Will took me on a great date this last Saturday morning.  I know you’re thinking, morning?!  Can they be any crazier?!  In reality it was one of the best dates.  We were headed to Richard Walker’s for breakfast, but the wait for a table was out the door and down the block(I do plan on making it back there another morning though).  We found a cute little bakery in Seaport village instead.  All the drizzling rain made it that much more cozy to enjoy my waffles and hot cocoa.

We then spent the remainder of the morning wandering through the Museum of Man.  I always appreciate these little breaks from everyday life.  What a fun surprise to find out the museum only charges half the normal price on Saturdays from 10-12.

I can’t claim this pictures…Will took it:)

I pulled Will into one of my more recent projects.  I found a killer deal on a bed for Annie a while back, but decided it needed a bit of refinishing.  He took over sanding after I found out I was pregnant.  After everything happened, I stole my project back and finished it out.  Annie is now snug as a bug in a rug.  It was a fun distraction while it lasted.

So I was reading scriptures this morning and had some interesting thoughts come strolling through.  In Mosiah, when King Benjamin is giving his address to the people he says, “They shall stand as a bright testimony against this people, at the judgement day; whereof they shall be judged, every man according to his works, whether they be good, or whether they be evil.”  This got me thinking about my daily workings.  What kind of testifying will my works be doing for me?  Am I going to want to own them or try and slide my actions behind me, embarrassed by the choices I have made?  I don’t mean horrible choices, but sometimes when the great and the good choice stand side by side, I take the good over the great.

This led me to other skittering thoughts.  How well am I balancing my life?  It seems so precarious so much of the time.  I have glittering moments here and there where absolutely everything feels aligned and the balance feels amazing.  In reality most days, I’m mostly balanced, but this isn’t hand grenades or horse shoes so I want better than most.  After considering the whole balancing act, I started to wonder if I’m even balancing the right things?  I know what I am supposed to be balancing, but how often do I throw useless or unimportant things onto my pile.  Hi, my name is Jessica, I will be juggling an assortment of spikes, broken glass and rubber balls this evening…front row, you having no need to worry, I’m mostly balanced most nights.  If a spike comes your way – duck.  Pay no mind that I’m only required to juggle the rubber balls I just forgot and threw the other stuff in there because I got carried away.

Through all the spring cleaning that has occurred in the last few weeks, I’m attempting a spring cleaning of the soul as well.  Be advised that I’m currently sifting through tons of stuff and am under construction…metaphorically speaking(I am dumping spikes and broken glass).  Tread with caution:)

Driving home from school.

Hudson Why do we get so many babies in July?

Mom What do you mean?  We aren’t getting our baby in July.  It died.  Babies come in other months besides July.  We got you from the hospital in November.

Hudson But it wasn’t my birthday in July.

Mom I know your birth-day is in November.  That is when we got you.

Hudson So we can get babies in January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November or December.

Mom That is correct.

Hudson How many babies do we get?

Mom At our house?…as many as Mommy and Daddy decide.

Hudson I think we should have 100.

Mom That is a lot of babies.  I don’t think they would all fit, especially in the house.

Hudson It’s okay Mom, you could just buy a bus.

I was hoping Hudson would lose his tooth on Wednesday when we went to Disneyland, but we just weren’t that lucky(That is where he lost his other tooth.  We were just hoping for a fun tradition).  It popped out at dinner while eating soup?!  Will and I don’t really have that drive to yank the teeth out and loose teeth don’t seem to be bothersome to Hudson so they just fall out whenever.  Hudson is actually very trusting by letting me wiggle his teeth.  I remember never letting my dad near my mouth.  He would promise not to pull, but I think with all the wiggling of my teeth he couldn’t resist the final tug once I let him see my teeth.

The losing of this tooth has turned a new leaf for Hudson.  I’m not quite sure how temporary this leaf might be.  He now wants chores to earn money to add to it so he can buy something.  This has awakened the teacher in me just a bit.  My first thought was, “Yes, now we can focus more on paying tithing, saving for college, saving for a mission, identifying money and skip counting.”  My goal is having him always save at least 10% tithing, 10% college, 10% mission.  I’m hoping if he only ever gets 70% that it will be easier when he is older to sustain it.  I had some friends when I was little whose parents would triple any money earned that went straight to the bank.  I’m liking that idea too.  Maybe that will encourage more money to go into savings.  Anyway, this post wasn’t supposed to be about saving techniques, but about Hudson. That other top tooth is loose as well.  I see more fun headed our way.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  How often we forget that.  To be quite frank, I laughed when I saw this ad.  How vain our society has always been…so worried about a quick fix in an attempt to feel accepted in the moment. You need to be skinny, fat, blonde, wear stripes, have zippers on your shoes, grow a third arm?! There is nothing like trying to impress people you don’t know or like.

So I have been going a little crazy in the kitchen lately.  Would you believe I have actually started making dinner again?!  I pulled out a recipe I haven’t tried for years.  My kids have been refusing to eat dinner since I have started cooking…hmmmm.  Anyway, I won’t let them deter me so as an incentive I have started baking desserts to any little person who decides to finish his or her dinner.  I did lemon bars, cream-cheese brownies…all of the regulars.  I was getting tired of eating the whole pan by myself after they went to bed refusing to eat dinner (so much for the bribe), besides I don’t think my waist can handle a 9×9 pan of _____ (fill in the blank with something yummy) for dessert every night.  No amount of running or soccer could bring my body back from that!

I digress, in my effort to mix up desserts I pulled out a cranberry cake recipe that has a delightful cream sauce.  I think the delight comes from the heavy cream and butter it contains.  No matter, I loved every bite of it and found once again that the 9×9 pan stood empty the next morning.  I thought I would include the recipe in case anyone is in search of a dessert off the beaten path(I talked Will into taking a picture of my cranberries for me.  I was sidetracked cooking).

Side note:  The cake has way to much tang by itself.  Don’t make the mistake of making the cake without the sauce.  Your face will be permanently frozen suckered.

Cranberry Delight

Cake: Cream 1c sugar, 3 Tbs. butter.  Slowly add 1 c milk, 2c flour, 1/4 tsp salt and 2 tsp. baking powder.  Fold in 2c fresh cranberries.

Bake in a greased 8×8 pan at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  The top should start to brown and should feel spongy when pressed.  I supposed a toothpick would do the job as well.

Sauce: 1/2c butter, 1 c sugar, 1 c cream or half and half.  Boil on medium then add 1 tsp. vanilla.

Will and Jessica shot their first wedding together recently.  I love that they both love what they do.  I’m not referring to myself in the 3rd person either.  I’m talking about Will’s partner for Frevo Photos.  They seemed to enjoy the challenges of shooting a wedding, at least maybe in retrospect they do.  I did hear they let loose at the end after guests left.  These are their pictures in the photo booth.

A few people said they were shocked at Will’s alternate personality that he pulled out to charm people in the photo booth.  The funny thing I find is that Will is almost always his charming vibrant personality around me.  I think he just plays up the awkward engineering type when we are around lots of people so he isn’t always forced to socialize.  So don’t let him fool you if he acts all engineering…it’s just an act.

I digress, did you enjoy the bird walk about Will?  Those two are always kind enough to let Tony(Jessica’s husband) and I give input.  My favorite part of this wedding was the photo booth.  The above pictures are Jess and Will standing in it.  I laughed at how many people were so comfortable letting loose and taking a crazy picture or two.  I don’t plan on getting married again so the photo booth isn’t really helpful for me, but it sure did look fun!

Is there really a better way to kick off the year than to do a little bit ‘o running?  These fabulous girls ran along side me to make for a lovely morning.  That’s right, it was 75 degrees today.  It was a welcome change to the teeth-chattering cold we had in Denver.

I have no idea my finishing time, but it ceased to be earth shattering by any means.  I finished and felt fantastic.  Do I see something more than a 5k in my future?…maybe.  According to my brother, I wasn’t running hard or fast enough if I finish a race feeling great and not breathing hard.  As I see it, it was an enjoyable trot in Mission Bay with wonderful company.  Ladies thanks so much for helping me start the year off right!

Will was the wonderfully supportive husband as always.  He actually got there early this time so he could snap a picture of my lightening speed through the finish.  Suffice it to say, I’m not known as “speedy.”  Too bad so many people finished ahead of me that the finish line was actually clogged for a good 30 feet or more.

Mom, Dad, thank-you for letting me pause my life for a few weeks to enjoy a swirling vortex of fun and excitement. Thank-you for not laughing too hard when I showed up in flip-flops; transforming your living room into a huge playroom to keep the kids beyond happy; Brian and Casey thank-you for giving endless piggyback rides; letting us help you with homework; giving up rooms and playing mountains worth of games.  Heidi and Shane thanks for letting us be with you and for bringing Colson.  I could still just eat him up!  For those of you who read this, thanks for listening while I practice for the day when I win my first Oscar.