Year End Clearance

Here's another preview of what we did during the last 2 weeks of school. I'll elaborate more on each event later.

We went to watch the kids act out 2 Robert Munsch stories. Noe starred as the title character in "Mortimer" while Kaleb was the narrator for "Stephanie's Ponytail." They did a great job!

Father's Day Ties.

For the last day of school the kids got to wear their pajamas to school and they had a yummy continental breakfast party.

They came home that day with these funny "disguise" glasses. Teague's such a good sport!

Hair today...

...gone tomorrow! Noe chopped 15 inches off of her hair to donate to Angel Hair. We buzzed Kaleb and Gavin's hair off too!

Gavin has finally developed a taste for Dr. Seuss and fell asleep with Green Eggs and Ham.

Hooray! Now it's summer vacation and we're ready for some fun!

Unusual Weather We're Having

I have so many pictures to put on here, but before I get caught up I must make a little note about Mother Nature's strange behavior this week. On Wednesday, we had ourselves an earthquake here in Ottawa. The ground was rocking pretty good. Len was at work, the big kids were at recess at school, and the little kids and I were driving. I decided to not get on the freeway and took the long way home instead. I remember visiting San Francisco in '91 and seeing the collapsed on and off ramps, from the big quake in '89- so frickin' scary!

So then yesterday, we get some rain. Like flash flood rain! I'm glad we live up the hill from the river.

I don't know what to expect today, a tornado or a volcano erupting nearby?

Two Wolves

I received this e-mail this morning, and since my great-grandmother was a Cherokee Indian I decided to put it on here as part of my heritage.

*One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil- It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is Good- It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Is it Summer Yet?

The last of the seasonal wreaths has been hung and I am anxiously awaiting for summer! We still have 7 more days according to the calendar, but we have 12 more days until the kids are out of school. I can NOT wait for the care-free days of summer, where we can stay up later, sleep-in in the mornings, take a break from our routine, and have lots of unstructured fun!


I still want to post a million pictures from New York. I'll get them all on here someday. (Barlow ladies, I can't wait to see all of your pics on the Picasa album!)


To go to New York I had to wean Teague cold turkey. I had tried that whole month after his first birthday, but he would NEVER take the bottle. I was happy to keep nursing him, but then all of a sudden it was time to leave. The first day I was gone, Len said he was fine just not drinking. He ate lots of food, but again would never drink from the bottle or sippy cup. However, at 4 in the morning when he wanted to nurse and mommy wasn't home he finally decided the bottle wasn't such a bad thing. He's been doing great with the bottle now, but thank goodness he hasn't had to give up his thumb yet! From my perspective, it's always so hard to wean my babies. They're taking that huge leap from baby to toddler and you can't look back. It's hard to let your babies grow up!

The kids had their year end carnival at school. It was a blast with junk food, games, lots of bouncy/slide structures, and of course prizes.

Gavin won the best prize, this darling sunflower cake from the cake walk. I also made 3 cakes this week- 2 for the cake walk and 1 for... (you'll see later.)

I got to go with the kids on their field trip to the Museum of Civilization. The teacher just gave a small group of kids to each chaperone to take care of for the day. This was my silly group and we had a wonderful day together!

This was the other cake I made, for Leonard's birthday. How old is he? I'll never tell! We had a fun night visiting with friends, eating lots of dips, and playing The Great Dalmuti.

This past week revolved around our Ward's huge Garage Sale/Bake Sale/BBQ/Car Wash. I was up at the church for 2 nights helping set up, and Len was up another 2 nights. We donated a good chunk of stuff from our move, and I made all of the signs and posters, and of course baked. Saturday was the big day and I was up at the church for 6 hours helping run the bake sale and bbq, getting my car washed, and trying not to buy anything from the garage sale (in the end I bought a wooden puzzle of Canada that I had been looking all over for and I bought back 4 of the teddy bears I donated- yes, I'm a sentimental sap, but all the rest of our stuff went to others' good homes). This huge fundraiser is for the trip we're taking our youth on to Kirtland, Ohio (while also visiting Toronto, Ontario and Palmyra, New York). We are going to have a BUSY summer with Girls Camp, Tri-Stake Youth Conference, and our Church History Trip. Plus we'll be working on our movie for our Stake Film Festival. As soon as we jump over one big hurdle, the next is right there ready to be jumped. This is a very demanding calling and I'm trying my best to keep up.

*We will get to enjoy 3 weeks in August visiting our 3 fams out west. I am so looking forward to that! Happy Summer to all of you!

VIOLATED

As many of you know by now, my e-mail account got hacked yesterday by some evil, nasty person. Can you tell I'm upset? Luckily, Yahoo was aware of compromised activity on my account and locked it down for 24 hours. Hopefully this afternoon when I log back on I will find no permanent damage. However, I will be changing my e-mail address and will let you all know when I do. THANK YOU to all my dear friends and family that called yesterday to make sure I was okay. I am great (albeit frustrated), safe and sound at home. I have never been to Glasgow (although I hope to someday), nor have I ever been mugged at gunpoint (and I hope I never am- knock on wood.)

Takin' a Bite outta the Big Apple!

Warning: Do NOT read this blog post on an empty stomach!

I took almost 500 pictures during my 4 days in New York. I didn't know where to begin recording my fabulous memories. They always say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and I guess New York earned its way into my heart through my stomach too- ha! Here's a list of the fabulous places we munched on in the Big Apple:

Carmine's

We arrived in town Friday evening, and it was actually my Aunt Debbi's birthday. To celebrate we took her out to dinner at Carmine's. It's an Italian restaurant where the food is served family style.

My cousin Rachel, Aunt Connie, and Aunt Debbi

My cousin Lynn, my mom Linda, and my sister-in-law Whitney

My sisters Erika and Amanda and me! It was really difficult to decide not to take Noe. She would have had a blast with all of us girls (especially with Rachel), but she is still only 8 and I was worried she would get too worn out. In the end I am glad she stayed home. I wore myself out, and here we are eating at our 10:00pm reservation- she never would have made it! Plus, she is a twin and Kaleb really wanted to go too. It was nice for me to have a little break as "mommy" and got to enjoy some time as "Jennifer."

We feasted: 3 kinds of bread, Caesar salad, Chicken Parmigiana, Lasagna, and Penna Alla Vodka (pink sauce not alcohol). While we were there we also played the White Elephant Game with the bracelets I made for everyone.

Junior's

What could be behind this orange door?

Only THE best cheesecake in the world!

The 3 sisters

And all of their daughters

We visited the shop in Times Square, but when we were in Brooklyn we saw the original 60 year old restaurant. I wish we had time to go back for more, my slice of carrot cake cheesecake was divine!

Garrett's Popcorn Shop

This is a chain that is actually from Chicago originally. I'm glad they came to New York because they make some goo-ood caramel corn. Unfortunately, the bags I brought home to share with the kids spilled ALL OVER my suitcase. Let me tell you, it is NOT fun cleaning greasy, sticky popcorn out of your suitcase that is stuck to EVERYTHING! Luckily, none of my clothes got stained.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

While we were in Brooklyn we had planned on eating at Grimaldi's Pizzeria. However, the wait was over 2 hours and we were all REALLY hungry at this point. A handful of the above mentioned caramel corn was lunch. Next we tried to go to Bread & Butter, but when we got there, they were full. We changed plans again and were going to try Armando's. After reaching them, we saw Five Guys Burgers and Fries across the street. We had just had Italian the night before, plus we were wanting some FAST food. Oh, it was really good though! There were lots of toppings to choose for your burger, unlimited rootbeer, and the fries were all hand cut and there was a sign saying that our potatoes were from Waynard, Washington that day. We saw the truckload of potatoes from Rigby, Idaho for the next day too.

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory

For dessert we visited the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. It is nestled in an old 1920's fireboat house right on the Brooklyn waterfront. It served up yummy ice cream and charm.

There were only 8 flavors and I had a hard time choosing between peach and butter pecan. Butter pecan won out in the end and it didn't disappoint!

Lombardi's

After striking out at Grimaldi's the night before, we decided to head over to Lombardi's Pizza in SoHo for brunch. We were very clever and were seated right away. And by the way, this is America's FIRST pizzeria that opened back in 1905.

Aren't we a cute bunch of ladies?

We ordered a couple of pepperoni pizzas...

...and a margherita one too-delish!

Nuts 4 Nuts

After our Harbor Cruise we all grabbed some honey-roasted nuts: peanuts, almonds, cashews, and I got the coconut. I asked the vendor if I could take his picture and he made Aunt Debbi get in it with him. What a flirt!

Crif Dogs

You can't visit New York without getting a hot dog. We were a little leary though of getting some from a street vendor, so we went to Crif Dogs in NoHo. Apparently, they are the best weiner in New York.


It's a tiny, little hole-in-the-wall, but the place was hopping.

I ordered the Chihuahua, bacon-wrapped dog with avocado and sour cream with some tots!

The place was actually hopping more from this little accordian door inside. It leads to an old-fashioned Speakeasy from the Prohibition days called PDT (Please Don't Tell). You can only get in by calling ahead and making a reservation. I don't drink, so I didn't visit, but I do have their number if you want to visit them- shhh!

I have to mention that Aunt Debbi got hit on again by a man visiting from California, yes my aunt is a hottie.

Rice to Riches

For dessert we visited this ultra-modern, ultra-cute Rice Pudding Shop. There were lots of cute quotes all around inside. My favorites were, "If you want to look young and thin...hang out with old fat people," and "I'll diet when the earth runs out of food." This is my kind of place- tee hee!

I wasn't planning on getting any, but then I sampled it and had to get some of their "Understanding Vanilla." They had 17 different flavors to choose from, and I know vanilla is usually pretty boring, but this was so tastey!

Peanut Butter & Co.

I was heartbroken when we arrived at Peanut Butter & Co. and my tummy told me it was full-up, no second desserts for me.

This place was the complete opposite of Rice to Riches, it was very old-fashioned and homey, but very charming and quaint too.

The Barlows consider Peanut Butter to be a food group. Let me rephrase, Vanilla Ice Cream with Peanut Butter is a food group. My mom lived on it when she was pregnant with me, and to this day I adore it too. Even though I was full, I still sampled a bite!

They sold 6 different flavors of peanut butter too- Old Fashioned Smooth, Old Fashioned Crunchy, Cinnamon Raisin Swirl, White Chocolate Wonderful, Dark Chocolate Dreams, and The Heat Is On. My mom bought a case to take home with her- ha!

Not only does my mom love peanut butter, but she also loves Elvis. His recipe for Peanut Butter & Banana Sandwiches was up on the wall. I'll even give you the recipe:

2 large bananas

6 slices white bread

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

1 cup peanut butter

Peel and mash bananas. Mix peanut butter with bananas thoroughly. Toast bread lightly and spread mix on bread. Melt butter in skillet and brown sandwiches on each side slowly until golden brown.

I'll have to try it someday!

Levain Bakery

Another basement hole-in-the wall, with yummy treats inside. They only sell 4 flavors of cookies and they cost $4.00 each.

I chose the oatmeal raisin and it was the size of a muffin! It was a bit crispy on the outside and slightly gooey on the inside. It was good, but I'm still not sure if it was $4.00 good. It made a great breakfast though!

As I mentioned my trip to New York to my children's teacher, she told me she loves New York and that it is an addicting city. Yes, it is! I have to go back! If you've visited some good eateries in town, please tell me about them in my comments. When I visit New York again, I'd love to try out some new grubberies!

Quick Summary

My toes are blistered, my ankles are swollen, and I am exhausted from 5 nights' worth of lack of sleep. However, I had a WONDERFUL time visiting the AMAZING New York City with all of my "Barlow" girls! It was so nice to have a little break from real life too. I got home at 2:00 this morning and I'm back at the grind with another crazy-busy week, but I have many posts in mind already from our trip. Stay tuned, there will be more coming!