For our tenth anniversary this year, we spent a whole day at Disneyland without the kids. (We have awesome friends who love to watch our girls!)

And we finally bought yearly passes! We've wanted to do that since we moved here in August. In the past month and a half, we've already been to Disneyland FOUR times.

A sign on the way to Disneyland. Can anyone enlighten me? What are wet burritos?

So we paid to take our kids to Disneyland, and what do they want to ride? The oldest ride in the book -- the carousel.

I completely understand.

There is something timeless and magical about carousels. They make me feel like a kid all over again.

We only rode double once. Oops!
They're sure loved sitting together though...






Yep, this was a good decision. We are going to love learning all the ins and outs of Disneyland. Autumn already spotted our first Hidden Mickey.

...I'm going to give you a peek into my cupboards.


There's just something so satisfying about arranging and organizing things so that life works a little smoother.


There just is.


And if you don't think so, you're missing out.

A few years ago we checked out the DVD of CATS from the library.

And then we checked it out again. And again. And again.

Over at least a year's time period, we watched that movie so many times!

We even checked out Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot.

And then finally, we bought it as a gift for Heidi (although Autumn loved it equally, she received something else that year...).

Last week we were headed up to Utah for our family reunion. Rae called me a few days before and said something like, "Phill can get tickets to CATS at the Tuacahn...want to take the kids?"

So we got the babes in bed for the night, left them with the hubbies, and took our big kids to the show. They were ecstatic about staying up past their bedtime, being with their cousins, and getting to see the show.

It was so much fun. I haven't been to a live musical since my freshman year of college...Phantom of the Opera at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake.


It was priceless watching Autumn, Heidi, Reed, and Jaxon as they watched the show. As the show began, I looked over and saw Heidi sitting on the edge of her seat in anticipation, wearing a gigantic smile on her face. Every time I looked at Autumn she was focused on the stage, even when whispering excitedly to Reed.


At one point, a cat did an aerobatic stunt, and Reed said in a hushed and excited whisper, "Awesome! I can do that!"

The show ended with fireworks, a perk of outdoor theatre! And true to any boy's nature, when we asked Jaxon what he liked about it, he said, "the fireworks". And on the car-ride home I overheard he kept talking about the fireworks and how he could "blow up the whole universe!" Yep, that'd be my nephew.

And then to top it all off, we ran into one of the actresses during intermission and she posed for a picture!

Sometime during the last month, we finally took Esther to Eric's cousin to even out Esther's "hair job". It's so great to know and trust people who can do the things I can't. And it's even better when they're in the family. We all get great haircuts from Amanda and love knowing we can trust her with our hair. :)

We've made a lot of changes in our diet lately. Between reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, watching FOOD, Inc., reading Anti Cancer, Righteous Porkchop, and wanting to lose extra weight and be more healthy -- wow! If you're interested and want to know more about these books or have already read them and want to share tips/tricks/or stories, email me!

One of the bigger changes has been to make as much as we can on our own. To that end, granola bars are such a great snack to have on hand and I'm loving being the one in control of what goes into them. They're also really easy to make.

I've tried 3 different recipes now (Kitchen Stewardship, Sisters Cafe, and my wonderful friend Heidi's).

This morning I decided to compare all three and see if I couldn't figure out the "science" behind what is required to make a granola bar. Here's what I came up with. Armed with these things, I think I'll be able to make any number of granola bar recipes, changing it up however I feel.

GRANOLA BAR SCIENCE
(for a regular size batch)

- 2 cups of oats. Maybe a 1/2 cup more in a doubled batch. Quick vs. rolled is really a matter of preference. I have yet to decide my preference...
- 1 C flour, whole wheat or all-purpose. No flour? Use an extra 1/2 C oats and 1/2 C rice krispies. Not as healthy, but really yummy. Using all-purpose but still wanting to be healthy? Add 1/2 C wheat germ. My double batch recipe calls for 1 cup flour, but another regular batch recipe I have ALSO calls for 1 cup flour...today I'm doing a regular batch and will use 1/2 cup flour unless it looks like it needs more.
- 1/2 tsp baking soda. Two of the recipes actually leave this out, but I think it helps the bars stay together better and be softer and chewier. Scientifically, I know that cream of tartar makes cookies softer and chewier and is an ingredient in baking powder. So maybe this is similar? As for why it helps them stay together better? Maybe something to do with the poofing/rising while they bake and then when they cool and fall they stick together better? Ideas anyone?
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 - 1/2 C Butter or oil, interchangeable in this recipe. That's not always the case with baking.
- 3/4 to 1 C sweetener, to taste.
1/2 C brown sugar + 1/4 - 1/2 C honey
1/2 C honey (as a general rule, if you want to use all honey and no sugar in a recipe that calls for only sugar, use half the amount called for. So 1 Cup sugar = 1/2 C honey)
- 1/2 tsp of extract of choice, or even a mixture of two. If you like almonds, try 1/4 tsp almond extract and 1/4 tsp vanilla. You can add up to 2 tsp extract in a batch if you feel like the flavor's not strong enough.
- Add an egg or two if it seems too dry. You're only likely to need this if you use all oil instead of butter.
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon is a really yummy addition.
- You can add 1/4 - 1/3 C powdered milk for added calcium.

ADD-IN's:
- add by the 1/2 C
- if using peanut butter, cut the oil/butter to 1/4 - 1/3 C
- There are so many possibilities for add-ins. Try any of these: coconut, mini chocolate chips, dried cranberries (practically any dried fruit), nuts, or sunflower seeds.
- You can adjust the add-ins to taste if you really like a particular flavor, but be careful you don't add so much that it interferes with the oats and the "chewiness" factor.

Use your hands and jam it all into the pan. This keeps your bars from falling apart.

Use a lightly greased 9 x 13" pan. If you double the recipe, you can use the same size pan. Just two tips with a doubled batch:
- adjust your baking time, more on the 20 minute side
- cut them thinner and the top (looking into the pan) becomes the side of each granola bar. Make sense?

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, checking at 12 minutes. You want it to be a little golden.

Cool at least 10 minutes before cutting.
Cool COMPLETELY in pan before removing and storing or serving.

They freeze well if wrapped individually.

Today I'm going to try two batches:
- peanut butter chocolate chip (an old favorite)
- and almond coconut with 1/4 tsp almond extract and 1/4 tsp vanilla (I think almond extract is pretty strong and add a little at a time tasting as I go. You may prefer to go all the way up to the 2 tsps with almond and vanilla. Last time I did that, I tasted a "tinglyness" in the bars directly from the almond extract. Weird huh?)

I'm also going to use oil instead of butter. Much cheaper. I've tried both and can't really tell a difference.

So today my recipes will look like this:

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 - 1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C honey
1/3 - 1/2 C oil
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 C coconut
1/2 C sliced almonds

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another. Combine. Spread in greased pan. Bake at 350 for 12-20 minutes. Cut. Cool completely. Remove from pan and store.

And then in the 2nd batch I'll do all vanilla extract, 1/2 C peanut butter (adjusting the oil as needed), and 1/2 C mini chocolate chips.

If you find a combination you love, let me know!

...here's 13,000.

People talk about how wonderful it is to have a girl first because they're like second mommas, so helpful with the other kids. Well, having never had a boy first...obviously...and having never had a boy PERIOD...I can only go by what I see in other families and from my childhood. It's very true. I'm sure it's not always true, but it's probably more often true than not.

Autumn is such a good helper with her sisters and around the house. And she loves them to pieces. She is tender hearted. Quick to feel the smallest slight from her sisters (whom she loves dearly), but also so quick to forgive with a smile and a hug.

She loves life. She is excited about everything that comes her way. She loves to dance. She loves to tell people how much she's looking forward to playing the cello this fall.

She loves school and lately, she loves to write stories! This has been a joy for me to watch. Earlier in the school year we worked on creative writing for a time, but it was a bust. She just wasn't ready for it at the time. And I learned after the fact, just how important it is to FILL a kid's mind with stories and information and give them TIME before expecting them to be ready to CREATE their own stories. So...we left the creative writing alone. And she went back to it on her own, when she was ready!

Right now she's working on a story called "The Enchanted Garden". She has informed me that it will be fourteen chapters long, just like Harry Potter. Every page has green ivy drawn around it too. Oh how I love this girl.

Autumn and Heidi made a store in the playroom. You can probably read the prices if you click on the picture to expand it. But each price tag has a price (imagine that) and a description of the item!

Heidi lost another tooth! That brings the count up to FOUR. And it's one of the top ones, which really surprised me. Autumn didn't lose those till just this year. If I didn't know better, I'd say Heidi was trying to catch up with her. :)

Heidi's reading and writing skills (and interest in them!) just TOOK OFF during the last month of school. Since then, I find sheets of her writing everywhere and am enjoying her enthusiasm over these newest skills. And once again, I'm reminded of just what a funny language English is. Kids are so smart and realize just how they say things as they're in the early writing stages. And when I read my kindergartner's handwriting, I have to laugh at just how right they are. She currently spells "tree" as "chree". Try to say tree without thinking about it and you'll see what I mean. Or listen to someone else say it without any prompting. Like I said, English is a funny language.

Watching The Little Mermaid together. Becca loves her sisters and I love to watch them playing with her. Heidi is especially patient with Becca and loves sitting with her and playing with her.