Sunday

 We had a particularly pleasant Sunday.  I had ward council in the morning, as I do every week.  The kids are big so it's not too hard on Rob to get them ready.  Sometimes it takes a lot of prodding, this day was one of those.  I am sure that is because we all had late nights on Saturday and were tired.

So I left at 7:15 and they left at 8:30 (and picked up Michael Daniels on the way).  It was Ethan's turn to bring the bread for sacrament...and we remembered!   Then we were all there, sitting in our usual pew :)  It's a good life.
The talks were fine.  One was quite good, the other was low on doctrine but not boring.  With no paid clergy you get what you get.  The thing is everyone does their best so you just have to listen with your heart.  Another great thing about living in the south would be if I could say "bless his heart, he did an awful job:) (with a sweet southern smile)".  Id' like that.  It negates the criticism.  (not really but I think it's funny)
Sunday School was fine.
YW is always awesome.  Sister Tilden gives really good lessons.

Then we went home, had lunch, made dessert, took a short Sunday nap (the best), and went to the Evan's for dinner.  We had a really nice time.  The kids all got along and we had lots to chat about.

We rushed home in time for our evening fireside.  (Rachel and the kids followed).  Bro Higa spoke about missionary work.  He shared lots of fun mission  stories and gave the kids lots of how to prepare ideas.  I think it went well.  The youth all love him (he's the YM president)  We had root beer floats and Heather brought snicker doodles for treats after and the kids stood around and visited and had a good time.  Some of the boys helped Ethan move the couches back to their original rooms, we put them all in the living room for some nice seating and then everyone went home.

Then we got ready for bed and I saw that Steve had peed on our bed...again! We locked him in the bedroom because there are a few folks with cat allergies in our group and Steve is no a scaredy cat, in fact he thinks he is a dog and always says hi to people.  This is SUPER frustrating.  Everyone loves the dumb guy and I too have affectionate feelings for him BUT I will not have an animal that pees on my bed.  He's on his last strike.  It's too hard to clean and too disgusting.  If it was me I would have gotten rid of him on strike one but the family revolted and lobbied hard for his pardon.

So then we had a clean up effort.  And then bed.  Rob and I netflixed the first 2 episodes of Drop Dead Diva, which I had never seen but thought was funny.  And we went to sleep.

Saturday

 It was a busy day for everyone. Dad and Ethan spent the night in Torrance and went to an all day soccer tournament.  It was a two day tournament, as most of them are, but Ethan's coach has allowed E to be on the team knowing he would be missing Sunday's.  Anyway.  They had two games and then the team went together to watch the LA Galaxy game.  I asked R how it went and he said: good.  They lost one game and tied the other.  It was a higher level of play and lot more red cards than we are used too.  Also it was cold.   I asked E and he said he didn't play very well but it was really fun and he had a good weekend.  They got home around midnight.

In the meantime Hannah and I went to see Neverland.  It was her 2nd bday theater outing.  We had a very fun night.  We got there early and went to the PieHole for dinner.  Hannah had shepard's pie and I had a chicken pot pie.  Then we walked around a bit before the theater opened. The play was awesome.  We LOVED it.  Go see it!  It was sweet and sad and magical and the music was amazing.  We got home a little after midnight...which meant that R was the one who had to drive Patty home since he beat us by 20 minutes or so.

 A little bit of the magic.  There is something about an awesome stage production that is a really different and magical experience.  Not like seeing a movie or watching TV.

So that left Grace.  It was an unfortunate scheduling issue that we all had plans on the same night.  I didn't want her to spend all night alone so we ended up asking Patty if she wanted to come hang out.  The girls ate pizza, watched TV and played games.  They had fun but I think it was kind of long for them.  

weeks end

I've had a strange illness, I guess it's an illness although I don't feel sick. Tuesday I was hoarse.  Wednesday morning I woke up and my voice was gone.  It was crazy.  I felt otherwise fine.  I had to cancel my sub job for the day, which was awesome because I didn't have to sub and not so awesome because I didn't get paid.  Things are tight for us, which is ironic since R makes a lot of money but CA is expensive.  So not tight like we can't buy milk and bread but tight like working really helps.  ANYWAY.

I didn't work all the rest of the week and my voice has not come back.  Now I also have a little cough.  I guess if it's not better on Monday I'll go to the doctor.  Lame.

It's been kind of hard, like I can't talk on the phone.  Which is annoying.  Also I can't order diet coke in a drive through, and I have to walk into the room where someone is and then whisper at them.  

Now I need bifocals, hear poorly and can't talk.  HA! 50 is going to be great!

 Rob got a new suit.  He looks very handsome.  I am hoping he can use it at a job interview, somewhere outside of CA.
A girl can dream right?!

So the boys are gone at a soccer tournament.  It's the first one with this new team and I am bummed that I couldn't go but Hannah and I have "Finding Neverland" tickets for tomorrow.  Looking forward to that.  Anyway I have the bed and the TV to myself tonight and took this random picture.  It looks cozy and cheerful to me.
SHE WILL NOT BE HAVING THE BED TO HERSELF! GRACE WILL BE THERE TOO!
Hannah's out with Sam and Reagan.   Grace is working on a puzzle. I have freshly painted blue toes.  I guess it's a pretty good night.

Escape Room (sort of)

 We decided that we wanted to do an escape room competition for the YW.  I spent some time a lot of time researching pinteresting ideas.  I even got some on line plans but then I decided it was way to hard, and kind of expensive to put together.  So then I had to think some more.  Finally I came up with a good plan.

Charlotte, Kelly and Camille

The girls had a series of tasks to do that gave them clues or keys to the next task.  They were timed and all used different kinds of skills.

So the set up was they were sister missionaries who were locked in their apartment and had to get ready for an appointment to teach.   They only had an hour to get ready.

On the table was a note from their mom encouraging them to look up (as in have a good attitude, look to God, look forward not back etc.).  When they got all the look up references they actually looked up and there was an envelope tucked into the light fixture.  

Inside it was a sudoku puzzle.  

Once solved they got a clue saying the key was under a chair and then they looked under 20 chairs to find it.  The key unlocked a suitcase that had a puzzle in it.  

After they put the puzzle together they had to flip it over and read the message which said they had to pay their tithing and the money was hiding in the piano.  I had made senines and senums and a story problem about a judge named Mocumo.  They had to find the verse in the BoM that told the conversion between the two types of money and then figure out 10%. 

That gave them a cipher that they had to solve to get the password to the lap top (abinidi) and a note telling them where to go once on it.  They learned our camp song and sang it for their leader and got their last key.  

After a search of the room they unlocked a box with treats and a little cake and frosting.  They were given a scripture reference and had to make a visual aide out of the cake to teach the scripture story.

 This is King Benjamin (Emily is always fun and silly) preaching from the top of the tower.  See the licorice tents and the multitude and the tower and temple?!  They did great!

Hannah's group had to make Capt. Moroni and the title of liberty.

When we got our groups back together they told each other the story, sang the song, did some processing about lessons learned and ate the cake.

Everyone had a super fun time.  

Heather, Brynn and Patty

While Rachel and I were setting up the room our two Grace's were tasked with making signs of encouragement for Paige.  Then we took a picture of the whole group wishing her well.

Bub had his first tennis match.  It was a scrimmage.

Wednesday is a busy day for him .  He has seminary, then school, the after school tennis (today was a game but usually it's practice.  Then straight to soccer practice.  Then straight to mutual.  Busy boy. He has tennis every day.  Soccer twice a week and scouts/YM once a week.

grand-dogs

 One of my favorite parts of Sunday's is facetiming with Jenna and Clayton.  They call every Sunday and it's fun to chat.

They have an only child, Abe.  Abe is a funny dog and he is getting HUGE.  This boy isn't even done growing!

 Rosie is not an only child. She's also a good dog, and beloved, but she's just one of the litter:)

We are dog people I guess :)

SO that was our day. Ethan let me take a picture of him after church, because he needed a head shot for his soccer ID.

Green

 Hannah and I drove to LA today to go to Cookie-Con. It was so green, and as beautiful as I have ever seen So CA (not by the beach) be.  Really stunning.  It's been raining so much and things look SO.MUCH.BETTER.  I love green.  Driving home it was gorgeous too, even more so because it was quite cloudy but the tops of the clouds were pinkish and the bottoms more blueish so they looked like Aurora's gown when she danced with the prince.  I thought about taking a picture but knew it would never do it justice.  Loving the green though.

Anyway, cookie con.  I saw it was coming up and we decided to go and it was tons of fun.  Lots of vendors and samples and cool gadgets were displayed.  They had how-to demos and celebrity guests and cool cakes and cookies and food trucks and cute aprons and spicy salsas and lots of food stuff.

We listened to Burt Ward (the original Batman's sidekick Robin) who is a dog rescuer extraordinaire. He was fun in a crazy I-have-50-dogs kind of way.  

Then we saw Duff, who we LOVE and who was really funny.  He baked chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies and told stories about being a chef, or random stories and he laughed a lot .  

After we went to Roscoe's for dinner.  Hannah loves it there and has been wanting to go back since she went the first time.  It is in the ghetto.  The one we went to is on Pico Blvd.  We got there around 3, which we though would not be crowded since it is not a meal time.  We were wrong.  It was packed.  The folks who live in LA are a very diverse group.  As we sat outside the hole in the wall restaurant waiting our turn we were with at least 30 other people also waiting.  And one bouncer guarding the door.  Our skin tone definitely made us the in the minority.  Also our "normal" attire and hair color/style did too.  

Waiting right across from us was a lesbian couple who were very affectionate with each other.  (it was hard to know where to look) They may have been celebrating a special occasion as they were very dressed up...or maybe it was a regular day, who knows?  Also while we were waiting a transvestite man with super high heels and a very big louis vittan bag, and some splashy make-up on,  came with his old but super glam mom came to wait too. They joined the gang members, bright orange hair couple, super super fat Mexican family, several tourists, some college students and us waiting on the street to get in.

The wait was worth it.  (okay who am I kidding the wait was super entertaining to the people watcher in me) The restaurant was PACKED and colorful and loud and the food was really really good.  Even President Obama ate there once, (we saw his picture on the wall).

So it was a good day.

raining

 It's raining pretty hard today.  Here's the view out the sunroof of the flex while E and I wait in line to get french fries at Carl's Jr.  Look at those big drops.

Sadly that meant raining day schedule at school.  I worked all week, and I work the beginning of next week, in the same class.  A second grade class at Anaverde Hills. I like the school, it has a really nice campus and the kids wear uniforms.  It's a little farther from our house, which Grace hates because she has to wait a long time to be picked up. It's been pretty okay.  Some of the kids are pretty cute.

I am looking for something else to do as a part time job.  I don't love teaching. It's ironic that I ever got into teaching in the first place.  It was always top of my list of jobs I did not want, growing up and as an adult.  When the girls were little I was going to school at AVCC and I liked that a lot but I wasn't really sure what I was going to be.  One night Joyce came over and we had a chat.  She knew things were not good in Mark and my marriage and she wanted to help me finish up school.  This was the single nicest thing anyone has done for me.  Without her support I don't know how I would have finished and I have always been so grateful.  Anyway she suggested that teaching would be good, especially for a mom so there you go.  Actually in CA, at that time anyway I don't know if it's still the same, there was no undergrad degree in education (for which I will ever be grateful) so I got a degree in Social Science. And we ended up divorced. And I ended up working on base, which I liked.  Then one day, literally out of the blue, I got a phone call from a school principal.  CA had just mandated that grades K-2 have only 20 kids per classroom and schools were scrambling, tons of teachers were hired, untrained and uncredentialed.  My friend Beth, who was a teacher, told her principal to call me and she did.  She called my work phone and asked if I'd like to teach.  Even though I actually liked my job, and actually didn't want to teach, I did want to have a schedule that matched the girls and I felt inspired to say yes.  So into the classroom I went, and back for my 5th year of college, and I met Ellen who introduced me to Rob (which got me out of the classroom and out of CA!....but now I am back:( ) and the rest is history.  I completed my credential and taught for 3 years. Since that time it's been a convenient way to make a little money, subbing that is.  And thru the years there has always been a desire for a little more $.  Sometimes it was for Christmas gifts, or a trip, or a wedding.  Now that we are back in CA, and living in a pretty pricey home it's for bills.  Things are expensive here.  We are blessed beyond measure with great means, we just also spend a lot although that is something we've really been putting a concerted effort at changing. And subbing now doesn't feel like something I am doing for some extra "disney dollars" but something I need to do to help with our financial goals...and seriously I can not.  I don't really passionately hate it but I kind of hate it. So hopefully something else will work out.  And in the mean time I am grateful to be able to work, even if it's not something I love.  So yay, 2nd grade.  Two weeks.  (shaking head).  If I did have to teach I would definitely teach older kids.  Middle school days usually are awesome. (relatively speaking...not awesome like going to the beach awesome, or staying home awesome, but awesome enough)

Travis, Garrett, Preston, Jayce and David

 Our youth activity was "heart attacking" people.  The kids came over and made huge hearts and then divided into groups and went to different homes and taped them to garages and front doors.  I know for sure that a couple of the homes they visited were really glad.

Then they came back for treats and talking.  Weirdly I didn't take any pictures of my own kids:)

Kayla, Emily, Heather and Shelby

Patty and Rachel and Chloe

Yesterday Hannah and Madi and Sarah went hiking, they took Z.  Madi and Hannah came back here after and ate dinner with us, then made cookies and sang loudly to Moana.  It was a lot of fun! Hannah got her track assignment for BYU-I.  She is going fall, spring.  Which is great because she will miss the coldest, Siberian like, months.   Kenz got fall/winter.  So they will be fall roommates!

So happy it's Friday.  And a three day weekend!!  Whoo hoo!!

no school

 The high school had a no school day today.  Grace still had to go, which she was a bit disgruntled about.

Ethan invited Sam and Noah to come over and they played soccer at the park.  They dragged goals and balls and gatorades over and spent hours.  As soon as he got home I made him hit the shower!

Hannah went hiking at Vasquez rocks with several of her friends.  Then they went to Sam's (not Ethan's friend Sam) to hang out.

Tonight we had FHE.  Ethan did some homework, he had a lot of catching up from missing last week.  Well, not a lot but some anyway.

After all that Hannah decided to start baking cinnamon rolls for her friends for Valentines day, so now it's late and everyone is sleeping except Hannah who is baking and me who is keeping company.

We were out of butter so dad and Han ran to the store and he brought home some Valentines flowers and a cute card.  It was a nice surprise!

Hannah has perfected Tori's cinnamon roll recipe.  It's always a huge hit!

tacos

Today we had a missionary farewell at church. I always wonder where Ethan will go. Sacrament meeting was good.
I taught the Laurels.  Our lesson was on the plan of salvation.

After church the laurels came over and we baked cookies.  We only had four girls who could come but they did great in the kitchen and made some delicious chocolate chip cookies.  After we went to visit our two inactive girls and took them cookies and a calendar of the upcoming activities as well as our phone numbers.

Our visits went really well.  Our first one was to Ashley.  She let us in and chatted for a long time.  I think she was really glad we came.  After her went to Jorgie's and she also greeted us warmly.  Her mom was so cute.  She said she had been singing hymns for the last two hours while she prepared dinner and worked in the kitchen and then all of a sudden she saw us at the door.  I don't know why either of these two families stopped coming but they were both just lovely.  Jorgie's family are vegans, which we heard, so we brought a plate of our homemade cookies and also a plate of thin mints (just in case the vegan thing was true).  It was so we swapped cookies and told her we wanted to bring something she could enjoy.  She and her mom were both so grateful and thought that was particularly sweet.  It would be wonderful if one or both of the girls would start coming. We felt really happy about our visits and had a good afternoon.

Tonight Hannah made dinner.  She made really tasty tacos.  After Rob and Grace cleaned the kitchen.  I helped a little but mostly they did it.  It was an great thing.  I usually do both so it was such a treat to have someone else do the cooking and cleaning!

the week

 Working backwards:  Today Rob and Grace went out adventuring.  They were searching for gold, didn't find any but had a good time.  They also went to the pet store to buy pet stuff, which is Grace's favorite outing.

Hannah hung out with Kelly.  They went to the mall.  Tonight is a stake dance, the girls went and probably are having a good time.  They are still out so I don't know for sure :)

Tonight Rob and I went to El Toreo with Wes and Nellie.  It was fun to catch up, we haven't gone out together in a while.

Yesterday was the ward adult Valentines social.  It was a lot of fun.  Not too many people came, we had 12 couples, but those who did had a nice time visiting and eating yummy soups.

It was an off Friday so Rob and I went to the movies during the day.  We saw Collateral Beauty and we both really enjoyed it.

Ethan was sick this past week.  He missed 3 days of school and is actually still under the weather, coughing and he had a fever.  Hopefully no one else will get it.

Grace went on a field trip to LPAC.  They saw "Annie".

At YW this past week we did camp prep, the girls are a lot of fun to be with and always enjoy themselves.

I have read several good books lately.  Last week I read the Selection Series.  I really liked them a lot.  I also started "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" and finished it this week. This week I also read "Blackberry Winter" which was a quick read but with  a story that really draws you in.  Now I am in the almost done with "Rosalia's Bittersweet Bakery Shop" which I am also really enjoying.

The Selection books are dystopian, and are about a girl  who is competing to marry the crown prince.  Sounds lame but it's not.  It's full of intrigue and danger and of course romance.  Warring nations, a caste system that needs to be overthrown and the search for true love.  Good stuff.

The Girl who Drank the Moon is for middle schoolers, I actually bought it for Grace but read it first because she is reading something else right now.  It's the story of a village that puts a baby into the woods once a year as a tribute to the witch and what happens to one of those babies, and the village, and the witch.  There is also a tiny dragon and a giant swamp monster and lots of magic and good characters and danger.

Blackberry Winter is about a newspaper writer and a little boy who disappeared 70 years earlier and how their lives intertwine.

And the Bakery Shop is run by nuns in Italy but it's all about the people who seek sanctuary there and the lives of the villagers and bakers and nuns. Mixed with some baking and some romance and some disappointments. So far it's been a great journey.

dinner

Hannah and I cooked dinner together tonight.  I am going to miss that chicita when she moves.  She adds a lot of joy to our house.  We've been nursing this little basil plant along and tonight it gave us it's last leaves.

After dinner we had FHE, then played "Camp" and ate chocolate chip cookies (made by Hannah).
Dad won the game.

monday

When I was growing up one of my favorite pastimes was to read.  I read a lot.  My BFF Lana also loved to read.  I don't know when it started for sure but somewhere around 4th grade we both read Nancy Drew Mysteries and we would talk about our favorites.  In elementary school I also loved all Madeline L'Engle and Summer of My German Solider made me cry, and .... I read all the time.  Lana and I would walk to the library, often, and check out tons of books.  We had a system.  We'd walk there, arms full of books..or sometimes one of our moms would drop us off.  Then after we turned them in we'd walk up and down the stacks looking for the next week's picks.  We each chose like 12-15 and then we'd sit at a round table and narrow them down, talking about them, switching back and forth, deciding together.  Then we'd check out and walk home.  Occasionally we'd look through the cards (where you used to sign your name to check out a book) and try and find one with our crushes name on it.  Dorky.
Anyway, when we got home we'd plop on the bed, at whoever's house we went to, and start reading.  Midweek we'd trade books and then when we were done we would go back talking about our favorites the whole way.

Last night I texted Audrey (Paige's mom) and told her I wasn't working today and did she want to do something to pass the time until they got all the doctor results back?  She had recently lent me a couple of books that I loved, which seems unrelated but isn't ...wait for it.
Anyway she answered yes, lets meet at chik-fila and trade books.  She had a couple she'd read and thought I might like and wondered if I had any I thought she would like.
It felt like going to a party.  I had to find the perfect book from my shelf.  I did finally choose three, hope she likes them.  And I was super excited to see what she would bring me.

So we met, and talked, and ate, and cried a little.  Cancer we hate you!  Then we drank our diet cokes, and talked more until it was time to pick up the kids.  Then we switched books.  I am very excited to  read, and to hear how she liked the ones I chose.

And that was Monday.

title less

Friday after school I took Grace with me to the Sinclairs to help them pack to move.  Diann is still recovering from her mastectomy and couldn't do any of it.  We were only able to help for a couple of hours but we got a lot of boxes done. 

Hannah and Madi had a girls night with Madi's mom and Marissa (her soon to be sister in law).  Rob and I went out to Cafe Rio.  The others didn't want to come so they stayed home. 

First thing Saturday morning our phone rang.  Heather and her family were stuck on the freeway with a broken car and they wanted Rob to come and help.  He did of course but he's not really a car expert.  I guess he got there at the same time as AAA.  I don't know how he became the car go to guy ...guess he better read some car fix it manuals!

Saturday morning Grace went to baby sit for the first time.  She sat for Finnley and earned $20 for 4 hours.  She said it was fun and Finnley reported to Lisa that Grace could come back again, so success.

When she got home we went to Blaze Pizza and to the movies.  

Meanwhile Hannah and Madi and Elias went hiking.  With all the rain we've enjoyed this winter we have waterfalls and streams running in the foothills that have been dry for a long time.  They had a good afternoon.  

In the evening Madi and Hannah went to baby sit David.  David is 8 months old and LOVES his mom.  The girls had to sing and dance, literally, the whole time but they have a lot of energy and think he is super cute so all 3 had a good time.

I made pelmeni for hours (note to self do it with a partner next time) so now our freezer has lots of little baggies ready for eating this week!

It was my turn to teach YW and the lesson was on "Adversity is good for us".  I think it went okay except it was emotional.  Rylie lost her cousin not too long ago and talked about that with a few tears and later Paige left the room crying.  She just (a couple days ago) found out that she has lymphoma.  We are so sad for her.  The good news it it has a really high survival rate, the bad news is it just stinks.

It was kind of a tough day today because of Paige's news, and some other news I got of some struggles a couple of my friends are having.  Life really is always full of struggles but without the bad we wouldn't know the good. Without temptations or hardships there would be no growth or opportunities to follow the Savior. Knowing that we all have them doesn't make it less hard but it does give us purpose and direction in the hard times.  

end of the week

It's been busy, although I am not sure with what.  I subbed a lot.  Upper grades this week, which was mostly okay.  Today was the best of the days.  Yesterday the worst.

Wednesday was mutual.  The laurels came over for a "cooking for college" class.  The girls did a great job.  We made 3 delicious recipes!

Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps

Yield: About 6 tacos

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 lb 95% lean ground turkey
• 2 cloves garlic
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp chili powder (preferably 2 tsp regular chili powder and 1 tsp ancho chili powder)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• Iceberg or Romain lettuce leaves, doubled up, for serving
• Shredded Mexican cheese, diced Roma tomatoes, diced red onion, diced avocado, chopped cilantro, light sour cream, for serving

Directions

• Heat olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute 2 minutes. Add turkey and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, tossing and breaking up turkey occasionally, until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, paprika, tomato sauce and chicken broth. Reduce to a simmer and cook about 5 minutes until sauce has reduced. Serve mixture over lettuce leaves with desired toppings.
• Peanut Butter Cupcakes

  For the Chocolate Cupcakes*

  1. 1 box chocolate cake mix
  2. 4 eggs
  3. 1 cup milk
  4. 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  5. 2 heaping Tbsp Greek yogurt
  6. 30 mini Reese's cups, divided
  For the Peanut Butter Frosting

  1. 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
  2. 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
  3. 2 cups powdered sugar
  4. 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  5. 1/2 cup evaporated milk or cream
  Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 regular muffin tins with cupcake liners. Mix together the cake mix, milk, eggs, oil and Greek yogurt until smooth. Spoon batter into cupcake pans, filling the liners 1/2 full. Place a Reese's PB cup into the center of the batter in each cup and gently press it down a little (the tops of the Reese's can still be showing, like photo above). Bake cupcakes for 16-20 minutes or until done. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
  For the Peanut Butter Frosting

  1. Beat together butter, and peanut butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat again until combined. Add cream or milk, beating well until light and fluffy. (Add more milk or powdered sugar if needed to make the frosting thicker or thinner). Frost cupcakes (I used a wilton 1M tip in the photos above). Chop up the remaining pieces of Reese's and sprinkle on top of the frosting.

  
  

  Coconut Pineapple Chicken

  1 can of pineapple chunks

  1 can coconut milk

  3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

  1 T lemon juice

  1t salt

  2T sugar

  1 medium green pepper diced

  1 medium onion diced

  1 T corn starch

  
  

  Saute onion and pepper in some olive oil until soft.  Add pineapple with juice, coconut milk, lemon juice, salt and sugar.  Bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes.  Mix corn starch with 2T water then add to mixture.  Stir until well blended.  Add chicken and cook for another 5 minutes.  Serve over rice.  

  We didn't do this but I would add cashews next time, it would taste better.

  
  

  The Mia Maids made home made pizza at the Sherwoods and the Beehives met at the Evans and planned a years worth of class activities.

  
  Ethan had tennis practice every day.  He likes it, which I am glad about.  He also had soccer practice and an appointment with the orthodontist. I forgot to say earlier that last week or maybe two weeks ago I got an email from Ethan's Algebra2/Trig teacher.  She said I should be very proud of Ethan because he was the only kid in the class to score 100% of the logarithm test..and that most of the kids didn't pass.  Ironic because he and Sam were doing homework together and I didn't know if he understood it and kept asking him if he was okay with it.  Which is also funny in itself because I have never used a logarithm in my life....nor do I know what one is.  

  
  

  It was ground hog day this week.  We didn't celebrate but Penny did!  Also that darn rodent saw his shadow so more winter for us :(

  

  
  

  I guess that's about it.