Cooking group

I finally get two hands to type with and so I'm taking advantage of it. I just wanted to tell people about this great thing I get to be a part of called a cooking group. A lady in our ward started it years ago and different families move in and out creating openings and last spring I was asked to substitute for a couple of weeks and now I'm a permanent member. There are 4 families of equal size and you each take a night a week that will be your day to do the dinner. So for 3 days a week I get hot, fresh, nutritious meals delivered to my door at 5:30pm. On my night of the week I do the cooking and delivering. I do spend the afternoon on my day cooking but it all balances out because I don't have to worry the other nights, and we usually get enough food to have a leftover night. So then I only have to come up with three meals a week and the temptation to get the quick easy stuff is no longer there. The menus are planned a month in advance and all food is made from scratch with fresh ingredients. Planning ahead as a group also keeps a bit of variety, no chicken for 4 nights in a row. Not only that but the women I'm in with are great cooks. For example Farfelle pasta with fresh mushroom, asparagus with burnt citrus butter, home made french bread and brownies were dropped off at my door and I was able to have a fabulous dinner and still get laundry folded and homework done! Another perk is that I'm forced to plan my menus ahead and shopping is much easier and I use everything I buy fixing for 20 people, I also make good use of my Cooking Light Magazine. When my mom was here she loved it and is trying to get it going with some of the empty Nester around them. You and your spouse have to be willing to try new things and Matt and I definitely will eat most anything. It is also great because the kids get to eat some foods that I might not ever fix otherwise and there is no complaining about what's at the table because mom didn't fix it and there is nothing else to eat. It's a great idea for those who don't have time to cook a good healthy meal every night but certainly like to eat one!

Fun with Kohen

Sunday we went to the Galloway's to celebrate a birthday and while we were preparing to go over this was a conversation we had with Benjamin.
Benjamin: I need to give some toys to Kohen.
Matt: Why do you need to give Kohen some toys?
Benjamin: Because Kohen doesn't have any toys.
Catherine: He's got toys, they are just baby toys like Josette's.
Benjamin: Sister Foster, my primary teacher says that I can give Kohen some toys that I don't want anymore.
Matt: That's great!
Matt and Catherine: If there's toys you don't want anymore we can still give them away to some other kids who would want them and be old enough to play with them.
Benjamin: No, I can only give them to Kohen because I know him. I don't want to give them to somebody else!
We figure that understanding 50% is not to bad. It was so funny and said in a way that only a 4 year old can say. The boys love Kohen and we got to watch him tonight for Lucy. It was fun and he and Josette seem to be making a connection. A bit like Sophie and Isaac (whom we still talk about regularly). Kohen is two months older but about double Josette's size ( about like the other two mentioned earlier..) and they were having fun holding hands and chit chatting.

"Well, you see....."

"Boy I'm good! Holding the ladies hands already!"

My 2008 Carsten List

Now Carsten is as cute as they come but things just seem to happen to him. One of the things he is getting known for in our family is his uncanny ability to help me clean things out. For example, the kitchen drawer just fell off in his hand after hanging on the handle and somehow pulling. I was next to him when it happened and I'm not exactly sure how it ripped off, he didn't fall on his keester when it did come off. Because of this ability I thought it would be fun to really keep track of this and thus a sidebar list has been created.