Fake-Up Up-Date 2

As tired as some may be about hearing about the weather in Alaska, I just have to gripe that after 10 days in a row (not that I'm counting) of beautiful Spring weater (we're talking low 50's here!), it is now snowing. Yes. Snowing. Again. Not nice, wet, spring snow, but nasty cold February snow that is dry-ish and cold. I know, I know, it's probably just a spring snow that will not stick, but I should note that we all said that about the last 7 storms in APRIL!! Yuckers. Plus, Dale jumped the gun and threw out Logan's nasty snow boots. Now his toes might freeze.

On to other topics. Who came up with the great idea of "Spirit Week" in school, anyway? I remember loving them as a kid, but now I feel the great need to tell mom "thank you". It's like Halloween 5 days in a row. Except there's a "theme" so it's even worse. Especially when I'm dealing with a kid like Logan. For example, Monday was "Mis-Match Day". Sounds easy enough, right? Sarah and Rebecca went nuts, pairing their pioneer costumes with sport shirts, leg warmers on the arms, one pony tail, blah, blah blah. Logan should have been easy. Mis-Matched shirt and pants, a couple of different shoes, viola! Yah, Right. Everything I suggested was countered with a casual, "no." He refused to wear anything but a pair of brown pants with MATCHING shirt (I bought them as a set at JC Penny. You know, the kind that have three pieces on one hanger for $15?) . He wore matching shoes and matching socks. Yet he was sitting there whining because it was mis-match day and he wanted to participate. Finally, I talked him into wearing a plaid button-up shirt (that matched) and buttoned the bottom button to the top button-hole. He was happy. But pretty matched. I'd say he "missed" the point! (hardy har-har)

As I mentioned earlier, Rebec and Sarah wore the pioneer dresses that Dale made for them at Halloween. Sarah begs on a bi-weekley basis (once during the week and once on Sunday) to wear that thing to church/school. I keep telling her she can wear it to church the entire month of July, and if there's something "special" at school. Sarah's idea of "special" and mine are not quite the same, as it turns out. A couple of weeks ago, she managed to sneak out of the house wearing it under all of her gear. She was going on a field trip to the museum that day, and wanted to match. So my child wore that thing to the museum. In public. In front of the whole school. She said people kept asking her why she was wearing a halloween costume. I told her it would've worked out in Utah, but she should have worn her mukluks and parka if she wanted to fit in here. It was all about the Eskimos, after all.

So I let her wear it to Mis-Match day. Now, keep in mind that I didn't look at the entire week's events, because my childrens didn't bring home the flier. Had I known that Wednesday was Wild West Day I might have nixed it on Monday. Sarah and Rebec wore the whole get-up, bonnets and pinafore's included. Rebecca wanted to wear her old horse costume, (white-at-one-time, gum stuck in it's fur, stained, missing it's tail), but lucky chance it was too small! phew! I had a cow-print vest I tried to get Logan to wear, but he refused. He wore a normal plaid shirt and jeans. He wouldn't even take the stick-horse. He came home and put on the vest and played Cowboy all day, though, so he obviously had a great time.

I would include pics of Crazy Hair day, but yet again my card reader is faulty. Maybe next time.

Darn. I had hoped that by the time I finished this exhaustive narrative the snow would have stopped. No such luck. The lawn is completely white and it's not slowing. Plus, I have to go turn up the heater and make myself a cup of hot cocoa. How depressing. It's only 62 degrees in my house. Sigh.

Snapshot of Right Now ... Jess Tagged me
Answer in one word:
1. Where is your cell phone? dead
2. Your significant other? Dale!
3. Your hair? sad
4. Your mother? Espanol class
5. Your father? snoring
6. your favorite thing? take-out
7. Your dream last night? funny
8. Your favorite drink? Dr.Pepper (although I quit. Sigh.)
9. Your dream/goal? published
10. The room you are in? living
11. Your ex? forgotten
12. Your fear? crickets
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? mansion
14. Where were you last night? tub
15. What you're not? patient
16. Muffins? poppyseed
17. One of you wish list items? tickets
18. Where you grew up? Cedar
19. The last thing you did? Webkins
20. What are you wearing? Crocs (fake)
21. Your TV? recording
22. Your pet? wired
23. Your computer? over-worked
24. Your life? brighter
25. Your mood? bi-polar
26. Missing someone? Mom
27. Your car? guzzling
28. Something you're not wearing? make-up
29. Favorite store? book
30. Your summer? short
31. Like someone? Olive
32. Your favorite color? orange
33.When is the last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? yesterday
35. Who will/would repost this? Bec and Jane
Tag Bec/Jane

Professional Engineer

Or the Unsinkable Dale Butikofer?

Soon to be both! Today is Dale's Professional Engineer Test. He already took one major test in his career, the Fundamentals of Engineering test four years ago after completing engineering school at USU. To get his license, he has to work as a staff engineer for 4 years to get "real world" experience. Then he has to take his PE. That day is today! I can't believe it. I'm so proud of him. He has been preparing for this test for years, and been studying for it for months. This is a major step in his career, similar to the bar exam for lawyers. It is an 8 hour gruel-fest test. He took 2 three-ring binders (the big ones), a calculator (which we had to buy. I have bought that boy more calculators over the years... ;) ) and two huge text books. He says he is organized and as "ready as he can be". He got a blessing last night from our home teacher, and he feels calm and ready to go.

For giggles, let's take a quick look back five years ago, shall we? This is Dale's senior project--Build a canoe out of concrete that will float. He did it, and here's the proof! (These pics are not great. They are pre-digital, practically from the dinosaur era! My scanner didn't do a great job with the matte finish. Oh, well. We get the idea, right?)

It's kind of hard to tell from the picture below, but the canoe in the front is from BYU. The canoe in the back is USU. BYU is going the right direction. USU is heading exactly 90 degrees away from the right direction. If it weren't for the slightly crooked tip of the canoe, USU would have had an excellent chance to go to Nationals. (Did you know there is a National Concrete Canoe contest? Talk about May Madness!) There has to be a glue-in opportunity here, Dad! According to my recollection, USU had one of the only canoes that floated. That means that they the canoe all the way under the water till it sinks and then see if it floats to the top again. Dale did the mix design, (that's the junk you put in concrete to make it do what you want it to do, like be strong or heavy, or cheap, or not crack, or float. Normally that would be rocks and cement. Dale's included sand and glass bubbles) and the fact that he was unsinkable enabled him to achieve his crowning achievement in the USU College of Engineering, his career, and possibly his life! (Just ask him. He'll go on for hours about aggregates and properties of this and that. I've heard it a million times; unfortunately for DaleI tune out at the word, "aggregate". Smile and nod, smile and nod! :)
It may be lighter than water, but it's sure not lighter than air! Too bad the pic didn't scan well, Dale's really feeling the weight, and its shown all over his face. hHIYA!

Rub-a-Dub dub, three kids in a concrete canoe! Aren't my babies cute? There were three back then. Sarah is sporting the haircut she gave her self that was to the scalp. Again, you can't really see it, but this is after several months of growth! I remember having to put pink gel in it so it looked like she had any hair at all. That's what you get for being blonde and scissor happy (She also got to Rebecca's, but hers was salvagable). Remember the day she emptied an extra-large size tub of vaseline all over her crib, her walls, and her hair? She looked like she had never seen a bathtub for months afterwards. As it turns out, it's really hard to get 2 cups of grease out of your hair. I don't recommend it for anyone. I still can't handle the smell (or feel) of vaseline after that!

Good job, Dale, I'm proud of you. You've taught me perserverance. You've taught me about the difference between "concrete" and "cement". You've taught me what happens after you flush the toilet. You've taught me how to float. You've taught me that sometimes the path to the finish line takes a few unintentional turns. I love you, and I'm so happy I married you 10 years, one week, and one day ago. Stuck like cement to you! (how romantic...)

Fake-Up Up-Date

Some people I know (you know who you are!) can spend their leisure time running through the sprinklers and gliding down Slip-n-Slides. Don't worry, even we Alaskans are still able to use our swimming pool!

We also get to use our little red wagon, as you can plainly see. Keep in mind that the pool is UNDER A TREE and the wind is blowing. We got 6 inches overnight last night, and another 6-10 is in the forcast for tonight. Church activities have been canceled because of dangerous driving conditions. (By law, drivers have to have their studs off by around April 15. Good thing we've procrastinated changing our tires...)

At least I'm not stuck in a military airport in Kamchatka waiting for the weather to clear to go to Magadan, which is in the middle of Siberia. For more details, click on "The Beagley Bunch", I know she'd be glad you looked!

I've got to go shovel the walk. (ya, right. I'll just wait till Logan gets home...he'll do it for me!)
This is the snow-fort the kids built after conference. I'm sure they'll be adding on to it today after school, after they have a nice after school snack on their outside picnic table!

and now some pictures of the littlest snow bunny--

" 'sides, she's super-cute!"--Lily Butikofer

And just one of my chilly dog sporting her new '80's punk-rock neon pink collar. She loves to run full board, plowing her nose into the snow. It is adorable. And with that comment I have officially become an annoying dog owner, telling people about my adorable pooch! OLIVE DOG!!

Congratulations, R. Janes!!

Congrats, Jane! You won the official tournament! (although Spence did manage to beat you in straight wins.) I ended up hovering in the middle and then plummeted to bitter defeat in the end. I did beat one person...no names required....

Next year I am having Sarah and Rebecca help me pick. Rebecca had a total of, drumroll please...43 points!!! That's a tie for first place with Spence in straight wins. She probably would have won the whole thing if I had done her bracket online, as she picked Kansas to win. She's on a roll in picking power. First she guessed M&D's mission, now this! She must have inherited her picking powers from.....yikes. Obviously not me, Dale, Mom, or Dad! ;) It must skip several generations!! Sarah tied for 3rd with Clay with 41 victories. Woo-hoo!

Any-who, Congratulations to my gals R. Janes!

Till next year, sports fans....
"Basketball is my favorite kind of ball."--Logan Butikofer

p.s. It's time for a family photo. The one I used for the ball was the most complete one I have! That is Pah-thetic if you ask me...

Merry Fake-up!

We have about 4 inches with no signs of letting up. Forcast is ELEVEN inches! Gotta love Alaska...eight days ago they were having a "spring picnic", as the high was around 54 degrees. Now they're eating icicles and planning great snowman adventures! It shouldn't last too long...We hope!

Rabbit Bread

Are there any zucchini or banana bread fans out there? I just made an amazing recipe that was supposed to be carrot cake, but turned out to be bread. It would have been cake, except there was a last-minute baking soda emergency requiring a trip to the store, and I did not have time to make cream-cheese frosting. (I started this anxiety driven project at 9:00 p.m., so it was getting pretty late by the time I got it in the oven!) I decided to have a piece anyway, because I wanted carrot cake, and I was going to eat it no matter what! Besides, I'm not a huge lover of cream-cheese based frostings and cakes. (Cheesecake, GAG!) The ONLY thing I will eat it on is carrot cake. Now I won't have to choke down the frosting anymore, because this recipe was dense, and delicious (Sort of like some people I know....eeee....) like my favorite zucchini bread. Plus, it didn't have pineapple or raisins in it, another huge plus. So here's the recipe I got off of Recipe Zaar. (I love this site because it lets you post your recipes and then it gives you the nutritional info per serving like a regular food label. Very handy for those of you who are counting calories, or in my house, CARBS!)

Anyway, it was delicious, and will definitely be included in the epic tale, My Sister the Rabbit.

Here's how to do it:

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Ingredients

1 1/2 cups oil

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 pinch salt

3 cups grated carrots(fully packed)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Beat oil and sugar, then add eggs.
2. Add and mix the rest of the cake ingredients in the order given Beat for 1 minute.
3. Pour into 2 9-inch greased and floured cake pans. (or a loaf pan, or whatever)
   
4. Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes.

Next time I will make sure I have baking soda on hand and will add 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts. Yum, Yum, YUM!

Bye the way, even Logan tried, liked, and took a slice to school. It's an Easter Miracle!