Nesting feels good

I was able to take a few minutes today to do something that has been really bugging me lately. What is that? Clean under my refrigerator, of course! Ahhhhh. It really does feel great. My macho hubby came home for lunch so I took use of his brute strength and had him move the frig for me. Wow--it was soooo dusty back there. I swept the wall, back of the frig, and the floor and then mopped it all. It didn't take very long--maybe 10 minutes--and gives me great peace of mind for some reason. My whole house feels cleaner. Weird!! Mopping the floors makes the place feel good, too. OK, it was a very dirty floor. I sweep at least once a day (usually more in the kitchen) but it's nice to get all the dirty spots off.
I've been a lazy blogger lately, but have been doing other "nesting". There are only 25 days until baby, you know!! AAAAAHHHH! I've gotten the baby clothes all out and it's very inspiring to see those cute, tiny little things! Lots of things Dr. D could never wear because he kind of skipped that very tiny stage. It all gets me to wondering about this new baby. How big will he be? Who will he look like? Will he be fussy or calm? So much to wonder and think about. How will his big brother like him? How will his big brother feel about not being the baby anymore? I'm glad that all the kids will be home for the summer so they can keep each other (especially keep Dr. D) entertained and happy. And help with the chores. bwahahahaha I really like that part. :)
On that note, I'd like to acknowledge how blessed I feel in the child department. My girls rarely complain about doing their chores and jobs around the house. I get comments all the time from people who notice how cheerfully they help me and shoulder their responsibilities. I know they read my blog, so I want them to know how much I love and appreciate them. You are AWESOME kids!! They don't even complain when I have to ask them to pick up everything that's on the floor, since bending over isn't my forte anymore, at least for the time being.
Well, off to nest some more. I need to get all the baby blankets out. Then wash them all with the clothes. Then locate the baby monitor. Then clean up the car seat. Etc, etc.

One of my favorite Conference talks

General Conference is one of the highlights of our faith, in my opinion. I love and look forward to Conference so much. It seems the older I get, the more I love it and need it. This is one of my favorite talks. I have read and re-read it and wanted to share this clip of it here.

What's been going on here...

Internet's been out again, so here's what's been going on with us.
Short version:
making strawberry jam, nursing chicken pox and strep throat, babysitting, switching from crib to big-boy-bed, school play, making an Easter cake, and all the usual stuff.

OK, longer version:
I LOVE strawberry freezer jam, and what's easier to make than that? Not much. Anyway, it does have a boat-load of sugar and I was wanting a healthier option. I called my cousin R, who loves agave as I do and she gave me an awesome recipe off the Xagave website. It only uses agave and no sugar at all. It is cooked, so doesn't have the same fresh taste as freezer jam, but is so good that it's worth it. The fam is happy, I am happy. Here's the recipe (with a little tweak from me) :

2 quarts strawberries, 1 1/2 to 2 cups agave nectar, juice from half a lemon (I used some from a bottle), 1 tsp lemon zest (which I didn't use at all). Blend or mash (keep chunky), boil, then simmer for 45 minutes. Store in airtight containers (jars or whatever). You can keep in frig for months. Like ours would last months!! HA! It's hard not to just eat it with a spoon...

What else... oh yeah. Chicken pox and strep. Little Miss got both (from school). She's over them now and it's all good. I'm just waiting for Dr. D to show up with them.

The crib switch I was a little worried about. Dr. D loved his crib so much that I thought he'd be mad about losing it, but I was wrong. He loves his "big boy bed" just as much, so the transition was totally painless.

Teeny Bopper is in Fiddler on the Roof at her school, and this is performance week. She is Bielke, the youngest daughter. Makes for some late nights, but she says it's worth it. :) We get to go see it tomorrow night, and I CAN'T WAIT!!!

For Easter, we kept it low key. The kids got a couple treats, and we colored eggs and made an Easter cake. I made the cake and the kids decorated it. Cute! We always color both boiled and raw eggs. With all the eggs we do, if I boil them all they go to waste because we just don't eat that many boiled eggs. I try to mark the boiled ones with an X, but if we can't see it we do the spin test before trying to peel it to make sure it's a boiled egg. (you know, the "if it spins freely it's boiled and if it doesn't it's raw" test) We make sure to count the eggs to make sure they are all retrieved and none are left out to rot. Anyone else use raw?

That's us in a nutshell over the past couple weeks. Isn't catching up fun??? ;)

Baby's comin'!!!

Guess what? We have a baby date! Our little guy is officially scheduled to arrive on May 22, at around 7:30 am. Wow, I'm starting to freak out a little bit.
It's all good, we are excited and will be just fine with another kid. Right?????
BTW, he should be a good size because the doc said he is measuring a little bigger than Dr. D did at this age. (he was 9 lbs 1 oz) So I expect that even at a week early this little guy should be about 8 pounds. We'll see!!

Car seat cover GIVEAWAY!

Go to this blog and check out their super cute car seat covers!! Then enter the giveaway. If you don't need a car seat cover, enter anyway and give it to me! :)