Mo of the Mo Tab

Just finished watching the morning session of Conference.
I love Conference Weekend. I know the real reason that I love conference so, is because I get to watch it in my jammies. I made cinnamon rolls and smoothies this morning to increase our spiritual absorption :).
However, as I was watching the last few minutes, the choir sang "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" It's arranged by Mac Wilburg, whom I've loved since I went to music camp my junior year of high school (please keep all your geek comments to yourself). I LOVE this arrangement. There's a middle sectiont that has a very heavy base line which always gives me chills. I also truly appreciate the lyircs.

Prone to wander,

Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart,
O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

I love those lines, because I think it's a universal theme. There are times in my life where things go so well, I am folowing the counsel of the brethren, as well as really searching out what my Heavenly Father wants from me -- and I fear those times I know I'll go back to schleping my way through the gospel. I'd love to take my "perfect" heart at those times when I am truly searching His will... bottle it, seal it... and store it.

Anyway, those are my comments for the morning session. I also really appreciated Elder Holland's talk. I think I will, perhaps, frame it. I also enjoyed the talk on music in the church. I have seen many a musical number set to be a performance... if you know what I mean....

and I think you do.

Calorie Counter

So far, the calorie counting is great for me.
I'm the type that likes to see graphs, have a definite goal, and I like being able to sit down at night and say, I've hit my calorie limit, or yes, I can have ice cream because I'm still below my intake level. It's like balancing my checkbook.
So, I'm gonna add some links on the right that I've found useful.... maybe they'll help some of you out!

Let's watch Pee pee...

So, today is a SIP day, I'm not sure what that stands for... although I do think the anacynom should be TGTSMKBP -- teachers go to stupid meetings, kids bug parents.... anyway, Conner was home today. We had a lot on our agenda. First a little blod test for myself, just checking to see if my thyroid or insulin resistance are the issues with my non-weight loss. Then, it was home to eat breakfast, and then off on some errands, including a trip to the library, and then to the park for some festive spring fun. While we were at the library we got a couple of videos, Swiss Family Robinson and Pipi Longstocking -- neither of which my children were remotely excited to watch.
When Spencer woke-up from his naps and Conner begrudgingly said we could watch pee-pee... at least that broke the ice that it might be sorta fun.... at least better then watching pee.
In the end the liked it. Did you guys watch these movies growing-up? I want to get the first pipi movie -- I LOVED them.... not sure why now that I watched this one today, but they are a good movie about children's imagination.
And tonight it's off to Drew' concert. Please say a little prayer for us.
I want to make this bag... somethin' fierce....
http://www.elegantstitches.com/AB-SwingBag.htm (somehow links aren't working for me)
Has anyone made it -- too hard? I wish I was Carly. :)

Check up Day

So, I had my womanly check-up today. Doctor is surprised at all I'm doing without results. She encouraged me to do a calorie count. So I am. I'm doing it at www.my-calorie-counter.com I have inputted everything that I've eaten so far... I had 2 eggs this AM with 1/2 a bagel and that threw-off my cholesterol, but other then that I think I'm doing fairly well.... in fact, I wonder if I don't eat enough. I mean, of the right things. Anyway, I'll keep you updated. You can do that calorie counter for free, but I upgraded to a premium membership for the month, it was 5 bucks. Again, I'll let you know. I know that I did do well in college right after I had my nutrition class and could tell you how many calories almost every food on earth was...
I also went to Happy Hollow with some friends. It reminded me that Spencer is totally gettin' the shaft. I used to take Conner to Happy Hollow almost monthly. Spencer has never been. I mean, I do stuff with him at home.... but I've resolved to do more with him outside of our house too... more then just grocery shopping.
Tally ho....

Breakfast Ideas

My kids are heading to a life of fruit and toast for breakfast every day. I'm at a loss... I need quick, healthy breakfast ideas for our school mornings. What do you guys make that your kids love? I need input here.... you, YOU READING -- GET OFF YOUR FINGERS AND TYPE ME A COMMENT! NOW. :)

I done shot me a baby...

and his name's Logan not James -- but his nursery's all cow-boy-y... just thought it fit. Feel free to sing Logan when Mr. Taylor insists on singing "James."



Music by James Taylor and Michelle Featherstone.

General Conference Ideas

I forgot to mention the stuff that I have found in past years.
www.learningpage.com is GREAT -- for conference or otherwise (SUPERUB to print-out worksheets for summer learning and the like -- you do have to register to get to some of the stuff, but registration is free). I tend to mix 1/2 of this and 1/2 of church stuff for Conner's packet.
When I googled General Conference Games I found this page. That one had some fun links. I esp. like stuff that matches general authorities and stuff like that, since that's who they're seeing on TV And at least they can relate on some level.
I do appreciate that they've started showing more pictures during conference and sometimes videos. It definitely peaks the kiddos interest.

My Water Skills

Alright, I have researched water storage a bit on the internet... so I'll share what i learned:
Sealed water supposidly can be OK forever (there is a date on the water containers, I called the water people -- I am thinking it was Crystal Gyeser -- and they said that he water is guaranteed "fresh" up til' that time, but it is consumable for a great many more years). The only problem is that it loses it's taste (my guess is that it gets the plastic taste from the water bottle it's been in -- but I have heard it is due to a loss of aeration so if you poured the water back and forth from a couple of containers and let it sit for a bit it'd taste better). I have some sealed containers that are about 5 years old. Now that I have my full storage of 24 of them, I am going to rotate them buying 6 or so new ones a year and throwing the oldest out (and using their water to water my plants). You can store water in pop bottles and old water bottles, but you do have to switch those out, becuase they're not sealed. I'm not sure how often you have to switch them, I'm guessing yearly.
As far as my water barrel in the back yard, our friends the Yuens were kind enough to give us the one we have. I think it holds around 50 gallons, and I guess they used to be used to store olives, but were then cleaned and sterilized for water use. I switch the water every six months to a year. When I pull the lid off, there is some crystalization on both the lid and the top of the water, but I have never seen anything growing inside. I keep the barrel in the backyard by our shed. It's in the shade but I do have to clean-off the top when I open it (becuase it has all sorts of nastiness from being outside on top of it). I got the pump from a friend, but I have heard they're pretty easy to procure. I am guessing, if you're LDS, if you talked to your ward or stake emergency preparedness coordinator, they could point you in the right direction to get both the pump and a big barrell if you're interested. I did talk to our local watermaster and he said that I didn't need to add bleach to the water that went in my barrel because the city has chlorinated water. I would check with your local people. If anyone else gets a different answer I would love to know. However, bleach and myself don't particularly mix... I've ruined quite a few pairs of pants due to bleach -- it's not something I want to talk aobut...
I am also wanting to get some water purification tablets to put in our 72 hour kit in our car... our ward preparedness coordinator also mentioned we might want to get some cofee filters to send any water that is visibly contaiminated through.
I have also considered on putting some crystal light also in our 72 hour kits because I am guessing any water that has been "fixed" in this particular way isn't gonna taste so hot. And we all know that I'm gonna want to be happy in an emergency.
Anyway, those are my thoughts and what I've learned, take it for what it's worth.

It's that Time of Year Again

It's time to make a "fun" packet for the kiddos for Conference.
Sad news, Spencer is also old enough for a fun packet, so I get to make TWO!!!!
My mom called me with the information that the herald had some conference stuff for kids in their last issue... but it's not online, at least that I can find.
Do any of you guys have resources of places to find little games for them to do during conferece? I usually do some worksheets at their age level, some fun stuff, church wordfinds -- that sort of thing. We already do general conference Bingo....
Peeps, I need ideas.

Life Improvements

You know how sometimes you buy this, and you think -- THIS is going to change my life! Well, I've had two of those this weekend, just wanted to share my joy.

First, off my new purse. I found it at Ross for 14.99. I have been BE-MOANING the fact that I still have a diaper bag. Spencer is completely potty trained (as complete as a 3 year old can be -- I still need another pair of undies in my bag, but no more diapers that's for sure). I had an Eddie Bauer small diaper bag that I've had for about 6 years and the velcro is dying. when I have to bend down and pick something up my keys fall out... anyway, it was far time for me to grow, up so I got this little beaut. However, this guy means more then just a new purse. It means I'm out of babyhood. Spencer's 3, it shoudln't be a shock. I thought I'd be back IN babyhood by now, but that's not happening, and I'm fine with it. I mean, BOTH of my kids can almost get dressed ALL by themselves! Spencer, in fact, can do everything but pull his socks on, and I think that's going to be our goal for April (March's goal was getting our shirt on by ourselves). Anyway, this purse has 3 pockets (not the uni-pocket that I dread so much). One is for extra undies, a little burp cloth (because you never know what kind of crap you're gonna have to clean-up), a toy car, and some wipes -- and the other 2 pockets for ME... yipeee!!!! Anyway, feel the joy. I also have fruit snacks in one of the other pockets (don't tell the kids), which are most decidely not for me -- but you never know. :) This means I can live life a little more for me, and a little less for them. Only a little, but each step counts. :)

The other purchase, a water pump for our 55 gallon thing of water. Why on earth would a person want 55 gallons of water in their backyard? We're big into water storage. I have another 24 gallons of sealed water in our garage. Anyway, up until now, when I wanted to change out the water I had to take a running start and push the barrel over and pray that it didn't flood our house. My friend Eliza got me a pump for it, it goes ALL the way down. NOW, I just put my little pump on down and feel the exceeding joy. I change the water every general conference, so I'm guessing you'll have another post about my joy within the next couple of weeks. If you have one of those barrels and don't have a pump... go get one.
Period.

The Secret to Good Scrapbooking is Illiteration

I did a ginormous layout today, plus this one -- but like a fool I'm going to be entering a contest coming up so I won't be posting everything on the blog for a bit -- just those I won't be using in the contest.

Master of the Green THumb

The garden is planted. I still want to do some sort of a pot by my door... but the rest is in the earth. As far as the plants which we will someday consume we have strawberries, tomatoes (3 different kinds) beans, corn, zuchinni, cucumbers, peas raspberries, cilantro and a green pepper plant. Of course, a giant dirt clod trampled my little green pepper plant. I hope he makes it through it.
However, I hate gardening. I HATE it. I itch while I'm out there, my hands still itch now as I'm typing this. The kids were spraying me with some sort of water (most likely standing with mosquito eggs that will someday sprout under my skin) and then getting them to come-in when I'm all done... well, let's just say I'd rather itch.
Why do I do it?
Good question.
Well, I do like giving away the fruits and vegetables of our neighbors to friends and family.
I do like the way it looks.
I like eating fresh fruist and vegetables and the fact that we don't have to "pay" for them (and yes, mom I am FULLY aware that I am paying WAY more in sweat equity then I'll ever get in produce).
I like showing my kids that when you put the work in you get something out of it, but you have to be diligent.
Well, frankly none of these excuses are making the itchy me feel any better right now.
So, I will do a shout-out to my brother and sister in law who share birthdays within one day of each other. HAPPY BIRTHDAY J and K!!!! Miss you guys!
They're coming this summer, and for their birthday present they can each pick a vegetable out of my garden. :)

Whoop whoop

Guess who has over 20k visitors on their blog!!!!

The World is Buggin' Me

Alright, 2 things are bugging me tonight -- well 2 things and the status of our drawers in the playroom. However, I am fixing the playroom drawers, I do feel the need to vent on 2 other items.
#1: The Edwards family. This family understands tragedy. They understand cancer and the only REASON I can figure for him not dropping out of the race is that he cares more about being president then her. In all reality I want a president who cares about families being home when their loved ones are sick. Will he promote a family leave act when he can't even leave his run for presidency for that. I don't know -- I mean, I understand that they both think he can change the world. But this is a definite negative for him, at least for me. Wich, is sad since he's the only Democratic candidate I can stomach.
#2: All the freaking smoking on America's Next Top Model. They go on and on about how bad eating disorders are, but GUESS WHAT -- Smoking is an eating disorder too!!! It is also extremely bad for your health (Tyra may have missed that though, in all her illustriative schooling). Now, I mainly watch the show to see how they tell them to tilt their heads to get catchlights and stuff like that -- but it was driving me INSANE last night. And, how fair is it to make other girls live in the same house where a bunch of them are smoking. I even emailed the CW network. I'd like to see next season smoke-free!

Worth It

You know how after you push out a baby, people always say all the turmoil would be worth it?
I was just wondering -- I mean, what if our labors were completely without pain and the baby just somehow morphed out.... do you think the child would have less meaning to us?
I've always thought that when I'm a goddess some day I will make moms with a ziplock opening that will appear when the baby's ripe, and then you'll just unzip them, pull the baby out, and then re-zip and everything just heals-up nicely. No pain, no fuss, no need for gloves. :)
However, I do see that there is a bond that happens between husband and wife at a time of travail. It doesn't happen every time, but i find that when there is true love the husband realizes that the wife is doing this entirely for him and her. She has no alterior motive. This is the first in a truckload of selfless acts to follow. I then believe that begins a chain reaction in their relationship.
So, perhaps God did have it right. The pain, the fuss, the possibility of death. They are all very real and very needed so that one little spirit can come to earth, get a body and then create meaningful bonds.
What do you ladies think?

A para-diddle about scrapbooking

How long have you been scrapping? I have some albums that are still in the sticky pages (gasp) but since most of that his high school I am fine with it. I've kept scrapbooks since around 1993, but the archival kind I do now, since 1994. I am on Erickson Album #20.

What one word describes your scrapping style? Colorful. I think that's probably best. Probably very square, because I have a very hard time using anything on an angle, I like it all squared-up. And anti-flower. How's that?

How many times have you been published? Not a clue. more then once. I've been in Memory Makers, CK, BHG and... the now dead PK.

Would you rather do layouts or make cards? I only do cards when absolutely forced to. I do not think it's fair that people automatically think you can pop-out an adorable card, just because you scrapbook. I mean, sheeesh. :)

Do you paper craft? No. The only thing I alter is my diet. :)

Have you tried or converted to digital scrapping yet? I do a lot of digital elements, and I love to digitally design things that I will need several copies of (aka, cards, etc)... but I really like the feel of paper, the fun of my kids running their fingers over the button or the ribbon... i think that paper scrapbooking holds a personal-ness that computer never well. Again, that's just my opinon.

What’s your least favorite layout ever? Shockingly enough, in my 20 albums I have a LOT of them -- but for right now it would be the recent one I did about the kids going to football teams at the HS. I wasn't really feeling the topic, but it's probably Conner's favorite layout because he's on there with his classroom mascot. Go figure.

What’s your most favorite layout ever? There's one in my Hall of Fame entry for last year entitled "leaving me" that will always hold a special place in my heart.

Do you consider yourself a poor, fair or great journaler? Freakin' awesome. Actually, I think it's my best quality at this point.

Do you follow the trends or scrap for yourself? I can't follow trends in clothes, why on earth am I gonna do it with scrapbook pages?

What’s the worst scrapbook product you ever purchased? I think there was an oval cutter or something that I threw-out.... not really sure, I try and not buy much (laugh, that's fine -- but I try to remain a bare minimalist as far as "tools" go -- I'm a glue and cardstock girl (now I will mention that I have a LOT of glue and cardstock).

What’s your favorite scrapbooking tool? Paper cutter. Hands-down. I use the olds Fiskars one that everyone hates. One man's trash.....

Do you scrap better alone or with others? ALONE. Period. Sorry gals, but it's true.

Are you on any design teams? Nope, of course -- except for my OWN business design team. :)

If the “industry” came to a halt today, would you continue scrapping exactly as you do today? Heck yes. I think that's what bugged me most about Amy Howe quitting scrapbooking. It's something that's near and dear to my heart. I think it promotes self esteem in those that you scrapbook about, I think it gives me an outlet for creativity (and no matter what you say -- buying a piece of cardstock is WAY cheaper then buying a new couch, or painting a wall in our house), and I think it preserves memories. I won't quit. I may slow down, but I can't imagine quitting.

What’s on your scrapbook desk this very moment? Glue stick, paper scraps... paper cutter. I think that's all.

What’s your favorite thing about scrapping? I'm gonna have to go with Lara's answer on this one. Nothing brings more joy then hearing a litle boy say "I REMEMBER DOING THAT" or them just staring with sparkly eyes at recently-done pages. {sigh}

After 2.5 hours of pushing

We have a little Logan.
Congrats Paul and Janna, thanks for letting me be there!

Kids

Why is it that your kids IMMEDIATELY feel better after you call and make an appointment at the doctor?
Your contractions get less once you get in the car to go to the hospital? BTW, that's not me -- but my friend is going in to get induced today. Good luck Janna!!!!
Seriously.

A Little Jedi to Brighten Your Day

Ewwwwww

It is seriously not coincidental.
Mid 2001: Drew is gone at some overnight thing for school. I find a mouse in the garage. For the rest of the year, whenever I see said mouse (or rat). Drew isn't home. He also finds it amusing that I am SO freaked out by it (I also make him do the laundry for the rest of the week).
Yesterday: Tree-trimmers find a possum's nest in our tree and for SOME strange reason they felt the need to take me out and SHOW it to me.
EWWWWWWWWWWWW....
It's huge, it has a FREAKING long tail.
OMG, I wanted to die.
So, I call my dad. He tells me to show what i'm made of and go out and take a picture of the possum so I can put it on the blog. I gathered my britches and went out, but thankfully the tree trimmers had scared it off. Of course, that doesn't changed the fact that he has a NEST in our TREE and it's full of BABIES. EWWWWWW...
Drew also finds this whole situation amusing.
BTW, I called animal control, and they said that even if they were to trap him, they'd just release him in our same neighborhood. They also said that chances are there are a lot of Possums in our neighborhood, I just never see them. They also reassured me that they are completely harmless to myself and my children.
Frankly, I don't feel any better.
New plan: Drew never leaves, and I we never have to have anything furry in/near our house.
Sounds good eh?

Celebrating St. Patty's Day by cuttin' down the green

We have a very large tree in our backyard that is in BAD need of a haircut (much like Spencer, who is now into double-handed hair twirls). So, we're having someone come to cut it today. Or course, my sweet husband is going to be out with his band (gasp, what a shock).
I always am nervous to have workers at our house when Drew isn't home. I have called my mom and told her that if I'm found dead, it's the tree trimmers. Of course, I had to leave a message because NO ONE is up at the un-godly hour that my children came running into my room at.
Other then that, the day has birthday parties, sant patty's day cookie decorating and gardening ahead of us.
Let us pray that I am not consumed by the pollen.

My PSA to Minivan Owners

Hey you out there, yeah, you with the minivan whose doors open at the click of your remote. I'm talkin' to YOU.
Our van apparently had dirty contacts, and that's all it was. I'd even taken my finger and wiped-off the contacts, but apparently they get dirty enough that you need to either use very fine grit sandpaper OR a pencil eraser to clean both parts of the contacts off. If you don't know where your contacts are (and I didn't) they're on the edge of the door, we have about 10 of them, and corresponding parts on the door and the frame of the car.
{sigh}
I hate taking our car in. And for something THAT dumb? I feel like a foo' :) To put it in Mr. T terms.

Under Warranty

Does anyone else feel like warrnties are getting so specific and so useless, you wonder why companies even offer them anymore?

We had to take our minivan in today. The passenger side door keeps not opening. I figure, it's under warranty, let's go get it checked-out (sometimes it will open, but now -- more often then not it won't open). So... we take it in. He tells us that if an actual part hasn't failed we have to pay the diagnostic. Well, SOMETHING has failed -- it won't open. but I guess this is part of life.

However, the more I learn about warranties I just think they're a load of crock.

Does anyone else feel that way? Has anyone ever had warranty service that they thought was amazing? Costco, up until now, would've been my thought for that. I love how could take stuff back with no questions asked.

I am fairly certain that no longer is the customer always right.

Mastectomy Bill

I think we all know that women's health is an issue pretty close to my heart.
Lifetime TV has put on their webpage a way for you to sign a bill to increase the minimum stay for mastectomies. Currently mastectomies are an oupatient procedure. That's right, they cut off major appendages and send you home.
The bill would make it mandatory to allow 2 day stays for women, paid by insurance, who have had mastectomies.
http://www.lifetimetv.com/breastcancer/petition/signpetition.php
Please consider it. I think it's important for women to have medical and emotional support after such a big procedure.

Walking into the depts of Hell

My friend is set to have a baby. I am supposidly going to go assist, perform a pseudo-doula type thing (of course I'm a VERY highly educated doula full of wit and charm). I'm excited to help her and free her from the tight bands of pregnancy... but part of me wants her to keep that baby in FOREVER.

I was talking with another friend last night about HOW much your life changes after that first baby. It was honestly the WORST time in my life. I don't look back at Conner's new-born hood and have ANY positive feelings. I remember thinking my fingernails were going to fall off from all the finger feeding. I remember SCREAMING if my bra shifted agains my boob, I remember having psycho dreams from the lack of sleep and the reglan i was on to help increase milk production... I remember finally, after almost a week, leaving the house for the first time since getting my breast pump on day 3. I almost had a panic attack on the road because of all the cars. I remember feeling like failure. I had never failed at something and been SO tired doing it. And then, came week #2. Life started to fall into place. I turned into my nazi mom self who got her little dude onto a schedule and suddenly I started to appear. It's amazing the changes you feel as week #2 begins...

I even have a hard time when I see my patients leaving the hospital. But, as I see my sweet dear friends walk into the very depths of hell (and after having a child I've always envisioned hell as just that) I wince... So, does anyone else have any tips for getting through the whole post-partum period? Besides pray it goes by fast?

I was just on Surviving Motherhood

No, it wasn't actually me... but it was me. She was up early to exercise, had her family on a strict schedule, she'd freak-out if she got off of it, obsessed with cleaning (I was just considering doing a blog entry on how much I love my labler, and how great my medicine closet looks now)....
I mean, honestly peeps...
I mean, on the surface it's great. She treats motherhood as her JOB. I feel the same way, and I appreciate women who feel that way instead of something they just do to get the kids old enough to go to Kindergarten....
Her problem was that she didn't feel like she could spend enough time with her kids.
I feel the same thing. I mean, I do try and schedule in time for them. I'm trying to stress that more to myself. At 11:00 I should be able to play with S, and at 4:00 I should be able to play with both of them... but I find myself cleaning or colapsed some days instead....
Does anyone else have this problem?

Am I freak? (don't answer that.)

FHE

It seems like I haven't done my usual family home evening update in a while. We are working on the third article of faith this month, buyt I never showed y'all our family rules. Well, here they are in all their glory. Honestly, it's been working pretty well. I am quick to keep my voice at an even decible and I've had a lot of backrubs and songs from the kids. I am glad for the decrease in yelling though. Sometimes our house just gets way too loud. Since we all voted the rules into our family it's been easy to remind the boys that they agreed to it, and they seem to be fine with it. I recommend it highly. Our family motto is to have a Happy Eternal Family, so that's why that's at the top. So far, the rules are contributing to the motto, I think.

Last night our lesson was on prayer We are hoping that Spencer will learn to say the prayers a bit more on his own, and that our entire family will think about their prayers a little bit more. I know it's something I could work on. I believe that prayer is SO important, and yet there are SO many days I forget it or say a useless one, while actually trying to figure out what to have for dinner. My mind just won't shut-off. Anyway, it's a goal of mine -- praying, not shutting-off my mind. :) We ended with texas sheet cake, with TWO batches of frosting on it. Note to readers: Texas sheet cake frosting sets-up REALLY fast, so don't have your six year old think that's his part of the whole dessert-making process.... It STILL didn't make it to the edges on try #2... and the cake is about 1/3 frosting and 2/3 cake.... but VERY enjoyable nevertheless. Thanks for the recipes my friends!

Happy Tuesday friends. I have a dentist appointment today... so if you find my limp lifeless body somewhere... it's because I couldn't take the drill. Or, that one of our tree trimming quote-givers killed me... or, that I was killed by our van door which opens only when it feels like it... really, there are a number of options.

OOOOOOOOOklahoma...

Costco has the Rogers and Hammerstein set for about 37 with tax right now. I think it's usually 43.99 with them, but there's a 10 dollar coupon right now. RUN out and buy it. :) It comes with Carousel, State Fair, the King and I, Okahoma, South Pacific and the Sound of Music. Plus, each movie comes with 2 dvd's including a bunch of fancy extras. Have I already talked about this on the blog?
Anywho... we watched Oklahoma last night. I was transported back to high school. I think it was my junior year and I played in the pit. Now, let's just say I LOVE pit orchestra, I loved having every line memorized, singing along with them in my head (no one would want me to do it outloud) knowing exactly when someone messed-up, I loved accompanying people on those amazing songs, it was a fav of mine. It didn't hurt that one of my favorite conductors was the conductor. Mr. Larsen, honestly -- is there a nicer man out there ANYWHERE? Loved him. Anyway, it's amazing how old movies translate into today. there's a girl, who has the choice between the bad boy and the good boy. She doesn't turn down the bad boy and it all ends-up being a mess for her AND the good boy. On the way she apparently takes drugs resulting in one of the weirdest scenes in movie history (is anyone else there with me on that one?). I'm excited to watch all of them, and share them with our family. I'm not that well aquainted with State Fair or Carousel, but it will be fun regardless.
Let's see... what else is on my plate today? Well, I'm glad you asked!
1. I have GOT to spray for crab grass today!!! I am fairly sure it's already germinated and I'm already too late but DANG spring creeps up on a girl! It's supposed to be 84 here today. I've turned off my heater... the short sleeve shirts are out. IT's times like this when I remember WHY my mortgage payment is so high. :)
2. Back to horticulture, we planted tomatoes, peas and a raspberry bush (currently, a raspberry stick) last week. Very excited to see those things make us some food.
3. Our van's door wasn't opening yesterday, or this AM -- called and made an appt with the people and then it MAGICALLY starts working. Seriously, Satan GET OUT OF MY WAY. He bugs.
4. We need to trim the big tree in the back. Does anyone have a tree trimmer that they adore (that's local, obviously).
5. Gonna scrap. Serious scrap. I want to get our movie from last year done and I can't do that til' all the scrap pages are done.
Go team.
Break.

Scanned kinda bright and dark......

A New Recipe

Does anyone else love Chevy's Tomatillo that they serve with their entrees? I do.
I was looking on all recipes and found this recipe
Sweet Corn Cake
I made that along with some pre-done soup from Costco. A tortilla chicken soup.
Nice dinner, kids loved it and so did I.
The corn cake is a tad labor intensive (putting corn in the food processor is the big problem, plus you cook it in a hot water bath), but worth it... for something different.

The Internet World

You know, the internet is a fickle friend.
I've been fairly internet-savy for a few years and it's hard.
You don't see facial expression when these people type, you don't actually know them.
I mean, you FEEL like you know them, you read their blog, you have chatted on message boards, but you don't KNOW them.
Anyway, it's amazing how people get things mis-contstrued or freak out over the littlest things, all from the intra-net. :) It's hard not to, it's happened to me a few times. I take an IM as one way, and the person meant it an entirely different way.
Thank you Al Gore. :)

Catching Flies

You know what amazes me, well -- first off, it's NOT David Blaine. He creeps me out. It's people who think that just because they have a degree or a "title" that people will just respect them. We had an issue last night with a doctor who treated a patient like crap, and then they decided not to follow his advice and then he was VERY VERY mad. Mad at us, mad at her, mad at the whole world.
I was amazed as his gal. I mean, honestly while he and this patient were having this tug of wills the nurses were sitting around watching the fetal heart rate strip of a baby in distress. Wringing our hands, calling the hospital lawyers, calling our manager... we were basically just as powerless as that poor fetus.
I wondered how many times I do this myself. Are there times that my kids are the powerless ones when I am at odds with Drew, a friend or even myself?
It was also a good reminder that if you talk with anyone, be they 20 or 92 in a rational manner, relaying both the pros and the cons of the situation, treating them with respect, they will usually come to see their right decision, pushing aside personal issues. This woman was very concerned for her baby's well-being until the doctor came in and pushed her around.
Outcome? All is well. Thankfully the mom made a good decision with the help of some good nurses. Just something to think about next time you're trying to bait some flies. :)

Motherhood

Yesterday on Surviving Motherhood it was about something or other.... I can't really even remember what it was. Oh, that's right -- it was about getting dads involved. They gave the age old advice that the way the Dad's going to do it is not the way YOU would do it-- but it's fine. I learned that advice pretty early on from a friend of mine. I've always held it dear to my heart. As long as the child's not in danger -- let the dad do his thing. So, for that particular part of the show I didn't find anything enlightening.
But I get really emotional when I watch that show -- and I'm not sure why. I think the fact that moms are learning how to be better moms is something thats tender for me. I mean, I am not a cryer... but it gets me on Shalom in the Home (Drew and I love Shmoole). I just love that on TV we're realizing that all marriages have problems, both big and small and that there are ways to work them out. And no, all you freaks out there, I am not pregnant, this is something that's been going on probably since I had kids.
Parents being good parents, it's a tender thing.
P.S. Does anyone have the recipe for Texas Sheet Cake? My friend Elyse used to make it in college and I LOVED it... and now I wanted to share the love with my own family.

Beautify

We bought some new flowers for the front yard. I apparently pruned our daisys a tad too much and they died. :)
Lucky you can't do that with kids. :)
I love to look at my front yard though. It's so fun to have that sort of instant gratification like that (esp. since Drew and the boys planted them). I wish I got that sort of gratification with working out. Perhaps that's why I like cleaning and organizing so much -- I mean, once you're done it looks great. I sweated for a good 45 minutes this morning and I look no different then when I started.
Anyway, back to the flowers. I love to go to Home Depot and check out all the colors and varieties. I believe I think of our front little patch as a small scrapbook page. I love lots of color and variety. I'm also hoping to put some new lights in to add some emphasis in that way too.
Sadly, I think I think of most things as a little scrapbook page. I also got some new little black frames to go on our wall above the piano. I love to put different sized frames, and different shapes. These are the pictures I picked to go in them... I'm hoping to put a new one in every month or so, just to keep our house a tad more current with our more recent photos. These are the ones I picked for the place of honor.

First Grade

Sadly, I have another layout entitled the EXACT SAME THING.

Sad, but true.

A Trifurcated blog entry

You know, there's no reason to have gone to nursing school if you can't throw around fancy words like that. :)

First off, I found a new workout that I wanted to share. Lifetime had the astounding vision to not show Denise Austin for a whole hour every single day, the first 1/2 hour is still Denise and the 2nd half hour is called My Workout. It has the "trainers to the stars" that do a 17 minute workout with you and then there's a cooldown with Yoga. I've decided that the 1 hour workouts are starting to kill me (sorry Deni) -- I'm just SO tired doing those every other day plus a long walk on Fridays. I'm still going to try and do the 1 hour once a week (and no, it won't be Yoga -- I am hoping that the small little bits I get on myworkout will slowly bring me into the Yoga world) and then do 1/2 of a Denise Austin plus the myworkout -- which will probably around 45 minutes. I was REALLY sweaty this AM -- which seems to put me in a good mood (go figure).

Secondly, we had a little earthquake last night. I felt so glad that I am slowly building up those preparedness bags. I am hoping to start to fill them in FHE this coming month. Having the kids pick-out some of their uglier clothes to put in there... and hopefully rotate them every general conference from them out so that we have clothes that fit in there. I did get a calling card at Target the other day to put in there. Here's a good link if anyone else is interested in building theirs. Please keep telling me suggestions you guys have, I am loving them. I think the thing that would get me is not planning for emergencies. I'd be SO mad at myself to be in a situation similar to what happened in New Orleans. I know that the people there are poor, and hardly can live day to day but I feel like they could've planned a bit better. I want to do that myself.

Last thing, had a GREAT trip to the grocery store today. Don't you love it when TONS of people are helpful? I mean, just great. Got me some fresher scallops, cut a tri-tip roast into steaks and were so helpful. I'm going to get on their website right now and say thanks.

It's a bright sunshiney day my friends. Oh yes it is.

The Sad Costco News

You may have heard by now, but let me the sad news-bearer... Costco no longer takes returns on everything, forever. It's so sad. It still takes returns on everything except for computers, MP3 players, cameras and TV's... I believe.
The saddest part, Drew's MP3 player (just over 4 months old) broke yesterday.
SERIOUSLY, the man needs one... and we can just NOT find one that will last. His other one probably only lasted 18 months.
True that he gives heavy use to it, the man's a music teacher....
Anyway, we were able to return the broken one, and he will probably re-order a new one this afternoon from costco. They still allow returns for up to 90 days... but {sigh}....
Those were good times back then... I miss them already.