Random thoughts for a Friday

*We went on a walk the other day.  Axel and I lasted two minutes maybe.  It was sunny, but cold!

*I'm thinking about cutting my hair and selling it.  I figure I've got a good 10" if I were to cut my hair to the base of my neck.

*I went to look for a measuring tape so I could give an exact number of inches, but instead I got distracted and sorted the laundry. 

*I really think Sean and Catherine are going to get married.

*I always think that at the end of The Bachelor/ette

*This kid.   He's awesome.


*The only pair of pants I own that aren't too big or too small, are peach.  So people will know if I wear them everyday.

*I don't wear them everyday, but I no longer care what people think anyway.  I look cute in my peach jeans so I'll rock 'em Monday through Friday if no one spits up on them.

*I know I used the word "random" incorrectly in my title.  Obviously I'll do it if everyone else is doing it.

*Olivia got a shopping cart for Christmas.  She fills it with odds and ends and pushes it around the house.  She looks like a tiny homeless person.

*When I tried to take a picture of this, she asked me to take a picture of Cinderella, which is what she has been calling this Barbie toy from McDonnald's.  

Those are some boxes I still need to unpack.  And the planter is what we use to collect our produce that Adam orders every other week.

*I'm starting to like her haircut. 

She had a sweater on but decided to take it off.  Its getting a little warmer but not that warm.

Happy Friday!  Even though I don't work, I love the weekends because it means having another parent around to help out :)

One week ago today. . .

My "little" brother Andrew, me and my "little" brother Kenny

Last Wednesday my littlest brother (I have three "little" brothers) went into the MTC (Missionary Training Center).  After a short training session (1 month?  I'm not sure) he'll be on his way to Mexico to share the gospel with the people there!!  I'm so excited for him. 

Last Tuesday he flew in to Salt Lake and my grandparents picked him up, spent some time with him and then brought him to my house.  They left to spend time with one of my grandma Lois's grandsons who was also going into the MTC the next day (my grandpa is remarried so they each have their own grandkids to split their time between)

I made fajitas and my brother Andrew and his wife Martha came over for dinner.  We ate and played games and enjoyed time with Kenny before we had to say goodbye for two years. 

Adam drove Kenny down to Provo that night, where he stayed in his old dorm with his BYU friends.  The next day he walked down the block to the MTC and that was that.  So different from when we took Andrew to the MTC and it was this big fan fare.  Now it's just so simple. 

Its hard to believe that when Kenny comes home Axel will be two and Olivia will be almost four!

We'll miss you Elder Hermansen! 

A pet peeve and a recipe

I've been using Pinterest since the early days.  Back then it was pretty pictures of interiors and art work and clothes.  Slowly people started pinning recipes and workout ideas and quotes and memes (I have NO idea how to pronounce that) and those are fun, but my feed just isn't as pretty as it used to be.  But the thing that really bugs me is clicking on a pin and it taking me to a site totally unrelated to the picture.

So listen up everyone!  PSA: Before you go repinning, check to make sure it is what its supposed to be!!! 

If I click on a pin and it leads me somewhere else, I do a quick google search and I can almost always find the original site and pin it from there.

Oh also, don't write the whole recipe as the pin description, just the title.  That way the blogger who wrote the recipe or tutorial can get more page views from the pin.  It's the right thing to do.

That being said. . . I pinned a really yummy recipe and didn't check it first.  It takes me to some weird site that has nothing to do with food!  But I did a google search (since you're looking at a picture, doing a google images search is probably the quickest way to find the original site) and found the real recipe. 

We had it for dinner last night and it was very simple but SO good.  So I had to share.  It's your reward for putting up with my silly rant. 

Source

Boil penne 6 minutes less than al dente; add broccoli florets, and cook until penne is al dente. Drain; return to the pot, and toss with a couple of crushed garlic cloves, some olive oil, the zest and juice of a lemon, salt and pepper, and plenty of Parmesan.

If I can do this, I can do anything

This picture has nothing to do with the post, but its just so dang cute, and the morning was too crazy to pause for a pic.

Yesterday I had my 6 week doctor check up.  At 9:15am.  I made the appointment a week ago and I've been stressing about it since then.  9:15 is early when you have two kids and the baby doesn't have a firm schedule yet.  But I knew if I wanted a babysitter I'd have to do it first thing before my MIL went to work. 

The plan was to shower Wednesday night, but Tuesday night sleep was so awful and Wednesday my babies were so cranky that I went to bed as soon as Axel was dozing off.  8:30pm.  And that was a great night of sleep, thank goodness.  So good that we all slept in. 

I woke up at 7:50 and since both kids were still sleeping I quickly showered.  After that it was a blur of dressing kids, feeding kids and running back and forth to the bathroom to finish my make up.  I put Axel in the car seat bracing myself for the screams that always follow.  Nothing. 

We were out the door at 8:50.  I loaded the kids into the car and went to my in-laws to drop off Olivia.  Still Axel was silent.  He didn't make a peep the entire time.  I was practically holding my breath waiting for the melt down, but nothing.  He drifted off to sleep without even having a pacifier! 

Dr. Smith peeked on him and he stayed asleep.  He didn't make a noise until we walked in the door of our apartment, three hours on the dot to the last time he ate.  

Everything went so smoothly it was almost creepy.  And I can now breathe again.

Mini chips with my Mini Me

Last time I took the kids to the grocery store I picked up some chocolate chips.  I like to have a bag on hand to add to my oatmeal or to make some of Chocolate Covered Katie's cookie dough dip, but after reading about Rachel making sugar cookies with her boy, I thought, "I need to make cookies with Olivia.  That is something good moms do!"  Since I accidentally bought mini chips I decided we would make mini cookies.

While Axel was sleeping and Olivia was eating lunch I portioned out all the ingredients.  We started after she woke up from her nap.  Here she is all ready to help!

Olivia put the softened butter into the bowl with the sugar.  I mixed it.  Then Olivia added the egg and I mixed it.  Then I had her add the flour mixture and as I turned to mix it, Olivia fell off the chair and hit her head on the bookshelf.  It was pretty traumatic.  I gave her some tylenol because she had a pretty good bump, and of course a spoonful of cookie dough never hurt. 

I used the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag and I didn't really like how flat they turned out.  Adam reminded me where his mom's cookie recipe was and it was almost identical with just two slight variations.  Its crazy what a little more flour and baking powder will do!  So next time we'll make the good cookie recipe!

Olivia (and me too) still thought they were yummy!  They spread out so much they weren't as mini as I wanted them to be.

February's Goal II

So for my last two homemade meals of the month:

On February 20th I made: 

Spaghetti Squash Primavera

(I didn't make a side dish, but maybe a green salad and some bread would go nicely)

On February 26th I made:

Mushroom Stroganoff 

and

Peas

I'll probably cook dinner one more time before February is over, but hey!  I accomplished my goal for the month!  Yay!

Tuesday night drama

All day Tuesday I had wanted to trim Olivia's hair.  When short hair grows out, occasionally you have to trim it or it starts to look like a mullet.  After dinner that night, Adam gave Olivia a bath while I fed Axel. 

Olivia with a beard of bubbles

I decided it was the perfect time to cut Olivia's hair, since it would be damp and not crazy (Olivia's hair gets crazy very easily)

It.Did.Not.Go.Well.

I made the first cut a little higher than I intended, but it really wasn't bad.  Still, a little panic set in and when I tried to make the second cut match up, Olivia moved and. . .whoa.  It was a lot higher than I intended.  So I stopped cutting.  And called my aunt Janette.  Except it wasn't my aunt Janette's number (I guess that's what happens when you haven't updated the numbers in your phone for over three years and your aunt has moved twice) but that's a story for another day.

Wednesday morning I called the correct phone number (thanks mom!) and Janette came over to fix it.  She is awesome!

Before Janette came over I snapped a pic.

I think Olivia had fun getting her hair cut for the first couple of minutes, but the damage I had done took more than a couple of minutes to undo.  After Janette finished Olivia went down for a nap.

After her nap, front (nothing different here, she just has a cute face and crazy nap hair):

And the back:

And that is how Olivia went from having a mullet (the iconic boys haircut of the '80s) to having a step (the iconic boys haircut of the '90s)!!