I cheated on my Kitchen Aid today.

And it felt good. I would say straying from the long-term relationship I had with, up until now, my favorite kitchen appliance was a gradual process. Subtle. I would be on the recipe blogs and notice directions for breads made with Bosch mixers and be intrigued by the abnormal amounts of flour used. How were people making such huge batches of cookies and loaves of bread? Was it that much bigger than my Kitchen Aid? I might have even thought of those times when my sweet Kitchen Aid struggled with my bread-sticks recipe which only had 5 1/2 cups of flour. Hmm, I would think. My friend Deb wrote a post on her blog about her Bosch and the feelings of disloyalty she had because she was also a long-time Kitchen Aid lover, but still she moved on and loved her new Bosch. Hmm, I thought again. And then like the loyal Kitchen Aid owner I was I put it out of my mind.

I tried to put it out of my mind. Okay, so I might have started going on the internet and watching baking demonstrations using Boschs, but that was only every once in a while... or week. Meringues in minutes, no dimple at the bottom of the mixing bowl collecting unmixed flour. It was tempting, I won't lie. And maybe just maybe sometimes when I was mixing up cookie dough with my Kitchen Aid I fantasized it was a Bosch. I was ashamed. My Kitchen Aid and my mother's Kitchen Aid before it had given me so many good years. I thought of all the cupcakes, mashed potatoes, and cookies it had mixed for me. How could I be thinking about another mixer? Could I really part ways with my Kitchen Aid??

Then came my trip to Utah last month. My Kitchen Aid and I were separated while I was visiting my family in Utah and the Bosch made it's move. My sister showed me how to make 4 irresistible loaves of bread dough all at once. With her Bosch. It was amazing. The whirling hooks, the effortless mixing of abnormally large amounts of bread dough. I knew in my heart that my Kitchen Aid could only do half of that recipe. Fate had me in it's grips and I could feel change coming.

The opportunity presented itself last week and I made my move. Some room in our budget opened up due to some serious overtime on Adrian's part and he was also lured away from our Kitchen Aid with talk of fresh bread and cookies mixed with a Bosch. I ordered it. Two days ago a plain brown box arrived on our doorstep. At first I kept it in the front room away from the kitchen. How would I break it to my Kitchen Aid? Better to just do it. Lay my cards on the table, or my Bosch on the counter as it were. I had a Bosch! I was going to use it. So today as my Kitchen Aid looked on from the other side of the kitchen I made crescent roll dough - using 6 cups of flour. I'll just put it out there right now, I was a little intimidated by my Bosch at first. It took some time to figure it out, but then it was mixing. Whirling and mixing gorgeous buttery crescent roll dough without breaking a sweat. It had me at speed 1. I fell in love.

Now don't think I'm going to forget all about my Kitchen Aid. It will be more of a Fergie and Prince Andrew kind of split. We'll still live in the same house and get together for special occasions like whipping up mashed potatoes. We'll stay friends. Maybe even friends with the occasional mixing-up-a-cookie-dough benefit just to let my Kitchen Aid know I still care. But I'm my Bosch's girl now and I think I'll be much happier.

Gone daddy gone the crib is gone...

That title was meant to read like the Violent Femmes song. :) SO, Nina climbed out of her crib 2 mornings in a row this week. Darn it. At first I thought she had some help from a certain older sister, but then the 2nd time she was up before anyone else saying, "Breakfast mama!" right next to my face scaring the crud out of me. It was so unexpected. Nina is capable of climbing - oh yes we know that - but she never ever seemed interested in getting out of her crib and I was fine with that. I was more than fine with that, it was awesome because she stayed put until you got her out of bed in the morning usually entertaining herself for quite a while after she woke up. Well those days are over. And I can't help but feel a little sad about it. Not just because she's unconfined now but because we won't have a need for the crib anymore. Even though I am 100% fine with the number of children we are lucky enough to have it's still hard to have no need for baby things anymore...*sigh*

I can't tell you how excited Nina was for her toddler bed. She is definitely ready for it. With Sophie and Ben the first night in a big kid bed was hard and I think they both ended up sleeping on the floor that first night rather than the bed. Nina on the other hand snuggled up in her bed, didn't say a peep other than "night night", and went straight to sleep. Nice. She is also overjoyed that I was able to find the cutest little Tinker Bell toddler bed set to match her Tinker Bell decked out room. I just can't believe how fast my baby is growing. It really just seems like a few months ago that she was starting to walk. Now she's a big girl with a big girl bed and I need to start thinking about potty training...*shudder*

Wint...uh I mean spring wonderland

We have been just been dumped on by a big ol' spring snow storm here in CO. It's amazing how much snow we have and it's the middle of April! Apparently this is not that unusual, March is usually the snowiest month around here and we're only 1 month past March, but wow there is a lot of snow out there. I haven't watched the news, but I'd say it may be 2 feet. The kids and Adrian had a great time playing in the snow this morning. I decided to stay inside on hot cocoa detail. They had a blast and we found out that Nina loves eating snow - seriously Adrian couldn't get her to stop. Sophie and Ben lobbed snowballs at each other and Adrian showed no mercy in the huge clumps of snow he launched at the kids. It was very funny to watch. Adrian took a long afternoon nap after being completely worn out by the kids and while he slept I made snickerdoodles for the first time (it seemed like a nice snowy day thing to do). The cinnamony aroma wafting through the house was lovely and it seemed like Christmas time again - I'm all seasonally screwed up right now. Man snickerdoodles are great right out of the oven. Playing in the snow, cookies, naps... I think we've had a well rounded snow day.

Flashback Friday

You never know who you're going to find out there in the vast realms of the blogosphere and well today I had a blast from the past when I found this blog. Which leads me to the subject of this flashback... I took an art class at BYU, a drawing class, when I was trying to decide between being an art history major or trying to get into the illustration program (though I'm not sure I would have ever gotten into the illustration program - it was incredibly competitive). Nnamdi was the teacher of this drawing class, a graduate student because it was a introductory class, and probably the tallest person I have ever met. He was an incredibly imposing figure, but he was the friendliest and most jovial teacher I've ever had. My memories of him are showing off his engagement picture almost every class telling us what a lucky man he was and in addition to talking a lot about art and drawing he also talked a lot about garlic. He loved the stuff and had toast every morning with slices of raw garlic on it - funny that I remember he told us that. I remember how he would work his way around the room helping us all out with our drawings as he boomed out apothegms of art with his great Nigerian accent. One time he told us about what it takes to be a good artist and I remember to this day because it really struck me. A good artist as he saw it must practice and work at it everyday. Some people may not have been given the talents that others might have but if they put their blood, sweat, tears and prayers into it they will be blessed with talent. If an artist does not practice and work the Lord will take away what little talent he has and give it to someone who will use it. Nnamdi truly believed that anyone could be a good artist, it just took determination. Seriously, who wouldn't be inspired by a teacher like that?? He was like Mr. Keating in Dead Poets Society! Carpe Diem.

So when I stumbled upon Nnamdi's blog today it made me so happy to remember that class. I'm glad he is making his way in the world as an artist. His stuff is great. Oh and you might wonder why I decided to go the art history route - well I guess I just realized that blood, sweat, and tears passion for me was more for art history than my own art. It made me happier to study art than create it. I guess I'm weird that way. I would still love to draw or maybe even paint someday, but for now I think I've given up what little talent I had to someone who's using it (really I don't think my fingers even know what to do with a pencil and sketch pad anymore). For now though it's fun to reminisce and look back on the sketches I did 12 years ago in Nnamdi's class.

Easter Sunday

Can you believe I actually got a smiley Easter picture of my children?? I am astonished. Granted this was probably about the 58th shot, but still they are smiling!! Yay!! We had a good day today. We do all the Easter Bunny stuff on Saturday (another post that I will do hopefully soon) so today we just focused on church and family time. I love Easter sacrament meeting. Nina was a little mischievous, but for the most part we all got to listen and I was touched by the talks and the music. It was lovely.

I gave the Easter lesson today in my Sunbeams class and as I was talking about the resurrection and telling them how wonderful it is that Jesus was resurrected I actually got a little teary. It's not that I wasn't expecting a spiritual experience, but in a class were eating crayons and licking the backs of chairs is not unusual (oh they are such cute 3 year olds, but sometimes a little gross too :)) I was surprised at how powerfully I felt the Spirit. The miracle really is in the basic principles of the gospel and even though the lessons I teach are simple they are also profound in their truth. I am grateful for my Savior and for the atonement and resurrection. I know he lived, suffered for my sins, was crucified and then conquered death. I know he loves me and I know he lives. He lives and that is what Easter is all about. Happy Easter!!

Easter Bunny Times

Our Easter festivities started on Friday night when we dyed our eggs and made chocolate covered peanut butter eggs. I admit that the egg dying part of Easter is not my favorite. I hate the smell of vinegar and think its a smelly, messy process, but the kids love it so I carry on with a smile (hopefully:)) every year. This year was the first year that we made chocolate covered peanut butter eggs or Egg Attacks and that was fun. The kids really got into forming the peanut butter stuff into eggs and rolling them around in the melted chocolate. Nina actually just kept dipping her spoon in the chocolate and eating it straight up - she's obviously a child after my own heart. The story behind why we call them "egg attacks" is a little foggy to me, but as a kid my parents would always buy large amounts of Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs and probably due to the complete unhealthiness that a PB egg is my family started calling them Egg Attacks. It stuck and I think it's going to become a tradition in our little family to make homemade Egg Attacks every year.On Saturday morning the Easter Bunny came and hid all his eggs in our playroom. The kids had fun scurrying around to find them and it was cute to see how into it Nina was this year. After all the kids had their fill of crazy amounts of candy we all got ready and went to Monsters Vs Aliens. It's pretty much a tradition to go to a movie on holidays for us and this one was very entertaining, especially because we saw it in 3D. Easter Bunny day was great and fun times were had by all.
Can you tell that Nina is running?!!

Let the candy consumption begin.

Some Spring Break Pictures

Here's some pictures of our spring break. I'm sure these pics are much funner than reading that ginormous post I just wrote.:)

Spring Break

Hello!! I haven't completely fallen off the face of the blogosphere, but I have been incredibly neglectful. What happened to me this winter?? But now it's officially spring so maybe I'll be better about it all.

I have to play catch up again so first here's a post about our spring break. Here in CO spring break does not at all coincide with Easter - I don't know why, but it doesn't. So at the end of March Sophie and Ben had a week off from school and preschool so I decided to head to Utah for some fun visiting with our families there. Adrian couldn't get the time off work so he basically just did the driving with me and flew back for work during the week then flew out again to Utah for the drive home. It was so great to see our families and the kids had an absolute blast with their cousins. This post even though in bullet form is bound to be of chunky length, there is no shame in skimming. Actually please skim, I'll feel bad if you read it all!:) So here we go, on with the highlights:

• Fabulously yummy lunch at Los Hermanos with Adrian's Mom, Francine and Augusta, and Brad and Connie and kids. It was so lovely to catch up with everyone. I got a "cold fusion" like I always do and eating there always brings back nice memories (we've had many family dinners there like Adrian's college graduation dinner).
• Driving around Provo showing the kids all the places we lived and worked and eating some Burger Supreme goodness. (I'm mentioning food a lot aren't I!)
• Going to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point with the kids. Nina yelled, "Dinosaur eat me!" when she saw the big dinosaur mural on the side of the museum, but got over that and all 3 kids had a great time. They have a fun water-table play center and dinosaur bones digging center so it was very hand-on and cool.
• Shopping with my Mom and Grandma at Quilted Bear and the University Mall. I always have to take a trip to these places when in Utah. Where else can you choose from such a selection of hair bows for Nina and layering T's??
  
• Going to the Children's Museum in SLC with my sister Lori and her adorable little boy Zach. The kids all had an awesome time and that place seriously rocks at keeping kids busy and happy. We spent the whole afternoon there until it closed and then we all went to Chin Wah for delicious Chinese food. I was seriously impressed by how much Zach who is only 3 loves Chinese food - he ate egg rolls with all sorts of cabbage and bean sprouts clearly visible inside.
  
• Seeing my wonderful friend Cami who has recently moved to Utah. It was so weird to see all her TV room furniture in a different room! Oh all memories that big ol' TV and comfy couches have from our ANTM and SYTYCD nights!! It was so good to chat with Cami again. I can't even tell you how much I love this girl and how fun it will be now that she lives in Utah where we vacay lots! And the kids all had so much fun playing together. Cami even made delicious snickerdoodles - you are a rock star Cami!:)
• Learning how to bake super easy and really good bread from my sister Julie. She got this amazing recipe at an enrichment and now bakes tons of bread and other things like stuffed crust pizza. Only problem is now I totally want a Bosch mixer because I witnessed it wonders in person.
• Having family dinners with my whole family watching the kids eat all together in happy cousin-ness on the deck while the adults sat around the table inside and talked.
  
• Playing Scattagories and Apples to Apples with my sister, her kids, and my grandma. My grandma is quite the gamer with an amazing vocabulary. Very very funny answers came up and I laughed till my gut hurt quite a few times.
• Hanging out with my Dad during the day and hearing him playing Wii downstairs with my kids. Dad you are a very patient person to listen ad naseum to every facet of Sophie and Ben's game strategy in Super Smash Bros.
• Meeting my mom at the school she and my sister work at for Pizza day. It was fun for Sophie and Ben to eat lunch with their cousin Jon and have recess with him while he was in school.
• Going to the BYU Museum of Art with the kids and my grandma. We had such a great time. There were tons of painting that I remember and have such fondness for (I used to work as a janitor at the museum when I was a student at BYU and absolutely loved all the alone time with the art while I cleaned), but there were also some great new stuff. There was an exhibit with amazing paintings of Christ one of which Ben just mentioned the other night during FHE. Yay for some of it making an impression on him. Also there was this amazing installation art exhibit by Dan Steinhilber that we all enjoyed. In one room a bunch of packing peanuts were piled up in the corner and a regular intervals a bunch of fans turned on and blew them all over, it was COOL! Nina did not want to leave the "popcorn room" as she called it. Then there was also an exhibit by Walter Wick the artist behind the I-Spy series of books and the kids LOVED it. It was such a neat trip to a museum, no one was bored and I basked in the glow of one of my favorite places in the world and the opportunity to share it with my family.
• HFAC - of course since I was so close to my beloved HFAC, the building I spent so much time in as an art history major at BYU, I had to take my kids in to show them and I wanted to walk through it again. I think it had been probably 10 or so years since I went up to the rooms where I used to sit mesmerized by the clicking slides and the voices of my professors as they lectured on my favorite subject, art. It was kind of bitter sweet actually. If I'm being honest I admit that I still beat myself up about not finishing my degree so it was weird to be back in that building, walking past those classrooms... But I took a picture of the kids sitting on one of the benched that I frequented as a student and I realized like a lightning bolt how much more my kids mean to me than that degree. I love their guts and wouldn't change the decisions that I made which took me away from my student life. Okay that was heavy, let's move onto the next highlight.
  
• Having dinner at the Spaghetti Factory in Trolley Square with Adrian's dad and stepmom. It was great to catch up with them and we were so happy that the night that Adrian flew into Utah coincided with Adrian's dad being there on a trip from Idaho.
• Getting together with my side of the family to celebrate Adrian and my sister Lori's birthdays. We all went to Cracker Barrel together and had a great time talking and eating yummy food. The cousins all sat at their own table together. Cute. It was so neat during the whole trip to see what a strong bond all the cousins have even though we've pretty much always lived in a different state.
  

Sadly we had to cut our trip a little short and leave right after the birthday get-together to beat a snow storm in the mountains. We did beat it, but ended up getting home at 3 in the morning so it was kind of a rough drive. Of course 3 am is tons better than driving through snow so it was all good.