25x6 things for which I am grateful

As part of my Trek preparation, I've been asked to write down 25 things for which I am grateful. I was supposed to do this once a month, starting in (gulp) January and going through June. Since, I have a teeny tiny bit of catching up to do, I've decided to do it all at once here and let you in on my list! So, in no particular order:

1.My family (especially my very good-looking and hard-working husband, Shelby) 2.The Gospel 3.The atonement 4.Mint Milanos 5.Oreos 6."Owning" my own house 7.Shelby's stable job 8.Knowing how to make my own bread 9. Helpful friends and neighbors 10.Indoor plumbing 11.A working furnace 12.The availability of different foods 13.Thrift stores 14.Being able to attend BYU 15.Close proximity of temples 16.Growing up in New England 17.On Demand movies on my new couch 18.Pumpkin cookies from the freezer 18.A quiet neighborhood 19.A safe place to run 20.A great school for my children 21.A free country 22.Our military 23.Community theater 24. A good city council working hard to improve my city 25.Lilacs 26.A great city library 27.Our family's good health 28.Still-functioning vehicles 29.A brother in the car business 30.Body pillows 31.Hot chocolate 32.Cold chocolate 33.REALLY generous parents and in-laws 34.Magic Erasers 35.Epidurals 36.Air conditioning 37.Coupons 38.Seat belts 39.Law enforcement 40.Volunteer and Paid Fire Fighters 41.Ben 42.Jerry 43.Blogs 44.Facebook 45.My drivers' license 46.Safe Airplanes 47.Organized athletics 48.The PTA 49.Teachers 50.Living in a country with good and sanitary medical care 51.City parks 52.Calculators 53.Naptime for my kids 54.Naptime for me 55.Lawn mowers 56.Real Southern BBQ 57.Biggest Loser 58.Grey's Anatomy 59.Flat irons 60.Concealor 61.Contact lenses 62.High heels on clearance 63.Democracy 64.Skyler's dimples 65.Aria's recent streak of really good behavior 66.Xander's sense of humor 67.Skyler's common sense 66.Aria's flare for life 67.Xander's smile 68.Bubble baths 69.Shelby's concientious romantic gestures 70.Shelby's smokin' new bod :) 71.Google 72.My 5 senses 73.Two working computers 74.A washer and dryer 75.A dishwasher 76. Pantyhose to mask my legs on days I didn't shave 77.Our tree swing 78.Our porch 79.Oprah 80.Operas 81.Good jokes 82.Recycling 83.Mirrors 84.Feminine Hygeine products 85.Ipods 86.Yogurt 87.Old Christmas specials 88.Occasionally finding money in old purses or pants I haven't worn for a long time 89.Clothes that fit me and are reasonably in style 90.Shelby's willingness to cook and his ability to do it well 91.Chances to serve 92.Family vacations 93.Eating out 94.Deodorant 95.Singing-my own and others' 96.Parents who are still married 97.Lots of family near-by 98.Knowing how to swim 99.Poetry 100.Mueseums 101.Beautiful Art 1o2.Warm Winter clothing 103.Cartoons 104.Great (and free!) babysitting 105.Conditioner 106.Lotion 107.Vermont maple syrup 108.Beautiful and clever music 109.Cell phones 110.Good bras 111.Dentists 112.Vitamins and supplements 113.Containers 114.Midol 115.People who do their callings well 116.Mindless chores 117.New recipes 118.Food Storage 119.My new carpeting 120.Hand sanitizer 121.Chalk holders 122.White boards 123.Toliet paper 124.My mom's spaghetti sauce 125.Shelby's patience 126.Shelby's talent 127.Aria's pretty hair 128.Skyler's intelligence 129.Xander's snuggles 130.My electric stove 131.Hair dryers 132.Flat irons 133.My toaster 134.DVRs 135.Disposable diapers and wipes 136.Spring 136.Fall 137.The Olympics 138.Parades 139.Layton High Theater program 140.People smarter than I am 141.Really good authors 142.People who love and are good at math 143.The Young Women's program 144.Relief Society 145.The Priesthood 146.Corn on the cob with butter and salt 147.Youtube 148.Itunes 149.Global awareness 150.Hot soup with whole wheat toast

Xanderism: spider

8:00pm. Bedtime. While not actually asleep, the kids are in bed.

9:03pm.
X:"Ahhh! Spider! Spider! Ahhhh! SPIDER!!"

S:"Mooooooommm! A spider! Xander sees a SPIDER!! Hurry! Hurry! A SPIDER!!"

I run in and flip on the light.

X, standing up, looking down at the floor, where his recently-tossed binky lies:"Spider!!! (giggles) Binky Spider!"

Skylerism: choose the right

There I was, just lying in bed reading, when an aggravated voice came echoing down the hall:

S: "Gah!! You have to 'choose the right' even when nobody's looking! Oh, no!"

One can only imagine what misdeed led to that realization.

One of my new favorite recipes

Ok, I found the BEST banana bread recipe. I challenge any of you to rival it's yumminy goodness. And it's healthy (mostly) to boot!

Moist Whole Wheat Banana Bread Recipe and Instructions:

Be sure to use ultra ripe bananas for this. Their skins should be mottled black and they should feel soft to the touch. Using what you would normally consider to be ripe bananas will diminish the bread’s rich flavor.

½ cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter
½ cup (3 ¾ ounces) packed light or dark brown sugar
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (~ 12 ounces) mashed ripe banana (3-4 medium to large bananas)
¼ cup (3 ounces) honey
2 large eggs
2 cups (8 ounces) whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat
½ cups (2 ounces) chopped walnuts (or chocolate chips, or whatever)!

Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

Beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the banana, honey and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour and nuts, stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and let it rest at room temperature, uncovered for 10 minutes.

Bake the bread for 50 minutes. Lay a piece of foil gently across the top and bake until a cake tester (like a toothpick) inserted into the center comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes more. Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before turning it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely.

Lessons learned the hard way

When selecting footwear for your toddler on grocery shopping days, NEVER choose the crocs. They can be easily kicked off, several times, in the middle of the inevitable tantrum, requiring 15 separate pick-ups on your way out the door-a hard feat to accomplish with said toddler slung luggage-like over your shoulder. Plan wisely and go for the lace-ups :)

Skylerism: nutrition

Shelby was looking at an insert in the newspaper today, all about nutrition for kids. Skyler came over to look at it too. He got excited and said, "Look Dad, carbohydrates! You LOVE those!"

Ariaism: I'm sorry note

M:"Aria, you need to go apologize to your brother for not letting him finish his video game level. That was a very not-nice thing to do."

A:"I'm sorry, Skyler."

S:"I'm so upset that I don't think 'I'm sorry' is going to work. I think I need an 'I'm sorry' note."

A: (whispering to me) "Mom, what's an 'I'm sorry' note? Is it like this? (singing) "I'm sahhhh-reeeee!"

M:"Something like that."

Ariaism: primary lesson

A:"Hey, Mom, guess what?! Do you want to know what our primary lesson was about in church last week?"

M:"Wow, really? Yeah, that'd be great, honey! What was it about?"

A:"It was about listening!"

M:"Cool, honey! What did your teachers say about listening?"

A:"Uhm, I don't remember."

Ariaism: pets

M: (driving) "Hey, Aria, check out that totally cute dog over there! How cute is he?!!"

A:"He's so cute and happy! Mom, I really wish we had a dog...and also a cat. A dog, AND a cat....AND a lobster."