Weekend Round-up

This has been a very busy, very fun weekend for us.

We went to the Memphis Temple on Saturday with our friends, Becca & Billy and their two cute kids, Lucy (4) & Henry (1). We left Little Rock at 5:45am with donuts for the Moms (Billy is diabetic & Jon doesn't do sweets in the morning). We were all able to fit in our van, which made the trip really fun. The kids did a great job. It's a 2 1/2 hour trip to Memphis through a very boring part of Arkansas. We did plenty of chatting to make up for the lack of sight-seeing.

We used one of the rooms at the Stake Center next to the temple for the kids to run around and eat while we each did a session. This was the first session we've done in this temple where it was full. It was pretty exciting to see so many people enjoying the temple at once.

After our time in the temple, we stopped to eat at an Indian restaurant, which Billy was pretty excited about. I wasn't that impressed. Hultz loved the nann bread and rice. They had some fun Indian music playing that Lucy & Hultz danced to. We got home around 6pm and were pretty tired. We're so blessed to be able to go to the temple.

Sundays are long days for our family. First, I should say that we both love our callings. Jon has a day full of meetings. I usually work up a sweat in Primary.

Today Hultz's nursery leader brought him down at the end of church with a great looking scratch on his face. She was really worried and wanted to make sure I knew that it was an accident, etc. She said that Hultz and his friend Olive had started a 'tag' game and that it got a little out of control. I kindly told her that any 'games' Hultz & Olive start should be stopped quickly because they're quite the team. :) I also told her that Hultz is all boy. The new scratch would just match the bruise on the other cheek and the scratches on his knees.

Lastly, Hultz has a new game he plays with his snack after church. He's pretty talented with his Cherrios...

New Background...again

I keep changing the background of the blog because I find so many cute ideas! I really like this one. It looks old-fashioned and the green on the leaves is my favorite color. How do you like it?

Dangerous Dinners...

We're all sick in the small Hubbard Home on Cedar Street. We're all congested and have had to go to the store to replenish the Puffs Plus with Lotion tissues. We splurged on the super tissues because we all have bright red, chapped noses. Jon, who is never, ever sick is the worst, though I'm running a close second. Hultz seems to be almost over his, though his cough and runny nose seem to always linger a long time.

I took a nap when Hultz did today, which I never do. It was great, though I woke up feeling drained & just wanted to sleep more. Thankfully Jon is always willing to give a hand so he took care of dinner. Lucky for him Leftovers were on the meal calendar.

Jon warmed up the rice & beans to add to the quesadillas. This is where it becomes dangerous. Jon loves his salads big & heaping of veggies. He loves his enchiladas really thick with extra beans. He always throws in a few extra PB cups into his ice cream for 'good measure.' Tonight's dinner was no different. He made his quesadilla extra full of rice, beans & cheese. He cut it up and then handed Hultz some. Hultz loves rice, beans & cheese and especially Dad, so he was thrilled to have some of Dad's meal. The whole thing dripped out of the tortilla. The kid was happy but the food was everywhere. I make my quesadillas thin & conservative. That's how Hultz has his 90% of the time too. Dad's jumbo version was much better. :)

Happy Easter

We all looked pretty spiffy right before church, so we thought we'd share:

Spring has Sprung...

I have a book of New Family Traditions by Meg Cox that's filled with ideas of different ways to celebrate holidays & other things to celebrate in the family. I've enjoyed reading through it & like a lot of the things she suggests.

We've decided to do things a bit differently in the Hubbard house when it comes to Easter. We're going to focus on Christ and the Resurrection on Easter Sunday, of course. On the First Day of Spring (or close to it) we're going to do a Spring Day. We'll dye eggs, have an egg hunt, & eat candy. We really want to focus on the true meaning of Easter & help our kids see the difference.

Today was our first Spring Day. We did the eggs & the hunt which Hultz really loved. We also worked on our veggie & flower gardens. I like the idea of doing that on Spring Day too. What a great way to get the Earth ready to grow!

Hultz dyed the eggs:
Jon hid the eggs, along with some plastic eggs with candy inside and a couple of small toys in the backyard.
Hultz was thrilled to find candy in the eggs (I persuaded Jon to not put carrots & celery inside).


He loved finding his dog:
Bubbles & Elmo were the grand finale:

So our first Spring Day was really great. The weather was excellent & our gardens are weeded, planted and look lovely. Hultz has candy and an Elmo doll. Life couldn't get much better at our house!

Baking with a Toddler...

Hultz really likes to help me bake. He loves to help get the ingredients out, measure the ingredients and dump them in, and especially loves to turn the mixer on. We made banana bread tonight after dinner. He got very excited and was a great helper. He sported his new apron for the occasion too...

I turned around to put a few things in the sink and when I turned around, Hultz had tried to be helpful with the cinnamon...

Potty Training...

Hultz knows when he goes potty or poo poo. He knows the sign language too. He has a potty that sits on the real one and he loves sitting on it. We've been trying the pull-ups plan for awhile, but they do too good of a job keeping the wetness off of the body. So, yesterday we bought big boy underwear. I let him choose between ones with cars or ones with Elmo. Elmo won, hands down. I've rolled up the rugs, the potty is in a continuously open position, and I have the timer set for every 30 minutes. So we'll see how it goes today...

A Girls' Night Out

Two of my great friends, Becca and Alison (who just happen to both be in Primary with me too!) had birthdays that needed celebrating. We have just the group of ladies in our ward to do that. There were 19 of us that met Tuesday night at Senior Tequilla's for dinner & laughter. We had a great time together.

Me, Leslie, Becca (birthday girl #1) & Melissa: Some of the girls: Emily, Connie, Denna, Jen, Alison (birthday girl #2), Melissa & Becca:
Singing with the birthday hat on:
One of the girls in the group made this really cute apron & since then, we've all either bought the pattern ourselves (mine is the mail...) or have asked someone to make one. Alison was super excited to get hers.

Finally, some modesty!

I hate shopping for clothing. I mean, I really like clothes and I love the shopping experince. It's the trying on the clothes & wondering where the rest of the dress is or why the jeans have to be so low or the shirts so short that I hate.

So I've discovered a couple of websites that sell modest clothing:

http://www.downeastbasics.com/

http://www.shadeclothing.com/

http://www.modbeclothing.com/

I'm pretty excited!

Infectious Laughter & Leprechauns

Hultz loves to be outside. A lot. Jon, being the great father that he is, volunteered to take Hultz outside for awhile after dinner. It was nice to have 30 minutes of 'quiet time'. I didn't do 'quiet time' things while they were outside. I cleaned up after dinner (quiche, waffles & bacon= YUM!). I didn't mind though. Cleaning in a quiet house is nice. :) As I was cleaning, I heard Hultz's squeals and laughter and it made me laugh too. I was able to catch some of it on video and I'm sure it will be as infectious to you as it was me.

For Family Home Evening's activity, we made Leprechaun masks. Hultz helped color & glue everything together. We had a lot of fun doing it & I thought Dad would especially appreciate that we all had beards.

Enjoying the Storm

It's really storming right now- rain, thunder, lightening & wind. In fact, I got the candles & matches out just in case. Hultz and I have been sitting on the front porch enjoying the storm for the last 30 minutes. I especially liked it because Hultz let me cuddle with him most of the time. He knows that rain is water, that lightening is in the sky and that thunder makes a noise he's termed BOOM BOOM. It was nice to just sit and relax for awhile.

This is Hultz watching the rain coming down, though I don't think you can really tell. Sorry.

A fresh room & some beans

Some friends gave us their old computer desk. It's more than twice the size of our old one & much nicer. It's helped us downsize all of the other stuff that was packed into that small space.

To complete the fresh look, I took down those dreary bamboo blinds that came with the house & installed white mini-blinds. They aren't fancy but they just make the room look bright and updated. I'm quite pleased with how it all came together though it really makes me want to paint! I will probably spend way too much time back in this part of the house.

Hultz really, really loves beans. He loves spicey pintos the best. When he doesn't eat what we're having for dinner, I break out the beans to make sure he eats something.

Tonight was leftover night. Beans were included on the menu. Hultz ate and ate...


And I just hosed him off in the tub. :)

Snow is Falling All Around

On the housetops, on the ground...

I've been singing that all day to Hultz. Each time that I do, he starts dancing. He’s started to really show his dance moves lately. Maybe he’s inspired by my ABBA cd that I play while cleaning. :)

Anyway, it is snowing here, which is pretty exciting especially since I'm inside and don't have to leave the house. Hultz & I went outside to play for a little while this afternoon. It was perfect snowball snow. We threw it at each other, though I definitely had the advantage since he had mittens on. He figured out that the snow was supposed to be on the ground (he was pretty concerned earlier and kept saying ‘uh-oh’ over and over…). He can even say ‘snow’ after this exciting day. After playing outside for half an hour, he didn’t want to come back it but he was really cold. I got a warm bath ready for him and now he’s in warm PJs. And, he’s stolen a peanut butter M&M from my bowl as I type this. He’s pretty proud of himself. :)

Eat your heart out Mom! It's snowing even heavier now.

A Yummy Dinner...

I'm still sick so I stayed home from work today & enjoyed some rest and relaxation... well, only for the 2 hours Hultz napped. It was still nice. I thought some creamy soup would be just the thing for this sick girl to enjoy on a cold, rainy night with her two cute boys. I made some Cheesy Potato & Corn Chowder. While it was cooking away in the crock pot, I ventured to make bread bowls. You know, they turned out really well & were incredibly yummy & flavorful! Jon & I both agreed that they tasted better than Panera's bread bowl. Wow.

Bread bowls:

The soup. Yumm!Dinner.

Want the bread bowl recipe? It's incredibly easy!

2 large eggs, whipped together plus enough water to equal 1 cup + 5 T.

2 T. oil

1/4 cup honey

3 T. dry milk

2 t. salt

2 1/4 cups flour

1 cup wheat flour

1 cup rye flour (I didn't have any on-hand so I used another cup of wheat)

1 T. caraway seeds (it's worth adding these!)

3 T. onion flakes

2 t. active dry yeast

-Add ingredients to your bread maker. Set to 'dough' cycle.

-Place dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 equal parts. Shape into 4 smooth round balls and place on a greased baking sheet.

-Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

-Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

-Allow to cool on wire rack.

-With a serated knife, cut a lare circle in the top of the bread. Scoop out bread to create a bowl. Save the bread for dipping.

-Fill with about 1 cup of creamed soup (non-creamed soup will soak through the bread bowl too easily).

We Love the Zoo..

Well, it's offical. We love going to the Zoo. It's so close and filled with so many animals, Hultz can hardly contain himself. Saturday all three of us went. It was fun to take Jon this time. He needed a break from studying and writing. Hultz needed his daddy to get excited about the snakes. I was going to get some fresh air to see if that made me feel better (it didn't). We packed a lunch and spent the morning exploring.