Today I would rather

Today I would rather

• Remember how clean the house was yesterday morning than make any effort to restore it to its former glory today.
• Leave the kids (and me) in their pjs than fight with them to get dressed.
• Enjoy whatever food I eat than worry about whether I should or should not be eating it and what its effect will be on my waistline.
• Reread A Prayer for Owen Meany than watch Simon Birch.
• Stay in the shower and enjoy every last drop of hot water than concern myself with water and gas bills and droughts and my responsibilities to the planet.
• Not have to stop Addie from: forcing things onto Maggie's head until they become a hat, attempting to pick Maggie up via a ribbon looped around her neck, performing chest compressions on Maggie, and just generally doing anything that could potentially end the life of her baby sister.
• Plan a trip to Disneyland than be responsible with my finances.
  
• Listen to the hum of the rain outside, cuddled under a blanket with a good book than listen to any crying, whining or fighting.
  
• Keep the TV on all day than read any books containing pictures, naked mole rats, princesses, pigeons or flies.

But, alas, the TV is off, time out is in session, and I know I'll have to get dressed sometime before I have to leave the house tonight. But I think I'm going to go ahead and enjoy the remainder of the pan of brownies wholeheartedly.

Zoloft, a Haiku

Antidepressants,
You make the sun shine brighter,
And help me to sleep.

Christmas Morning Monkey Bread

My stepmom wanted monkey bread on Christmas morning, but had forgotten to buy some frozen rolls to make it with. Monkey bread sounded good to me, but on Christmas morning, we didn't want to wait for dough to rise, so I pulled out a favorite recipe for quick cinnamon roll dough and came up with this. It was delicious, and pretty fast.

Quick Monkey Bread

Dough:

• 2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
  
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda (or 1 tsp. baking powder, if you have no soda)
  
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 c. buttermilk
  
• 6 tbsp. melted butter
  

Preheat oven to 425. Spray inside of bundt pan with cooking spray. Stir together dry dough ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Combine buttermilk and 6T melted butter and stir into dry ingredients. Stir until combined. Dough will be very sticky.

Monkeyness

• 1/4 c. butter, melted
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. granulated sugar
• 2 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. nutmeg

In another small bowl, combine sugars, cinnamon and nutmeg. Form dough into 1 inch balls, dip in melted butter and roll in sugar mixture. Stack balls in prepared bundt pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until bread is golden brown. Cool in pan for a few minutes, then invert on serving plate.

Glaze

• 3 T. cream cheese, softened
• 3 T. buttermilk
• 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
  

Whisk together cream cheese and buttermilk, then mix in powdered sugar. Spoon over bread, dive in, and slip into sugar coma.

Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup

I finally paid attention as I fudged together Chloe's and my favorite soup, and wrote down my recipe, and now I'm sharing the deliciousness with the world. My world consists of the 5 people who read my blog, in case you were wondering.

Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup

2 T butter
1 med. onion, minced
1/4 t salt
1/4 c flour
4 c chicken broth
3 med Yukon gold potatoes
3 crowns broccoli (about a pound)
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c cream or milk

Melt butter over med high heat in large saucepan or dutch oven. Add onion and salt and cook until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook about 1 minute. Stir in broth and cook for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the potatoes into 1/2 inch dice. Add to broth and cook another 5 minutes. While the potatoes cook, chop the broccoli into 1/2 inch dice. Add to soup, cover and cook another 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check potatoes and broccoli for doneness. When they are cooked to the desired level, turn off the heat. Stir in the cheese and cream or milk, and stir until cheese is melted.. Add more milk if the soup is too thick. Season with salt and pepper if desired, though the cheese adds plenty of salt, so be careful. Enjoy!

This recipe is dedicated to Amber, who requested it, and Ashley, who enjoys it almost as much as Chloe and me.

Happy New Year 2010!

Who's that in the Happy New Year hat?

It's me, Maggie! Hi! Happy New Year! (Seriously, could she be cuter?)

And there goes the hat.We let the girls dive into the gingerbread house.
They were so excited.
Crazy excited.
But that only lasted until they realized that they didn't like most of the candy on the house. And it was hard to get off. So they drowned their sorrows in bubbly.
Then we headed outside for fireworks at midnight. Or rather, sparklers at 8 pm. Yup, we are wild and crazy around here.
Chloe went dancing into the yard with hers.

While Addie preferred to stay close and attempt to burn the house down.Here's to finally being done with 2009! We were awfully glad to bid it farewell.

We love you, Ronald

We have made the trip to Utah enough times now that we know the good places to stop through the endless hours of Nevada. In other words, we know which McDonalds to stop at. The one in Winnemucca has a good playground/employee daycare. The one in Elko has a great playground. And an extra special statue of Ronald McDonald in that playground. One that my daughters developed a special relationship with.

Oh, Ronald. I love your hair.
And your strong, stripedy arms.

I could lie in them for hours.
It's my turn to lie in his arms!
I love him the most! Go away!

Ah, now she's gone. You're mine, all mine.
Now I can squat in your arms forever.
And love you and squeeze you.
And kiss you. Mmmm, you taste like ketchup.
Fortunately I still have one daughter who prefers food from a natural redhead.

Worst Day

The day after Christmas, we left to come home. It had been a really good visit, and I knew it was time, but still, it was an awful day. I hate saying goodbye to my family. As much as I don't want to live in Utah, I would love to live closer to my family, and if it were all up to me, would make the sacrifice.

Here's Addie saying goodbye to Grandpa Geilman.

And Chloe saying goodbye to Nana.
My brother Dan came down from his in-laws to say goodbye. He came bearing Kohler's fritters and chocolate milk which just made me even more nostalgic. It kills me that I don't get to see him but once every 3 1/2 years. Growing up we often hung out together and even dated each others friends. We were both in tears we we said our goodbyes in the driveway. I sure love him.


Missy also came over to say goodbye and share some delicious stollen with me. Thanks, Joey!
As hard as it was to leave the people I love so much, I am so grateful to have them all in my life.

Christmas Day

For Christmas, Maggie got a wonderful gift. The ability to sit unassisted. Those delicious cheeks she already had.

She also got some new toys which occasionally her sisters and her Aunt Kiki let her play with. And seriously, those cheeks are killing me.
Christmas afternoon, the masses descended on my parents house. 6 Geilman kids, 4 spouses, 10 grandkids, 3 Sutherland kids, 2 spouses, 4 grandkids and 1 fiance, plus Dad and Vicky. Here's Brigham showing off his new toolbelt to master craftsman Al while Dustin and fiance look on.
Me, Sarah and Heather. I'm wearing my "Most Spirited" award-winning Christmas sweater.
Dad, Matt and Peter. I remember when they all had hair.
Geilman girls.
Slightly random group shot, but seriously, how gorgeous is my sister in the lower left hand corner?
Lindsay and Maggie.
Addie was a little late to the party after taking a much needed nap.
We had such a wonderful Christmas. The best part was being with so much family. And great food. But mostly family.