Thursday, May 31, 2007

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen thing's I randomly wish....

1. The house stayed clean

2. Groceries magically appeared when ever you needed them.

3. I had lost those last 10 pounds.

4. My husband did not have to work so hard.

5. I was finished with school.

6. I could be ready for the triathlon, NOW! - every year I watch the Iron Man triathlon in Hawaii and I get motivated to run. The Iron Man is a little out there but did some research and found that there shorter triathlons. I am going for the Sprint version which is the shorter type - swim 1/3 mile, bike - 15 miles and run-3 miles (much more reasonable than the Iron Man - swim 3-miles, bike - 125 miles and run 26-miles).

7. I would not find any more gray hairs - found about 15 so far.

8. The dog would stop shedding.

9. The ocean was closer

10. I was a scripture master.

11. I had new tires for the trucks.

12. My two good friends weren't moving - I know they have to follow the Lords direction but I am sure going to miss them.

13. Money to share.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Memorial Day Weekend

This was a terrific weekend. We went to my brothers house. He smoked some ribs, boiled crab legs and home made Mac n Cheese. (Yum) I brought an awesome watermelon and corn on the cob. There was also shrimp. So the seafood lovers in my family ate till they could not move. They rest of us chatted and played on the swing set.

Sunday Church was good. The best part was that every member of our immediate family was there, including Cody. I love filling the large pew.

Monday, we lounged around for the morning and then in the afternoon we went for a family bike ride. The city has recently put in a bike trail that runs close to one of the local highways. We had not been there before and we are always looking for new places to explore. It was SO fun. The trail was beautiful. The weather was perfect but a little thundery. The weather gal said rain was headed our way in a few hour so we thought there would be enough time to do our ride. The ride to went fine the wind was cool and smelled of a fresh rain shower but nothing looked close to us. The trail runs through a flood plain which looks more like a swampy area. It also winds back and forth under the high way. We stopped under the bridges and the kids threw rocks into the water. The flowers along the path were beautiful and my lovely daughters picked small bouquets. We reached the end of our leg of the path and were heading back when the baby girl (who is now totally potty trained) had to go. So I whipped off her pants and let her squat on the side of the trail. Everyone else continued up the trail. She got her pants back on and we continued on. It was only about 3 minutes and the rain started to pour down. I grabbed the little sister and through her in the stroller and ran to catch up with the rest of the family. Fortunately, everyone else had made it under the bridge before the rain started and were mostly dry. Unfortunately, I was running right into the rain and so I was soaked and so was my baby girl because the rain was blowing into the stroller. But wet or not it was lots and lots of fun. The rain just added to the adventure of it all. E thought found a shower of water running off of the high way above and said it felt warm so he decide to step into it and soak himself. He is my adventurous child!

I hope you all had a great weekend, too!

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Good Grades!



My lovely daughter did a great job in school this year. She improved consistently through out the year. Her reading and writing have improved and she is doing so good in her math skills. She has made some really good friends and had lots of fun. Her class this year only had 5 girls in it so they were really close as you can tell.




E did a great job too. He read lots of AR books and advanced his reading level a couple of years. His report card was full of what would be the A - B range ( at our school they don't get grades just letters letting you know how well the material is understood). He received an award in Math for mastering 11 levels!


J is amazing, too! He received 4- A's and 2 - B's on his report card! Excellent work! He also received the Citizen of the Year Award for his class. He also got an award for doubling his AR goal.

What can I say my kiddo's are Brilliant, Smart, Beautiful, Funny, Clever, Strong and Sweethearts. Great Job everyone!

Friday, May 25, 2007

Fun Food Friday

This is a really good recipe for pork loin chops. They come out tender and yum. I have not named them yet so if you think of one let me know!

You need:

Pork loin 1-2 pounds
Wishbone Italian Dressing (my favorite)
Cavendar's Greek Seasoning ( if using the one with salt omit additional salt)
Juice of one Lime or Lemon ( I like the Lime but the Lemon is great too)
1 tsp. Salt

1. Sprinkle the pork loin with the Greek seasoning - generously

2. Place pork loin in a Large Ziploc bag

3. Add the Lemon or Lime juice and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Italian dressing

4. Shake well and let marinade in the fridge for at least 1 hour

5. Tastes great on the grill, stove top or broiled.

This has quickly become one of our family favorites. I actually blackened it the other day by accident and it was still good!

Next time I make it I will add pictures.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things that remind me of my childhood....

1. Dr Pepper in glass bottles

2. Saturday morning cartoons

3. 10 cent bubble gum machines

4. Laundry on the clothes line

5. Houses without Air conditioning - there was air conditioning, we just did not have it

6. Tube tops

7. Drive in movies

8. Jellies - they were the new rage in footwear

9. Velcro on everything

10. Iris - Generations of the women in my family have had Iris flowers in their gardens so just the site of them takes me back

11. Studebaker Cars - It is a family tradition. Some day hope to have one of my own.

12. Barbie - I played with Barbie's alot and now seeing my girls play with them brings it full circle.

13. Cabbage Patch Dolls - total fad - Seemed like everyone had one but me.

14. Smells and sounds of the holidays, any holiday always makes me feel like a kid again.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Family Fun..

on our bikes and scooters. We spent the evening walking, riding and scooting around our neighborhood. Our neighborhood has bike or walking trails built in. It is great because with the little ones we don't have to watch out for cars and we get to do some exploring. We traveled through some new places and found some really beautiful wooded areas. E said he just wanted to stay in one place we found because it was so serene. I really love our neighbors. If the weather is nice at all, everyone outside playing and chatting. We are so blessed.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Just say sorry...

That was all she had to do! My baby girl bit one of my other children and absolutely refused to say sorry. It was 8:20 when it all started. My son came and said she bit me and so she did the marks were there as evidence. I quickly went to my little angel and told her that it was not nice to bite and that she needed to say sorry. She totally refused so she sat in time out for one minute. Then I tried again to get the apology but again she refused. While this little drama is all going on I am getting the three big kids ready for school because we have to leave by 8:40. So I am doing hair and helping to find missing socks, trying to remember if I needed to pack someone a lunch and try to keep it together so that the little angel learns that :
1.She cant bite
2. She has to mind what I ask
3. She needed to apologize
4. She is two and needs to realize that screaming and crying does not mean you get your way

The fact was that I was frustrated and trying to do everything in a calm manner but make my point. I continued to give her the opportunity to apologize and then she sat in time out until I finally had to take the kids to school. She never apologized but taking them to school was enough of a break that I could not start where I left off. I guess no body won in this situation. I know it is just a phase but this is a big one! Only six more months and she is THREE. I try so hard as a parent to be calm, gentle and loving. It is one of those days where you just want to scream!! She is much better now and is sweet as can be.

I hope you are having a great day!

Seventy five

This past weekend was my grand mothers 75th birthday. It was lots of fun! My aunts, my mom and my cousins helped to plan the entire party. My aunt D made this quilt with all of her descendants hand prints on it. My aunt L made a scrap book of all of the descendants. There were alot of activities for the kids - cake walk, pinata, and several other games. The food was good and conversation was even better. It turned out to be a total success.






I was making some rolls for the party but my oven at home would only get to about 200 degrees so I had to drag my unbaked rolls up to the church building and bake them. So I spent the first hour in the kitchen baking. Later I did get to have some fun with my Popeye.




Friday, May 18, 2007

Family night..


..we roasted marshmallows on the grill for dessert. It was fun and messy. The charcoal was not quite hot enough to do anything but melt them. We could not even get them to turn golden. We still ate enough of them to fill us up. My baby girl is at that stage where clothes are not important to her plus she doesn't mind showing off a little baby fat.
I went to MV meeting last night too. It was fun. I love when someone new comes with me and is learning about MV because it gets me excited! Last night we had a new lady come and share a story about her mom and how the juice has helped. She said that her mom is severely anemic and the doctors have been trying different prescriptions and diets but nothing was working. The highest the doctor could get her iron level was a 9 and only for a short time. One month on the MV and her iron level was an 11!! Awesome. It was a new story and so I thought I'd share.
Best wished to all!

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things I love besides my family:

1. I love game night with my friends or family

2. I love to laugh.

3. I love to dance but don't get the chance much except at home with the kids.

4. I love romantic movies that are G - PG-13.

5. I love ABSOLUTELY love the smell of the rain when a storm is coming.

6. I love to sing but am not that good. I did get the lead in my high school musical but chickened out. But I have not practiced in years so I am not very good now.

7. I love brownie cheesecake!

8. I love to read a good books especially outside or inside next to a window on rainy days.

9. I love lay out in the hot sun next to a swimming pool or better yet the ocean. I know it is really terrible for your skin but it is so relaxing.

10. I love to see my entire family at church together! Pure joy!

11. I love to year my youngest sons voice. He has an Autism Spectrum Disorder and has been silent for many years but now he has started to volunteer words - not just words - sentences!!! I love it!!

12. I love that I am a daughter of God and that he loves me. I love that he has a plan and a purpose for my life and nothing is better than that!

13. I love that I have the privilege of knowing and associating with the most amazing women; be it through church, school functions, our neighbors, the Internet or simply my sisters.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

PTA

Wow, the school year is almost over and I finally went to my first PTA meeting. We will have a new president for next year and she is really excited and motivated. She has some awesome ideas for next year. I love to be around women who are strong, intelligent and fun. It keeps me on my toes and keeps me growing in the right directions.

Hope you are all doing wonderful!! BRING ON SUMMER!!!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Catching up




Well I am going to try to catch up on the past 9 days. School is almost out so that means we are having picnics, parties, teacher appreciation and pre wrapped school supplies for next year! SO I have been busy. I took my little guy to the doctor last week because he had been really cranky and just not himself. He also brought me a small orangish brown ball and said it came out of his ear. I checked his ear and sure enough it looked gross. The Doctor said it was impacted and needed to be cleaned. So they cleaned it with ear drops and water. After several rinsings and all kinds of crud coming out of his little ear he announced " all better." She gave me some drops to help keep it clean. I really love my kids doctor she is my age, gorgeous, and just sweet as can be.


Next, we went to the local fair and carnival. It was lots of fun. Everything is over priced and this year because we had so much rain they were not able to put up all of the rides. (Bummer) The kids did manage to have fun and the food was yum. The weather was a little hot but beautiful. I love days when the sky is blue with giant puffy white clouds. I would have been content just to lay on a quilt in the warm sun and watch the clouds roll by.


Mothers day was nice the kids had given me what they made on Friday because they just could not wait. I got beautiful cards and pictures; in chuch they made coupon books and hand flowers. Then on Sunday we had breakfast and went to church. The church service was fabulous. Several dad's read letters that their missionary sons had written to their mothers. (did ya follow that?) I am not a big crier but I felt the tears welling up a couple of times. It was just beautiful. I can only pray that my efforts with my children will prove as fruitful! I hope and pray the lessons that I have been teaching my little angels are building their testimonies of Jesus Christ.


I have not written much because I have been making a blog for one of my best friends. She is moving far far away and I thought that this would be an awesome way to keep in touch. I hope she likes it.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

B's

I received B's in both of the classes that I took this spring. Which is not terrible but it is not great either. I hope in the fall to do better but with five kids, a husband and the holidays it may not be possible. I know "B's" are not bad grades but when those grades determine whether or not you get in to a specific program or not it becomes a lot more pressing to achieve the better grade.

Monday, May 7, 2007

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Finished

I took my final on Tuesday and I think that I did pretty well. Overall in the class I should have an A or B. I will find out tomorrow. I'll let ya know.

We went to our ward(church) picnic last night. It was at a park on the North side (in our city the north side is scary). We decided to go because it was with the church so everything should be OK. We did a quick evaluation of the park and decided that it looked nice and clean. We had lots of fun and good food! The kids played on the toys, the teens and the men played softball, and the women shared good conversation. It started to get dark and we were all discussing that it was about time to go when we heard what sounded like fire works, WELL they weren't!!! All of the sudden, all of the softball players were coming back. My husband quickly came to me and said it was time to go, "did you hear the gun shots?" He said it was a drive by shooting and thank heaven no one was hurt. We discussed on the ride home how we are so blessed to live in an area where we are safe or at least we feel that way. It made me think of families who live in dangerous neighborhoods where shootings are common. I guess I live in a pretty sheltered world, a place where I "think" my family is safe. I think that for me it is a matter of faith. Faith that we are put here for a purpose and that the Lord will bless us and keep us. It is pretty simple but it gives me sanity in this crazy wonderful world.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

What a weekend!


Last week Scot's uncle Randy died so we spent Saturday at the funeral and then at his Grandpa's house. The funeral was really nice. It was funny, sweet and sincere. Randy was a character so there was lots to talk about. The preacher did a great job and it really blessed those who attended. After the funeral and graveside we went to a church nearby and ate a wonderful lunch that had been provided by members of the congregation. Yummy!! Then we went to Grandpa Joe's house and spent the rest of the after noon there. I was nice because he lives in the country and has cows and goats. The land is beautiful and quiet. It turned out to be a good day of family and fun.

Randy, You will be missed!

Sunday, I got to speak in church. I have not had a chance to speak in church since I was a teenager. It was great, well the opportunity was great and it felt good to be up there. But There were three of us scheduled to speak and so time ran short! I was last so I had to ditch part of my talk to conserve time. So I hope that the idea's that I shared were complete. Everyone in the ward was so sweet and gave lots of compliments. I hope to get the chance to speak again soon! I really love it.