The Jedi Shepherd

We had our ward Christmas party last night and while we were there, all the Primary kids were supposed to dress up in shepherd's robes and wander around in them (to give us the feel of being in Bethlehem I suppose). Ty flat refused to put anything on. I begged. I reasoned. I threatened. Nothing was going to get him in costume. Until I pointed out that they kind of looked like the robes that the Jedi's wear in Star Wars. Enough said. The kid quietly put the robe on and allowed me to tie it. He spent the rest of the evening running around with his pretend "light saber" and told anyone who would listen that he was a REAL jedi knight. That has something to do with the Christmas spirit... right!?

I wish I had a picture of him- he made a pretty cute Jedi/Shepherd.

What have you done?

The object is to copy & paste the list of "99 things" to your blog & bold the things you've done!! I put mine in RED. I apparently need to get out more, but this was fun :) I saw it on a friends blog and thought I would give it a try.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Visited a Castle
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square

74. Spent New Years Eve in Trafalga Square
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Have been published
81. Visited the Redwoods
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Testified in court
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

Let me set the scene:

Ty is on the bus on his way to school this morning. It has been bitter cold here, and when he left for school, it was -19. There are a lot of kids out this week because of some cold that has been going around, so Ty has his own seat on the bus this morning. It's early and Ty is kind of in a mellow mood. So he sits back and looks out the window. He notices the black metal bar that runs across the window- it's right at his eye level. Ty eyes it for a minute and has a 'great' idea.

At this point, I want to remind you all of the movie, "A Christmas Story." Ralphie has a friend (who's name I can't remember) that is "double-dog dared" to stick his tongue out on a frozen pole on the playground. When said friend does this stupid thing, he finds his tongue is stuck to the pole and he can't get it off.

Ty- having never seen this movie- thinks he is onto something "fun." He proceeds in sticking out his tongue and placing it on the frozen metal bar next to him. Apparently he screamed and started to cry when he found that his tongue was in fact, stuck to the window. Rather than waiting for a teacher or bus driver to help him out- he wigs out and pulls back. This rips off a large chunk of tongue and a good number of tastebuds with it.

Apparently he was pretty subdued the rest of the day.

It's one of those things that I want to laugh at, because I can't help thinking "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!", but at the same time- he is my son and is in pain. Anyway- bring on the Tylenol.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Christmas preparation has begun at the Kidd household. I tried to keep it low key since I am kind of tired- but it's just so much more fun to have EVERYTHING out and a few projects. Once we started pulling things out- it was too hard to stop.

Ty and I put together an advent calendar that my mom bought for us. It took us most of the morning, but we did it! And Ryan helped us out by staying asleep the whole time. Anyway, it's a big box with a bunch of little boxes in it. We put a chocolate kiss in each one along with a little note. We had to glue and cut everything and I think it turned out great!!

The next thing was probably what Ty was the most excited about... THE TREE! We could only decorate the top half of it since Ryan keeps trying to touch it all. It was probably my fault. When we were pulling out the ornaments and things- we have a couple strands of what Ty calls "Jingly Bells," and Ryan had so much fun dragging them around the living room all the while jingling. Once they got put on the tree though- Ryan kept trying to jingle the Christmas Tree. I'm thinking that it's inevitably going to end up on top of him this year- but for now- I just put some extra bells on the front door handle so any time he gets up the urge to jingle something, I just send him to the door.

We think it turned out beautifully and the boys love it when we turn the lights on each night.

Girls Night Out

Don't you just love those words? They make my month. This time, we decided to go over to Logan for dinner, a movie and some shopping.

We left at about 5 (it takes a little over an hour to get over to Logan from here) and went to WalMart for some Christmas shopping. It was packed! I couldn't believe it. Okay- actually I can- WalMart is always busy. It drives me nuts.

Anyway- then we went to Texas Roadhouse (they just opened a few months ago) and it was soo good!

Then we went and caught a late movie- what did we see you ask? New Moon- what else!? For the record- I want you to know that I think Stephanie Meyers is a terrible writer- but I do think that she has an entertaining story. Anyway- this movie was supposed to be ten times better than the first. Which it was! It was crazy though- we got to the theater about thirty minutes before it started (probably about 9), and the line was out the door and it wrapped around the building!! We did get some pretty good seats and it was fun.

Thanks for the night out ladies! I look forward to the next one!

An Announcement

Shaun and I are officially ushering in an age of chaos. We found out a couple months ago that we are pregnant with our third baby!! Nothing could be scarier at this point, but Shaun has been very calm about the whole thing- pointing out that no matter how much we freak out about this- it's not like we can put a "return to sender" sticker on the baby once he/she gets here just because we weren't ready. It helps having someone like him around someone like me.

Anyway- once the initial shock wore off- we discovered that we really were excited about this- nervous- I mean- we're going to have three little ones running around here, and I can barely keep up with the laundry now!!

I have felt really wonderful with this pregnancy. The only way that I even know that I'm pregnant is how exhausted I am at the end of the day. And for that... I thank this baby in advance. Anyway- we'll keep you updated as we go along.

Another Dinner Post

Candied Chicken

1 pound chicken, cut in cube chunks

1 cup cornstarch

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

2 eggs; beaten

Combine cornstarch and garlic powder.

Dip chicken chunks in beaten eggs and then in cornstarch mixture. Brown chicken over medium heat until lightly brown, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Put in baking dish.

Slice up onions and peppers, or you can throw in the frozen veggies from the bag- it has broccoli, carrots and cauliflower. Really- whatever kind of veggie you want. Throw them in with the chicken.

Sauce

¾ cup sugar

1/3 cup vinegar

¼ cup ketchup

¼ cup water

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

Combine sauce ingredients in a bowl and pour over chicken and vegetables.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve with rice.