Brush Strokes to Cake Crumbs

Rounding Out

2011-12-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

She had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when she laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

She was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw her, in spite of myself!
A wink of her eye and a twist of her head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

Things are getting round over here because I'm expecting child number four!

Our newest addition is expected to arrive the first week of June. Yay!

How old are you mama?

2011-07-19T10:53:00.000-06:00

"Nobody knows how old Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is. She says she doesn't know herself. She says, "What difference does it make how old I am when I shall never grow any bigger."'

-Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald

The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books are some of our favorites. Today we needed a new chapter book and the kids all agreed upon Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. We haven't ready them in order and read one of the others first.

The above quote was in today's reading and is how I often feel. I never could keep track of how old my parents were and now I forget how old I am too! It just doesn't seem to matter. I'm as big or tall as I'm going to get.

I don't want to be called Tato anymore

2011-07-05T13:46:00.000-06:00

Spencer and I were working together this morning in his bedroom.
Our conversation went like this:

Spencer: Mom, I don't like my name (nickname) Tato anymore."

Me: Ok, you want me to call you only Spencer now?

Spencer: Ah, no. Lord Voldermort.

Beware folks, Spencer aka Lord Voldermort is going to take over the world.

Living a Balance Life

2011-01-19T09:11:00.002-07:00

I just had one of those "Ahha! I get it!" moments of realization or understanding. I was reading the most recent post from Inspired to Action - one of my favorite blogs about being a mom. Her message today just clicked for me. I already knew what she was saying about balance but it struck me differently today. The post is short and to the point, if you're a mom I hope you'll take a moment and read it too.

The Key To Living a Balanced Life

by Kat from Inspire to Action

Nuggets

2011-01-19T08:29:00.000-07:00

Morning conversation:

Evelyn: Mama, do we have nuggets in our body?
Me: Uh, no? What do you mean?
Evelyn: Well chickens have nuggets.
Me: Haha, heeee, stifle my laugh... Actually Evelyn, people chop up chickens and shape them into nuggets.

Gotta love those half awake morning conversations.

S is for Spencer

2011-01-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

I'm starting something new with my two younger children. We're going through an at home preschool like program called "Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve" by Laura Coppinger. Its not full preschool just letters. I'm excited about this because it has games, activities, recipes, scriptures, and opportunities to serve others. Yes, I could come up with all this on my own but I know myself. I'd spend more time searching for the perfect activities on the internet and run out of time to actually do them. Besides I really don't care if my three and four year old know their letters yet, the point of my doing this is to spend time together. Its so easy for me to live my life beside my children rather than with them.

Today was our first day. I decided we'd focus on the letter S for Spencer. Oliver didn't have school due to the holiday and joined in the fun. Really the activities are easy to accomodate for all ages. Oliver already knew the letter but he had the opportunity to look up scriptures and read. I picked a scripture from the Book of Mormon rather than the one prepared because I figured Service went pretty well with the letter S! So we read Mosiah 2:17.

" ..."When Ye Are in the Service of Your Fellow Beings Ye Are Only in the Service of Your God".

I posted it on the wall and randomly throughout the day Oliver would come read it out loud. I didn't expect this response. It felt nice to hear scripture and to know he was excited about it.

All three had a blast with the activity - sock puppets!

(Try as I might, I can't get these to center on the actually post. It works on the preview. Hmm...)

The Next Generation

2011-01-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

Last week in primary the children were encouraged to bring scriptures each week. They don't have to be their own set of scriptures, getting them from the library counts. So all week long Evelyn kept reminding me she needed scriptures. Sunday morning all three kids joined her chimes for scriptures. So I raided my parents morning scripture drawer. Since there aren't any other of my siblings living here they aren't being used. I was a little surprised to see them still there actually. So I pulled out three, one for each of my children. Its kind of fun that these are the same scriptures I may have been reading out of years ago and now my children are excited to take care of them. We have them sitting out on the counter where they will be easy to access.

Its so fluffy I'm goign to die!

2011-01-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

We all had a late start, slept in. Some of us slept as much as an hour extra. This is rare in our home of early risers. Alarm clocks are mostly a precaution. We don't really need them. So when breakfast was late Oliver asked if he could have a piece of bread. Sure, why not? Well I watched Oliver open a new package of bread, reach halfway down the bag to what he figured must be the biggest, fluffiest piece of bread in the bag. Unfortunately, the bag was so full the piece didn't make it out in one full piece. So silly but I've giggled to myself about it all day. He really thought through what he wanted and went for it. Me I would have just gone with the piece on the end without thinking what I really wanted.

Say cheese!

2011-01-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

We finally have a working camera! Ours has been down for quite some time. Chris and I held back a little (well more of a chunk) of our Christmas to splurge on a used digital SLR camera. This is a big deal. BIG DEAL. Chris and I met the semester of college that I was taking (or just finished?) a photography class. Both being artists photography was a fun skill we were on equal playing grounds with, neither was so good we intimidated the other. So many of our dates we were out taking pictures. Some of those shots are still my favorites after all these years.

Since we won't be venturing to restaurants much on dates anymore we figured it would be fun to go back to one of our favorite dating past times - photography. (Oh and boardgames too. Anyone up for a round of Settlers of Catan? Its kind of addicting!) Its now eleven years since we began taking pictures together and we're excited to not be developing every picture to find out what turned out among the dozens that didn't.

Sad thing is after so many years I feel like I'm going to have to completely relearn how to use a SLR camera. So I'm going to try to take at least one picture everyday. I don't plan to share them all but I'm preparing a new blog just for our pictures. I'm hoping Chris will join in and submit pictures too.

Today, no pictures. I can't remember where Chris downloaded the pictures to on the computer! I'm off to see if I can find them.

Its so hard to go to sleep

2011-01-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

Spencer struggles to fall asleep many nights. Tonight he came out the five or six times. Maybe more I just lost count.

There are the regular reasons for leaving his room, bathroom stop, drink, book, drink, bathroom, and so on. This one was new.

Spencer: Mom! Oliver is dead!
Me: Spencer, he's ok. Oliver is asleep.
Spencer: But Mom I can't hear him breathing.

I did my best not to bust up laughing as I imagined him hovering over his sound asleep brother listening. I also imagine the sound asleep child waking in panic with his brother's face inches from his face.

I must go. The little rascal is up again.

Only in Utah...

2010-11-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

My brother passed me this link and I can't help but share it. It makes me laugh, especially since I have a cold right now too. Thanks but I'll pass on the dopey making cold meds, just give me rest.

So, this acutally happened on the radio here in Utah on FM 100. They say she was on some heavy cold meds. It's towards the end:

http://www.dooce.com/audio/fm100.mp3

Little Ears Do Hear

2010-11-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had stake conference. We had a visiting general authority because there was a change in the stake presidency. It was a big deal. There were lots of people there. Elder M. Russell Ballard gave the concluding talk.

To be honest I don't remember a lot of his talk because at that point Spencer was beginning to break down. Two hours of sitting still combined with the day light savings time change meant he was also hungry and tired. I think he handled everything really well considering the situation. What I did catch from the talk was that parents need to work on not raising their voices at their children. Easier said than done and something I'm already working on. Very quickly after that comment he addressed the children. I poked Evelyn and said he's talking to you now. Her ears perked up. He said children need to respect and obey their parents without arguing. (I wish I could remember his exact words!) He said they didn't have to agree with their parents but they were to be respectful. He went on to explain that they should ask their parents further about the rules they felt differently than their parents about so they could better understand why such a rule was in place in their home. Immediately Evenly turned to me and said, "Mom why do you make us do a job every morning?" I responded that we all help in our home to get the work done. That by working together we have time to do fun things together. If mom and dad did all of the work we wouldn't have time for fun family things. After a few minutes passed I felt I need to add to my response. I nudged her and said, "Evelyn Mom and Dad also ask you to do jobs because someday you are going to be a grown up. We're teaching you so that you'll know how to be a good grown up. Imagine what kind of grown up you'd be if we didn't teach you how to do the things grown ups know how to do." She beamed and said "Really?" I guess the thought of learning how to be a good grown up was really appealing.

To add to that I asked her to do her job this morning and there was no complaint. She quickly went and did the work. My jaw was on the floor.

It struck me how much more communication we need between children and parents. Its easy to think that communication is happening just because we're together so much. Togetherness does not necessarily equal communication.

Though I don't remember all or even most of what Elder Ballard said he provided the opportunity for a great teaching moment for both of us.

What made the experience even more special was getting to shake his hand. We were told that the stake presidency would be set apart immediately after the meeting because Elder Ballard had another place to be in the afternoon. Meaning there isn't time to stop to say hi to him but as we were filing out of the building he passed by us and put out his hand to shake hands with each member of our family. So to add to our special moment Evelyn shook an apostle's hand, the very one that spoke and she heard the message.

Oh darn, the bathroom needs cleaning again.

2010-11-03T16:24:00.000-06:00

So I'm making changes in more things than I expected with this corn allergy. There are a number of products I didn't think were made with corn, for instance distilled vinegar. I always thought it was made from wheat. I guess since the government subsidizes corn its in more products than ever before. Since corn and wheat are both grains it's logical that there will be overlaps in their potential uses.

I usually cleaned most surfaces of the house with a mixture of vinegar and water. So that's out now. Instead I spray with water and wipe. I've learned that most cleaning products including vinegar really aren't very effective unless they are left on the surface to be cleaned for several minutes before wiping. I usually spray and wipe so they weren't doing much more good than water anyway. If I want to be sure the surface is not only free of visual dirt but those little germs we can't see, I spray the surface with diluted essential oils that have disinfecting properties and let it dry. I really like it too! It seems just as clean as before with the bonus of being healthy, natural, and great smelling.

For more essential oil combinations with cleaning properties click here. I just notice both links are by the same author but different sites. Maybe I should go look into her natural home cleaning books!

Even though change can sometimes be frustrating, a lot of good frequently comes from moving out of our comfort zones. I find I like this cleaning method better than what I was doing before and it seems to be even less expensive than using vinegar and water. Definitely smells better too.

I'm still working out what to do about liquid dish soap. For now I'm using mostly bar soap but there are a few things that just clean up better with the liquid. Suggestions anyone? Maybe I'll just have to use gloves.

Morning Amusement

2010-11-02T08:35:00.000-06:00

Our breakfast conversation this morning:

Oliver: Mom, Evelyn and the boy across the street found a dead mouse and were touching it.

Evelyn: silence

Oliver: It was in the neighbor's yard. I think a cat killed it and left it there.

Me: Please don't touch any dead animals you find outside. They have a lot of yucky germs.

Oliver: And she didn't even wash her hands!

Me: Ugh.

Evelyn: Mom, what about dead reindeer?

Me: No! Don't touch any dead animals, especially any dead reindeer you find in our neighborhood.

Candy

2010-11-01T21:21:00.000-06:00

So after three days of candy, two children vomiting, and one child who continually came to me to open candy that I couldn't eat but smelled delicious I decided to do something I've never done before. I offered to buy my children's candy.

Oliver has really wanted the Lego Harry Potter computer game but we told him we weren't buying it. I don't have a problem with the game or Oliver occasionally playing video games. We just weren't putting out the money for another game. So he's been saving every penny he comes across. He earns a quarter a week for bringing in the garbage can (an extra chore). So slowly but surely he's been gathering money. He has almost ten dollars which isn't enough yet but I'm proud he's really stuck to it. Its been months now.

So back to the Halloween candy. When I mentioned that I'd purchase any candy that was left at a per piece rate Oliver jumped on it. He was very careful to keep the ones he still wanted but made a few bucks on the rest which he promptly put in his savings jar. Evelyn found a few candies to earn some change. Spencer, who received the same amount of candy as everyone else, only had two pieces left and wasn't about to give them up. He did find and an open, unfinished candy to trade for a few pennies.

So I decided to extend it further. For every candy Oliver receives from school for good behavior or good work and brings home uneaten, I'll purchase for two quarters a piece. His eyes bugged out. That's double the income of his only paying job or chore and way more than he got per piece of Halloween candy. We both get something we want. I get a child eating less sugar by choice who's following instruction and improving in school and he's going to get that game soon. I think he'll be proud of the work he's done to get it too. I know I am.

You've got to be kidding!

2010-10-07T15:22:00.000-06:00

So I've got a new doctor who I'm really excited about. I like his philosophy. I believe in what he does. So right now I'm doing a detox/elimination diet. Its something he wants me to do once or twice a year but right now it will show me foods that cause me problems.

The elimination diet is an eight week (longer if needed) schedule of when to bring in what foods back into the diet. The last two weeks I've been able to eat chicken, turkey, fish, nuts and all the vegetables I'd like, plus supplements tailored to my need and condition. Tomorrow I get fruit again. Yeah!!

In less than two weeks I began to feel much better but also found a culprit. Two times I've had foods that unknowingly had corn, a soup that I didn't prepare containing cornstarch and an electrolyte drink that had maltodextrin. Both times I ended up sick for about two days and that was without have had much of either item. Maybe about 1/2 to 1 cup of the soup after a large salad and two servings of the drink. In realizing that both were corn I started looking back and realized corn fits the pattern of my illness.

I've tried telling multiple doctors sugar makes me sick. They all just said it was odd and dismissed it. I would stop eating all forms of sugar other than fruit and then bring it back. Sometimes I'd do fine and other times I would get sick. I couldn't figure out why sometimes I'd get so sick and other times I expected to get sick and didn't. I knew sugary foosd were a culprit but never really thought about it being the type of sugar. I thought I was dealing more with a blood sugar/diabetic issue than an allergy. So I was right, sugar makes me sick, but not all sugar, just corn in all its lovely forms.

So the great news is I can get better! Just cutting it out one week and I could tell the difference.

The bad news is in two weeks of intentionally not eating corn, it still found me. Corn is in practically everything. Thankfully I'm not so allergic that physical touch makes me sick, except when I've had way too much like the glucose drip at the hospital last year. After the sugar drip due to too low blood sugar everywhere there was medical tape or a sticky monitor I broke out in hives, gross, huge, swelling hives. I was given benadryl and told to come immediately back if my mouth, face or throat began swelling. I didn't know it at the time but the light bulbs went on last night and a few internet searches showed I was right. Yep corn in the glucose, corn in the tape adhesives. Yet I've handled adhesives and corn starch frequently without problem so I'm not overly concerned with corn products except for food.

Thankfully I had a doctor's appointment already scheduled for today so I was able to talk to my doctor about it and not have my head spinning with questions for long. He agrees I'm allergic or at a minimum intolerant to corn. At the end of the eight weeks I'll try bringing in more grains, each with a trial period. He's concerned I might have problems with more than just corn. Cross my fingers I don't have to cut all grains out of my diet. Please at least one grain for eating! He wants me to read the Paleo diet and thinks there is a good chance this is how I'll have to live and eat - fruit, vegetables, lean meats, sea food, and nuts. No grains or milk. Though since I don't go into anaphylactic shock I'll maybe still sneak a treat here and there!

Curious about what I have to watch for when shopping? Check out this list at CornAllergies.com. I'm sure all my wheat intolerant friends and family understand this perfectly. Wheat is in everything too. So I'm a littler overwhelmed but excited to know I can get better. Soon this will all be normal. At least since I'm already eating mostly a whole food's diet I don't have a huge amount of relearning to cook but I'm really concerned about eating foods others prepare.

So if I pass on the cookies or candy, I'm not trying to be high fluting or lose weight! Trust me, I want them.

Picture a Summer

2010-08-25T12:07:00.000-06:00

Chris and I drove to and from Utah to Arizona for a friend's wedding. Counldn't get over the landscape. I had to be an adult to finally appreciate it.

We started our crazy kitchen remodel as soon as we got home. It took a few months but was worth it!

Before Pics:

(the before oven)

(faux wood counter tops and tiny sink)

And now...

TA DAH!

After: Full size oven and all the storage you could want, including an appliance garage. No more appliances left out on the counter. They are all hidden. I think my favorite item turned out to be the pull out garbage can. My dog can't open it! We finally out smarted the dog!

Nana bought a trampoline.

Spencer turned three. He loved this cake. Yep its just store bought cupcakes and donuts stacked. These are treats we don't really buy so it was something unique in our house. Sometimes simple is best.

May I introduce you to Super Snake Man. Spencer's interpretation of a superhero's super tight costume is just writing on himself with markers. The face, arms, legs and belly are all involved. Lucky for us Super Snake Man is a good guy. Word of obvious advice, don't take pictures of behavior you don't want to encourage. I've had to confiscate all the markers for Super Snake Man's repeated offenses.

We've already had our first trampoline injury. Our trampoline has a net enclosure to help keep the kids from falling off when jumping. Now that enclosure doesn't work if you walk on the trampoline frame outside the enclosure. That's what Oliver did, nothing wild, just fell off the side on an out stretched arm. Snap! Broken bones. It was one of those brakes that makes your stomach flip flop when you see it, obviously broken.

Evelyn was pleased to wear this cute blue dress. This dress has a history. It was smocked and made by my Grandma Patsy for my mother to wear when she was this size. It was found while rummaging through a closet. These pictures are in Grandma Patsy's garden. Reminds me of Alice in Wonderland.

An unusual case of helmet butt

A few games of hose head. (see Family Fun's Website if your curious)

A hike up Little Cottonwood Canyon

Sticks, no way, gun and bow and arrow

A little rest

All in all a fun summer!

Where did March go?

2010-04-14T13:22:00.000-06:00

Time is passing by faster than I can believe. A few days into April I figured I had better change my calendar to the next month. To my surprise the calendar was still on February, and yes I did forget a few things in March (like blogging) - no wonder! As it is I can't believe April is half way over but thankful its April as I am every year.

This is the time of year that the flowers and sun seem to come back out. Being outside even just a few minutes to take Oliver to school I felt like a bear coming out of hibernation (minus the starvation factor). It feels so good out there today! The sun felt warm on my skin for the first time this year and the grape hyacinth, tulips and daffodils are blooming.

Spencer is my nature lover and has been since he was an infant. Its fun to see that he has a difficult time getting into the car because he has to check out the flowers in the front yard first. As we were climbing into the car today Spencer heard a plane and said, "Mom, someone left their jet outside!"

I really have been in hibernation myself. Sometimes I struggle with people; I've never been a real outgoing, people oriented type person. Sometimes its a stretch for me to even to go ward activities. No one's done anything to offend me or anything. I just happen to like people in small doses and smaller groups. Sometimes I feel like getting away from everyone. I think someday when I'm rich* (hahaha) I'll have to build some sort of escape - somewhere I can go lay in the grass or dirt and no one will know because I'm far enough from everyone to just have a little of my own space. Then I can come back to reality and function again. In addition to some of those feelings lately, I've been indoor a lot, planning. I've been almost completely consumed with planning our new kitchen. This has been fun but infuriating at moments too. Now that its almost figured out, I feel like I can think about other things again. Though that will probably be short lived until the kitchen is actually put together.

Our to do list: Clear that we can make the desired changes with the electrician (oh and city permits too), pull out the existing cabinetry, lay tile, paint walls, have the electrician do his work, put together and install Ikea cabinets, have a countertop installed (not doing that ourselves), install sink and fixtures, and last cook a batch of cookies in my new, normal size oven!!! I'm excited and just hope it only takes a few weekends of our own work to accomplish.

I've been talking so much about how to arrange the kitchen, its rubbed off on my children. Evelyn put in her advice too. She told me we should change the table by cutting a large hole of out its middle. We would carefully keep the dinner plates around the remaining circle. When I asked where we would put the food she said just between each other's plates. My favorite part of her suggestion was how special birthdays would become. She said we would put the birthday child's chair in the middle of the hole in the table and sing to them! Talk about a child that literally likes to be the center of attention!

*Actually as far as waiting for being rich or having money to do things. I think its overrated. Do I mean go get a loan that is outrageous to do whatever your heart desires, ha NO, not a chance. One thing I have learned from observation is that people do those things that are really important to them. If its important enough, we find a way to get things done. As I'm witnessing this around myself, I'm learning its true in my life too. There are things that I think I long for but when I really look at what I want, what's really important to me I already have it or am in progress to make it happen. That's not to say those things won't change or that there won't ever be new things to aspire too. There's a lot of relief knowing I'm in charge of my life and its not just happening to me.

P.S. To all friends whose blogs are by invitation only. I was keeping my list of invitation only blogs on a bookmark that was lost when we upgraded our out of date windows software to a newer version. So if I haven't commented for a while its because I haven't been able to reach your blogs! I'm happy to read along with any that reissue the invitation. Trust me, I read so much more than I write! Thanks folks!

February

2010-02-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

Well we've been busy!

Evelyn had a birthday and was just beaming the whole day. She was thrilled to be called to the front of the primary for them to sing to her. I was behind her but a number of adults later told me how thrilled she looked to have everyone singing the happy birthday song to her. She was the only one to have a birthday that week so it really was just for her.

Spencer is almost fully toilet trained! Hurray! He'd been pretty good about it but at one point decided he just wouldn't ever go to the bathroom at all, not even in diapers. So while we weren't having accidents like with the other trainings, we had to do a lot of backtracking to help him along. Once he decided he was ready he did wonderfully, even through the night!

Oliver has been recognized twice in the last month at school. He was recognized for being one of the most improved students and second for being a good citizen. I think every mother wonders how her children behave when they aren't around. I'm proud (and relieved) to hear that Oliver is kind and respectful.

Chris has been looking at going to graduate school. Jobs just aren't available and he hasn't been able to find a high school right now willing to help him in an alternative route to getting a teaching license. So he's looking at a Master of Education that would also provide a track to being a licensed teacher (since his education wasn't already in education).

Me we'll I'm busy too. I'm trying my luck with sourdough bread. So far I haven't been successful but the dough that never rose rolled out to be tasty crackers. I just purchased some new fabric over the holiday weekend to recover my sofa. We've not only worn the fabric that's currently on it but completely worn through it. I'm a little baffled by how quickly that happened since the kids aren't allowed to run on it or anything. Its just been used plenty I guess. I'm excited to see the new fabric on it!

My camera is charging and my next goal for my posts is to get some pictures going again. :)

Learning about food

2010-01-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

This last week or two has been spent immersed in books. I've been reading about nutrition. Since my health concerns are centered around Crohns (everyone's got something right?), which is specific to the digestive system, you can see my renewed interest in what I eat. From various blogs I've been reading I kept coming across the book Nourishing Traditions, about eating what's been made for thousands of years. My library didn't have the book on hand when I was there but they did have the book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. That's the research the Nourishing Traditions is based on. I figured it was probably a better beginning place anyway. I have been so amazed at what I'm reading. I always knew eating better equaled better health but I never saw it spelled out quite like this. Weston Price, the author, is a dentist from about 70-80 years ago who wanted to know why his US patients were getting more and more cavities instead of fewer. He compares primitive diets to more modernized diets of groups around the world. He finds significant differences between the health of those on primitive diets and those on modernized diets eating sugars and processed foods (and imagine how much more processed our diets are now in comparison!) I've never read a health or nutrition book and felt so moved to change my behaviors. I'm also questioning some of what I've been taught all my life about food, a good start and well intentioned but maybe thousands of years of eaters knew something about what their bodies needed.

I'm also reading Real Food by Nina Planck. Her book explains what to eat and why. I'm not super excited to go back to the grocery store anymore, though I know I will at least for now. Another fascinating book.

I'm not much for purchasing books. I go through too many to keep in my house, so I support my local library frequently. But these are two books I might consider keepers on my shelf. I want them to refer back to and so I can hand over the information about my choices when someone looks at me like I'm a crazy person!

So I'm kind of turning into a health nut but from what I see many people feel better by making the changes suggested in these books and it appears to be rather permanent changes. How much of this is just telling a one sided story? I don't know yet. My next step is to read a little of the other side of the story to get a full picture before I make any major changes. I'm not sure what the other side is but I know someone will have a complaint for what these individuals have researched, there always is.

That said I do feel good about what I'm reading and learning. Its nothing major, pretty much to eat a well rounded diet, except for things such as sugar and processed foods which I already knew were on the don't eat very often list - if at all. Its mostly eat foods in their purest forms. Yes cooking is foods is fine but but raw is important too. I'm also learning how adversely the wrongs foods, or I should say processed foods, can affect us. That's what stunned me and I don't mean just adverse weight gain. We're talking major stuff like bone development, arthritis, heart disease, insulin problems, reproductive problems, immune system problems and so on and so on. The list keeps growing and growing the more I read.

The funniest thing about all this is I just can't get away from wanting my own small farm. Living in a small town has intrigued me since at least my teens. As I've gotten older I've thought about having a farm and realized much of what I needed was really just sunlight. I needed to be outside. Being outside helped keep me exercised and provided sunlight which both helped to keep postpartum depression at bay. Those days are past and I don't deal with the depression much, just normal does of bad days here and there like everybody else but reading these books has me wanting my own farm again. I can't get away from thinking what my children will learn from the work and experiences of farm life and how we will benefit nutritionally. I don't know anything about about farming, just bits from books and blogs. Right now it seems too tall an order but I think we'll baby step there if Chris supports the idea - at least a garden if nothing else.

I know I've said nothing about the family today but I don't think I've been able to have a conversation this week without something about this topic in it. Its kind of consuming my mind at the moment. If its all a bit jumbled that's because its that way in my head. I think I've gotten so much information so fast I'm having a hard time fully sorting it in my mind. Its like my eyes have been opened. This information has been here for years I just was unaware of so much of it or it just wasn't the right time for me to address it. Who would have thought I'd ever be so interested in understanding things like grass fed beef vs grain fed beef , raw milk vs pastuerized milk, mass production vs. small farms? Not me, I figured there might be some quality differences but didn't know those differences could actually be affecting my health. More to read, more to learn.

Here we go again!

2010-01-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

Ok so I kind of disappeared from the blogging world there for a while but life is good and I'm hoping to get back up to blogging speed, once a week for now.

As you know I've been quilting the past few years and even purchased a long arm quilting machine. Well after Christmas I went and got a business license. I don't have my official certificate but I do have the go ahead to do business. The official certificate should be arriving at any point. I'm in the process of putting up a website and blog/gallery for the site. All I can say is its fun!!! I don't plan to make this a full time job. I'm figure I might as well offer my skills to others and if possible get paid a little to do it too! My business is called The Winding Bobbin. More to come on this as it develops.

Family is good. I keep seeing how big Spencer is and realizing I'm out of the baby stage. I don't know if I'll be back there again or not but I do miss some of it. Though I think I'm going to miss the toddler age more. Its so funny to hear what Spencer has to say and how he plays. The other day he was saying the word stupid at the lunch table which is not allowed in this house. I scolded him and he stopped. A few moments later he told me his stomach said a bad word. I asked him if his tummy needed to go into time out. He said yes, grabbed at his stomach and pretended to throw it away from him. What was really odd was watching him watch it float away up to the ceiling. Next he started to whimper, almost in tears, that it wasn't coming back! So I said to call it back and pretended to watch the invisible stomach float back toward him. When it got close he grabbed it and you could see the look of relief on his face.

We've had a nice change in Chris's work. He has been absolutely hating his job for the past few months. It was just getting worse and worse. They were even threatening his job if he couldn't get his crew to turn out the appropriate numbers. That's understandable but Chris just couldn't stand the way they were so demeaning to him and his employees -actually the whole department. For example Chris was told a couple of times he'd have to threaten the jobs of his best employees, just because they had one or two bad days and we're not talking major problems. His best employees were getting fed up and wanting to quit. Chris knew there was a better way but just couldn't get the support from management above him. So they just kept going in circles. Eventually some changes were made and Chris was kind of a floating supervisor helping where needed. He would come home telling me about how the other side of the building doing the same kind of work but a different department treats their employees better and are still able to keep the work standards high. Well he lucked out. A manager from that side of the building saw that Chris was just kind of a floater and picked him up to be a supervisor on his shift. Chris is still doing the same work but feels good about what he's doing. They have a much more positive and logical way of managing their crews. He may still have to threaten employee's jobs but it is when there is a real problem. Its interesting how a different perspective can make such a difference in the same work. I really like how pleasant he comes home from work. I hope it continues. He's still looking for full time work but now it feels like we can hold out until he can find it. The last few months were spent trying to handle one week of UPS at a time, doing his best not to quit since he had a family to support. What a blessing! I still feel sorry for all those people under the other management.

And Oliver has been our photographer lately!

Thanksgiving fun

2009-11-27T08:03:00.001-07:00

This was one of the most fun Thanksgivings we've had. I don't know what was really different about it, maybe nobody was sick or that the kids were old enough to play without constant supervision so I got to enjoy conversations with adults. There was enough food but not the over zealous load there usually is so maybe I wasn't dragged down by the turkey doze either. It was just nice.

My grandmother is frequently giving away stuff. Sometimes you get something wonderful and other times your eyebrow raises questioningly. I was just letting my sister-in-law know that she was free to do what ever she wishes with the generous gifting including a D.I. drop off when I looked in my bag of stuff. My stash included a yogurt maker. I guess she heard that I was making yogurt so this was a great pass along. Second a stack of magazines. I 'm a sucker for shiny pictures! These are always an adventure. One of the last stashes of magazines had one from the month my husband was born 29 yrs ago and no we didn't keep it. The last two items in the bag had me rolling on the floor. Two pairs of used little boy undies, one tighty whitie and and second pair Spiderman. I'm not sure if she though they were ours of just figured they were about Oliver's size. Thankfully they were too small so there's no guilt in telling Grandma we tossed them out.

Yikes!

2009-08-07T13:13:00.000-06:00

Evelyn came up to me today and said "Mom what's that girl with the wiggly hair? What's her name?" Well being that we were the only two people in our family room it took some thinking. Who are you talking about? She replied, "the girl screaming in the bathroom?" Well that wasn't much help. "Mom, you know the one like me!" I still don't know what the one like me meant but I figured out she meant Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter book we've been reading. She was referring to the scene with the troll in the bathroom. So every time she asks about the wiggly hair girl I know what's going on but it was confusing at first!

Yesterday was one of those bad days that does't seem to be bad for any reason. I was just kind of in a rut, mad about life in general but really had nothing to complain about. I kind of put some of that behind me and went to do my visiting teaching. I was just going around the corner so walked. I got to the house on the corner and saw a dog rush out at me. I didn't even see the dog until it was a couple feet from me. I froze hoping the dog would go on but it didn't. Normally this doesn't bother me too badly (depending on the size and breed). They're curious and just check you out and move on. Well I guess my presence in front of this dog's house was offensive to him because he never stopped to sniff but went right to biting. What a shock! I pulled my arms up close so he couldn't bite them. I remember thinking "He's not letting go! What do I do?" So I screamed for help. The dog's owner came running out. I don't know if the dog let go when I screamed or when the owner came out. It all happened rather quickly. Thankfully I was wearing jeans and the dog got more grip on my jeans than my leg. I came out of it more shaken than injured. The dog didn't break the skin but you can see teeth marks and bruising where he got me. I hate to think what this might have looked like if I hadn't had pants on.

I didn't want to report the dog for neighborly reasons but felt I had too. This is the second time I've witnessed this dog attack. Ironic thing is both times involved my family. Their dog had come down to my property and when the dog became aggressive my dog protected us by counter attacking. No one wants a dog fight but the kids were in the yard. Better the dogs fight than a dog attack the kids. The mail lady happened to be there too. She knows my dog and to help my dog took a swift kick at the not so good one. She ended up being bitten too. Both times this dog attacked without being provoked. The last time was at least a year ago and we hadn't had problems until yesterday, other than aggressive barking anytime you walk past their fence.

We didn't press charges but did allow for the police to make a report and go talk to them. Even if we don't press charges a citation might be given if its happened x number of times. The problems only occur if their dogs get out which isn't typical. That said I am worried about the kids. What if my kids had been with me! What if the kids were out by themselves playing? There are lots of kids that play out on our street. So yes we reported the dog in hopes that our neighbor will be more careful. Like I said we don't have issues with these neighbors just their dog. I hope we don't have to come to issues.

I was shocked after the whole ordeal. I was a bit wound up all evening and didn't seem to be able to get much done. My family didn't mind since they got to eat pizza instead of what I'd planned to cook. All I could think was "This has been one crazy, awful day! You have to be joking! This isn't real!" I found myself laughing a couple of times because it was all so bizarre. But I woke up this morning and the marks are still there. So it really happened! Thankfully today is better, and I plan to steer clear of that house for a while. Kind of keep an eye on their fence too.

We're still alive

2009-07-15T11:21:00.000-06:00

Yes my blogging disappeared for quite some time. I got rather sick and it took weeks for the doctors to figure out what was going on. Then a couple of weeks of medication that made me feel about as bad as the illness but was working. Thankfully I'm getting back up to speed and building my health back up again.

The ironic thing is most of the illnesses I've had over the last many months have actually been due to seeing doctors and the prescriptions they'd given me. I'm really hoping to stay clear of doctors for a while but that just depends upon how my body continues to get better. Oh, and I've found a new doctor- one I feel I can trust better!

I don't have photos ready that will come as my blogging gets back up to speed but we've been busy since I'm back on my feet.

Everyday I'm taking the kids on a walk with me. This used to be a bit of a pain but I've discovered its actually easier without the stroller. We walk slower and don't cover as much ground but its good for the kids too. Oliver has had some complaints but looking back we've seen some cool things since we've been walking. Day one we saw a baby bird that let us get rather close (no touching though), day two we saw a real snake, thankfully dead, but not something we see around here, and today we saw that someone in the neighborhood has horses! I hadn't seen that before, concerns me a little though. I wonder if they have enough room? (I don't know anything about horses except that they're beautiful animals.) My hope is that each week the kids will be able to go a little bit further and keep up a better pace. At first I just thought the little ones couldn't handle it but then I remembered that the pioneer children walked and walked and walked. Yes the little ones had breaks and for mine it means a short ride on moms hip. So good workout for me. :)

So some might have heard I have a fun new toy! Well its more than a toy its a hobby and a business investment. I've purchased a long arm quilting machine. Its big, bigger than I expected. I measured everything out and knew where it would fit but my mind never really calculated the volume of the machine and frame in that space. It fits. It just took some getting used to seeing! Its really fun and the quilts are starting to flow in. I've have two quilts to practice on made by friends for charity and even a friend brave enough to ask me to quilt a special quilt she's put together for a family member. I've been quite surprised by the response I've had with telling so few people about my machine. Now I just have to practice so they're pleased with the results.

Off to go quilt and enjoy the sunshine!

I found treasure

2009-05-16T07:28:00.001-06:00

I've come across something that has really changed me. Its been such a help I want to share it with other moms. Have you heard of flylady.net? I first came across this web site when I was looking for a better way of getting my housework done, a schedule of sorts. I got that and so much more.

I felt like I could never keep my house clean. I was always overwhelmed by the load of dishes, floors needing to be vacuumed, laundry, toys, papers, the list goes on and on and on. There were many things I just didn't bother to do because it just didn't seem to matter, it would just be dirty five minutes later or I wouldn't have time to do the job right. These feelings made me resent my family. Why wouldn't they help out. I'm sacrificing all the things of my dreams to be home here. I'm sure you can see that this kind of thinking was not helping me in my relationship with my family.

My attitude has changed almost completely. Yes my house is cleaner after following the Flylady program but most important, I have more time with my children, husband, and self.

The reason? Well this program didn't teach me how to clean. I already knew that but it helped me in other ways like conquering my perfectionism issues. When I first read on Marla Cilley's (the actual Flylady) website that most of these issues were about our perfectionism. I rolled my eyes. I thought no one would ever walk into my home and think a perfectionist lived here. Look at all the stuff stacked places, crumbs on the floor, and so on. Well she was right. I wasn't doing things because it would never be perfect and then I stewed over all the mess. Her program has taught me that the all or nothing doesn't work. I learned how to use a timer when I clean. I take fifteen minutes cleaning one thing then fifteen minutes of play, fifteen minutes of something else, and fifteen minutes of play. Sometimes a job isn't completely finished but I've learned that chores not finished still bless my family. For example even though the floor didn't get mopped it's better that it got swept than nothing. Its better that the laundry get washed even if I forget to fold it.

How does Flylady teach me? Well she as a 30 day program, Beginner Babysteps, for people just starting. Each one of the 30 days you learn to build a routine by adding one thing to it. (The hard part is not trying to do it all at once, you really have to do little by little for this to work!) In addition to this I get emails from Flylady and her crew everyday. There are also simple monthly challenges that build habits by doing that one thing everyday. Blog talk radio allows you to listen and even talk to Flylady. She's also on social networking such as Twitter and Facebook.

There are all sorts of emails - routine reminders, testimonials from people that follow flylady, and promotional emails for her cleaning and organizing products. There are a lot of emails but they are titled so that you can tell the content. Some days I read them all and others I pick and choose. Her emails have taught me to use a timer - a must have tool! Some of my favorite emails are the testimonials because they have great ideas from people all over the world, people who struggle with this stuff, just like me.

Oh, I should mention she does this all for free! She just wants to help! If you want to support flylady's efforts you can buy her products. I hear they are superior products but I haven't tried any out yet - though they are on my wish list!

I think the timer and monthly challenges have helped me the most. This month the challenge is to move an extra 15 minutes every day. I now have the habits of washing one load of laundry a day, folding it, and putting it away, cleaning out my sink every night, and emptying the dishwasher everyday, and getting dressed every morning all the way to my shoes which allows me to handle anything the day throws me.

When I first started Marla told me (as she does everyone in her emails) that the mess didn't happen in one day and it wouldn't be cleared in one day. It would take time. She was right. I had things to learn, not just clean.

Even if you have a perfectly clean house I'd recommend this site. Yes my neat freak friends you might find something for you here too. I love being able conquer bits of my perfection. Conquering my perfection has actually allowed me to do and enjoy more than I did before. It has almost had the opposite effect in my life. By not worrying about things being perfect I actually get more done and done better! Instead of perfectionism I have order and peace.

[Side note: Even my husband is finding this to be true about perfectionism. Before he stressed so much about his artwork being perfect but as he's letting go of that thought process he's doing more artwork. And through practice he's finding the improvement he wanted in his artwork in the first place. He's found that having a deadline really helps him focus. If its due, you do your best and turn it in done deal and on to the next project. Sound like a timer to anyone? Makes you think doesn't it. How much is perfectionism holding you back from what you really want?]

I've been able to completely customize the program to fit my needs. This means I've learned the routines but I have changed them up to fit my family. I can do as much or as little on any given day and start fresh the next day. Each of the emails I receive from Flylady say, "You are not behind! I don't want you to try to catch up; I just want you to jump in where we are. O.K.?" Which has helped me learn to not beat myself up for what I didn't have time for the day before.

I haven't gotten into the details of the program here but you can see that on her site. There's so much I just can't share it all here. Besides, its free and if its not a match for your style, you just cancel the email subscription! Its worth the time to check out.

Its been 9 months that I've been doing her program. I haven't mastered it all but I'm doing more and more and each month I've built new habits. I can't tell you how much better my home and head feel. Yes I said my head. I don't think the same way I used too. I don't get overwhelmed anymore. I don't blame my family. I live in my house and it gets messy, trust me very messy. But due to the routines I've learned, I know it will only take me about 15 to 30 minutes to be clean enough for guests or I should say the most important guests of all me and my family. I don't spend more than 2 hours a day total (not at all once, ever) cleaning. I actually clean less but have a much cleaner house than I ever had before. It actually is getting better and better. I usually have my whole afternoon to do what I want with my family. I'm finally loving myself and my house got cleaner too.

What goes on in those little brains?

2009-05-14T07:42:00.001-06:00

I have a hobby of cake decorating. Its something I like to do more for the process and designing than actually eating. You seem I'm not really a fan of cake or frosting, on occasion alright but really I'm a pie fan.

My grandmother sent an old Wilton yearbook for me to look through. If you want some fun cake ideas these are great. I haven't done any cakes for about a year. Specener's birthday is tomorrow so this book was good motivation. Maybe he'll at least get a sheet cake with sprinkles (I haven't even made cake for the last two birthdays in the family)

So Evelyn, Spencer and I sat and looked through the pictures. They were pretty quiet but seemed interested. When we got to the image below Spencer shouted out, "Mom! Its you!"
We continued on through the book and he was relatively quiet. I quickly flipped through pages again to find a particular image and when this one popped up again he squealed the same thing again. I wish I knew what the resemblance was - am I yellow, fun or just crazy? Apparently thinking your parents are crazy starts at an early age!

Strawberry Sunshine

2009-05-07T10:36:00.000-06:00

The days have been filled with lots of fun things lately. So much so that I hardly spend much time at the computer.

Lots of projects are being completed. Evelyn's backpack was the first.

On the way is a small baby blanket and the large pink kaleidoscope quilt is finally sandwiched with batting and a back for quilting. Fingerless gloves are being knit for next winter and I'm looking through books about knitting socks. I thinks some old sweaters are going to become something new for my feet. That's just a bit of what's going on. Some others are...

Snail races...

gathering of dandelion bouquets...

and my favorite, sugar free strawberry jam (Its my first canning experience - oh yum - and it set too!)

Wheeler Farm

2009-04-27T13:36:00.000-06:00

This morning the kids preschool group went to Wheeler Farm. It was really quite fun, feeding the ducks and seeing all the baby animals. The kids even got pet the newborn goats. They were just born Thursday, only four days ago! We got to watch a man spinning wool into yarn too. It was so nice to be outside, a bit cold but still nice.

I would love to someday have a nice large property like that. Possibly even a farm. It seems like so much work and I'm not especially fond of cleaning up after animals. Walking through the farm I kept thinking, I could do this. I could do that. I've been frustrated having an indoor pet but don't think I'd mind animals outside quite so much, especially if they provide dinner for us!

I think we'll have to visit Wheeler Farm again soon.

Freedom

2009-04-17T06:20:00.000-06:00

I've got great news! Chris and I are completely debt free as of last night! This won't last forever considering we don't have our own home. So I see debt coming but for now its wonderful to have car and school loans completely paid off.

Not only are we debt free but Chris got a freelance web design job this week so he'll be working two part time jobs. The dream would be to switch over to the design work full time but we'll have to see how things go first.

Between the two, new job and all loans paid off, we can finally start saving money again! Its nice to see light at the end of the tunnel, maybe there's a house down there too!

The first backpack

2009-04-16T13:22:00.000-06:00

I'm out of preschool! My kids have about a month left but I'm done teaching! I love my kids but this hasn't been my favorite activity. I'd gladly do preschool with just them but I'm tired of the routine with everyone else. I think I'll have to set up a schedule for summer and do preschool like activities with just mine that I love. Sorry ladies you have good kids but I only love mine.

So the knitting, yes, the knitting. I'm liking it. I've been surprised how easily this came to me. Its really rather soothing to sit an knit. I've been listening to Jane Eyre, one of my favorite reads, as I knit. A nice calm ending to my day.

So I finished the first project, a backpack. Oliver was so excited about it I let him have it but then Evelyn was devastated that she didn't have one. I looked at the yarn stash and came up with a florescent red yarn for her bag. It will also have green and white stripes. I might have to add some embroidery so it doesn't turn out Christmassy. (like my fake word, he he)

Smells good enough to eat

2009-04-13T13:08:00.000-06:00

My house smells so good right now. I formulated another soap recipe. The first time I tried it out it worked! I used a scent called Spellbound Wood. Its alright but it turned the soap a lovely dark brown color. I'm not sure how that will lather but at least it smells good.

That batch went so well I decided to whip up another the next night. I've been wanting to make this soap for a long time but wanted a couple good batches under my belt first. Its a milk and oatmeal soap scented with almond fragrance oil. I love this one. It smells so sweet. I asked Oliver what he thought about it and he said it smelled like pancakes. Almond flavoring is one of our favorite flavorings to put in pancakes.

I'm going to have a hard time waiting for these to cure before using them! Finally success!

Craziest weather ever

2009-03-23T10:32:00.000-06:00

Utah has some crazy weather. You can't count on anything for too long. Friday and Saturday were wonderfully warm in the 70's. We spent the morning in short sleeve tops while out at the park. The first short sleeves of the season. Sunday some dark clouds rolled in and now Monday morning we're sitting inside looking at a white blanket of snow over the world.

Oliver and Evelyn have both come down with colds so I don't mind that its a cold wintery day. I would rather be indoors on a snow day than on a warm sunny one. Their colds don't seem major so hopefully they'll be back to normal in a day or so. Its kind of nice to not feel the need to go anywhere today though!

My knitting is going well. I worked on a scrap trying out various techniques for about a week and decided to start a small project. I got knitting and pearling down so I'm knitting a child's backpack. Its a design from Little Badger Knitwear by Ros Badger and Elaine Scott. Its a relatively simple project since it does not have any increasing or decreasing. I'm not very good at that yet.

So some might wonder why knitting? Well I wanted some hand work I could do while watching the kids play in the front yard. All of the neighbor kids play out front. Oliver is finally old enough that I trust him to play out front by himself for short durations. I still check on him. The other moms have large windows out the front of their homes to keep and eye on their children. My living space is towards the back of the home we're in so I can't easily just see the kids. That's a big part of why I've been the slowest on the street to let my children roam. I'm not in huge favor of just letting kids roam unsupervised anyway. That's why I like the idea of a large backyard...Since Spencer and Evelyn want to be out with the kids too I get to sit out front and supervise. Knitting will be another creative outlet that still allows me to look up and keep an eye on the kids. I thought reading might be nice too but I think I wouldn't have a clue what was going on around me since I get sucked into books.

Old Woman

2009-03-13T06:58:00.000-06:00

I'm thinking I'll make a great old woman. I can bake bread, paint, quilt, crochet, and soon knit. My husband just rolls his eyes. Its a little strange I must admit but I figure those old women didn't learn to do all those things in their old age either. I'm just headed to become the classic old woman. Ha, ha!

Knitting

2009-03-12T12:47:00.000-06:00

The last two or three weeks I've picked up books about knitting at the library. Do I know how to knit? NO! I just have really been attracted to the idea lately. I love sweaters and prefer the look of knitting to crocheting. I do crochet. So....

There was one book in particular, Special Knits by Debbie Bliss, that made be decide it was worth trying out. Every time I look at the pictures I fall in love. The book is all beautiful baby clothing with special details like beads and ribbon. The main clothing I saved from my babies were these kinds of knits. So now I'm going to do it.

I bought my first knitting needles today but no yarn. The budgets small but I have an old skein of yarn laying around in the closet somewhere that will do for my learning.

Off to knit and pearl!

Jumping Rope

2009-03-10T23:22:00.000-06:00

This evening we jumped rope in our family room. Usually an outside activity but since there's snow on the ground we stayed inside. The kids hadn't ever seen anyone do this and were quite excited to join in. When Chris and I turned the rope Oliver was able to get two successive jumps. We never got more than that! Evelyn was the funniest though she would wait until the rope made it around and then jump, kind of like a delayed reaction. Since most of the little ones aren't coordinated enough to jump in time yet Chris held them while he jumped. Great spontaneous fun.

Evelyn was taking a turn and we finally just laid the rope down so she could jump over it back and forth. She was thinking so hard about jumping over the rope that she had no room for any other thoughts. That included the dog walking in front of her. Everyone else saw the dog, I can only figure she did too but things didn't click fast enough and she jumped and kind of did a belly flop on Rosco. Nobody, or animal, was hurt in her stunt. She looked really shocked that the dog suddenly appeared there.

I think she has that thought process from me, her mother. Watching her reminded me of a diving class I took as a child. The first day of class the teacher wanted us to practice jumping into the deep end. I was nervous about the class and had in my mind that it was a diving class. For the first 3-5 turns I tried to change mid jump from a dive to the jump the teacher had requested. By the time the teacher gave up and had me dive all I could do was jump because I'd finally gotten that in my head. I think I had a whole class of belly flops...sorry Evelyn, you're just like your mama but don't worry there's good things about that too.

Painting the cupboards

2009-03-10T13:45:00.000-06:00

Its seems that every time I further realize that we are not moving out of my parents home I begin painting our space more. I seem to go through cycles of I'm really wanting to move but the finances are there, I find a place of contentment, and then I seem to make my surroundings more mine. Thankfully my mother isn't opposed to this! This time I'm painting cabinetry. Not the lovely honey colored cabinets (don't have a heart attack mom or dad!) but the dark, ugly cabinets under the laminate counter.

Robert began painting these for me two years ago before we moved in. He primed the insides of the drawers and the outside of the cabinet but never got to the outside of the drawers. Today I finally primed the outside of the drawers and hope to get some fun paint up over the next week. I still have to decide what I'm doing and of course I can't settle with just one color! I'm thinking of green inside the drawers and cupboard, a light blue that matches my walls outside, and red and white details. What details? I don't know yet that's what I have to plan. I'll post what I do when I finish.

My little helper, painting the dishwasher with water.

This is the cabinet partially through priming.

My ivory colored soap bars

2009-03-10T13:38:00.000-06:00

I pulled out another bar of new soap. This was a batch that I made that was supposed to smell like cucumber melon but it smells more cucumber and plant than anything else. Not my favorite scent but usable soap. It came out a nice ivory.

I still need to work on the formula. It lathers nicely but isn't as moisturizing as I'd hoped. Still progress is progress and I'm happy.

Evelyn saw the soap at the kitchen sink and was excited to use it. She said it was a huge bar (probably only 4oz but that's twice the size I've been making). She didn't think she could use such a large bar of soap. Then I told her I'd made it and she smiled. She started lathering and then told me "Its the mostest amazing one ever!" Thanks kiddo!

Kaleidoscopes of Pink

2009-03-10T13:14:00.000-06:00

This is my most recent quilt. The main body is a bunch of kaleidoscopes made from the flower fabric at the bottom portion of the quilt. This is a twin size quilt top.

This was another learning experience. I made this quilt after looking at a book of kaleidoscope quilts that were really fun. There were some I really liked and others that were alright. Mine kind of fits in more with the ones I kind of liked but as I put more of the quilt top together I'm liking it better. What's fun is that the colors are all picked for you. But too many colors makes finding a quilt layout difficult. I think I spent 8 hours before I was satisfied. If I were to do it again I'd pick a fabric with fewer colors. As for now I'm ready to do something that doesn't have biased edges.

I had fewer problems with stretching biased edges than with the lone star quilt (still in progress). I mostly had warping when I added the pink border. Hopefully it will come out alright. I'm still learning how to work the the edges so they don't do this...getting a little better at it though.

What happened to the fries?

2009-03-03T06:43:00.000-07:00

Last night I was cooking dinner, and cooking dinner and cooking dinner. I guess I should say dinner wasn't cooking. It started to but then the temperature dropped and would never get high enough to cook again. I tried the other burner and the same problem. After two hours of trying I figured the chicken wasn't going to be safe to eat and we went to Burger King.

The hot plate lasted far past its lifespan so I really can't complain. I just hope I can find another that will really cook and not just keep food warm, one of the woes of a makeshift kitchen.

So does anyone one know what happened to Burger King's fries? They were terrible. I've heard in New York they've changed the frying oil but I can't imagine they'd sell something that was so gross. Maybe my location just needed to change the oil.

Usually I'm thrilled to have our rare fast food outing but maybe attempting to cook for two hours spoiled that. My burger was really disappointing and the fries even more so. It was really weird. I remembered liking Burger King but have not been there for a few years. I guess I must be in the Carl's Jr. fan club at the moment.

Small baby giraffe? Sure

2009-02-28T06:52:00.001-07:00

I just learned I'm even shorter than a new baby giraffe that was born on the small side. Who would have guessed? The baby giraffe was small at 5 feet tall! I can live with being short. I've always been that way. But I'm really glad being human means I only have to carry 8-9 pound babies (among lots of other good things too). A baby larger than I am boggles my mind, even if its normal for their species.

When Spencer saw the baby giraffe. He kept saying, "That's so cute." He knows how to put so many words and phrases together I never know what to expect. All I could do was laugh to hear him. It was surprising that he recognized the baby giraffe as being different than an adult giraffe having only seen pictures.

Where's my child?

2009-02-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

I just ran through the house looking for Oliver. I could not figure out what he was doing so quietly. I returned to my desk to see he was completely wrapped up in a blanket sound asleep. I thought it was just a pile of blanket on the floor. He was right next to me the whole time. I knew he had been there but was sure he'd gotten up at some point. He dose not normally fall asleep like that. Oh I'm relieved and got a good laugh.

An Ice Cream Story

2009-02-26T19:13:00.001-07:00

Mmmm... Ice cream. Got to get every last drop.

Its alllllll gone.

Could you share?

Yippee!

We're buds now.

Ice week

2009-02-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

This was my week to teach preschool. We meet three days a week and each mom takes two weeks of teaching at a time. We don't have any particular curriculum each mom just comes up with what they want to teach.

I found some really fun activities with ice so we had a week of ice and the letter i. We did things like seeing what would happen if a blue ice cube and yellow ice cuber were put into clear soda, which would melt faster - ice on a plate or ice wrapped in a towel. There were more experiments and today the whole weeks lessons culminated in making homemade ice cream. We did the roll the cans on the floor method and it was a great success.

Oliver thought it was so great he asked if we could do it again this evening. Sure! I only bought enough cream for the preschool batch and Spencer can't have milk anyway so we tried out rice milk. I'll tell you it will never be my top choice for ice cream but it was passed as a cool sweet treat. The kids gobbled it right up.

Mixing

Adding Salt and Ice

Let it roll!

Mmmm...

I can see a fun date night, after the kids (Spencer in particular), are asleep. I'm thinking thick rich cream, maybe chocolate too. Oh lovely ice cream and chocolate my long lost friends...

Signs of Spring

2009-02-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

I'm seeing signs of spring! The snow has melted off (not that it won't snow again though) and the crocus had blossomed.

I just received my 2009 spring seed catalog. I've already looked through it a dozen times. I'm trying to limit what I'll get. As much as I'd like to call myself a gardener, I'm not there yet, just my hopes are. I also have limited space so I probably won't get everything I'd like. Maybe that's better though. We all know how I like to jump in over my head with new projects. It'll force me to just focus on a couple of plants! Now just to choose... corn, peas, blueberries, squash, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, lettuces, green beans, carrots, watermelon, or cantaloupe... I won't even get into the flowers. Oh I love these catalogs.

We went to the library yesterday because somebody put the video I tried to renew on hold. It was a trip I wanted to skip but had to take anyway. While we were there, I grabbed a stash of music for the week. It was really a rather random selection. In the group was Sarah McLachlan's Rarities, B-Sides, and Other Stuff, Vol 2.

I remembered hearing some of her songs a few years ago and thought I'd give it a try. This CD isn't exclusively her music but a compilation of duets and and remakes. I really like it. I'll have to keep a look out for Vol 1 because it gets even higher reviews on Amazon than Vol 2. I haven't really taken advantage of the music at the library, but I think it will be a new stop each week from now on.

And the heavens opened

2009-02-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

I dropped my older two kids off to preschool, I went for a wonderful walk and feel much better about just about everything. I went to Flat Iron Park. Its up on a hill and the walking paths over look the city. A good portion of the walk you feel like you're on top of the world. A walk by myself, or with a child in a stroller like today, helps me get things into better perspective and a good work out too. Love when I can accomplish two things at once with little effort!

Spencer and I waited outside to wait for another mom to drop Oliver and Evelyn off from school. Its a beautiful day, clear sky and on the warm side, though still cold enough to be in winter layers. I felt like singing and what came first to my mind was a hymn. Like something from a movie, as I sang it got brighter and brighter and warmer and warmer. There must have been a cloud moving away from the sun but it felt like the heavens opening as I sang. Ah what a beautiful blue sky we have today. I love sunshine.

PEZ or socks, you choose

2009-02-17T08:25:00.000-07:00

This week Chris has to leave for work shortly after 4:00 in the afternoon to attend more supervisor training. So we eat dinner as a family at four and then Chris leaves. The kids were really disappointed to have to say bye to dad.

To distract the kids I said we could build a blanket fort and eat a treat. We built the fort and went inside. We haven't done this for a long time so it was a real hit. Our treat was PEZ that I won at a baby shower over the weekend. We all sat and nibbled. As we were enjoying our treat Oliver said, "This is better than my socks!"

By his excitement I think that was a good statement but I had hoped the activity would rank higher than socks!

Apples to Apples

2009-02-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

Since Chris has returned to school to improve his artwork we've really been immersing ourselves in art.

Tonight we decided to paint after the kids went to bed. Neither of us has seriously painted since before we were married. I've done some painting projects but mostly crafting paint by number type projects. It was a bit of a struggle for us to get back into the groove of painting. Even a little frustrating but after a bit of work we both ended up pleased with our evenings work.

Chris's work:

Katrina's work:

One of my favorite parts of being in an art class is seeing everyone's take on the same assignment. Chris and I were painting the same three apples set up on the kitchen table. Our approach to art is so different. He focuses more on the details and I'm more concerned with the colors and giving an impression of what I'm looking at. The same goes for the type of artwork we are drawn towards in galleries.

Jousting in Pajamas

2009-02-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

Anyone up for jousting in pajamas? I didn't notice that he even has the setting right with the castle in the background until I was making this post.

The Sunflower Farmer's Market

2009-02-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

Today I went to the Sunflower Farmer's Market. Its like a small grocery store that is mostly fresh produce and meats. They have some other items too but its not near the size of your typical supermarket. They might call themselves a farmer's market but its not all local produce. What's surprising is they have more variety in their produce even though they are a smaller store.

I walked through the store and just filled my cart with produce. I felt so good knowing it would be good for me, looked delicious, and was kinder on my budget than the regular grocery store (even Walmart).

I still had to go to the regular grocery store for a few items. When I walked in I realized why I am so tempted when it comes to sweets. They were everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. There were sweets in the Sunflower Market too but the difference really shocked me. I think I'll be shopping more and more at the Sunflower market, come summertime, the local farmers market will likely be even better.

Speaking of sunflowers and farmers... I've seen some gorgeous photographs of fields of sunflowers. I don't know if they sell these for flowers or seeds or just have them for the pure beauty of it. Its a tempting idea for the someday field I hope to have next to my someday house.

Scripture Breakfasts

2009-02-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

I read scriptures in the morning with the kids. It just seems to be a good time because they are sitting still and tend to be quieter than normal.

We've switched from reading the pictured scripture stories to just reading directly from the Book of Mormon. I thought this might be a difficult transition but I think its actually gone better than I expected. There's a lot of explaining and we only get through one column a day. Sometimes it doesn't seem like we get much out of it, but even I don't always get something out of my daily reading.

Today we were reading and I thought some props might help the kids understand the story. Hopefully this doesn't sound disrespectful to anyone but Nephi and his brothers were a scrap of paper that was on the table, Laban's house was the milk carton, Nephi's old house was a bowl of cereal, and the angel was a spoon. When a hole in a rock was needed for a hiding place Nephi and his brothers went under the table and the wilderness was a meandering over the table top and loop-de-loops around Spencer's head. If the props don't give it away, we are reading the story of Nephi and his brothers obtaining the brass plates. I had the attention of all the kids. They even wanted to continue the story once we reached the end of our daily column. We read three columns!

When I went to clean up breakfast Evelyn asked me where the brother's dad was at. Good question for a three year old. She was really getting it. I set our props back up and showed her that Lehi stayed in the wilderness while his rather grown up boys traveled back to Jerusalem to get the plates.

Tomorrow morning Nephi goes back to Laban's house to get the plates. Knowing my boys this will be a story they'll be thrilled to act out, gruesome by true.

I'm glad we switched to reading directly from the Book of Mormon. I think it will help the kids later realize they can read and understand scriptures, especially if they are already familiar with the language. I wounldn't have guessed it would be going this well. The kids even take interest in just looking through the pages and pages of text. I know not everyday will as successful but its sure promising of more good mornings to come.

I love antibiotics!

2009-02-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

First off a sorry to anyone I've complained to in the past couple of days. (Its terrible to realize where your children's faults stem from yourself.) Well I don't think highly of the world when I don't have sleep. Sometimes I need to tell myself to take a nap and came back later, just like I do to my kids.

I am so thankful to have antibiotics for little Tato's ears. Spencer has had RSV, just like the rest of the kids, but he ended up with infections in both ears. His crying (more like screaming) and fussing all day and all night reminded me of my reflux baby a year and a half ago who needed to be held 24 hours a day. Its exhausting for everyone but like I said antibiotics are wonderful. After 24 hours of meds he's running around and playing like normal. Thank goodness!

Well today everyone seemed to be doing better. It was a bit warmer outside and some of the snow melted. Both Oliver and Evelyn ventured out to play. It was funny to see Evelyn watering our long dead container garden ten or so feet away from snow. I think she must want spring just as badly as I do. I hear its going to rain this week and that sounds wonderful. I wish there weren't a snow storm following it. Actually now that I've had some sleep the cold weather isn't as bad as I have thought. I do look forward to thawed fingers and toes during spring and with the snow melted I can go for walks with the stroller again.

I caught Oliver and Evelyn laying on the couch eating apples with their head in a basket. I don't understand what prompted that but it was cute. I ran around trying to find where Spencer had stashed the camera (yeah I left it out, my fault). By the time I found it they had moved but were willing to repose when they saw I had the camera.

After quiet time Oliver and Spencer were having a shoot out using needless syringes as guns. Oliver turned to Spencer and asked, "Are you a good guy or the bad guy?" I was surprised to hear the response was bad guy! Probably a good thing because Ollie tends to want to be the good guy. I hope I'm not in for trouble with child who considers himself the bad guy at one and a half years old!

The Highlight of My Day

2009-01-28T13:04:00.001-07:00

I was changing Spencer's diaper this morning which is very routine. While I was snapping up his buttons, he grabbed the well wrapped, dirty diaper and began shooting me with it, gun noises and all. I've seen a lot of random items used as guns, cannons and swords in my home but a diaper is a first, quite a change to the routine.

Spencer came up to me, wrapped his arms around me and said, "I wuf you." He kept saying it over and over. This is a new phrase and even his dad couldn't tell what he was saying at first. I'm sure its I love you though because he only says it when he gives hugs.

Fun moments that remind me why I wanted to became a mom.

The Draper Temple

2009-01-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been slow to update lately. Our internet was acting up. We bought at new wireless card and the internet has stayed up for the last hour! Yay!

Last night we had a family home evening about temples. It was in preparation to go through the Draper Temple open house. The kids were excited that they'd get to go to a temple. We discussed why we have temples and then built a temple out of Legos while cookies baked.

Oliver was the most excited about visiting the temple. He also seemed to be the one that understood the most what was actually going on.

There was a process to get to the temple rather than just drive yourself there. I guess thousands and thousands of people are expected to go through. We first gathered at church buildings where we watched a short video about the temple. I ended up at the back of the room holding a squirming child but it was fun to hear Oliver, from half way across the room, tell Chris who the prophet was when he came on screen. Then we rode buses to the temple. So two new experiences for the kids, riding buses and being in the temple.

There were plenty of people and I hear Saturday it was absolutely packed. We intentionally went on a weekday afternoon to avoid long lines with our children. My only wish was that we could have lingered a bit more than we were able too. It almost seemed people were in a rush to go through. I guess that just gives me more reason to want to go back and that's good.

The children were as good as can be expected over a two hour trip with a lot of waiting in lines. Oliver is so tactile he had a hard time keeping his hands to himself but honestly I was glad nobody tried licking anything. That would have been really embarrassing. Yes my boys do that, at least as toddlers...always curious.

Of course the celestial room was my favorite. It was just gorgeous. I wanted to just sit and soak in the beauty longer. When the kids came in Chris prompted them to look up at the chandelier. Spencer squealed.

Another favorite of mine was the floor in the bride's room. The carpet had garden flowers around the edges, like a border of grass, tulips, daisies, etc. It was unlike anything I've seen in the temples. It wasn't wild or overly bright but it wasn't subdued either.

I love that the temples interiors are not strictly white. Usually when I hear people speak of heaven or things of a sacred nature they only mention white. I understand the reasons, but I hope, like in the temples, we will still be able to enjoy the many colors He's provided for us.

Being in the temple as a family was a lot of fun. It was interesting to see what things impressed the children. I'm glad we went. Sometimes I get intimidated doing things where there are crowds, especially with the kids, must be some odd phobia I have. I could have talked myself out of going but I'm glad I didn't. Upon returning home Oliver asked if we could go again tomorrow. That brought a smile to my face. I wish we could too.

Yippee for me!

2009-01-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

I'm quite pleased at what I've discovered in using my handy little pedometer. My doctor (and others) recommended at least 10,000 steps per day. I've had no problem reaching that goal. In fact I think I'm going to have to up it. With out trying I've reached between 12,000-13,000 steps a day! I had no idea I was that active. I had two days under 10,000 and those were on the weekend after being up through the night with children throwing up. I intentionally plopped myself on the sofa after each of those long nights! The oddest thing is I'm covering about 5-6 miles worth of steps per day mostly within the walls of my home! I guarantee you its not that large!

Actually I don't think this activity level has been normal for me in the past. Its not due to the pedometer but a new medication. My doctor said most people just feel better once they start insulin medication. Well that was three months ago. I wasn't sure what he was talking about because I didn't feel bad when I originally went into his office. I started a new prescription about ten days ago for my insulin levels. Medication trial number three finally works for me. I have been amazed at how well I feel, even with a cold!

This last week has made me wonder how wonderful it really is to have a body and what it will be like to have a perfected body in the next life. I had no idea this is how a "normal" person feels! I wonder what it will be like to have all of these earthly ailments gone and just enjoy a perfect body (if that's the way it will work).

Today I let the kids watch The Princess Bride. I'm rather careful about what they watch because they seem rather sensitive, scary stuff and oh man the stuff they'll repeat. I've held off for a long while with this movie because there were some parts I thought might frighten Oliver. (He's been sensitive to violence on television from as young as 6 months old!) I was surprised at how well the kids enjoyed it. He showed a little concern at the rodents of unusual size, but that seemed appropriate though. I look forward to watching this more often. Its is one of my favorites, Chris's too. In fact, one Christmas we both unknowingly purchased it for each other! Now it'll be a family favorite.

I was getting ready to send Oliver and Evelyn to preschool next door and at the same time was planning out the errands Spencer and I would run while they were gone. I was a bit worried the kids would be disappointed because I was going to the library without them. Their books were due today and we've had the same small stack for three weeks. I cringed when Oliver asked if that's what I was doing as I gathered up books but was surprised when he hugged and thanked me for getting him new books. He can be so sweet sometimes.

Chris went back to school yesterday. That was kind of a quick decision for us. He decided to take some classes at the community college. He was lucky to get into classes the day before the semester started! He's taking art classes to help build a portfolio and to get a little more direction in the field of graphic design/illustration. I was struck by a little bit of jealousy at his being in art class. I didn't expect that and admit I was a bit bitter the first day. Art's always been my thing. I know he's good too, in fact better than me! I think it was just the thought of me being home with the kids while being in a studio painting or drawing seems like it would be heaven sometimes. My memories of being in the studio are before marriage and children. They aren't laced with the demands of providing for a family like Chris's pursuits. I've put that jealousy aside and feel much better today. I actually look forward to seeing what he'll be doing. Maybe we'll do some of it together.

Testing the Salad Spinner

2009-01-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

This evening I thought I'd give the new salad spinner a whirl. It worked! I can see that you do get what you pay for and it won't last forever. Its good enough to last a long while though. I was surprised at how well it spun the water off. It sure beats trying to dry each leaf of lettuce.

I had watched a show on television about eating more local produce, farming, etc. (I think I'm longing for spring.) There was a place that was having salad bars in the elementary schools and students really liked it. Enough so that shorter salad bars are being built to make it easier for young children. Parents were surprised at how much produce there children were eating.

I thought I'd give my own home variation a try. For dinner I set out a large bowl of lettuce, two plates of fruits & vegetables and cheese, a plate of grilled chicken, and a few varieties of salad dressing. Usually Chris and I serve the kids but tonight I wanted the kids to build their own. I asked them to put however much lettuce they'd like to eat on their plate then they had to select a minimum of two different items from each plate to build their salad.

Oliver made a large salad and ate the whole thing! Normally we'll give Ollie a couple of bites of salad and he's required to take a taste. There was no encouraging him to eat the salad when he built it the way he wanted.

Evelyn also made a large salad. She didn't eat as much but that's normal. It doesn't really matter what she's served, she just nibbles. I'll give her a cookie and it can take a half hour for her to eat it. Frequently she'll be left the only one at the table just kind of nibbling here and there until she's full.

Spencer liked putting things on his plate but not eating it so much. He was the only one to take bites and declare it to be gross. He still struggles with chewing produce so I'm just pleased he was willing to try new things.

Overall I'd say a success!

Oh and Oliver said the prayer for our dinner. He said rather bluntly, "Thank you for my head." It sounded really funny but I think it was because he fell at the bottom of the stairs yesterday and really has a big goose egg. We woke him up through the night to be sure he was ok and he was. So yes I express thanks for his head too!

Some good buys

2009-01-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday Chris and I made a trip to Target. We took the whole family just so everyone had a chance to get out of the house. Chris chuckled and said we needed to go on a real date soon, meaning without children and not just to pick up something from the store, but still it was fun to go out.

We had gone out in search of a salad spinner. Its something Chris and I have been thinking of picking up a for a while now. I was willing to spend around $15 for one. Since we are trying to eat healthier I thought it would be a fun addition to our kitchen. When we got to Target we were surprised to see that the ones on display were about $25-$30. It seemed like more than I wanted to spend just to remove a little bit of water from my produce. I have never used one though so maybe those expensive little things do some bizarre magic I'd be pleased with. We kept walking around a bit and discovered a very basic, generic brand salad spinner tucked away on a shelf. It seemed like it would do the job and we were shocked to find the price was only $2.99! So we left happier than expected.

Last night was rather cold since our space heater died out on us. This has been the winter of the dying space heaters. We had a bunch of wonderful little space heaters that warm rooms really well but don't run up the energy bill. This year must have been the end of their life span because they have all died one by one. Without the heater last night the basement was so cold I couldn't get bundled up enough to get warm. I was glad the kids fell asleep before the temperature dropped too much. Spencer woke up in the middle of the night so we spent the rest of the night bundled up together on the couch. Eventually we snuggled together enough to get warm and fell asleep.

Today was Evelyn's first day of preschool. She was quite excited and seemed to have fun. We've been doing a co-op preschool with moms in the ward for preschool. Oliver was a little miffed that Evelyn was going with him today. I guess it had been his big kid thing to do.+ By the time he got home he didn't seem to mind anymore so I guess everything went alright.

The first errand of the day was to buy a new space heater. I was excited to see Walmart had some plugged in so I tested them before purchasing. We found one and are much more comfortable living down in the basement again. (As you can see I think everyone was a little extra sleepy today due to the cold or maybe preschool. Its not normal for the older two to nap.)

Since I only had one child with me, which was quite strange and fun, I decided to do laps around the Super Walmart. That can be a dangerous thing. I kept putting things in my cart but decided to keep doing laps and returned items to their places.

One item that didn't get returned to shelf was a pedometer. I'm excited to find out how much I'm walking. The first hour it was on I thought it must not be working correctly because there was no way I'd walked that many steps. So I counted as I went along and it was right! I'm curious to see how much a mother truly is on her feet. I'm not great with regular exercise routines because everyday seems to be different with children. I'm excited to use this little tool to keep track of what I am doing rather than always getting down on myself for what I'm not. I figure I can build from there.

Pancake Cookies

2009-01-02T12:47:00.000-07:00

Another attempt towards better health has been reducing the amount of sugar we eat. Before you think I'm some crazy health nut, I've been told by my doctor that I'm at high risk for diabetes. That was a shock since its not prevalent in my family and in general I have a healthy lifestyle. I'm insulin resistant which means I have too much insulin. The concern is that eventually my body might wear out and stop making insulin because it has been overworking. This is can be either a lifestyle problem or a genetic one. The doctor thinks mine is genetic and watching my diet is part of prevention along with medication and exercise. (We all have to play the genetic roulette game and so far I've been very lucky. I'll count my blessings with just needing to prevent major illnesses.) So yeah I'm not crazy, just trying to be careful. Anyway...

One of the changes we've made is how we eat pancakes. We now eat what I tell my children are pancake cookies. I doctor up my basic pancake recipe, make the cakes only 2-3 inches across, and serve without any topping. We eat them with our hands just like cookies. Being the frugal mom that I am, we eat lots of pancakes, usually at least four mornings a week. So this was a worth while change for us.

There are a couple added bonuses to eating pancake cookies, less cook time and less clean up. Some days we don't even hand out plates.

You'll notice a few things different about this recipe. Its a bit higher in sugar than most but that's because we don't use any toppings. Second there are only two measuring utensils needed, a one cup utensil and a tablespoon. This was intentional. It makes this recipe just that much faster and more fool proof when I'm tired in the morning. Last, its a bit thicker than the average pancake so it takes a little more care when cooking.

.

Here is my basic pancake recipe:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon imitation vanilla
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large egg
1 cup milk (rice milk works well too for those with lactose concerns)

To this I add various fruits, spices, or extracts. The popular ones so far at my house are:

Almond extract
Cinnamon and a chopped apple
Molasses, ginger, cloves and cinnamon
Raspberries
Strawberries
Bananas
Coconut extract

Pour batter onto a hot skillet in 2-3 inch circles. These pancakes are a bit thicker than the norm. Unlike most pancakes, don't wait for the bubbles to surface and pop or you'll burn them. I flip these when they lose their gloss around the edges and have browned on the bottom side. These end up cooking almost evenly from both sides. If thinner pancakes are preferred add more liquid to the batter and cook as normal.

Frozen Worms

2009-01-02T11:24:00.001-07:00

When Spencer falls asleep sometimes the older two kids and I do something fun that he isn't old enough to do. Yesterday we put together some sand art. It was a project that Uncle Rico (Scott) and Aunt Diane gave the two for Christmas. I don't think Scott and Diane had any idea how great a gift it was. Oliver couldn't stop saying things like this is awesome or totally cool.

The project was really easy. The paper was already color coded and just required lifting one section at a time to reveal a sticky background. We poured on the sand and it sticks! I think I'll have to find out where Scott and Diane found these. Though I think we'll wait until summer so we can do it outside. We have a fine layer of sand left on the floor, worth the fun though!

I asked Evelyn to let Rosco (our dog) come into the house. When she lingered at the door. I asked her to please close it. It is cold enough that we have snow on the ground. I was surprised by her response. She told me there were no worms! Nope, no worms, its just too cold. In the spring we have the biggest worms I've ever seen. We seem to stir them up as we dig in the garden. I'd love to know what brought that back to her memory. All the rest of the day I had images of long frozen worms.

We've been making extra efforts to eat better than we typically do. I had the wonderful idea of making split pea soup about a month ago. I have eaten wonderful split pea soup but this was greatly disappointing and I think the only person to eat a significant amount was Chris, mostly out of kindness. I'll admit the only reason I finished my bowl was because I wanted the kids to know even mommy eats things she doesn't like. Now its the infamous green soup. Oliver reminds me about it frequently. Today he told me green soup is awful but he likes blue soup. I'm not sure what that is buy why not! Anybody have a recipe for blue soup?

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

2008-12-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

Christmas was all it was supposed to be fun, family and food! We enjoyed one gathering after another and saw all of our immediate family except Robert, who's out of the country (but we did talk on the phone). It was really fun but I have to admit I was ready to have a couple days with just my husband and kids and simple chicken soup seemed so wonderful after all the fancy party foods we'd been eating.

Every year we have the kids wait to come out to the family room to see the gifts with the whole family. It must be exciting for the kids to see all the gifts when there's been nothing under the tree all month. This year all of my family stayed at my parents house for Christmas. (That's not too difficult when half of us live there!) Chris and I are the only ones with kids so far but everyone wanted to watch them open gifts. Nana, Papas and aunts and uncles were already out on the sofas before the kids came in. When we let the kids loose, Oliver went right for the presents, Evelyn seemed a little confused, and Spencer squealed not at the gifts but at seeing everyone gathered there. Children just make Christmas!

I was quite surprised, as I am every year, by the number of toys that we end up with. This happens because of the garage sales. I love garage sales but its hard to remember what I've already purchased when I get gifts and stash them away. Next year rather than a price limit per child we might need to do a toy count limit. It was fun though! The kids are so easy to please it makes Christmas fun.

One of the favorite toys was the trampoline given by Nana and Papas. It has a net that keeps the children from flying off. This seems like it would be so fun outside on a sunny day. I have to admit I was really disappointed when I found out it had a 100 lb weight limit. I really wanted to join the fun! (Oh and they're sporting the pajamas from Grandpa and Grandma Black)

The trampoline zips up and we've discovered that if it is zipped to far the zipper gets stuck. I've had two children get trapped inside. Hmm...naughty mother.... That locking zipper might come in handy, kind of like a child's personal padded room unfortunately its not sound proof.

Backtracking a bit

2008-12-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

Oliver had his 5th birthday! Poor kid had his party canceled twice due to sick people in our family. Instead of a party Oliver went out with his dad and Grandma and Grandpa Black. He got to visit them all without any other kids which made it really special. They went to the store and he got to pick out a toy.

I've been sick since Thanksgiving day and we kept thinking the kids and I would be better soon. Its two and a half weeks later and we finally are! We ran Spencer into the emergency room in the middle of the night last week but thankfully didn't need to be admitted to the hospital. It turns out he had croup. They gave him some steroids so he could breath better and told us how to handle things. They told us you take children with croup outside, even if its freezing, and the cold air helps reduce the swelling in their throats. Who would have guessed? Anyway, he's just fine. We all seem to be much better.

Like I've said before we're sure using our insurance! A few months ago we were on major medical for about three months and only had one doctor visit the entire time. Now we have exceptional coverage and have seen more doctors in the last six weeks than we've seen in a very long time. I'd say we've definitely been watched over!

One day last week I put a video on for the kids to watch so I could take a shower while they were entertained by the one eyed babysitter. I told them I'd make breakfast right after I got out. I have to admit I took way too long. Occasionally I just don't want to leave that nice, warm shower. When I was dressed and returned to the family room I found my children hadn't been able to wait to eat but took care of things themselves. They were working on a 5lb bag of carrots! Evelyn had at least four carrots in her arms. She didn't let them go for an hour even though we ate breakfast. Spencer was nibbling but found his carrot made a much nicer bat or club. Oliver being the big brother had helped peel some. I found a trail of peelings from the kitchen sink to the garbage can. Throughout the day I kept finding carrots! :) I guess I could have gotten mad, but rather, I was pleased that the kids let me be and managed to take care of things. I'll just have to remember to keep a good stock of carrots! I wonder what other vegetables they'll eat if I take more long showers?

More great news! Chris will be working as a supervisor at UPS starting tonight. He's been training for the position for a couple of weeks but was told he wouldn't be a supervisor until the Christmas rush was over. I guess they feel he's able to handle it. This position will make things better financially (even though its still part time) and still allow Chris to pursue graphic design. I guess there are a lot more part time graphic design positions out there than full time. It makes sense actually. So he'll pick up design work where he can but still have steady, stable income and health insurance from UPS. It seems we are being blessed over and over again!

Where are your cool toys?

2008-12-15T13:05:00.000-07:00

My children receive toys on their birthdays and at Christmas. Occasionally there will be a surprise toy from a relative during some other point of the year too. Otherwise we intentionally keep the amount of toys to a minimum.

I'm not anti-toys by any means. In fact I feel we have plenty! When we have too many toys the kids get overwhelmed and don't help up around the house. (I'm kind of the same way myself. ) We've found the kids return to the same toys over and over. So those are the ones we keep. Beyond that they use their imaginations. It's made watching the kids playing and drawing really fun too.

We have neighbor children that seem to get toys much more regularly. They've even come to our house and asked where the cool toys are and then when they find we don't buy toys every week ask for the tv instead. I've had to bite my tongue and not say, "Cool toys? Your brain is the coolest toy you've got. Use it!"

Here's an example of what I love. What's this to you? A couple blocks and a ball point pen most likely. Oliver saw these items and saw a tank!

Spencer had a different idea. He found a mop, propped it up on a shelf and a chair and made his own bar to hang on. We might have a gymnast here. Or maybe just a dare devil!

Saline and Blue Suction Bulbs

2008-12-03T07:57:00.000-07:00

Everyone in our family has gone through a cold in the last month. We still have one child young enough to be in the "No Cold Medicine" age group. I've heard soon to be moms (or moms again!) ask what are we to do to help our little ones since they can't have any cold medicine! I want to share what I learned when Spencer was in the hospital last year.

Spencer had RSV which is a respiratory virus that can be pretty hard on very young children. He was only six months old when he got it. Like I've said before he's a tough little boy! He only spent two days in the hospital instead of the typical 6-10 days. He was hospitalized because he had so much mucus he had difficulty breathing thus had problems keeping his oxygen levels up. If you hear wheezing see a doctor! Your little one might not be getting enough oxygen. Once at the hospital Spencer received oxygen for about 12 hours and heavy suctioning of his nose. The only medication he was given the entire time was Tylenol to ease the aches and pains of having a cold. To begin with the suctioning was done with tubes going through his nose as far down as his throat. After the RSV had progressed and the mucus wasn't as severe, they suctioned with the plain old blue hospital suction bulb. Before I could leave the hospital they wanted me to learn how to suction his nose well so he didn't have to come back.

For moms, such as myself, you may not have had much success with the old suction bulb and saline but it really does work, that is if you know how to do it correctly. Here's how the nurses in the hospital taught me to do it. You'll need a few things: suction bulb, saline, lots of tissues, and a blanket (to wrap your child in if there isn't a second person to help restrain your child)

1. Restrain the child laying down.
2. Drop a couple drops of saline in one of you child's nostrils.
3. Squeeze the suction bulb and then insert it in the opposite nostril far enough in to block the nostril opening. Its ok to put it way back in the nose. (I always hated doing this but after watching the nurses suction my son's nose, I learned putting a suction bulb way up his nose really was ok.)
4. Block off the other open nostril by pressing on it with one of your fingers.
5. Release pressure on the bulb and let the suction do its job.
6. Dispose of bulb contents into tissues and repeat on the other nostril.
7. Repeat in each nostril (taking turns one nostril to the other) until you feel your child is breathing clearly again.

Sometimes the nurse would put a single drop of saline in the nostrols after suctioning to sooth the nostril.

Children hate this! I mean hate and will scream at the top of their lungs when you do this. That doesn't mean you aren't doing it right. (After all, how would you feel with someone doing this to you? If you're like me, you'd be mad, angry, annoyed, scared and a probably a little panicked too.) Hard as it is to do, its worth it. After suctioning my child's nose, he would relax and sleep because he could breath through his nose.

It even helps adults with colds, though you can blow your nose one nostril at a time rather than suctioning.

This has helped us with many colds since last winter. I hope this helps another mom out there too! I wish I'd known how to do this correctly before child #3. Live and learn right!

The little tyke's fine

2008-12-01T12:55:00.000-07:00

Spencer has a soft tissue sprain. It must have been a mild sprain too because he's back to being all over the place. He's had the brace off for a couple of days now. He'll limp a little towards the end of the day but is otherwise doing just fine.

He never even had any swelling or discoloration! In fact I think the wrap around the brace gave him more visible injury than the main injury. He would walk on the brace (which the doctor didn't think he'd be able to manage) causing the outer wrapping to bunch and then cause sores. It seemed like he was fighting the brace more than the brace was helping so we took it off him. I only know he's having a hard time when he starts limping because he doesn't fuss about it. I think he knows if he fusses I'll put the brace back on! He's a tough little one!

So thank goodness nothing long term. I'm sorry for any mom that has a child in a cast!

Wobble Wobble Not Gobble Gobble

2008-11-26T08:03:00.001-07:00

This is a Black family first. In our five years of child rearing we have had numerous falls and crashes but no injuries which the doctor felt the need to brace until now!

Yesterday as the kids and I were sitting down to read another chapter in Stewart Little, I looked up and saw Spencer playing across the room. For half a second I thought about moving him. I let the thought pass because I couldn't see any danger. Oops, should have acted on that one! He managed to tip the sewing machine onto himself. It was put away in its usual spot around counter height. Apparently the location wasn't as child safe as I thought. I'll be finding a new location for the sewing machine.

I only half saw what happened. It was right in front of me but I must have looked up at the sound and so I'm not sure of everything. As the machine fell it scraped Spencer's head. Spencer fell one way and the machine went the other. I was worried about his foot when I went to get him because that was the general area it appeared the machine might have hit. Once he stopped crying and could respond to my questions, I asked him where it hurt. He told me his head. He had a scrape but nothing that appeared to be major. So I was relieved until he stood up to wander off. Every time he'd try to put weight on his right leg he'd cry and stop. He wouldn't walk. So we headed to the doctor. I'm not sure if he turned his ankle or if the machine hit his foot. Either way, very traumatic for an 18m old.

The odd thing was there was no swelling, no discoloration, and no pain except when he'd attempt walking, so the doctor asked for x-rays. (I wish I could say this was our first time in the x-ray room!) There was nothing obvious as far as a break but the after hours care center wants to wait for a radiologist to examine the images. Spencer has to stay in a brace until we hear back from the radiologist. I don't think there's much worry about a break after seeing the x-rays myself but better safe than sorry. The brace inhibits his walking even more than his pain did so he's gone back to crawling. The hardest part seems to be that he can't keep up with his siblings!

To date our three children have had three emergency room visits, one CT scan, and (at least) four x-ray sessions (some illness related others injury). Hmm...Come to think of it, this is just between the two boys! We haven't had any emergencies visits with Evelyn yet. Thankfully our children have recovered fully from each situation. I don't think we will ever attempt making it without health insurance!

I can't tell you...

2008-11-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I took the kids to the grocery store with me to catch a couple exceptional deals. It was a special three hours only sale. It was insane! If grocery stores had day after Thanksgiving sales, that's what it looked like. We were there fifteen minutes after the sale started and could hardly walk through the store let alone find any of the specials left. We couldn't even get a cart or basket. So I carried Spencer and had the other two trail behind me single file. We were trying our best to avoid being hit by grocery carts! Crazy. We left after five minutes, empty handed, but happy to be in one piece.

When we got home Oliver got to work drawing. I came over to see what he'd drawn. Its a picture of Mommy, Oliver and Evelyn. He explained to me that Mommy was sad because we couldn't get cocoa for LaDena and Oliver and Evelyn were angry. (Can't blame them! I don't like dodging grocery carts either.) Oliver made word bubbles for each person. I asked what they were saying. Oliver told me he couldn't tell me because they were saying bad things!

Later that day Oliver helped me do some cooking. He wanted to help me squeeze some limes. I handed it over to him and he said, "I'll squeeze the jelly from your eyes!" For those that don't know that's from the movie Shrek but his timing had me rolling on the floor. I'm surprised by how much he remembers. :)

What is it?

2008-11-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

I went to empty the freshly washed dishes from the dishwasher and found this on the bottom rack:

It looked really weird when it was sopping wet and sticking to the dishes a little more. I didn't even want to touch it at first. Have any ideas what it is?

Scroll down to see.

I guess I wasn't the only one to load the dishwasher. Spencer is my helper. He likes putting things in and taking things out. So he helps with the laundry and the dish washing. Today he surprised me by loading the duster in the dishwasher with out my seeing. It did fluff up fine after if dried out. I just never though of cleaning that way!

Gumballs and Shots

2008-11-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the pediatrician for Spencer's 18m check up. He's doing well but still short. Sorry kid, that's my fault. That's what you get for having a mom who's only 4'11". (I'd hoped his father's 6'2" genes would have been stronger!) We'll have to watch though, he dropped from the 10th percentile to the 3rd. Growing up, most of the kids in my family weren't even on the chart but we kept growing on a normal growth curve so we were considered healthy. As long as that's what Spencer continues to do, all is fine. His milk problems? Well, I think this was the first time the doctor really listened. He was surprised that just a small handful of chocolate chips gave him bad diapers. I've already been using rice milk for cooking and kept him on formula so now the doctor also wants me to switch him to lactose free formula. We'll try that out and see how he does this week.

I went ahead and had all of the children get flu shots. I tried to explain to them how it would feel so they wouldn't be shocked. That didn't help much. Evelyn was so startled at the needle poking her she jerked her arm away and began crying. She would be a drama queen if we'd allow it! I was shocked the nurse actually got the medicine in! Thankfully she didn't have to do it again. Evelyn's reaction freaked Oliver out. He's never had problems with the shots before . This time it was a struggle just to get him sitting down and I had to hold both his legs and arms down. The nurse suggested we put it in his leg rather than arm, as its a little easier to keep them still that way. Once it happened he looked at me a little surprised, kind of like "That was it?" The only problem with doing it in his leg was he dropped his pants in the waiting room to show everyone how brave he was. Spencer, well he had three shots and didn't even fuss until the tetanus shot, which really does hurt. He was the bravest or them all (or most unaware of what was going on).

All of the kids were really well behaved. The doctor just kept laughing at Spencer because he was really involved with the other children, climbing, talking, writing on himself, and getting into stuff. The doctor came back into the room to hand me the formula samples and said to Spencer, "Just look at yourself!" In the few minutes he been gone, Spencer had covered his bare legs and belly with purple ballpoint pen ink. So Spencer bent over and really checked out his drawings. The doctors had a good chuckle at how well he had not only understood but responded. Through the whole appointment our doctor kept saying what a character Spencer was. It was unusually fun for being at the doctor's office with three young children.

Our doctor gives each child a penny to get a piece of bubble gum out of the candy machine after each appointment. The kids always want to go to the doctor's because of that gum ball machine. They had their gum right after their shots. On our drive home Oliver announced to me that he and Evelyn had traded gum balls. I thought hmmm...that announcement seems a little late. Sure enough they hadn't traded gumballs but already chewed gum! Oh well it could be worse and I'm glad they're willing to share, kind of.

Rain Drops on Roses

2008-11-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

"...brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things..." The Sound of Music

Some of My Favorite Things

the leaves changing color in the fall

my children laughing in their sleep

color (I'm draw to red but I can't imagine a world with out the full range of every color. There aren't any that don't have a place in my life.)

pattern

the internet

talking with my husband

Swing Life Away by Rise Against

I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie

piano solos

sweaters

the smell of cold night air

waking up before anyone else in the house

gingersnaps

fresh baked bread spread with honey and real butter

using my hands

my children's odd responses

open space

fields of flowers

the mountains

What are some of your favorite things?

Update on the Flooding

2008-11-11T09:20:00.001-07:00

Everything is dry now! It took quite some time since there ended up being more than one leak! We didn't have running water for two days once we figured out where the problem was coming from. I was so glad I'd been storing water in soda bottles! I never would have expected we'd already be using them! We kept the toilets flushing, hands washed, and water bottles full. In the evening we'd turn the water to the house on for about 1 1/2 hours to get some necessary showers and dishes washed. Thankfully, its all fixed now.
The kids have been asking for an "up and down bed" or bunk bed for quite some time. When their Nana heard that she started watching for a good used bunk bed. She found one and instead of waiting until Christmas we went ahead and put it up while everything was already out of there room. We surprised the kids last night and it was a hit. It sure beats what they had! Ollie had a twin bed and the other two had baby crib mattresses on the floor. Everyone was excited and best of all they slept through the night again! Hooray!!!

Lego Star Wars

2008-11-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

Oliver has a fascination with Star Wars. He's never seen one of the movies but has a computer game called Lego Star Wars. He loves it. (He even gets Star Wars books at the library now!)He's allowed to play once a week, if he behaves at church. Church used to be quite the battle but now all we have to do is remind him he won't get to play. Yes I know he's not being reverent if he's not doing it for the right reasons but we're baby stepping here. First we needed to get him to sit still. After about a year now, he's starting to understand the other concept too.

Lego Star Wars comes alive!

This was another Oliver project. He decided to make a mask and light saber. Then Evelyn needed one so he made one for her too. This is the kind of fighting I'll allow, paper light saber sword fighting.

Days like these...

2008-11-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post this because so many people have said "How do you do it?" As you can see I don't do it all! This is what happened while I was helping take care of the sacrament primary program over the weekend, and, yes, I'm embarrassed it got this bad. This mostly accumulated over two days! I don't like to let things go this badly but sometimes other things have higher priority. When it gets that bad I look at it and think how did that happen? Usually my mind is preoccupied and once it starts its hard to stop. Clutter really does attract clutter! First thing Monday morning I attended to this very neglected counter.

Oh and the sacrament program went really well! It didn't even go over time! Yeah!

Disgustingly Early, I Know

2008-11-07T09:04:00.000-07:00

Yes it is disgustingly early to have up a Christmas tree but we did it anyway. Its in honor of the heavy snow we got on Wednesday. It snowed all day long and it just seemed like a tree would make our place more cozy.

Last year most of our ornaments broke. We had a lot of glass balls and it was expected. For my birthday, which is right around Christmas, I received some money to do with as I pleased. I bought Christmas decorations when they were being clearenced in January. I got more than I should have but now we'll have fun spreading out the fun.
Right now our tree is covered in just snow decorations, snowflakes and snowmen. It will probably have some turkeys in a week or two and then we'll transition into Christmas decor. Every few days we'll put something new up (mom might have to rotate some out), and many have to be made too! Last night we made tongue dispenser snowmen.

My first batch of Handmade Soap!

2008-11-04T22:31:00.001-07:00

I attempted my first batch of soap. I was quite pleased with how the whole process went. Everything seemed to go as described in all I'd read. My soap came to trace faster than I expected but was still manageable long enough to get it into the mold.

Its a recipe for cucumber aloe soap. Everything seemed a little too good to be true for my first attempt. Sure enough it was! The soap set up wonderfully but oh the stink! Think of stinky feet, plant smell, and mildew rolled into one. Strange and definitely not something you'd want to rub on yourself! The awful scent was coming from the cucumber peel I'd used to color the soap. I guess you can't believe everything you read on the internet! Duh! It was actually a recommendation from another soaper! I now know from a reputable source that the same thing happened to her soap when she used cucumber peel.
I tried to rebatch the soap in hopes of savaging it. I used a warm spicy scented fragrance oil. The combination of scents now smells like zucchini bread! Unexpected but yum! I have a suspicious feeling it is not going to set. Maybe I bit off a little too much for my first try. That wouldn't be a first! :)

I'll make another batch of soap this week and see what happens this time, maybe a bit more basic recipe.

Slumber Party!

2008-11-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

This was our other Halloween surprise event. We weren't planning to have a family room slumber party! When I was putting the kids down for the night, I pulled Oliver's blanket up off the floor and it was soaking wet. I'll admit I chewed the poor kid out. I thought he had poured out his water bottle on it. The kids had all been playing in there that afternoon. Usually the kids aren't allowed to play in their room because of their father's day time sleep schedule (he works nights). That afternoon he was awake so I allowed it. Sometimes things happen when they're all in the other room. The next thing I realized was that everything I was picking up off of the floor in one general area was wet. Then I realized we were flooding...again?

This is the third time this year that this corner of the house, and I mean down to the same corner of the room, has flooded! It seems impossible and the crazy thing is each time has been a different fix! I think the spot of the house is jinxed! Apparently the fix this time is a bit more than we thought. My dad found a pipe outside that was squirting water underground and fixed it on Saturday but its Tuesday and we're still getting lots of water. The water meter shows that even when there is no water flowing in the house, its still going. So tomorrow we'll have a backhoe come dig out the bad pipe. Ollie's going to love it! The owner of the backhoe is our neighbor so hopefully he'll let the kids sit on it for a picture. Lets get something good out of this! Oh and the kids are loving sleeping in the family room.

Halloween!

2008-11-04T21:52:00.000-07:00

We had a rather uneventful night on Halloween. Three of us were sick. We ordered pizza and carved pumpkins. I debated trick or treating but when Evelyn was out cold at 6:30 we just didn't go. Thank goodness we went to the church Fall Festival the week earlier and trick or treated there! I don't think Oliver would have easily forgiven me! Evelyn was a fairy. It was the same costume as last year. She was not too happy about it until I sewed on some bells at her Nana's suggestion. Spencer was a little chicken once again. Oliver was a soldier. He even worn his dad's old army cap.

Quilting

2008-10-31T09:12:00.000-06:00

I've sewn for many years. I'm quite thankful for a mother that allowed me to play on her machine as young as 8 years old. I jammed her machine and broke so many needles that now that I'm 28, I sit down and relax with a sewing machine. I've made about five and a half quilts over the last few years. Only in the last year have I really taken to piecing quilts and then actually quilting them.

My first official quilting project is a star quilt in red white and black. My favorite color is red which is why I chose the colors. It was intended for myself but as I began working I realized I needed to give it to someone else. It was pure luck that the lady I gave it to also loved red! This was also my first experience quilting on my machine. This quilt is lap size, perfect for watching television or reading a book.

My next quilt was a baby quilt. The colors are a little wild but that suits me! This pinwheel pattern is based off of two quilts given to me and my last two babies. Those two quilts were part of what inspired me to give quilting a try. Thanks Sonja! This was my first project for hand quilting. I enjoyed it and have started another baby quilt for hand quilting. Most likely, I'll never hand quilt a full size blanket! Especially with the carpal tunnel acting up!

This is my current quilting adventure. Its been the most challenging yet. I've dealt with a lot more fabric warping because so much is biased cut. I still like it though. I'm OK with the mistakes so far. This star will be on a white background and I haven't figured out what I want for my border yet. Lots still to do!

2008-10-30T19:48:00.000-06:00

So why Brush Strokes to Cake Crumbs you might ask? I consider myself an artist but have never fully settled on a medium partly due to life's changing circumstances. I really enjoyed painting in college but since having children, it just hasn't been a medium that worked well for me. I've tried other mediums in hopes of finding something easier to do around them. I first tried building and painting children's rocking chairs but that was quite short-term. Next came cake decorating. It filled the need to build and allowed a type of painting. I liked that all the supplies were safe for the children to be around, unlike turpentine and power tools. Though that was fun, it always led to sticky messes! Then I caught the quilting bug. I love pattern. Before going to college I even contemplated doing textile design. Why it took me so long to try quilting out I'm not sure. For the last year it has been the medium that has stuck. Its much easier to pull out and clean up and I can work with the kids around, usually. I've got to watch the iron and straight pins though! So I'll be showing some of the things I've worked on but don't be surprised if I can't seem to stick to a medium! I like to use just about anything that allows for creativity!

The Kids - Pumpkin Demons

2008-10-22T09:47:00.000-06:00

Rarely does Oliver need any coaxing to do a project. In fact he usually is asking me to get out the scissors and glue for him. That was the case this week. He found the only construction paper we had left and made what I'll call pumpkin demons. This was totally his idea. He designed them so they can be attached to a stick and posted into the ground around the backyard. If he did not have a curious little brother he would have been successful too! I took pictures of the kids with Ollie's pumpkin demons and as soon as they stood up and walked away little hands yanked them out of the ground. Because it would be a losing battle to keep Spencer away from them, Oliver allowed me to display them on the fence instead.

Did you notice Evelyn's hair? Its not so wild! Mommy got brave with the scissors. Its not a perfect cut but hey its the first time I've cut girl's hair other than my own! Yeah, haven't we all done that at some point? Another reason to have cut Evelyn's hair was that I kept finding locks of blond around after she'd had scissors. I haven't seen that since her new cut. Maybe that's because she can actually see now!

An Introduction to the Kids

2008-10-15T22:24:00.000-06:00

First, an introduction to the kids.

So far we have three, usually lovely children, Oliver, Evelyn and Spencer.

Oliver will be 5 in December and is now in preschool. He loves being with other children. He spends much of his time building with Legos and running around in the backyard. He loves robots and superheros. When walking into the grocery store the other day, Oliver blurted out, "Mom does he have super powers?" It took me a moment to realize what Oliver was talking about. Then I saw that the child nearby us had on a tee shirt with the logo from the Disney movie The Incredibles. Oliver was sure this child could save us all from impending danger. It was cute and also lets me know he's still not deciphering fact from fiction. Great imagination this one!

Evelyn is two years younger than Oliver but getting ready for preschool too. She'll start in January. She's my cuddler. If there is a child in our home that loves a hug or wants to sit on a lap, its Evelyn. I'm glad to have one child like that! Evelyn likes things that are pretty. As soon as she was old enough to walk she was guiding me to anything that had flowers or ribbons on it in stores. She doesn't get dressed up much though because she loves playing in the dirt. This image of Evelyn is one of the rare moments where she let me do her hair. Usually it's just tangle of blondness. Maybe its time to get the scissors!

Spencer is the youngest of the bunch at one and half years. He's in a stage where if there is anything above ground level he will master climbing it. We have a kitchen counter with a raised bar and I caught him successfully climbing on top from the high end! I think I'll have to tie the chairs to the table soon for his protection and my sanity. Spencer is one of my close buddies. He had a rough start in life, not too rough, but enough that he needed to be held most of the time. So now we're kind of attached at the hip. We're both gaining needed independence as he's getting older.