Football is for girls too

Recently Mac and I signed Kate and Avery up to play flag football this Spring season. It is our first experience with field sports, and I thought - hey, they get to run around a lot, it's non-competative (right, because it's just FLAG football, not tackle) - perfect! Well, I was right about the first part - they get to run around a lot. The girls get to be very active, and I can see how good it is for them. They are just beaming all the time now. They love being a part of flag football, and they exhibit a real sense of pride and self-confidence being part of a team. It's easy to think that your boys need to be active, but I've realized it's just as important to have your girls be active, and just as beneficial for them as it is for boys. So I am really happy that we decided to do this. However, I was wrong about the competative part. I was totally overwhelmed when we went to the first day of practice with all the teams gathered together for skills and drills. There were several coaches whose techniques were aggressive and in-your-face with the kids. There were also tales from parents and some coaches about other coaches who were in it to win all the time, and wouldn't let the girls play offense at all. Now that got me really concerned, so I've been watching carefully at practice to see how the coaches deal with my girls and to see what they say about their approach. So far, Avery's coaches are golden. I couldn't ask for better guys. They give everyone a chance to play equally in all positions. They are strict but kind, and they seem really welcoming and glad to have Avery on the team. They have expressed repeatedly that their main purpose is for the kids to have fun. I'm afraid Kate is not so lucky in her coach. So far, he seems really focused on winning, and it looks as if Kate might get stuck on defense with a minimal role in the game. Mac tells me to wait and observe some more before I go jumping to conclusions, but I have a hunch that this coach's style is going to rub me the wrong way, and I'm already planning out what to say to him if my hunch is right. Something like, "When is Kate going to play offense? When will you give her more direction than just "watch the ball"? How can she improve if she isn't given a chance to play in that position?

I get mad just thinking about it, but Mac is right. I'm making assumptions now that I don't know to be true . . . yet. I'll be watching closely, and I won't be afraid to voice my displeasure if my kid doesn't get fair treatment. That's right. I'm one of those moms now. And that coach better step up his coaching or watch out!

Happy New Year!

We didn't sent out a Christmas letter with our cards, so I thought I'd do the update here on the blog.

2011 began with Mac accepting a job for Isagenix in Chandler, AZ. He wasn't done with his MBA yet, so he transferred to being a part-time student and was able to go to class at the UofA extension center in Scottsdale. The job was a great opportunity for our family, but the kids and I were still in Tucson, and our lease wasn't up till May. At first I thought we'd stick it out so Kate could finish school in Sahuarita and so we wouldn't lose any money on our contract. Mac had a couple of different places he could stay until we moved permanently - with his Uncle in Mesa and with my sister in Queen Creek. However, after less than two months where we only saw Mac on the weekends, if that, I changed my mind. So one weekend while I was visiting my sister, Mac and I decided to look at houses. We found a great house in SE Chandler and made an offer. We closed in about a month and then moved a few weeks later. It was a whirlwind of change, but we love our house and the area that it's in, and we feel very blessed to have everything work out so well so quickly.

Moving meant saying goodbye to our friends and neighbors in Sahuarita. Even though we hadn't known them long, they had been great friends and we were sad to leave. Kate had to change schools, but the transition was not as difficult as I had anticipated. She attends a nearby CTA school with an advanced curriculum and immediately loved her new teacher and class.

All our girls learned how to ride bikes at the beginning of this year, even Lilly who was still 2 when she could ride without training wheels. We have to give credit to the strider bikes, which helped our girls practically teach themselves how to ride a bike. Other highlights of the year include the following:

Kate learned how to swim and was part of the summer swim team.
Lilly was in a ballet dance class with her cousin.
Avery started Kindergarten and promptly got in trouble for kissing a boy!
The family vacationed in Ogden, Utah for a Larsen family reunion.
Julie & Mac went to San Diego for an Isagenix convention. It was work for Mac, but play for me!
I took a quilting class and made my first quilt!
Mac got two ipads from work - one for him and one for me. They are awesome! Our kids love them so much that they each want their own.
Mac finished his all of his courses and now has his MBA! YEAH!!!
Lillly turned 3, Avery turned 5, Joshua turned 1, and Kate turned 7.

Our baby, Joshua, is big 15 mos-old now who runs around hitting and throwing constantly. He doesn't seem to realize that he's smaller than his sisters, and he is willing to fight them if they have a toy he wants. He has been a challenge for me because he has been so different from his sisters, and because he is very moody and demanding. But we love him and think he's pretty funny, even when he's being disagreeable. He also doesn't like to go to anyone other than me or Mac, so it's hard to get a break. His first spoken words were, in this order, ball, car, cracker. He also knows several signs: milk, banana, please, thank you, cracker, dog, more, all done, and eat are all the ones I can think of. We are excited to see him grow and develop, and his sisters love to help take care of him when they can. I think Avery wishes she could be his mother instead of me!

We hope this new year is full of good things for each of you!

Much love and gratitude from,
Mac, Julie, Kate, Avery, Lilly, & Joshua

Photos of Joshua, because my mom asked

Sensitive Kate

This first story happend back in January, after Mac took a job two hours away, which means we only see him on the weekends, if that, because he also travels on weekends. It's been hard on all of us. I thought it was hardest on me, but our daughters are sensitive to the change too, especially Kate.

Kate: "Sometimes when daddy's gone for a month or two, and I look at the picture of him smiling, I cry." Upon saying this, she started sobbing, so I hugged her and asked her why she cried. "Because I miss him." I told her she didn't have to be sad right now because Daddy was coming home this very night. I hugged her tight some more and told her that Daddy sometimes looked at her and her sister's pictures and cried too because he misses them. She looked at me and said, "I would really miss him if he died." "I don't think he's going to die for a long long time," I said. "I know," she said, and then, "If he died, I would cry and cry until he wasn't dead anymore." More tears. I told her I would feel the same way. Avery and Lilly looked on a little puzzled, not being quite as sensitive or mature as their six-year-old sister.

This next story happened this week:
Kate was in Joshua's bedroom talking to him and playing with him when she suddenly started sobbing (yeah, this happnes a lot with her). Worried, I rushed in and asked what was the matter. "I never want to leave him!" she cried. I didn't quite understand what she meant until she continued, "He's so cute! And I love him so much!" More tears and uncontrollable sobbing.

A couple of days later, she again is playing with Joshua in his room for a long time while I do a few things around the house. Joshua starts fussing, so I finally go in to pick him up and tell her to get her pajammas on when I glance over at her and see that her eyes are full of tears. "What's the matter?" I ask her. "I'm feeling like I love him again," she says to me.

Kate's a pretty special kid. I don't know what I'd do without her!

Just chillin'

Nap time for this little guy. If I wasn't so lazy, I would figure out how to upload the photos off our new camera so I could put a more recent picture of Joshua on here. This photo is from November, I think, and he is already a lot bigger than this. He's reverted back to newborn schedule sleeping and eating at night, so he has really really chubbed up over the last month. I can hardly believe how big he is. I told Mac tonight that I'm worried he's too big. He's about 4 months old and I think he's the size of a 12 month old!

Again, old picture - you're missing the rolls and rolls of chub that have grown on this guy!

Aha - this is a recent photo! Taken just last week. We got to spend the week after Christmas in La Jolla with my family, and one of the fun things we did was go see the Mormon Battalion Memorial site in Old Town San Diego. It is AWESOME, and if you've never been, you should definitely go there with your kids. Talking pictures and panning for gold are just some of the cool things you'll encounter there.

Happy New Year!

Kids say the darndest things!

I overheard Avery talking with Kate the other day: "When I grow up, I'm going to have five children . . . and one child."

I also overheard Avery playing with her friend Emily outside our house, so I called over to her, "Avery, don't be bossy." She replied, "I'm not - I'm being the mom." Uh oh.

Kate said to me recently, "Mom, sometimes I tell you things and you don't listen to what I say because you'll say, 'Oh, that's good'. I asked her how she knew I wasn't listening. "Because sometimes what I tell you isn't something good, it's bad." As Mac said to me when I told him the story: Busted!

Baby Boy

I traded my pregnant belly and consolidated sleep for this little 8 pound, 14 oz miracle:

Don't you just want to kiss him?

Tortoise Sighting

It's not everyday that you see someone walking a giant tortoise at the park, so I just had to stop and take some pictures with my girls.

This lovely fellow is enjoying a snack at the park near our house, just around the corner actually. His owner lives nearby and was more than happy to let me snap some pictures and ask some questions, like - What's the difference between a tortoise and a turtle? Do you know?

Apparently, turtles live in water, and tortoises live on land. This handsome guy can live 300 years, so if you want one for a pet, you better make him part of your will!

Lemon Zucchini Bread w/ Glaze

I finally found a zucchini bread recipe that I LOVE! I devoured half the loaf when I cooked this on Sunday. And because I'm such a generous person, I thought I'd pass it on to the few of you who read this! Ha! This is the original recipe. I doubled it and made a few changes to it, which I think made it just amazing. And here it is:





Lemon Zucchini Bread w/ Glaze.

2-1/2 c finely shredded zucchini (no need to peel the zucchini)


1-3/4 c sugar


2 eggs


1 c vegetable oil (I used Canola)


3-1/4 c flour (I used one cup of whole wheat flour, the rest all-purpose)


1 tsp salt


1 tsp baking soda


1/2 tsp baking powder (I use Rumford's - it's the best baking powder)


2 tsp ground cinnamon


4 tsp. lemon zest


2 tsp vanilla


4 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice





Yummy, Yummy Glaze! (which I found here, another recipe that sounds great and is really similar to this one).


1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice


1/3 c. granulated sugar


1 c. powdered sugar





Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans.





In a bowl, stir together the zucchini, sugar, egg, oil, vanilla, and lemon juice. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir in the cinnamon and lemon zest. Stir the dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture just until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pans.





Bake 45-50 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (I baked mine for 47 minutes.) Remove from heat and cool about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. You can brush on the glaze while it's in the pan or after you take it out, while the bread it still warm. If you put the glaze on while the bread is still in the pans (like I did), it's a little tricky taking the bread out of the pans without making the glaze look messy. I think next time I'll brush the glaze on after I remove the bread from the pans.





If you try this, let me know what you think! The original recipe didn't call for a glaze, but I think the glaze is what really makes this bread so yummy.

San Xavier Mission

Eight miles from our house in Sahuarita, AZ is the beautiful San Xavier Mission. It was originally built in the 1700s when Southern Arizona was part of New Spain. Our family had a lot of fun visiting the mission on Saturday. The girls call it "the castle". We can see it from the freeway, and they always call out when they see it. It truly was beautiful! Just another reason for you to visit us here in Arizona!

Freecycle Magic

A while back, while I was still living in Idaho, I heard of an organization called freecycle. The concept of giving away your stuff for free so it can be recycled and stay out of landfills sounded amazing, not because I'm that environmentally conscious, but because I'm inherently cheap. I signed up right away, dreaming of getting awesome stuff, like dressers, toys, books, and clothes all for free. What I ended up getting instead, was about 20 emails every hour, notifying me of something being given away or being asked for. People in Idaho Falls have a lot of "needs" and even though you weren't supposed to ask for charity, people still did, along with a sob story to explain why the person is asking for a handout. When there was something being offered for free that did sound like something I could use, I would email back right away, only to find out that I was too late - someone else had already contacted the offerer. This happened 99% of the time. All those "needy" people signed up for freecycle must have had a blackberry attached to their hip with the fastest fingers in the West.

For all the months I was signed up for the local freecycle group in Idaho, the only things I acquired that weren't junk was a child's desk, a dozen paperback learn-to-read Spongebob Squarepants books, and fresh artichokes. The constant emails were annoying, and always being too late on getting the good stuff was frustrating. So when our family moved to the Tucson area, I very gladly cut my ties to the Idaho Falls freecycle group and, with a bit of hesitancy, signed up for the local Greenvalley freecycle group. At first I thought something was wrong. They must not have added me to the list, because my email inbox did not receive any emails from freecycle for weeks! Oh well, I thought. I'm not going to worry about whether they added me to the group or not. It's probably just as well that I don't get a ton of annoying emails. But then, a strange thing happened. One week, there was a freecycle posting. And then the next week, another posting. I couldn't believe the difference from Idaho Falls to Green Valley. Instead of 20 emails an hour, I was receiving one to three emails a week! It was great!

And then on Monday, I responded to a freecycle posting saying I wanted some of the things that were bring offered. I noticed the email was a couple of hours old, so I didn't hold out any hope of actually getting these items, because in Idaho Falls, to be successful you had to respond within minutes. Much to my surprise, I was contacted by the offerer and we arranged a time and place for me to pick up the items. I couldn't believe my luck! So what did I get from this fortuitous exchange?

Essentially some vintage (aka "junky") jewelry boxes and some Christmas tins (not pictured because they are stored in the garage with the future purpose of holding sweets that I can then give away). But as you can see from the photos above, what I really received was hours and hours of children using their imagination and self-entertaining, which for a mom, is priceless.

Here's to many more happy months on the GreenValley freecycle group!

Piano Recital

I'm probably way too behind to catch up properly on the last couple months, but these photos were too cute not to post. So in a catching-up effort, here they are.

Back in May, Kate had her piano recital. Sort of. I got the date wrong, and we went to the Piano Gallery one date after her scheduled recital. So we were the only ones there, but the two people working at the store allowed us to hold a solo recital, and here are a few pictures from that night. Kate did great. She has been able to pick up on her lessons very well, and we are delighted with her progress. Now I just have to find a teacher in Arizona so she can continue her lessons.

Some Catching Up To Do

A lot has happened since my last post. Beside moving 1000 miles, we celebrated two birthdays and other milestones.

Avery turned four - here is the cake I made, using one of those giant cupcake pans. I didn't like how one side cooked faster than the other.
Here is he family enjoying one of Avery's new toys, the bubble machine!

Lilly turned two!

Not related to Lilly's birthday in anyway, but this dress Ave is wearing is something I made in sewing class!

The happy birthday girl, looking a little beat up with a cold sore and a cut on the cheek.

Lilly loves cats, so I made her a cat cake.

Our other milestones include me learning how to sew (yay!), Kate's piano recital (photos to come), Kate & Avery's dance recital (photos to come), Mac starting grad school, and registering Kate for Kindergarten (yikes!)

Thank you gift for Teachers

My own kids aren't in school yet, but they do have dance and piano teachers. I found this idea at Meckmom.com and am thinking about using it to say thank you to these teachers. I figured the girls would enjoy making them with me, too. What things have you done in the past to say thank you to teachers?

What 3 and 5 year-olds think is funny

Lately, when the girls are supposed to be getting their pajamas on at night, we hear a lot of giggling and noises that don't inspire a lot of confidence in their actions. This is what they had to show us after we sent them to get ready for bed one night:

And of course, they thought they were so hilarious, that these costumes were repeated night after night after night for a while. The one thing I do have confidence in my girls- their silliness!

When a 5-year old shoots the camera

Our five-year old really likes to play photographer. Here are a few samples of her recent work:

Sister being silly . . .

A close-up of sister . . .And lastly, me with the trash!

I grabbed the trash and began to walk from the kitchen towards the front door to throw it away when I heard, "Smile Mom!" So I did. Is it sad to say that my pose with the garbage is one of my favorite photos of me this year?

Gourmet Cooking

On Saturday, Mac and I were inspired by all the yummy new recipes I collected, and we decided to try three new recipes. I'd like to share them with you here and let you know how they went over. For the most part, they turned out pretty good, although there are a couple of changes I would make for the next time we make these recipes.



The main dish was decadent and indulgent, like nothing we ever make! It's called Creamy Lemon Wine Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes from the Hungry Housewife blog. The flavors were like fireworks in your mouth! I loved it, but Mac thought it was a little overwhelming. The lemon in the recipe was a little too powerful. I used the juice from two small lemons. Next time, I think I'll only use one lemon. We served it over bow tie pasta.



I also made these scrumptious Buttermilke Refrigerator Rolls. They were light and fluffy and delicious. The nice thing is, the dough makes a lot, so I have at least two more batches in my fridge that I can use this week.



For dessert, I tried this Dr. Pepper Chocolate Cake recipe from The Pioneer Woman. The end result actually reminded me a lot of Texas Sheetcake. I would change a couple things about this recipe. First, I had to bake it longer than the recipe said, and I think I could have baked it even longer, although I did wait just until a toothpick inserted in the center came out clean. It's a very moist cake, so when you add the frosting to it, it became too moist, even mushy, because the frosting soaks into the cake. I would cut the frosting recipe in half, because it made way too much, and maybe then the cake wouldn't get too mushy.



Mac and I love trying new recipes, and this week we're planning on trying a few more. I'll pass on the successes to you so you can try them too, if you want.

Slumber Party

Sometimes when Mac is traveling for work and is gone for several days at a time, the girls and I like to live it up and have a slumber party. We've done this a couple of times, and the girls absolutely love it. We pull out the couch bed, eat popcorn and some other treat, like cookies or fruit snacks, and watch a movie. Then we fall asleep together, all except Lilly, who gets to sleep in her own bed. I usually wake up in the night and move to my own bed for the night too. It's not a lot of work for me to put on this slumber party, but the kids think it's something great.

Christmas Memories

So I'm not going to even mention my long break from blogging, or promise that it will never happen again. Suffice it to say, we moved to a new home, and that event really knocked me out of my routine. I still don't feel like I'm back to normal yet, but I had to get caught up sometime. The following is just a brief telling of my favorite Christmas memories and photos.

Here are my three girls in their Christmas Eve pajamas. Kate and Avery were especially excited for the next day. My favorite memory of Christmas 2009 is the morning of Christmas, we all kind of slept in (past 7:00 PM is sleeping in for us). Usually Lilly is the first to wake up, and then the other girls jump up once they hear her. Lilly was sick, though, and ended up sleeping in. So Kate work up first and crept quietly to our bedroom, where she stood in the doorway choking back sobs. I sleepily asked, "Kate, what are you doing?" She just sobbed louder, so I asked her what was wrong. She began to speak through her tears, but she was so upset that I couldn't understand her. Finally I interrupted and said, "Kate, you're not in trouble. Now calm down and tell me what's wrong." She finally was able to spit out her concern: "Did I miss Christmas?"

Between chuckles, Mac and I assured Kate that she hadn't slept too long and missed Christmas. She cheered up pretty quickly once she understood. Here is Kate wearing one of her Christmas presents: a hat, scarf, and mitten combo. This was the only present, she told me a couple of days after Christmas, that she didn't like.

All the girls acted really grateful on Christmas morning for all the gifs they received. This made me grateful, too. For some reason, I was worried that they would act like spoiled brats and complain about not getting the right stuff or saying they didn't like their presents. But they were really good and happy about everything, and that made me happy. And I will always love looking back and remembering this cute face. These are some great memories! What is your favorite memory from Christmas 2009?

Burgers, Barry, Bellagio, & BYU Football or What Happens in Vegas Gets Posted to my Blog

I recently took a typical mormon Vegas Vacation with my hubby and his family. After dropping off our kids with my family (thank you thank you thank you, and sorry about Lilly's diapers!), we drove straight through and stopped at the quintessential In-N-Out Burgers. For the first time, I tried the protein-style burger (lettuce wrap instead of a bun). It wasn't bad. Not quite as satisfying as a bun burger, but still good. I'd like to say that I went protein-style because I'm health concious, but if you were there and saw me down the chocolate milkshake and animal-style french fries, you'd know better. Then, we went to the strip and headed straight for the Barry Manilow show, which was AWESOME! That man has written the most romantic songs ever created. Here is the man himself in yellow!
After the show, we left the casino without once pulling a slot machine (you'd be proud of me, Mom!) and headed straight for the Bellagio Fountain show. We hung out there for an hour, gawking at some of the passerbys in between shows and cheering when we saw other BYU fans. It was around midnight when we finally got to the car and headed for the hotel. I zonked out within minutes of the car ride. I don't quite have the stamina for late nights that I used to. (Who am I kidding? I've never had stamina for late nights.)

The next morning, we hung out at the luxurious resort hotel, playing a little pig and horse on the basketball court, swimming at the pool, and watching cheesy Adam Sandler movies on cable. We made it to the BYU vs. UNLV game with plenty of time to watch the pre-show. We cheered loud whenever BYU scored one of its dozen touchdowns and when one player ran a 92 yard kick-off return. (I hope I got that term right). Mac ran into his boss from work and a former mission companion. (Typical, right?)

Here am I with Mac, our cheesy grins and all. And Dad, Mom, Shea, and Kent. And here is Mac, Rhett, and Dad again, who is responsible for the great trip. Thanks Dad!

Our wild and crazy trip to Vegas for BYU football was, as always, a hit. We'll see you again, Vegas, in two more years.