Happy New Year's Eve!

Have a fun & safe New Year's Eve!

Merry Christmas

I hope your day is filled with love, peace and happiness. Merry Christmas and best wishes for the new year!

Silent Night

Merry Christmas to all and to all, a goodnight!

Finally done

I finally finished my Christmas shopping yesterday. I thought I was done and then Ryan had to say to me, "well, did you get this and this and this?" No I did not get this and this and this. So, back to a store I went. A kind neighbor (thanks again if you're reading this) watched my kids for me. It made the ordeal much easier.

I was a little lazy with my treat giving this year. I gave chocolate chip cookie bars. Except, I didn't give the actual bars. I gave the ingredients and the recipe to make them. I had every intention of baking them myself until I realized I didn't actually want to bake.

I didn't get my Christmas cards mailed either. I figure if they get sent and received before the end of the year, it will still be during the holiday season and that's good enough. (That's my self-justification. It makes me feel better about being lazy.)

Almost done

I'm close to being done with my Christmas shopping. So, close. But.....I guess I don't have anything for Ryan yet and I haven't shopped for any extended family either. Guess I'm not as close as I thought. Crap. I know I said I would get done with it last week, but I really mean it when I say I'll finish up this week.

I've been spending a lot of time crocheting. I made scarves for Cameron and Avery and just continued making more once I was done with theirs. I'm not making them for anyone in particular. I'm just making them to make them. It seems like an appropriate winter activity because they're so darn warm and comfy and it's been so darn cold outside. So, I've been doing it non-stop. I suppose, if I were to spend less time crocheting and more time shopping, I would be ready for Christmas.

Holy Cow

It's already December 8th and I only have a fraction of my Christmas shopping completed. I can't seem to get myself in gear to do it. I usually have it the big stuff done by the end of October to mid November. I'll get random things here and there after that, but it's mostly done by then. It looks like I'll be out in the thick of it this year. This week, this week, this week, I WILL get it done.

Speaking of it being December 8th and behind on Christmas stuff, I still haven't put up my tree. I wanted to do it about 3 weeks ago, didn't get around to it, and now I'm way far behind. I'm a loser.

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I realized yesterday that my eye has finally stopped twitching. It did it for 5 solid weeks, multiple times a day, all day long. I think it finally stopped just short of a week ago. I can't believe it took me until yesterday to take notice of it. Anyway, it's a relief that it stopped.

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I bought Avery a watercolor picture in Disneyland that spells out her name. The "A" is The Little Mermaid, Ariel and Flounder. You know, "A" for Ariel because she's her favorite princess and their name starts with the same letter. Get it? I guess you'd have to see it.

I didn't have it framed there because I didn't want to have to worry about it possibly breaking on the way home. So, I took it to a Michael's today because they're currently having a 60% off custom framing sale. I figured now would be the perfect time.

I picked out a simple white frame and also decided to double mat it with a green and white mat. The sales associate totaled it up and said, "Okay, that will be $106.00." What!? "No way," said I. "I only paid $20 for the picture. I'm not paying 5 times that for the frame." Are you kidding? $106 was the 60% off price. Ridiculous.

The associate picked out an already made frame that was 50% off and found mats in stock that could be cut to fit in house and at 50% off also. Total for that: $30.00. Much, much better.

Is it worth the time?

My husband tells me that my password is too easy. Yes, my "password". I have one password that I use for everything. Blogger, Facebook, credit cards, mortgage, etc. If I had to remember more than one, it would be a very bad thing. I know because I've tried it before. Once upon a time, I had a password for every site I use. There were so many, I had to keep them written down. I can't keep track of anything. Especially a piece of paper with important information written on it. I always had a hard time finding the list and would have to search for it each and every time I tried to do something. Then I lost the list and had to change all of them. So, the one password for everything seemed like the best idea.

Ryan says I should just jazz up and complicate the one I have. It is kind of easy, but easy is what my feeble brain needs. I just don't know if it's worth the time it would take to change. I mean, it could take me almost 10 whole minutes to do it.

Happy Thanksgiving

While perusing the Internet, I found this creepy picture and a few million quotes about gratitude. These are a few that stood out to me.

"You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses."

-Alphonese Karr

"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."

-Epictetus

I really am so very grateful and appreciative for all that I have. Just thought I should share that again. Happy Thanksgiving!

She's a real comedian

I was out running errands with my kids today. Avery, Tyler & Cameron were all in the back seat telling each other jokes. There were the usual poop and pee jokes and other kid fare. They were having a rip snorting good time. Then Avery said, "Hey! What do you call a table with a stop sign on it? (Dramatic pause.) A stop table! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"

Crickets, crickets, crickets..........

Avery: "You know, because it's a stop sign.....on a table. So, it's a stop table."

Crickets, crickets, crickets..........

Avery: "It's funny. Right?"

Cameron: "Duh."

Tyler: "Duh."

Avery: "Well, I thought it was funny."

Apparently, stop sign jokes just aren't that funny.

Tell me something I don't know

Yesterday afternoon I attended Avery's parent teacher conference. We first discussed where she is academically. She can identify sounds of letters, knows several sight words, writes her name correctly, can sort objects in a variety of ways, can complete patterns, can write numbers and can make comparisons. She's doing everything a kindergartner should be able to do and is doing it very well.

Next, we discussed her citizenship. Students are given a number to rank where they stand in several areas. They mainly involve good manners. The scale is 1-5, with 1 meaning they "need support", 3 meaning "developing", and 5 meaning they are "achieving". A 2 or a 4 means they're somewhere in between, depending on what end of the scale they're on.

Her teacher began the citizenship portion of our discussion by saying, "Hmmm.....well, let's see. How should I say this?.....Avery is really very good at....ignoring. You can call her name over and over when we are on the playground and it's time to come in from recess. But she can completely ignore you and will only come if she wants to come. She's very passive aggressive. I see it in many other areas as well. The other kindergarten teacher has even noticed it. So, I know it's not just me." Consequently, she gave her a "2" for "follows directions and procedures". She said she will eventually do things, but with a lot of prodding. She wrote in the comment section "Avery loves to do things her way." She then said, I'm sure to try and make me feel better, "She is making progress in learning to be a good listener."

Well, that wasn't a terribly wonderful thing to hear. No parent wants to be told that their child is kind of one of the pills of the class. I tried to see the positive after that by noting she received a "5" in "uses materials correctly". At least I know that she's coloring with her crayons and not sticking them up her nose.

Sadly, I had to tell her teacher, and admit to myself, I wasn't the least bit surprised to hear this. I experience Avery's desire to do things her way on a daily basis. I apologized for her behavior and suggested that the goal we set for her for the new term should be improving following directions and procedures. She agreed. She then asked Avery to look directly at her while she told her what we thought her goal should be. She said, "Avery, look at me, do you think, look at me, you can listen and, stay looking at me, and follow directions, Avery you're not looking at me, (she finally stayed focused because I jabbed her in the ribs) and do this as soon as you hear them. If I say sit in your chair, what do you do?" Avery said "Sit". "If I say it's time to color, what do you do?" Avery said "color". And so on and so forth. Her teacher wrote down the goal with a sigh and a slightly weary look on her face. I know she could sense the difficult journey ahead. So, I committed that I would diligently work on the goal with Avery at home. Even if it kills me. It just might.

I really have no idea where she would have learned behavior like this. Her dad isn't really like this. Although, now that I think about it, he really kind of is. I know I'm certainly not. I'm always so flexible and accommodating. I never insist on doing and having things my way and I am most certainly never passive aggressive. That's my passive aggressive way of trying to elicit comments telling me I am absolutely not passive aggressive and that Avery most likely does get this from Ryan.

Don't tell me to shut up

I'm going to say something that I know will annoy, irritate and quite possibly enrage some individuals. I love the snow and am so happy we had such a good storm here yesterday. Don't tell me to shut up. I live in Utah, I'm not a skier (never have been) and I still love the snow.

I love how quiet and peaceful it makes the world. It makes me feel like I'm in a cocoon. I love to watch it falling from the sky. I love the way it looks clinging to the branches of leafless trees. I love how smooth and even it makes the ground seem. I love that it makes the world seem and feel clean. (At least until people start driving around and kicking up the wet and muddy stuff.) Most of all, I love it because it makes it feel like Christmas. I'm ready to start decking the halls now.

The Little Things & Friday tunes Nov.20th edition

1. Hard Habit to Break - Chicago
2. Thank You - Dido
3. Better Together - Jack Johnson
4. Black Dog - Led Zeppelin
5. I Wish - Stevie Wonder
6. The Unforgiven - Metallica
7. Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
8. If I Ever Lose My Faith in You - Sting
9. You Oughta Know - Alanis Morissette
10. Let's Hear it for the Boy - Deniece Williams
    

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I am so grateful for everything I have. I'm grateful for big things like my faith, my husband, my kids, my extended family and friends. Then there's all the comfort things that make my life easier. My husband's job, our house, our car, clothes, dishwasher, washing machine & dryer, etc. This list could go on an on and is pretty much the same as most any body's. We all love these things.

Over the past couple of days, I've written down all of the little things that I'm grateful for. Things that make me happy, make my life easier and I take for granted. I'm thankful for:

• tweezers
• Burt's Bees lip balm
• Udderly Smooth Udder Cream
• pens & notebooks to make lists like this with
• pictures and being able to browse through them and relive memories
• scarves to warm my neck
• makeup (I really need it)
• computers
• word searches that help pass the time while I wait at a school for kids to get out
• that I'm able to be a SAHM so I can be the one to wait at the school to pick up kids
• a TV & DVD player in my car, they keep me sane
• clean bedrooms
• clean bathrooms
• freshly vacuumed carpet and the lines left in it by the vacuum
• freshly dusted and polished furniture
• a little boy who's learning to talk
• children who have a desire to learn
• being able to provide service to others
• sunglasses
• medicine of all sorts
• disposable diapers and diaper wipes
• paper shredders
• iPods
• email
• telephones
• comfy blankets
• good books
• and many, many, many more things
  

Computer

Ryan has built me a new computer. My old one was "okay", but was slowly dying. (The machine itself had problems in addition to the modem problems, which by the way, is now working fantastically. I never have trouble viewing pages anymore. I have the Internet back in the way it was meant to be.) It kept shutting off at random times and would say that it had recovered from a "serious system error" when I would turn it back on. The processor just didn't want to process anymore. I guess computers get old too.

I'm now using Windows 7. Ryan tells me it's basically the same as XP and it's different. Great. Different is bad because I don't handle change all that well. Keeping things the same is a comfort to me. He tells me I need to just play around with it to figure it out and I'll eventually get it. I told him I would, but I have a secret. I never really played around with, or figured out XP all that well. I still don't have a very clear idea of what drive I was supposed to be storing my pictures on after they were downloaded. (Ryan knows this. How he thinks I'll be able to figure out Windows 7 is a mystery to me.) I have/had too many choices of where to put them. We have a server computer in our basement that I think is supposed to be the "media" server and where pictures are supposed to go. We also have our bedroom computer that has a purpose all it's own. What that is, I have no idea. It's so confusing to me. I just want to plug in my camera and download my pictures without having to figure out where I'm downloading them too. I want to click "yes" and have the magic little elves inside the computer take care of the rest for me. After transferring all the files from the old computer to the new last night, Ryan told me that I had pictures in 4 different places. I'm not surprised.

Maybe not

Avery got one of those plastic frogs with a tab on the butt from her teacher today. The kind where you flick the tab and the frog jumps up in the air. You know what kind I mean? She was really proud of it and quite excited that she got it. She started trying to think of names for it as soon as she got in the car after school. Finally, she said "I know! I'll call her Glitter. Yes, Glitter.....or, maybe Sh*tter. Sh*tter, Sh*tter (she repeated it a few more times to test it out and in my defense, I couldn't tell until about the 3rd time just what she was saying). Is Sh*tter a better name than Glitter Mom?" I stifled a laugh and then said, "I don't think that's the best name for her. Why don't you just go with Glitter?"

She ended up calling her Froggie.

Wanna be startin somethin

I decided on Monday that there was no time like the present and got started on my goal for the week. There was no point in putting it off until the next day. Or the next, or the next because I would just keep putting it off and it would never get done. After all, what is today, but yesterday's tomorrow. Yes, I am extremely profound.

I've tackled one corner so far. One corner doesn't sound like much, but it was a corner that had 3, 58 Qt. plastic storage bins in it. Bins that were filled to the brim with my kids old school papers and papers needing to be filed. I had started piling the papers on the top of the stack because I couldn't fit anymore into the bins. It was such a sloppy mess and the one that had been making me the most anxious because it was in my direct line of sight when I walked into the room.

It took me about 4 hours, but I went through all of them and was able to totally empty 2. So far. The third is filled with the needing to be filed things that don't really need to be filed and can instead be shredded. Once that's gone, the corner will be totally empty. Hooray!

I had to be really, really brutal when going through the bins. I've never been able to throw away my kids school papers because I didn't want to feel like I had thrown away something precious and irretrievable. However, I finally came to the realization that if I didn't start whittling them down, they would take over my house. So, I kept a few worksheets and art projects from each grade they have been in. I hope I kept a good representation of each grade and if I didn't, it's too late to do anything about it now. I took the rest out to the recycle can and threw them in before I could change my mind. The garbage man has already picked up the recycle stuff and so I really can't do anything about it now.

I've decided that for the rest of this school year, I'll save one worksheet every few weeks and then throw away the rest. I'll keep some of the art projects too, but I can't keep everything. If I do, it will build up way too quickly and take over my bedroom again.

I feel so much better about my room already. The most major monster of a mess has been tackled. The rest of the work to be done is simple tidying, dusting and vacuuming. Phew.

I didn't set a goal for myself last week, but I will for this one

I didn't set a FJ1W goal for myself last week because I just couldn't think of anything good. Plus, I kind of felt like I deserved a break after the last one. Being easy going and trying to not care about the little messes and such really took a lot out of me. ☺ It was so totally against my nature.

I think I have a noble and worthwhile goal for this week. I'm going to get my bedroom really good and clean. It's cluttered right now. Not Hoarders type cluttered (which is one of the more disturbing shows I've seen in a long time), but it's still bad enough that it's beginning to make me anxious. I'm going to give myself until Friday of this week to get it done. I need a shorter window because I know I'm going to push getting it done until the last possible second. The smaller the window of opportunity, the sooner I'll get my butt into gear and get it done. I'm experiencing a weird sense of excited anticipation and dread over this one. I'm excited to see the end result, I just don't want to have to do the work to get there. I've been a little, shall we say, on the lazy side lately. This goal is going to help be get out this funk.

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What's on the menu today: I can't remember and I'm feeling too lazy to go find my menu. I'm pretty sure it's a beef brisket crock pot recipe. I haven't posted it on my cooking blog. I'll try to get to that today and will maybe link to it tomorrow because I know people are just dying to to what my family is eating.

Twitchy & Friday Tunes Nov. 6 edition

1. Makin' Whoopee - Dr. John & Rickie Lee Jones / Sleepless in Seattle
2. Stickshifts & Safetybelts - Cake
3. Silly Putty - Stanley Clarke
4. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' - Michael Jackson
5. Gettin Jiggy Wit It - Will Smith
6. Georgiana - Pride & Prejudice (2005)
7. Best Imitation of Myself - Ben Folds
8. Space Between - Dave Matthews Band
9. Tonight, Tonight - The Smashing Pumpkins
10. Overjoyed - Stevie Wonder

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My eye has been twitching, on average, every 5 minutes since Sunday. WHY? It's getting seriously irritating and makes me look ridiculous. I had to tell the checker at the food court in Costco the other night that I wasn't winking at him and really didn't want more than a slice of pepperoni pizza. I finally had to cover my eye while I finished my order because it just wouldn't stop.

I did a little Google search and some of the causes of a twitching eye are stress or fatigue. I'm always anxious, it's just my nature, and being tired is part of being a mom. So, I have no idea what's causing this. I really need it to stop. It's done it 3 times since I started typing. That's way more often than every 5 minutes. STOP NOW!

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Cameron locked himself in the bathroom on three separate occasions this morning. It's his latest way of throwing a fit. He storms off, screaming and yelling something like "I hate you! You're the worst mother ever!" Then he sits in there waiting for me to come and pound on the door and yell at him to come out. He delights in seeing me freak out. Most of the time, I try to ignore it and let him sit and stew. I couldn't do that this morning because he had to leave for school in about 3 minutes and he was still in pajamas. I may have lost my temper just a little bit while telling him to get his butt out of the bathroom. Like, there was a little swearing involved and me saying to him it would be a "joy" to send him to school and that I couldn't wait for it. Not my finest moment.

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What's on the menu today: Southwestern Bean Medley.

Surprise!

Happy 60th Birthday to my Dad! Although we won't be having the surprise party of your dreams tonight, we'll all live it up on Saturday. There might even be some dreaded black decorations involved. You just try and stop us. ☺

I love you dad and appreciate you so very much. Thanks for being such a great dad to me. And I guess those other two, but I still contend that I was the only necessary one. You could have stopped at me and been just fine.

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I was moderately successful with my FJ1W goal for last week. I got a little stressed a couple of times, but no major freak outs. My kids took full advantage of the fact that I was trying to not sweat stuff like messes. They wanted me to take it "easy" and ignore them and more importantly, not make them clean at all. Well, I'm sorry, but it's hard to ignore an entire Malt 'O Meal bag of Captain Crunch that has been dumped onto the family room floor. That's something that kind of needs to be cleaned up. It's also not right leaving dirty underwear, socks, pants, shirts and shoes on the floor of the bathroom. It has to go to the laundry room, otherwise the pile would reach the ceiling by the end of the week. So, a little cleaning up had to take place. Tyler tried to convince me on Monday of this week that I said I was going to be easy going for the rest of my life and not just for one week. Nice try buddy. We're mostly back to our regularly scheduled programming. I'm just going to try to be less shrew like from now on. Not more slob like.

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What's on the menu today: Golden Mushroom Pork & Apples.

There's nothing worse

I have a go to comfort food when I'm feeling a little blah. French fries. There's just something about them that, for me, chases the blah away.

I've had a cold threatening for the past couple of days. It's nothing terrible and I'm fine, just a little tired is all. So, after I finished my grocery shopping this morning, I went to a drive thru and ordered some hot, salty, starchy, fattening comfort. I pulled one out, popped it in my mouth and it was the opposite of what it should have been. It was NOT hot and crispy and comforting. It was limp and cold and annoying. Not cold because it was old and had been sitting out too long. Cold because it wasn't cooked all the way through. How does that even happen? There is just nothing worse then wanting some hot fries and ending up with disgusting, skunky ones instead. Nothing worse at all. I may have cried over it I was so upset. Don't try to tell me that it could have been worse, or point out the bright side. Like, I saved myself from eating empty, fattening calories. I don't care. I needed a french fry hug and I didn't get it. Feel sorry for me.

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What's on the menu today: Some sort of cheesy, broccoli, chicken and rice casserole that I'm going to make up as I go along.

Happy Halloween

Is it really November 1st tomorrow? I guess that means only 55 more days until Christmas. I need to get started on my shopping.

Creepy

I've been intrigued by the Jack the Ripper case since I was about 12 years old. I think what is so intriguing to me, and to any other Ripperologist, is the fact the he was never caught. It just makes me stark, raving crazy not knowing who he was. One of the first things I want to find out when I get to Heaven (assuming I make it there, I'll most likely be going to the other place ☺) is who he was. I NEED to know.

Some might remember I went on a tour of the murder sites while in London last year. It was so spooky, but oh so thrilling. Especially for someone like me. Our tour guide, Philip Hutchinson, is apparently one of the more reputable of all the many guides in London. He has, in fact, even written a book about the case. Plus, I saw him in a documentary about Jack on the History Channel just a week or two after we came home from London. So, that must mean he knows what he's talking about. TV would never lie.

I wanted to buy the book when we got home, but couldn't find it here in the U.S. I tried for a while and then sort of forgot about it and gave up. Ryan didn't. He's been searching and waiting for it all this time. So, when a new revised and updated version was recently published, he bought it from amazon.com/uk for me.

It came on Monday and I had it finished by Tuesday. It contains biographies of the victims, a timeline leading up to their murders, crime scene descriptions, descriptions of the area, what life was like at the time and lots of grainy black and white photos. There's nothing in it but facts, no speculating on who he might have been, etc. It's so scary and unsettling. I love it. I did most of my reading in the evening after my kids had gone to bed. After I would finish, I would turn out the lights in the house and then go to bed. My bedroom is at the end of a dark, windowless hallway. It took every ounce of self control I have to keep myself from running down it into my bedroom. I would be so creeped out, I was just sure Jack would be waiting at the end of it for me.

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What's on the menu today: I had kind of a busy day of errands yesterday. I realized at around 1:00 in the afternoon that I hadn't put dinner in the crock pot. It was too late to put it in then and have it be ready in a timely manner. We had a trunk or treat Halloween party to go to at 6:00 and so I just let the kids have hot dogs. Fast and easy. We're going to be having Chicken & Rice Pacifica tonight.

Can I change my mind?

Once I decided on my goal for this week, I almost immediately regretted my decision. I want to not sweat the small stuff, but it's really hard when you have a 2 year old. Especially a 2 year old boy who is kind of naughty.

Yesterday evening, Peyton was downstairs playing. (I should remember to include here that Ryan was working late again and was not here to help me.) He had been down there for a while and so I thought I should check on him. I found him in the laundry room (I don't know how he got in there). He had opened up the dryer, removed the clothes that were in there and was sitting inside playing. My initial reaction was, "Crap! He's put clean clothes on the floor." I took a deep breath and reminded myself that it was really no big deal. I could always rewash the clothes if necessary. It wouldn't kill me.

I pulled him out of the dryer and noticed that he was kind of stinky. I took him upstairs to change his diaper. However, when the diaper was removed, there was nothing there. He was barely wet. Strange. I picked him up, but again smelled something stinky. I started looking him over and found a dried, brown substance on one of his hands. I immediately knew what had happened. Avery had used the downstairs bathroom and not flushed it. I don't know how I knew that, it's just the thought that came to my mind. I turned to Avery, who was close by and asked her if that's what had happened. She said, "oh, probably." Great. I cleaned Peyton's hand and went downstairs slowly because I was really dreading what I might find.

Sure enough, Avery had NOT flushed the toilet after using it. Peyton had managed to get into another room he shouldn't have been in. I was greeted with a lovely sight. Poop smeared all over the toilet. He had taken the toilet scrubbing brush and swirled it around in the toilet and outside it as well. He was kind enough to return it to it's caddy, but it was covered. As was the caddy and the floor it was sitting on. If that wasn't enough, he had also pulled off about a half a roll of toilet paper, strewing it on the floor and in the bathtub. Not losing my cool right then was tough. My right eye started twitching and my forehead started to throb.

I knew the only thing to do was clean it up and so I did. It was disgusting, but nothing a little disinfecting spray couldn't take care of. No big deal. Right? That's what I had to keep telling myself over and over and over. Next, I put Peyton in the tub. I cleaned him up and dressed him and I was congratulating myself on remaining calm. It was at that moment that Cameron called me, needing help with something. I walked away for about 30 seconds. I came back to find Peyton sitting in the tub again. I laughed and told him to get out and then I noticed that I had forgotten to drain the water out of it. He was wet up to his chest. I screamed. Not yelling at him screaming. A scream of frustration.

Now, Peyton has 6 pairs of pajamas. One of them he was wearing and the other 5 were in the washer with 45 minutes left on the cycle. There was nothing to do but strip him down and pray that he didn't take off his diaper while waiting for clean pajamas. You see, if he can get to his diaper, he will take it off. If you catch him in time, it's not a problem. If you don't, he...well, you can guess what happens. He did take it off a couple of times. Thankfully, I caught him before anything bad happened, but it was still a very long night. Oh, and Ryan came home just as I was putting on Peyton's clean pajamas. He got to miss all of the fun. As usual. ☺

I hope this was the worst of it and I can keep my calm the rest of the week. Otherwise, it's going to be a very long one.

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What's on the menu today: Chicken & Rice Pacifica.

I got it done just in time

Thanks to my mother in law, I was able to complete my goal for this last week. I may have waited until yesterday afternoon to work on it, but Tyler's Halloween costume is finished. Whew!

My goal for this week: I'm going to try to worry less about just, stuff. Try.

Ryan and I were arguing last week about something silly. He said to me, "you know, I work and interact with 3000 (slight exaggeration) different personalities every day and the only one I can't figure out is yours. You are such a control freak, you don't let me help with anything."

It's true. I am controlling. I get agitated and can feel my chest tighten when I see something happening in a way I don't like. I just like and want things done the way I like and want them done. I know it's not a very flattering personality trait. So, in an effort to be easier on my family, I'm going to try to not sweat the small stuff this week. I really hope I can do it.

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My modem is dying and it's making me crazy. It's causing my Internet connection to be very intermittent. I'm constantly having to unplug it in the hopes that it will reset. It doesn't always work. It's really annoying. Ryan has been working a lot, like from 7 in the morning until 10 at night or later, and so he hasn't got around to buying a new one. If I knew what I was supposed to be buying and if I didn't think Ryan would get annoyed, I would just go buy one myself. Unfortunately, computers and all things related to them are something he likes to deal with. Who's the real control freak in the family? I know, I know. It is me.

Tyler was so mad last night when he couldn't go online. He was ranting and raving and railing against the horrible injustice of it. He told me he had "the worst life ever. I'm so bored, I'M GOING TO DIE!" Poor, poor child. I didn't tell him I felt exactly the same way.

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What's on the menu today: Barley & Lentil Soup. I have a cookbook published by Campbell's called Slow Cooker Recipes. This came from a section called "Winter Chill Chasers". What better way to chase away the chill of the first snowstorm of the season, then with a hot bowl of soup?

Friday tunes Oct. 23rd. edition

1. Ice Cream - Sarah McLachlan

2. Rock Your Body - Justin Timberlake

3. If I Could Build My Whole World Around You - Marvin Gaye

4. An Affair to Remember - Leo McCarey/Sleepless in Seattle

5. Bad - Michael Jackson

6. The Old Apartment - Barenaked Ladies

7. Part of Your World - Jodi Benson/ The Little Mermaid

8. Shadowboxer - Fiona Apple

9. Say It Ain't So - Weezer

10. Into the Groove - Madonna

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What's on the menu today: Caesar Pork Chops. Yes, it's from the ward cookbook and yes, it's from this person.

False Alarms

I've had a migraine threatening for the past 2 days. I've had all the pre-cursor symptoms like the aura/wonky vision, sensitivity to light and sound, tingling in my face, etc. Yet, it just won't turn into the actual headache. Sometimes, I would much rather deal with the pain of it then the crap leading up to it. I've been trying my best to ignore it, but I haven't done a whole lot because of it.

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My dad's 60th birthday is on November 5th and he's told me he expects me to throw him a surprise party. He promises to act as if he wasn't expecting it and be gracious and flattered. My mom and I keep telling him that the real surprise is that there will be no surprise party. Yes, he reads this. Yes, he'll get some sort of party, but I HAVE to tease him.

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What's on the menu today: I don't feel like cooking tonight. Pizza is ordered and on the way. We'll have tomorrow what we were supposed to have today.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

Cameron came in the house the other day and said to Avery, "Heather (our next door neighbor) wants us to come outside and play house with her in our yard. I'm going too because I DON'T want to disappoint a girl."

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I knew the incident last week with Peyton was a fluke. I asked him to give me a hug yesterday and he just laughed and ran across the room. I tried chasing and letting him tease me for a while. That didn't work. He still wouldn't hug me. Finally I sat down on the floor and pretended to cry. I whimpered and whined that I needed a hug. He got a very concerned look on his face and came up to me. He said, "Mommy sad? Mommy cry?" I told him, "yes, Mommy sad and I'm crying. I need a hug to feel better." He paused for a second, said "hmmm" and then walked away. Grrrr..... Apparently, he hasn't yet learned that you DON'T want to disappoint a girl. I don't know how, but I swear I'm going to get that kid to love me someday. ☺

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What's on the menu today: Pork Fried Rice.

Big Sexy Hair

Avery was admiring her reflection in the side of our car. (She was waiting for me to get outside and unlock the door.) When I walked up to her, she said to me, "my hair looks so beautiful and curly. Don't you think so?"

I said, "oh yes. It's just gorgeous."

She said,"yep! It's nice 'n sexy!"

I said, "well, I don't know if I would say that".

She said, "why? What does sexy mean? I thought it meant beautiful, curly hair."

I said, "I guess it can mean something like that."

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I did another lice treatment on my kids. I figure it's better to be safe than sorry. Anyway, the product recommends doing it 7-10 days after the first treatment. I'll probably do it tomorrow too. Again, just to be safe. I also washed pillowcases (again) and sprayed their pillows and mattresses (again). I threw away their pillows on the day it was discovered. The critters live in them. If you don't get rid of them, they'll keep coming back from now, until the end of time. I'm hoping that by spraying the new ones, it will keep it from coming back because they never had the chance to settle in. It's so annoying that you can't simply treat their heads and have it all go away forever. You have to treat their entire environment. Like, the whole house from top to bottom. Bedding (on every.single.bed.in.the.house, ugh), coats, back backs, shoes, everything. It's so tiring. I've vacuumed so much in the past week, I'm surprised the vacuum hasn't dropped dead. I've even steam cleaned my carpets. I've sanitized/done everything I can think of. If the monsters come back, I don't know what I'll do. (I know exactly what I'll do. Throw the biggest, screaming hissy fit you've ever seen.)

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What's on the menu today: Pig Sandwich

I'm so glad I decided to do it

My FJ1W goal of keeping a gratitude journal went splendidly. Over the course of 7 days, I found I had 35 things to be grateful for. 35 things in the midst of kind of a crappy week.

On Monday, I took Tyler, Cameron and Avery to my sister in law to get their hair cut. She found they had a little surprise waiting for her. Lice. Yes, lice. It was in the very early stages, but it was still disgusting. The course of my entire week changed after that. I spent days washing hair, clothes, floors, furniture & toys. You name it, I washed it and then sprayed it with a lice control spray. Then I washed it and sprayed it all over again. I'm still washing and spraying. I think I'm going to be paranoid it will come back for many weeks to come.

Despite finding disgusting creatures living on the heads of my children, I was still able to find some good.

• I was grateful I had a sanitary cycle on my washing machine.
• I was grateful I could buy a shampoo to treat the problem.
• I was grateful that it was caught in the very early stages, but I'm taking no chances. ☺
• I was grateful I was able to focus on other things besides the lice. It was hard, but I did.

The decision to do keep a gratitude journal couldn't have come at a better time. I think I received a little divine inspiration. The Lord knew I would need a little help finding the good in my days last week. It's made me so happy, I'm going to continue to keep the journal.

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This week, I'm going to finish Tyler's Halloween costume. He decided he couldn't continue living if he couldn't be Link. So, that meant I had to make a costume. I have everything to do it. I just need to actually sit down and do it. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it. Not because I don't know how to go about making it, because I'm feeling lazy and I don't want to do it.

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What's on the menu today: Cheesy Mini Burgers. Another one submitted to the ward cookbook by this person.

Well, just so you know...and Friday tunes Oct. 16th edition

1. Darcy's Letter - Pride & Prejudice (2005) Soundtrack
2. You Should Be Dancing - The Bee Gees
3. Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
4. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
5. Strangers in the Night - Frank Sinatra
6. Like A Virgin - Madonna
7. Tapes - Alanis Morissette
8. Better Together - Jack Johnson
9. Learning To Fly - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
10. I Can't Tell You Why - The Eagles/Hell Freezes Over

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Avery wanted me to take her to Winder Dairy for lunch today. I told her no. I had groceries in the car that needed to be put away and she had been more than a little on the naughty side while we had been shopping. She started throwing a fit and nagging me. Well, not really nagging me. More like screaming at me. I still refused and told her to give up, her fit throwing wasn't going to work. She then had the nerve to say to me, "well, just so you know, I'm going to keep acting this way until you take me there. I'll be nice when we get there, but I won't be nice until I get my way." She's very lucky she was all the way in the back seat of the car and I was driving and couldn't reach her. Little turd. I think I'm in for it with her when she reaches her teenage years.

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What's on the menu today: Foil Pack Chicken & Mushroom. This is another one from the ward cookbook, but not from this person. It's from this person.

Toys

Avery and Peyton have discovered Toy Story. Avery's been telling me her favorite thing to do is pretend her toys can talk, but she's kind of hoping that they really can. She's hoping to see them actually doing it someday. She has this idea that she'll be able to burst into her bedroom and catch them in the act.

We have Woody and Buzz dolls and Peyton has taken to carrying them around all the time. He calls them Dude and Buzzie. Why Dude and not Woody? I don't know, but it's cute and so I don't care what he calls him. He'll pick him up and say "Hi Dude!", hug him and jabber away.

I love the imagination of kids.

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What's on the menu today: Crescent Roll Casserole. A ward cookbook recipe from this person. Again. ☺

He did it on his own

Today, Peyton reached out to me, grabbed onto my shirt and said "I want a kiss." I happily obliged and he then said, "I want a hug too!". Of course he got one. And then another and another and another because he didn't want to let go of me. This is probably only the 3rd time in his entire life that he's done this. I usually have to "force" him. In the most loving way, of course. ☺ It was so nice to have him do it on his own. It brought a big, goofy grin to my face and made me feel so good. Especially after the day I had yesterday.

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What's on the menu today: Chicken Enchilada Bake. Another one from the ward cookbook and also another one submitted by her.

I'm pretty tired

I've been dealing with an annoying and quite honestly, exhausting issue today. Don't ask. Of course Ryan is out of town and not here to help. That's the way it usually goes. He's somehow able to miss out on most of the unpleasant things that happen around here. ☺ I'm seeing an eight o'clock bedtime in my children's future.

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Tyler asked me if I would do another giveaway here because he could really use $25. I told him I would be willing to pay him for doing chores so he could earn that amount of money. He suddenly lost interest.

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What's on the menu today: I did have something planned, but thanks to our little problem and also due to the fact that Ryan's not here and so I really don't feel like cooking, we're having leftover chili. I froze the leftovers from the last time I made it. I really needed dinner to be nice and easy tonight. Again, don't ask.

What I'm going to do this week

This week for my For Just One Week goal, I'm going to keep a gratitude journal. I got the idea from my friend Rebecca. Thanks Rebecca!

Each day, I'm going to list 5 things I'm grateful for. Simple things, obvious things, not so obvious. I'm sure the lists will reflect the type of day I had. Some days it might be hard to come up with five items. I'm sure others will be really easy. It's my hope that by making a list, I'll be able to find more good in each of my days. Even the bad ones. I want to get into the habit of doing it daily. Did you know that if you listed 5 things you're grateful for each day of the year, you would have a list of 1825 things you are gratful for by the end of the year.

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What's on the menu today: Polynesian Meatballs. This is another recipe from the ward cookbook.

I don't get it

My face has been breaking out all the time. Did you hear what I said? I said my face is breaking out all.the.time. I'm almost 34 year old and I'm having acne BREAKOUTS! Why!?

I had my share of zits when I was a teenager. They were mainly between my eyebrows (kind of like a third eye) and along my hairline. I actually have some small scars between my eyebrows thanks to some monster zits from my past. They're pretty. Well, guess where I'm breaking out again. Between my eyebrows and along my hairline. They're big, they're bad and they're really ugly. Hooray! It's just like being 14 again. I mean, who wouldn't want to relive Junior High?

I haven't changed makeup, shampoo, styling or any other type of product. I'm no more stressed or crazy then usual. I have no idea what could be causing this. I'm thinking about trying Proactiv. Seriously.

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What's on the menu today: Chicken Lo Mein

Disneyland 2009

This is the only shot I thought to have Ryan's dad take of all of us together. Dumb. It was taken our first day at the park. Peyton was so excited to be there, he fell asleep as we were waiting in line. He then slept for about an hour and a half. I had to wake him up so he could experience the happiest place on earth.

I loved all of the Halloween decorations throughout the park. Pumpkins, leaves and bunting everywhere. It was all so cute. As you can see, even the flowers were orange and yellow to coordinate with everything.

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What's on the menu today: Teriyaki Chicken Rolls.

I'm excited

I'm so happy that Fall and cooler temperatures are here. I'm excited that I've finally been able to break out long sleeve tee's, sweaters and scarves. The crisp air just feels so....nice. This is most definitely my season.

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Disneyland was great. The kids are already asking when we can go back. It looks like it will be something we'll have to do at least every couple of years. (I wouldn't mind that one little bit. ☺)

Cameron became quite enamored with the pins you can buy there and the idea of collecting them. So, if anyone out there is planning a trip to Disneyland before we get back there, please let me know. I'll send some money with you and have you pick up a pin or two for him. He can't wait to add to his collection.

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What's on the menu today: Ranch Chicken. This one came from my ward cookbook and was submitted by this person. I'm going to be using several recipes from my ward cookbook over the next 2 weeks. It's been such a great resource.

If you need me, this is where I'll be

Am I looking forward to going? I suppose. I'm a little weird about preparing to travel. I don't like to do it. I would much rather wiggle my nose and have all the packing be done, lickety split. In fact, it would be great if the actual travel time could be taken care of in the same way. Long trips and me don't really get along. I'm kind of thinking that long trips and Peyton won't get along very well either. I'll be happy once we're there. Only then will I allow myself to be excited and have a good time. Yes, I am a little ridiculous at times.

I failed

I failed at my FJ1W goal. I'm not being hard on myself, or trying to generate sympathy by saying that. I really failed and did it big time. I screamed my head off every.single.day this past week. I'm more than slightly disappointed. It's obviously something I need to work very hard on and for a very long time. So, I'm going to continue with it this week. (Along with my reading goal. I'm still going strong with that one.) And probably every week after for the rest of my life.

I've been thinking long and hard to come up with my next goal. I wanted something that would make a difference in my life and impress my husband as well. Impressing my husband really means I want him to notice and comment about it. I'm a kind of needy. This one is going to be hard for me and I really mean it. I'm not being trite. Here it is:

For Just One Week I am going to wear socks and shoes every day. Not around the house because I think it's stupid to wear them at all times in your home. I plan to do it when I leave the house. Scoff if you want, but this is going to be tough for me. Like, throwing a hissy fit because I don't want to do it tough.

You see, I despise socks with just about every fiber of my being. I can't stand for my feet to feel hot. It makes me feel like I'm suffocating and thereby causes a panic attack when they are. I like socks just fine in the colder months, when they serve the purpose of protecting your feet from the elements. Any other time of the year I feel they are stupid and pointless.

I also hate shoes, let me clarify, lace up ones for the same reasons. I know my feet wouldn't cramp so much when I ran if I wore proper support all the time. Something my husband nags reminds me about daily. I don't care. Shoes that lace up are tight, restrictive, hot, a pain to get on and off, etc.

Despite all of these reasons, I'm going to try. I'm going to show my husband I am capable of doing it. (You might remember I do a lot of things out of spite.) Hopefully, by the time this week is over, my hatred of socks and shoes will be diminished. Even just a small amount.

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What's on the menu today: Tortilla Stew.

Happy Birthday Peyton!

*Waring. This is a very long post. ☺*

Today, my baby is 2 years old. These past 2 years have gone by so quickly. I know that everyone says that, but they really have. In fact, from the very beginning, everything with Peyton has been so surreal and happened fast.


We decided in early January 2007 that we would like to have one more child. I assumed it would take around 6 months to get pregnant because it had taken that long with our other 3 children. I was wrong. It took about 2 weeks. Surprise. One of the things I was looking forward to when I had another baby, was delivering at the new hospital, IMC. I became pregnant so quickly this time around, I missed the opening by one month. I had to deliver at Cottonwood Hospital. Oh well. I had two others there.


The pregnancy was just like and not like all of my others. My hips hurt, my sciatic nerve hurt, everything hurt, and hurt pretty bad. In fact, those things hurt more than any other pregnancy. I spent a day in bed here and there because I couldn't walk. It wasn't fun, but I survived.


We didn't find out the sex because we kind of like surprises like that, but I just knew from the beginning that he was a boy. I bought lots of boy clothes on the assumption that my hunch was correct. Lucky for me, it was.


I had delivered all of my other children around 3-4 weeks early. I assumed it would be the same this time around. A few days before the 36 week mark, I began having contractions. At my 36 week appointment, I had to have the Strep B test. My doctor checked me and found that I was dilated to a 3. He asked if I was having contractions. I said yes, but that I thought nothing of them and I didn't think it would be happening anytime soon. (I secretly knew that it would be.)


I went home and went about my day. I did everything as normal. The contractions continued, but were still nothing I considered uncomfortable. At around 8:30 p.m., I decided to take a teaspoon of Castor oil to see if it would push me over the edge. I called my friend who had delivered her little girl 4 days earlier. We chatted for a while and I continued having contractions. I remember telling her I was having them, but they just didn't hurt. After hanging up with her, there was a knock at the door. It was a Cub Scout and a member of our bishopric collecting for Friends of Scouting. The bishopric member asked if I thought the baby would be coming soon and I said, "yeah, probably tonight."


I put the kids in bed and sat up for a while. Ryan kept asking me what was happening. I told him there were contractions, but none that really hurt. By around 11:00, I was pretty tired and I was also having much stronger contractions. I had told Ryan to just go to sleep and so he did. At around 11:30, I had a couple of really good ones but I decided I was tired too and I didn't want to pay attention to them. I just wanted to sleep. I went to bed and went right to sleep. I woke up just after 1:00 because I thought I had peed the bed. Ummm...yeah, even being my 4th pregnancy, I thought my water breaking was me peeing in the bed.


I went into the bathroom and called to Ryan that he needed to call somebody to come and be with the kids. He wanted to know who I wanted him to call and I said I didn't care, he just needed to get someone there fast. I was thinking to myself, "I don't care if you call Santa. Just call somebody." My water had never broken on it's own, but once it had been manually broken, the kids were born in less than an hour. I knew we had to get to the hospital fast.


I got myself dressed, picked up the bag I had packed earlier and said to Ryan, "it looks like we'll have another child born on the 27th of a month." (Tyler is in January and Avery is in July.) I then went to sit in the car. Ryan came out just as his dad got there and then we were off.

The drive went quickly. I was having contractions the whole time, but I don't remember any of them hurting. The first time it did hurt was when Ryan turned off of State Street to go to Cottonwood Hospital. There was a large dip and the car rocked back and forth. That really hurt, but I didn't let it phase me.


Ryan parked the car and I immediately got out and went inside. I didn't even wait for him. I didn't want to waste time. I walked to the desk and told them I was in labor and needed a room. A nurse asked me if I had pre-registered. I told her I had not, I forgot. She sort of tisked, tisked at me and then proceeded to take her time to find out my information. After about 9-10 minutes, they were ready to lead me to a room. I told them to hold on a second, I needed to finish a contraction. I then followed. The nurse asked me to get a urine sample. I walked toward the bathroom and thought to myself, "no. I don't want this baby to be born on a toilet." I asked Ryan to get them in there and sat on the bed. The nurse strolled in saying, "it looks like she was in labor for 17 hours with her last baby." Ryan said, "ummm....well, I'm pretty sure she's ready right now." She checked and said, "oh my! You're at a 10." She snapped on a pair of gloves and started calling in others. Hearing I was fully dilated was all I needed to hear. I pushed and his head was born. The only people there were the nurse and Ryan, but they were enough to get the job done. The nurse asked me to hold on a second and she suctioned the mouth and then she and Ryan delivered the rest. It took about 20 seconds before anyone remembered to find out the sex. A boy. Just like I thought and born about 12 minutes after we got to the hospital. And just like that, it was all done. It was what the nurses call a "stop and drop".

I would like to let Peyton know that I am so glad to have him in our family. He's such a fun little boy. It pains me to say that he's a little boy now because I can't believe that he is. I've tried and tried to make him stay a baby, but he just won't. He may think (at least most of the time ☺) that his dad is more fun then I am, but he's coming around. He's actually starting to miss me when I go somewhere and that just does my little heart good. It's about time he loved his mom.

We all love him very much and wish him a very Happy Birthday!

Friday tunes Sep. 25th edition

1. Yellow - Coldplay
2. Falling into Grace - The Red Hot Chili Peppers
3. Concerto for 2 Keyboards and Orchestra - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
4. Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
5. Spiderwebs - No Doubt
6. St. Elsewhere - Dave Grusin
7. I Don't Trust Myself (with Loving You) - John Mayer
8. American Baby - Dave Matthews Band
9. Part of Your World - Jodi Benson / The Little Mermaid Soundtrack
10. Soul Bossa Nova - Quincy Jones & His Orchestra

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Just so you know, I'm failing and failing miserably at my FJ1W goal. I've been screaming my head off all week. This one is going to have to be a long term goal, accomplished with tiny baby steps.

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If I hear Cameron ask me one more time what the plan is for Disneyland, I just might go insane. I love the boy, but oh.my.hell. Enough is enough. I know he's excited and all, but, well you would just have to be around him to know what I'm talking about. He takes nagging to a whole new level.

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Yesterday, I was shopping with Avery and Peyton. We were browsing in the little boys clothing section. On older woman walked up to me and asked me if I could tell her what size an outfit was. She was having trouble seeing it on the tag. I told her and she then asked the price as well. I found it and told her. She thanked me and we started to walk away. As we were walking I started experiencing a feeling of dread. I just knew Avery was going to say something. I tried to walk away quickly so that whatever she said wouldn't be heard. She was too fast. She said in a snotty, I know everything kind of voice, "hmmmm....it looks like she can't read very well." I reached over and clapped my hand over her mouth as she was saying "well". I shook my head vigorously to try and get her to stop. I removed my hand and she said it again and so I covered her mouth again. All the while I was still trying to walk away. I took my hand away and she said it again. I covered her mouth again and when we were finally far enough away, I took it off. She then yelled, "WHY DO YOU KEEP COVERING MY MOUTH!? I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT SHE CAN'T READ VERY WELL!" I told her that the problem was she couldn't see very well, not that she couldn't read. I told her that what she had just done was very rude. Especially since she said it loud enough for the whole world to hear. She just said, "humph" and shrugged her shoulders. Yes, it was nice and embarrassing and she was a huge brat. We've been talking a lot about manners since.

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I love the recipes I've received. It's been so helpful. Please keep them coming.

What's on the menu today: we're having a make your own pizza party with homemade Garlic Bread sticks. I'm using the same recipe for the pizza dough as the bread sticks. I think we're going to go with easy pepperoni as topping.

I don't recommend this

I really don't like this gum and let me tell you why. It starts out kind of sweet and tart at the same time. It's almost like a watermelon Jolly Rancher. The flavor crystals, or micro-bursts, are crunchy in the beginning and then turn slightly minty in flavor. After that, the watermelon flavor mellows out and is mildly sweet. All of that's okay and not what I have a problem with. If it stayed that way, it would be great. What I have a problem with is the fact that it almost melts, for lack of a better word, and does that as soon as the flavor crystals have all been chewed up. It turns into this runny, squishy blob in your mouth. Almost like slime. I can't chew it for more than 5 minutes before it makes me feel gaggy and I have to spit it out. It feels like it's going to slip right down my throat. I don't recommend it and I especially don't recommend that you buy a box with 12, 14 piece packs in it, totaling 168 pieces. Yeah, that's what I did and now I'm stuck with it.

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Ryan worked really late last night and I almost went totally crazy. I'm always partially crazy, but last night, my kids just about pushed me over the edge. They were being total butts and I was being zero tolerant and or patient. That's all I have to say about that.

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What's on the menu today: Salsa Chicken.