Back in business...

The past two weeks have been packed with reading books, going on dates, watching movies, cooking with mom, visiting places, working hard to maintain a balance of time and energy between my children, my mom, my husband, and myself, and so much more that it's hard to summarize in writing. In short, life has been busy. I've also felt a bit frustrated for not being able to be back on my normal schedule. Having my mom here has thrown me off a bit. I've loved talking to her, taking her to see the area, learning to cook the way she does, helping her have a relationship with my children, and discussing books, movies, and life. However, that has meant that I have had to give up my own time. Admittedly, this has made me a bit overwhelmed. My husband and children know that I need my personal time and space, and they see to it that I'm not disturbed during those times. My mother isn't getting the message yet. These past few days, I've tried to go about my business as before, but it hasn't worked. Logically, business can't be run the same, since I've got another person in the family to account for. So, I'm trying to think of ways that I can find a balance.

The positive side of having my mother here is the fact that I have a build-in babysitter. Just a day after she arrived, Elijah and I went to see Harry Potter. We hadn't seen it yet, and so we left the kids with mom, and went into town. On her first week-end here, we left Charlton with her, and took the kids to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. We waited so long because Jefferson and James hadn't finished reading the Chronicles of Narnia series yet. As soon as we were done reading the Dawn Treader, we went to see it, and we all loved it. The children kept telling us afterwards how the movie was different from the book. It was amazing discussing the books with them. I'm so glad we have the rule in our house that we read the book first and then watch the movie. Although, I have to say I didn't keep this rule myself this past week. I love BBC productions of various classics, and since I've been in a Charles Dickens reading spree since December, I order a BBC production of one of his novels, Little Dorrit. The interesting part is that although I've read a great many novels written by Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit isn't one of them. Normally, I would wait to watch the series till after I have read the book, but as soon as I saw that Matthew Macfadyen was playing in it, I gave up the rules, and set up for three nights in a row watching Little Dorrit. It goes to show how sometimes vanity wins over principles. Only sometimes, and only if Matthew Macfadyen or Richard Armitage or ... you get the point. So, although I'm trying to blame my mother for taking my time and not letting me write in my blog for the past week, maybe I should blame my attraction with the classics, and perhaps my infatuation with handsome actors. In all seriousness, if you get a chance, either read or watch Little Dorrit. It showed me why we still read classics today. It was wonderful, and it had everything a great classic has, beautiful language, well developed characters, interesting story, a good little mystery into the plot, and yes, happy ending. I love Dickens, because from all the classical authors, his novels always end well, and that makes me want to read his books.

Speaking of reading books, we had a feast reading these past two weeks. My favorite book for adults is a biography of Nikola Tesla. Elijah got it for Christmas and I've been reading it in between other books. I'm still reading it and I really like it. No matter what kind of books you like to read, this biography is sure to please everyone. For young adults, I got Gillian, and consequently the older boys, historical fiction written G. A. Henty, an author that wrote over hundreds of books relating to events during world history. The one we are reading now is called Under Wellington's Command. And as for little kids' books, we have read too many to count, but my boys' favorite for these past two weeks is one called Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies written by Carolyn Crimi. My kids loved it that there was finally a pirate who loved reading and who used his knowledge to get out of hard situations. A winner with any little reader.

Besides entertaining ourselves with movies and books, we've worked hard, played hard and partied hard. We've realized that Charlton is a great addition to start doing chores. He likes taking care of himself, wants to be clean, tidies his toys up better than the older children, and has consistently offered himself to help with putting out the trash cans.



We've played many a games of Qwirkle (a very frustrating game), Operations, Candyland, Monopoly, baseball, basketball, Play dough, and found out that James is unbeatable in Dominoes. We are all shocked that he can win game after game with an unprecedented calmness.
We also finally took down our Christmas tree that the kids wanted to keep up till Mommy Lily came. The house looks so bare after all the Christmas decorations are gone, and even though we've put up Valentine's decorations, it just isn't the same. Nevertheless, it was time to take them down.
A week ago, my mother expressed a desire to have a desk in her room where she could study and do her homework. Oh, did I tell you that besides dropping and picking up my kids at school, I have an additional drop off and pick up? Well, we found my mother an English class at Loma Vista adult center, which meets Monday through Thursday. That means that on those days I get to be a chauffeur for my three kids and my mother. Just in case you were wondering where my time was spent. Anyways, she asked me if I could get her a desk, and so I went to Walmart and bought her one. I then proceeded to assemble it and although it took me over an hour to finish it, I was very proud of myself. A woman of many talents, what can I say. I know this desk looks very simple to assemble, but just give me a break and let me be proud of doing something like that by myself. I'm not the creative and building kind.

We also had many friends over for dinner a few times these weeks. I love entertaining friends and family, and although we invite friends throughout the week, we mostly have dinner with friends on Sundays. Two Sundays ago we had invited a couple of families from our ward, and I was excited to cook a good meal. For some reason, the meal was a disaster. I had overcooked (borderline burnt) the pork chops; I had forgotten to add the herbs and spices to the soup, therefore it tasted totally blend; the potatoes were dry; and the salad was missing ingredients. The only thing that was good were the rolls, and the dessert that our friend brought. So, in case you have a dinner like ours sometimes, here is the roll recipe for you to please your guests:

Dinner Rolls
(for 24 rolls)
1 egg room temperature
1 1/3 cups warm water
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp Italian seasoning (sometimes I put the spices in and sometimes I leave them out, especially if I want to eat the rolls with jam)
4 cups bread flour
2 tsp active dry yeast

Add ingredients to the pan in the order listed. Place the pan in the bread machine.
Select the DOUGH program, and then press START.
Remove the dough from the pan when beeper sounds a few times.
Take the dough out and place on a lightly floured surface. Divide into pieces and shape.
Place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until double in size. (I place the covered sheet in the oven with a temperature of 200 degrees. This way takes much less time for the dough to double.)
Bake at 350 F for 15 -25 minutes. Brush with butter and coarse salt.
Enjoy!

What have you been doing lately? What are some of the books, movies, or shows that you have enjoyed recently? What is a good dinner story that makes you laugh? What is a good recipe that has always been triumphant in delivering you from trouble? Have you been enjoying a good project these days?

Here to a Fabulous February!