No more secrets!

In the spirit of friendship (and the hope that you might share some of your tips with me). I thought I would post my favorite time saving tip.
So, here is the thing, several of my family's fav recipes call for browned hamburger and I found that it took an extra 20 min. to get the frozen hamburger out of the freezer, thaw it, and brown it. At my house 20 extra min. is 20 more min. of whining, crying, and kids "dying" of hunger.
So, here is my brilliant tip: now I buy several lbs of hamburger at a time and brown it all when I get home from the store. Then I divide it, put it into ziplocs, and stick them in the freezer. Now when I make a recipe that calls for browned hamburger I just grab a bag out of the freezer, nuke it for 1min and presto! Told you it was brilliant!
Hopefully this tip will help make preparing dinner for your family a little less hectic. It has worked great for us!

October-Fest Pictures of the Week

This one is Megan's, I am not sure why I have a red hat on or red gloves. Maybe the hat is from Kathryn. She and Melissa went to Cincinnati to shop and she was so excited that she brought me back something...a new cap (to distract me from the other purchases). It was .25 cents. I read the print on the front of it "College Arms Pub No188". And it had a big picture of a mug of beer with foam flowing over the top. (Kathryn insert- I was at the GAP clearance store and people were going crazy, there were hats flying everywhere, I didn't have time to actually read it!)


This is Hallie's picture. It is from her friend Capri's house. They have a big swing/playset and a cute dog. From what I hear it is a lot of fun.

Trev

Seriously?

I have just found out about the black bean brownie suprise. I had no clue. They were fine and I would have eaten them if I had been here to eat them. In fact I think...now that I know what they are made of...I will wrap them in a tortilla with cheese. I have never been to picky about food. I am about quantity. However, while growing up I was forced to eat oatmeal...my mom would make cinnamon toast so that I could get the taste out of my mouth and stop gagging (but I still had to keep eating it). I would wake up in the morning...smell cinnamon...and start to dry heave. I guess I just did what I was told. I never knew that I could just sneak over to the garbage and dispose of the meal. -Trev

I went to Yoga class!

This picture is pretty much what I looked like in yoga class yesterday. hee, hee
(Me, splinting my stomach and laughing uncontrollably)
Okay, I'm going to be honest here. Before yesterday when I heard about people "doing yoga" I just figured they couldn't keep up with an aerobic workout so they would go and sit and breath. I am a HUMBLED (and sore) woman today! I know that I am no professional athlete but I thought I at least had a few toned muscles somewhere in this body but after being a dog, cat, and frog (yoga positions) yesterday I realize.... I AM OOOH, SO WEAK! I tried to be strong. I really did. I smiled and giggled and pretended that I didn't want to cry. But the fact is that there were a few times when I was in "downward facing dog" that I thought I was going to vomit and then do a nose dive into it because my arms were going to break (sorry, that was gross, I'm just being honest). Today...I hurt.
And so, to all of you yoga women... I'm not worthy. You amaze me and how the heck do you do it? I don't know if I will be back ;) but I do know that you have given me a new goal to aspire to. Someday I want to be a BUFF YOGA CHICK... and do the frog move without busting my nose.

Black Bean Brownies

1 pkg of brownie mix

1 can of black beans

1/4 cup water

Blend black beans (drained and washed) and water in blender until smooth. Add to dry brownie mix. Mix and bake as directed on box.

No, I'm not kidding.

A friend told me about this recipe almost a year ago. She was doing weight watchers and loved these low fat, high fiber brownies. I finally made them last night with mixed reviews.

I didn't tell my family the secret ingredient, just served them as if nothing was different. Trevor gobbled his up and when I asked him later if they tasted at all different he looked at me with wide suspicious eyes and demanded, "What did you put in them? Ex-lax?" "No," I insisted, although if you eat too many of them I've heard you may have a similar result.

Megan ate most of hers and said, "it's good". And Hallie took one bite and announced, "These are gross!"

As for me, I have to admit knowing that there were black beans in my brownie made me a little quesy. Normally when I make brownies I'm licking the spoon (and the mixers, and the spatula, and the bowl) but this time they all went straight to the sink un-licked. The brownies were pretty good but as I chewed them I swear I could taste the skins from the beans -Yuck!

So, in conclusion I've decided this is the perfect brownie for a woman on a diet: if you like it then you can gobble them up guilt free and if you don't like them then think of the calories you are not consuming!

As for us, last nights brownies are sitting on our counter in the kitchen uneaten, which never happens in our house.

UPDATE: Tonight Hallie and Megan asked for another brownie and they ate every crumb... I still haven't had a second.

WANTED

Okay, it's that time of year again. The holidays are just around the corner and I'm just itching to make something cute and crafty. Any ideas? Please share! (post in comments or email me at kathrynsphotography@gmail.com) Even if you don't know me personally, don't be shy.
I will post some of the ideas so we can all get our craft on. :)THANKS

7 months and Weighing In at...

18.9lbs (50%)

27in (48%)

Campbell had his 6month (whoops, a little late) check-up last week. He is healthy and happy. Still allergic to milk unfortunately but we are still hoping he will eventually outgrow that. He skipped rolling over and went straight to sitting up. No teeth yet (I'm not looking forward to that milestone, all 20 of them ;() . He smiled and cooed at the nurses and doctor and they ate it up. Only new thing is that the doctor wants us to take him to Kosairs children's hospital to get a hip X-ray since he was breech (just precautionary). Should be fun ;)

General Relief Society Meeting

What a great meeting we had last night! It was like my Father in Heaven told the speakers, "Okay, Kathryn Grubbs will be in the congregation so say this... and this.... and this..." The messages really touched my heart and I am going to be a better person because of that meeting.

Some of the thoughts and feelings I came away with:

*FAMILY- Defend the importance of the family and do everything possible to strengthen my family. More hugs! More love! Share my testimony more with my children. Point out answers to prayers. Be a great example of a woman of faith and disciple of Christ.

*FAITH- Concentrate on testimony, scripture study, prayer, and temple. Remember "Satan can distract us by having us do acceptable things which keep us from doing that which is essential." "Pray for the abilities to equal your tasks."(Monson) FOCUS KATHRYN!!!!

*SERVICE- Listen for those promptings then have the courage to act on them! LISTEN more, LOVE more and GIVE more!

The biggest message I came away with was that my Heavenly Father is aware of me and my concerns and need for His guidance. He loves me and he WILL help me!! I know I can do better. I want to be who He needs me to be.

P.S. I worried that maybe this was too personal or bold to share on my blog. But, that's the other thing I learned. :)

Good-bye PINK, Hello GREEN!

Okay, let's be honest, our blog was drowning in pepto bismal. And pink isn't even my favorite color! What was I thinking? It is time for a change (and since I like change it will probably be time for another change in another 3 months:)). Green is the new pink! Hope this color doesn't give you a headache but if it does just check back in a few months, I'm thinking RED!

These pictures are our pictures of the week. Awarded to Hallie and Megan. Hallie drew the "Blood Hound Puppy" and Megan drew the "Little Mermaid". The Little Mermaid has been a part of our lives for many years and is honored here in this rendition, swimming and flapping her arms. This is a first for Blood Hound Puppy who appears here is his natural color..brown. He was first seen at "The Worlds Most Awesome Flea Market" this month and was for sale for other people but not for us:)

Trev

Special Order

It has been approximately 12 weeks since we have had a working oven.


Just weeks after we moved in it stopped working. Trevor tried to diagnose it and searched the Internet and called family for ideas but couldn't fix it. Yes, Trevor Grubbs, the same Trevor who put a swamp cooler in our first house (I still remember standing in our hallway looking up through the huge hole Trevor had cut out of the roof and seeing the sun and blue sky, scary!!!!) . The same Trevor who replaced the timing belt twice, (if you are not impressed by that then you do not know what that involves) and has fixed anything and everything in our house that has broken including blow dryers, toasters, cars, toilets, faucets... you get the idea, he is good!


It was painful for Trevor to have to call in the professionals but the home warranty softened the blow ($95 copayment, not too bad). They came and quickly figured it out, it needs a new computer. Of course that is a special order and will take 7-10 days to get it in. We found this out on the day my sister flew in and my parents were coming a few days later. There goes the menu that I had planned and already purchased food for. Oh well, at least I would have my oven back in 7-10 days... hahaha.


They got the special order part and put it in only to find that the ignition was also broken which they couldn't detect before because the computer was broken. Of course the ignition is a special order part.


Another special order, 3 visits and 10 days later the new ignition is installed and the repairman smiles (for the first time) as he turns on the oven and it works!!! I bid him fairwell and immediately start mixing up the cookies that I have missed so dearly over the past 3months and started to bake. Well, 25 minutes later the cookies that normally take 8 minutes to cook were still doughy... AAAAHHHH!


The repairman didn't smile when I opened the door for him today. I explained what happened and of course when he tried it, it worked perfectly. He kept restarting it waiting for it to "not work" and kept asking me dumb questions like, "so, it wasn't hot?" Finally after an hour, when he was about to tell the crazy lady (me) that it was all in my imagination, the oven stopped working. YES!!! This was the first time in the last 12 weeks that I was thrilled that the oven wasn't working. He turned to me and said those two little words I have come to hate, "Well, I'll have to special order that part".

Campbell Scott Grubbs

Seven Months Old

Sweet smiles,

chubby hands,

chewing, drooling, sucking on EVERYTHING!

bald head,

wet kisses,

sleeping better, finally

so busy,

brown eyes,

curious,

sitting up and so proud of himself!

so soft,

no longer nursing,

still a happy baby,

glowing,

full of love,

What can I say, I just want to eat him up!

No wonder

Okay, I have been trying to figure out how people here in Kentucky found out about my birthday since it isn't listed at church then I checked my blog this morning and now it all makes sense. At least now I know I'm not going crazy (at least about this), I just have a sneaky husband. Thanks Trevor.
Thanks everyone for all of the calls and notes. They made my day even more special!
I love you guys!

Birthday

Kathryn's Birthday is today! Happy Birthday Kathryn. Sometimes I can't belive that she agreed to marry me. We all do crazy things when we are young:)

Country Girl

Most people would consider Megan to be very shy - and she is in public but when she is not in front of other people she is a very spunky and opinionated 4 year-old. She makes us laugh all of the time with her silly faces and dances. And she loves to dress up and pretend. Today I caught her playing "cowgirl" and I got this cute pic of her.

It Happened

I knew it would eventually happen. My mom, dad, and sister have come and gone. It was so fun to have them here! They got a glimpse into our life here and we got to spend time with some of the people we miss most. Hallie, Megan, and Campbell were spoiled with love and attention and they just ate it up! I asked the girls what were some of their favorite parts of the visit. They listed several experiences including "sitting on the stairs with grandma and watching the bubbles", "grandpa reading to us early in the morning", and "playing Hullabaloo with Melissa." If we would have known these would be the highlights of the trip we could have saved everyone a lot of money. We know it was not easy to make the trip all the way out here because of time and money, but thank you. We needed it!

The Laws Visit Kentucky

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

They're Here!

Melissa, Mom, and Dad are here and we are so busy touring Kentucky I haven't had time to blog. But, we are taking lot's of pics and there will be some fun posts soon so stay tuned!

Kid Quotes

*Megan, Campbell, and I were home together and Campbell had just eaten. No surprise, Campbell burped and white chunky spit-up came out. I grabbed a paper towel and started cleaning up. Megan quietly watched me and then said, "Mom, you are so brave! You are so brave to do that." ---Thanks Megan.

*When we told the girls we were moving to kentucky several months ago one of the first things Hallie said was, "Do they speak Chinese there? Because I don't know Chinese."

New Cell Phone Numbers

If you have been trying to call us... sorry. But, you know us, Trevor found a new deal on the "coolest cell phone ever" so we have new numbers!! Just email me or call our home phone and we will give it to you. (I'd post it but who knows what crazies are reading this :))

P.S. Although this new cellphone is very cool I'm not sure how the heck it works!!! So if I can't figure out how to answer it or if I accidentally hang up on you please forgive me, there are so many buttons and I'm new at this.

Campbell...mmm...mmm...good!

Cam has had a nasty cold for the last 3 weeks. He is finally back to his happy self. He is such a sweet baby! I can't believe he is 6 months old! It seems like he was just born and yet it feels like he has always been in our family. He is finally sleeping better at night which is a blessing for the whole family (tired mommy = ornery mommy).

Hallie and Megan love Campbell so much. Hallie freaks out anytime he cries, she stresses me out about it-- "HURRY, HURRY MOM, HE'S CRYING!!!!!!!!!" She hates to see her baby brother unhappy.

I still haven't figured out how to do 3 kids, by the time I do it will probably be time to figure out 4!

Breakfast with the girls

This morning Hallie and I were up early and we were getting breakfast ready. I went in my room and put my robe on then came back out to the kitchen with Hal. Hallie saw me come out then went upstairs and a few minutes later Hallie and Megan came walking out of their room. Hallie had found a robe for her and then found a long coat for Megan to use as her robe. I smiled to myself as they trudged down the stairs adjusting their new "robes". They looked so cute, so grown up. So the three of us sat down together and had cold cereal, three girls in their robes.

Pictures of a brown-eyed girl.

Just some Pics of our mega-moo (and no she is not wearing make-up --she kinda looks like she has red lipstick on).

If you beg them... they will come!!!

Melissa gets here on Sept 6th and my Mom and Dad on Sept 8th. We are so excited! We've missed everyone terribly!!!

A Little Bit of Lake Powell

We were all sad that we missed the Lake Powell reunion this year, especially the girls. They love playing with their cousins! A few weeks ago we got a package in the mail with shells and even sand from Lake Powell. Hallie and Megan thought it was so cool to have a bit of Lake Powell all the way out here in Kentucky. Thanks for thinking of us.

Another one gone

We had another visit from the tooth fairy.

Hallie lost tooth number two.

So fun!

"MOM!!!! THERE IS A BIG FLY IN OUR POOL!!!"

I came out expecting to find a "big fly" in the pool. But instead I found this...

Wow, the girls weren't exaggerating!

We have since learned that it is called a cicada. It looks like a fly on steroids.

The Bass Pro Shop

Wow, what a store! We had a great time at the Bass Pro shop. It is a HUGE store dedicated to hunting and fishing. We don't hunt or fish but we heard it was a fun place to take kids, and it is! They have a waterfall, aquarium (where they give fishing tips and try out different baits on the fish), stream, target practice, putt-putt course, and tons of "stuffed animals" (including, beavers, bears, lions, wolfs, raccoons, and of course deer , moose, etc.) Hallie loved the aquarium but was horrified by the target practice. She asked us "Did they FIND these animals dead or did they KILL them?" Trevor and I responded "Umm... Uh-huh, Hallie look at this cool fish."

changing authors...All in all, for the price of gas and $1.50 in change we had fun. Afterwards, we went to the parking lot where most everyone had parked a chevy or ford pickup with decals of animals on their shells. We lifted the back door of the minivan and sat to drink pop. Kathryn fed Campbell, I made a bandaid for meg out of electrical tape and kleenex and we called it a day.

The Face of a First-Grader

(Conversation in our van after dropping Hallie off at school for her first day of first grade)

(After a long silence)

Megan: "I wish Hallie was here"

Me: "So do I... I miss her."

Megan: "Me too"

Hallie started school yesterday. She has one girl from our ward in her class- yay! I was so worried about her all day- Will she like her teacher? Who will she sit by? How is she going to get her lunch? Will kids be nice to her? How will she find her bus?.... you get the idea. When she finally came home from her first day (the longest day ever- for me) she walked like she owned the world. As always, I was worrying for nothing. She loves school, loves her teacher, has lot's of new friends, loves school lunch ...etc. The only complaint she had was that recess was too short. We will miss not having her around all day but I'm so glad that she loves school. That's right, take a good look because this is the face of a first-grader!

magnet boards

I've had a few people ask me for pics of my magnet boards. Here they are. If you want to make one and need help just let me know. They were fun to create!

Our Grubbs Family

When Trevor and I heard about the Lake Powell incident we felt so sick inside. The realization of what you went through and what could have happened was too much - we are just so grateful you are okay and that you were protected. We love each one of you... so much.

CO Poisonings Have Officials Concerned
July 12th, 2007 @ 5:20pm
Ed Yeates Reporting

A rash of carbon monoxide poisonings at Lake Powell within the past week has triggered a strong warning from the Park Service.
Thirty-four people aboard a houseboat were overcome on Tuesday. Saturday, a little girl died while swimming near exhaust from a boat's engine. Dr. Lindell Weaver at LDS Hospital was called as a consultant just after midnight early Wednesday. He says boating poisonings are especially dangerous.
The adults aboard the houseboat complained mostly of headaches and some dizziness, but symptoms among the children were much more dramatic.
Dr. Weaver tells KSL, "Some of the children had a very dramatic expression -- eyes rolled back, lethargy, not interacting - but by the time they arrived at Bullfrog, the clinic in Bullfrog, they were interacting much better."
LDS Hospital was prepared to take as many as eight patients when it got the call Wednesday from Lake Powell. Had it been worse than it was, those patients would have been treated inside the hyperbaric chambers there.
Fortunately, they weren't needed, but Dr. Weaver, who's involved in many carbon monoxide studies, says government data already shows CO from boat motors is much more concentrated because catalytic converters are not required.
"Initially, upon shutting off the engines, behind the boat within a closed space where the exhaust was able to collect, was 80,000 parts per million. Well, that's a lot of CO. That could be lethal to a human within seconds," Dr. Weaver said.
It was deadly to a little girl swimming behind a houseboat on Saturday. It's not just houseboats, either. Dr. Weaver also cautions about Teak Surfing. "Where they hold onto the teak or the swim platform on the back of the boat, and exhaust is right there in front of them."
Since a houseboat is a house with engines and generators, sitting on water, some believe carbon monoxide detectors should be required. Dr. Weaver says, "Carbon monoxide alarms inside the boat could have taken care of the problem, potentially. The alarm goes off. Gee, maybe we've got a problem. There's only one motor running. That's probably where the problem is."
The CDC is currently considering making CO poisonings a reportable injury so they can be tracked more efficiently.

Girls in Curls

My Girls in Curls

smart

so silly sometimes

love to hug

curious

giggles and snorts (Hallie loves to snort)

holding hands

"Megan, be careful."

sharing... most of the time

"Hallie, do you want to see my talents?"

Joyful

Best of friends

"Goodnight Megan, I love you."

"I love you Hallie."

Some of my favorite scrapbook pages

These are a few of my favorite scrapbook pages from the last year or so. I love to scrapbook my kids most! They are just so darn cute!! They have learned when mom wants to take pictures for the scrapbook they might as well smile and get it over with. I sure miss my scrapbook friends from Utah- Love you Ramona, Andrea, Adrienne, Angie, and Tiffany!