Valentine's Boxes

I wrote last Wednesday, but get my camera to upload the pictures on this computer so it has just been sitting here! I'm going to finally post it now and hopefully, Jer can get the pictures uploaded asap... because WOW!!... That Wall-E Valentine's box was cute.

Today the kids had their Valentine's Day parties at school (no school Thur or Fri) and so they needed boxes. Jer apparently loved to make Valentine's Boxes as a kid and so he and the kids came up with some great ones this year. He said that as he was helping Matthew carry his box into the school this morning several kids shouted across the playground, "Hey it's Wall-e!! That is awesome!" and things like that. Matthew was thrilled with the attention.

Katie's box collected valentines in her classroom while she lay in bed at home. She was just to sick and weak to make it to school this morning. Thank goodness for the long weekend. She needs it to recover from being sick.

We had a great Valentine's Day party at Grandma Coxes, but I think I left my camera there... so to see some pictures, please visit my sis-in-law's (Jenn) blog.

Happy Birthday Great-Grandma!!

Yesterday was Great-Grandma Coxes birthday and we all went over for a visit. Well, I say all, but really Katie and I had to stay home because Katie has been quite sick this week. I will maybe post about that later. Since Katie knew couldn't see Grandma to wish her a "Happy Birthday" she spent the day drawing several lovely "Happy Valentims" and "Happy Birthday" cards for her. Jer said Grandma loved them.

So, in honor of my birthday blog tradition, I will now share the kids' favorite things about Great-Grandma Cox:

Matthew: She always loves and us and never wants to disappoint anyone.
Kathryn: She is always nice and loves to hug me. Everytime she sees me she gives me a hug. (Katie didn't say this, but she also likes Grandma's name. She always tells people, "My great-grandma is Dorothy Belle Cox."
Ashton: I like to play with toys from her toy drawer.
Will: I wanna visit Great-Grandma Cox.

A Blogging Award!... Exciting!

So, this morning I was excited to find out I awarded the "Lemonade" award for good attitude and gratitude on my blog. My first blogging award.... Yeah!! I didn't know you could get awards for blogging... what do I need Usborne for now? Oh, yeah... $$$$. ;-)

Anyway, I received this award from my wonderful friend Amanda Padgett in SC. (Amanda if you are reading this Leah said your presentation at the Carolina Regionals was EXTREMELY helpful.)

So now, I am supposed to nominate some blogs I read and am inspired by. So here it goes. (If you are on the list you need to post the award and your nominees on your own blog.)

• Teresa... She has been amazing and inspiring me for years!
• Jody... Someone I've always looked up to and now am learning so much from!
• Jenn... The epitome of a good attitude and gratitude
• Sharie... Love her honesty!!
• Cashelle... Reminds me about the importance of cherishing those little ones.

Now is there an award for creative inspiration and beauty because I would also like to recognize:

• Tiffini... I admire people with amazing creativity
• Amanda... This one is for you latest blog. It inspired me to change my background. :)

I have so many blogs I love to read! It was so hard to choose.

Thank you all for the beautiful backgrounds, inspiration and laughs!

Usborne Regional Training

Camille, Me, and Suzanne

My downline supervisors. We missed Melinda (my other downline super) that day.

This Friday and Saturday were the annual Usborne Salt Lake City Regional Training for consultants and supervisors across the intermountain west. We had a great time and after fourth months of Jer working 70 hours a week, I was ready for a "slumber party" with my Usborne friends. (The kids were thrilled to have a sleepover with Stacie at Grandma Craguns!)

The meetings were inspiring, motivating and super informative. I trained on the software (mailing lists and bookkeeping) the company provides, on why my Usborne Business is the BEST job I've ever had, and on Home Shows. I was also in charge of the scheduling and training on Saturday.

It was also SUPER fun to see some of my wonderful consultants receive recruiting and sales awards. I am so proud of them!!

It was a lot of work, but so much fun!! It was just what I needed to recharge my batteries... all of them.

Readasaurus' Birthday

Friday was the Readasaurus' Birthday. The kids had literally been counting down for a week. The theme this year was Pirates and the kids could either dress up as a pirate or wear their pjs. This was a great theme for us because we have a plethora of pirate costumes at our house. Matthew decided to wear his Captain Jack Sparrow pjs with a pirate hat. The kids loaded up their backbacks with pirate books (we also have A LOT of those) to read during the day and they were delighted when Captain Jack Sparrow (our neighbor Kory Howard) appeared at an assembly.

Readausaurus' Birthday was my FAVORITE "holiday" when I was little and it is so fun to see the kids so excited about it too.

Hurray for Katie

We just got back from the Reflections Regional Open House where we learned that Katie won Regional Honorable Mention for her poem about Alaska. She was competing against K-2nd grade students from several different elementary schools.

Katie is taking the whole thing in stride. She was mostly thrilled to get a certificate, pencil and candy bar. I don't think she realizes what an accomplishment this is. I took a picture of her standing by her poem on the "Winner's Board" with my phone. Maybe I'll be able to upload it later. (I would have brought my camera if I would have known she was getting an award.)

We are so excited for her!

Another Blog

So... I started another blog. The address is www.readstome.blogspot.com. I love to research, I love to write, and I love to share what I learn. My two main research interests are child development and politics and I figured there are enough political blogs out there. :) Hopefully, I can not get too carried away and spend all day blogging when I should be cleaning my house and stuff. :) But, I've wanted to do something like this for sometime and figured this was as good of a venue as any.

If you have any suggestions for topics I should research I would love to hear them.

Special Offer

This last couple of weeks I have been notifying my customers of a couple of special offers I have going on. Then, I realized... if I am going to make these offers to people I hardly know, why not make the same great deals available to my family and friends!! So here they are!! Special #1: Book at 2009 party now and receive $20 EXTRA free books. February is DOUBLE FREE BOOK month where hostesses will receive $120 in FREE books with just $350 in sales (about 8 orders). I can guarentee ALL my hostesses $100 worth of books (some free, some half-priced books... most get $100 in free, plus $75 in half-priced). Book now and I'll even cover the shipping on your free books. :)

PLEASE NOTE: I am behind on earning the Usborne trip to Cabo San Lucas and need to do a lot of home shows in February-April (especially Feb). If you are remotely interested or have any ?s please let me know. I will travel ANYWHERE (in UT anyway) and would LOVE any help I can get!

Special #2: Join the Usborne Book Club and receive $10 in free books, plus any new title for 1/2 price. Earn free books from your book club purchases! Choose from over 1,400 titles and have books delivered to your home each month. You choose how many books/month and which books come when. PERFECT for gift-giving, birthdays, and to plan ahead for Christmas. Your puchases earn you free books.

Special #3: 15% off any January order. 10% off any February order. (Excludes book club purchases.) Just email me (or call) with your choices. You can preview the entire online catalog from this link.

Just a reminder... Usborne Books are award-winning, based on child development, and much loved by kids of all ages! They also have a lifetime warranty.

Also, if you or anyone you know is interested in some extra income, and/or a fun hobby, and/or a great way to build a home library our kit special this month is a AWESOME deal... $300+ in books for only $99.

Okay... I think that is everything! Again, I need some help (or I can kiss Cabo good-bye) and I would LOVE to help you get LOTS of WONDERFUL books, homework resources, and other educational materials. So far all of my January hostesses have received $100+ in free stuff!! SO FUN!! (And their friends and I were grateful for a chance to get dressed up and fight off the Winter blahs.)

If you have questions, please email me at: jill@utahusbornebooks.com or just give me a call. :)

Happy Birthday Grandma

Last weekend we celebrated Grandma Cox's birthday.

I asked the kids their favorite things about Grandma and this is what they said:

• Matthew- She is always nice and she always lets us come and visit her whenever we can.


• Katie- I love how she loves us.


• Ashton- I love playing upstairs at her house.


• Will- "Happy Birthday to You" (singing) I don't think he quite got what I was asking.

We all are so grateful to be in her family! Happy Birthday! We love you!

More on Cooking Once a Month!

So... between the comments on the blog, messages on facebook, and emails I've received, I've decided to post more on this whole cooking once a month concept. (And Jer is at work so I'm lonely. :( I do have Usborne trainings to prepare, but procrastination is so fun. :) )

By the way... I have 27 main courses and three desserts frozen in my freezer right now. Because we sometimes eat with family, eat out, and sometimes I feel like/have time to do cooking that should last us about 5-6 weeks!! YEAH!!!

FYI: This is also wonderful because you already have something prepared if someone you know has a baby, gets injured or for some reason needs a meal brought to their home!

Before I start I do have to say it isn't ONLY my dislike of cooking that made meal preparation difficult. It was also the logistics. Fitting time to shop, prepare food and clean up in between school pick up, karate, homework, afternoon naptime (VERY important) was the difficult thing for me. Everything needed to happen at 3 or 4 pm. If dinner isn't ready by 5:30 there are 4 ornery, whining, quarrelling children (and thus one stressed out, mean mother) at our house. So this system is a life-saver.

As far as recipes go... USE YOUR FAMILY'S FAVORITES!! Really, it is that simple. Some things will not freeze well, like raw veggies and cooked potatoes (unless they are REALLY cooked and mashed up like in a creamy soup). That book I suggested in the previous post (www.dinnerisready.com) had a list of things that will/will not freeze. She also has great and easy recipes if you are really worried about that.

Here is how I do it. First, I choose 3 meats and make all of the meat dishes out of those. This helps because you can buy those cuts of meat in bulk and get a better deal. (This last time I chose ground beef, cut up beef (stew meat), and chicken. The dishes I prepared included: lasagna, cheese manicotti, shepherd's pie, chicken noodle soup, corn chowder, chicken tortilla casserole, beef stroganoff, beef stew, Swedish meatballs, porcupine meatballs... and I think that was it for this time. Other times I've prepared a couple of different chicken and rice casserolles, funeral potatoes, sweet and sour chicken, chicken alfredo, barbque ribs, and sloppy joes.) I copy the recipes from the book I found them in, print them off the internet, pull the recipe card or do whatever I have to do to get a copy of each recipe. You don't want to have to switch back and forth between pages in a cookbook on cooking day.

Then I make a grocery list. My list is on a big piece of scrap paper and I have sections for meat, produce, frozen, dairy, packaging material, etc. I go through each recipe and write the items I need on my list. I use tally marks for each cup of shredded cheese or sour cream, each can of soup, etc. VERY IMPORTANT: I've been buying those aluminum baking pans... WONDERFUL!! I can freeze them without using my regular casserolle dishes and cake pans and I can chuck them when I am done. You also need Extra Heavy Aluminum Foil and gallon sized freezer bags. Also, if your store offers them (ours don't), get paper bags. You need as many "garbages" as possible on the cooking day and those would work well.

The book suggests (and I agree) that you don't put your groceries away (except the items that need to be kept cold, obviously) because you are just going to use them the next day or two. It saves time on the cooking day to have everything out already.

The night before I cooked the ground beef and chopped all the veggies. This was the first time I've done that and it was very helpful. Chopping 10+ cups of carrots, 8 cups of celery, and 10 cups of onion is time consuming.

Also, forgot to mention this... you want to choose 1-2 recipes for a crock pot, 2 recipes that you can cook in your oven, 2-3 recipes that you cook on your stove top, and 4 or so recipes that you can just assemble. Because you don't cook the pasta before you freeze it, manicotti and lasagna are assemble recipes. Most casserolles are assemble recipes.

I start by cooking all the chicken... this usually takes 2-3 pots... which gives me the broth I need for other recipes. (I used to just use bouillon or canned broth. Now that I have "real" broth I can taste such a difference. The food/soups are so yummy!) Then I start a crock pot meal. Then I start something for my oven.

Again, you are cooking DOUBLE portions of everything you cook. Chicken noodle/chicken tortellini/chicken and rice soups are something that everyone at my house actually likes so I quadruple the recipe for chicken soup and then just add the starch (noodles, rice, tortellini) when I reheat it.

While all those are cooking, I start the assemble recipes... beginning with the most labor intensive... saving the easiest ones for last. When something is done cooking I take it over to my kitchen table to cool and prepare the next one for that method (stove-top, oven, slow-cooker). The assemble ones I just fit in while stuff cooks. Some assemble ones go together naturally. For example, last time I used the same cheese filling for the manicotti and the lasagna so I prepared those back to back. The more practice I get, the more efficient I am. Also, you want a garbage by where you are assembling, the stove, and where you are packaging.

When a dish has cooled sufficiently, I put it in the gallon bag or cover it and freeze it. Label what it is and the cooking instructions (if it needs to actually be cooked, not just reheated).

The book (again their website is www.dinnerisready.com ... I promise I am not getting anything for promoting it... just want to share ;) ) has lots of helpful hints and it goes into greater detail on the system. It also has some recipes I tried that Jer has LOVED.

Another thing: you can keep reusing the same knives, bowls, measuring cups, etc. if you just rinse them between recipes. Of course, wash stuff that touches raw meat and eggs, but everything else you don't have to wash until the end. It takes an extra load of dishes in the dishwasher that day, but overall it saves tons of dishwashing. I am not "cooking" a full meal each night so I can get by with one load/day now instead of at least two. After dinner clean up is so much easier because there aren't knives, measuring cups, frying pans, etc. to wash... it is just the plates, cups, etc. and maybe one pot.

And that is it!!

I can't say enough good things about that book and this system. It really has been a huge lifesaver. I love going to my freezer in the morning and pulling out something for dinner that night. I love being able to pull something from the fridge and put it in the oven before I leave to take kids to karate and have it done when karate is over. I love that I'm not trying to cook at the time of day my kids need me most.

So... this is a long post... and I REALLY should get working on my Usborne stuff, but I just wanted to share that information. Thanks for reading!

What does Jesus Say?

Will is VERY into what things "say"... animals, vehicles, etc. He is even starting to "tease" us and say things like, "Lions say 'meow.' No! Lions say 'roar!!'" He could do this for hours.

So, the other day he asked me, "What does Jesus say?"

I said, "I don't know. What does Jesus say?"

He looked thoughtful for just a second and then said, "Jesus say, 'I love you too!'"

It reminded me of Matthew 18:

1 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,

3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.

Painting

On Saturday, my dear, dear, wonderful, wonderful friend Bobbi came to help me paint Will and Katie's room and the kid's bathroom. Those rooms had just been sprayed an off-white color when we moved in and I had scrubbed off all the paint when washing walls. It was literally down to the primer. It was quite the process and I am so glad it is done. Thankfully, the kids spent most of the day at my mom's because when they were home they were very interested in helping. I was very interested in keeping the carpet free of paint spills.

The paint turned out cute and I am looking forward to adding some cute decorations to the bathroom and bedroom.

Happy Birthday Matthew and Kathryn!!

Well, Matthew and Katie proclaimed this year to be their "best birthday ever!!" I am starting to notice a theme with this proclamations. :) Anyway... one of the things they loved was their birthday celebration seemed to keep going and going and going and going.

Their birthday celebration kick off was a trip to the movies... complete with popcorn, candy and lemonade. We all loved Bedtime Rhymes... seriously, Ashton and Matthew were almost embarrassing they were laughing so loud... and it was pretty cool to see an Usborne Science Encyclopedia in the movie. Then, to their sheer delight, the kids got to have a sleepover with Stacie at Grandma Craguns.

The next day, their actual birthday, we opened presents, did quickly did chores, and then read many chapters in Book 1 of of the Chronicles of Narnia: The Magicians Nephew. The kids were so engrossed we ended up reading for 2 1/2 hours. That night Grandpa and Grandma Cragun prepared a special birthday dinner of favorite foods: Mac N Cheese (for Matthew) and Funeral Potatoes (for Kate). But the fun didn't end there... oh no... then we darted to the bowling alley for some real live (not wii) bowling. Jer and Will (teammates) were the winners. Will actually did a great job of kicking the ball down the lane. He got 8 or 9 pins everytime. Grandma and Grandma Cox met us at the bowling alley and then treated the kids to ice cream at Pollies.

They got wonderful presents and were thrilled with their special day!!

On Saturday, Bobbi came to visit (subject of another post) and brought more presents and on Sunday, all the children at Church sang them a birthday song and they got to go to the Bishop's office for a treat and a handshake. On Monday, they were the special birthday kids at school. They each got a crown and Matthew's classmates all made his a birthday card. They enjoyed showing their classmates pictures of them as babies and toddlers and sharing a treat with their friends.

We can't believe how old they are getting and are so proud of them!! They are such considerate kids and truly are best friends.

Happy Birthday Matthew and Katie!! We love you so much!

Happy New Year!!

We celebrated the New Year by going to a New Year's Eve party at Grandpa and Grandma Coxes. It was very delicious. Then, we came home and the kids went to sleep. Jer and I stayed up until mid-night playing Mario Cart against people across the country. That was pretty fun.

The next day, we had planned to go to Chuck E. Cheese for the kid's birthday, but we managed to convince them to go to a movie and bowling. Jer, Will and I ended up going to Provo anyway to exchange some things we'd received for Christmas and take advantage of the after Christmas sales. We found some amazing deals and had a wonderful time. It was the closest thing to a date we have had in quite awhile. We even at lunch at one of my favorite restaurants... Los Hermanos. Will had quite the audience at the lunch... he was chowing down the chips and salsa so fast that our fellow diners were laughing and pointing. I think they were surprised to see a toddler scarfing down not too mild salsa. It was a great day!!

On Sunday, for family home evening we set personal goals and one big family goal.
Matthew wanted to reach a certain reading level by next year. Katie wants to finish an entire piano level. Ashton wants to learn all the alphabet (not just the letters in his and his friends names :) ). I decided I wanted to attend the temple a certain number of times this year and I can't remember Jer's goal. (It is on the fridge, but I am too lazy to get up and see what it is.) Our family goal is to not miss a day of scripture study. We were doing pretty good before, but would sometimes just send the kids to bed if it was getting late. Not this year!! ... so far, we've kept our resolution... of course it has only been about a week.

On Monday, while Jer was at work I took some time to reflect on my Usborne Books business, how the last year went, and set goals for the upcoming year.

I really do love this time of reflection, evaluating, and looking forward. There is so much hope in a New Year.

Happy New Year!

Cooking ONCE a MONTH!!!

I am SUPER busy right now and don't have time to upload New Years and birthday pictures... but I will sometime this week. :) But I just wanted to share something that has really, really made me SO happy... in case it will help someone else.

Let me start by confessing something: I DO NOT LIKE TO COOK. But, I also dislike TV dinners, frozen pizza, etc. ... So it was dilemma. BUT I found something that has REALLY helped us save money on groceries (as well as helping us eat healthier)... I've chosen 10 main courses and then prepared double amounts of those main courses (so 20 meals in all) in one day. I shop the day before... so it is a big trip. I also try to get all the things like laundry detergent, dish soap, toilet paper that we will need that month. Because I am spending so much at once (and because a big, huge shopping trip with four kids in tow is pretty miserable) I am focused on getting in and out and make it through without any extras.

Since we started doing this we've really been able to take advantage of "economies of scale;" we haven't had to buy things like frozen pizza, pot pies, etc.; we've pretty much stopped eating out... except for VERY special occasions; and most importantly we have saved $100-200 a month on food.

I learned a system from a book I purchased from my booth neighbor at a craft fair. Their website is http://www.30mealsinoneday.com/ or http://www.dinnerisready.com/. They have recipes which I used the first time. (Now I that I know how to be efficient I use some of theirs and some of my own.) They also have software, which I wish I would have purchased, but couldn't afford at the time. They have books about lunches (which are for 1-2 people) as well.

I enlist Katie as my helper and that makes it go quicker (I think). The first time, I cooked 20+ meals in one day Katie said, "Wow Mom!! You are on fire!" I only do 20 instead of 30 because I pretty much have to quit at 2 pm when Ashton gets home from preschool.

I highly recommend their systems!!!