Baby on Board

I've been waiting along time to make this announcement on our blog. I challenged myself to wait until we knew the sex of the baby before saying anything, but I accidentally scooped my own story on facebook. (I really shouldn't be unleashed on that thing.)

Any way...the Hughes family gets to welcome a baby girl on October 14th, give or take. (Emphasis on the take part.) I truly thought we were having a boy based on an earlier ultrasound, so I'll have to get use to calling this baby "she" and "her."

3 of the 4 of us are very excited. When we told Avery she was having a baby sister, she started celebrating and hasn't stopped since. Just mention the word "sister" and the party starts all over again. Sage just likes a reason to jump up and down with his sister while shouting, I'll take anything since we've already have our boy and our girl, and Shane's well... girls seem to scare him a little. His mind flashes forward to teenage years and premature incessant worrying starts to kick in. After the ultrasound he started mumbling things about stupid hormonal teenage boys. Having a girl as his oldest hasn't seemed to change anything. We'll just give it time to sink in a little.

Also, we do have a name picked out, but that will have to wait till she's born before being announced.

Updates

Update #1
Ryan flew to Dubai and has been home for awhile. Last Saturday I finally got to talk to him about his trip. He said it was the most intense experience of his life. It sounded pretty grueling and rigorous and Ryan narrowly missed coming in first place by only a matter of a few points. For those of you who know Ryan, he's got some serious people skills and I'm sure he charmed the socks off the judges. The woman who won is a Canadian with Middle Eastern ties and knew several languages which understandably gave her an edge over Ryan. They were hounded by the media in Dubai and Ryan said right now he's a major super star in Dubai, then he added that won't get him anywhere here. (not that he wants to be a super star.) We keep bugging him to apply for Survivor or Amazing Race, but I don't think that's enough adventure for him.

Update #2
Our house projects have been put on hold until we can finish the yard which is undergoing a drastic transformation right now. We've cut down about 50 trees from the front and back yard. I know 50 sounds like a lot, but trust me, there are still PLENTY of trees. It's extremely rare to live in Utah and have a house with so many trees, and we are so grateful for the shade they will provide in the summer time. We've undertaken some pretty big jobs and I keep asking Shane to take off a few day so we can get it done. Hopefully soon I'll have some before and afters.

Update #3
I really dreading admitting this, but unfortunately my orange swimsuit never made it out of the suitcase in Cancun. The weather was unseasonably cool in Cancun so there was very little relaxing on the beach or next to the pool in my swimsuit. I went swimming a couple times to go snorkeling and then to a beach next to some beautiful Mayan ruins, but both times called for a comfortable forgiving swimsuit, not a stiff awkward retro swimsuit. I'll have to test her out another time.

We are loving Spring and I'm really looking forward to school being over so we can start our summertime adventures!

The newest members of the Hughes family

The Hughes family is growing...by five. We are the proud parents of five baby chicks, because apparently we don't have enough on our plate what with an unfinished house, bad sewer pipes (don't ask, you don't want to know) and a jungle for a yard.

Actually, my complaining isn't really valid. Chickens are so easy to take care of and the children ADORE them. Right now they live in a makeshift home in our basement until it's warm enough to put them outside in a coop. These chickens will lay brown eggs but supposedly Rosie will lay blue eggs! That's the sole reason we picked her. They should start laying in October and as many as two a day. They are strictly for egg laying, but we are considering raising some chickens for eating. (watch "Food Inc.")

Here are three of them. from left to right meet Rosie, Penny, and Annabelle. For some reason Annabelle is the undisputed favorite 0f the children.




Sage might like these chickens a little too much. He constantly sneaks downstairs and puts them in buckets. What purpose the buckets serve, I'm not sure, but that's his thing. I may have to get a lock for the door.

Please pay no attention to the disaster that is our yard....

...truthfully, it's only about to get worse.

This might be only the beginning of the Hughes family farm. We'd also like to get some beehives and to be honest I wouldn't mind getting a cow for fresh, unpasteurized milk. (Ha!, like that's gonna happen.) Shane's even talked about raising Emus. Yes, I did just say Emus. All the while my dream of horses has to be put on the back burner. (don't feel too sorry for me.) In the meantime, if you want fresh eggs, you know where to get them.

He did it!

Yahoo!! Your votes were heard, Ryan came in 4Th place! A big thanks to everyone who voted. My friend Natalie told me she voted everyday. The voting was pretty intense during those last few hours and I have to admit, I didn't think Ryan would make it because he was in 7Th place for a long time, but within those last 3-4 hours, he received hundreds of votes and now he has a flight to Dubai! The winner of the contest will be announced on March 29Th. Who ever wins gets $100,000 and first class plane tickets to travel around the world for 80 days. I'll definitely fill everyone in.

This might brighten your January day.

This is Andrea Boccelli and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing, "The Lord's Prayer." It's really beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUm_OwfF_bQ&feature=player_embedded

Yummy Healthy recipes I promised.

It is so like me to come down with a cold and a fever the day after I make my proclamation to the world wide web to exercise, eat healthy, and loose weight. I'm feeling much better now and am ready to share my favorite recipe involving cauliflower. Honestly, my family loves it so much it's usually gone before I set the dish on the table. Shane discovered this while listening to the second greatest love of his live, NPR. What ever NPR tells Shane to do, he does it. And that is how the recipe came into the Hughes family repetior.

Preheat oven to 400 deg.
As thinly as possible, slice a head of cauliflower keeping as much as the cross section in tact as possible. Place cauliflower on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes of until cauliflower is soft and edges are crisp and golden.

I hope your family likes it as much as mine. We've even convinced ourselves they taste like french fries.


This week I made my favorite granola recipe. It's perfect for a morning breakfast. It can be found here:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cranberry-Almond-Granola-108238
Just a note, I usually substitute the brown sugar with honey.

I triple the recipe and sometimes make cookies out of it using this recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Granola-and-Dried-Cranberry-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-13143

Here is a sneak peak of where I get to bake these wonderful recipes. It's only a sneak peak because Shane asked me not to post any pictures of the kitchen until it is completely done.
Since he is the one who does most of the work, I'll oblige.

Next project on our reno list: Earn more money!

Given the choice, I'd take something old over something new, nine times out of ten. Take this clapboard wooden house for example. It is far more interesting to me than the multi-million dollar homes a couple blocks from my house. (Ummm, not that I'd want to live here, just take pictures and think, "oh, if walls could talk.")




And for a second example, take this shocking orange number:

Please be honest. If you found yourself eyeing this at a garage sale and the owner of the home casually walks up to you and says, "That was my mother's swim suit from the 1960's"

Would your heart skip a beat slightly as you try to keep a calm, non-interested, negotiating type poker face as you realize you could become the proud owner of a 1960's retro bathing suit?

Would you say something like, "It's a great swimsuit, but I can't be sure it fits." and the owner responds "Is it worth finding out for $1."

Would you suddenly trip over yourself and knock a few things over trying to find a dollar in your pocket before asking your mom to spot you the buck?

I can only answer for myself that "Yes!" that is what I would and DID do at a garage sale last summer. And guess what, I might just be weird enough to wear and if you must know my entire New Year's resolution revolves around my orange bathing beauty. First, the perks of the swim suit:

I folded up the front of the swim suit to reveal a hidden panel that acts like a built in garter for an instant tummy tuck. That is one feature DEFINITELY missing from today's swim suits.

The second perk of the swim suit is that it is potentially worth $75. I immediately researched the label, "Cole Of California Original,"when I got home and discovered that it is indeed from the the 1960's and that some of these vintage numbers sell for as much as $75. I was pretty excited to see my $1 investment make such a prophet, but alas, I will not be selling her.

You see, remember when I told the garage sale man the swim suit may not fit? Sadly, I was right. It was really hard to squeeze myself into it. The fabric isn't the wonderful, stretchy, spandexy futuristic swimsuit material we all know and love today that designers back then could only dream of; it's more of a clothy, must fit your body to a T, type material the women of the 60's had to suffer through.

The good news is, I'm not too far away from a decent fit. I think if I loose 8 lbs I should reasonably be able to wear ole' orangey without scaring anyone. I've already lost about 5lbs since last summer while suffering through the grueling P90X videos for 3 months. My New Year's resolution is to spend the next 6 weeks (I really like resolutions that last only 6 weeks) eating right and exercising to lose 8lbs and be ready for my swimsuit's big comeback debut in Cancun Mexico. I can't wait!- for Cancun that is. So that's it, I have 6 weeks to loose 8 lbs. At first I thought that might be asking too much. But then I saw a repeat of the "Biggest Loser" finale a couple nights ago and one of the contestants lost 101 lbs in 7 weeks. Can you say inspiring!!

I would like to start sharing some of the healthy recipes I'll be making on a daily basis for the next few weeks so that I feel like I'll be accountable to someone or something. Even if I'm the only one reading, just don't let me know so I'll actually stick to this plan!

This post is long enough, so my first VERY simple, nutritious yet delicious recipe I'll post tomorrow. Just a hint: it involves cauliflower and kids love it.