First things first: Christmas Happenings

I have a couple updates to make on here, but I'll start with all the Christmas cheer. I know it's hard to believe I'm still here and blogging after my extended vacay from the aforementioned, but I haven't given up on my renewed enthusiasm for keeping this thing updated. Yet.

We headed up to Kansas City to visit my family in mid-December. We missed the last of the Texas warmth while we were there, but it was well worth it. 

It was good to hang out with the sibs and the mom (and for Peyton, the dog). Even though they had school and work (other than Brady, but given his wisdom teethlessness, he was unnaturally subdued), we still had a lot of fun! Peyton enjoyed his first snow experience while my love for Texas was simultaneously renewed. I'm much more content to TRAVEL to the snow. I don't like when it travels to ME. Yes, I have taken to Texas quite nicely. 

Brad meets Great Grandpa Felshaw.

Usually Brady had the blanket OVER his head. Perhaps he did so to prevent photographs such as this? 

It's Shadow!!

Brad did NOT appreciate Peyton's snow-frozen hands on his face. At all. 

Sweet little content Brad. 

Santa Grandpa! 

Santa Baby and Santa Old Man. ;-)

Bridging the generational gap. 

The flights there and back were easy for me (I had Brad, who slept the whole time), and hard for Dan (he had Peyton, who missed naps and definitely didn't sleep on the plane). 

We got back in time for me to sing in the ward Christmas program. Dan's parents and Seth arrived the same day as we did. On Christmas Eve, we headed up to Nicole and David's house and had a very enjoyable time there, too. Peyton was in present heaven and was so overwhelmed with the awesomeness of all his gifts, that he felt the need to spread it out over a week. He literally opened 2-3 presents a day for about 4 days (his grandparents were very accommodating in the present department). Brad was his awesome chill self the whole time. Peyton his rambunctious, never-sitting-still-self. It was nice to be able to spread out through a nice big house instead of cooped up in a tiny apartment. 

While we were at Nicole and David's we enjoyed some football (to Peyton and Dan's delight), played lots of games, ate waaaaay too much food, and saw Les Miserables. Dan, Seth and their dad went to a Mavs game. I went shopping. And really, we did a lot of relaxing ... which was ... relaxing. And awesome. 

Merry Christmas! 

Seth stayed in that pink blanket the whole week. 

I sure do love my boys. 

Grandma and Grandpa. 

Grandma and her grandsons! 

So ... maybe I had a little more fun with Peyton's train set than he did. And so what if I waited until he was napping to play with them? 

Peyton: "I share with Bradley!"
Such a good big brother. 

Who'da thunk we'd have a white Christmas in Texas? Not me! 

That about sums up the festivities. 

Oh yeah, New Year's Eve. Didn't make.it. Dan was in bed by 10 p.m., me by 11. I did drink some  Martinelli's (the REAL amber elixir, no matter what my family says about Dr. Pepper). And I won at Crazy Rook. 

Now back to real life! The end. 

Pants v. Pantsless

Don't worry folks, I didn't disappear again.

I've just been busy. But not so busy that I forgot about lil ol' bloggie here.

In fact, I have a couple new recipe posts that I just might get to this evening if I finish my to-do list. If.

In the mean time, I'd like to pose a question. But first, some background.

I've been reading/hearing a lot about a new feminist movement within LDS culture. I imagine it's deeper than this, but pretty much the only thing I've heard about it is pants vs. dresses/skirts.

Heard about it? I've seen a bazillion posts/blogs/etc. about whether it's fair/not fair/don't care that women get to/have to/are expected to wear skirts and dresses, while men get to/have to/are expected to wear dress pants. Sounds silly to me. But I'll freely disclose -- I'm not a feminist.

Regardless of which side of the pants vs. pantsless movement you align yourself with, let me ask you this:

My husband always complains about how women get to wear skirts in the summer and men are stuck in collared shirts, ties and suits. He says it's not fair. He believes there would be much less arguing over temperature control in church buildings if women were dressed in similarly-heat-trapping-apparel. So ... can he join the LDS feminist movement too?

Just kidding.

But seriously. There are two sides to the argument. Maybe, just maybe, some men would prefer if they got to/had to/were expected to wear kilts. Or a tupenu. Or skirts.

My opinion: I like dresses. I prefer dresses to skirts, but skirts are cute too. I hate wearing pants unless they're of the "sweat," "pajama" or "yoga" variety. So I prefer to remain ... pantsless ... in church.

If you disagree, don't hate, just state ... your point of view.

And in case this post frustrated or upset you ... just look at this picture until you feel happy again.

I say a little prayer 4 you ...

Peyton has been learning to say his own prayers. He's doing surprisingly well. He consistently blesses the food before bed time and he's thoughtful of the lonely shoes on his dresser and the bibs in the drawer.

But he is also easily distracted.

Last night's prayer went something like this:

"Dear. Heavenly. Father.

Thank dee for ..."

"What are you thankful for, Peyton?" I prompted.

"Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. AMEN!"


(Added 11:44 a.m., 6 Dec 12): Peyton gave the same prayer over lunch, but instead of ending with amen, he continued with this after "ten ... ":

"F-I-R-E. Fire truck. Thank dee. Thank dee. Fire truck. F-I-R-E."

Dead phone

My phone is not dead ... it is only mostly dead. 

Meaning, it doesn't let me make or receive calls or texts, except when it randomly decides to tell me I have a zillion voice messages (that I can't call to access) and a bagillion texts (that I can read, but not respond to). 

Okay, so I'm definitely overstating my popularity here. The numbers are more like two and six, respectively. 

I'm pretty sure the phone carriers purposefully sell phones that give out right around the two-year mark. Although this one has survived several dips in bowls of soup and cups of water (don't ask). 

Of course, my to-do list had a bunch of things like, "Call so-and-so. Call doctor. Call bank. Call so-and-so." So much for that, eh? 

At least I can take solace in the fact that I have some handsome, entertaining little boys: 

Whitney's Bran Muffins

Bran and tasty can actually be used in the same sentence! Who knew? If you're wondering what's for breakfast this morning at the Condie household (which I'm sure you were just pondering), here it is! Peyton gobbles these bad boys up! And so do I.

Whitney's Bran Muffins:

Servings: 12 muffins

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 15-20 mins

Total time: 35 mins

• 1 1/2 C wheat bran
• 1 C buttermilk
• 1/3 C applesauce
• 1 egg
• 1/4 C brown sugar
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1 C whole wheat flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 C dates, chopped
• 1/2 C apples, chopped

Combine wheat bran and buttermilk. Stir and let stand for 10 minutes. Mix in remaining ingredients and stir until dry ingredients are moist and combined. Spoon into greased muffin pan and bake 15-20 minutes. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 65 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 106 Calories from Fat 9

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 1.0g 2%

Cholesterol 14mg 5%

Sodium 229mg 10%

Total Carbohydrates 23.8g 8%

Dietary Fiber 4.2g 17%

Sugars 9.9g

Protein 3.6g

Vitamin A 1% • Vitamin C 1% Calcium 6% • Iron 8%

Nutrition Grade B+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Low in saturated fat
• High in dietary fiber
• Very high in manganese
• High in magnesium
• High in phosphorus
• High in selenium

Bad points

• Very high in sugar

Sorry ...

Sorry for making so many posts. I combined my recipe blog with the family blog in an attempt (Yeah, yeah. I know. How many "attempts" is this woman going to make at blogging?) to make the idea of blogging less ... daunting. Not that I kept up either of them, but hey, blogger doesn't judge -- my blogs are still sitting there and waiting patiently for my next post.

Soooo ... since I've been gone ...

I gave birth!

And we blessed him!

His name's Bradley David Condie. He weighed in at 8 lbs 4 oz and 21" long.

And now he's big(ger).

Butternut Squash Soup

This is actually my own recipe! I'm not quite to the level of off-the-cuff, invent-your-own-recipe chef, but I'm getting pretty adept at combining and altering recipes and making them my own.

Whitney's Butternut Squash Soup

• 1 medium butternut squash, halved and seeded
• 2 T butter
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 3 C water
• 3 t chicken bouillon
• 1/2 t marjoram
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 C chopped green onions (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cut squash in half and seed. Place the halves on a baking sheet, cut-side down. Bake until tender when pierced with a knife, 45 minutes to 1 hour.  

While the squash is roasting, heat butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrots and sweet potato and saute until onions are translucent. Add water, bouillon, marjoram, pepper and cayenne and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender.

Scoop flesh of squash into soup pot. Simmer for 5 minutes. 

Place cream cheese in blender and add the soup (or use an immersion blender and just plop the cream cheese in the soup pot). You may need to do this step in batches if you are using a regular blender. Blend the soup and cream cheese until smooth and transfer back to soup pot. Stir the soup in the pot (especially if you blended it in batches). Do not bring the soup to boil again. 

Serve garnished with green onions (Costco's sourdough bread also makes a delicious side). 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 302 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  147 Calories from Fat  47

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  5.2g 8%

Saturated Fat  3.2g 16%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  16mg 5%

Sodium  84mg 3%

Total Carbohydrates  24.6g 8%

Dietary Fiber  4.4g 18%

Sugars  6.0g

Protein  3.3g

Vitamin A 440% • Vitamin C 61% Calcium 10% • Iron 8%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• High in dietary fiber
• High in magnesium
• High in potassium
• Very high in vitamin A
• High in vitamin B6
• Very high in vitamin C

Bad points

• High in saturated fat
• High in sugar