drink...

My son has mastered the art of offloading responsibility for his actions onto someone or something else.

Coming home from the store today, he told me, “My brain needs a drink.”

“Oh yeah,” I asked.

“Yep, it wants a chocolate milkshake. It’s thirsty. All of me is thirsty and needs a chocolate milkshake.”

Pioneer Yeast Follow-up

This was NOT my bread, but certainly what I am striving for. This is Grandpa's famous whole wheat, quick-rise yeast bread that I would love to be able to eat!

I'm finally following-up on my trial run using pioneer yeast. As stated in my previous post, pioneer yeast or natural leaven is thought to breakdown the protein parts of grains that make people with gluten intolerance unable to process gluten. The thought is if natural leaven is used, people with celiac or gluten-related issues may be able to eat gluten-grained breads. Of course since I have gluten intolerance, I was keenly interested in that idea.

Unraveled

Daddy couldn’t get home fast enough today. I’d had enough, and summarily deposited my toddler into his waiting arms.

This was after she’d grabbed my son’s packed lunch off the table, opened it and began dissecting his sandwich with her little fingers.

I suppose this wouldn’t have irritated me so much if I hadn’t just finished mopping the contents of an entire water bottle that she’d pulled from my daughter’s lunch box and poured all over the floor, ironically right where she was sitting in time-out for a previous transgression. I forget which one as the day was full of them.