Jolly Rancher Ornaments

I was really excited when I saw a craft in this months Better Homes and Gardens that I might actually be able to do and that would be fun to do with the kids - ornaments made out of Jolly Ranchers! (This would also be useful, seeing as how my children have managed to break quite a few glass balls over the past few years.) They made it sound soooo easy - just "spritz" a cookie cutter with cooking spray, fill half way with candy and bake at 350 for 7 minutes.


Well, two days, a ruined cookie cutter and a major laceration later I had successfully made ONE stinking star ornament (and a birdhouse). And even that one had to have a tip repaired. When jolly ranchers are melted then cooled in a shape with sharp points, it's like working with glass. Fragile and dangerous. And really kinda pretty. So we melted and remelted and twisted and shaped and came up with these abstract ornaments instead. And I can sleep easy at night knowing that no one is going to call me up to demonstrate this on national television.

Oh Victoria!

I had really been hoping to celebrate Thanksgiving in Peru this year, but I decided to do right by Cruz and opt out of the trip to go pick up our favorite manny-turned-missionary, McKay. But I still couldn't resist going on a trip so we hopped on the M.V. Coho and took a trip to visit our neighbors to the north.

Once we boarded, Ben assumed his usual posture for travel.

One of the best things about vacation, and I'm sure most will agree, is that you are pretty much required to eat out. So we did.

Avery got to experience a proper high tea.

Chinatown. Where this family of 5 shared take out noodles from one box, with one fork while standing on the sidewalk. We are a class act let me tell you.

The Empress.

Floating houses at Fishermans wharf.

Sealife.

Parliament building at night and harbor ferry waltz to Nutcracker Suite.

It's a good thing.

When I know of a video clip I will post it!

Martha and Sara.

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There's nothing that will get me up and blogging like someone I know being on TV, and this one may be the holy grail of television appearances. So set your DVR because Sara Westbrook is going to be on The Martha Stewart Show. On THANKSGIVING DAY!! Hallmark Channel. Check it out. Her name is even on the website! Speaking of websites, you won't be sad if you check out Sara's http://www.onecharmingparty.com/. I'm so happy to have known her before she was famous. ;)

Gather some paper bags and craft along, they are going to be making this. This is a pairing that was meant to be.

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PS- Sara, can you ask Martha how to properly load silverware in the dishwasher?

Practice makes perfect

It's never to early to start.

Reading. And Read (past-tense).

Welcome to the August -November meeting of the LW Book Club...

My Lobotomy. By Howard Dully.

Wow. And Yikes. Interesting story. The story more interesting than the writing. Although it's a fairly quick read, I think it was a little too long for what it was. So if you're interested you can click on the book image at left to go to the NPR segment on it that started the whole thing.

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Gifted Hands. By Ben Carson, MD.

True story of his life. I'm pretty sure there is a made for TV movie of this book which I haven't seen but his story is great. It chronicles his rough childhood being raised by a single mother (who is undoubtadly to be credited for much of his success) through to numerous surgeries he has performed as a neurosurgeon. It sounds cheesy, but if you don't believe in miracles, you may after reading this book.

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Seattle Kitchen. By Tom Douglas.

Yes, I read cookbooks. Especially if they give you hints about places to eat where you live. This is a good one - the recipes and the suggestions. I can't remember what I made out of here but it was good. Oh yes I do, Corn Bread Pudding.

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Ad Hoc at Home. Thomas Keller.

I love everything about this cookbook. It's size, the photographs, the recipes, the prose. Delicious.

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Stumbling on Happiness. By Daniel Gilbert.

Saw this book on the Tovar's blog was intrigued by this blurb, so I checked it out at the library. It's about the psychology of happiness, written by a dazzlingly witty author. And I would really love to finish this book because it's such a pleasure to read but someone who I guess wants to be in my bookclub stole it from me and I haven't seen it since. By the way Ben, it's overdue.

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No Man Knows My History. By Fawn Brodie.

This is a loooonnng book, full of detail. So I am not done with it yet, and not sure if it will go the way of another very looonnng book about Joseph Smith - Rough Stone Rolling - and never be finished by me. Not for any reason except that I have limited reading time and a reading wish list that is quite extensive. Plus, although I am finding it interesting, I am growing weary of Ms. Brodie's attitude that is omnipresent. As if she wrote the entire thing with a smirk on her face. Let's just say, she don't like Joseph Smith. And she made sure to gather much of her research from like-minded folks. It's like using Kanye West as a resource for a biography of George W. Bush.

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The Year of Living Biblically. By A.J. Jacobs.

The premise of this book intrigues me. I am not very far into it - probably because it's the kind of book I want to read excerpts of out-loud to someone, but my someone is rarely home. So it's slow going so far for me. Hopefully no one is waiting for me to return it to the library because I keep renewing it I think this would make a great movie/documentary. And apparently Brad Pitt does too because it looks like his production company is working on it. Which is great. I just hope to finish it before it hits theaters. Here is a fun list of some of the "rules" he had to follow to fulfill his quest.

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Get Me Out. By Randi Hutter Epstein, MD.

Another winner for me. Just look at the cover. I love it. This is a history of childbirth from the beginning of time to today. It is so interesting. I need more people in my bookclub because I want to have play by plays of this one with someone too. Two thumbs up for fun, factual, sometimes disturbing info about making and having babies.

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The Freud Reader, By Peter Gay.

I'm just including this because it's in a pile of books I am looking at. I just got it to cross reference some facts in another book I was reading. This collection probably has some interesting theories in it. And may give me insight into why my carrots grew the way they did.

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In-N-Out Burger. By Stacy Perman.

The subtitle is "A behind the counter look at the fast food chain that breaks all the rules". I read two pages and realized that I didn't want to read about In-N-Out. I just wanted a hamburger.

Carrots.

Frankly, I'm a little afraid to pull up any more.

June/July/August/September ("Summer") Recap

Ben - Ben had a particularly eventful summer. While still working full time he managed to:

Take a flight with his brother Nate (formally known to many as Nathan and to others and even more formally by his maiden name Nathan Kalana-Westbrook) piloted by the head nurse in the ENT clinic.

The two also took a rafting trip. Neither trip resulted in a payout of life insurance funds - which may or may not be a relief - I need to see what the going rate is these days.



We have an entire CD of pictures from the trip and in each one Ben's mouth is wide open. Cracks me up.

Here he is gallivanting on American Lake with his colleagues, on a weekday nonetheless.

And still another workday resulted in this fine catch. And a lot of sea-sickness I hear.

He also spent a month in Iowa for an work-related course, which was probably more fun than it sounds, at least it is if you like Wagyu beef. This trip also gave him the chance to visit Chicago.


Avery - Started first grade, is wearing skinny jeans* and is playing the violin (which is going much better than I had expected. my ears aren't bleeding...yet). She made a brief attempt at Tae-Kwon-Do but when she realized she wasn't going to get to do any real fighting the allure wore off. Plus discipline is not really her thing. What else... basically this is what Avery's summer looked like:

* Quite possibly the worst moment of motherhood to date when she asked "mom- can I get skinny jeans?" Actually, scratch that, it's a distant second to when she asked if I knew who Lady Gaga is. (When I played dumb she kind of let me know that while she knows who she is, that maybe she shouldn't tell me - to protect my impressionable old mind I'm sure. Uncle Nate was there to witness this interaction.)


Miles - Is still on a sheep riding high. Which is funny considering the rest of the summer he spent preferring to do yoga over sports like t-ball or soccer.

Cruz - All he cares about is where his next meal is coming from. And if it's going in your mouth then he wants it too. Nevermind that he has no teeth. (Actually he just sprouted two last week, started sitting up and does a mean inchworm)

Me - Well obviously while Ben was having all the fun this summer I was responsibly taking care of house and home. (Okay I managed to squeeze in a longish trip to CA and CO)

Britt - Because only Britt's events rival Ben's...I think it went something like this - Vegas, New York, Cabo, Yosemite, Colombia (the country of), Seattle then topped it off with a RV trip from CA to Oregon. And she also managed to work full time. But she couldn't win Wipeout.