Papa Kelsey's subs are the best!

In Pocatello, Idaho there is a quaint pizza & sub shop called Papa Kelsey's.  My family lived in Pocatello when I was 4/5 and it didn't take long for us to get hooked on their delicious turkey, mozzarella, tomato toasted sub.  It is heavenly!  Eventually we moved away from Pocatello but we still stopped at Papa Kelsey's every chance we got and eventually they opened up more shops in other Idaho towns making it easier for us to satiate our craving.  But eventually we moved out of state to New Mexico were Papa Kelsey's didn't exist.  So we did the next best thing and learned how to make the best copy cat version we could.

When Curtis and I started dating I had heard rumors that a Papa Kelsey's had been opened in Mesa, AZ and I knew I wanted to take Curtis there.  After a memorable trip to the Renaissance Festival, we hunted down the new shop and Curtis experienced the goodness for the first time.  He ordered a different sub, but I couldn't bring myself to stray from the turkey mozzarella sub.  He soon realized why.  He was enjoying his sub a lot but he could tell that I was having a love affair with mine.  I eventually offered him a taste of my sandwich and he didn't want to give it back to me.

With all the wonderful tomatoes we have been getting from our garden I decided it was time to add this wonderful sandwich back into our menu repertoire.  And once again it was a big hit.  Nathan has been requesting them for lunch almost every day.  I found some bolillo buns at Fry's that are the perfect bread for this sandwich.  I get a kick seeing my 4 year old son devouring his Papa Kesley sub just like I did back when I was 4 years old.

I can't post this without passing on the goodness.  If you want to try a really good sandwich give this one a try.

Papa Kelsey Sub

oven roasted turkey breast deli meat

sliced mozzarella cheese

sliced tomatoes

sub sandwich buns

(my favorite are Fry's bolillo buns found in the bakery)

Heat oven to 350 or if you have a toaster oven just use that!

Spread each slice of bread with mayo.  Layer deli meat on one half (don't be stingy) and cheese on the other half.  Bake or toast till cheese is melted and the edges of the bread and meat turn goden brown.  I make up all the sandwiches at once and put them on a baking sheet to toast them up all at once.  When they have reached the desired toastedness, remove from oven/toaster and place sliced tomatoes on one half topped with the other half. 

Enjoy!

Busted!

Bracken has reached an "extra" mischevious stage, as in more than his usual level. If I don't hear him I need to find him and quickly.  On this particular occasion, I was helping Nathan finish up some chores and I realized with a slight panic, that I hadn't hear a peep out of Bracken for about 10 minutes.  Not good.  So I went on the hunt, walking from room to room calling his name and he wasn't answering back.  I know it is especially bad when he doesn't answer back to my calls, because that means he is hiding for a reason.  I found him crouched down in my dark closet with a NEW pack of gum.  He had succesfully unwrapped the plastic, ripped open the case and chewed/swallowed 3 sticks of gum.

He was caught red handed and he was tickled pink with himself.

He promptly offered to share with Nathan and I.

Oh my little Bracky!  What will you get into tomorrow?

Nathan's Boo Boo

The other night we experienced our second head wound only this time, Nathan was the victim and Dad was the culprit.

Curtis was getting Bracken ready for bed and they must have been having a grand time because there was a ton of giggles coming from the boy's bedroom.  Nathan couldn't stand the thought of mission out on some fun so he took off at top speed.  When Curtis saw Nathan fly through the door he immediately thought to put out his arm to keep Nathan from tackling Bracken, who was lying on the floor mid diaper change.  Nathan bounced back off of Curtis's hand like a bouncy ball on the kitchen floor and landed on his book shelf.  I head the bang from the kitchen and figured someone had gotten hurt, then I heard Nathan's scream, and then I heard Curtis say "Court, get in here, we need you!"  Curtis met me in the hall holding Nathan's head and I could see the stream of blood running down Nate's little neck. 

It bled a lot, really fast for such a small cut which is true to form for head wounds.  But luckily it also stopped bleeding almost as quickly.  I laid Nathan on his stomach on the bathroom floor so I could hold a rag to his wound to stop the bleeding and clean it up.  He was a good sport about the whole thing, and he felt especially comforted when I was holding the rag on his head.  The minute I would take it off, even for a second while I adjusted my position (there is not a whole lot of room on a bathroom floor) he would start to whimper, but the minute I put the rag back on his head he was fine.  I could tell the cut wasn't too bad but being that it was in his hair I also knew that a band aid wouldn't help any and I didn't want it to reopen and bleed while he slept.  So superglue to the rescue again!  Unfortunately I had just thrown out our old super glue due to an untimely leak in its tube that caused a bit of a mess in one of my kitchen drawers.  So Nathan, Bracken and I hung out on the bathroom floor while Curtis made a mad dash to Kmart for a replacement. 

The boys were tired because this happened right before bedtime.  After I gave Nathan his little blanky he relaxed enough to fall asleep on the bathroom rug.  I snuck away to put Bracken to bed and then went back to my post keeping the sleeping Nathan company.  Once I had my new super glue in hand, I finished up my doctoring job.  Nathan squirmed and whimpered in his sleep a little bit after I put the glue on his head, I guess it must sting some.  Because he squirmed I ended up gluing 2 of my fingers together which has got to be one of the most obnoxious feelings in the world.  Once the glue was dry we transferred Nathan to his bed and tucked the poor little guy in.  He slept fine and the cut didn't bleed during the night.  When he woke up the wound looked good and life went on as normal.

Now we just have to wait for that super glue glob to come off his skin.  This fuzz ball needs a hair cut in a major way, but I guess he'll just have to be fuzzy a little while longer!

Bedtime Gansters!

 What do you get when you have one silly Dad, 2 little boys stalling bedtime, and a couple of neckerchiefs?  Some wanna be gangstas...

...trying to be so menacing (and cute) that Mom will forget all about bedtime.

Bonding over Bagels

Here at our house we love bagels. I usually have a stash of sliced bagels in the freezer so we can enjoy them with breakfast or for a snack.  I almost always have cream cheese on hand too but there has been a shortage on cream cheese sales at the stores and I refuse to pay more than a $1 for a bar of cream cheese.  So for the last few weeks we have been eating bagels with butter.  My kidlets were missing their cream cheese.  Finally I found a deal for $1.25 a bar and I caved and grabbed some cream cheese and man were these two goofballs happy!

They had one of those rare moments where complete peace and harmony reigned as they sat on the garage door stoop and snacked on blueberry bagels.

If only a simple blueberry bagel with cream cheese could always bring these two together and help them see eye to eye.

"Millions of peaches, peaches for me!"

For 3 days I worked on putting up 64 lbs of peaches.  Last year I did 32 lbs of peaches in one day but my Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law helped me out for my first canning experience. This year I did it by myself several hours each day till I worked my way through all the beautiful plump peaches.

The kitchen was turned into canning central. Once I worked out my groove and routine the process went fairly quickly.   

Nathan snapped this photo of me peeling and slicing peaches to freeze for smoothies and cobblers.

Things I love about canning:

1. Nibbling on the delicious produce while I peel and cut.

2. Smelling the lucious aromas as the jams boil and simmer; licking the spoon after I fill the jars isn't bad either.

3. The soothing little rumble and tinkle of the filled jars boiling in the water bath.

4. All the finished jars filling up my cupboards!

And the product of my labors!

2 batches peach jam

1 batch raspberry peach jam

21 quarts (3 batches) of canned peaches

I have eaten canned peaches my whole life.  My Grandmothers and Great-Grandmothers always canned bottles of fruit.  I loved hiding in their walk-in-pantries, snacking on cookies/crackers and staring at the shelves lined with jars of fruits and vegetables.  And when we had a peach tree of our own or when we could snag large amounts of produce, my Mom would bottle up jars of peaches too.  But even if we didn't bottle our own, Grandma always sent us home with a case so we never went without.  The first several years of my married life I purchased canned peaches at the store.  I had forgotten the difference in taste between the store bought canned peaches and home bottled peaches.  I don't think I can ever go back to store bought.  Now that my cupboard is full of the next years supply of peaches I can rest at ease. 

Idaho - September 2011

Visting Grandma & Grandpa King in Idaho is always one of the highlights in our year.

I LOVED visiting my grandparents and my children are the same.

Grandma and Grandpa's house is a special place.

Here are some of the fun things we did:

1. Played outside! This included bike riding, scooter riding, jumping on the trampoline and enjoying the beautiful yard.  We also like to take walks around Malad, it is such a quaint little city.  A through Malad isn't complete without stopping in to visit Grandpa at the bank and snatching a few of his suckers!

2. We collected a wide variety of leaves from around the yard and had fun creating leaf rubs and Autumn crowns for Grandma King's Birthday decorations. Nathan was especially good at making leaf rub collages.

3. Bracken  spent a lot of time each day wearing his favorite accessories; Kendal's old football helmet and a red batting helmet.

4. The park, skate park and library are right across the street from Grandma and Grandpa and we enjoyed several trips to each.

5. Spending time with family is one of the best things about a trip to Idaho.  This time we saw a whole bunch of extended family the Sunday of Kendal's farewell.  All of my Grandparents were there which was very special.  Most of the King family was there as well as a good bunch of the Bluth family.  My sister Chelsea and her little boy James flew from Oklahoma and were there at the same time as the boys and I so we had great time being with them.  Chelsea and I really got a thrill seeing our kids get to know each other better.  We also enjoyed spending time with Aubrey, my youngest sister, and watching several of her volleyball games.

The little library in Malad is the cutest little library I have ever seen.  The boys love the fish tank of course and they also love the child size furniture.  Bracken insisted on having the ottoman; notice the batting helmet.

6. Spending time with cousins is wonderful.  I grew up having a great time with cousins on both sides of my family and I want my children to have the same opportunity.  James is such an adorable little boy, he really loves everyone.  At least once a day he would run up to me and give my legs a good squeeze, then he would squeal a giggle and run off back to whatever toy he was playing with!

7. The day we dropped Kendal off at the MTC we also had a nice visit with my Grandma King.  Nathan and Bracken have learned to love visiting her house as much as I loved it growing up.  For one thing Great-Grandma King has some cool toys, lots of movies, and lots of goodies to eat.  It was a beautiful day in Salt Lake City and Grandma and  Grandpa took the boys to the park while Chelea and I went to a craft store, because lets face it taking young children to any store is always an event.

My Grandma King and my sister Chelsea

8.  It was extremely special for me to be with my family the last week before Kendal left on his mission.  My boys adore their Tio Kendal and they really appreciated having this last visit with him.  Two years is a long time for little boys and they will both be much older and very different when he returns.  Not to mention that I will have another almost two year old on my hands that Kendal will have only known through pictures.  Kendal is the only boy in our family, and so far our only mission experience.  His setting apart was so amazing.  The Stake President ran it like a little church meeting just for our family.  Dad led us in a song, Chelsea said the opening prayer, each member of the presidency shared a message, and then they set Kendal apart, Mom shared words of wisdom and I said the closing prayer.  Listening to the setting apart blessing was extremely touching.  We all cried a lot.  But the blessing promised to Kendal were amazing, and I am glad that the Stake President had the foresight to assign Chelsea to be the scribe and she did a great job documenting the promises and cousel given to Kendal.  Later at home we shared another special moment when Dad gave Kendal a father's blessing, and again we cried a lot.  Then we stayed up late getting Kenal's last few things squared away, like hemming up his baptism pants.

9. On our way back to the airport in Idaho Falls we stopped and had a little picnic with Grandma, Chelsea and James.  One last fun activity for a week full of wonderful memories!

Airplane!

At the end of September the boys and I flew out of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport to Idaho Falls, ID. Nathan and Bracken were SUPER excited to fly.  This was Bracken's first flight, and Nathan's second flight experience.  During the days leading up to our flight Bracken would randomly yell with his arms straight up in the air "I goin' on airpane!"

I promised Nathan he could play angry birds while we waited in the terminal before boarding.  He would rather I leave him alone, instead of bother him to look at the camera. 

Flying in and out of small airports is awesome.  No hustle, bustle or confusion.  I was able to manoeuvre with both boys and our three carry on bags just fine.  Nathan was a trooper and pulled one suitcase all by himself!

They could hardly wait to board.  They could see our plane just outside the window and it was calling their names.

They thought it was totally awesome to board the plane outside.  I thought it was too, because you really felt like you were getting in a plane instead of just transporting yourself from one sitting area, down a tunnel to another sitting area.

Getting closer!

My little kidlets could have stared at this plane all day.  To be up close and personal with a plane this large was pretty much a dream come true.

Nathan called dibs on the window seat, which worked out really well the majority of the flight.  Bracken only trespassed into Nathan's space a few times to get some better views.

Bracken was fascinated with his seat belt.  For the full 20 minutes before we took off he simply latched and unlatched his belt.

The flight lasted a total of 90 minutes.  It was a breeze.  The boys ate their lunch that I packed, doodled in their notebooks (scribbled on the wall too, but luckily the washable marker came right off with a wet wipe), and played with the handful of toys we packed in their backpacks.  Nathan gave me a play by play commentary about everything he saw out his window.  At one point he exclaimed "Mom!  We are flying in a cloud!"  And sure enough we were!  He also asked what every stripe, dot, button, light, flap, crack, whoosh and ding was for.  Eventually I ran out of ideas and confessed that Mommy didn't really know that much about airplanes and he would have to ask an airplane professional some day.  We landed in Idaho Falls 20 minutes ahead of schedule, again another perk of small airports and airlines.  Grandma King and Tio Kendal were there to pick us up, and after one more "I go on airpane!" from Bracken we loaded into their suburban and headed down the road to Malad.

Conference Happenings

General Conference Weekend is a major highlight in my year.  It is a change of pace which helps charge my personal battery.  The spiritual nourishment is amazing and propels me on for the next 6 months till the next General Conference.  I love re-listening to conference talks throughout the week.  It is the best way for me to minimize the "worldy distractions" that clog my mind. And since several speakers counseled us yet again to be careful about the things/media/activities we allow in our lives, that can become those awful distractions, I think I'll keep it up. 

Enjoying General Conference with young children is difficult.  They don't want to sit and listen to church leaders talk for 2 hours, twice a day, for 2 days. That's a lot to ask especially for my 2 active kidlets.  Curitis loves to sit and soak in all the amazing and uplifting counsel and take copius notes.  So, like the good wife I am, I manage all the needs/requests/mishaps/tantrums/scuffles thus the need to re-listen to conference several times.  Curtis did do most of the cooking and dishes today so I think it was a fair trade.

 

Nathan was super excited to do some "Conference Crafts" as he lovingly calls them.  With the internet at my fingertips, I can find an endless supply of conference related activities to keep him busy.  Six months ago for the last General Conference I printed out a lot of packets.  But, they weren't really his thing yet.  He colored a few courtesy pages to make me feel good but he really only wanted to explore his 72 hour kit.  Every conference we pull them out to make sure they are up to date.  He enjoyes eating the old, hard fruit snacks and playing with the little toys and games he picked out to pack in the kit.  I was pleasantly surprised when Saturday morning he woke up jazzed to watch conference and do some crafts.  So I obliged and he meticulously went about coloring, cutting and taping.

When Nathan consentrates he does cute things with his lips.

And here is the finished product.

He made these during the Saturday sessions, and when we tucked him into bed Saturday night he told Curtis "Guess what Dad?  Tomorrow we get to watch more conference and make more crafts!" How cute is that!

Of course conference wouldn't be complete without a nap or two.

We rounded out the weekend with a delicious batch of oatmeal peanut butter chip cookies made by Curtis and a batch of bread made by me!  Thanks babe for ginding up more wheat for me!  There are a whole lot of yummy smells going on over here tonight.

And thanks to our amazing church, I can already listen/watch the entire confernce.  They get those things archived so fast these days.  One talk that really spoke to me was Elder Neil L. Anderson's talk about family and motherhood.  It's the first one I am listening to tomorrow!