That's love.

So remember how I mentioned learning how to make my own vanilla extract when I was taking those cooking classes in Paris?

It's pretty simple, just two ingredients.  Alcohol and vanilla beans. (1/4 cup alcohol for every 4 beans)

And the best part is they can be used vanilla beans.  So, say you are making something like creme brulee and instead of just tossing the used bean away once it's been scraped of all it's goodness, instead of just tossing it (sometimes I would stick it in my sugar to flavor the sugar a little bit)  you can stick stick it in a jar of alcohol and let it stew for awhile and voila! you have homemade extract.

So why bother?

It's supposed to be better than regular extract.

As my teacher explained to us, with regular extract, if you have two identical cakes and you forgot to put store bought extract in one, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

So I'm curious.

I found the vanilla beans on Amazon.  That's the cheapest I've found them, except when Costco had them.  At the grocery store they average about $8 for 2 beans.  YIKES. 

The alcohol proved to be a little trickier.  Being a Mormon, it's not like it's exactly something I buy on a regular basis. Actually, I can't say if I've ever bought alcohol before, except of course for vanilla extract, mouth wash, rubbing alcohol, and cough syrup, etc.

Did you know they don't sell liquor at Target?  I spent 5 minutes in the wine and beer aisle worried someone I know might see me.  Cause that's what happens.

So I sent John to the grocery store.

He sat there in the liquor aisle, staring at the plethora of bottles in front of him. In my class, they said either vodka or rum works best, and their personal preference was dark rum.  So he called a co-worker he knows who is quite the expert in that area and spent several minutes on the phone discussing the different options.  He settled on a bottle, stuck it in the cart, even turned the label inward, trying to be discreet, and then as he was walking out of the liquor aisle, you'll never guess who he bumped into?

Actually everyone I've related this story to guesses right on their first guess, cause it's just so predictable.  That's right, he bumped into our Bishop and his wife.  No, they didn't seem to notice the contraband in the cart, or what aisle he was walking out of, but still...

I mention this today because John brought me home a couple little presents yesterday and it jogged my memory. (that last story happened in December) 

Being the thoughtful guy that he is, he thought of me as they were handing out mini-bottles of vodka at some charity golf event he was playing at. Ü

So, I have the beans, and now I have not one, but two different kinds of alcohol so I can experiment and see what I like best.  I just need to get cooking and use those beans.  See that jar of brown liquid?  That's exactly 1 cup of dark rum.  What you can't see is there is exactly 1 vanilla bean soaking in it. Which means I need to put 15 more in to get it to the right ratio.  Right now it's just slightly vanilla-y flavored rum.

So, hopefully sometime in the not too distant future, I'll have some opinions on storebought extract vs. homemade, and dark rum vs. vodka.  That's the plan anyway.  I'll let you know how it goes.

scariest text ever

Actual text message my barely 15 year old sent me a couple days ago-

"Look what I got today!"

Twins

So you know how Zach was a twin, but we lost his brother early on in the pregnancy? (And then there was all that medical drama, and doctors telling me I could just abort the whole pregnancy and start over..) You can click here to read about that if you're interested.

Anyway, we have pretty much come to the conclusion that Christopher was supposed to be Zach's twin, he just had to wait another four years to join our family. 

They have a special bond those two. 

It's not always easy for Zach, he has other friends he wants to play with, and your little brother tagging along isn't always welcome.  (Especially since in many ways Christopher is delayed, so it's more like a three year old is following you and your friends around instead of a five year old) 

And Christopher wants to be by Zach's side always. Sometimes he tries to tell me he's in "4th gade" too. 

Zach has big plans for their future.  He sees the two of them moving into an awesome bachelor pad together complete with a pizza oven and an indoor go-kart track.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

So, the Disneyland trip was pretty awesome.  Mostly awesome.  Like 66% awesome.

Things that were Not Awesome- (in no particular order)

-Lunch on Friday -Sizzler in Blythe. gag. (the same one where I got clam chowder dumped on me the last time I was forced to eat there on a school fieldtrip)

-Dinner on Friday -HomeTown Buffet. gag again.  I ate at not one but TWO buffets that day and was still hungry when it was time to go to bed. I hate buffets. I know it's kinda snobbish, but quality trumps quantity every time, and with my figure I don't want to be eating copious amounts of food I am not really enjoying just to "get my money's worth".

-The musical Cats on Friday night.  I thought it was stupid 18 years ago the last time I saw it and my opinion hasn't changed much since then.  How it's survived this long is beyond me.

- The bus ride home. Overnight.  In miserable seats.  After a long and exhausting day at Disneyland.  Two girls puked.  I got off the bus and my body hurt head to toe.

- both the Matterhorn and Haunted Mansion were closed.

- The fact we didn't realize until it was too late that California Adventure closed at nine, and so we didn't get to ride California Screamin' or the Tower of Terror.

Things that were Awesome (in no particular order)

- Making new friends.

- The hotel. It was really nice.  Nicest one I've stayed at while on a school fieldtrip.

- Watching the orchestra at the clinic backstage at Disneyland.  They were able to play parts of the musical scores to four different movies, and have them recorded and set to the video.  They made a DVD for the teacher (unfortunately they won't make copies).  It was a super neat experience.

- Star Tours.  It's been revamped and totally rocks!  It's 3-D and it's almost impossible to have the same experience twice.

-Pineapple Dole Whip.

- Churros.

- One of Nick's friends hadn't been to Disneyland since he was five. He didn't remember a thing.  It's awesome to experience Disneyland through the eyes of a newbie.  I'm thinking that maybe Space Mountain wasn't the best choice for "First Roller Coaster Ever" though. He said he liked it, but his face told another story.

- World of Color. Worth all the hassle to see it. 

- It's a Small World was still all Christmasy.

But the Number One thing that was awesome about this trip was (drumroll please)...

Hanging out with Nick and his friends.

I told him he could tell me to "go away" at any point and I would be fine.  Really.  Disneyland by myself?  Oh yeah, I'm good.  I had a list of foods throughout the park I wanted to try (I have a book-I'm a travel guide book junkie) and there were a couple shows I wanted to see, and I had a "plan B" with another parent should our kids become sick of us.  He never did tell me to go away.  I made an effort to not sit by him on any rides, (after the first time where he told me he was hoping I was someone else- his friend, or another girl...) He even said he was glad I came.

And I really mean it when I say I had a lot of fun hanging out with a bunch of teenagers. They were a lot of fun and a great bunch of kids.  Even though I couldn't walk the next day, and I counted no less than 5 new bruises on my person, I would totally go again in a heartbeat.

toasted

Have I mentioned my toaster before? No?

Odd, because I love my toaster.

John doesn't care much for it, and it tends to eat Eggo's, but I think Eggo's are gross, so I'm okay with that.

Anyway, my toaster is awesome.

It's so awesome Nick's orchestra teacher requested it be brought to school so the kids could make toast before the field trip.

I believe the conversation went something like this-

The teacher, shocked that most kids didn't know the song 'It's a Small World' asked the kids who did know it to raise their hands.

Nick said he sheepishly raised his hand, then explained that his toaster plays it every morning when the toast pops up.

He also explained that it burns Mickey's face into your toast.  (on a side note, Zach says it looks like Mickey's mug shot.  "Face forward, now turn to the side...")

So she thought it would be something fun for the kids to do while they waited to load the buses to California.  (And Disneyland!)

 Anyhow, that's the story of how I ended up taking my toaster to school.

second chances

Have I shared with you that heart wrenching story from my childhood, the one where I didn't get to go to Disneyland? If so, I'm sorry, if not, here goes.
Once upon a time there was a girl.  

A girl with no musical or artistic ability whatsoever, and a desperate need for some art credit so she could graduate high school.

Now this girl had a lot of friends, she wasn't popular by any stretch of the imagination, so by "a lot" we are talking 10-15 people she associated with on a daily basis.  But she was part of a fun group she ate lunch with, and hung out on weekends with, etc.

Anyways, practically ALL of these friends were in choir, and the Senior choir was going to be going on a trip to Disneyland, and she was the ONLY one of the group of friends not going.

So, at the insistence of her friends, ("You TOTALLY have to try out!... It will be so much fun!... Mr Wendel lets ANYONE in, you should hear the girl next to me....The girl next to me is totally tone deaf, you should be in for sure....It will be so sad if you can't come...") and the fact she was desperate for an art credit, she tried out for Senior Choir.

So, she rehearsed for several minutes by singing along with "Phantom of the Opera" in her bedroom that weekend, then went in to (very literally) face the music.

It wasn't pretty.

But let me tell you what the worst part was. It was not how the teacher said, "Not only can I not put you in Senior Choir, I can't even put you in junior choir.  If you still want to be in choir, the best I can offer you is SOPHOMORE Girl's Chorus."  No, the disappointment in learning that she would not get to go to Disneyland with her friends, and facing a whole year as the only Senior in a class full of Sophomores, wasn't the worst part.  The worst part was the teacher's look of pain on his face as she sang.  He'd been the choir director for years, the school was a pretty big one, and choir was pretty popular, so you'd think after all these years, and the possibly thousands of auditions he'd sat through throughout the years, he'd get pretty good at keeping his emotions in check while listening to people like me, I mean, uh her, step out of their comfort zones and try something new.

And then she spent the year enduring questions like "Uh, aren't you a Senior?  Why are you in here?"

Stupid art credit.

Fast forward almost 20 years.

I realize it's not really the same, but I am finally making it to Disneyland on a field trip with a bunch of highschoolers.  Nick's orchestra is heading to California tomorrow, and it worked out that I get to be a chaperon.  And believe it or not, Nick is super happy to have me come. 

Yes, I still wished I could have been there with my friends, making memories and having fun, but I think having a front row seat to one of these experiences in my kids' lives comes in a close second.

hey, mom

(and anyone else mildly interested)

I'm still pre-dating some Christmas posts, so you might want to scroll down a bit to look and see if I've written anything new. At least until this isn't the newest post at the top of the screen.