These are a few of my favorite things...

Just have to rave today about a few of my favs.

If you know me well, you know I TRY to be a health-nut, keep away from sugar, processed foods, ...yadda yadda... but my achillies heel and all-time, always-has-been favorite is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups:...if these little packages of deliciousness didn't exist, it would be a WHOLE LOT EASIER to give up chocolate for Lent, and get better results from some of my other favorites today....unfortunately, somehow a bag of the little egg-shaped versions made it into the house for Easter!

I also love Quinoa, my favorite pseudocereal. It is amazingly high in protein (12-18%) and contains a balanced set of amino acids. It has a slightly nutty flavor, and fun texture. You need to be eating quinoa if you are not already!!! I first was introduced to quinoa when I went to Peru in 2003 and had a granola bar made from it. Anything rice can do, quinoa can do better! TRY IT! We had some for dinner last night. Baby E loves it!
The only abdominal workout that gives me totally flat, fabulous abs, even after having children-- Rotate Turbo Jam Ab Jam & Windsor Pilates Maximum Burn--it WORKS! I am posting this because I JUST FOUND MY MISSING COPY! I had lost it sometime before having baby #3, and I am excited to put it to work again!
...this baby works those obliques--I am telling ya! Be prepared to REALLY feel this one the next day.Windsor Pilates Maximum Burn doesn't feel like a workout at all, but somehow produces amazing results, especially in conjunction with Ab Jam. Not sure how...one of the wonders of the universe, I suppose.

...Just a few things that I felt selfish not sharing....well, except the Reeses, because chances are you already knew about those! Happy Spring!

What's Up? Wednesday.

What we're EATING: PIE...Quick Cheeseburger Pie & Triple Berry
What we're CELEBRATING: Jessa's THREE!
What we're RIDING: BIKES.
Jessa: Tiff & Doug:Kate's still tearing up the road with her trusty trek trikester: One of the best investments we have ever made.
Emeline: Still too young to pedal, if she goes for a ride it involves this backpack I couldn't live without:
What we're READING:

• Tiff: The Spiderwick Chronices (complete set)
• Kate: Fancy Nancy
• Doug: Sporting Classics (magazine)
• Jessa: anything she can get her hands on

What I'm doing this week: PAINTING the door casings (hopefully this will get done this week) & STAYING IN with sick kids, hoping they get better so I can make it to BOOK CLUB.

What's up with you?

Slushie Express?

Ummmm....

Excuse me?

What on earth is a copious amount of high fructose corn syrup doing on my kitchen counter?

I am the mother here; don't I get to vote on this?

..my vote is "NOOOOOO!"

I see nothing good that can come from large quantities of sticky, colored, diabetes-inducing liquid and cones that can't be put down without spilling over. Do you?

...oh, that's right

they ARE fun.

....but I still don't like it.

Singin' in the Rain

Wakin' up with the fallin' rain makes for a day of rain-singin', umbrella poppin', puddle-stompin' FUN!

...can you tell my kids absolutely LOVE Mary Poppins?

The girls covered their jammies with their rain gear so they could have some fun in the "muddy piles" (what they call muddy puddles)

Unfortunately, too much of a good thing is a REALLY, REALLY BAD thing. To see pictures of the ranch following the flash flood that claimed the life of George Reed and fatally injured our first cutting hay go here.

Airplane Fright

Jessa's reaction to the sound of an airplane overhead:

I think that about sums it up.

The audio would go something like this, "MOMMY, MOMMY! {crying}
AIRPANE!"

I decided to test-drive animoto today using some shots from our quick weekend of catching up with the Harris'. It was so wonderful to see LaDonne and Ian, wish MarLee the best on her upcoming mission, and watch Darin's bee sting swell his eye shut. The girls loved the Logan Temple and think it looks just like a castle. We saw 4 temples in 1 day: Twin Falls, Logan, Idaho Falls, Rexburg!!!!

My thoughts on animoto: A genius, easy-to-use idea. With the free trial version you get what you pay for--a 30 second clip with poor resolution--but I think it will increase in popularity as a means of displaying photos.

Niagara of the West

A waterfall begins with only one drop of water. Look what comes from that.
~The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

Waterfalls are so powerful, enchanting, and uplifting....
See the wonder. Feel the mist. Hear the roar.

And of course, I couldn't help but get distracted for a moment and wonder what it would possibly be like to raft or kayak something like that (completely insane).

Just over the rainbow.

My own little pot of gold: Thank you random stranger for taking this photo.


Factoid #1: The "Niagara of the West" is actually higher than Niagara Falls, which by the way are in New York on the Canadian border.
Factoid #2: Doug has lived in this state basically his whole life and had never been here before.
Factoid #3: I had been here, but only long before I lived in Idaho.

I love Idaho.
I always have.
I love waterfalls too, but not until reading The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay as an adolescent did they come to completely fascinate me.

Silly me..I forgot to mention this is Shoshone Falls located just outside of Twin Falls, IDAHO (thanks Caroline!).

Road Running

It must be springtime because my dear husband washed up his car--a 1970 yellow roadrunner. Yes, he got it back when he was in college. Yes, he still has it and drives it. Yes, I am actually a fan of muscle cars even though I am not driven by testosterone. Does that surprise you? It is also FAR too loud for the precious and sensitive ears of my sweet little baby girls to ride in....well, at least it has been in the past. But this year the girls started calling it THEIR yellow car and have been dying to take it out for a spin. All winter long they have been begging, and well, quite frankly, speed just happens to race through their veins, so how could I possibly continue to deprive them of the experience?

• Carseats? You betcha! Safety first! This, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason we purchased carseats with the 5-point harness system! Whoever said these things are not family cars was seriously mistaken.


• Ear protection? A MUST! Um, Jessa, will you please put yours on!


• Rule #1 I overheard Doug explaining:, "Now listen. If you want to ride with daddy, rule number one is DO NOT touch the car!" Never too young to learn rule #1!

And here they are heading out for their joyride:

And NOW here they are one trip to the river store and an ice cream cone later:

Strong work, honey. There is nothing to put the kids to sleep like the throbbing of that motor. You are a genius! But let me just take a moment to remind you that my '65 Belvo is still even faster.

PS. Did I mention they absolutely LOVED it? They talked about this ride for days! Watch out daddy, what happens when they want you to buy them one too?