This and That and Then Some

Ok, So I know I'm a bit behind, so here's what's been happening. First, we did celebrate Arya's birthday about 5 days after the fact. Luke's brother Nick made an apple spice pudding cake from scratch and they came up from Tacoma to celebrate the event with us. Arya LOVED the cake. We didn't have the messy frosting, but she was plenty messy without. Very cute.

Next on the list is Lily and this is what we've been up to:
After 4 weeks, m&m's, gummy bears, fishy crackers, potato chips, phone calls to people and finally (the thing that really worked) MOVIES, Lily is potty trained!! She goes on the potty all by herself without reminders and she even gets up in the middle of the night to go potty if she needs to!!! I'd say that's definitely a success and she hasn't had an accident in about 2 weeks! Yay!


Here's a picture of them playing at the Issaquah community center (courtesy of my SIL Maggie's camera). Lily had a lot of fun playing with all the toys. Arya has been learning to walk and she's really good at pushing her sister around in a car.

As for me, I've been working on various projects. Luke got me a sewing machine for Christmas and I finished my first pair of pajama pants about 3 weeks ago and here it is! It's not the best sewn thing in the world, but hey, I made it and I'm plenty proud.

Other than that, I'm playing my flute in the Stake play - The Music Man. They needed a flute player for the orchestra and I decided to do it. I'm glad too since the first night I went to rehearsal I sounded TERRIBLE! But after about 10 hours of practicing I felt much better about myself. So, for those of you in the area, you should come watch the play! Zeke (my bro) is in it and Luke is the lead as Harold Hill. The shows are March 20th and 21st. Friday night at 7:00pm; Sat at 2:00 and & 7:00pm all at the Bellevue South Stake Center (building behind the temple).

So that's us in a nutshell. We've been busy, VERY SICK as a family, but we are all on the recovery side and things are slowly going back to normal.

My Embarrassing Story for 2009 (and it's only the beginning...)

So, today I had to call the pediatrician about a prescription for Arya. The office usually sends people to a mail box and asks that you leave detailed information about who you are and why you are calling. So, here I am, being extremely careful with each word that I'm saying, spelling out Arya's name slowly, so that they can look up Arya's file, etc. And then came the moment to end my message, and what did I say to end the message? "In the name of Jesus Christ Amen." That's right, that's how I ended my message to the nurse at my pediatricians office. I had NO idea what I was thinking!!! So embarrassing!!!

For All the Soup Lovers

I tried this recipe last night and Luke LOVED it. Which says something about it since soup isn't exactly his favorite thing for dinner.

Tortellini Sausage Soup

3 links Italian Sausage (or 1 lb Italian Sausage)
2-4 cloves garlic
1 sm onion diced
1/2 cup water
2 (15 oz) cans chicken broth
1 (16 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup diced carrots
2 med. grated zucchini
1 tsp dry basil
1 tsp oregano
1 (10 oz) bag cheese tortellini
2 T parsley
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Brown sausage, garlic and onion. Add all other ingredients except the zucchini, tortellini and parsley. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients. Simmer 30 more minutes. Top each serving with Parmesan cheese. ENJOY!