Allen Clan

This family was too easy to shoot + too pretty to be real life. It was cold and windy, but the kids were perfect regardless.

DANDELIONS + ORANGES

We are taking full advantage of this nice weather during tax season. I was nervous for tax season to start + having two kids this year. I won't say I'm rocking it. My house still has its days (weeks), I avoid ironing Zach's shirts until he is closet is close to bare + I have slacked off in the exercise department so much that I don't think it is fair to even say it exists.

BUT... The kids and I are not going stir crazy just sitting in the house starring at each other like I feared + we are happy. There are so many things I can fail at or not be perfect at, but if my little family of four is happy I'm going to call it a WIN. We have been up to a lot of fun things, a big thanks to those who keep us included: Zoo, Aquarium, Museum of Natural Curiosity, Park x 1000, Library (guys, I finally got a library card. I was always so nervous to go to the front desk + ask. So I would read books to Q at the library and then leave. Now we are allowed to take them home, it's like Christmas morning!), Discovery Gateway, IKEA x 1000, Target x 1000, Trader Joes, Gymnasitcs Class, Cinderella Movie, Playdates with friends + cousins, Picnics for lunch + dinner....We still find time for me to read lots of books from home, paint, color, play princesses, play pretend with the dollhouses + Netflix for Q every morning while I feed Emelia and get ready for the day.

We are Winning. Zach comes home every Monday night for FHE, which I have loved. During Scripture time Quincy says [1 Nephi 3:7 I will go and Do] [2 Nephi 2:25 Adam fell that men might be] ["Following the Prophet is always right." who says that? Sister McConkie, she is my friend] because when we try and teach her a new scripture she gets nervous about leaving the old one behind. I'm nervous to what scripture study will look like with her as a teenager if she has to recite every scripture she knows... could turn into a long night. But we love her for her sincerity + sweetness. She also still prays that we will stay dry-- that is probably why I can't remember when the last accident she had.


She is working on learning site words she has [the--and--to--little] down perfect and a few others half the time. She has lots of books memorized + if she wants to know what a word is she will ask, "What's that word say?" She knows her full name + Emelia's + can spell her first + is practicing on writing it. She knows her birthday as well as Emelia's. Sings + Dances. Goes to the stairs to have "Think about it time" at least 2 a day, usually for pushing Emelia over or not using a kind voice (whining). But will always yell to tell me when she is done thinking about it + is quick to make her amends.

Emelia is still as sweet as can be. She has a cute personality + really will do anything for a laugh. You can get her to laugh at pretty much anything. Q is her Idol. She hangs on her every word + move. She shows little interest in crawling but spends lots of time rolling, and she can roll fast. If I leave her on the floor in a room for a minute I usually come back to her under the bed or a chair laughing when she sees me. [Q and I call her our little rolly polly] She plays peek a boo if she ever has a blanket or towel in her hand. She waves hello, signs milk + is doing a great job with her infant potty training. Yes, I am crazy... yes, the haters are gonna hate for my parenting ways, but Q taught us so much + Emelia is doing better than Q at this age because of our trial and error with Q. I thought for sure I was not going to do it with E because Q showed the signs before I gave it a second thought. But turns out I really like it. Emelia also loves to eat and chews/drools on everything. She has two bottom teeth and her top teeth seem to be at the surface but not showing any signs of coming through. She is great with her schedule even though 1/2 of her naps she is required to take it in her car seat. She is our gem. She keeps me calm + makes me smile more than ever before. The girls love to be near each other, if I take E upstairs for her nap Q will ask 10 minutes later, "Where is Emelia?" She loves to be the one to go wake her up + always wakes her up with an energetic, "Hello pretty girl, are you not sleepy anymore?" They are "learning" to share + Q likes to give out hugs anytime she feels they were warranted.

That was long. I wish I could bottle both of them up and keep them at each stage forever.

Today, we had a picnic out in our backyard for lunch + while I was with Q picking Dandelions, Emelia stole an orange and was gnawing it with a death grip. We had to keep swapping out oranges when she would get a mouth full of orange peel. It was quite entertaining for both Q + I.

Love these lazy afternoons, I know they won't last forever when they become more involved with school + activities. So I am going to relish in them.

This is late...

This last winter, we went to Idaho with some of Zach's family and went and cut down our Christmas trees with my parents.
It was so warm and the kids loved riding the four-wheelers. My dad had hot chocolate and taco soup heated and ready for us at camp. My mom went up and found her tree immediately and Zach switched his mind on ours 100 times… but it was perfect! Q loved it- her favorite part being pulled around the sled in the parking lot by Grandma.

You are my sunshine

I had to teach a YW lesson yesterday on, "Why the choices I make matter" with a twist on family history because we have been emphasizing that in the last month or so. Not the easiest task… I was pulling a lot out of no where to get them to work out for these girls, but I think I got the point across. Er… maybe. But my final twist was how doing family history work is bringing happiness and sunshine into the lives of those who have previously passed on and are waiting for their work to be done. In return, bringing happiness and sunshine into our own lives. I know it's a stretch, but the point is I can't get this quote out of my head today. I now have an urgent desire to try and bring sunshine into the lives of others. It's the worst when you are trying to get your point across to everyone else and it lands with a slap in the face to yourself.

Bytheway I printed this off on a 1/4 sheet of paper, punched two mini holes at the top and tied a white or yellow ribbon on it so the girls could take it home and hang it somewhere.

WELCOME HOME MIMI & PAPA

Quincy's Mimi & Papa {Zach's Parents} went on a vaca for about 2.5 weeks and she missed them. Every time I would mention Mimi & Papa or show them a photo they sent us she would look around for them. So it only made sense to take a few photos of her with a sign to welcome them home, we put a few around their home for them to find.

At first I tried to get her to stand and she kept walking toward me laughing, cute, but hard to get her in focus. So I ended up getting her to sit with pumpkins next to her, she thought they were the best!

Welcome home MIMI & PAPA!!!

Conference Prep & Lazy Foods...

Lately, I have had zero desire after working all day either away from home or at home, to cook dinner. And mainly just cleaning up after. So I made burritos and ham and cheese pizza hot pockets to freeze. I started around 8pm (not the best decision) and I think I made it to bed around 2 am. But while waiting for the hot pockets dough to rise I decided it was a good decision to make zucchini bread.

We had made brown rice that night for dinner so I took the leftover and mixed diced tomatoes, onions, and spices with it. I spread a mix of hot sauce/greek yogurt down on the tortilla and then the rice mixture, refried beans, black beans, bell peppers, and cilantro. Folded them and then wrapped them in aluminum foil, labeled them with markers and in the freezer they went.

The hot pocket recipe I found off of this blog

Hot Pocket Dough- makes six 6 inch pockets
1 C. Luke Warm Water
2 T. Olive Oil or Canola Oil
1 t. Sugar
1/2 t. Salt
3 C. Flour (I usually do Half all-purpose and half whole wheat or all whole wheat flour)
1 1/2 t. Yeast

Dough by Hand:
Dissolve Yeast in warm water. Add Oil, Sugar, and salt. Slowly mix in flour and knead. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes.
Dough in Bread Machine: (this is my favorite because you can throw all the ingredients in and set the dough cycle and get some other things done while it’s doing the work for you!)
Add ingredients in order your bread machine specifys (for example: for mine I need to add the liquid first, then dry ingredients, and then form a well and pour my yeast in). You don’t want your dough to raise for more than one hour. Most bread machine dough cycles will “beat” down the dough and you’ll want to take the dough out before it does that. Consult your users manual for timing and instructions on how to put the ingredients in.
1. Pre-heat oven to 375
2. When dough is ready, separate it in to 6 portions. If you want to be really exact, you can weigh the dough. I usually just eye ball it.
3. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thick circles.
4. Let dough rest for 5 minutes.
5. Put 1/4-1/2 cup worth of filling. If you’re making all the same kind of hot pockets mix all your filling items together and use a scoop to fill the pockets.
6. Fold dough in half over the filling and clamp edges with fork.
7. You can brush the tops with an egg white wash (1 egg white beaten with 1-2 T. water) if you want them to look really professional! (I usually don’t because I think they look delicious with out the hassle. Besides I can’t ever figure out anything to use that one egg yolk in and I hate to waste it!)
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 375.

I had just canned home made marinara sauce so I mixed some with pizza cheese blend, cubed ham, and bell peppers. Yum! We reheat them in the microwave and then throw them in the oven to make them crispy on the outside.

I also made a handout for the YW to remind them of conference. I printed them and then dip dyed the top in food coloring. I dried them in the microwave for about a minute and then dipped again to get an ombre effect. I made these at 11 pm the night before and only had card stock, so next time I would use "real" paper to dip in liquid. Once they dried I actually flattened them a little in a paper towel with my flat iron. Probably not what my flat iron was designed for, but it also probably wasn't designed to iron my clothes or Quincy's... but I do it. I use a real iron for Zach's because he has to look like a grown up.

And we were able to plant flowers at the Draper Temple and Quincy got to accompany the YW. I always stress about having to take her to things like this wondering how it will end up and 90% of the time she is flawless, this being one of those times. She just sat in her stroller watching us and then I took her for a little stroll while the girls were listening to one of the temple workers. Conference Weekend here we come!

Happenings at the ZOO

My neighbors are really great about organizing and planning activities to do with our littles. Two weeks ago we went to the zoo, it was Q's first time and I was stoked to see what she thought of it. She was pretty impressed, she started in her stroller eating her blueberry scone from Starbucks and sharing Mom's steamer. When she found out walking was an option, the stroller got the boot. Her favorites were by far the Polar Bear and seals, but the monkeys came in a close second. She was so sweet and made the noises of each animal she knew. She also pulled my hand as if to hurry me along to keep up with our group when I wanted to stop and take photos of her. We have got to make the most of the last of our warm weather outside because all too soon it will be too cold for Q to play outside all day, and when I saw Q I mean her Mama.

This last look is the, "but I want to swim with them...."