Graham Crakcer Crust

I just learned the coolest trick yesterday about graham cracker crusts. If you bake them, they don't fall apart! I was surprised that it worked so well. I tried a new recipe, too and it was delicious. So, for all you who love pies with graham cracker crusts, here goes!

11 whole graham crackers (I only used 10-a whole package)
5 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
3 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Turn graham crackers into crumbs (food processor or rolling pin.) Combine crumbs, butter, oats, brown sugar, vanilla and salt and stir until crumbs are moistened. Press mixture into evenly across 9-in pie plate. Bake in oven at 350 until crisp, about 7 minutes. Let cool completely before filling. Crust may also be wrapped tightly in plastic and frozen up to one month.

We had a banana cream pie and I wish I had a picture. It was a very pretty pie! It was pretty delicious, too. I really like the oats in the crust.

Motherhood (After hours)

So, I'm sure you are all wondering just what it is that I do after Sammi has gone to bed. As many of you know, Brent and I stay up quite late. So the question is just what do we spend our time doing? This last week and some it's been a puzzle. We were inspired by the puzzle Brent's family did during conference and thought we'd give it a go. We bought a puzzle depicting Philadelphia with 1000 pieces. We spent most nights this last week working on it. I'm quite pleased that we finished it so quickly.

As we started the puzzle it was so hard for me to make heads or tails of any of the pieces. We started by pulling out the edges and putting that together first. The more we looked at the picture to match up the pieces for the edge, the more familiar my eyes became with the shapes and colors of the puzzle. Then we moved to putting together the most prominent and distinct buildings and then finally moved to the smaller pieces. At the beginning I didn't think I'd ever see where the pieces fit for all the little houses and trees and boats, but by the time we got to that part of the puzzle, I was ready to see them and could easily place the pieces.

I feel like this puzzle was a great exercise in creativity for me. It opened my mind to patterns and colors that moved beyond the shapes of individual buildings. I think we may have to get our hands on some more puzzles...

Pigtails

Well, today marks a milestone in hairstyles. Sammi had her first true pigtails! From the front she doesn't appear to have any hair at all! But from the side, she's just cute as a button. Sammi is enjoying spending church in the nursery. She is playing well with the other children and learning the songs. I wish I could be there, but Brent says it's fun--more fun than trying to keep her quiet and happy in the "grown up" classes. Next week is the Primary program so Brent will have to negotiate Sam for all three hours! I hope it's not too bad. Since she loves kids and kids' voices so much, I'm hoping sacrament meeting will be much more entertaining for her.

Halloween Costume Possibilities

We've been planning Sam's costume for Halloween (not that I know where she'll where it!) but the other day it took a dramatic twist! She has discovered this adorable tutu that came from lilyannaforgirls.com (a company owned by our friend's sister) and has fallen in love with wearing it. On this particular day she was gracefully moving through the house in her tutu when she discovered the hat to her clown costume. Since she loves hats, she immediately wanted to wear it: a new costume was born!

Originally Sam was going to be a rodeo clown and I think she will still be. But this little concoction of an outfit, I think, is just adorable.

15 Months!

Sam is 15 months old now! She has 14 teeth and a scrape on her forehead. She has entered a new phase where her solution to everything is to cry. This is quite a bit more trying on my patience. The upside of this is that when she is happy, she is so animatedly happy. She seems to have fun playing with the kids she already knows, but is having a harder time getting used to new kids. I hope that doesn't last long. There are so many nice and cute kids at the library's story time but today she wasn't that happy about any of them sitting by her or wanting the book next to her! Fortunately kids have short memories and everything is okay in the end.

In other Sammi news, she has a bazillion words and uses them all to communicate her thoughts and wants. It's fun to finally get a glimpse into what she thinks about. She loves to be outside and frequently requests it by name. She also loves the bubble (especially since outside is a part of the bubble experience) and asks for "bubble." She's starting to differentiate between mom and grandma with "mommy" and "'nma" thanks to her wonderful grandmas. She still loves to play ball--especially basketball when Brent picks her up and she gets to make a basket. She never misses!

I can't believe how much she has grown, changed and learned over the last few months and especially since she was born. I can see why these are called the formative years because they form so much of their understanding of the world and how it works! It's a joy to be a mom and to have Sam as my daughter!