Jane-in her words

Jane gets to be student of the week at preschool next week. I'm supposed to make a little paper with pictures of her and things about her. I decided to let her tell me what to write. I couldn't believe that she just kept going and going and going telling me things to write. So here is what Jane would like you to know about her.

*I like to play dress up.

*I like to play in the bath.

*I like to paint.

*My favorite animal is ducky. I love ducky so so so super much.

*My favorite food is ice cream. I love ice cream.

*I like to play doctor. I like to fix people and I want to be a doctor when I’m big, when I’m old.

*I like to be nice at church.

*And I like to get messy. I love to get messy because I like to make everything messy so I can jump around in puddles.

*I like to put my own clothes on myself.

*I love to be funny.

*I like to be good at preschool.

*I like to blow dandelions when they're old.

*I like to hug ducky and Sara (her toy dog). I love to play with them.

*I love to play with my neighbors.

*I like to hug my mom and dad.

*I love to hug Jack.

*And I like when my mom and dad hug me. And I like when Jack hugs me.

It's getting warm!

Listen! It's getting warm around here! It's fabulous but I have one BIG concern. I don't think any of you have made this recipe that I shared months ago. You MUST make it before it's so hot outside you don't want to turn your oven on! While eating this for dinner one night I told Matt, "This is my favorite chicken dish that I make." Then I thought and changed it, "Actually, it's my favorite chicken dish I've ever had." Then I thought some more. "Well, actually, I can't think of a single meal I've ever had in my life that I liked more than this." Ok, people?! It's GOOD. When God made chickens and knew humans would be able to eat them, I think this is what he had in mind. Certainly the plan wasn't for us to only consume squeaky, overcooked chicken breasts all the time. So, please, indulge in some dark meat with me.

That said, Matt really likes this dinner. He doesn't make crazy statements about it being the best thing he's ever tasted though. So I can't guarantee you will sit at the dinner table long after everyone else has left trying to savor every last morsel of edible goodness like I do. But I am pretty sure you'll like it. The only people this recipe isn't for is people who don't eat meat or people who don't like food.

And, of course, another thank you to my friend, Tiffany, for sharing this recipe that has since changed my life.

Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken

10 pieces of skin-on, bone-in, dark-meat chicken (thighs, drumsticks, wings)
2 un-waxed lemons cut into chunky eighths
1 head Garlic, unpeeled, cloves pulled apart
3 Tbsp Olive oil
10 Tbsp. white cooking wine (or ½ c. white grape juice + 2 T white wine vinegar)
Small handful fresh Thyme (dry will work too)
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 300.

2. Put the chicken, lemon, and garlic in a 9x13 inch pan.

3. Drizzle with olive oil. Mix everything together. Arrange chicken pieces so that they are skin side up.

4. Lightly pour the wine or juice/vinegar mixture over the top. Sprinkle with thyme, pepper and salt to taste.

5. Cover tightly with foil, bake for 2 hours. Remove foil, increase heat to 400. Bake for 30-45 min, or until skin is browned and crispy.

6. Gently remove chicken pieces and garlic cloves. Pour leftover mixture into a strainer over a bowl. Let rest and skim the fat off with a spoon. Put the strained sauce in a gravy boat for pouring.


It's easy. Practically fool-proof. I feel like I need to tell you how I eat it though. I put a piece of chicken on my plate and pull off the skin. I'm indulging, but not that much. I take a couple cloves of garlic and squeeze out the roasted garlic from the skin and put it on my plate. I pour a little bit of sauce on top of my chicken piece. Then I take a piece of chicken on my fork, get a little roasted garlic to go with it and SAVOR it.

Please make it. Please let me know that you made it.

How to De-Stress

Truth be told, I ended up not teaching my afternoon shift. So I got to hang out at the church parking lot for hours with my kids while they rode bikes/pushed push toys. It was fabulous.

But after teaching at night I got to hang out with my friend, Candis. We thought we would relieve some stress on photo booth. We both laughed so hard that we almost simultaneously threw up and wet ourselves.

Enjoy!

After taking the picture above, Candis told me she looked like someone in our church. I never know who people are in our ward by names, but one look at this picture and I knew who she was talking about. Hilarious.

Ella Osmond

"parasite. alien."

And our personal faves. Ella as Elizabeth Reaser as seen on Grey's Anatomy.

Been a long time

Hi. It's been a long time. I've added a new job to my schedule. This one is during more normal-people hours. I'll tell you more about it some time. It has to do with teaching and Legos. For that, I can't complain. But for now, can I take a moment to share with you how stressed out it makes me that Matt is heading to L.A. tonight? Let's take Thursday for example:

-wake up
-feed and dress the kids
-shower (this one looks deceptively easy) :)
-feed and dress myself

-take kids to Babysitter #1
-go to work

-drive home from work
-pick up the kids
-feed them lunch in about 7 minutes
-take Jane to preschool
-put Jack to bed
-eat lunch, clean up the house
-wake Jack up
-pick Jane up early from preschool

-take kids to Babysitter #2
-go to work

-drive home from work
-pick up the kids
-bathe the kids, feed them more food as I'm sure they'll both be hungry (a consequence of being picky)
-put the kids to bed

-greet Babysitter #3 who is coming over to just sit at my house in case my kids need help
-teach English over the internet in my bedroom (thank heavens it's in my bedroom and not in Provo).

-SLEEP

-get woken up by Jane at least once

-wake up in the morning
-feed and dress the kids
-shower, feed and dress myself

-take kids to Babysitter #4
-go to work

You see? I could really use my husband. I'm not upset with him for going. He needs to go. But I could really use him.

You know who else I could use? My mom. I've been daydreaming lately about how life-changing it would be to have my parents live close to me.

And hats off to single, working parents whose days more often look like this than not.