Trying to capture a smile

I've been trying to capture a Sam smile.  He's pretty camera shy.  Here's some of my favorite attempts though. 

(I love the praying hands pose he does.)

(Not really a smile, but isn't he cute anyway?  His eyebrows make him look happy a lot.)

Speaking of, he has a tooth!  Hooray for him.  :)  Not hooray for whomever or whatever he tries to bite now.  

Quinoa

Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike tasting new foods?  Because I just don't like it.  I'm just not very brave.

But Weight Watchers has been encouraging us to try new foods.  Especially power foods.  I read online how healthy one of those foods are - Quinoa - and decided to try it. 

Quinoa (said Kee-noa with the accent on the first syllable) is an ancient grain.  It took me almost 3 days to be able to pronounce it right.  Even now I stutter a little bit. 

It has the texture of white rice with the taste more like brown rice - kind of a very mild nutty taste.  It cooks quickly, even faster than white rice, and seems to be pretty versatile so far.  I can't help but to see the grains after being cooked and think that it looks like there are little wormy things in my dish, but I guess that's how you know it's done.

(Doesn't that look like little worms if you look close?)

Anyway, I read some reviews and found that it is very important what brand of Quinoa you buy because it's grown in some kind of bitter tasting stuff that has to be rinsed off.  All brands say pre-rinsed, but most have to be re-rinsed at home anyway.  They say you rinse it until there isn't a soapy film in your bowl.  Yuck.  I don't have time to rinse my grains so I found two brands that you actually don't have to pre-rinse.  Costco's brand (Organic truRoots) and Bob's Red Mill brand.  I've only bought Costco's so I can't testify to Bobs, but it gets execellent reviews from people who say you don't have to rinse it. 

We've been pleasantly surprised!  It only takes 18 minutes to cook and the first time I made it, I cooked it in chicken broth. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quinoa-Side-Dish/Detail.aspx My kids loved it!

The second time I cooked it normal and ate it with a little butter and salt (1 cup is a serving.  I put 1/2 tsp butter and salt on it). 

The third time I put it in meatloaf in this recipe...  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quinoa-Side-Dish/Detail.aspx  (didn't have turkey and so used super lean ground beef).

And the fourth time I made a salad with it.  (probably my favorite way but not necessarily my kids favorite)  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quinoa-Side-Dish/Detail.aspx

(This is a picture of my bowl of Quinoa Tabbouleth)

It's super high in protein and fiber.  Definitely a WW power food.

Try this!  You may like it!  You can find quinoa in Walmart, Costco, and most grocery stores.  There is a good selection at Health Food stores too. 

You'll have to report back if you like it too.  For more fun recipes, visit my favorite recipe place -
allrecipes.com and put in Quinoa. 

Clean dishes again

Because you all care about my opinion (me being the expert at doing things the wrong way the first few time) I thought I would share some recently acquired gems of wisdom with any who might benefit.

A few RS meetings ago, a few of us were talking about how frustrating it was that our dishes never seem to get clean in our dishwasher.  You have to wash the dishes first to have them come out half way decent.  This is because a few  years back, Utah banned the chemical Phosphorus from our cleaning products.  Something bogus about the environment.  I think they probably just had it in for us large families who go through cups and bowls like they were going out of style. 

So, me and some friends were bouncing some ideas around - like going online and seeing if we could find dishwasher detergent with phosphorus still in it.  But after shopping around on Amazon, I found that enough states have banned the chemical that the manufacturing companies just stopped putting  it in all their detergents.  I looked at buying phosphorus from Amazon to add to my dishwasher.  The warnings and instructions made me think twice about that.  Stuff like that I had to wear gloves to handle the bottle, and that I could only put at most 1/2 tsp in each load of dishes at a time.  Ha ha.  That's pretty funny.  I'm lucky to ge the dishes loaded!

While on Amazon and reading hundreds of reviews, I found that Consumer Reports had declared Finish tablets to be the best option out there.  (They used to be Electrasol and recently changed their name).  They were even better than Kirtland brand or Cascade.  So I decided to get some tablets next time I was at Walmart. 

(Isn't this a nice long story?  Are you getting bored yet?)

Finish has a new tablet called Finish Quantum.  Here's a picture of it. I figured I'd try it out.  This is the first time my dishes are coming out clean!  Even the bowls!  My glasses are actually clear.  Sam's bottles don't have some weird film on the inside of them!  My spoons are silver again!

And then I noticed after running a few loads, that my dishwasher is starting to look clean again!  WOO HOO!!!  Someone has finally found something that will do the job again! 

They aren't the cheapest  options out there.  But they beat the waste of heated water and running useless loads of dishes.  So, they are worth it to me in the long run. 

Just thought I'd share so next time you go to unoad dishes and they're still dirty....

Time is crazy!

I mean, I guess I can expect things to be crazy with 7 kids, right?  And it's so important to me to try to give each kid as much time and attention as they need.

The result:  I write a bunch of blogs in my head but never get them down on paper.

(I found this picture of a lady thinking but she didn't look like me so I had to redo a few of her features.)

Like the blog about reaching my hand in the bath 3 times to grab three "presents" my 3 year old left for me without even blinking!  (I blinked a whole lot after though, and gagged, and then couldn't believe I just did that.  I mean, someone had to get it out.  But with my bare hand?  What am I, nuts?)

Or the blog about starting Weight Watchers again and the stress about starting.  That blog would probably have some complaining in it.  Probably good that one didn't get written down.

There was a blog about my 2 year old turning 3.  But since a 3 year old really isn't any better than a 2 year old then it was okay I skipped this one.

How about the blog about the awesome recipes I've found recently - updated with current WW plus points?  Still a good one to try to get in.

I'd love to write a blog about how good Ryan's work is treating him and the difference and blessing this change of jobs has been in so many ways.  The years of praying and pleading (the pleading was especially prevalent the past 8 months) really paid off.  Our fasting and prayers really were answered in a way that they could not have been a year ago.  Or six months ago.  Or two years ago.  It had to happen like it did.  And relief came.  And it is better than we could have imagined.

Also with that post, I could write about the new book I'm listening to... "How to Win Friends And Influence People."  Good book so far.  Ryan's new boss is a great example of the techniques I've heard so far.

Then there is Easter.  Fun pictures from Easter I could post.  That would take downloading them to the computer first though.  Is there time?

My cool new toy I got for my 15th anniversary from Ryan.  Oh wait... 16th anniversary.  (See, time does fly!).  Oh yeah, I could post all the things I love about Ryan.  I could probably come up with 16.  (Just kidding Ryan.  I could come up with a lot more than that!)

The list goes on and on...  Prioritizing has become so difficult!  But I'm always working on readjusting.  I'm sure I'll get it figured out and then something will change and I'll have to readjust.  That's just part of this exciting life I've chosen, right?

Hooray for my chaos!  I love my chaos and wouldn't want it any other way!

Sam at 2 months

I have some requests to post  updated pictures of Sam.  He doesn't look that different to me yet.  And he's still pretty small.  At 2 months, he was 9 lbs, 1 oz.  He does smile but not enough that I can get good pictures of it yet.  He coos a little and already is trying to survive in loves the chaos!  

Anyhow, here are some pics.  I know there's a lot of them, but I can't decide which ones are the best and so I'll just post 'em all. 

What were they thinking?

So, in our house we have limited spacing right now.  We'll eventually need to move to a bigger home but until then, we are a bit snug.  :)  We have 3 boys sharing one room which isn't actually that unusual.  I think we've had 3 kids in a room for the good majority of our marriage.  That's what you get for having a big family in apartments.  So, here's their room (notice the cleared off top bunk - explanation to come).  

Matthew sleeps on the car bed and the two older boys sleep on the top bunk.  It's a little tight so sometimes Jacob sleeps better on the floor (we lay down some cushions) or occasionally in Brandon's bed downstairs.  There just isn't enough room for another bed in there.

Well, I went up to the boys top bunk because they had a couple of cups sitting on the wood frame that were leaking.  They each sleep in one of those small child thin sleepover type of sleeping bags instead of using blankets and I noticed their sleeping bags were stuffed full and had some hard things in them.  I decided to see what they were keeping in them.

What the....???

List of things hidden inside their sleeping bags:

A baseball bat (yes, a foam covered full sized baseball bat)
A sudoku book with pencil  (you would think that this would mean they are smart... apparently not)
A light-saber, fully extended
A stuffed dragon
Board book
Regular book
Lego set (mostly in pieces)
About a dozen Lego magazines (maybe to find clues on how to put the lego set together?)
About another dozen Bionicle comic books, including posters from the wall
Puzzle pieces (to different chunky wood puzzles, not the thin ones)
Disneyland souvenier (little light up flashlight type thing)
Jacob's shoe that he spent a very long time looking for this morning (and gave up)
Matthew's shoe
A full size pillow
A large quilt (queen size)
A small blanket
Another pillow
Pez candy dispenser (maybe they were hungry?)
Ball puzzle game thing
Lego cheat codes for a Nintendo DS game they have
Nintendo DS game
Nintendo DS system (obviously they are playing games when they're not supposed to)
A large baby ball type toy
Nintendo DS headphones
One single clean Matthew sock
A pajama shirt (hey, perfect for mopping up the water mess!)

I'll bet they slept well.

Will kids go to no end to hide stuff they are supposed to put away?  The odd thing is - LOOK AT THEIR ROOM!  Besides the small pile of stuff I took off their bed, do you see how NOT clean their room is?  It's not like they actually truly made it look clean to start with.
 

Probably because they could only fit so much into their sleeping bags and still fit in themselves.

Lucky for them, they'll come home to washed sheets, sleeping bags, and pillows nicely placed on their bed.  They'll just have the stuff on their floor to worry about.

Unlucky for them - anytime I "help" clean, I fill at least one large garbage bag with stuff to throw away or donate.  Someday they'll realize that if they want their stuff left alone, they'll have to make sure I don't need to go in after them...  :)

(Matthew had to have a part of the picture taking this morning.)  See how funny he thinks this is?  Look Matthew! I'm crying, screaming, fuming laughing too!  I'm just laughing on the inside.  (ha ha ha)

New year, new changes!

Yeah, I know - you missed me.

Thanks to the gentle prodding of a couple friends (thanks Sarah and Emily!) I'm back.  Why the long vacation?  Well, it's hard for me to blog when I don't have anything nice to say - which pretty much means my entire pregnancy I didn't blog.

I'll have to tell the story of my attitude adjustment later.  First though I wanted to announce the fun new changes we've had since the new year.

#1 - NEW BABY!!!

Yes, Samuel Jayden was a very welcome addition to our family on January 17th, 2011.  He was 6 lbs 7 ozs and a short 19 inches long.  He's been little since, but most of my babies have.  We love having him in our family.  He hasn't been the easiest baby.  In fact, he requires quite a bit of attention.  But I tell ya - the older the rest of my kids get and the more kids I have in teenagerdom, the more I appreciate the simplicity of a baby.  I am loving my baby!

#2 - NEW JOB!!!

Thank goodness we are done with American Express.  Ryan started with Zions bank on March 7th.  It is a great change and an answer to many pleading prayers to my Heavenly Father begging for relief.  Again, a story for another post, we are just grateful he has a job and that it is good.

#3 - New vehicle

(Note this is not in all caps).  Yes, we seem to have to get new cars as we outgrow our old ones.  And what kind of family outgrows a suburban?  We do!  So, our new vehicle is a 15 passenger van.  We went with a 15 passenger for the storage space.  Everyone loves the van.  My feelings for the van are at a little different level than everyone else since it is my vehicle and I have to drive and park and maneuver around in it.  But, it will be good to have a vehicle we can all drive in together when we go somewhere.  And did I mention how much the kids love it?

One thing to note however - the kids still fight in a vehicle the size of a small aircraft.  I just look at the van as proof of the blessings we have received in our family.  We've received so many blessings that there isn't enough room to fit them in anything smaller.  :)

I'll expand on the above more another time.  My time on the computer gets shorter and shorter all the time.  Our computer is our television (we don't have cable or any stations right now), homework helper, entertainer, and movie/music source. So you can imagine how often it is being used.  I need my own computer!  :)

 

Awesome friends!

You guys, how lucky am I?  I have the greatest friends!   I go so much support and love and empathy from my last post.  Thank you for your kind comments.  They made me feel better and not so alone!  You guys rock.  That's the great thing about this blogging thing for me.  Friends from all stages of life can come together and share in our joys and struggles.  :)  Thanks guys!

I got home from my Dr. appt. took Brandon to the High school and just walked in the house when I heard a knock at my door.  It was a great friend and neighbor who had just read my post and showed up at my door with her shredder, couple of boys, and popsicles for the kids.  I couldn't turn down her help so she came in my messy room, and helped me sort piles and piles of papers.  We visited and quickly got things taken care of.  Now when I look where my used to be pile of papers was, I think of her and her willingness to help me tackle a really not so fun job.  :)

So, thanks guys!  I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate everyone.  You guys rock!

The stack of papers

So here's the deal.  When I found out I was pregnant, my world kind of crashed around me.  Goodbye good health!  Goodbye weight loss (I had lost almost 30 pounds)!  Goodbye any sense of organization and direction I may have in my life!  Goodbye to the slight bit of sanity I have left!

I have so disliked even looking at my blog.  It wasn't that long ago, but it feels like a different age - an age where I had some control over my body.  For the first time in my life I was figuring out how to make my body do something I wanted it to do.   Plus most of you are doing fun projects and pictures and recording this great summer.  I'm barely surviving. 

And then I got pregnant.  Unexpected.  Uncooperative.  Uncertainty. 

I mean, why throw this wrench into my already hectic life?  We can hardly afford our 6 kids - are you serious about adding another?  We hardly fit into our house - we need to fit another kid in?  We are at full capacity in our surburban - I gotta drive one of those big vans around?  Argh!  It's easy for me to get discouraged.

I think I found a great way to relate how I am feeling today though.  Thus, why I am blogging after avoiding it for so long.  I have a stack of papers in my room 3 feet tall.  Not kidding.  Kids school work from the last half of the year, medical papers, bills, statements, artwork from the kids, recipes, coupons - you know.   At least you can imagine.  Those of you with kids in school, you'll have a better understanding.  I don't even keep 1/4 of the papers they bring home, but still...

Today I realized on my way out to Dr. appts for school shots for three of the kids (super early this morning) that I needed their immunization cards.  That's an easy task because I keep them in one of two places.  But today they weren't there.  I frantically searched in the other possible places they might be with no luck.  The car is running, kids buckled in - late already to my appt.  And then a horrible thought came to me.  (horror music now)...  THE STACK OF PAPERS.  NOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I run into my room and look at them.  Sigh.  Take a pile from the top and glance through them.  All my kids immunization cards are together in a small ziploc bag.  I was hoping it would just fall out of the pile and call my name.  But no.  I grab another stack.  No luck.  And another.  Dang!  I head back to the car defeated.

So, since I'm not wearing my shoes yet, I'm trying to untie them to get them on and my insoles inside my shoes.  We get to the office - I slide my shoes on and am in near tears because of the frustration of the cards and that stack of papers.

I HATE that stack of papers.  It is just like my life - a big pile of disorganized colorful good intentions that I never get around to.  It is the things I can't get done, the stuff that was once important that I feel guilt for, the great and noble intentions that are past.  The reminder that I am busier than should be possible.  Basics are barely met.  Dang papers!!!

I am grabbing stuff and running inside.  I can feel my insoles are backwards and it feels like walking on stones.  Silly me.  No time to wait for the elevator so I rush up the stairs holding all the junk I can and my 2 year old.  As I am holding back tears signing the kids in, the receptionist (who knows me by name) kindly tells me that my appointments are actually next week, but they could squeeze us in today.  However, I have my OB appt in SLC at 10:30 and would have to be done with the kids by 9:15 and she didn't think that was possible. 

I guess it's good news.  It gives me more time to find those darn immunization cards.  But it means I have to face the papers.  The dreaded stack of papers.  I'll probably cry while going through them because they are such a reminder of how inadequate I am.  I feel so not up to the task that is in front of me.  7 kids.  Oh my heck.  My 6 kids don't get enough from me as it is.  I guess this is when Heavenly Father will kick in and help me out somehow.

My pregnancy induced hyperthyroid is back in full swing.  Last time it didn't show up until the 3rd trimester.  But now I have to deal with it and all the side effects it brings to me and my baby as well as the medication to try to treat it.  I'm sure it doesn't help that hyperthyroidism symptoms include anxiety (like I needed more), irritability (what pregnant woman needs that?), hard time sleeping, fast heart rate, high body temperature (great during the hot summer months), the shakes, and always hungry.  Pregnancy induced hyperthyroid also brings pregnancy induced hypertension.  I had that last time but didn't link them together.  Sigh.  This poor baby.

But for those who don't know, I'll be 13 - 14 weeks now.  I have about 2-3 weeks until the nausea starts to get better (hooray!), and my energy is starting to come back.  :)  February may be a long time away, but Ryan assures me it will be worth it.  :)  I hope so.  Days like today I sure question it.

Ryan said he'll help me tackle the papers tonight.  I'll just throw away most of it and move on.  The Lord hopefully knows that I am really doing my best with what he has given me. 

WW update

I don't know why I've been waiting to post my successes with Weight Watchers. Oh wait!  I remember - I'm waiting to actually be able to SEE a difference - which I can't yet.  But I am having good success.  It's a real learning curve for me.  I am enjoying being more healthy, in control, and seeing my hard work turn results.

So far, I've lost 17.6 weight watcher pounds.  I lost a few before that so my total weight loss is about 20 pounds.  In WW they reward you all the time for things.  You've never seen a group of women and men so excited to get little star stickers on a bookmark before.  But man, you feel like you've earned them by the time you get them!  Here's my bookmark...

The small gold 5 stickers are for every 5 pounds I loose.  The big 5% one is for loosing 5% of my weight (the first goal they have you set).  I'm almost to my 10% goal.  After that, I think your next goal is what you want to end up weighing.

I loose anywhere between 3 and .2 pounds a week.  I loose more weight when I don't exercise (I'm still trying to figure that one out.  I think I need to eat more when I exercise but that's hard for me to want to do.).  I LOVE my leader and group.  I think that makes this program for me.  It is a safe haven where we laugh at ourselves and our common bad habits and how to change our faulty ways of thinking.  My leader is fantastic.  She has been doing this for so long.  People drive from SLC to come to our Saturday morning session.  There hasn't been one Saturday morning where I have regretted or felt it was a waste to get up at 6:45 am for the meeting.  It is a full house each week and I'm becoming more comfortable there and getting to know some of the people.  They are the best support group I could ask for.

Anyway, I don't know when I'll actually be able to notice a change.  I've got a long way to go.  The progress seems so s-l-o-w, but over time is starting to add up.  I tell myself that I've got to notice a difference after 30 pounds.  I'm giving myself some more time...

So, there's my update.  I still haven't posted any recipes yet.  It's still on my list though so I'll get to it eventually.  :)

If you can't say something nice

I know I haven't been blogging much.  I've been a little grumpy - and they say if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.  So, I've been silent.

What have I been grumpy about?  Well, odds and ends of life.  Just pretty much thinking things aren't fair and don't work out like I think they should.  And I'm a little pout-y about my family and kids and neighborhood and house and ward and well, life in general.  I'm getting over it though.  As my bishop counselled us, I'm getting off my pitty pot and making the most of what I've got.

However, here are a few of my major stressors today, among others, that I would like to vent.  Note: I'm letting any pride go by showing you some of these pictures because you will now know that my normal is having my house is messy most of the time.  :)

#1.  Do you see the Q-tips on the floor?  They're on the floor in my bathroom.  I see them too.  I've been seeing them for almost a week.  I don't know who put them there, but one of my teenage kids is in charge of the bathrooms and I am trying to teach how to pay attention to details.  So, after the big Saturday cleaning where the floor was supposed to be mopped, I confronted the teen about this mess.  Here's our conversation:

Me:  I thought you mopped the bathrooms.  

Kid:  I did.  

Me:  I think you must have forgotten my bathroom.  

Kid:  No, I'm pretty sure I did it.  

Me:  I'm pretty sure that you forgot.  Maybe you meant to do it but got distracted by the computer in my room.  

Kid:  No, I remember doing it because I remember mopping around the q-tips in the corner.  

Me:  You mopped around the q-tips?  How do you mop around them?  Why didn't you just pick them up and throw them away?

I know, teenagers are lazy.  But come on!!!  I think it's just a culmination of all the half done jobs they think they can get away with.  Emptying the garbage but not picking up the pieces that fall on the floor in the process.  Doing the dishes in the sink but not on the counter next to the sink.  Picking up the toys left in the living room and moving them into the hallway so they aren't technically in the living room anymore.  ARGH!  (Okay, breathe deep.  A job done poorly is better than no job done at all.  Big breath.  Count to 10 backwards.  Now in French....)

#2.  My living room at this moment...

Couches pushed to the side to make room for this big board.  This big board is supposed to be a part of Brandon's science project due next Monday.  It's to make a simple machine to smash a grape using a certain amount of each simple machine (at least 2) in at least 20 steps.  And no flying objects (like mouse traps).  Okay, first of all - who comes up with these things???  I know, it's a fun thing for some people, but doesn't this teacher realize what he's asking?  Shouldn't science be about finding better and more efficient ways to accomplish tasks?  If I want to squish a grape, I give it to Matthew.  He squishes it great for me.  Why build a a complicated machine to do it for me?

But, this is honors science.  This teacher is my least favorite this year.  He failed Brandon on his science project.  A project that took Brandon 4 weeks to do, that was presented nice and scrapbookie, on time, and original.  And he still gave Brandon an F.  (50%).  It brought his grade down to a B from a high A, and caused all sorts of Passey havoc.  So, this is a serious teacher and this project has to be good.

Note the mouse trap game (for inspiration), the alligator jaws (we were trying to rig it to smash the grape), PVC pipe, string, scissors, cars, tubes, books for stacking, pencils and paper, spools to make a pulley, dowels, etc....in my living room, taking up every available inch.  Certain people freak out if anyone steps on it. But our living room isn't that big and we can't even get to the front door without stepping on it.  I'll be glad when this week is over.  This science teacher has got to realize that parents are really not that much smarter than kids sometimes and that he's being a little picky.

#3.  THE DANG SWAMP COOLER!!!!!  It was kind of funny (for a very brief moment) when Ryan said this morning that the swamp cooler was easy to get going for the summer.  Um, maybe he forgot what the last 5 years of getting the swamp cooler ready entailed.  Besides sweat, tears, and hours of labor on my part, there was the trips to home depot to replace new parts, begging for neighbors help (I even went to church sobbing one year and found the bishop and begged him to get someone to help us.  I must have looked pretty pathetic because he pulled a couple guys from priesthood and sent them over to our house right away to get it going), and looking like white trash trying to block the heat in every room of the house while getting it to work.

I was going to get a start on it.  It usually takes several days to get it ready.  And I'm not waiting too long this year.  Besides, today was supposed to be 80 degrees.

I get on my roof.  I take the panels off.  (I have the motor running to try to pump cool air into my house before the day heats up too much.)  If you only knew how gross a swamp cooler looks after a winter - BLECH!!!  There is about 4 inches of stagnant water sitting in the tray.  I call Ryan and ask him how he usually gets the water out. He told me the best way is to have someone put a hose in the tray and then to go off the roof and suck the hose to siphon the water out.  Yeah right.  That's funny disgusting.  I realize this will have to be a job done on my own.  So I go inside and grab every rag of my house (took me 2 armfuls to carry up to the roof), and start soaking up the water and squeezing it out to do it again.  I bring the hose up with me (turned on - I probably wasted enough water to bathe an elephant today) so I can rinse rags and debris out.

All this debris, hard water flakes, aspen shreds, and other unmentionable stuff I gotta clean out.  I notice the rust from last year has spread.  So, after I have it kind of cleared out, I find the spray paint stuff that keeps the rust from spreading.  I read the instructions.  It says to sand the area.  Sigh.  I find some sand paper and sand as long as my sand paper lasts. I continue following directions and spray the black stinky tar stuff on.  Then I see the warnings.  Here they are...

Extremely flammable.  May blow up at any moment.  Any part of the body the fumes or chemical may come in contact with is in extreme danger.  Known to cause cancer in every state and country. Don't breathe or you will grow 3 or 4 arms and die a long painful death.  

Oh!  Helpful!  I'm glad to know that.  Maybe I should have worn gloves.  Naw - I'll just lick the paint off. Or rub it on my pants and then wash it in the washer and dryer.  Probably won't blow up if it's wet.

But then it hits me... the blower is on.  Nice.  I just sprayed the most toxic spray on earth all over my swamp cooler and the blower is on blowing it into my house.  Smart.

Sure enough, when I head back down to check the house, it smells of the toxic fumes.  Oh well, it's time to clean the pump out so I'll just air the house out while I clean it outside.

Here's a picture of the pump.  If you can imagine, the swamp tray is about 4 times this bad.

But I did a little experiment of my own.  I cleaned the basket by hand and put the pump in a bowl of vinegar.  Oh yeah.  Then I watched it bubble for the next hour.

So, this next week I'll tackle the pads.  I gotta scrub the panels, buy new pads and cut them to replace the ones in there.  We will need to put a second dose of toxic goo in the pan and then cover it with swamp cooler paint to seal it off.  Finish scrubbing the inside of the pump out, put the pump back in, unclog the 10  hoses it connects to with a snake (not a real one silly), and turn it on to see if it will work.  Traditionally something doesn't work and needs to be replaced and we start over again. Sigh...  Doesn't it sound like fun?

#4, #5, #6, etc - We speak on Sunday which actually I don't mind.  I like making a fool of myself in public.  But my two oldest kids are a little stressed out.  I gotta write their talks for them inspire them with their talks.  

The garden.  Argh!  We gotta get it in soon!  Like this week.  And we said we'd take care of the neighbors yard before Wednesday as a service project.  It hasn't been touched yet this year and needs some work.   Sigh again...

Neuro-ophthalmology appt. tomorrow.  I'm trying to fit it in before delivering papers and my relief society meeting.  Probably won't work.  Ryan's going to have to come home early to do the papers for me.  That'll be interesting.  :)

So see, now you will feel all my stress with me.  How nice of me to pass that on to you.  I feel much better now.  Thanks!

Disneyland!

Disneyland!  I have to begin by telling you how much this trip meant to me.  Ryan and I both have wanted to go to Disneyland for a long time - well at least since we had kids.  But the time wasn't right I guess because it never felt like the right time.  Three years ago I had my cape business.  I was having pregnancy problems and decided I would keep working until we had enough money to go.  But pregnancy problems increased and that goal wasn't realized.  

I have been happy to see friends and family go but inside my heart ached every time I heard of someone else taking that trip.  I guess you could call it envy - I just longed and longed for the opportunity, especially since my oldest is almost 14 years old and we had missed the "magical" age for most of the kids.  It seems as time went by my heart ached more and more.

About a year ago we changed budget strategies.  When tax time came around this year, we decided that the time was right to spend some of that tax money on this trip.  It is also our 15th anniversary on April 8th and instead of Ryan and I doing something fun, we thought doing this vacation as a family would be better.  It just felt like the right time for us as we really put a lot of thought into spending that much money on this trip.

So, this is our families first official vacation!  (I consider trips visiting family not really a vacation.)  I guess we did have a little vacation a couple years ago and went to Dinosaurland.  So maybe this is our second official vacation.  :)

We stayed with my Aunt Luise and Uncle Van.  My magnificent friend Christie made our family matching shirts which we wore every day at Disneyland and saved my sanity!!!  

First day - we just walked into the park.  It was almost 90 degrees that day!

Me and my sweetie!

One of my kids favorite rides - Grizzly Mountain on California Adventure side.

Matthew's favorite ride.

Me and my great girls at the Bugs life part of the park.

Me and my Brandon.

Outside another favorite ride - Thunder Mountain

Jake and Rachael getting ready for Thunder Mountain.

Silly girls!  This was at the Bugs Life 4D adventure that was AWESOME!

Okay, my favorite picture.  This was my souvenir - a 5 x 7 of this ride.  My aunt came the first day with us so we got to go on this ride together.  I love the sheer emotion on my little boys' faces - especially Cameron.  This picture makes me laugh every time I see it.

Progress

Hooray!  I'm making progress in my weight loss goal.  Last week I just felt overwhelmed.  This Saturday I could actually feel a sense of "woohoo" celebration.  Last week my weight loss was 3 pounds.  This week I lost another 3.4 for a total of 6.4.  If I add in the 5 or so pounds I lost before joining WW, my total weight loss is now 11.4.  I can't tell much of a difference yet.  I'm sure I will.  I have to wear a belt with my pants now but I'm excited to actually go down a pant size.

I'm just excited that it's working!  Lots of work - way more than I anticipated.  Lots of measuring (I had some ice cream last night that I ate out of the half cup measuring cup and my family laughed), lots of meal planning and meal changes, lots of looking up foods and figuring points.  The hardest part is coming up with meals that my family will eat that I can eat.  Breakfast and lunch are really not that big of a deal.  Dinner - way stressful.  But things are coming together and I can see my hard work is paying off.  :)

I'm going to start posting some of my meals on Julie's food blog (found here) in case any of you are looking for healthy food options.

Self esteem cards

Here is a link to a new post I just created showing my "self esteem cards" that I made.  They were fast and easy and I had so much fun!  It's something anyone could make.

http://dotsandstripescards.blogspot.com/

It's all out...

Okay, I'm coming out of the closet - or something like that.  I don't know why this is so hard for me to talk about but it is.  I think maybe because I admit that I can't do something I should be able to do on my own.  Eat less and move more - the classic weight loss equation.

However I found myself sitting in a Weight Watchers meeting at 7:30 am on a Saturday feeling totally emotional.  The last time I felt that same feeling of emotions was after my first meeting with Jim Shelton, my therapist.  He had told me that weak things could become strong and that I could eventually learn to cure my anxiety.  I wanted to believe - I really did - but just couldn't wrap my mind around the possibility.  It was more than I could hope for.  And the things I learned were amazing and enriching and opened an entire new world for me.  And I am not perfect but I am working on it all the time and getting better.  I'm so much better than I was a year ago.

So, back to the meeting.  I was actually inspired by a comment someone left on a previous blog post about WW.  The thought had kept coming back to me again and again.  I have struggled with weight since I was 12.  I hear people talk about those years that they could eat anything and not gain - I never had those years.  I always had to be careful and worry about what I looked like.  I come from a family that is very aware of  looks and weight and what food who is eating and should or should not be eating.

Then Ryan found out that American Express will reimburse us for half the cost of the program.  That was the final kick in the pants for me.  But it is so hard for me to admit I can't do it on my own and that I need help because I wish I was tougher.

The first few days of counting points and tracking food choices has been STRESSFUL!  I worry about going over by the end of the day as soon as I wake up(because it's way easy to do), and running out of points by the end of the week.  I spend time looking up foods and meals and points - trying to remember to add everything and keep track!  Ug!  I suppose it gets easier as I go.

I feel like I've been fighting my body since I was young.  I am afraid that I will fail at this like I have when I've tried on my own.  I fear that getting to a healthier weight is something that just can't be accomplished for me and that even if I try my hardest it won't work.  All the years of struggling and failure seem to be against me.  Believing that I can do this is really hard and really scary.

So, back to the Saturday morning meeting.  They celebrated the people who had reached certain goals there.  There were women who had reached 5, 10, 25, 50, 75, and 100 pounds of weight loss that morning at the weigh in.  The woman who had lost a total of 100.2 pounds got a standing ovation.  She was holding back tears as we stood and applauded her.  She looked great.  I was really inspired that maybe this would work for me too.

There were three women that I knew that I would have never guessed ever had trouble loosing weight.  I guess you just can't tell what people struggle with from the outside, can you?  Another lesson learned!!!

So, I begin this long journey.  I know it will take time and dedication.  I know there will be ups and downs.  I know this is right for me right now.  I just need to believe...

Fun cards!

I am going to start collaborating on my sister Suzy's card blog.  I am in the process of scanning cards and getting images ready.  She is so incredibly talented.  She is also involved in a card group that meets monthly and exchanges cards so she gets some great ideas and great cards.  She is very practical in both time and money spent.  I am trying to learn as much as I can from her.  If only we lived closer!  (She lives in Rexburg).

http://tinydotsandstripes.blogspot.com/2010/03/introduction.html

If you ever have an inkling to be creative and don't want to get into scrapbooking (too much time and money for me) you may want to try cards!!

Laundry

In an effort to make myself feel better about doing so little at home sometimes, I have started calculating how much laundry I do in a week.  The numbers even baffled me.  I smirk to myself when I hear of people complaining about doing the laundry when they have a small handful of people in their family.  I know, kind of prideful.  But if you realized how much laundry a family of 8 goes through...

• 112 socks a week (56 pairs).  And that's if everyone wears only one pair a day.
• 48 pairs of underwear (at least that's when kids change everyday like they're supposed to.  Matthew is still in diapers or it would be at least 56.
• Lets say kids we each wear 3 pairs of pants and 5 shirts a week  That's 56.  But Matthew wears at least one outfit a day so add another 8 onto that.  That makes it 64.  And then Sunday clothes - another 8.  So, we're now up to 72.
• Pajamas, well probably 24 sets.
• Towels, dishrags, washcloths, rags, between 40 and 50 a week is my estimation.

Lets see - so what does 112 socks, 42 undies, 72 shirts and pants, 24 pajamas, and 50 rags and towels equal?  Two days of running the washer, two hours of folding and sorting, and at least another hour of putting away.  Sigh...  I get tired just thinking about it!  Thank goodness for capable kids who can sort and run wash loads for me.  And they even sort and put things away too.  

Maybe it's worth it for those fun kids...

Pet peeves #32 and #17

Maybe I'm getting to be a grumpy old woman already.  I have started making a mental list of things that really annoy me.  I'll list them here occasionally - in just a random order.

#32 - Will you please just blow your nose?  Sniffing every 3 seconds or talking through a plugged nose drives me bonkers.  Blowing your nose is not a difficult thing to do.  I mean how can you stand having a clogged nose for months on end?  Just blow the snot out already!  And although sniffing constantly is a great form of exercise for your lungs, what goes in must eventually come out and sniffing that same drop of snot all day can't be good for you in the long run.

#17 - Hmmm, another snot one.  (Maybe I have a bigger problem than I realize in my home.)  This one doesn't happen near as often, but makes me gag when it does.  I dislike finding dried up snot on the walls or around the doors in my house.  You really couldn't walk another 5 steps into a bathroom or to a Kleenex box (I buy them in bulk at Costco) and wipe your snot on that?  How about at least the inside of your shirt.  That way it dries on your shirt or sticks to your chest and you can scrape it off yourself instead of letting me try to rehydrate it on the wall and wash it off or scrape it off with my fingernail.

As a side note, please do not wipe it up your arm either though.  I still vote for the shirt if nothing else is available.

GROSS!!!

Adventures in shopping.

So there I am at Walmart.  I don't like going there much as it is.  But especially with kids.  However, I had just used up the second to the last Matthew diaper and I knew it was just time.  So, I headed out with the little boys before anyone else came home from school.

Cameron wanted to sit in the cart because he said his tummy hurt.  Whiner.  So I let him sit in the back.  We went around to the back to get the diapers stopping to check some clearance stuff and he just kept saying his tummy hurt.  Finally I got tired of his complaining and we headed to the bathrooms so he could sit on the toilet and see if that helped.  After a few minutes he said it didn't and so I loaded him up and decided I better stop getting distracted in case he was really truly sick.

We got the box of diapers, and I had just got the mapeline flavoring I needed when he said "Mom, I think I'm going to throw up." Uh oh.  I quickly headed the cart back towards the bathroom and slipped and almost fell.  I looked down and sure enough, I had slipped on the puke coming from my son.

Now there's definitely different types of puke.  Baby puke - really not that bad.  However, puke coming from a kid who had definitely eaten too many sugar cookies and some kind of punch is not as pleasant.

Luckily for the cart, Cameron had stood up to puke and it ended up hitting the box of diapers before splattering all over me, him and the rest of Walmart.

I have no diaper bag and I'm standing there and thinking - GREAT.  What am I going to do?  I wait for a moment to see a Walmart employee hurrying down the aisle and say - "Um excuse me.  My son just threw up and I need some help."  In true Walmart style - "Oh, I'm sorry I can't even clean up my own kids throw up so I can't help you." and she turns to leave.  No I tell her - I need rags, towels, a mop, fire hose, etc and she calls a maintenance guy to the baby area and then the department manager.

Now the department manager gets like 7000 thumbs up because she just comes right over and start helping us clean.  Like she is taking rags and actually wiping up my sons puke.  I was so impressed.  The maintenance guy was incredible too.  He offered to spray my hands with disinfectant (I actually took him up on it) and some good rags and a garbage bag for Cam in case he felt sick again.  It actually took a good 15 minutes to get the cart, box, Cameron, and floor cleaned up enough that he could mop.  I went back to the bathroom and washed Cameron and myself up again and went to check out.

We got home and cleaned up and I started feeling a little less embarrassed.  Last time something like that happened was when Rachael was a baby and we were at Target.  And it wasn't puke - it came from the other end.  And we streaked it over several aisles until I realized where that odd brown line on the ground was coming from.  That time though, I just hurried and left and didn't tell anyone.  :)  (Um so sorry if anyone stepped in my daughters poop 10 years ago at Target over by the diaper and baby supply aisles.  I wasn't quite sure what to do.)  Oh and I did have a kid throw up in the check out line at Walmart when we lived back east.  But it was an easy 10 wipe mess instead of a - well you get the picture.  

Anyway, as this was happening I was thinking about the positive things I could pull out of this situation.  (Laugh or cry, right?)
1.  I hadn't put any clothing in my basket.
2.  I was not in the food section anymore.
3.  It was at around 2:50 when most of the people I know are picking up their kids from school and not at             Walmart so they wouldn't see me.
4.  It was Cameron and not an older kid with a bigger tummy.
5.  He didn't throw up on some random stranger.
6.  Someday I would laugh at it and chalk it up to another "Mom moment".

Smiley faces

Cameron drew this for me yesterday.  I love how creative kids are!