I'm in love

How have I gone 44 years without locking eyes with this guy?

I'm a true cast iron convert. I am lovingly curing it and building up its non-stick properties. My other flaky teflon pans are crying in the greasy drawer under the oven. They know that our break up is just a formality at this point. I've met someone else.

Watercolor Love

I love watercolors!

They are so....forgiving.

And just as fun as making them....giving them away!

For Johnny:

Still looking for a home....

For Regina:

For Mom:

For Kaira:

I can't wait to paint some more!

Book of Mormon

Mark challenged Ethan to read the entire Book of Mormon. When he finished they'd go and look at the trucks he's been interested in buying.

I never thought he'd say yes.

But he did.

And now he's reading everywhere and with everyone.  He asked for help with Jacob 5....joined up with a missionary friend for most of the battle chapters. He left the house with an axe, a sword and some fresh salmon. I didn't say a word.

And now he has it in his heart. And that is WAY better than a truck.

Big Bull Creek Park

I don't use this word in connection with hikes.

Ever.

But this was ADORABLE.

So many archways and canopies. Hidey holes and picnic spots.

The kids did NOT, absolutely DID NOT want to go on a hike.

I do believe when it came right down to it, I said something like, "You think I can't make you go on this hike? Just watch me."  I may have threatened to cut off all access to wifi for the adolescent years.

Whatever.

I'm the boss.

I get stuff done.

And about 3 minutes into the hike, Laney was saying these actual words....and I quote..."Mom! Thank you so much for forcing me to come! I love it so much! I want to live out here!!"

ahem.

I told you so.

Mom KNOWS.

It was the perfect break from online school and piano practice and 20 minute walks around the block.

Mathew and the kite

oh...that sweet boy.

Thrifty crafters

I always want to do this...but I never do.

Except last year!! I remembered to go in after Easter and buy up some craft kits at a super discounted price.

Yeah, me!

So now we have something to entertain ourselves with for the entire afternoon.


Everly got to work on a bunny puppet.

My favorite thing about these kits are the lengthy instructions.

Aaand....the masterpieces!

Easter 2020

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful day. The kids got up at a completely reasonable hour and we maybe even slept in a bit. The woke each other up and took a quick peak at their baskets....

I'm not gonna lie...that fluffy green grass just makes my heart smile!

Of course, territory was marked before baskets could be handled by human hands...

We got dressed up for our sacrament at home. A couple of the kids were less than thrilled about that, but didn't put up much of a fight. Our family sacrament meeting was light years better that last week, I think it was mostly because of the ukulele hymn accompaniment.

The Easter Program:

Opening song: My Heavenly Father Loves Me

Mom and Anna on ukuleles

Prayer: Ethan

Sacrament song: The Miracle

Megan on piano

Sacrament

Talk: Dad

Talk: Mom

Closing Song: Gethsemane

Mom and Anna on ukuleles

Closing prayer: Laney

When we were done, we all headed outside to take a photo for Grandma Kathleen. She requested an updated one for her birthday. And you know what was weird? Wearing dress shoes! It's been forever. 

I think it turned out pretty cute! Especially considering that it was done with a timer on Mark's phone that we propped up on the ladder in the front yard. The all look so long! Our kids are sprouting up around us. 

The very moment the photo was taken, every one of us ran to change into the house to change into our quarantine uniform....comfy clothes and snuggly socks. We spent the rest of the day munching on our Easter baskets, doing puzzles, watching movies and polishing off the resurrection rolls we made the night before. 

What???!! UHmazing.

No idea how I missed that fact that Mathew was taking a birdseye view of our Easter dinner, but he did and so we have documentation of our cold rootbeer bottles and our ham dinner. We did manage to mix up our favorite pistachio yak, even with our limited ability to go out for frivolous groceries.

We were already stuffed and totally sugared up, but we always have room for a slice of Bunny Butt cake.

Oh. And it hailed! I guess we'll have egg hunts in the back yard another day. 

Can you see those little hail stones? Tootsie and Daphne made it inside just in the nick of time!

Exceeding expectations

Feast your eyes on this luscious grass!!

Easter cuteness.....achieved!

Zoom rehearsal

There is no such thing as a zoom rehearsal.

But there is such a thing as a zoom "let's catch up and swap recipes"....so we did.

I miss these guys.

But mostly I miss our 90 minute gab sessions followed by 30 minutes of actual rehearsal...where will ever find that again?

Big stuff....BIG

What's happening at the Hufford House, you ask?

Well.

Let me tell ya.

More eggs....

and more grass...

Whew!! How do we handle the pressure??

Getting something started

Through a strange series of events, I have been appointed the neighborhood social media coordinator.  At any other time, that would mean that I post reminders about neighborhood socials and moderate comments. 

Since everything has gone to heck in a hand basket...I find myself issuing chalk art challenges that go largely ignored. 

No worries...we Huffords will create Easter egg art at the park all by our lonesome....and it will be EPIC....just you wait.

It's starting to look like we will be needing facemasks to go shopping...so I thought I'd try to make a few.

I suppose it will do.

But I fell SO STUPID.

That's okay...at least my grass is growing.

Like a champ!

I finally understand how happy people must feel when they say "It's about as fun as watching grass grow"....SO HAPPY!

General conference weekend

General conference is different this year. There isn't anyone at the conference center...the TabCats aren't singing. The speakers are in a room with just a few others....sitting 6 feet apart. 

But we're still at home...making our treats and watching in our basement. We snagged a few of our favorites on our last grocery run. I have no doubt that lil' smokies and pop tarts would be considered essentials.

We used our time in between sessions to paint our eggs. This year we used watercolors!

Sunday morning we had just popped these beauties out of the oven when President Nelson announced a worldwide fast.....

I'm sure sighs of relief were uttered all around the world when he clarified that it wouldn't be today..... our cinnamon rolls and breakfast casseroles are safe. Grab the forks.

In other news...the grass has sprouted!

And Ethan's beard is officially braidable.

What a weekend.

Stuff we eat: Sweet potato and black bean tacos

Just look into my eyes....and KNOW.

This is very delicious food.

These are veggie tacos, people. VEGGIE....as in, vegetables. And Mark loves them.

They look like a lot of work, but they are absolutely worth it, because they last in the fridge for over a week and a single serving can be whipped up in about 4 minutes.

Recipe first!

One slight change....I have replaced the oaxaca cheese with shredded monterey jack. It's melty and perfect for these tacos. The cotija cheese is like a salty, dry mexican cheese you can buy at walmart in a bag...it's SOO good and it gives it the salty element that works so well in these tacos.

So...the salsa....it's fairly self explanatory. The only tricky thing is roasting the corn and poblanos.

If you have a gas range, just pop them in the flame for a few minutes, rotating them to get a good char.

The corn comes off when it looks good to you, the poblanos need to be pretty black, but not so much that they turn to ash. Once they have a good char, you put them straight into a ziploc baggie and let them sweat for few minutes. Then you can take them out and peel the black off with a pairing knife...its super easy...just lay it on the cutting board and scrape the side...they slide right off! Then cut off the top and scoop out the seeds.

Chop the corn kernels off the cob and dice up the roasted peppers....add to the rest of your salsa ingredients.

Dice the sweet potato and coat in olive oil, salt and pepper...roast in the oven for about 30 min....it took longer than I thought when I wrote the recipe.

Open a can of black beans and rinse.

Combine your cheeses.

So you'll have 4 different containers with these different elements. Just keep them in the fridge and you can throw together a yummy lunch.

Now...this is important...you need to do this...I promise you it will make these tacos your very favorite thing.

1. Heat up a pan...non-stick, cast iron, whatever....just make sure it's a pan you trust. Spray down some canola.  Sprinkle a little pile of cheese right on the pan....two if you're hungry.

Then put corn tortillas right on top. In a minute...lift up the edge and look at the cheese.

When it gets all crunchy and golden, flip it over!

When the other side is nicely toasted, just pop those beauties onto your plate and add sweet potato, black beans and a spoonful of the corn salsa...I like a couple slices of avocado too....

RIGHT????

Ridiculous good.