National Pancake Day

To celebrate National Pancake day we had, of course, pancakes for breakfast! Emily had heard on an IHOP commercial the day before about this national holiday and so we decided to celebrate. I made my "Fly off the plate pancakes" recipe that I don't make often because pancakes are not so healthy anyway but this recipe is about as bad as you can get. Then of course you have to have buttermilk syrup with them. After all that sugar I was happy they were going to school.


Pancake Recipe (I think this recipe came from my brother)
For our family I double this recipe. I also made it the night before and then combined in the morning.
1 C flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 teas salt
1 Tbsp sugar
Mix dry ingredients
1 C milk
1 Tbsp oil
1 egg
2 heaping Tbsp sour cream
Whisk egg, milk and sour cream together then add oil.
Combine dry and wet ingredients and bake on hot griddle.

Buttermilk Syrup (We call it special syrup because it was supposed to be for special occasions, but now it is a staple in our home)
1 1/2 C sugar
2 Tbsp corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cube butter
Bring to a boil in a large pan. If it foams stir down. Can boil for up to 7 minutes. I usually boil for about 3-4 minutes. Take off heat and add vanilla. Can be kept in fridge and reheated as needed.

Federation

Emily and Paige were performing for "Federation" at the U today. Emily played Silly Sandpiper and Little Playmates. Paige performed Hero's Dance and Solfeggieto and then a concerto, with her piano teacher, by Hayden. They both did "superior" in their performances. I really don't know much about the whole federation thing. I know the girls performed for judges and then were given ratings about their performance.

It was a beautiful day and we went to Trolley Square to have lunch at the Spaghetti Factory. Rian was at a winter camp so he didn't go with us. Jake wanted to eat in the Train and we did that. It was a good lunch with the family. And the spumoni ice cream is always the best part of the Spaghetti Factory.

2nd grade program

Emily was so excited for her program. She even wanted Rian to be checked out of school to come see her. Her teacher is having a baby and she was happy that her teacher was able to be there for the program. The theme was America and they sang a whole bunch of songs I have heard (What's more american than...) and a bunch I have never heard. Her part in the program was waving a flag around during a song. It was very cute and I can't believe 5 second grade classes sat still that long! Good Job Elmo!

Spring Fever

It is warm enough to go for a walk and get some much needed sunshine! Sarah was so cute and excited she just waved her hands around most of the time. Since she is making it hard for me to use the treadmill I have tried to get her out in the afternoon for my exercise. It has been fun. I try not to think that this is my last baby I will have to go on walks with and just enjoy it.

bad hair day

I put two piggies in to try to keep her hair out of her snot. (there are disadvantages to long hair on a baby) She had some wicked hair the next morning. But she is still as cute as ever.

Jakeism

While playing with a toy he told me he couldn't get the car to turn on. I asked him if he turned the button to on and he said "I turned it to no."

The RED Dinner

Notice how our traditions are centered around food........

A few years ago I decided to make a special Valentines day dinner. We eat at the table with fun paper plates. I make chicken with a red sauce (recipe to follow), red layered jello, order red rolls, anything red goes for dinner. We use the sparkling whatever we get from Christmas to drink. Then the best part is the chocolate fondue for dessert. It is a pretty east meal to make and we all look forward to it.

Vday Ckn

3-4 boneless ckn breasts

1 8oz bottle Russian salad dressing

1 envelope of onion soup mix

1 can or jellied cranberry sauce

mix dressing, soup mix, and sauce together and pour over ckn in a crock pot. Cook for 6 hours. Can strain sauce before serving.

Bob sledding

I am guessing Rian was lonely so he made himself a friend.



Notice how tall Rian is getting. He is taller than me now.

Brad and Rian went to Park City to watch the World Cup Bobsledding races. I took the rest of us and went to the outlet mall. They had fun watching the sledders and listening to more information than possible to remember about Park City and the Olympics from a work friend, Blaire. The sleds went about 80 miles per hour down the track. I guess that is a little faster than our camera. Brad was not able to take a picture of one actually racing. They were able to get right next to the track.
I had fun shopping. I don't think all the kids would say that. Jake was still feeling pretty sick (flu/cold). But they hung out in the suburban watching movies while I went in and out of the stores.
Highlight of the evening: dinner at Taggerts. I tried the garlic blue burger and it was yummy. Brad had eaten at Macaroni Grill earlier so we both smelled of sweet garlic. It isn't so sweet when you smell it on another person. :) They were all out of pink sugar cookies so I tried a PB surprise cookie and it was good. Though not as good as a sugar cookie.
They never saw Bob at the races. Hmm.....

Hives to Happy

If you ever need to know what hives look like you can just refer to this picture. On Sunday, Feb 1st Sarah started with some little red spots at the top of her leg. By the evening it had changed and grown to big red spots on her neck. Then she woke up Monday morning looking like the first picture (and that wasn't even the worst she looked).

She had hives last September before so I wasn't too worried, but still called the dr. But by the afternoon she looked so bad I took her in. All 3 nurse practitioners that were working had to come look at her. They all said it was a classic case of hives (an extreme case) except they were worried about the little purple dots on her legs. They told me if her fever went above 100.5 or the purple dots got worse to take her to the ER.

Her fever stayed right around the 100.5 all night. I ended up calling one of the dr's we saw and she called in a prescription for zantac and zyrtec. If that didn't help then we were off to the ER. Luckily it did help. I watched her all night and she felt better. In fact, she woke up at 1:30 AM and I made her eggs. Then we played for an hour or so.

The next morning when her hives started to fade I noticed the center was purple. That made me nervous because of the dr's thinking the little purple dots could be a blood infection. I made another call to the dr and they sent us to the hospital for blood tests.

It was a strange thing on Tuesday how every hour she would look so different. The hives would come and go, or be lighter and then darker.

We found out that her blood was normal, no signs of infection. And she was on the road to fast recovery. By Wednesday she looked normal again. But it was a long couple of days.

What made her get hives? Who knows, for now they are saying it was the amoxicillin she was on (for 7 days) for her ear infection. They are putting a "NO PENICILLIN" note in her file.

spelling bee

Paige made it tot he spelling bee this year. At her school they did a 4th-6th competition. Out of 42 children she made it to 8th place. She is a good speller, and a good reader. She is our walking dictionary! Good Job Paige!