Yum!

This is an awesome recipe that I love! Every time I make it to share, I have people wanting the recipe. Last time I made it for a potluck for Matt's work, he had 4 different people email him for the recipe. Anyway, it's really good!

2 ripe avacados (FYI, darker in color means more ripe)
4 tomatillos (nother FYI, pick the ones that are wrapped most tightly)
1 or 2 serrano peppers (you like it hot? Or not?)
1/3 or 1/2 orange pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 green onions
1/2 clove garlic
2 Tblsp. lime (I always do way more than that, because I love lime!)
2 Tblsp. cilantro (I always do way more than that, because I love cilantro!)
3 Tblsp. olive oil

That's it. I have a little chopper/mixer that I use to make this. After I have everything chopped up and in the bowl, I add the salt, lime, and olive oil. Then I just finish mixing it with a spoon. And I immediately have to get out the chips and taste it! Mmmmmmm...
Keep it in the fridge, and you will need to stir it up good every time you get it out to eat it.

This is one of my very favorite recipes. I love it alone with chips, or with any kind of mexican food. If you give it a try, let me know how it worked and what you think of it. Enjoy!:)

Wordful Wednesday

These are some of my favorite "Ellie" pictures from this summer. On this particular day we had just had lunch and headed to the park. Oh how we loved those lazy days!
Notice the necklace and bracelet! Ellie is the accessory girl, you know.

More Wordful Wednesday at

The Mind of My 5 Year Old

I know I have posted a lot about Joshua lately, but this is just too good.

Joshua: Mom, I love Grandma the very most of everyone.
Me: Oh really? You love Grandma more than you love me?
Joshua: Yes. She's in first place. (Pause) Mom, I'm going to tell you something, and it's probably going to make you really angry.
Me: OK...
Joshua: Grandma is a lot cooler than you are...
Me: Oh yeah?
Joshua: Yeah, and I like her face a lot better than I like yours.
Me: Thanks, buddy.

Don't you wish your child was as honest as mine?

Photo Story Friday

When we bought our house 4 years ago, it was what you would call a fixer upper. It was completely trashed! It was nasty, disgusting, foul. We spent 3 months working on it--cleaning and remodeling--before we even moved in. We had to remove a few walls, completely redo electric work and some plumbing, build a pantry, and of course paint.We also put in all new flooring, doors, light fixtures, and kitchen cupboards and counter tops. We also put a salon in the basement for me. It was a whole lot of work and we spent hours and hours every day working on it. (Thanks be to my family and to Matt's dad for helping us get it done!)

The rooms that were totally neglected in the whole process were the bathrooms. We ran out of funds and just weren't able to do them. Well, this year, I was able to do the main bathroom. Yeah!

Just a little background for you, I am very much a do-it-yourselfer. I hate paying someone any amount of money for something that I think I could do myself. I was raised that way. My dad was the fixer of things around our house. And if he couldn't figure something out, Grandpa was called in. I was also raised to not be afraid to get my hands dirty. In our house, it wasn't just the boys who were mowing the lawn, or helping with car repair. The oldest 3 kids were girls, and we helped with all kinds of projects. Just a few weeks ago we were helping my dad build his huge garage shed. And me and my sisters were just as involved as my brothers.

I like learning to do new things. And being involved, whether the task is big or small. I love the satisfaction of knowing I did something myself (or with help, but without "professional" help). When I look around my house, I see the handiwork of myself, my husband, and various family members. And I think for the most part, we did a dang good job.

Okay, enough rambling. Here are the befores. I know you will all love the pink!

Wasn't she lovely?!

Here are the afters:

I love how it turned out! And I love having an all new bathroom. Matt did all the demo. And with the help of his dad, the electric and plumbing got done.

Who did all that beautiful tile work, you ask? That would be me. Yep, all by myself. And I'm just a little proud.

I have a little bit of advice for any of you that might be using a tile saw in the near future:
1. Stand to the side of it unless you want your shirt to be completely soaked!
2. Safety goggles are a good thing! Especially if you end up needing to use a grinder.

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Joshua Tag

My sister-in-law Michele tagged me, or rather Joshua, in this fun little meme.

Name and meaning: Joshua Matthew is his name. Joshua means God rescues. Matthew means Gift of God. (I didn't previously know these meanings. I just looked them up about 2 minutes ago!) So, how did he get this name you ask? Well, we had been debating a few names (Joshua was not one of them.) and hadn't made a full decision. I pretty much had a name picked out for him, but Matt wasn't sold on it. We went to the temple one day and after went to lunch. When we were eating lunch, Matt told me that he knew what the baby's name would be. He then told me that the name Joshua had come to him in the temple. Honestly, I didn't like the name. It wasn't something I had ever considered. But, come on, how could I argue with something that came while in the temple? He remained nameless for a few hours after birth until I gave in and we named him Joshua Matthew. (Matthew obviously came from Matt). If I'd had my way, he would be named Max (after my dad) Allen (after Matt's dad.)

Age: If you ask him, he is 5 and a quarter.

Nickname: Joshy boy

Favorite Activities: He loves to color. He is constantly making pictures for people and loves to deliver them to anyone and everyone. I cannot tell you how much paper and envelopes we go through because of this child. He makes them for all the neighbors, family members, his doctor, his church and school teachers, and sometimes just gives them to complete strangers. He is very enthusiastic and can make you get excited about pretty much anything. He loves to play with his friends, play the wii, watch movies, and be very noisy.

Favorite Foods: Corn, watermelon, popcorn, popcicles, cake, spaghetti, and whoppers.

Least Favorite Foods: Tomatoes and mushrooms.

Favorite Music: I don't know that he really has a favorite. He does like Ryan Shupe and the Rubberbands song "Hey, hey, hey!"

Favorite Toy: This definitely changes from day to day. He rotates through them on a regular basis and puts them in his "secret place for toys that I love."

Favorite Book: This also changes daily.

What makes him happy: Everything makes him happy! He is excited about life. He gets excited about the little things, which is one thing I adore about him.

What makes him sad: Being told that he can't do something.

I tag anyone that wants to do this tag! It's kind of fun to analyze your kid and be able to share the wonderful things about them. So, consider yourself tagged!

And since we are talking about Joshua here, let me just tell you how our Saturday went.
Saturday is soccer day for my boys. Joshua couldn't find his soccer shirt and I was getting very frustrated trying to get everyone ready and out the door. He looked for it for a half hour and I finally went in his room and found it in about 30 seconds. Then he couldn't find one of his cleats. Again, I went right in and found it. Like I said, I was frustrated and knew we were already going to be a few minutes late. I said, "Go get in the car, now!" And I continued getting the girls in the car, along with my purse and the diaper bag.
We hit the road and we were about 3 minutes from the soccer field.
Parson: Mom. Joshua doesn't have any pants on.
Me: What?!
Parson: Joshua doesn't have any pants on.
Me: What does he have on?
Parson: His underwear.
Me: Are you kiddin' me?!! Joshua, why don't you have any pants on?
Joshua: I forgot.
Seriously, how do you forget your pants? So we turn around and head for the nearest store where I run in and buy the kid some shorts. At the check stand, I grab a pack of gum and a pack of crackers, thinking the girls can eat them at the soccer games. We started to go back to the soccer game but decided it wasn't worth it since the game was going to end in about 5 minutes. Later that day Joshua preceded to tell Matt that he had missed his game because, "Mom bought gum and crackers and wasted all my time." Uh-huh, suddenly this is all my fault.

Wordful Wednesday

"Mommy, I want to look just like Grandpa Craig!"

Go see who else is playing Wordful Wednesday at

Best Money I've Ever Spent

I got glasses when I was in the second grade. I remember my parents taking my sister and me both to get our very first pair. I picked out some pretty purple ones. On the way home, I remember my sister and I reading all of the signs, completely in awe. I remember saying to my parents, "You mean to tell me that most people see this good ALL the time?!" And thinking, "Wow, the trees really do have leaves on them!" Isn't that sad?

Well, from there my sight just went downhill. I got my first pair of contacts when I was in the 5th grade. I totally loved wearing them over glasses. Over the years my eyes continued to get worse and worse. I think I probably tried every kind of contact over the next 16 years.

My glasses were coke bottles and let me just tell you, they weren't pretty. I never liked wearing them. I always felt dirty when I had to wear them. I'm not really sure why--maybe because usually if I was wearing them it was early morning before I was ready for the day, or just before bed. I heard someone say once that wearing glasses was like looking out a window your whole life.

When I was about 18ish, I went on a camp out with a bunch of my friends. Some of them were seeing me in glasses for the first time. It was on this trip that one of my guy friends referred to my glasses as my "birth control glasses." Nice.

My husband likes to tell people he saw me walk into a wall once. Hahaha. Sadly it's true. My dad likes to tell the story about me failing the "how many fingers am I holding up?" in the doctors office and hearing the doctor and nurse laughing about it in the hallway. My mom reminds me often of the time we were boating and I was assigned to be the flagger. As she recalls, she was on the water weiney with some of my siblings and was doing the "STOP" signal over and over. Unfortunately, I missed seeing it at all. Or there's the embarrassing story when I went boating with a friend and her dad asked me to video tape her doing tricks on the knee board. Well, when we got home and played it back, there was about 10 minutes of blue sky recorded, and that was it. (I remember struggling to see, but thought I could see an outline of something?...maybe not?) Well, the list goes on and on...you get the point, right? I was basically blind!

I had been dreaming of having lasik eye surgery as long as I could remember. Unfortunately, with my perscription and the shape of my eye, I was not a candidate. And yes, I cried the first time they told me that.

Three years ago, I went to the office (where my husband, father, and sister all had lasiks done) just to have a free consultation and see if I had any hope at all. A few days later I had PRK surgery done. It is done with a laser (like lasiks) but it is a little more invasive and your sight takes a little longer (a few weeks) to fully improve. I completely jumped at this chance and have never looked back.

I went in for my 3 year post op last month and I still have nearly perfect vision. It is truly a miracle to me. I have asked a lot of my bloggy friends "what's the best money you've ever spent?" I figured I would answer this question myself. This is absolutely the best money I have ever spent--worth every penny! And I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Wordful Wednesday

Wordful Wednesday is brought to you by Angie at 7ClownCircus:




This is what can happen if you let your 2 year old jump on the trampoline with your 7 year old.

And trust me, you do NOT want this to happen!

(As a sidenote, because I know you're all wondering, I was standing about 4 feet away from her when this happened. There was no collision whatsoever. She got bounced, her legs buckled, and she went down. That's all it took.)

Contest

That's right people, another contest entry. This one is for jewelry! And it's taking place right now over at 7 Clown Circus. You don't want to miss it! What are you still doing here? Go on over there!