The Office

No, not my favorite NBC show, but my actual home office. Claire is usually with me two days a week while I work- and I basically let her play with whatever is around that will keep her attention. I let her take every last thing out of a previously organized basket, folder, file or really anything because I know she will take everything out one at a time, giving me time to finish that all important email... really, not that important in the long run, but for the short-term it's paying the bills.

Anyway, here is Claire playing with her office "toys" - a great box. We don't have a ton of toys for Claire - mostly because I think so many toys are loud and annoying. Matt put together Claire's bouncy swing months ago and purposefully left out the batteries so it wouldn't light up and play music every time she bounced. She is probably missing out on critical auditory development, right? Well, she does dance to music all the time so something is working. I'll have to try to get that on film -her little shake-shake is soooo cute!

Summer Recipes

Some things just taste better in the Summer - BBQ being one of them, and anything with veggies or fruit. Here are two recipes my friend Jen gave me that I wanted to share - I have tested them and they are delicious!


Texas Caviar
1 10-16oz pkg. frozen corn (let it thaw or just rinse it)
1 can black eyed peas (drain & rinse)
1 can black beans (drain)
2 green peppers (chopped fine) <- sometimes I just use one
1 purple onion (chopped fine)
8 roma tomatoes (chopped small)
1 bunch cilantro (chopped fine)
Italian Dressing - half a bottle
2 limes juiced
Cumin to taste
salt & pepper
avacado (optional, I usually don't use it because it looks gross if you have leftovers)

Serve with corn chips.



Wagner Salmon Marinade
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. sugar
2 T. Ketchup
1 tsp. Mustard
1/2- 1 tsp. Onion Powder
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 1/2 T. Sesame Oil

I usually mix it in a fairly large glass bowl and then slide the salmon into it, making sure some of the marinade is all over the salmon. Then I cover with plastic wrap, and after an hour or two I will flip the salmon. Best if the salmon is marinated for at least 3 hours.

Day with the Hiller Cousins

Claire got to spend the day with Ethan and Noah on Monday - we are doing some creative childcare arrangements this week, and Aunt Jen was willing to babysit.

Here are some pics from their day together - sooo cute!

A Veritable Smorgasbord

As a kid we loved to watch Charlotte's Web (the old school version with music), especially the scene where Templeton the Rat eats his way through all the food at the State Fair and ends up rolling his way back to Wilbur.

That's kind of how I feel right now, having just returned from the deep-fried goodness that is the Orange County Fair. It seems like the booths are just trying to top each other for total meal calorie count. Not to brag or anything, but here is the list of non-weight watchers approved food we indulged in during the 7 total hours we spent at the fair (we shared most of these things, lest you think I ate all of this alone):

1. Tempura onion rings
2. Fruit smoothie (ok, sort of healthy)
3. Soda
4. Huge sausage hot dog from the World's Largest BBQ (that's what the sign said so I have to believe it's true)
5. Corn dog with ketchup and mustard
6. Lemonade
7. Chicken fingers and fries
8. Chicken and veggie kabob with ranch
9. Ice cream bar
10. The fried Snickers bar - it looked like a corn dog - sweet batter around it, on a stick. It was actually really good!

My dear friend Denise has a face painting booth at the OC Fair so that is really the reason we go - the fried Snickers bar I had yesterday is really just the icing on the cake.

I also got to see my friend Stephanie and her cute little man, Ryan.


Claire and Ryan hung out a bit - I think once they are a bit older their interaction will be better than Claire stealing Ryan's toys and Ryan pulling Claire's hair. It was really fun to see him for the first time and experience being mommy's with someone who I've known since the first grade.

More cute photos from the trip:

A trip to the World's Largest Thermometer in Baker, CA


Watching the animals



Loving the Weather - 75 degrees


Breakfast with Denise

Reflections

Just thinking this morning about a very tragic incident that happened in my hometown of Placerville, CA on Thursday - a woman that has been in my parent's ward for years was shot and killed while helping her daughter move into a home close by my parent's home. The woman had been evicted and was angry about it, enough so that she decided to shoot and kill the new tenants.

Our friend was able to call 911 after being shot, her daughter had already passed away. But then she died on the way to the hospital. I was not close personal friends with either of them, though we have known their family since I was a kid and they have always shown us the greatness kindess. Yet I am seriously disturbed and upset by the idea of this sweet woman gunned down in our seemingly peaceful rural community.

I feel humbled at the thought that our lives are so fragile, and also not always under our control - others can affect us too. They have their own moral agency that allows their actions to impact us through no choice of our own.

While sad at this loss, and upset at the way Jan left this world, I know this life is not the end of our existence. It puts things into perspective for me, and I want to live each day like it's my last, as cliche as that might be. I love you all and am so grateful for family and friends - thank you for your impact in my life.

Girls Camp

Girls Camp for our ward was last week - we went to Camp Potosi, traditionally a Boy Scout camp, about 45 minutes or so from Vegas. So still hot, still the desert. I went up one day - Thursday. We totally lucked out - we got cloud cover and even a few sprinkles of rain to cool us off. I guess the other days were really hot.




Rachel Walker was our camp director with Margo Carlson as the cook. Shelly Melgar and I were moral support. :) But I was left to wonder - was I like this as a kid? After you read this short list of things I observed in my 8 short hours at camp, I hope the answer is no:

1. Farting contests
2. Vomit conversations
3. Screaming over and over - get me some licorice! when the container is 6 feet away
4. Crying over not knowing the rules to Uno (who doesn't know the rules to Uno?!)
5. Discussions of how long it has been since they showered, said with pride
6. Tripping and falling - a lot
7. Tripping and falling - into a cactus
8. Plotting pranks that involved snipe hunting, honey in shoes, and feathers brought from home (totally pre-meditated - too much Law and Order for me? Maybe).
9. Running away from camp because of disgust at #1 and #2
10. Fighting over pizza brought up by the Bishopric - who only brough 3 pizzas for about 15 people. Girls eat more like boys than they realized...



All in all it seemed like the girls had fun - I think the honey and feather prank pulled that last night landed them in some hot water, but I guess that's all part of the experience. What will next year bring?!

Teeth!

Yes, I am starting to wean Claire... Reasons? See below.

First Pedicure

I have been waiting so long to paint Claire's toenails - I guess doing it when she was immobile would have been easier, but she just seemed too little before. Maybe she's too little still, but it is dang cute!

Menu Ideas

With my fam in town this past week, I realized that I really do like to cook for people, especially when I know exactly what will be on the menu and I have all the ingredients I need at my fingertips. So I think the key to actually enjoying making dinner is advanced planning, at least for me. So, my sister found this list while she was here of meal ideas that I had on a pad of paper -I thought I would share the ideas - you can find your own recipes or versions online. I prefer All Recipes for new ideas. And I also got this link to a site with a weekly meal worksheet, with menu ideas on the second page.

So, in no particular order, here are 25 main course ideas that have made their way to the Hiller house at one time or another:

1. Soup/salad/sandwiches
2. Roast and potatoes/carrots
3. Tacos (shred leftover roast for taco filling)
4. BBQ beef sandwiches (another use for leftover roast)
5. Sliders - mini hamburgers, turkey burgers with tons of toppings
6. Baked potato bar
7. Taco salad
8. Chili
9. Spaghetti and meatballs
10. Meatball subs (leftover from above)
11. Pita pockets - meat, veggies, cheese
12. Pizza - I buy ready made wheat dough at Trader Joes or Fresh and Easy
13. Mini pizzas - english muffins for crust
14. Lettuce wraps
15. Quesadillas - try different flavors like BBQ chicken, marinara sauce with cheese, etc
16. Enchiladas - layer ingredients instead of rolling for a faster version
17. Thai noodle salad with peanut sauce
18. Cobb salad - use sliced chicken fingers and hard boiled egg
19. Salmon with steamed spinach and lemon
20. Stir fry with veggies and rice (Yoshidas Gourmet Sauce - the best!)
21. Paninis - great use for leftover meats, add cheese and heat
22. Omelettes or quiche with fresh fruit
23. Chinese Chicken Salad (buy coleslaw mix to save time on shredding cabbage)
24. Chicken and artichoke hearts - baked
25. Pork chops baked with applesauce/apples

4th of July Recap

My mom came into town on Monday night and stayed through the 4th of July - I called her on a particularly trying day and just needed some help from my mom. Ever have a day like that? So she booked a flight and two weeks later came out to visit us.

I was talking to my sister, who came down this week with her husband and daughter (who turned 2 on the 4th - what a fun b-day to have!), and we both agreed that you don't truly appreciate your mom, or I guess really understand her until you are a mom yourself. I think I discovered how much she did for me once I went away to college, but that's different from what I'm talking about. I just look at Claire and how much I love her, and I think - please don't be mean to me someday, like I was mean to my mom... I don't think I was the worst kid out there, but I sure could have shown more gratitude and respect towards my mom and her sacrifices for our family. Anyway, this is turning into a Mother's Day tribute more than a 4th of July recap. Thanks for coming to visit Mom!!






We had a great time - even with Claire being a bit sick during the week. My mom watched her for me on Tues and Wed, then I had Thurs and Fri off - a wonderful, much-needed 4 day weekend. We went to the Bellagio (patriotic theme), had a photo shoot with Claire and McKinley - where every single photo with both girls was a struggle, watched fireworks go off at Red Rock Station (amazing!) and went swimming. Becky and Danny also got in some geocaching (sp?)- just too darn hot for me to get out there though.



I think Claire misses the extra attention of Grandma and Aunt Becky - she is being a stinker lately. Or maybe it's cutting two new top teeth - for those counting at home, those make 6 teeth. And she's only 9 months!!

Few More Pics

Family Time

Some recent pics of dinner at the Hillers last Sunday - Evie is almost exactly one year older than Claire, so she is my little time machine to see how big Claire will be in the coming months.

Evie and Claire


MeMa and Claire


Grandpa and Claire