Five Browns

On Sunday our family went to a fireside that featured “The Five Browns.” They are an interesting family and all five children are classically trained pianists. Since they couldn’t fit five pianos in the church, they did two pianos instead. There were a few solos and duets and even one piece that all three girls played together on the same piano. I think it was a good thing for Hunter and Emma to see, although there were many “I’m tired, I’m hungry” type of comments. Hannah has also discovered the concept and word “mine.” Poor Emma was trying to be quiet and patient when Hannah kidnapped her Polly Pocket and wouldn’t give it back for the longest time. All of the Browns spoke including their parents and it was a nice message. They all talked about the importance of their faith and how it helped them as they studied music in New York. They were doing a concert nearby the next day, but we got a small one for free. Fun.

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Father’s Day Fireball

Well, Father’s Day was a huge success with one exception. I’ll get to that in a minute. The day started out with breakfast in bed for Rob. Emma made the scrambled eggs, Hunter made the juice and toast, Hannah put the honey and ketchup on the tray and we came in singing Happy Father’s day to the tune of “Happy Birthday.” Rob loved it and ate it all even though he’s not a big breakfast eater and probably only wanted half of it. After the kids and Dad were all bathed and dressed, Hunter and Emma presented the cards and gifts they had made for him. Emma made a book telling all about her dad, and Hunter made a large card saying what he likes about his dad (to my surprise he said, “when he teases me.”) Emma had made him a paper airplane too and let Hannah give that to him because she was feeling a bit left out. Church was nice. The Primary sang a new song all about how “God gave me a dear earthly father, so I would remember His love.” It was so sweet. The Young Women even handed out a big cookie to all of the dads afterwards.

I thought it would be fun to grill a tri tip steak for dinner. It seemed like the ultimate Dad dinner. Rob was in Hunter’s room with Hunter and Emma playing school and I could hear a thump thump sound that meant they had just started gym class. So I got the roast ready and even put a digital thermometer in it so I would know when it was done. I figured I should cook it until it reached 160 degrees since I don’t like to see blood when I cut into my meat. It was doing well and I was getting the side dishes ready while it cooked. When it reached about 80 degrees I thought it was time to turn it over. No problems there. I stuck the thermometer back in and it read 82 degrees so I closed the lid and went back in the house. Almost 10 minutes later I looked at the thermometer and it still said 82, that seemed weird. Shouldn’t it be heating up faster than that? I went to take a look and noticed that the paint on the outside was bubbling. That can’t be good. I opened the lid to find that the tri-tip was literally a fireball! The flames were really going and the thermometer was burned black. I stuck it with my giant BBQ fork and moved it to the upper rack away from the grill, but it was still on fire. I turned off all of the knobs and hoped I wouldn’t have to run for the baking soda. It did die out quickly, but I was left with what looked like black volcanic rock. I thought about taking a picture to put on the blog, but the thought of having a permanent record of it almost put me in tears. Now I wish I had because to my surprise I was able to save it. The middle was still raw so I put it in the microwave and hoped for the best. When I took it out and sliced it up it didn’t look bad at all, and dousing it with Worchestershire sauce helped add some flavor. At dinner everyone was very kind and even the kids said they really liked it. I think they wanted it to be a success after hearing my fireball story. I am still upset about the permanent damage to the BBQ, but Rob just laughed about it…. He did order a How-To-Grill type book today from Amazon and insists that he had already had his eye on it and was going to get it anyway. I think I know better.

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In Step Double Jogger

A lot of people have asked me where I got my jogger stroller, so here it is. My only complaints are that it can be hard to fold up and there is no cup holder. Other than that, it’s super easy to push, I love the swivel wheel feature and the big beefy tires are great for off-roading. I got mine at Baby Bungalow because they had free shipping.

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Slumber Party

Emma has been begging me to have a slumber party with her all week long. I told her we could do it Friday, when she didn’t have school the next day. So Friday rolled around and she was so excited. I have to admit, I was dreading it a little because unwinding once they are all in bed is so nice. But she was so cute about it. Once Hunter heard of our plans he wanted one too. So on Friday night there were two slumber parties at our house. One in Emma and Hannah’s room and one in Hunter’s room. Emma and I made up a bed for me on the floor between the girls beds and the three of us read books to each other (Emma and Hannah took turns reading too) and had some great conversation. Emma got out a picture of my wedding day and started asking me all about it. I told her how Daddy and I were sealed in the temple forever and how we looked in the mirrors after the ceremony and saw our reflections go on forever and ever. She thought that sounded so great and said, “you mean you’re sealed together like you’re in one of those Ziploc bags?” I said yes, we’ll always be together. Then she smiled and hugged me. We went on the do the dolls hair and listen to music. Both of the girls were so cute. About an hour later we said prayer, turned off the lights and went to sleep. My plan was to leave after they had fallen asleep, but I fell asleep before they did and Rob woke me up around 1 am asking if I wanted to sleep in a bed. I did, but it was so great, and I was glad I didn’t try to make an excuse not to do the sleepover. Rob said he Hunter and Sabrina had a fun night too. Hunter made decorations and they ate graham crackers and water, played with Sabrina, read stories and other good stuff. Maybe Rob can post more details on their night. It was a great start to the Father’s Day weekend.

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Hunter’s Popped Pie

I have such a clever son. He was given an assignment at school to bring in something to class that he would try to “sell” to his classmates. The kids all make up a commercial for something, present it to the class, and then the class votes on whether they would buy it or not. Hunter didn’t want to bring in anything that already exists, he wanted to invent something. So he came up with the idea to make a trick pie. It took several tries before he found something to pop it up as high as he wanted, but he finally did it. He took an aluminum pie tin and cut two holes in the bottom. Then he made a pie top out of a paper plate and brown construction paper and attached the two strings to it. He got Rob’s help to cut a hole in the middle of a large sponge and then duct taped the sponge to the pie plate and the paper lid. You pull the strings to put the lid down, so it looks like a regular pie, and then you let go right when you bring the pie to the person and the lid pops right up in their face! He’s presenting it today and I’m sure it will be a huge success. Get yours now, and as Hunter says in his commerical, “it’s only $19.99! offers may vary…”

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