My Adventures as a Domestic CEO

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Mashed Potatoes, Rolls, and Chocolate Pecan Pie

That title pretty much sums up all I need for a good Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey is good, the stuffing is nice, but give me those three things and I'm in heaven!

My sweet hubby made the rolls this year. They were small but very tasty. He usually makes pies, but didn't have the time this year. I did miss his Frozen Berry Pie, and heard lamenting from others about its absence as well.

My sister-in-law Sally is responsible for the tasty mashed potatoes. They were red potatoes and she left the skins on and they were slightly chunky. So stinking delicious!

My sister-in-law Jane is naughty, naughty, naughty, for she made the chocolate pecan pie. Seriously, it is so good. I mean, come on--nuts, chocolate, and pie crust! What could be tastier?!

Our family had a good time hanging out with Ben's family. It was a pretty full house with all of us there, but still fun. I especially enjoyed listening to Ben, Jeanne, and Joe (Lea's husband) talk smack while playing Frisbee golf on the PS3. Really entertaining. I tried to play, but got annoyed when I wasn't doing very well. Darn competitiveness. Drives me crazy sometimes! I'm working on it, though.

That night I went to see Rise of the Guardians with my niece, Kya. It was so good! Kya mentioned it was done (written...directed...not sure) by the same people who did How to Train Your Dragon, so I'm not surprised it was good. I can't wait to watch it with my kids and with Ben. A lot of the time I was the only one in the theater laughing. That happens a lot. I think it has something to do with my sanity. Or lack thereof.

We didn't do any crazy Black Friday, or Black Thursday now, shopping. Ben got one thing early Friday morning, but there weren't any lines or crazy people. At least none that he ran into. I just do not understand how the need to save money or get a deal overrides manners and kindness. It makes no sense to me. So I don't mind wandering around Friday afternoon, but I have no desire to go out with the masses.

The five-day weekend has been lovely. We've visited with family, and now today I'm still in my pjs (and probably will be for a while) while I do my laundry and just hang out with my family. I'll probably make some caramel popcorn for us to eat while we watch a little Avatar: The Last Airbender and Lord of the Rings. The only way today could be better is if there was pickleball in there somewhere. ;)

Here are some pictures of my wonderful Thanksgiving day.

This is my buddy, Zoe. We're tight. :) I love this girl!

I have always loved Riley's smile--his eyes just

disappear! Wonder where his glasses are? He was

pitching a fit one day and broke them. Little stinker.

Jeanne wanted all of us to take a family picture. We had

a more serious one, but what's the fun in that?! I was going to take

someone down with Riley's Barracuda Blade! And don't call it

a sword or a dagger or just a blade. He'll quickly correct you if you do.

Is it just me, or does Ben look slightly mischievous?

This is Baby Grape, a.k.a Eleanora. She is Abe and Jane's new

little one. She's a cutie for sure. Oh, and the Baby Grape is a long story,

and I can't remember all of it, but the nickname came from her

older sister Gwen.

Here is Kenlee (Lea & Joe's cutie) holding Eleanora. Two cuties in one chair!

I got lucky with my timing and happened to catch Carter's

expression when he discovered the pie had been brought out.

Who is this nut with her tongue hanging out? Geez, where'd

she get the idea of sticking her tongue out?

Kenlee showing her sassy side. I think both she and Melanie

have watched me do that for too many pictures. I should behave.

But like I said, where's the fun in that?

Just a word to the wise: do not mess with Joe. Especially

when he's playing on the PS3. He. Will. Take. You. Down.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

SCHOOL!

This year I will have one child in high school, one in fourth grade, and my baby (don't you dare tell him I said that - he'll destroy me if he finds out I called him my baby) will be in first grade.

Life really does go by so ridiculously fast. I can't believe Melanie will be in high school. She's so excited. But she's a nerd like me because she's not excited about seeing her friends or cute boys. No. She's excited about all her classes and buying school supplies.

Love that girl. The two of us can spend hours in Staples or rummaging through the school supplies at Walmart and not come out with anything and still be perfectly content.

I know, we have problems. We're okay with that.

Carter and Riley will be starting a new adventure at a new school this year. A school in our district is partnering with SUU and is becoming a STEAM school. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. Both boys truly love science, and there will be a lot of boots on the ground with all the help from SUU. They're excited about it. I am, yet at the same time I worry about it being the best thing for them. New school, teachers, friends. I'm trying to just stay positive and patient.

That's tough sometimes.

And to add to all the changes, I'm also going back to school. When I originally decided to take a break I was going to wait until Riley was in first grade. Now that he's there, I know the opportunity is right.

And I'm so excited!

I know there's a reason I needed to wait. It's given me time to figure out that Elementary Ed is really what I want to do.

And I get to buy school supplies.

I'll be getting my math endorsement.

I'm taking Calculus this semester.

Yes, say it with me: "Mellissa is taking Calculus?"

No, you did it wrong. There's not supposed to be a question mark on the end of that sentence, there's supposed to be an exclamation point!

"Mellissa is taking Calculus!" Hooray, Hazzah, Woohoo!

Never in a million years did I think I'd enjoy math. But I've realized I love it. And I actually know what I'm doing! And it helps that I've had great teachers in college. Too bad they can't clone themselves and teach high school kids. I don't know about you, but I had LOUSY math teachers in high school!

So the month of August will be crazy busy, but I love crazy. It's in my blood and bones. Literally. (If you know my parents, you know I'm not joking)

Oh, and did I happen to mention I get to buy school supplies?

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Long Time No...Posting?

It has been forever since I've posted anything. I hate getting into a posting slump, but life got so crazy during the last few weeks...okay, months, of school that I hardly had time to keep my house clean.

My friend Teona and I finished up the yearbook, so I was at the school taking a lot of pictures and helping her with whatever she needed. It was nice when we were finally done, and the yearbook turned out fantastic. So good, in fact, that the company we went with used ours as an example at the PTA Convention! Kudos to Teona, because she put it all together!

The following photos are not in chronological order. I just don't think that far ahead when I put the pictures on. But I'll do my best to let you know what we were doing.

The first few are during June 7-9, which was USG Pickleball. It was a lot of fun. Our anniversary was June 7 (15 years! Can you believe it?!), but since we were both playing pickleball that day, (and not a bad way to spend our anniversary, in my opinion), we decided to make a family day of it. We played at the Hurricane splash pad, watched Ben play pickleball, went to lunch at Village Inn (the kids love it there), played at the St. George splash pad (if you haven't been there, you should go - it was a blast), went to the St. George Temple Visitors' Center, then went back to Hurricane to watch me play pickleball. It was a long and exhausting day, but an absolute blast. Riley made friends with our friends' boys, and they played so well the whole time we were down there.

We love eating at Village Inn when we visit St. George. These pictures are very personality appropriate.

Don't you love Carter's straw wrapper moustache?

Riley really is this crazy!

We visited the dinosaur track museum down there. It was interesting, but in my opinion it was
not worth the admission fee.

From L-R: Trudee Klein - silver, Stephanie Lane - gold, Mellissa Hunt - bronze.
This was for women's singles in USG.

It was so awesome that Trudee and her husband brought their two boys down.
The kids found a pile of sand and played there almost the entire three days!
They were dirty, but they were happy.

We also enjoyed the solar eclipse last month. We could have just watched it from town, but we made a little trip on Highway 56 to Old Iron Town and watched it out there. My brother and his boy, Jude, came down that weekend and went with us. It was fun to see, but even more fun to watch the kids enjoying it.

What is it about kids loving the backs of trucks? Jude, Riley, and Carter all had fun
hopping in and out of the back of Grandpa's truck.

And, of course, there's always a pile of rocks involved when my boys go outdoors.
You should see the rock collection around my posts outside our front door. I'm surprised the
HOA hasn't complained yet.

My dad was teaching Carter how to use a shovel. Yes, I know, he's 9. He should know how by now, but we don't live where we ever use a shovel.

Grandma Cathy and some of her crazy grandsons.

Gregg enjoying the eclipse...or waiting for the aliens to bring him home.

That weekend was also Melanie's concerts. Not one, but three! Band concert Wednesday night, Orchestra concert Thursday night, and Jazz Concert Friday night. She did awesome! I love how musically talented she is! She has really enjoyed band this year and is continuing in high school.

I couldn't get a picture of both Jude and Riley looking at me, but they
were having a blast at Melanie's concert. Especially when Riley was swinging his legs and
his flip-flop went flying onto the stage. He slithered like a snake to reclaim it. It was pretty funny.

I sure hope Jude isn't going for a lick of those feet. I know where they've been!

I LOVE seeing Melanie playing the piano! Especially because we haven't had one in our home for most of the time she's been learning. She's so crazy talented.

It's hard to see her in this picture, but she's playing drum set,
and doing a mighty fine job, I might add.

Carter participated in his school's Arts Night. Each grade sings a couple of songs, and Carter absolutely lucked out to get Jeff Shirley for his teacher, so one of the songs they sang was written by him, and it was awesome! His grade sang amazingly! And even though the picture of him was crazy, he sang really well without too much nuttiness.

Seriously, this is Carter's personality. Always moving and always crazy. Love that boy!

One thing I don't have pictures of is the pickleball league I played in this spring. It was Wednesday nights down in St. George, and a few of us Cedar gals played in it. It was so much fun. It was a ladder league, so each week our percentage placed us for the next week. I ended up tying for 1st place! Ben and I are doing it again this summer. It'll be a little warmer, but just as fun!

I don't have any grand plans for the summer. We'd like to get a pass to the aquatic center and visit Zion National Park. Other than that, we'll just enjoy the blessing of being close to extended family and the beautiful Southern Utah landscape! I know a trip to Yankee Meadow is on the horizon.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

A Bit of a Non-sequitur

While downloading my memory card yesterday I found some random photos I thought I'd post. I love my camera, but I'm still trying to get used to the idea of taking it with me when I go places where there might be photo opportunities.

Riley loves Link from The Legend of Zelda games. He made his own Link out of Jenga blocks. Love his creativity!

We got up bright and early on a Saturday back in December to see a lunar eclipse. It was really neat, and even though we were all bundled up and standing out in the freezing morning cold, the kids loved it! I don't know why my camera captured the eclipse this interesting way.

It was so cool to watch the eclipse. It is almost gone here.

Here is Melanie playing piano with the Jazz Band! I love the fact that she is playing piano! Hopefully we'll be getting our own piano in the near future. She sure misses playing at home every day.

As you can see, Melanie was just a teensy bit excited to be getting Crossed for Christmas.

And Riley was also slightly excited to get Heroica: Castle Fortaan.

Riley with his loot. Melanie was very thoughtful and made both Riley and Carter a foot pillow for Christmas. They both sleep with them every night. Riley also got a race car track, which didn't work very well, but he didn't really care.

Carter got Alien Conquest Legos and a lot of things to build. He really does enjoy Legos, and likes to make his own amazing creations.

Melanie is so easy to shop for. Sure, she'd love an iPod, a cell phone, her own laptop, etc., but she asked for moccasins and clothes. I can deal with that. She really is the most awesome teenager ever.

Poor Pumpkin didn't get anything for Christmas. She's spoiled as it is. Both she and Freckles love sleeping under the Christmas tree, as well as playing under the tree and knocking ornaments around. I'm just waiting for the time when they eventually knock it down.

I hope you enjoyed the random, and somewhat late, photos. It was a fun surprise to find them on my memory card!

Friday, January 27, 2012

What I Learned, Besides High School Kids Are Loud.

Wednesday night was kind of like one of those you-don't-know-what-you've-got-til-it's-gone moments. Ben and I went to the Canyon View vs. Cedar High basketball game, and boy, let me tell you, it was so nostalgic.

It has been over 15 years since I've been to a high school basketball game. I realized how much I miss that energetic atmosphere. I've played a lot of pickleball and tennis since I graduated, but those sports don't have that pumped-up, fan-screaming, ambiance.

And it was louder than a usual high school ball game because it was a town rival game. The place was p-a-c-k-e-d. I loved it! Granted, Ben and I have a 13-year-old daughter, who is an amazing babysitter for her brothers when we go out, so we didn't have the stress of keeping the kids entertained. But I really did love the energy at that place!

Ben serves in the Young Men's organization with some of the boys on the team, so we were supposed to cheer for Canyon View, since that's who those boys play for. However, it was really difficult to cheer for them and not Cedar! We were also supposed to wear black to the game. You know, Canyon View colors. I was torn! I wanted to wear red for Cedar and black for Canyon View. I ended up going neutral with green.

While watching the game I had one of those moments when I realize I've changed and grown up a little bit. There were things I've learned that had I known then would have made me a better ball player.

The biggest thing is patience. It is so crucial to sports, and life in general for that matter. Sadly, Canyon View did not possess this virtue on Wednesday night, but Cedar had it in abundance. Neither team was at their best making shots, but Canyon View kept rushing the ball. They would rush through play after play. They could not keep a hold of the ball either. 18 years ago (Yikes! That's a long time ago!) I would never have noticed that.

I've always been a competitive person, and I still am, but now my competitive side has lost the anger that usually accompanied it. And I'm a better player because of it. Those young boys out there would get hot-headed and lose their focus so easily. I did the same thing when I was in high school. I'd let my temper get the better of me and whoosh! Explosion! I still have moments when I explode, but they cause less damage and are few and far between.

I really miss playing basketball. Not finishing out my junior and senior year with basketball is one of my biggest regrets. At the same time, though, I don't know how involved I would have been in the band program. And that experience is definitely one that has shaped me into the person I am today.

Oh, and seriously, high school students are loud! I should have brought ear plugs with me! I can't believe I used to make that much noise...wait, that's not true. I still make that much noise. When I laugh.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Attempting Family Pictures

It's been over 10 years since we've done family pictures! Several years ago, when all of Ben's family was in town, we took some pictures, but they were with the big group, and we didn't get a chance to take individual family pictures because Riley was sick and not happy.

It's hard to get three kids to look at the camera at the same time without making crazy faces or closing their eyes or putting their hands near their face!

Since the weather was so nice on Saturday I figured I had better take advantage of it and get out and get some photos. My niece, Kira, took all of these pictures and I took them home and did some editing. Be advised, I'm still learning.

I really like this picture by the big tree. I love Melanie's smirk. I do not love

Riley's crazy face or Carter's attempt at pantomime. (Again, this is not

a hyperlink! I must be pressing some button that is a shortcut. Hopefully

I can either figure out what I'm doing or how to undo what I did!)

This one is definitely in my choices for our family picture. Although Riley isn't smiling, he's not

making too crazy of a face either. Carter is smiling so cute, but he's not looking at the camera.

I love the black-and-white. And I love Riley grabbing his shoe. Just a smidge of personality coming through. There is light on Ben's face and Riley's face, but I think I could look past that.

Here's another one where I'd like to mash Carter! It's so cute...except who knows

what caught Carter's attention?! It's kind of creepy, because I usually can't see

how much Melanie looks like me. But in this picture I really can. Poor kid.

This one isn't my favorite because of the lighting, but most of us are making nice faces. And

everyone is looking at the same spot...mostly.

This one turned out really cute. They really are sneaky sometimes so I thought it was fitting. Especially Riley. His game every morning is to wake up and not make any noise. Then he tries to sneak up on me like a ninja. It's great. I'd like this one on the wall as a 5x7.

I really like this one as well. I wish the kids were more in focus and my hair didn't look so stringy. But I think the reflection in the granite it cool.

Love this one. It will definitely go up on the wall as a 5x7.

This one we're all looking at the camera and smiling...or at least making appropriate faces. Carter looks like he's holding something heavy. Hmmm...maybe it's his brick of a brother?

This was fun and I think it turned out cute. Of course, I wish

everyone was looking in the same direction. I wanted to post one where we

are all turned around, but no way am I posting it. My rear end next to Melanie's tiny one?

I. Don't. Think. So.

This is probably my favorite picture. I love the light and the colors. I love the berries on the vines. I love how my hair looks. I love Riley's face and Carter's giggle and Melanie's "get-over-it" face.

There you go. Please help me out and tell me which one you would choose for a family picture!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Random Fun With My Camera

I've been playing around with my camera again. It's fun to see what it can do, even though I'm still learning and I know I'm still not even remotely close to using all the tools. But I'm learning, and that's important, right?