Warm food on a cold night.

There really isn't anything much better than something warm and comforting on a chilly night. SO....in the Kronebusch household, we are having.....oatmeal. That's right. One of the best ways to warm up on a cold day, oh and because Kaye is refereeing basketball tonight and we are alone. So, I thought that I would share my favorite oatmeal recipe. It's to die for...in an oatmealy kind of way.

1 cup of rolled oats (I'm sure it doesn't matter but I use instant)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 3/4 cups of milk

1/4 cup of brown sugar

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon (or so) of butter

Throw all except butter in a pot, turn it onto medium and cook to your hearts content. I literally cook this until it's dead (probably a good 15 minutes or so). Once you have cooked it until you feel it's done, remove from heat, add the butter and stir. I LOVE oatmeal that is really thick and then adding milk. The key is only separating little pieces so it's like chunks of thick oatmeal swimming in milk. Mmmmmmmm. I can't wait!

This is a supremely better option than those store bought ones. It has TONS less sodium and it tastes fantastic. Try it!

P.S. This recipe only feeds me and the 3 kids. We never make it with Kaye around because he thinks that oatmeal is a poor man's meal. Too bad for him....all the more for me! :)

Which is worse......

When you cheat by doing your son's homework or when his teacher catches you doing your son's homework?

Yep, that's right. I totally got caught doing just that yesterday. I SO deserve the bad mom award.

I went in to Marcus' school to help out and for the whole hour that I was there, Marcus was trying to type out about 10 lines on the computer. The part that just killed me was that about 5 other kids came and went as Marcus stayed there plugging along. I was so frustrated that I finally just started typing it for him because he was missing his recess and it was only a stupid santa letter. AND....Mrs. Schmidt, who I don't really like and have a hard time with, had to come in and SEE ME DO IT! I was SO embarrassed. How do I possibly go to parent teacher interviews or help out again?!? This'll take a bit to get over I think. :( Thank goodness, she never said anything to me. I feel like such a retard!

Can you feel the love?

A couple of days ago, Colby came screaming to me about how he was bleeding. OH HORROR! As I tried to calm him down, I found out Elijah had kindly shattered a glass ball ornament all over the floor and Colby had gone and played in it.

The cute thing about it was Elijah. Since Colby was SO upset and had to be bandaged on hand and toe, Elijah was supremely worried about him. He kept stroking his head, kissing him, and refused to let go of his hand.

I'm SO glad that there are days where my children actually love each other. It makes up for other 90% of the days where they are screaming, kicking, pinching, scratching, hitting....you know. It was just so cute!

She really is THAT great!

Now, I realise that I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to baking, cooking...that sort of thing. I love all things yummy (as I'm sure you can tell from looking at me:) and I LOVE Ree Drummond AKA The Pioneer Woman. She is FANTASTIC! She's like a Martha Stewart who is NOT all stuck up. I know, I really do love Martha too but sometimes her food is just so..... 'healthy' and fancy. The Pioneer Woman has easy, yummy, and very entertaining recipes. She seriously is hilarious.

What brought on this "love fest" you might ask? Homemade cranberry sauce! Yummy! I am so using this recipes for Christmas. As well as her beans wrapped in bacon, as well as her buns, and quite possibly her cornbread stuffing.

She lives out in the middle of nowhere on a cattle ranch so all the stuff she uses is stuff you would have in your house or stuff that is very easy to get. No fancy shmancy stuff for her. AND her favorite thing is BUTTER. She is too good.

Either way, I love her and I'm sure that you will too. If you are ever looking for a new recipe source....try her out. She is so fun to read. I am obsessed with checking out her cooking blog at least once a day. www.thepioneerwoman.com ...you won't regret it!

Doing the bookworm tag....

SO, I totally LOVE this cute idea of bookworm tage. Cute! BUT, I just couldn't pick the first book...it does have sentances. It's the 'Quick Look Drug Book.' So, the book that I pick it da da da da (cue the music!)...Stedman's Medical Dictionary 28th Edition people.

Aluminum hydroxide gel, a suspension containing Al2O3, mainly in the form of aluminum hydroxide, used as an antacid; a dried form, with the same use, its obtained by drying the product of interaction in aqueous solution of an aluminum salt with ammonium or sodium carbonate.

Betcha you all really wanted to know that hey? Oh, I totally beat Randa...I have 2169 pages...not counting the appendices! Hey, you said that it didn't need to be interesting or fun!

The land of the rising sun part 2

Sooooooo, apparently I didn't really explain what exactly had happened with Kaye. He did in fact go to Japan on a business trip last week. I'm not quite sure how people 'live apart' from their spouses on a regular basis. I thought that being alone was awful. Anyway, it was a bit of a lame post yesterday but I was in a rush. I'll put some more pics on here from his trip.

This is Kaye and Shogo shopping. Shogo lived with us for a month when he came to Canada to work at the plant with Kaye.

This is Wagyu beef...apparently costing around $300 a pound. Kaye was fed it like 3 or 4 times. He was living it up...the punk. (He said it was amazing...)

This is a Kei restaurant (pronouced the same as Kaye). It cost something like 10 000 yen for a plate. That is like $125 a plate Canadian. They even put your bibs on you. Hmmmm.....I don't know what how I would feel about that. I like my personal space a bit more than that. :) I'm glad he enjoyed it. It'll NEVER happen to him again...not on my bill anyway!

This is a gas station. The pumps come out of the roof instead of the ground. How crazy is that?!?

Kaye ALWAYS being the tallest of the bunch. This is the chef and waitress from the first night he was there. I think it would have been sweet.

Kaye absolutely loved it there. He even got to go to the Tokyo temple. He said it was beautiful. He said that it was just so busy though. I don't think that I would've ever lasted over there for a second. Oh well....something for Kaye to remember for a lifetime.

Oh, sidenote.....I went for an ultrasound and I found out that I'm due about June 19. I guess that's a good a time as any! :)

The land of the rising sun

Mount Fuji from the top of Tokyo Tower

The bullet train

Kaye's sushi platter. Kaye does NOT eat seafood. This went over really well with him, especially considering that all that fish is raw.

I'm SO excited!

I am SO excited for christmas! I would put pics of the finished project up except Kaye's got the camera in Japan. I can't wait for the holidays. Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year. I have been thinking about my favorite things about Christmas and thought that I would share a few with you and maybe you could share your favorite things as well.

1. Christmas Carols! They are the best. One of my favorites is called Mary's boy child (it's has to be the cheesy 80's version though!)

2. Toffifee...mmmmm! You can't get much better than that!

3. Ward Christmas parties! I have no idea why these are so great...they just are.

4. White Christmas. This is quite possibly one of the best movies of all time. I LOVE IT!

5. The Spirit of Christmas! There really is nothing like it.

6. Getting...and giving Christmas cards. I love hearing how peoples lives are doing. Things change so quickly and you miss so much of others lives. It seems like it's one of the only times that you catch up.

7. Homemade cookies. Christmas wouldn't quite be the same without cookies.

I hope everyone is looking forward to a wonderful Christmas season!

Candy Time!

Notice that Kaye is just as proud as the kids at the haul from this year.

Elijah did NOT want to be dressed up...until he found out what you do. He went CRAZY! He would scream Da! Da! Da! when he was coming down the walk to show Daddy the treats. He loved it!

Colby of course was a pirate...and Marcus finally decided on Daniel Larusso AKA...the Karate Kid. He was so excited for it!

Like Father, Like Son

MEN! Grossness must be genetic! (Kaye did this solely for the photo op...he honestly doesn't sit like that...all the time.) I SO need a girl!

I finally feel like I belong!

I have always been terribly envious of those crafty women who always have cute things they've made (you know who you are!). BUT, I now get to join your ranks...sort of. :)

I feel so much better...I AM crafty after all!

Huh?

I am at a loss as to what I should do for my next post....but as it is getting later and later with nothing "personal" that is interesting (yes, my life is relatively boring), I thought I would share some interesting questions that I found online. These are just silly but I needed a laugh at the moment so I enjoyed them. Hope you do too!


1. Why does the sun lighten our hair, but darken our skin?
2. Why can't women put on mascara with their mouth closed?
3. Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
4. Why don't you ever see the headline Psychic Wins Lottery?
5. Why is abbreviated such a long word?
6. Why is a boxing ring square?
7. Why is it considered necessary to nail down the lid of a coffin?
8. Why is it that doctors call what they do practice?
9. Why is it that rain drops but snow falls?
10. Why is it that to stop Windows 98, you have to click on Start?
11. Why is it that when you're driving and looking for an address, you turn down the volume on the radio?
12. Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?
13. Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
14. Why is the third hand on the watch called a second hand?
15. Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
16. Why isn't there a special name for the tops of your feet?
17. Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
18. If you throw a cat out of the car window, does it become kitty litter?
19. If you take an Asian person and spin him around several times does he become disoriented?
20. Is it OK to use the AM radio after noon?
21. What do people in China call their good plates?
22. What do you call a male ladybug?
23. What hair color do they put on the driver's license of a bald man?
24. Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
25. Why do they call it a pair of pants, but only 1 bra?
26. Why is it called tourist season if we can't shoot at them?
27. Why do you need a driver's license to buy liquor when you can't drink and drive?
28. Why isn't phonetic spelled the way it sounds?
29. Why are there Interstates in Hawaii?
30. Why are there flotation devices in the seats of planes instead of parachutes?
31. Why are cigarettes sold at gas stations where smoking is prohibited?
32. Have you ever imagined a world without hypothetical situations?
33. How does the guy who drives the snowplow get to work?
34. If the 7-11 is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why does it have locks on the door?
35. You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of it?
36. If a firefighter fights fire and a crime fighter fights crime, what does a freedom fighter fight?
37. If they squeeze olives to get olive oil, how do they get baby oil?
38. If a cow laughs, does milk come out of her nose?
39. If you are driving at the speed of light and you turn your headlights on, what happens?
40. Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of a drive-up ATM?
41. Why is it that when you transport something by car it is called shipment, but when you transport something by ship it's called cargo?
42. Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
43. Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
44. If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
45. If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

Number 4

If you are reading this Stephanie, I'm sure you will laugh at this, but I don't mind being silly. I embrace my silliness. I just took a pregnancy test today and it was positive!! Okay, so I can't be any more than about 4 weeks pregnant, but I've never been able to keep this news to myself. So, from now on, I can stop saying, "No, I'm just fat" when asked if I'm pregnant, which actually happens more than it should. :( No one needs to know that it is still just fat! I'm excited though. Maybe I'll be lucky and get a girl.

If you look hard, you can see the faint line....it's honestly there. It's supposed to be the horizontal (from this angle) line in the +. It really is there...I swear!

Right before we sat down for General Conference, Kaye said that he felt something great coming...something exciting. I was just like, ''Yeah, yeah.'' Of course, the first thing Pres. Monson says is to announce a temple being built in Calgary!!! I can't believe Kaye called that. Obviously, I'm married to a MUCH more spiritual person than I am. Either way, I am SO SUPER excited about the idea of having a temple in Calgary! I can't wait!

I have finally read Twilight. I know....I'm not on the cutting edge of coolness. BUT, regardless, I LOVED IT!!! I totally understand your obsession Nancy. I picked it up while at my sister's house on the weekend and it didn't leave my hand until it was finished. I'm ashamed to admit, but I actually read until I couldn't read anymore, closed my eyes, took a nap, and then made myself wake up to read it again. It was SO good! I have now been converted. I can't wait to see the movie!!!

I also found another, granted less exciting, but nonetheless entertaining read out there. It is for all of us stay-at-home-moms. It is called SAHM I Am by Meredith Efken. It made me laugh out loud on several occasions. If you are looking for a cute, lighthearted book, this is the one for you.

Now, on to the venting part of my post.....
I'm curious to know how many feel the same as I. Two weeks or so ago, I received a letter from Marcus' school advertising that it is doing a fundraiser. That's fine. I'm not super into them but I'll do my part. What really got me was this...

"Our goal is that each student/family sell a minimum of $85 in sales, or if you choose not to sell we ask that you please provide a $50 cheque. In the past we have only done one fundraiser per year, but, if this one is not successful, we will be forced to do another fundraiser later in the year."

To me, that sounds like a money grab. If you aren't going to do the fundraiser, that's fine...you still have to give us money. If you want anything for your money, you need to give us $35 more! If you don't give enough, we'll make you do it again so it better be good!

Maybe I'm just being cheap, but I think that this is ridiculous. I've already shelled out $95 school fees, $110 bus fees, $50 at least for school supplies, $2 (obligatory) for the Terry Fox run, and $36 for hot lunches (which I have to admit are worth it. They even provide at Christmas a free turkey dinner for the kids.) It's only October 1st! This does not bode well for the rest of the year.....

Well isn't that awkward....

I was at the grocery store yesterday when I came across a flyer advertising the grand opening of Trochu Fitness. I was SUPER excited. Maybe now, I thought, I could be motivated enough to get into shape.

I was terribly surprised and disappointed when I learned WHERE the new fitness place was. It was the PARK!! What? How weird is that? Tell me, who has ever heard of an outdoor gym?

Now obviously, I will not start working out there. It is right in front the water park and swimming pool and right off Main Street. Awkward...to say the least!!!

That isn't to say we couldn't go there for a laugh though. This morning, Maeggan and I decided to head out to the "gym" for a bit of a mock work out. SO FUNNY! It really was too much fun.

Aren't you jealous. I mean, a work out for free! Although, you will have to pay with the embarrassment you will feel by working your buns off in front of anyone who wants to watch!

Who would've thunk. Definitely NOT me. It never would've occurred to me to have fitness equipment in the park. It is funny though. I can't wait to see who frequents it. ;)

Can anyone enlighten me as to what the heck this wheelie thingy is? Maeggan and I were super confused!

Life waits for no one....especially me.

For anyone who knows me, I love a good deal. I was raised by a coupon-clipping, flyer-reading, hit-every-store-before-buying-to-compare-prices kind of mom. I love my mom and the lessons that she taught me about being thrifty.

That is why I was so thrilled when I came upon this little number. Now, I probably wouldn't have picked this couch out as my favorite couch of all time, but that's okay. As I said, I love a good deal and this couch was only $300!! How could you say no to that? I totally LOVE Costco.

Totally on a different line of thought....I would love to be able to have one of those lives where you wake up in the morning and know just what is going to happen for that day and then, miraculously, it happens. I DO NOT have that kind of life. My darling husband has made sure that things are always changing. Case in point:

At the beginning of the week, I got a phone call from Kaye again. He had another great idea that I just had to say yes to. What was that idea? We had a Japanese man come to live with us....yesterday. Kaye really doesn't like to waste any time. We have been feverishly moving, cleaning, and reorganizing to be ready for the arrival of Shogo (I have no idea how to spell it but it sounds like show-go).

I have to admit, he is SUPER nice. He even got out his little electronic translater to tell me that my food was nice, tasty, and delicious, and gave Marcus and Colby adorable little boxes of candy (which won them over instantly) and us a box of....well, I have no idea what they are but they look nice. What a sweetie. What a night we had last night. Shogo doesn't speak more than about 10 English words. It was interesting trying to talk to him. We did get out of him that he has a 19 year old and 17 year old, which thoroughly surprised me. He doesn't look any older than Kaye!

This is the stuff that Shogo gave Kaye and I. I tried it, but Kaye was chicken and left it up to me. It is sort of jelly-like, but not very sweet. There were bean sort of things in it too. ?? Who knows, it was interesting but sweet of him to give us something.

I loved the cute little candy box that the kids got and the candies were cute too! Colby has already eaten half the box and I had to hide it.

I love the pattern on the boxes. :)

So, now we have a new couch and a man who we cannot understand sitting on it! Maybe one day life will calm down for me.

How much do you love your husband?

I really really love my husband. He is loving, kind, makes me laugh, is a total goof, extremely generous, and hard working. We have a great marriage. He is just so lucky that I feel this way!!!!!

This morning, this darling man called me asking for a favour. Not just a run of the mill "can you bring me something to eat" sort of favour...no that would be too easy. The favour for this morning was washing work gloves! Kaye, as you may know, works for Sunterra Meats, a PIG processing plant. I have to admit, I wasn't too worried about it. I've done my share of laundry. BUT, I was not prepared for the task that met me.

Kaye had one of his supervisors come give me the gloves and....a GAS MASK!! I was shocked. Was it that bad??? Apparently, yes. Even with the gas mask they stunk...AND...they were so bad it made my eyes water. WOW! Really, really not prepared for that. I deserve something special for this one.

* Mmmm...pig blood.

* I was really not looking forward to lugging this into the house. Please note the blood stains on the bottom of the bag.

* Me suiting up for the job....

About 45 minutes ago, I was happily sitting at my computer...having a good day might I add, when I heard a GLUG, GLUG, GLUG. What did I find making that GLUG, GLUG, GLUG, all over my carpet? A 3L jug of bubbles! That's right...BUBBLES! Thanks to my lovely toddler Elijah, I think that I have now lost my earlier enthusiasm for blowing bubbles for my children. I've just spent the last 45 minutes sucking soap out of my carpet...with no end in sight! To make it worse, I just realized that my little green machine that I was so grateful to have...is leaking all over my carpet!!! Now, I get to clean up the HUGE bubble puddle on my carpet AND the mess from my leaking piece of crap shampooer. I LOVE being a mom.

Grade Three....How did he get so old?

This morning, I dropped Marcus off in front of his school to a crowd of 'Marcus fans'. It was so cute. A group of about 6 kids came running to my van screaming their heads off. As he got out they came around giving him pats on the back and pulling him to the basketball court. It made me so happy to see him do well and enjoy his new school.
If only Colby was old enough for kindergarten. He is just so jealous of Marcus getting to play with kids every day. I feel bad that he has to stay home with boring old mommy all the time without fun things to do.

Now, I realize that my blog is named Cookies Anyone? but I'm not going to share a cookie recipe just yet. First, I'm going to share a recipe for muffins. Why, you might ask? Because that's what I just baked. So there you have it. Muffins it is.

I love to bake, as my fluffy physique can attest to. I find great joy in creating something warm and comforting.....maybe I should take up quilting :)

Generally, I am a Martha girl. I usually turn to her first when I am in need (or want) of a good recipe, but recently I took my chances on a website called www.joyofbaking.com and it paid off! Every recipe that I have tried from there (with the exception of the chocolate cupcakes) has turned out magnificently. Try it, I know you will love it too!

Now, without further delay.....Strawberry Banana Muffins. Mmmmm!

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup diced fresh strawberries

2 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tin (I like to grease it because it makes the muffins a tad crispy and that's good!)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and banana. Set aside.

In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gently fold in the strawberries and make sure that they are well coated with flour. Coating them prevents your muffins from turning pink from the strawberries.

Add your wet ingredients to the flour/strawberry mixture and stir until just combined.

Spoon batter into muffin tin about 2/3 full. It says that it makes 12 muffins but mine usually makes more like 18. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden in the preheated oven. Enjoy!

*These are best the day you make them. They tend to get a bit dense and not as nice to eat after that.

Hope you get a chance to check out the website...and try the muffins. They are super yummy. Happy eating!

Okay, so I'm going to need some time to get the hang of this blogging thing. Hopefully, they will look a bit better in the future!

It's official! I am totally crazy now. I am living in a town of 1500 and don't know anyone! I needed to reach out via the world wide web and find some people I do know...to try and curb the craziness.

This summer has been super busy. Right at the beginning of the summer, Kaye was called to be the new young men's president and got to go on scout camp, which he thoroughly loved. He went on an overnight hike with a boy from our branch, Zach Kerr. I think they had fun. I was a little worried, Kaye is SO out of shape, but he did it with flying colours. Those two were up at the front of the group and made it back down the mountain first.
After the camp, Kaye finally got around to building our MUCH needed fence. I am so glad that I can now punt the kids into the backyard and they can go crazy with me at ease about their wellbeing.

In the beginning of August, we attended the Zander/Kronebusch/Balay reunion and had a ton of fun. The kids loved seeing their cousins and it was great to play catch up with all the family.

On August 10th Marcus officially became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! I am so proud of my not-so-little-anymore boy.
We also took a trip to Calaway with Kurt and Jen. It was fun to take the kids out there, it was just SO hot! Kaye looked so silly in that tiny boat. :)

This summer has just flown by. Now it's back to school (for Marcus as well as myself) and cold weather. I woke up to frost this morning. It's only September 2nd!

Life has been crazy!!! I can't believe how time flies. I have been meaning to get some good posts up and will as soon as I can. I have been working on a talk for Sacrament meeting and it's lasted until the wee hours of the morning....Let's hope it's ready for the morning!

Finally going for it!

I've had this blog for four months now and haven't used it. Today is a turning point. I've been lurking in a couple of friend's blogs and realized that it was something that I'd like to try my hand at. We'll see how it goes!

Hmmmmmm! I'll need some time! It's going to be great though!