More Recipe Chit Chat

Thank you Angela for suggesting Tastebook! What a fun website to peruse and although I haven't spent a significant amount of time on it - it looks like it can access recipes from many food websites (like Epicurious and All Recipes). I love all the personalization options.

I'm still on the hunt for a website dedicated to those of us who don't mind getting flour and sugar between our keys (right Kasey?) and have no plans of printing recipes off - just storing them (and most importantly, easily formatting them) in order to cook straight from the laptop. I'll keep searching and cooking and in the mean time, cursing my recipe book that is overflowing with recipe print-offs. Maybe I need to get on that "organize recipes" resolutions a little sooner than later.

WANTED

Because my hubby gives start-up companies money for a living, I am not shy about throwing my own ideas at him for technologies that would make my life easier. What I am currently looking for (and might already exist unbeknownst to me) is a recipe management sight that would collect all the recipes I have found online and want to keep from various sights, blogs, and e-mails. If I could cut and paste a recipe into a sight that would then file and keep it neatly in one place, I could literally stop printing off recipes. I would love having a personal online cookbook. (I bring the laptop into the kitchen for so many recipes already.) What do you think fellow kitchenistas? Have you found something to manage your online tasties - or am I onto something?

Too Good Not to Share

via Apartment Therapy New York

What could be more perfect than a marriage between two favorites? One that we can all benefit from. Orla Kiely has designed a line of housewares for Target. This is so good, I almost kept it to myself dear friends. But I love you too much, so instead - I'll be seeing you at that irresistible bulls-eye soon!

One year - One Giveaway

What better way to celebrate my blogaversary than with one of my little creations that was inspired by a certain phrase that all bloggers love? Please just do me one favor and leave a comment to say hello and that you've stopped by. (Don't be shy, please say hi! ) I'll happily (and randomly) choose someone to send a necklace to - my gift to you. Much love. xoxoxo

Guess who's celebrating today?

Not Bryce, not Kal, El, Max or Baby J. Not me either! It's my blog! My sweet little spot on the web is one year old today. I'm just giddy that this little project of mine is still up and running. What a treat it is to share bits and pieces of my life with you. Whether I know you personally or not, I hope you've enjoyed my little contribution to the blogosphere and to celebrate I'm going to giveaway one of my favorite accessories of the year...I hope you'll stay tuned!

In Celebration of our First Week in 2009...

A cool photo of B and Kal on a beautiful red rock plateau in St. George on New Years Day.

Breakfast Party

Remember these cute little boxes from Josie's 1st birthday party? Well, my friend Natalie has come up with another great use for them. She is having a birthday party for her 6 year old daughter and is going to have a "Breakfast at Tiffany's" theme. She is using this cute little blue box for the invitation complete with a ring pop inside. Since the crowd is a little young to appreciate the full "movie theme" of the party - she is emphasizing the "breakfast" portion and having the girls come in the morning in their jammies for a pancake stack cake and games. Oh my goodie, doesn't that sound like so much fun? If you want to do something similar, I found these sweet little boxes in the bride/wedding aisle at my local Michaels craft store and I've managed to find tons of creative uses for them. If Natalie will let me, I might just steal this idea for Kalli's next birthday party. Too fun!

Guest Blogger : Bryce

via bryc3

Remember the slugbug game? Well, around our house Smart Cars are the new slugbug. In SLC, they are few and far between so we’ve created a whole game of car spotting we play with the kids as we drive that involves mini coopers, vw bugs, honda elements (juice boxes) and pt cruisers. There’s an intricate point system involved in this game that resets to zero every morning. But, if you’re the first to spot a Smart Car you win the day.

Smart Cars are everywhere in San Francisco, so while I’m out here I take full advantage by snapping a shot and emailing it to AMR and the kids. I’m basically guaranteed a victory every Wednesday and Thursday. As you can see from the shot I emailed them this morning, I won today.

Cell phone cameras, text messages and email are great tools for traveling dads to stay connected to our clans back home while we’re on the road.

To Sum it Up

We had a house full of goodies this Christmas so its nearly impossible to choose a favorite gift that we we received.....

.....but hands down my favorite gift we GAVE was this AWESOME t-shirt. You can find one for yourself here.

p.s. Do you think this guy REALLY drives a mini van?
p.p.s. Do you think I could find anymore words to TYPE in all caps?

Twitter

Bryce has been wanting me to start "tweeting" for sometime now. I've been really hesitant for two reasons:

1. Who cares what I have to say anyway (besides Bryce of course - he cares DEEPLY about all things I have to say, right babe?) and
2. Do I have anything interesting to say?

I've been thinking however, that it might just be the perfect place to record all the funnies that happen during the day with the kids. Today's may have read something like this:

"Walked into the school today for the 5th grade maturation program and found myself a little embarrassed that Kalli had eagerly saved us a seat in the front row. Seriously Kal, do we have to be that close to the diagrams?"

So my question of the day is, "Do you tweet and do you like it?"

p.s. You can follow Bryce on twitter here. He is quite hilarious if you ask me.

Juicy

Does your family use nicknames? Do you have a nickname? If not, come on over and by the end of your visit we'll have one for you. We are chalk full of them and I'm not quite sure why. Someone does something or looks like something or sounds like something...and it begins. Then it morphs and morphs until it finally rolls off the tongue and the nickname is born. Here are just a few that float around our house.

• HB or often just H
  
• Kaje (pronounced cage), Kajey, Kal J,
  
• Schmood or Schmoody, Ella Bella, Elsa Belsa
  
• Bug, Bugger, BugMan, or Buggy
  
• Bunny, J Faye, Faye Faye, Bunny Faye, Baby J, Fayebles
  

p.s. This picture reminded me of why one of her nicknames is Juicy - just look at those lips.

Wheely Bug

This has been a new favorite method of transportation around the house - though I've finally had to forbid everyone older than 3 to stop playing with it, so the one who it was intended for might have a turn. I first spied these at Babinskis when I went to buy a baby gift for one of Bryce's colleagues. You should see the mph on this baby on the hickory floors. We're bound to send somebody to emergency room one of these days...but until then its full speed ahead!

Projects Not accomplished Last Year...

OK, so despite my previous eager beaver post about resolutions - there are several from last year (and probably the years before) that I dread. Here are a few:
1. Transfer home movie videos to dvds so we can actually watch some next Christmas!
2. Figure out what to do with those boxes and boxes of pictures
3. Have some cabinets made for my laundry/craft room and resolve to keep it disaster free.
4. Get creative and use what materials I have for projects instead of purchasing more.
5. Buy Less and Consume less!

I'm probably going to regret publishing these...oh the accountability.

Something about ME...

I am an optimist. I choose to accentuate the positive, look on the bright side, see the glass half full (insert additional cheesy cliches here). That said, I love a good start to a new year. I love compiling lists of resolutions. Every January, I find myself absolutely sure that by December I'll find each one marked off and successfully completed. And although this has NEVER happened, it doesn't stop me from finding new energy and excitement each January in revisiting these lists and seeing what I can accomplish this year. Last year I started a blog (yeah!), sold my first item on eBay, took a photography class, cleaned out and donated about half my garage (was supposed to have a new garage by now, but that's another story. Trying to keep this positive remember?) and successfully survived my first full year as a mother of four. My lists are still evolving, but these items are campaigning hard to make it:

1. Organize my recipes into my new book.
2. Decide upon window treatments for the house...so lame, I know
3. Do more service
4. Learn a little Photoshop
5. Go to a country where English is not the first language
6. Take the kids to Disneyland at least a couple of times (gotta use those annual passes!)
7. Be a little kinder
8. Love my treadmill more
9. Try my hand at square foot gardening
10.Be a better mom and wife

Holiday Book Worms

A selection of the fabulous books devoured at our house over the holiday break...each one gets a double thumbs up from the Roberts. Looking forward to another year of good reads.

S'More New Years Eve Photos

We partied in the new year St. George style - outside with no coats! Hip Hip! We put the patio fireplace to good use and literally "toasted" in the new year complete with marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate bars. After we were stuffed and sticky with smores, we played a full round of Wii games, broke out the Martinellis and rang a cheers at 9:00 p.m. Here's to a great 2009!

5, 4, 3, 2, 1....

Happy New Year! We're enjoying our "week between" with Grandma and Grandpa in sunny St. George. (This pic was taken last week in the northern tundra aka our front yard.) We'll be back next week to officially kick off our 2009 in non-vacation mode. Until then we'll be eating that extra cookie, staying up too late, and enjoying just a few more of those wicked little vices that we'll be attempting to curb starting next week. Cheers to 2009!

My own reality madness

This morning felt like an episode to John and Kate plus 8. (A favorite at our house...makes our life seem so tame.) It was time for our bi-annual visit to the dentist and I bravely took an appointment for all 5 us at the 8 a.m. block. (Josie came along and was shuffled to whoever wasn't in the chair at the moment.) If only I had a television crew to document the hilarity. Max couldn't figure out when and what to bite during the x-rays, Ella's nonstop questions to the hygienist, and Josie's pterodactyl scream. (Her famous scream that comes out of nowhere without any warning. I had a friend once who termed such behavior as going from "zero to freak.") Perhaps Hollywood should come calling...yet somehow BTR and AMR plus 4 seems rather pathetic in comparison, don't you think?

Our Crystal Ball...Sort of

We spent our evening writing our list of predictions for 2009. It is one of our favorite holiday traditions that we have done since our very first Christmas as newlyweds. I keep the list tucked away in our Christmas journal and after we've written them, the list is put away with the decorations until we pull it all out the next year. We're always eager to dig them up and see how close we were on our guesses. I have a nice little stack now dating back to 1996 and I love to see how our life decisions and circumstances have changed throughout the years. They started with predictions of what jobs we would have, what college class we would pass/fail that year, if we would move, if we would we have a baby, and on and on...

Now of course the kids have snuck into the process and like to include such things as:

"David Archuletta will come to our church and speak on sharing one's talents and then he will sing for us." (I've tried to explain to the girls the difference between a prediction and a wish but its not sinking in.)

Our predictions are sometimes funny, sometimes personal, sometimes motivating, or sometimes just straight out of left field. If your family hasn't done something like this in the past, I'm here to say, "Go for it...do it." It is time well spent. Next year you'll be glad you did.

Question...

Would it be totally lame if I spent some of my Christmas moola on these?

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful

but the kids are so delighted...

The snow began falling on Christmas night. And it kept snowing and snowing and snowing. We woke up to nearly 12 inches....and it was still snowing. No need for venturing to the back country. All this happy playing happened right on our street.