Rhubarb Cheesecake!

Due to popular demand, here is the recipe for the rhubarb cheesecake you may have heard about. We LOVE it, and hope you will too!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Rhubarb-Cheesecake/Detail.aspx

(Do NOT cut any sugar!!! - and you may want to cook the rhubarb for about 17-18 minutes instead of 15 as listed in the recipe. I also put something under my springform pan, as the rhubarb juice likes to escape!)

Our Heartbreaker!

Today I'm highlighting our little blue eyed, blond hair heartbreaker, Lincoln. When I think of the classic little boy, my 2-year-old pops into mind. I have to brag here - he is SO CUTE!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this little tyke, and he's so much fun to be around and to simply watch. He's just now starting to talk a lot, and the things that come out of his mouth melt my heart!

For example:

After a more difficult than usual trip to Target, and after his mean mother (that's me!) wouldn't let Lincoln have any toys at the store, we returned to our beloved minivan, where I remarked to him that it was a nice day. Scowling with all he could muster, he yelled at me, "MEAN DAY!"

On the flip side, another nice day, when we were putting jammies on before bedtime, he said to me, "Mom, nice day EVER!"

Then there's the way he says the title of a favorite movie, "The Little Rascals." Lincoln hasn't quite figured out how to start a word with the "r" sound or sticking a hard "c" in the middle of a word, and it comes out sounding more like ...."Little A**holes..." Good thing he's little, otherwise I'd wash his mouth out with soap!

Recently, he's surprised us by taking upon himself the task of garbage boy. Anytime he sees garbage in the wastebasket in our bedroom, he'll take it out and dump it in our big kitchen garbage. I don't care what anyone says, but a barely 2-year-old who will do that without being asked - well, that sure makes me feel like a good mom!

He also makes me feel like a million bucks when he comes up behind me and gives me a huge back hug, or when he looks at me, smiles, and says, "Mom, pretty."

He's got one of the most expressive faces I've ever seen, he's got a great wink, which I have yet to catch on camera. I also love the way he runs, he puts his all into it - which he does with everything.

Lincoln, I love you!

Wishes!

Jason and the kids went on a bike ride the other day. As they passed a vacant house overrun with dandelions, Cecelia called out, "DADDY! LOOK AT ALL THOSE WISHES!!!"

Only One Will Survive

A couple weeks ago, Cecelia had a fight. Or perhaps I should say that Cecelia's hair had a fight - with a comb. After spending one HOUR trying to avoid cutting her beautiful locks into a boy cut, I was beginning to fear that this was a battle I was not going to win.

So I called in my knight in shining armor.....with wire cutters....and the battle ensued.

Thankfully, only the comb did NOT survive.

Cecelia has not tried to comb her own hair since.

You know you're a mom when.....

May 7. 11:30 p.m.

Cecelia begins the family throwup fun.....

May 17.

No throwup ALL DAY!

So yes, you know you're a mom if you blog about throwup and diarrhea, and are proud to say that you've gone 24 hours without cleaning the blasted stuff off your carpet, pants, your kids pants, the floor, the bed, towels, etc.

My poor Lincoln had the worst of it, 8 full days of throwup and the other stuff. He's finally having some energy, thank goodness!

Must, must, must thank my Jason. He took a lot of crap this week - literally! Lincoln had a major explosion one night, and yes, Jason got it all over his pants and shirt. I asked Jason which he preferred on himself, vomit or b.m., and his vote is for vomit. Me? I personally don't prefer either one! But thank you, Jason, for being SOOOO wonderful and helping so much this week - a week that I prefer to forget, but remember to laugh about later!

Family Domino Night!

Last night we played dominoes as a family. First, Cecelia spilled fresh lemonade all over herself. That caused Lincoln to throwup all over himself. Which in turn caused me to grab the nearest bowl and hold the kid until he was done. My quick action caused Cecelia, now standing in her chair to avoid the lemonade, to fall over in her chair. Her falling over, however, was cushioned by Corman's head which was, for some reason, under the chair. All this action caused the three older children uncontrollable sobbings while both Jason and I broke out in uncontrollable laughter over our family domino night!

Living Blogcariously

I love reading good blogs, I do, I really do. I even created a "Favorite Blogs" folder so I could access them quickly. I coined the phrase "living blogcariously" - which is what I do, live a vicarious blog through my friends' postings. Just yesterday I was thinking, "Gosh, Char, wouldn't it be cool if you could add your OWN blog to your favorites list?!" So, as a result of that thought process, here I am, typing like mad on my own blog. If I get more than 1 comment, I think I shall add this blog to my favorites list. (I should really figure out how to post more pictures on here too, for I have some darn cute kids that I love to show off.)

As my 2 readers already know, life has changed dramatically since my last blog. I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy St. Patrick's Day - Mendon Josef. He is such a sweet baby. I really think I was right when I said, "The worse the pregnancy is, the better the baby!" He was 8 pounds, 9 oz. and 20 inches long. My biggest baby by more than 1 pound - no WONDER I couldn't move very well at the end and every step - or misstep - was painful! Some have wondered where we came up with the name Mendon - so buckle up for some good reading.

Before I was born, a family lived 2 houses down from my parents. They were pretty close. The mom gave birth to a little boy, Mendon. One morning, Mendon's mom called my mom and said, "Mendon is dead." My mom rushed over, and sure enough, this little Mendon had passed away from SIDS. His mom never held him again, and shortly after, the family moved away and my family never again heard from them. Even though I never knew this little baby, he has had such an impact on my life. Every year since then on Memorial Day, my mom puts a sweet boquet from her garden on his headstone. I've never seen any other flowers there. From my mother, I've learned what service is, what Christlike love is - and I've always loved this little Mendon whom I never knew. I thought it fitting for me to name my last baby boy after this little one who has taught me so much - through my mother. Thank you Mom!!

Mendon fits right into our family - his brothers and sister love him SO much! They fight over who gets to hold him, and now I have yet another "bribe" for my kids. "Corman, clean up your room and you can hold Mendon!" Yes, works like a charm every time!! I'm not saying I love getting up a few times a night, all the added laundry a little one produces, getting puked on or peed on right after I shower, a sore neck and back - but, OH, I love my baby! And my other babies too!

Right now I'm serving as Primary President in our ward, and it is a challenge. I told the bishop I was excited for my maternity leave, and he just laughed. I wasn't kidding. Seriously though, I have great counselors who can do ANYTHING - and they really do! I'm ready to be back though and see all my kids again. Believe it or not, I've missed them the past 4 weeks! I don't know if I'll say that again after church on Sunday, but for now, it's the truth.

Jason is madly working on his masters' degree - and I'll tell you what, we are SO ready for him to be FINISHED! This whole newborn/masters/primary/Young Men/3 other kids thing is really wearing on us. Now you know why I'm so excited for our "date" to a wedding reception Saturday night! How pathetic is that?! But heck, I'll take what I can get! We're going down to Cedar City to walk for his graduation in a couple weeks, then he has 2 more classes in July and DONE. Can you tell I'm ready for this to pass??

I think I'm about done here for a while - here I was thinking this was going to be some witty, funny, charming post on my blog.....but it looks more like a whine session. Yes, please, I would like some cheese with my whine. Do you have any aged smoke gouda perhaps?