Happy January Birthdays!

Our family has a lot of January birthdays. So... here's to all of you! I love you, tons!

Jan. 10 - Kurt (my bil)
Jan. 15 - Kristi (my sister)
Jan. 18 - My dad
Jan. 19 - David (my nephew)
Jan. 22 - Travis (my nephew) & Savannah (my niece)
Jan. 25 - Eric (my brother)



(I don't have any pictures of Travis... he makes himself pretty scarce, especially when the camera comes out. Happy Birthday, anyway!)

Joy of Cooking

I have always loved to cook. Food Network is my favorite channel on TV! When I was a teenager, my mom made a deal with both me and my sister... we could either cook or clean up the mess afterwards, and whichever one we chose, she would do the other. I hated (and honestly still do!) to do the dishes (we didn't have a dishwasher at the time), so I always chose to cook. My mom never bought convenience foods, so I learned to make everything from scratch. This is still my favorite way to cook. I love to read cookbooks and try new things.
Life doesn't always make it possible to cook this way. Since I started working I have found that I have less time to spend in the kitchen, but dinner still has to get on the table every night. I'm embarrassed to say that over the past couple of years we have grabbed fast food more nights that I care to admit. I have always come up with a menu, then shopped for that menu, but in recent years the menu went by wayside more and more in favor of a quick burger or chicken strips. In an attempt to get healthier, and be more financially responsible, Barry and I have decided that we are cutting out so much eating out. The menu is going to be more strictly adhered to, and the money saved from fast food will be going to pay off debt.
This has caused me to think a lot lately about meal prep... how I can save time in the kitchen, but still make a good meal. I have come up with some quick recipes, shortcuts and tips to help me out, and I thought that I would start posting some of them. I don't have anything profound... just things that have helped me, and I hope that they will be able to help other busy moms out there. I would love recipes and tips from you as well.
With all of this said, I am starting a new blog... Kim's Kitchen! Please visit and comment!

Megan update...

Megan is feeling great, and her arm is healing. She loves a good bubble bath, and now has even more of an excuse to take them as she can't get in the shower! Her stitches look like they are healing nicely. We keep them "gooped up" (a medical termed used by the doctor!) with antibiotic ointment and covered with bandages!
She is in really good spirits, and appreciates all the calls of concern on her behalf!

Lucky No. 13! (Or, Starting the New Year with a bang... er, crash)

Ever since I was little I have always wanted to do something big for New Year's Eve. I used to love watching Dick Clark, and counting down to the ball dropping. This year looked like it was going to be pretty quiet. Megan had stayed at the farm this week (although she went to spend the night with her cousin last night), Barry had to work (he always works on New Year's Eve), and Kayti and Josh were invited to a friend's house for a party. That left just me and Kyle to come up with something to do. I asked him what he wanted to do, and he decided that we should go see Twilight. I was only more than happy to do that! (And yes, that does make the 3rd time that I have seen the movie... is that a problem? hee hee!)
After the movie we ran some dinner by to Barry, then ran to pick up the other kids from their party (it was over at 10:00). We came home and settled in for a movie, snacks, and our own countdown to the new year.
A few minutes after 12:00 my phone rang. I saw that it was my nephew calling (this would be the nephew that was keeping my daughter for the night), and assumed that it was Megan calling to wish us all a happy new year. I answered the phone, the kids blew their nose makers into it, and we all yelled "Happy New Year!!". Instead of hearing Megan's voice I hear my nephew, Troy, respond with the following:
"Happy New Year to y'all, too!
Hey, who do you have insurance through?"
Can I tell you, my heart stopped for a moment? NOT the thing I was expecting to hear.
When I could finally talk again, I asked him what happened. They were at a friend's house at a party, and the kids were all goofing off, resulting in Megan putting her hand through a window on a door. He said she had a cut on her arm, it didn't look that bad, but she was probably going to have to have stitches to close it up. He asked me which hospital I wanted them to take her to, and of course I said the closest one, which of course was Fayetteville. I talked to Megan, she seemed ok... a little upset, but she wasn't crying or out of control. That calmed me down, and I told them to call me when they got to the hospital.
I called Barry, told him what happened, and then told him I was headed up to the hospital. Shortly after that I got a call from the mom of the house, Kay, and she was not as calm as Troy had been. She told me the cut was about 5 inches long, and it looked deep. She was apologizing to me for Megan getting hurt... and I was aplogizing to her for Megan breaking window!
There were several more phone calls back and forth between me and Troy, one of which was actually the doctor, asking my permission to sew up her arm. I asked him if he could give me some info on the cut, and this is what he tells me:
"It's about 2 1/2 inches long on the length of her left arm. It is superficial, but it will require stitches. Do I have your permission to sew her up?"
Of course I tell him yes, and get off the phone with him feeling very relieved that it is a "superficial" cut. I called Barry and filled him in on the situation, and he felt a lot better, too.
Can I tell you that my definition of superficial is very different from this doctor's? To me it means a scratch, or a rug burn! I'm thinking that she has a 2 1/2 scratch that is deep enough at some point to need a stitch or two to sew it up. To the doctor it means that she didn't cut any tendons, arteries, etc. I guess it's a good thing I didn't know that as I'm driving down the highway at 60+ mph... the cops would have stopped me for sure!
Anyway, by the time I got to the hospital, the doctor was sewing her up... 3 internal stitches, and 10 external ones! Yep, 13 stitches total! This gives her more stitches in one cut than her brother Josh has had in 3... she feels so proud!
As a mother with a semi-overactive imagination, I keep seeing in my mind Megan crying, and being scared and anxious. This makes me even more anxious, and I can't wait to get there to her. I rush into her room, she smiles up at me, and lovingly says:
"This doesn't mean I have to come home, does it?"
The little toad! She didn't cry through any of it; in fact the doctor said that he had never seen a kid be so brave through stitches before. She laid there watching him stitch her up. I can't watch when I have to have blood drawn!
We had quite a gathering in the waiting room when we were finished... my parents, Troy and his daughter (his wife, who is a RN stayed with Megan until I got there, then she took their son home), and Kay. I appreciated them all being there. Kay told me that as soon as the ball on tv dropped, they heard the crashing of glass, so Megan had impeccable timing!
I made Megan come home with me (that, actually, was the only time that she cried... yes, that did make me feel so special!) so I could keep an eye on the cut. I knew once the numbness wore off she would be in pain, and of course she was.
I hope this is not a sign of things to come this year.
And, if this counts as "doing something big for New Year's Eve", count me out. I'll take a boring, "sit in front of the tv night" any year!

Merry Christmas (a little late!)

I hope that you and yours had a great one! We sure did. It was a busy week, as well, and I thought I would share some of the highlights.

Monday (12/22) was Kyle's 13th birthday. Mom and Dad had a great time torturing him by making him wait until Dad got home from work to open his present! I did take him out to lunch, though, so I think that helped him to pass the time! At his request, we had chimichangas for dinner, followed by German Chocolate cake and Butter Crunch ice cream (vanilla ice cream with crushed up butterfingers... yummy!). Finally he got to open his present...


An Atlanta Falcons hoodie! He loves it, and even slept in it that night!
His Aunt Cari, though, gave him the best gift... a birthday buddy! A sweet cousin, Eden, made her appearance into this world on his birthday.

On Tuesday, Megan invited her friend, Meg, over to make cookies with her. The girls and I always bake cookies a few days before Christmas, and it was fun to include a friend this year. They helped me make sugar cookie dough, then together the two of them rolled it out, cut it out, bake it, and decorated them! They were very creative, and we sent Meg home with a plate full.


After we finished up with the cookies, we headed to the hospital to see Eden. What a cutie she is! She and Kayti weighed the same at birth, and both had a head full of dark hair. We are hoping that Eden takes after Kayti and doesn't lose any of it!


On Wednesday morning I got up early and headed into town to pick up a few last minute things. When I got home the kids reminded me that we had not drawn names this year, and they were really wanting to do it this year. (For several years now we have let the kids draw each other's names and they get to go shopping for them. They get a $5 limit, but they really enjoy seeing what they can come up with for each other.) So, we drew names, and I made 2 more trips back into town... once with the boys to buy for the girls, then for the girls to get for their brothers (honestly, it just worked out this way!). Once we had all the gifts wrapped and under the tree, we just spent the afternoon hanging out. It was pretty peaceful, and I was certainly feeling in the Christmas mood. I think seeing my kids want to do something nice for each other really helped that feeling! Barry made it home early from work, and once it was pretty dark outside we headed out to go look at Christmas lights. We have been doing this as a family for a very long time, and it's always fun to see how creative people get! After looking at lights, we made our annual visit to some dear friends, the Sparkman's. Barry and Mike started working together shortly after Barry got home from his mission. They worked together for several years (we both moved to Nashville at the same time), and a great friendship grew between our families. We visit him and his parents every year on Christmas Eve. His mom is Italian, and she makes Italian Sausage for dinner every year. Barry usually makes himself sick with them, but it's a fun tradition!

Another Christmas Eve tradition that we have is that the kids get to open a present when we get home from visiting. It's always new pj's... and they always love them!!


As soon as they are snuggled safely in bed, Barry and I set out the stockings so Santa can fill them. He did a pretty good job this year!


(In case you are wondering about the cereal in the stockings... this is another one of our traditions. Everyone gets his or her own box of cereal that they eat for breakfast. This makes it easier on mom to take care of any cooking that needs to be done for dinner, and not have to worry about breakfast.)

Christmas morning usually goes like this in our house... the kids wake up early and usually sneak downstairs, even though they are not supposed to come out of their rooms until 7:00. (To keep them "occupied" in their rooms, Mrs. Claus leaves them a new book in their rooms, all wrapped up. This is supposed to work, but never does!) Usually when they can't stand it anymore, they come pounce on Daddy to plead with him to wake up! Once everyone is awake and piled in Mom and Dad's bed, we read the Christmas Story from the scriptures together. (This year was much the same, except for the fact that everyone wanted to sleep in this year! It was close to 8:30 before the kids came in our room.) Finally, everyone is allowed downstairs after Mom has the camera out and ready to go! One of the kids gets to be "Santa" and hand out the gifts. The kids each take turns opening one present, then it's on to Mom and Dad. I usually can't stand to wait to see Barry's expression over all his loot, so I make him go first. Long ago, when Kayti and Josh were little we decided that the kids would each get 3 gifts... that was how many Baby Jesus got, so that was how we came upon that number. They usually each get one big Santa gift, then a couple of smaller gifts from Mom and Dad. This year we got the family one big Santa gift, so we wrapped it up instead of just having it under the tree. And, to top it all off, they had to wait and open it last! It about killed them, but it was great!! Before I reveal what that gift was, here is a run-down on what else they got:
Kayti got a gold necklace with a "K" initial charm on it, and a new purse. Inside the purse was an iTunes gift card. Josh drew her name and got her a big bag of peanut M&M's (her favorite!) and a set of mechanical pencils (the girl goes through them like crazy!!)


Josh got a new mp3 player and an Auburn hoodie. Kayti drew his name and got him a movie.


Kyle got a Nike soccer bag, and a new sterling silver CTR ring (he lost his months ago, and picked this one out when we went to the bookstore in Atlanta. The middle spins, and he LOVES it!). Megan drew his name and got him a poster of the Falcon's QB.


Megan also got a new mp3 player with an "iFlops" (a cute stuffed pig that acts as an amplifier), and a portable art station. Kyle drew her name and got her earrings.


It finally came time for them to open the "biggie", and Barry made them all gather around it so they could all rip the paper:


They tore the top of the box off and...


So, what was inside this box?


An XBox 360! It came with two game and one controller, but Barry got them 3 more games and an extra controller. They were all beside themselves, and the boys both took turns jumping in their Daddy's lap to show their appreciation!

After breakfast and some "play time" we loaded up and headed out to see a movie. This is the first time that we have ever done that on Christmas Day. We went to see "Bedtime Stories" and loved it! It was a great family movie. After the movie we headed over to Granny and Grandpa Mayfield's to visit with them for a bit, then we all headed to the Callahan's for Christmas Dinner. It was great being their with family and we enjoyed the visit and yummy food.

On Friday morning Barry had to go into work, so the kids and I went to visit my family. We had a yummy brunch at the farm. We had fun visiting, eating and playing! We spent the night, but had to head home the next day so I could finish up my RS lesson for Sunday.
Megan is spending this week at the farm, and is loving it! She calls me every day to fill me in on all of her adventures! The weather has cooperated, and the kids have been exploring all over place.
The other kiddo's and I have been very lazy!! We have slept in, and stayed up late. I really feel guilty about it, though, because Barry has to head to work each morning. I have to go back to work on Friday, so I am trying not to get too used to sleeping in! Barry will have to work on New Year's Eve, which we hate, so we aren't doing anything huge. The kids and I will watch some movies, eat some treats, and watch the ball drop on TV. We will all sleep in on New Year's Day, and I plan on making a big breakfast around lunch time!
Kyle will be heading off Friday morning on a camp out with his Deacon's quorum. Kayti and Josh have a winter youth conference on Saturday, and I will go pick up Megan then. Starting this Sunday we will be switching time for Church to start, so we will have to get up bright and early. I guess that will get us back in the swing of things for the rest of the week when everyone heads back to school, and life gets back to "normal".

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and has a wonderful New Year!!

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

This cutie turned 13 last week. I now officially have 3 teenagers in the house... it's a good thing this one is so sweet!!

2nd Annual Blog Christmas Newsletter

Wow! It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone. What a busy one it has been, too. Here is a brief update on our family:

Kayti

Kayti turned 16 this year, and she is currently a Junior in high school. She has learned to play the guitar this year, and has been serenading us with Chirstmas songs over the past few weeks. She loves Seminary, and is serving as the second counselor in her Laurel class presidency at church. She is such a helper around the house, and there are times that I don't know what I would do without her. For youth conference this year, our youth went on a pioneer trek, which Kayti loved! The youth had to either make or buy pioneer clothing, and Kayti helped to make her clothes. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, the trek had to be cut short by a day, but Kayti came away from it with an increased testimony of the Savior, and a better understanding of the hardships that the early pioneer saints experienced. On a slightly scary note (for me) she has started looking into colleges. I can't believe that she is old enough to start thinking about that yet!! She still wants to be a writer, but plans on being a secondary English teacher to acually support herself. She always has her nose stuck in a book (even at the beach!), and loves to write as well.

Josh

Josh just turned 15, and thinks he is 21! He will be getting his driving permit soon, and can't wait to get behind the wheel. He teases Kayti that he will be getting his license before she does (as she is too afraid to drive). He is a Freshman in high school now, and stands a good head taller than his mother! He took a drama class last year in school, and really fell in love with it. He played an old man in his class play, and did a great job. His teacher raved that he was the best one out of all the classes. He plans on taking more drama classes soon as his schedule allows it. Josh decided that he wanted to go back to playing soccer this year, and he did a great job! He was very upset when a bruised kidney kept him out of both regional and area championship games. He plays defender, and loves it. He also went on the pioneer trek with Kayti, although he did not enjoy it as much as Kayti did! I was proud of him for going, though. He loves spending time with his younger cousins, and he does a great job keeping them entertained. He went skiing for the first time at the beginning of the year with a group of YM from church. They drove to North Carolina, and set up camp in the snow. They actually did tent camping to keep the cost down. He loved to ski, although he did run into lots of people and trees! Thankfully he didn't break any bones.

Kyle

Kyle is 13, and loves life! He is a 7th grader now, and gets to ride to and from school with mom each day! He is a great student, and loves to learn and figure things out. He attended scout camp for the first time this year, and loved it! He was also able to attend Space Camp this past year with his 6th grade class. They went each day during school hours, which helped to keep the cost down. He was a mission specialist within his group, and loved the simulated mission to Mars. His highlight of the year, though, was going to the Georgia Dome, the home his favorite NFL team the Atlanta Falcons. He played soccer again this year, but as a midfielder instead of goalie. He liked playing midfield, but really prefers being in the goal. He has enjoyed being involved with his Deacon's quorum, and served as 2nd counselor for a short time. He has enjoyed being able to attend the temple during youth temple trips. He is the best big brother to Megan, and the two of them are best friends.

Megan

Megan is 11, and a little chatterbox! She is in the 6th grade, and the only one left in elementary school. She loves her teachers, and is doing well in school. In the early part of this year, she and her 2 best friends entered the school science fair, and won 3rd place. They were able to go on to the regional fair, and took 3rd place there as well. They were too young to go on to the state level, but they did a great job, and learned a lot. She loves to spend time with her Grandpa up on the farm. She is his right-hand girl, and helps him feed, milk, and herd the cows. She loves to ride his horse, too, and is great with all the animals. She played soccer this year, too, but decided to play on an all girls team instead of co-ed. She loved it, and played as goalie most of the year. Her team came in second in the region, thanks mostly to some fantastic saves on her part. She will be turning 12 in a few months, and can't wait to move on to YW. She is almost as tall as mom, and loves to help out in the kitchen.

Barry and I stay busy working and running kids around. Barry still works at the credit union, and I am still at the middle school. Barry works in the IT dept. as a supervisor, and I am the school secretary. I really enjoy my job and the people I work with. They make it fun to be there everyday. In August I was released as the Laurel Advisor and called to teach Relief Society. I still miss my girls, but I am growing to enjoy being in RS as well. We have enjoyed a few tips this year... some not as long as others, but fun nonetheless. We loved going back to Destin this past October, and spending time on the beach! Our day trip to Nashville this Christmas was a fun way to fill up on Holiday cheer! We have enjoyed visits from both Nicki this summer, and Kari and Rob this past Thanksgiving. We had a family wedding in July, and welcomed a new sister into the family. It's been a full and busy year; one blessed with health and happiness. And for that we are grateful. We are looking forward to 2009 and all that comes with it.

We hope you have had a good year! Please leave us a comment, and let us know how you are doing!!