looking through our glass onion.

because i felt like it

2010-01-31T18:52:00.000-08:00

I moved my blog to HERE come on over!

A Little List of Things....

2010-01-26T10:36:00.000-08:00

Here is a little list of things I like about winter

a) hot chocolate

b) I appreciate the mountains more after they have been gone for a few days

c) reading by the fire

d) the more I bundle up the less I have to wear a bra (possibly my favorite thing!)

e) fogginess makes for cool looking photos

f) I have a feeling that I will love summer even more than I do now, all thanks to winter

g) winter seems quiet to me, and I like quiet

that is all for now. In case you are wondering, yes, I am trying to convince myself.

Photo of the Week {3}

2010-01-21T18:14:00.000-08:00

this week i dreamed of the sun, today it actually came out... for a little while.

this is not an actual photo, I created this from scratch to make someone feel warm.

Photo of the Week {2}

2010-01-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

You know those photo a day blogs you see some people do? I have always liked those and for the past few years I have really wanted to try it out but the thing is... I can't commit. I mean, taking time EVERY DAY of a whole year to do something like that, there is no way. I am always coming up with projects that make Mike roll his eyes at me so I never even bothered to tell him I wanted to do something like that. I know whatever he would tell me would be the truth and I just didn't want to hear it. I think he's like that because he has heard me complain about how overwhelmed I am but how there is this new thing I want to try way too many times. But the other night I was laying in bed thinking about a photo a day blog and then it occurred to me that I'm a big girl now, I can do whatever I want! Yessssss. It doesn't have to be stressful and I don't have to freak out about getting it all done. So, I came up with doing a photo a week! I'm probably not the first, I know, but that is something I can totally do! 52 photos. And, to make things even better I gave myself no limits! I can post whatever I feel like, it can be some personal work or an awesome photo of one of the boys giving me their best fake smile. And I don't even have to write anything about it if I don't want to, how is that for awesome? 2010, I love you already! So, here it is folks, my very first photo of the week(it took me a whole week to get it together so that is why there is a #2 by the title, it's week 2 now). I had to take Jack his library books, AGAIN, and I noticed how cool the trees looked all covered in ice. I don't think that I can say that I love winter up here in the North, but some things about it I find very lovely, but that is for another post entirely.

rediscovered love

2010-01-11T13:52:00.000-08:00

So, it has been a very long time since I have listened to the White Album but the other day while we were working Mike wanted to hear the Rocky Racoon, so I put it on and found, again, Long, Long, Long. Oh how I love this song!!!! Seriously, it is LOVE!!!! Here are the words and here is where you can listen to it....

It's been a long long long time,
How could I ever have lost you
When I loved you.

It took a long long long time
Now I'm so happy I found you
How I love you

So many tears I was searching,
So many tears I was wasting, oh. Oh--

Now I can see you, be you
How can I ever misplace you
How I want you
Oh I love you
You know that I need you.
Ooh I love you.

ETA: Mike also wanted me to put up Rocky Racoon, but the coolest one I could find was Phish singing it. Mike LOVES Phish, so here you go! :)

Quote of the Day

2010-01-07T15:13:00.000-08:00

Link: "Hey Mom, I just want to tell you something... you just look so beautiful."

Me: " I do? Thanks so much!"

Link: "Can you open this candy for me?"

Me: "Of Course!! ......oh you are GOOD!!!"

sharing the love

2010-01-07T07:45:00.000-08:00

Jasmine Star is one my favorite photographers. I want to badly to meet her and just talk about life as a photographer. In an interview with Davina Fear, another one of my favorites, she was asked this question and here is her answer... it's awesomeness!

Davina: What do you recommend women do who are just getting started in the industry?

Jasmine:

Follow your heart.

Don't let anyone tell you, You Can't.

If you come across negativity (oh, and you will!), don't ignore it...use it to fuel your inner desire to prove the nay-sayers wrong. When you want to quit, don't....quitting is too easy and nothing good in life is easy.

Don't be the best, be different.

Be you.

Love yourself...the flaws, the wrinkles, the OCD, the extraness around your belly.

When all else fails, take a deep breath, open a pint of Ben&Jerry's, and enjoy life.

I love this, just what I needed for my year of LOVE!!!!

LOVE, Deb

LOVE...it's the word

2010-01-04T07:43:00.000-08:00

So, it is that time of year again to start fresh and really, I am excited about what this year has in store! Last year was alright, we went thru a lot of things that kind of stunk but we are all healthy and happy so that is good. I feel like I did great at my word, which was ELIMINATE. Could I have done better? Probably, but I am totally happy with all that I got rid of last year and it turned out to be just what we needed as a family and made our move a little easier. I also did a good job of slowing down in my work so I could be with the family more and I have to say that I love it that way! I worked so hard for so long and it was tough at first to not work. But I have had more time to do things with the kids and as a family and I need to never work that hard again, my boys need me around and I have really enjoyed being here! Last year we went camping for the first time ever as a family, that was awesome and we will for sure be doing more of that! We had more art time here in the house and that is only a good thing! I have also been working on eliminating pounds and that is going well, I am down 30 lbs. and have 30 more to go. Working on that will carry over into this year and is something I will work on my whole life, I am sure. But with working less and losing some weight I also eliminated a lot of stress and in general I am a happier person, yipee for me!! My band of 2009 was Fleetwood Mac and I listened to them as much as I could, I just love them! They will always make me happy. Well, now on to this year!!

My word for 2010 is LOVE. This came to me pretty quickly as I started to think about what I wanted to work on this year but at first I was thinking along the lines of just loving the people around me more and that was it. But as I have been thinking about it (that's what I love about having a word, I am always thinking about it!) I realized that it goes much deeper than that and I am really excited about what focusing on this word will do! I realized last night that I need to work on loving myself. This is going to be a tough one because for the past 5 years I have really hated a lot of things about the way I look. Losing weight has helped me out a little and I am starting to feel the beautiful woman in me come out. This, I think, is important for any woman and I know it will help me with confidence in my business, and raising my boys and I hope that once I get comfortable with myself that it will be easier to love all those around me. Now, when I say "those around me" I don't just mean my family. They are obviously the first ones I want to love more but I really want to reach ANYONE that I come in contact with. This means clients, neighbors, people at church, anyone that I can share a little love with! And love is not just for people, oh no, I want to love other stuff too! I think I'll make a list...

1. I want to make sure I always love my calling at church, no matter what it is! About a year and a half ago Mike and I were called to be in the nursery. In the beginning this was sooo hard, I dreaded every sunday and I would come home with a headache and I was kind of miserable about the whole thing. The thing was, we didn't have toddlers in our house any more, and we liked it that way! So going to church and having to entertain 9 two year olds was not my idea of a good time. Then, one day, I guess I was being extra miserable, Sarah looked at me and said "you know, if you liked this a more it would be a whole lot easier." I wanted to roll my eyes at her! Easy for her to say, she is the Queen of kids and happy all the time, that wasn't me. But what she said stuck with me and I don't know when it happened but one day I looked around and my heart was full of love for those little ones, and we had fun, and sundays were great and happy again and on our last day in that ward I cried when the parents came to take there kids home. Love had changed me. And I am so thankful it did!!

2. I already love my job, except for the days I don't. I have heard most of my life that most people get up and go to a job they don't like. I have always known that I could never be one of those people and I am lucky to have a husband that thinks like me! I think that overloading myself with work these past few years has sucked a lot of the love that I used to have for running my own business, and I think that it shows in my work. Bummer. Well, this year I am determined to get that love back, I know it's there somewhere, I just need to make it grow. I am excited to see how love can change my photography.

3. I want to fall in love with the Scriptures. I have yet to do this in my life. I have had crushes over the years but have not fallen head over heels. I hope that happens this year.

4. I want to love cooking. I have so much to learn when it comes to cooking but I really don't want my boys to grow up eating junk, which is all we have eaten in the last 10 years. I need to learn this so we can all be healthier people.

I know that as time goes on there will be a bunch of stuff that I will think of, but for now, those are the biggies. I have a lot of work ahead of me but really, I am so excited for the year to come! Especially since I truly love the band I have chosen for the year! As I sit here in my Beatles White Album t-shirt I know that they are the only band that I could choose for my year of love!! Oooo, it's going to be good!!

Quote of the Day

2009-12-22T19:01:00.000-08:00

Link was just in the bathroom with me talking and he saw me putting on my deodorant and this is the conversation that followed...

Link: "Why are doing that?"

me: "I put it on so I don't stink."

Link: "Put some on me!!"

me: "You don't need it."

Link: "Yes I do, I stink a lot... at games."

That boy makes me laugh!!

my year

2009-12-19T10:59:00.000-08:00

This should work nicely to catch everyone up on my year. It's all my facebook statuses! :)

Click to make bigger

i used to have babies

2009-12-08T10:59:00.000-08:00

I was looking thru some old photos the other day and I came across these, I can't believe I used to have babies. Now that they are older it is hard to remember them that way. They sure were cute though.

this next one is Link right after we visited the opening of the new Blue Bunny plant. Ice cream for lunch and then a nap, a perfect day!

Quote of the Day

2009-11-24T18:24:00.001-08:00

You know how when you were a little kid and you didn't want to go to bed so you'd think up any question you could so you could stay up just a little longer? Well, my kids do that too. Last night Jack had the best question ever. In fact, I wish that I had thought of it when I was little, it might have worked on my mom, but... it didn't work on me.

Jack yelling at me from his bed: "MOOOOOM?? WHY DID THE BEATLES BREAK UP?"

me: "GIRLS. NOW GO TO BED!"

I'll have a real chat with him about it later.

Quote of the Day

2009-11-22T20:25:00.000-08:00

Today I over heard both of the boys singing Here Comes the Sun.

I love those boys.

The Beatles and my own.

Quote of the Day

2009-11-20T08:41:00.000-08:00

Jackson called me this morning from school and he needed me to take his library book to him. So I got dressed and went to the school and found Jack and gave him his book. As I was leaving I over heard this...

Little girl in Jack's class: "Is that your mom?"

Jack: "yeah"

Little girl in Jack's class: "Why does she look like she is going skiing?"

Then the door closed and I didn't hear what Jack's response was but I was thinking "Because it is flippin' COLD outside!!!" In my defense I was only wearing jeans, a hoodie, hat, scarf, and gloves. This is not overkill when it is 37 degrees outside, in my opinion! sheeesh!

Quote of the Day

2009-11-17T16:50:00.000-08:00

Link is in the other room making something out of paper, he came in and asked for help cutting out arms and legs so I cut up some strips of paper and he went on his way. A few minutes ago he yelled...

"Mom, now that I have arms I need phalanges! Do you know what phalanges are?"

Me: "No I don't."

Link: "They're fingers!!"

Me: "Well, that's good to know."

I would really like to win because winning is fun!!

2009-11-12T19:18:00.000-08:00

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme
TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?

new sunglasses

measuring bowls from anthropologie- so cute!!

even empty that Madsen Bike would be a dream- it's so pretty!

Fuji instax mini camera

a good book

2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received?

a cool hand carved clock

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?

I once saw these cool glass jars that had etchings on them, I just don't know where to begin

4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?

The year I got a CD walkman and some CDs I was a happy happy girl

5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year?

mp3 player, mr. potato heads, legos, and all kinds of games

6. What is your favorite holiday food?

PUMPKIN ROLL!! :)

7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?

I am not sure yet, maybe some kind of photo album

8. What is your favorite holiday movie?

A Christmas Story and Stalking Santa

9. Favorite holiday song?

Anything from the Muppets with John Denver album

10. Favorite holiday pastime?

reading by the fire with a cup of hot chocolate- so excited for this this year because we actually have a fireplace!!

Quote of the Day

2009-11-11T21:03:00.000-08:00

Teacher: "Jackson do you like our class?"

Jack: "yes."

Teacher: "Do you need anything that we can help you with?"

Jack: "No, I'm good."

Teacher: "Well, what about your parents...?" before she could finish with "do they need anything?" Jack said..

"Yeah, I need them!"

I love that little man!!

A Little List of Things....

2009-11-10T21:05:00.000-08:00

...I have recently discovered that I strongly dislike...

1. soft water

That is all.

Quote of the Day

2009-11-09T21:20:00.000-08:00

Lincoln: "Mom! I can see the future from here!"

Me: " Sweet."

Quote of the Day

2009-10-02T23:50:00.000-07:00

Lincoln: "Mom, when people are glued together it means that if they die they are still a family and if they are not glued together then they are not a family?"

Me: "Do you mean sealed?"

Lincoln: "oh yeah... sealed"

I just really like this

2009-09-04T08:01:00.000-07:00

We are having some fun getting to know Farmington!

my latest find

2009-08-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

I found this fancy cabinet thingy at the d.i. last week and I paid $5 for it. FIVE DOLLARS!!!! Best five dollars I ever spent, it totally works and i get to listen to it every night when I make dinner. It even came with a Barry Manalow 8-tracks! Score!

around dc

2009-08-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

yesterday i realized that i never really looked thru the photos i took when i was in dc back in june. i didn't shoot a ton but here are a few of my favorites...

i will miss you cul-de-sac

2009-07-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

Quote of the Day

2009-07-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

Lincoln: " Mom, I don't like to wear underwear, it just gives me a headache."

Quote of the Day

2009-07-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

Jackson was flipping thru a magazine and had the following conversation with Lincoln...

Jack: "Guess what Link, one of the Jonas Brothers is getting married."

Link: "Which one?"

Jack: "Kevin"

Link: "Mom! There are only going to be 2 Jonas Brothers now!"

i think this is pretty

2009-05-14T11:56:00.001-07:00

a conversation

2009-04-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Link ran to the bathroom yelling that he was going to throw-up, well, he made it to the bathroom but that was all. Nothing was spared. I got Link in the tub and as I was cleaning throw-up off the floor, walls, cabinets, hamper, tub, anything in the 10 ft radius, Link and I had the following conversation.

Lincoln: "I'm just sorry I did that, Mom."

Me: "Don't be sorry, you couldn't help it, it will be alright I had to clean this bathroom anyway."

Lincoln: "What would happen if Dad had been walking by when I threw up?"

Me: "Well, I would probably be cleaning up two throw-ups, yours and Dad's."

Lincoln: "I know, sometimes it's hard being a mom, huh."

Me: (laughing) "Yes, yes it is. But I love you so it's all good"

Here he is before his surgery, he really wanted a photo of the cool free socks that he got. :)

Introducing...

2009-04-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

A while back we found this little guy at church and he has now become a permanent member of the family. His name is Spike and he has kept me company this weekend so I thought it was time to take his portrait and formerly introduce him.

miss my boys

2009-04-17T13:21:00.000-07:00

All the boys left me behind and went up to Salt Lake this weekend and I MISS THEM!! In nearly 10 years of marriage Mike and I have only spent a handful of nights apart and this is the longest time I have been away from the boys, EVER! The quiet is unnerving here. At least we have ichat, it was great to see them last night and I can't wait for tonight! Here is what our conversation looked like...

And I was happy to get a big lips kiss from Jack! Link was too busy playing with cousins to miss me.

the difference

2009-04-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

This photo sums up perfectly the difference between my two boys, and I love it! Can you tell which pile belongs to which kid?

Quote of the Day

2009-04-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

Jackson to Lincoln: "Go ahead and try it, that won't hurt me, I know kung-fu."

check this out for a giggle

2009-04-09T06:13:00.000-07:00

So, I have this friend, his name is Dave. I have known him for a long while now and he has a blog. Years ago, when we all lived at Raintree, I didn't know that he was such a hilarious writer, but alas, he is. I have decided to try and win him more readership, I really think he could be the next big thing in blogging... really. Here is his blog, check it out, leave a comment, put it on your RSS feed, all that good stuff!

Click here for THE BLOG

Here are a few links to some of my favorite posts...

Cheers

ha! This post is awesome

NBA

This one is a classic

Enjoy!!

us: then & now

2009-03-30T17:43:00.000-07:00

one of the things i love very most about mikey is that i fit perfectly snuggled in his arms.

it has always been this way, and i am happy.

a past life

2009-03-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

I have been going thru our house and in the process I have come across a few boxes of my stuff. Old stuff! I am kinda amazed that so much of my life can fit into a few little boxes, it's crazy! So, this post is a chunk of my life, in hopes that it will not be forgotten! Are you ready?

once I lived by these...
and worked on getting these...

and then there was this house, that was my room in the top left corner...
and the drive to school looked like this, it was 45 minutes...
and you needed to pass guards to get into that school...
and i knew these guys that did things like this to our house....

and they also did this, which was way grosser than it looks here...
i hung out with these three a lot and they always let me take pictures of them, so it was cool...
and even a long time ago I had a thing for trees...

i used to chew with these...

i stayed here for a little while...

and i wore this, all the time...

and i had to do this sometimes...

then i went here...

and here...
and i loved him....

he introduced me to this...

and took me here....

i moved with him here...
and we did fun stuff like this...

then we had babies, that is a much bigger box! I'll save that for another day.

gag

2009-03-17T08:52:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know my sweet little Jackson you might know that he has a very strong gag reflex. It's been is kinda hilarious to see what exactly will make him gag next. The other night was the best, he was gaging on his own spit because we called it saliva and he didn't know what that was. He was in the middle of melting down but I thought it was so funny! I finally asked him if he knew what I was talking about and what saliva is and he said "it's slime!" *gag*

Here is a photo of a happier day.

playing with mod

2009-03-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

mod podge that is. This is a project that I made my mom for her birthday. So, Mom, if you are reading this, SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Mod Podge is fun! I am excited to learn more about what I can do with it! This looks way cooler in real life, this is a photo of it. It is 11x14 and will be in a frame when I give it to her.

stopped to paint a picture

2009-03-07T19:33:00.001-08:00

So, last Wednesday started out like any other day that Link and I sit down to paint rocks. Then I was inspired and I painted a tree. Now, no laughing, I have never really painted anything for real before and if you laugh it might be the end of my painting career, do you really want to be held responsible for that? I hope not, because I really liked painting, even if I am not that good. I painted the first one for Link and then Jack wanted one so I did the other for him. They are both on 16x20 canvas.

happenings {aka the longest post ever}

2009-02-28T21:55:00.000-08:00

Since about the end of December I have had a really bad case of bloggers block. I don't know what it is, I want to blog, I just really don't have anything interesting to say. Shocker, I know! I have been working on this post for a while and it has just grown, but I have to get it all posted before it is too late! To start off with is our trip to Vegas for my birthday, we went down and saw The Beatles Love by Cirque De Soleil. It was one of the coolest shows I have ever seen! As "Get Back" started I totally started crying because I was just so happy to be there! It was the very best birthday present for a Beatles lover like myself, and the boys are now big fans! Their favorite song "Hey Bulldog". So Great!

Here is Link by an M&M, Jack wouldn't go near that thing!

Mike has been doing a bunch of traveling with the photobooth, when he is gone this is how we keep in touch. It is like he is never really gone! :)

After Vegas we were able to go down to Needles CA and see my mom, here I am during the drive

Then, the boys were having a meltdown and we thought it was funny to take pictures of them until they started laughing, it was a great time!

Joshua Tree

California tree

Then last week the whole family was able to go up to Lake Tahoe for an event with the photobooth. We found some awesome hills for tubing .

And very last are my artsy photos from around the lake. Look at all the pretty negative space! I so love it! Happy weekend!

focus-less

2009-02-06T18:59:00.000-08:00

The thing I like about being an artist is the fact that you can translate your feeling into something beautiful. I have never considered myself very good at at translating my feelings into anything but today I had the need to find a way to let go of all the feelings that were making my head feel like it was ready to explode. So I created. The best that I know how. I specifically wanted to create something that looked like what I felt. I'm happy I did this project. Today this is me...

Quote of the Day

2009-02-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

Lincoln: "Today, at school we saw a video about the groundhog and guess what?"

Me: "Tell me!"

Lincoln: "I saw the beaver."

Me: "Reeeally."

Lincoln: "Yup."

A Little List of Things....

2009-01-16T10:54:00.000-08:00

Here is a little list of things that Lincoln thinks are ipods. This seriously makes me giggle! I will add to it as I discover more. Happy Friday!

Family Self Portrait

2009-01-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

I think this is my favorite family photo of 2008, it is so us!! I have a big post planned about our trip to Vegas but it has yet to make it out of my head and onto paper, so to speak. So for now, what will most likely be next years christmas card photo! :)

Happy Friday!!

Quote of the Day

2008-12-31T23:48:00.000-08:00

This quote actually came from Monday and it has a little story.

Monday night we are playing Go Fish as a family, we really like this game because it is one that Link is good at and we all have fun playing together. It was my turn and I asked Link if he had any Star Fish. He looks at his cards and as he is handing me 2 cards he says in the sweetest, softest, little voice....

"You're going down"

We all had a great laugh, but I was a little scared! he-he-he

a visit

2008-12-18T19:20:00.000-08:00

I came from a family that would sometimes have Christmas a week early because we were all too excited. Mike's family was not so much like that, so tonight when we got a little surprise on our door step, we had a dilemma. It all started when we were eating dinner, we heard a knock at the door and Jackson went running. He opened the door and then we didn't hear anything, so I went to see who was there and Jack was walking back in the house with an arm load of presents. There was one for each of the boys and one for Mike and I as well all from "Santa's Elf". The boys were jumping up and down and as they asked if they could open them tonight, I smiled and Mike said "nope". We went back to the dinner table to discuss it and I was thinking that if Santa's Elf stopped by early then it would be totally fine to open what he brought. Mike sat there shaking his head at me with this funny smile on his face and I knew he was thinking about telling me how impatient we all were when Lincoln said " I think that Mom should be the boss of the presents." Yay, I love to be the boss, especially of presents! So in the end we made a compromise, the boys could open theirs tonight but Mike and I would wait and open ours on Christmas. It was a perfect night, thank you so much Santa's Elf for stopping by our home. Spontaneously opening presents a week before Christmas takes me back to being a kid and there is nothing better than being a kid at Christmas!

Snow Day

2008-12-18T11:59:00.000-08:00

Why I love snow days in St. George...

1. a few inches and no school! sweeeet!

2. as I was driving this morning nearly everyone that was shoveling snow had on a short sleeve shirt. awesome.

3. the boys look at everything in a new way and that rubs off on me. I like that.

4. large amounts of hot chocolate and playing Zelda.

5. mismatched gloves.

6. last but not least, the good ol' classic St. George snowman (note all the leaves and dirt! I love it!!).

Here are a few from our neighborhood.....

Here is a shot of a pine cone that was covered in snow, Link decided to "save it's life" and clean off the snow. It made me laugh.

When we got home we had a cup of hot chocolate, this was Link's. :)

say what??

2008-12-15T10:23:00.000-08:00

Today I sat down at my desk and was looking over my list of things I had to do today. It goes like this...

1) go to costco

2)call Treo

3)book Allyson

4)all together now

wait...what? all together now??? I don't remember writing this and I have no idea what it means. It's a Beatles song, that I like a lot, but that is all I know. I am so confused by this and it kinda makes me laugh, anyone have any ideas that could help me out?

Pumpkin Roll... Pioneer Woman Style

2008-12-13T10:03:00.000-08:00

My Mikey grew up eating pumpkin roll, and because I had never even heard of it I had his mom give me the recipe so I could be a good wife. I am pretty sure that is the best thing I ever could have done for my Mikey. He really, really, REALLY loves pumpkin roll. Whenever we have it in the house he eats it for breakfast, yeah, he loves it that much! That is pretty much the reason that I only make it around Thanksgiving but this year my friend Sarah wanted to come over and make some with me so I had it all planned and as usual life happens, this time of year is always so crazy. So I finally just asked her if she wanted me to make it and bring it to her, there was no way that she was going to turn that down so today I set out to make another big batch of the beloved pumpkin roll. As I was getting ready it occured to me that I could blog the whole thing and then I could share it with the world and Sarah all at the time!

I searched for my inner Pioneer Woman and went to work. (Here is where I add my disclaimer that in no way do I wish I was the Pioneer Woman, there is no way on earth that I could do one tenth of the things that she does. I am not even a cook at all but I do like to look at her photos of yummy food. So that is all.)

I am thinking that I will go thru the recipe with the many photos that I took and then at the end I'll post the whole recipe together so you can save it if you want to. I have kind of taken it and made it my own, it took me a lot of years to figure it out and then a lot more years to remember what it was I did the year before, I think I have it where I like it now. What I do is double the bread part but not the filling. Amazing, right? And today I made four big pumpkin rolls because I have realized over the years that you can buy friends with pumpkin roll, and I like friends this time of year!

Ok, let's get started! First, I always try and find my recipe, every year I panic a bit and think that I maybe lost it and I will never be able to make it again. Now that I took a photo of it I won't worry so much. So, here it is, in my mother-in-law's pretty handwriting.

Here is a nice little photo of all the things you need for the bread part of the p-roll.

First you throw in the eggs, remember that I doubled this part, normally you just need 3 eggs. For the rest of this post I am just going to pretend that my batch is not doubled, have I throughly confused you yet? Good.

Then you need to beet the eggs for 3 minutes. beat, beat, beat.

Add 1 cup of sugar. Beat some more.

Stir in 2/3 cup pumpkin and 1 tsp lemon juice.
Beat some more and it will look like this...

In another bowl mix 3/4 cup flour, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, and 1 tsp baking powder.

Add that to your pumpkin goodness.

Beat, Beat, Beat.

Mmmmm, so good!

This next part is important, you need to grease and flour a pan, you will thank yourself later if you do a good job at this.

Pour in your pumpkin goodness.

I think this is pretty. Pop that in the oven and bake at 370 degrees for 15-20 minutes. My oven runs hot so I only need 15. Awesome, I know.

While it is baking, you will need to get a dish towel and cover it with powdered sugar yummyness.

This was the point in my day that I realized that I didn't have enough powdered sugar. So I had to go borrow some from Jill. Thanks Jill!!!

Here is what your yummy bread will look like just out of the oven, can you smell it? Ahhhh

Let it sit for 5 minutes and then turn it out onto the powered sugar covered dish towel. I told you you would be happy about flouring the pan really good.

Now you roll. Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'. You will then leave it to cool for 30 minutes.

While your roll is cooling, gather all the stuff for the filling.

You will need to mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 4 TBLS softened margarine, 1 8 0z. package of cream cheese, and 1/2 tsp vanilla.

This stuff is really hard to keep your fingers out of, so, so yummy!!

After 30 minutes, unroll your roll...

and spread the filling over the top. I had a little helper, he had to quit half way through because he was too busy licking his fingers. Niiice.

You are now ready to roll again, without the towel. After that pick it up and place it on seran wrap. Look at how pretty that is!!

Cover it up and stick it in the fridge.

But, don't forget to slice yourself a piece first. This is the best part of the day, make sure you sit down to enjoy it and not just scarf it down while you are standing over the sink. It's better that way, I promise.

Here is the whole recipe if you would like to copy it.

3 eggs 2 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup sugar ½ tsp. salt

2/3 cup pumpkin ½ tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp. baking powder

¾ cup flour ½ cup chopped walnuts

Filling

1 cup powered sugar 2 packages of cream cheese

4 TBLS softened margarine ½ tsp. vanilla

Beat 3 eggs for 3 minutes. Add 1 cup sugar. Stir in 2/3 cup pumpkin and 1 tsp. lemon juice. In another bowl mix ¾ cup flour, 2 tsp. cinnamon, ½ tsp. salt, ½ tsp. nutmeg, and 1 tsp. baking powder. Add to first mixture. Pour onto greased and floured cookie sheet. Top with ½ chopped walnuts (optional).

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Turn it out onto a dish towel that has been covered with powered sugar. Start at narrow end and roll up with towel. Let it cool for 30 minutes.

While cake is cooling make filling. Mix 1 cup powered sugar, 2 packages of cream cheese, 4 TBLS softened margarine, ½ tsp. vanilla. Unroll cake. Spread filling and roll up with out towel. Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate. Slice and enjoy but beware! It will make you FAT & HAPPY!!!

Now for my not so favorite of the day. *sigh*

I hope that everyone enjoys this, it was kinda fun. Thanks for stopping by.

Quote of the Day

2008-12-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

Jackson: " Felice Navidal, Felice Navidal, Felice Navidal espero lano falicidal."

he he he, this has made me giggle all day.

i am trying really, really hard

2008-12-11T11:47:00.000-08:00

In two weeks it's Christmas. What? WHAT? I don't know if it's because it is somewhat warm outside, or that we have been busier than ever or what but that really great feeling of Christmas hasn't been around. I feel like I need it, I have done the shopping, the baking, the giving, the decorating, where is it?? As I have been typing this out I have had a few more ideas of what I could do, which mostly involve spending more time with the boys. I'll keep you updated.

Lincoln's favorite spot is in the corner behind the tree.

a love letter

2008-12-08T14:31:00.001-08:00

Dear Vanilla Coke,

Why oh why do I love you so much?

I try very hard not to.

But, somedays, very much like today,

it seems as though I cannot live without you.

Forever Yours,

Deb

In case you are wondering, I did actually take the time to photograph the very cans Mike and I were drinking. Thank you very much.

Quote of the Day

2008-12-06T17:11:00.000-08:00

Me: "Jackson you stay in here and Lincoln is going to go finish cleaning his room."

Lincoln: "You mean I am going to go watch TV?"

Me: "Ummm no, but ok."

i realized something today

2008-12-01T19:13:00.001-08:00

Mike still thinks that I am beautiful, so really, what more could I ask for?

Of course, photoshop is also a great confidence booster, but still.

Lincoln Looses

2008-11-30T14:23:00.000-08:00

So this Thanksgiving turned out to be a great one, we had my brother and his family down and then my sister and her husband came over along with my Grandpa and Grandma so we had a full house and since Erin made all the food on Thanksgiving we had a lot of AMAZING things to eat! This year, our 9th wedding anniversary also happened to fall on Thanksgiving, which seemed to give us even more to be thankful for. Also, on the very same day we had another life changing event! Lincoln lost his first tooth! And when I say "lost" I mean it literally. As I tightened the knot around his tiny loose tooth it popped right out of his mouth and went flying, we spent over 30 minutes looking for it and in that time I realized that I needed to give that bathroom a good scrub down. Anyway, Mike finally found it and it was safely tucked under his pillow. Then morning came.... as Lincoln showed me the envelope that the tooth fairy had left him he showed me the little note, and the beautiful gold dollar coin and that was it. I was surprised because with Jackson the tooth fairy had always left his tooth for him to take care of and it was always wrapped up and labeled for him. I *know* that the tooth fairy would have done the same for Link, so were was his tooth?!? We searched and searched and finally Link said "I just think the tooth fairy doesn't like me" Well, we had to find it so the boys cleaned and I searched and I finally found it, 3 days later, in the little garbage can in their room. That tooth is such a stinker! Here is Link, he is happy to have a hole in his mouth that he can fit a straw through.

Jack is a Genius

2008-11-27T17:24:00.000-08:00

Uncle Stew: "Jackson, I don't think that you are supposed to jump on the couch."

Jackson: "It's ok as long as my Dad doesn't see."

Me: "Nice."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Quote of the Day

2008-11-24T10:31:00.000-08:00

Lincoln: "I WANT A DING DONG RIGHT NOW!!!"

I don't know why but this totally made me laugh.

He is a ding dong!

a conversation

2008-11-23T18:09:00.001-08:00

So yesterday we got Jack all set up with his own email account. He has been asking for months about this and I tried to hold off as long as I could because he is, after all, 7 years old. He has had a great time checking his mail and writing to his grandmas and us. The following is the first email conversation we had.....

On Nov 22, 2008, at 3:18 PM, Jack Ouzts wrote:

how much money do we have?

On 11/22/08, Mike & Deb Ouzts wrote:
Hi Jack, we have just what we need! And we work really hard for it and we are very blessed!
I love you
Mom

On Nov 22, 2008, at 3:25 PM, Jack Ouzts wrote:
the number of money

On 11/22/08, Mike & Deb Ouzts wrote:
Hi Jack
we have about $100.00.
Is that what you want?
I love you
Mom

On Nov 22, 2008, at 3:31 PM, Jack Ouzts wrote:
woah

On 11/22/08, Mike & Deb Ouzts wrote:
yeah
i love you
mom

On Nov 22, 2008, at 3:36 PM, Jack Ouzts wrote:
i love you

This makes me smile!