My Mom's Albondigas!

It's Allie-approved!

Try this Spanish meatball soup this fall & winter! A family favorite at my Mom's table and now at my own. :) I haven't created a vegetarian version, so for now I still just pick out the meatballs! But it tastes too good to resist & I burn my tongue every time....too impatient to wait for that first bite to cool off!

Linda's Albondigas Soup

1 and 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 cup white rice
2 T chicken or vegetable broth
1 can stewed or diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce (I use an entire reg. sized one if it's what I've got)
4-5 cups water
zucchini, sliced
4-5 potatoes, peeled & sliced
1 can corn or frozen, fresh, whatever
sliced celery 2-3 stalks (we used carrots tonight instead and it was good!)
cumin, chili powder, tobasco sauce, garlic salt -all to taste

Make meatballs with first 3 ingredients. Bring water, broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce comes to boil, add meatballs, cook 15 minutes. Add vegetables and spices, and cook 30 more minutes. Serve with chopped cilantro and avocado.

*tips: boil meatballs gently and avoid stirring so meatballs don't fall apart. Don't slice zucchini too thin or they will cook faster than the potatoes and be mushy. Or maybe add them 10 minutes after the potatoes.

Hope you enjoy as much as we do!

Thanks for all of the WONDERFUL dinners Mom!

1st Grade Worries

Today was Sydney's 1st day of 1st grade! All day school for the first time. Months of worry peaked last night after she picked out her back-to-school outfit, and we spent the drive home discussing what to do if confronted by a bully. I'm not sure what started this fear, but I'm glad she talked to me about it so I could help her to be prepared. There were also other worries, such as your best-friend finding a new friend she likes better than you. :(


She marched so confidently into the school you'd never know she was so nervous. Sydney hides emotion very well.


I could tell from the moment I saw her the day had been a SUCCESS!!! She had a big smile, a skip in her step, and happily reported that nobody made fun of her. Hooray!

This picture reminds me of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, "and I love to dance"!

Happy Seven Years!

Thank you for 7 beautiful years Chad!

Adventures Near & Far: our first seven years
(click the falling pics or tunes)

As good as new, my love for you
And keeping it that way is my intention
As good as new and growing too
Yes, I think its taking on a new dimension

ABBA

Pancakes on the Porch

a new summer saturday morning tradition!

Gooooooo Tigers!

Jack played his first T-Ball game last night! It was awesome: he threw a ball at the watching moms (wrong direction!) and hit one of them in the knee, kept running in from the outfield to peek into the ice chest, and ran almost all the way to first base with the bat.


After sneaking a peek in the ice chest. Oh my, popsicles!


First run to first!


Gooooooo Jack!
Hopefully we won't lose the baseball cap before the next game!

Next Time There Will Be Popcorn

Towne Cinemas, our local dollar theatre that first opened in 1953 has retained it's old shabby charm. I love the retro atmosphere, and prices; dollar skittles! And summer matinees for kids 4 days a week! So awesome.


After seeing Lassie: one smiley face and two grumpy heads.

I wouldn't buy the dollar skittles on the way out, and we didn't even have candy or popcorn on the way in. I know, essential ingredients for the complete movie experience, especially for kids, and I realize my error. Felt badly the whole way home, especially when I heard myself try to enthusiastically say who wants spaghetti for lunch?! (leftovers). I made my kids sit in a theatre that smelled (and sounded) like popcorn, for two hours.

But in my defense, we went to the Bees baseball game in SLC Wednesday night and ate hot dogs, cotton candy, soda, and popcorn so I didn't want to do it again in one week. Yet still would have indulged them if the popcorn line hadn't been so long when we arrived and the movie starting. Ah, well, next week I'll bake cookies to take the night before, get there early, and definitely get the popcorn!

But oh Lassie. What a great movie! I, for one, totally loved it. The kids, I still can't tell if they hated the movie or just the lack of treats to enjoy it with. Didn't realize moderating the junk in their diet would rob them of their movie enjoyment so much. Kids can be so high-maintenance! :)


See kids, I allowed you cotton-colored poison some days!

Eavesdropping on Kids

Isn't it the best?

Just heard this conversation shortly after Jack was sent to his room for hitting Allie on the head with a book. I guess the girls went in to check on him.

Jack: I just want you to like me because you're my sisters.

Sydney: Jack. Sometimes Allie likes me better, and sometimes she likes you better. But we both like you. We always like you.

Hee hee. Now they are playing nicely. They processed it, everyone is happy now.

Another good one I overheard the other day.

Jack, whispering in slightly mocking tone: Do you still like Alex?

Sydney: No, not anymore.

Hee hee! And I thought she didn't like boys yet! She's just keeping it a secret from me. I hope they continue to share secrets. Well, as long as they're this innocent. ;)

We Will Still Play

I'm just going to have to be cliche and say,


from Preschool


to Kindergarten,


the first day of school


to the last,

oh my it really does happen fast!

She says she's not ready and neither am I. The journey only gets tougher from here. I know it, she knows it. The poem she's selected shows it:

First Day of School

My first day at school to-day.
Funny sort of day.
Didn't seem to learn much.
Seemed all we did was play.

Then teacher wrote some letters
On a board all painted black,
And then we had a story and...
I don't think I'll go back.

-Rod Hull

Play time is over, this she senses. Time for more blackboard writing, more studying, more seriousness, and less time for chasing butterflies.



Sydee, I promise you we will still play!

The Hills Are Alive

my heart wants to sing every song it hears!

**major cheese alert**


Mother's Day 2009, Sundance
Friends tell me these pictures remind them of The Sound of Music. Well that's exactly how this day felt! These hills have been my closest friends for years and bringing my kids to them fills me up with all the songs I've ever loved. Makes me feel like Maria twirling on a mountain top!

Now, let's start at the very beginning!

We ate brunch at the Foundry Grill. Pancakes, omelets, roasted potatoes, croissants, spectacular salads!, quinoa stuffed peppers, strawberry shortcake, chocolate-dipped strawberries, truffles, peach pie, coconut cream pie, chocolate cake...and crisp apple streudels! These are a few of my favorite things among of the endless assortment of treats thoughtfully prepared for a special day.

Chad surprised me with a most thoughtful, personal gift. A rose gold necklace with tree and moonstone charms! He said that when he saw it, he knew it had to be mine! The tree symbolizes life, and the triangle-shaped moonstone just so happens to be the exact color of Chad's eyes! I know, I'm aware, cheeeeeese!

Next we take a walk around the beautiful resort to enjoy the hills and streams!


one little girl in a pale pink coat heard lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo!


high on a hill was a...


lonely ladybug


and a peeking prairie dog!


oh, happy are they lay dee olay dee lee o


lay ee odl lay ee odl oo!


To laugh like a brook when it trips and falls


over stones on its way


My heart wants to beat like the wings of the birds that rise
from the lakes to the trees


...to sigh like a chime that flies from a church on a breeze!


for here you are, standing there, loving me
whether or not you should

Yes, whether or not he should! If Chad had these songs in his heart, I know which one he'd be singing daily.


How do you solve a problem like Maria?
She's always late for everything,
except for every meal!


Silver white winters that melt into springs...

I must dream of the things I am seeking
I am seeking the courage I lack


blossom of snow may you bloom and grow


bloom and grow forever


You wait little girl, on an empty stage, for fate to turn the light on


innocent as a Rose

Sydney, Jack, and Allie Rose, I can't think of anything
I'd love to pass on to you more than this:


Climb ev'ry mountain
Ford ev'ry stream
Follow ev'ry rainbow
'Till you find your dream

A dream that will need
All the love you can give
Every day of your life
For as long as you live


I must have done something good! :)

Silly Allie

"Silly Sally went to town,
walking backwards,
upside down."



Allie's surprise pose for me after I told her to "say cheese"!

Jack said he wants his name to be Michael. Then Sydney said she would choose Rachel. I asked Allie, and we all laughed when she said Sally! Sally? It took me two days, until I found one of her favorite books on the floor, to realize where she'd heard the name. Suddenly Sally, and her new upside down pose, made sense. She's being Silly Sally!

Look Who's Going to Kindergarten!

Preschool Graduation
May 20, 2009

Jack is described by his teachers as sweet,
funny, a social butterfly, an excellent reader,
and Mr. Personality.

Now look out Kindergarten, here comes Jack!
Full of big smiles, affection, laughs,
hugs, jokes, excitement, songs, happy dances,
friendly greetings, and surprises.
And hopefully not too much noise!

This was posted on the wall of his classroom at parent-teacher conference.

Getting ready for the big walk!

With best school friends Madison and Zack.

Jack suggested this poem while I was writing up this post,
and it's perfect!

Something About Me

There's something about me
That I'm knowing.
There's something about me
That isn't showing.
I'm growing!

-Anonymous, from Here's a Little Poem

Stepping Stones

Stepping over stepping stones one, two, three,
Stepping over stepping stones, come with me.
The river's very fast,
And the river's very wide,
And we'll step across on stepping stones
And reach the other side.

Traditional, from Days Like This by Simon James

Photos from 5/10/09, Sundance

Jordan River Parkway

Saturday May 13, 2009


An evening bike ride and picnic along the river.


Chad and Allie trying to smile with their mouths full of food.


Searching trees for ladybugs.


Spotting beetle bugs.