Day 16

Taste of Tuesday:

For today's recipe I am giving you what I did actually make for dinner, but I cleaned up everything before I took a picture. This is a recipe from David's mother, Wilma. Jocelyn loves it also! What a great way to use up all your zucchini from your garden (or in my case...from the produce store). It tastes great with homeade bread and a yummy spinach salad (which I will post next week).
Here is Zucchini Soup:

3 lbs zucchini chopped in 1 inch slices

2 t. salt

1 t. onion powder

1 t. garlic powder

1/8 t. white pepper

2 10 oz cans of chicken broth

1/2 C. water

Combine all and bring to a boil. Then cover and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes until zucchini is tender. Place small amounts in the blender and blend until smooth. Repeat until all soup is smooth.

Stir in 1 1/2 C. half-and-half.

This is a beautiful soup and really is yummy!
Enjoy

Day Fifteen

Miracle of Monday:

Master Bathroom

Master Bathroom

Master Bedroom

Living Room

Living Room

Kitchen

So, I missed yesterday...guess I'll have to do a few extra days to make up for it. My miracle today is that David and I have finally put most things away in our home. We didn't think this would happen for such a long time. This house will be a continual work in progress. At least in the inside, we have hung pictures and put things away. It is really a good feeling to sit and look around and not think of anything at the moment that has to be done. Stuff that didn't have a place, we have gotten rid of. It's nice to see empty wall space. Here we are in the middle of June, almost a year from when we made the original offer on this house....and we are just now feeling somewhat settled. What an adventure, roller coaster, nightmare, scary movie, and joy ride this has been. These are pictures my friend Julie took Friday night when my house was the cleanest it has ever been

Day Thirteen

Super Saturaday:
Even though it is Sunday, I am doing my post for Saturday. Yesterday was a busy day with no time for blogging. I had to go to Victoria's dance seminar about how to do her hair and make-up for the show...very particular! I then got ready and was gone for the next six hours playing at two weddings: one in Valley Center and one in Rancho Sante Fe. It was great to have two weddings, but it does make for a long day. David was a trouper with all the kids. I know he looks forward to Saturdays when I don't have to play so that we can keep getting projects done around the house. But...it is wonderful I can do what I do and that he supports me. There were a lot of firsts yesterday. When I think I've seen I've seen it all, something will always surprise me. Here are a few things that happened:
1. it was my first wedding all in spanish without an english translation
2. first to have a bride and groom not even look at eachother the whole time during the ceremony
3. there was a groomsman wearing jeans with his suitcoat.
4. a very large man rolled down the hill because he fell off his chair in the front row while trying to take a video of the ceremony
5. the minister had the bride/groom sign the marriage certificate during the ceremony and then took off even before the wedding party had walked back down the isle
6. i have never played right by a lake surrounded by 20,000 s.f. houses.
7. i played for a bride who's family is all from India. All the women wore their beautiful ceremony dresses.
8. first time I have ever been asked to dress modestly for a ceremony. The bridemaids and brides all had sleeves on their dress. I guess it's not just a mormom thing.

After my weddings, I came home, changed my clothes and took my girls to watch the clogging show in Vista. Both my sister, and David's nieces performed in it. It really was fun and the girls loved spending time with just me.Victoria and Jocelyn with their cousins Jenna and Taryn Hervey

The girls with my sister, Jenna who has been clogging for eight years.

Day Twelve

Fabulous Find Friday:

I have found some great deals this week doing my shopping. At Vons I spent 40.00 for a lot of great food, and the original bill before coupons and Vons Club was well over 100.00. I felt pretty great about that.
My favorite find this week, is my new birthday purse that my Aunt Suzie made. It is gorgeous! I love the cool and different tapestry fabrics and the beautiful hand crafted roses on the front. I have gotten tons of compliments and it is great to have a purse that is unique. It carried everything I need and I even have room for two diapers, wipes, and a few snacks for Tyler! Thanks Suzie for making such beautiful things that help me feel beautiful. Her website is great and she will make whatever you want( right?). Everything is awesome: girls skirts, make-up bags, purses...etc.
www.justbeonline.com.

If you are ever in Utah, you can see her stuff for yourself! Hope you'll check it out.

The Front on my new purse!

Her Cute Logo she puts on the back of the purse!

Day Eleven

Thoughts on Thursday:

Even though it's Friday morning, I am still thinking about yesterday and why I didn't have time to write. There really aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. David says I put a lot of it on myself and just try to do way to much....but when I look at my life, I don't know which part is too much?
I watch my niece Ela on Wednesdays (whom I love dearly and is the cutest little two year old around). I told Lauren I would watch her yesterday to. We had a wonderful day, despite the fact that the nurse called me from school and said Victoria had a stomach ache. The mean mom that I am, I told the nurse to tell her to eat a snack and rest for a few minutes and that she should go back to class. I told her I didn't have time to come and get her! Well that didn't work, so I had to drive down and pick her up with three other kids to walk in. With dance class, and a few errands and cleaning up all the toys, we barely had dinner (does taquitos count?). David put the kids to bed and by this time Victoria had a full on fever and wouldn't eat anything. I ran to Frazier Farms, Vons, and CVS to get all my grocery shopping done and got home at 9:15. With a few people coming over tonight, I knew I needed to get my house clean (pretty desperately). I stayed up late last night(and David did for a while to) doing this:Take Care of Victoria

Vaccuming my whole house (I don't even think I've done the whole house since we moved in)

Lot's of Laundy!

Mopping my very neglected sticky floor!

Paying bills and balancing our accounts.

Life is crazy....but wonderful. I am trying to enjoy even these routine tasks we all have. I still wish I would wake up one morning and all of them would be done for me, but I don't think THAT is going to happen!

Day Ten

What'ca Working on Wednesday?
My friend, Trina is doing this title for her Wednesday posts. I didn't think anything I would ever be able to do this. I don't have a lot of time for craft projects. I have been hanging pictures and that kind of stuff, but nothing really exciting. However, tonight I did attempt something I haven't tried since 5th grade. I started making a quilt. My mom is in charge of the sewing/quilting class in our church and she hosts the event once a month. She really is an amazing seamstress and can do anything: quilts, dresses, wedding dress alterations...you name it. She told me this month that I really should come and try to make this cute watermelon quilt. I don't like to sew, because I don't like it when I have to redo stuff, or mess-up, or when it just takes so FLIPPIN long to get an end result. I like fast quick rewards for my work....this tells a lot about me by the way. My mom even had to come with me to the fabric store and help me buy my fabric because I thought I would have a panic attack with three kids and a store full of fabric and me not knowing what to pick.
So....I went and made my first 8 of 40 quilt blocks and I have to say it really wasn't bad and I think I actually had fun. As I was leaving my mom announced to everyone, "Oh Leanna I'm so proud of you because you didn't even cry." Too many painful memories for the both of us: my mom trying so patiently to teach me and me so aggressively trying to get my way out of sewing!
I will keep you updated on my quilt progress.

Day Nine

Taste of Tuesday:

I do not have a picture of this recipe, but it is what David is eating on his birthday. This is his favorite dessert. I have been making it since we were at BYU. It is dangerous...just to warn you. It doesn't even have a name, so I guess I'll call it: Devil's Cake:
Here is what you need:
1 box devil's food cake mix
1 large box instant chocolate pudding (make up and have in the fridge)
1 large container coolwhip
1 can of Hershey's syrup (the small can with the yellow lid)
A few Skor bars, or Heath Bars

1. Cook cake in 13x9 pan according to package directions.
2. When cake comes out of oven, stab with a fork several times to break it up. It will be hot, so watch out!
3. Pour a thin layer of Hershey's syrup over entire cake. Let coo.
4. When cake is cool, layer in your favorite glass trifle bowl (or any bowl):
layer of cake, layer of chocolate pudding, layer of cool whip, layer of skor bar chunks.
5. Repeat until you run out of stuff. Top with a good drizzle of Hershey's syrup over the top.

This is a beautiful dessert and great to serve in nice clear cups. We had a large family party. I doubled everything and served it in my mom's crystal punch bowl! It was so heavy, but awesome for a large crowd and a great centerpiece on the dessert table!

Enjoy!