Discoveries

• Grate onions vs. dicing them (eg: in scrambled eggs or casseroles)
• Pennies on a Platter
• I can make delicious things! (With Katrina, at least)

profiteroles! aka creme puffs :)

• My bathroom, laundry room, and a portion of my carpeted living room are currently flooded... hopefully I'll find out why later today...
• This boy I'm growing is really active, and I love it :)

• Doug is still really funny - and three of his childhood loves still shine through: school, chess, and kittens:

Christmas morning (hence the crazy hair haha)

First day of Kindergarten - doesn't he look so happy?!

Oh, he is too cute.

 The pictures are from Doug's Baby Book(s) which his mom put together. What a keepsake! I'm scanning them into our computer and I absolutely love reading about Doug as a child.

Children with Special Needs at Church

Do you know children with special needs at church? Do you teach them, or wonder how you would if you were asked? I just read a beautiful article in the Ensign - a magazine produced by my Church - which gives tips on teaching children with cognitive disabilities. Written by a mother of a child with autism who teaches children with cognitive disabilities at church, this article is written for other teachers (or potential teachers) which I think applies to all of us! I'll share some of my favorite points, but I highly encourage you to read it yourself :).

• Meet with the child and his parents, preferably in their home where the child feels most comfortable, to get better acquainted with him. Ask what he likes, how he communicates and what motivates him.

source

• Learn about the her disability. Use resources available on the church website and talk with her family
• In most cases, he should be in a class with his peers - this encourages friendships, an important part of feeling included and wanted. 
• Introduce her to her class. Share things that she likes to do as well as appropriately explain her disability so the other students can feel comfortable with her.
• Consider meeting with his school teacher for tips. The teacher may even want to come to Sunday school to give examples.
• Consider having a co-teacher, or an aid (preferably not her parent!) who will help her learn and stay on task.
• Teach with rich examples and learning experiences which interest several senses. ie: visual, auditory, and tactile.

source

• Provide personalized support during irregular meetings or presentations. 
• Have him sit in the front pew where he can walk up to the stage and participate in the presentation yet also slip out of the room unobtrusively if necessary.
• In a talent show, consider going first so that her family can leave early if she gets agitated.
• Even if he doesn't have any speaking parts, simply being a part of the group is beneficial.

I hadn't even thought of several of these ideas! Evidently, each child is different and will require different adaptions, but this is a great start. 

Reading this article reminded me how much I love working with children who have cognitive disabilities!

Breakfast Failure

I made this:

It was supposed to look like this:

Alas, butter, flour, eggs, and sugar with dripping honey still tasted good!

Getting there gradually

I grew up in a home with a delicious homemade meal essentially every night. Basically, my mom is an amayzing cook. I moved to college and tried to make my own meals. I thought that perhaps the chef gene was simply dormant. I got married and finally I have decided that either I didn't get the chef gene, or there's no such thing. Did I give up? Despite Doug's satisfaction with frozen pizza and/or cereal for every meal, no - I did not give up.

Thrice - thrice, people! - have I made a meal worthy of my mother this week (week is loosely defined as the last 7-9 days...).

1. Pork (well Elk, actually) Goulash. (I'm honestly just relieved I found a way to make the Elk edible!)
2. Shrimp Tacos (surprisingly easy!!)
3. French Onion Soup. Yup, you read right. Care to take a guess at which one is mine?

soup1

soup2

I had to crop the images so you couldn't tell just by the dishes - but maybe you still can? Mine's soup2 btdubs. Doesn't even look better than the real French one? Oh. I am so good.

Anyway, the hardest part about making French Onion Soup is slicing all the onions. Then my friend geniously recommended that I use my food processor next time. DUH. Oh, and if you order this at a restaurant, know that you're basically paying for the gruyere cheese, everything else is inexpensive.

So, I've come to the conclusion that whether or not there is such a thing as a chef gene in my family, I can become a good chef, it just might take a while.

Dishes or Crochet?

I seem to be asking myself this question more and more these days. Should I do the dishes, or should I crochet? Sometimes I do the dishes. When I do, I'm always surprised at how quickly it goes. (You'd think I'd stop getting surprised after a while...) Other times, like today, I choose to crochet. 

Why? 

1. Because I'm working on a project that is quite fun. 

2. Because the dishes are "soaking" (to use Doug's terminology). 

3. We're going to have homemade French Onion Soup tonight so there will be plenty of dishes to do later.

4. Because I'm pregnant so I'm always productive whether or not I'm keeping house.

Score.

Yes that's laundry in the background. See? I don't just crochet. 

Oh wait, I folded that yesterday...

But at least I didn't have to get off the couch to take my picture. :)

Sewing and Sports

So today I'm off to my 3rd sewing class. Totally stoked!! Lately I've taken quite a liking to sewing and have ventured to sew things such as animal pillows and... yeah, that's about it. But hey, it's a start. It's also super fun to have neighbors who will sew with me. Thanks to Katrina (a real neighbor) and Miriam (a neighbor in all senses of the word minus the physical aspect seeing as we're like 7 states away *sigh*)!!

In other words, I came across a sports article that I quite enjoyed. I'm not one to read sports articles generally, but I think you'll like this one:
The NBA Lockout has Increased Injury Rates

What's in Your Closet?

I wore one of my favorite skirts the other day and said to myself, "self, that was a really good purchase." I bought it when I was 14, years old (I remember because I wore it to one of my first stake dances!) and I have worn it pretty consistently ever since. Crazy, right?

It's shorter now than it was when I was 14... and probably tighter haha.

Then I thought, I think that skirt is the oldest thing in my closet. No! My fifth grade graduation shirt definitely wins. I still wear it (yes, it still fits!) but rarely, if ever, in public...

Look, it still has my name on the back!

I removed everyone else's names... so now it looks weird. Such is the price of  confidentiality.

So what's the oldest thing you're clinging on to?