robisoncrew: February 2008

the sky is falling Friday, February 29, 2008

in our brand new house

science fair

The kids had their science fair last night. Amanda did a survey about 'screen time', and Dallin cultured bacteria off of TV and video game remotes. Amanda got first place (they announced it and gave awards at school, so we don't know the details, but i think it was first place in her grade). The principal asked her to save her poster to talk about during morning announcements in April when they have a week about 'screen time'.

Quiz 4 dad Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Name that apostle in the blue toyota avalon driving next to me going
south on foothill drive at 5pm, either talking on a handsfree call,
singing, praying or rehearsing his upcoming conference talk....

Island goodies

Thanks for the Christmas presents ma & pa! The mail from trinidad may
be slow but it was worth the wait..

caving in Sunday, February 24, 2008

our house just can't handle the snow load....

but the location definitely has its advantages. we took turns snowshoeing with the kids right out our back door yesterday:

and the little girls had an adventure climbing snowbanks made by the plow yesterday

where is thumbkin

dallin wanted to play this for grandpa gardner:

Be patient and watch the whole thing, as dallin plays twinkle twinkle little star backwards..

And here's a clip of me in fast forward:

Dallin's new favorite game

We played it at Joelle's a while back and just had to get one...

Ticket to Ride is a cross-country train adventure in which players collect and play matching train cards to claim railway routes connecting cities throughout North America.

The longer the routes, the more points they earn.

Additional points come to those who can fulfill their Destination Tickets by connecting two distant cities, and to the player who builds the longest continuous railway.

Off to church

ho hum Saturday, February 23, 2008

the secret to good enchilada sauce...

...is cocao powder!
No more running to the store just for a big old can of enchilada sauce (that you'll only use half of them throw out after it sits in your fridge for a few weeks)

Yummy Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients

chili powder
a bit of flour (optional)
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
garlic powder
oregano
1 (8 ounce) can of tomatoes

Directions

Put it all in the blender. cook it if you want it to thicken a little...
Use in your favorite enchilada recipe

(what we do is mix together a can of cream of chicken soup, some sour cream, a can of green chilies, some salsa, and some grated cheese.. then scoup it into corn tortillas, top with enchilada sauce and cheese, bake for a while....)

wild staley girls

Here is emily rockin out with her 2 cousins who are sleeping over for a while...

Help me with my Science Fair Project

Take the survey. Click on the link below.

http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=hko6d20zugopmdb399363

This survey is for parents who have kids between 6-17 years. The kids get to answer 2 question at the end. Please don't share your answers together (parents and kids). Thanks for helping!

Amanda

Saying Goodbye to the Kamauu Family

Last summer in the backyard. Dallin and Jared play in the water.

Reid and Aaron

Last week we said goodbye to our good friends the Aaron, Allise, Jared, Taryn, Noaha, and Ammon. The Kamauus went to California for a wonderful job opportunity. Before they left, we said goodbye by swimming at the hotel pool and going to Aaron's wood badge ceremony. Dallin and Jared have been best friends since they were toddlers. I will still be talking to Allise on the phone and we plan on seeing them the next time we go to NV. Good luck Kamauus. We will miss you!

Ski Break Week

The kids didn't have school all week long for a winter ski break. We never even went skiing, but we tried to do some fun things. On Tues we went to the children's musuem, then on Wed. we went down to Salt Lake to see the Water Horse movie. Thursday we went and saw Kevin in a ski rail competition, and we watched Pipi Longstocking that night. The kids loved that movie. On Friday Grace and Tessa came to stay with us for a couple days. Tessa is in love with the snow and has already played in it 2 times. They love to climb up the snow in the front yard, walk across the yard and slide down on the other side. This morning Reid and I took turns snowshoeing with Dallin and Amanda while the kids played outside. Joelle and John are on a nice Cruise soaking up the sun.

Children's Museum

Emily went to the Children's Museum with her friend Macie last week. They had fun learning about the body with a Sesame Street theme. Emily's all time favorite thing to do is still the balls. She loves to send the balls in the clear tubes and see where they will go next.

Macie and Emily were very tired after their long day at the museum. They both fell asleep on the way home.

The museum was so much fun that I went back with Dallin and Amanda on Tuesday, but we didn't take any pictures. They had a giant nose that sneezed on you (air and a spray of water) and to top it all off, they had a giant mouth that chewed food, a giant stomach that digested food, and a giant poop to finish off the process.

dan dan mian Tuesday, February 19, 2008

so yesterday we relaxed in the morning (well if you call this relaxing... lisa and I took turns doing >3 mile hilly runs in the neighborhood), then spent the afternoon shopping in SLC. club penguin must be corrupting our kids because amanda asked for a coffee break. we corrected her and let her pitch in to buy a couple small hot chocolate at the borders next to jos a bank and buckle.

The kids were impressed with the hot chocolate that was a generous portion for a $1.55 kid's size, topped with 3 kinds of chocolate and tons of cream. I thought it was terrible :) To sweet for my tastes. But then again, we buy pure dutch cacao in bulk at the restaurant supply store and go through a 5 lb bag in no time.

We were planning to eat some of this, and go to this movie, but we couldn't get an early enough showtime. So we rented a movie, and went home to make some:

Dan Dan Mian (aka Spicy Schezuan Noodles)
This is a recipe my mom discovered a few years back that we had forgotton about until lisa was looking through old 3x5 card recipes...

saute all this in a pot or pan and simmer for a bit:
8 oz ground meat (pork, beef.. we used turkey)
3 T soy sauce
2 T dry sherry
ground white pepper (i didn't have this)
2 T oyster sauce
4 T peanut butter or sesame paste
1 T rice vinegar
1 C chicken broth
1 T peanut oil
1 T frech minced ginger
6 cloves garlic, pressed
3/4 t red pepper flakes

boil separately:
12 oz noodles (asian noodles, or linguine or angel hair pasta)
then mix with the sauce in a big pot

top with:
3 medium scallions, chopped
2 c bean sprouts

After dinner, we had some fhe, and then watched the last mimzy:

It was a good movie, but had some scary parts and was a little too deep for a 3 year old. Emily was mesmerized the whole time, but afterwards said "I didn't like that movie. Why couldn't we watched hairspray?" (Hairspray was one of the previews before the movie started...)

hi sy Sunday, February 17, 2008

jer kar & sylie came over for dinner tonight

check out sylie's cute little shoes

casey was jealous, sitting up on his perch

then I did some electroshock therapy on jer as an after dinner treat

kidding.. it's neurofeedback equipment to help you focus your brainwaves..

Amanda's dog ate her scriptures

long weekend Saturday, February 16, 2008

we almost went to vegas this weekend, just to escape the snow for a while.. but we decided just to hang out here instead. jamie and i played some raquetball while the girls shopped. then we went out for some mexican,

and watched a movie at home afterwards

jamie, why are you so surprised?