Week in review... ...more of the same.

Reporting on last week, I feel like I could just say 'dido' and it would suffice. Although it may not be as exciting to write about, it is rather nice when there is some routine to life. With three more weeks left in school for Bentley, I'm sure this won't last long.
Ali must have a thing with hats lately. Here she is in the tub with another creative head piece.














On Monday we had a picturesque chicken broccoli braid. I feel that I really need to give credit where credit is due. I blogged about it a while back but failed to mention its origin. My friend, Lynae, brought us dinner after I had Ali. It was one of those meals that you have to get the recipe. I've had some requests for the recipe myself, so I've included it below.
Thanks Lynae. Every time I make this I think of you.

• 2 cups diced, cooked chicken meat
• 1 cup fresh broccoli, chopped
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons dried dill weed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1 egg white, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees F).
2. In a large bowl, toss together chicken, broccoli, red bell pepper, garlic, Cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, dill weed, salt, almonds and onion.
3. Unroll crescent roll dough, and arrange flat on a medium baking sheet. Pinch together perforations to form a single sheet of dough. Using a knife or scissors, cut 1 inch wide strips in towards the center, starting on the long sides. There should be a solid strip about 3 inches wide down the center, with the cut strips forming a fringe down each side. Spread the chicken mixture along the center strip. Fold the side strips over chicken mixture, alternating strips from each side. Pinch or twist to seal.
4. Brush braided dough with the egg white. Bake in the preheated oven 25 to 28 minutes, or until golden brown.

Tuesday Bentley had his first soccer game. We forgot our camera (bad mom), but will definitely be getting some shots in the future.

Wednesday was the exception to the routine. We were gone all day. We made it to story hour and to pick up Bentley. Then, I had an orthodontist appointment. It is an hour away, so we left right after getting Bentley, stopped at Cosco, made it to the appointment, dropped by WallyWorld, and picked up dinner on the way home. As I was transferring pictures I found this one that apparently Bentley took while I was in the hot seat. Three kids with mom in the chair always makes for an interesting appointment. Luckily the staff are very patient, and I'm not below bribing the kids to be well behaved.














Thursday we had snow and Bentley's soccer game got canceled, so still no pictures.

Then on Friday we had our weekly pizza night. The kids are now insistent that they make their own pizzas. It is definitely something they look forward to. For the second time Bentley ate the entire thing!































Saturday we were able to go SLC for the wedding of my cousin Camille. It was a beautiful wedding, and a really fun day. ...but that is a post in and of itself. :)

The gomboo

We have had way too many sicknesses this winter! Last weekend we had the stomach flu that swept through the family. Emma threw up on Sunday morning but was really sad that she didn't get to go to church. Of course the first time she said it was the cutest, but being as my camera was sitting right there, I asked her to repeat herself. She just looks so sad... and so cute.

Check out that hat!

Ali trying on her new hat :-) I thought this was just too cute; I had to share.

Family Pictures

On Thursday, Tom took some family pictures. I think they turned out well.














Emma insisted that she get cousin pictures, so we obliged.

Spring break and going digital!

Spring break has come and gone... Tom had a break a week ago, and we had decided to visit the fam in Price. We left on Wednesday (a week ago last Wed... time sure flies) and stayed until Sunday. It was a busy time, but so fun as usual.
Bentley had his break this week. It worked out really well because we were lucky enough to have Nora and James and their fam come and stay at the cabin for the week. Although we didn't have to travel anywhere it felt like we were on vacation all week. We slept in almost every morning, played, ate, watched movies, talked, shopped and had a really fun week.

Nora posted that she's learning to scrapbook digitally. She brought some very informative tutorials that we were able to watch and then try some pages for ourselves. I'm really into paper scrapbooking, but after learning how to do a page digitally, I'm totally hooked. I can't give up the paper thing, but I'm going to do both. The hope is that someday I'll actually be caught up and can scrap recent events not just the ancient history of our fam. (I think I'm at an all time record for how many years I'm behind... 4! :-( But I haven't lost hope yet, and I'm really excited about being able to get going in the digital world. Here is my first spread...
What do you think? Also I'm debating if I want to print 8x8 or 12x12. My most recent thought is that I'll do the family book 12x12, the kids books 8x8... but then I'd still have to do paper books for bigger school pictures etc. hum... I guess I'm still deciding. If you've found anything that has worked well for you... Let me know; I'm open to any and all suggestions.

The Little Things...

I was just thinking about and listening to Elder Ballard's fabulous Conference Talk.
His suggestions to mothers include:

- Live in the moment
- Don't over schedule
- Find time for self
- Pray, study and teach the gospel




While listening I decided to make a list of the "little things" that I am so grateful for...
-Emma's hair in the morning
-The fact that Bentley loves to wear his hooded shirts and coat with the hood up.
-Ali's laugh
-Bentley's excitement when he finally earned his 'job chart' prize last night.
-Snuggling with Emma in the morning.
-The kids all fresh in their pajamas after tub time
-When Emma says, "I love you, Mommy"
-Emma's songs
-Ali learning to say "kitty" last night (Monica, if you read this, that was inspired by the picture of Romona:-)
-Watching Bentley walk out the door with his backpack to go to kindergarten.
-Hearing Ali talking in her crib to let me know she's awake. (gotta run)

My favorite part of the talk was when Elder Ballard spoke of the picture of his children at ages 6, 4, and 1 (hold back the tears). We have 6, 3, and 1, and it is such a wonderful time of life!

April? No Way!

We once again woke up to snow this morning. What do you do?... Take a picture, warm up the car, dream of summer while building a fire. I don't think I've ever thought, talked, and written about the weather so much in my life, but then we are currently living in the mountains, which are so beautiful, I'll try to stop complaining and just be grateful I still have my snow tires on.


This is a picture of the girls as we were heading out into the white world to pick up Bentley.

More about Conference...

Ok, ok, so I just wanted to include some pictures. One of the fun traditions we have on Conference Weekend (thanks to John and Heather) is a chocolate fountain. Along with the fact that it is absolutely delicious, it usually makes for some good pictures!


















We also got some good ones of the girls in their new outfits and in their cute PJ's after tub time. Funny, there weren't many pictures of the boys. They spent much of their time in the green house and outside.

Conference Weekend

It is an Ackerson tradition to get together at the cabin over conference weekend. Last weekend was no exception. Chuck and Christy, John and Heather, Nora and James, Donna and Bevan, Tall Paul, Tom and myself and of course the cousins (eleven to be exact) made for a very exciting weekend. Amid all the commotion we were able to actually watch some of conference, however, I'm more than grateful that we live in an age where we can not only read the talks in the following month's Ensign but also listen to and read them online as well. Along with the general commotion of many people and children and a shopping trip on Saturday, I missed more talks than I'd like to admit. What I was able to see, listen to and actually digest was amazing though. I love conference. I always feel so inspired to be better.

Boys Night Out!

Tom and Bentley went to a Jazz game on Wednesday night. There a few things sweeter than a boy and his dad. They said they had a good time, the Jazz won by about 20, and I had a fun night in with the girls. (We watched the 2003 version of Pride and Prejudice.) Although it was a school night and Bentley wasn't easy to wake the next day, some things are worth the price. What a fun night out!