A Father's Day Poem

The Best Place to Be

I sit in my bed and hold on to my blankey bear
I sit on the floor and feed my dolly with great care

I sit on the couch and look at picture books
I sit in my high chair and eat whatever Mommy cooks

I sit in my Bumbo seat and watch Sid the Science Kid
I sit on the potty and when I’m through, we close the lid

I sit in the back pack and go this way and that
I sit in the red cart and go to grocery store and launder mat

I sit in my car seat and go here and there
I sit in a swing and the wind blows my hair

I sit in the sand and marvel at the feel
I sit in the bath and go splish splash with my toys and just chill

I sit in the grass and bask in the sun
I sit in the pool and have lots of fun

I sit in strollers and eat snacks from the cup holders
But the best place to sit is on Daddy’s shoulders!

Love Carlee (and Mom)

I made this poem into sort of like a little scrapbook with pictures accompanying each line. I think he liked it!

Burnt Chops

Sundays are a difficult day at our house. With church at 2:00 and Matt being Young Men's President and me being Primary President, we have to get there at 1:30 and we don't usually get home until 6:00 plus twice a month we have to (I mean, get to) attend Ward Council at 12:00. It is always a scramble to get ready, get lunch, and get out the door. Once we get to church, there isn't much rest either, especially with Carlee now being very vocal. Once we get home from church there also isn't much rest because we are starving, cranky (especially Carlee), and worn out. Dinner is always a challenge. If I don't get something going in the morning that can cook while we are gone to church (which just adds one more thing to have to do before church), then we come home and have to scramble yet again for something to eat. So I try to always plan something. I thought I had this great plan a few Sundays ago: baked beans and pork chops that would cook low and slow while we were gone and we would come home to perfection in the oven. We invited the two people we were giving rides home from church to join us. We walk in the door and it smells kinda good at first but then there was a burnt smell that stung our noses.

Apparently the chops were too thin to be in the oven that long, plus I didn't add enough liquid I don't think. What else could we do but laugh? We fed our guests baked beans and salad...wa, wa, wa.
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So I mostly just feel ugly when I am pregnant. I'll just say this, I definitely don't have that pregnancy glow, so I was surprised when I saw this picture Matt took of me. I quite like it. (Am I allowed to say that?)


Matt loves rough housing with Carlee and throwing her in the air. Do you think this time he threw her a little too high?

But look how much she loves it! She has become quite a tough little toddler, definitely not dainty and fragile. And its a good thing I guess!


She is very cute with her dolls however, dragging them around by the hair. No, I'm just kidding. She feeds them, hugs and kisses them, carries them around in their blankets. It is very cute. As is this picture.

Splurge

Can I just tell you what Carlee and I had for an after lunch dessert? Homemade vanilla ice cream from yesterday with a made from scratch brownie from last week that had been individually wrapped in the freezer and thawed which tasted like I just made it AND homemade chocolate sauce from the other day too. Yikes. Talk about good but overload of sugar. I think I am going to have a tummy ache. Was it worth it? Probably!
Here are the recipes for the brownie and chocolate sauce recipe which come from Elk Creek Ranch in Island Park, Idaho where I use to work:

Pecan Brownies—incredible good!

16 Tbsp. unsalted butter

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, cut into ¼ inch pieces

4 large eggs

1 C. dark brown sugar firmly packed

1 C. granulated sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. salt

1 C. all-purpose flour

10 oz. coarsely chopped pecan pieces



One 19x13x2-inch pan buttered and lined with buttered parchment or foil.



Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and pre-heat to 350
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Take off the heat and add the chocolate. Let stand 2 minutes and then whisk until smooth. If all the chocolate had not melted, return the pan to very low heat and stir constantly until the chocolate melts.
In a large bowl, use a rubber spatula to stir one egg into the brown sugar. Make sure any lumps in the sugar are dissolved. Add the remaining eggs. One at a time, stirring each in with the rubber spatula in the same way. Stir in the granulated sugar, the vanilla and salt. Stir in the chocolate mixture.
Finally, fold in the flour and then 2 cups of the pecans.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Scatter the remaining chopped pecans over the top of the batetr and with your fingertips gentle y press in.
Bake for about 30 to 35 min. or until a toothpick or small knife inserted in to the center emerges clean. Cool completely.
Wrap and refrigerate the pan so that the cake solidifies completely—at least four hours, overnight is best. This also makes the cake easier to cut.
Transfer the whole cake to a cutting board and slide a long knife or spatulas under it to loosen the paper or foil, and the pull it away. Use a ruler to mark, and then cut the cake into 2-inch squares.
For up to several days, store the brownies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in a tin or plastic container with a tight-fitting cover. Freeze for longer storage. If you plan to keep the brownies for any length of time, it is better to wrap them individually. Enjoy!


Chocolate Sauce—oh so yummy!

2 Cups sugar

4 Tbsp. flour

1 Cube real butter

4 Tbsp. cocoa

1 large can evaporated milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter and then add sugar, flour cocoa and stir well. Then stir in the evaporated milk and vanilla. Cook over low heat stirring constantly until it boils. Boil for 3 min. Cook slowly or it will go sugary/grainy. Remove from heat. The sauce stores indefinitely covered in the refrigerator if you can keep everyone out of it!

It's a Girl!

Everything looked good. She is healthy. What a miracle and blessing. She is 1 lb. We are both very excited and sure if Carlee was old enough to understand, she would be too!!!

A New Color and Cut and a Growing Gut

We find out the gender of what is causing the growing gut on Wednesday!

The color is just some honey colored highlights and the cut is a combination of a professional cut plus some of my own handy work to get it just the way I wanted it.


Playing in the pool with Carlee

Fat Belly

Carlee is understanding a lot of words now... it is fun to see her reactions.