Thunder Cake

Addison's class read the book "Thunder Cake" by Patricia Polacco. I had never read this, but I love some of her other stories (The Keeping Quilt, Betty Doll). The story is about a young girl who is afraid when a thunder storm rolls in, but her "Grandma insists that this is Thunder Cake baking weather and the two are soon scrambling to gather the ingredients to make the cake--and get it into the oven before the storm arrives".

There is a recipe for Thunder Cake in the book which calls for pureed tomatoes! We had to try it. Addison and I baked it last night and took it into his class today. The kids loved it, and no one complained about eating a tomato!
http://www.recipezaar.com/171669
(This recipe has a link to a chocolate buttercream frosting that we also made that was delicious!!)

I remember being so afraid of thunder and lightning when I was little. When a thunder storm would start, I would always head for the "down-downstairs" - an office below the lower level of our home. I couldn't hear any thunder or see any lightning down there. I remember midnight thunder storms that woke me in a panic and sent me running to my mom's bed. I remember being a 13-year-old cheerleader, hearing thunder boom, and running off the field to my mom. Somehow all of the reassurance she gave me must have conditioned me to feel happy and safe during a storm, because now I can think of few things that make me feel the way watching a storm does.

Addison, the chef.
This recipe called for shortening, which we don't usually have around. Addison wanted to taste it because, really, it does look like white frosting. I almost let him, (remember dad and the AlkaSeltzer/Sprite trick?... I do) but decided against it.
He was a little skeptical when the tomato puree was added to the mixture!
It turned out great! It was a little dry, but I attribute that to my poor baking skills and over cooking. I'll try it again, because it really did taste delicious!

His class loved it! I love the little girl sitting next to him. She is such a doll.

April Conference

Conference Sunday was great this year. Addison is old enough to actually watch and listen (pretty much) and I was able to knit on my slippers. Amy sent me the best conference packet ever. I loved this one because, not only did it have coloring pages, word finds, and bingo, but it had activities that were really geared toward helping kids listen to the talks... and they were actually fun! In one activity you colored a tie for each apostle that spoke to match the tie they were wearing. Then, there was a space for you to write what they talked about. The packet was really geared specifically for this conference, but there were plenty of things that could be used again.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2438115/April-2008-Conference-Packet1

Addison's Baptism

Addison was baptized in Utah on March 22. We were so lucky to be able to have so many people there for it. Jen and Brad came from Arizona. Doug and Shellie came from Montana, and everyone in Utah was able to come, too.
Addison's only concern about getting baptized was that water might go up his nose. He practiced plugging his nose quite a bit. Everything went smoothly - no water up anyone's nose. Uncle Dean and Aunt Andrea spoke. Emma sang "When I Am Baptized". Grandma Brenda bore her testimony, and Grandma Marge and Aunt Linda provided the music.
Afterward, we all went to Grandma Marge's house for lunch and more birthday.

Just before the big event. I love his toothless grin!

What a cute family! All of your kids are taller than you Shellie! (almost)

Grandma was so sweet to let us all invade her house.

We were so happy to see Matt, Cortnie, and Jack. We miss you guys!

Addison loves his Grandma and Grandpa.

... and his dad!

Ok. So there is another picture of Dean and Amy's family that I could have posted where everyone is smiling and looking at the camera, but this is so Eric. I love it!

And this...? Who took this? I am waving a knife... No one looks alarmed or surprised. Mom and Amy look like they are about to scold me and Linda looks like she's thinking..."here she goes again". I have no idea.

ChaCha Is The Best!

When Ellen and I were at Sundance, we learned about ChaCha, one of the sponsors of the festival. It's my new favorite thing. You text a question to ChaCha (242-242) and they send a text back with the answer. You can ask it anything! Movie times, recipes, basketball scores... anything. Today, after eating at Chili's, I texted to see how many calories were in the Quesadilla Explosion Salad (980 - yikes!). I also love it because Addison will keep himself occupied for long periods of time with it. He loves to send crazy questions and wait for the answers (of course I have to read all questions before they are sent). Check it out!

San Francisco with Dean and Amy

We spent a lot of time in San Francisco in March! Dean and Amy flew to San Francisco for a weekend and we met them on Saturday. We went to the aquarium, Fisherman's Wharf, took a boat ride around the bay (and Alcatraz), walked down Lombard Street, and went to dinner. It was a lot of fun. Addison has become obsessed with Alcatraz. He sends text messages to Cha-Cha at least twice a day asking questions about it. Who was the first prisoner? Who was the last prisoner? How many guards were there? He's crazy about the place. Weird.
Anyway, we were glad Dean and Amy let us crash their vacation!

Addison and Aunt Amy rode the carousel on the pier because mom gets too sick. Good thing he's got Aunt Amy. She's good for lots of things, including Star Tours and merry-go-rounds!

Man, I wish I'd taken my sunglasses off.

Amy and I are buying this house on Lombard Street soon. If anyone wants to come visit, just let us know.

This is in the middle of Lombard Street. (Notice the Alcatraz bear in his hand.)

Dragons From The Parade

The parade was so cool! We loved the dragons. It was dark, so my pictures aren't great, but it was the best parade I've ever seen.

Chinese New Year in Chinatown

We went to Chinatown in San Francisco for Chinese New Year. It was a super cold and rainy day, but it was still a lot of fun, and really crowded! We walked around Chinatown for a while before the parade. Of course, there were lots of things to see and buy. Addison got a cool new ninja sword. We ended up cold and wet, but we had a blast and found a really good restaurant (House of Nanking).

Addison has always wanted to take a ride in a taxi, so Tom parked a couple of miles away and we took a taxi to Chinatown. Addison thought it was pretty cool. On the way back, Tom thought we were being driven in the wrong direction and I got a little nervous, but the taxi driver knew what he was doing and we arrived at our car safely.

We love Linda!

They look pretty ragged... and this was at the beginning of the day! I promise we had fun!