5 of 5's owie

Once again. My baby is infected.
I took her in because she has had this cough for about 2 weeks, and then her nose started to run on Monday, then by Tuesday she quit letting me put her down, and by Wed. she wasn't sleeping very well, and by Thursday she quit wanting to eat for more than 2-3 minutes at a time, and nothing from the spoon. This is the progression of the ear infection. (hey that rhymed)
She did gain a bit of weight though, she is now 14 even.
I had to take all the kids with me because MIL was at the temple. I'm so jealous. And really bummed i missed our Stakes Temple night tonight. GMA who watches our kids when we go, had all the boy cousins over for a sleep over tonight. And, what do you do when you have a baby. I know, our time will come. Soon, i will have a live in baby sitter. And maybe my sister will take a turn when she comes home from her mission. ( I have a thing with baby sitters. Otherwise i would have no problem)
Anyway, back to kids at dr. appt's My kids were stellar at her appt. 4 of 5 even stayed dry. I LOVE my pediatrician. He LOVES 4 of 5. He always tells me about the light she has. And it always makes me feel good. I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees that about her.
5 of 5 is now sleeping peacefully. Hopefully for the next 10 hrs. I haven't gotten a good night sleep in a few days, but the Omnisef should work pretty quickly, and by tomorrow she should be back to her self again.
LOVE those baby blues......

Sad

So sad. I stepped on the scale this morning. up 2 lbs. What the heck? I have been eating better, and cut out my evening snack. What gives? Also, I'm up to 3 miles . WHY????
I would love to just chalk It up to muscle gain.
I know i don't loose easily when I'm nursing.... but can't i be given something for my hard work?

Bus

Anyone else with the UDSF having or have problems with the bus system for our kids? We are supposed to have the option to have our kids picked up and dropped off, and the are required to offer this service. So at 4 of 5's pre-school testing with the district, they asked "are you going to be able to get your daughter to school" and I'm thinking well, yeah, don't most parents get their kids to school? So i say yeah. And they say, oh good, so we won't worry about the bus. (pretty sneaky the way they worded it i think) So i get her schedule in the mail the other day and it says school goes from APPROXIMATELY 9 to noon. Well 3 of 5 goes from 8:20 - 11:30. I don't have free time to sit in the school parking lot waiting for them to get out at approximately noon. I decided to give the school district a call and let them know i would be needing the bus services. I can get kids off to school, come home wait for the bus, at home, then pick up 3 of 5 and come home and wait for the bus to get here at approximately 12. They say, "well, you said you would drive her" actually what i said was I COULD drive her. because i wasn't asked if i needed or wanted the bus service. I had been planning since last year to have her bussed. So, i ask them to put me on the bus route, and she says (get this) "I'll put you on the list, but if the bus driver doesn't call you, you'll have to drive her" So, i get to sit around and cross my fingers, and hope i get picked to be on this bus route.... hope I'm home when or if she calls.

I heard this was a pain in the butt, but i thought people were exaggerating. Times like this, i wish i were mean. i could just tell them what i wanted, and then tell them where to go. Why wouldn't they just DO what the law requires them to, instead of trying to find a sneaky way to get out of it.

fit for a king

Do you know what 3 miles does for you? After my run this morning, my machine said i burned 450 calories, and 150 fat calories. That is a whole meal of calories, and like a days worth of fat calories. Hey hey hey.... good bye...... To my fat..... I'm going on 6 weeks now, and i am finally starting to see a difference. Not so much on the scale. I've only lost 8 lbs, but i can actually feel muscle in my thigh. Not just fat. my calves are toned, my fore arms are HUGE... I'm sure from lugging the baby around all over.
All in all, I'm happy. I went with the kids and played games on Monday night, and i could run with 2 of 5. My boys love to run. And now i can keep up. And, i';m faster.
And, that my friends, is an onion ring on 4 of 5's arm. I guess it looked like a bracelet.


And, this is what we did yesterday. last 2$ Tuesday of the summer. Holey double strollers. I could not believe how many double strollers there were. And i ran into a mom that i knew from hearing her name (sometimes that's how this UDSF thing goes. You know names, but not faces) And she was there with her little one with DS. It was really fun. Next time I'd like to go when there aren't as many people there. But, i don't think i am willing to pay full price for that. It would cost 70 bucks to get my whole family in.


Yes, that is my finger. 4 of 5 loved that little girls hair. She kept trying to touch it.


And, she made it to the potty every time we took her. I'm still not going to take her anywhere with out a pull up, because she won't tell me when she has to go. I'm getting kind of nervous about school coming up. I will probably have to send 3-4 clean pairs of pants.

Why did the chicken cross the road

More like "what is wrong with you people.... why didn't you go look at the inside of the chicken boxes before today"
So i noticed about a week ago, the birds acting weird (er) than usual. What do you mean by weird you ask. Well, to be blunt, we had a bit of chicken lovin out in the coop. I mentioned to husband that we may want to go look in there, about a week ago. So tonight we found this....
Of course we can't use them, we don't know how long they have been there. Which bummed me out, there were 19 of them. So, looks like from here on out... we have eggs.

Let me clean up

Or clarify. My beginning post from yesterday had nothing to do with my calling woes. It was just a culmination of woes from conversations through out the week about other's woes. My whole family has callings in auxiliaries other than RS, although my mom is the RS Pres in her ward. So i know the things i have difficulties with are not unique to my ward.

I've had a few comments. But you all remember my camp problem....

On the brighter side... i just ran 3 miles... Getting ready to do my 1st 5k. I am so excited. I figure if i can run 3+ miles 2.6 won't be too bad. I know treadmill running is easier than outside running, which is why i want to be able to run 3 or more on the tread mill.

On My Mind Monday 10

I was going to give you a piece of my mind about church callings. You know, not turning them down when one is extended to you. It's not me the calling is coming from ect ect ect(YW is very frustrating in that way. As, i have heard Primary is also. Why is it that no one turns down RS callings? Or do they and i have never been a part of that process)

Then, because of my almost total break down yesterday, I was going to tell you all about how horrible my life was. But, after a few hours and some wise counsel from my husband, It's not that bad anymore.

Then I was going to tell you all about how Warren Buffet said that the reason the economy is in the crapper was because of America's over spending. And as soon as we start spending what we make,it'll balance itself out. But, duh.

So, maybe I'll just say that I'm sad that Sam in at school. I'm glad for him. But i miss him.

Have a good week.

Gifts

Speakers ON. then play.

I hope you enjoy. It was sent to me when Gifts 1 came out . i submitted my story for volume 2. I won't know if it gets picked until October (I think). I'm not holding my breath.

3 of 5 gets ready for school

Why is this one harder than the rest. Not that i would keep him home. He is SO ready for school. I would put him in all day if they offered it. But, I'm sad. He's always been my little buddy. When 4 of 5 was born, he called her "my baby" Where's my baby, my baby's crying. He was always wanting to help with her. And, he has a louder personality than my others, maybe because he's #3, so I always know he's around.
My other thought on the situation, when 1 of 5 finally went to Kindergarten, I had 4 at home. It was time to start sending them off. When 2 of 5 went, i was doing half day with 2 of them, and that was hard. And we only had 1 car husband took to work. So, we walked everywhere.


We're in a good place now, so maybe that's why I'm sad, I don't want things to change. I think all in all, it's all of the above. Even my little 4 of 5 is going off in 2 weeks. What will i do with 1 at home. I have Never had 1 at home. I worked when 1 of 5 was little, until 2 of 5 was born.

So, we got him a hair cut. I'm trying to decide on whether or not i should change the style. Should he go with the 2 of 5 cut? I don't think that would fit. Plus, he has such thick straight hair..... It's so pretty. Any suggestions?

So you wondering what that is behind his head?

It's one of these. One of 3 of 5's pre-school projects. Get your mind out of the gutter, those are lungs.
And those are Golden Grahams in his stomach.

Free recipe Friday 11

Here we see a tomato. mmmmm tomato. The worlds most perfect fruit. Now, what are we going to do with this perfect yummy fruit. Let's puree it into a liquid, cook it, then eat it. Okay.

I recommend home grow tomatoes. you will get the best flavor. This recipe is why i can tomato juice.

For my family, i used 7-8 large or 10-12 small tomatoes. Get a pot of boiling water put whole tomato in for 10 seconds. Get them out and put on to cold water. Skin should just peel off now. Take off the stem and put them into the blender until desired consistency is achieved.

Pour into the sauce pan and bring to boil. I add 2 beef bouillon cubes, 2 Tbs of sugar then cook off some of the liquid. Add 1 small can of tomato paste.

Get 1 cup half and half and warm it to room temp. Add 1/4 cup of the tomato soup at a time to it slowly and stir constantly. This will keep it from curdling.

My 5 of 5

I just love this girl. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite people. Did you know, if you kiss her nose, it makes her laugh every time. Her back is so ticklish, you can't touch it with out making her squirm. This evening i came upstairs and heard her squealing, and found her alone sitting in from of the mirror. She was entertaining herself. I love that she can be perfectly content with dad, and as soon as she sees me, she starts crying until i come get her. I love it because once they stop nursing, dad becomes the favorite. I spent 30 minutes this evening just rocking with her and listening to her coo at me. I Love that she still wants to cuddle. I think her sucking her thumb is the cutest thing ever. (at least until she's 1)

I thought this picture was funny. She always gets this worried look on her face when 4 of 5 comes into view. 4 of 5 REALLY loves her sister.

Still a little worried


AHH much better.


I think these 2 will be great friends. And that makes me smile.

Kindness

I read this in the Church News this afternoon.

Regret. Guilt. Sorrow. Each nibbles at memory's edge over an incident that took place more than half a century ago. This is what happened: On her way to school, a little girl walked past the home of her next door neighbor. She liked him. He was kind, jovial and compassionate. He told funny stories that made her laugh and fixed whatever toy she had broken. If she could find one fault in her neighbor, it was that he teased children. Although it was harmless teasing, she did not like it one bit when he called her by ridiculous names he made up. From his front porch that particular morning, the neighbor called her one of those silly names as she walked by. In no mood to put up with his teasing, she shouted, "Stop it!" His laughter made her even more upset. She scolded him in a way that only a little girl can scold: "You're mean! I hate you!" She stormed off down the street in a huff of childhood indignation. Within the hour, her neighbor lay dead. When the girl returned home from school that afternoon, she saw a lot of people standing on the front lawn and on the porch where her neighbor had sat that morning. She asked what was going on. It was then that she heard that her neighbor had shot himself. Since no one else was at home when he died, the little girl came to an obvious conclusion: "I was the last one he saw." Inconsolable, she cried and cried. Even though she was very young, she realized that the last words he heard on Earth were hers, and they were not kind words at all. She wished she could take them back. She was sorry about what she had said. She regretted that she had said he was mean. She was sorry she had not told him that she really didn't hate him and that, in fact, she liked him a lot. Decades have come and gone, and she is a woman now older than her neighbor was at the time of his death. Many other incidents of childhood have dimmed, but the memory of that one moment remains vivid. Regret has a long lifespan. So does kindness. As the Great Exemplar, the Savior spent His mortal ministry performing acts of kindness. He searched out the lonely and downtrodden, ministered to the sick, enriched the poor, strengthened the weary, comforted those who grieved. Kindness is one of life's greatest consolations and rewards. Like mercy in Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice, "It is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes" (Act 4, scene 1). Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve said, "Kind words not only lift our spirits in the moment they are given, but they can linger with us over the years.....Kindness is the essence of greatness and the fundamental characteristic of the noblest men and women I have known. Kindness is a passport that opens doors and fashions friends. It softens hearts and molds relationships that can last lifetimes....Kindness is the essence of a celestial life. Kindness is how a Christlike person treats others. Kindness should permeate all of our words and actions at work, at school, at church, and especially in our homes" (April 2005 general conference, Ensign, May 2005, p. 26). A hymn serves as a gentle reminder:
Oh, the kind words we give shall in memory live And sunshine forever impart. Let us oft speak kind words to each other; Kind words are sweet tones of the heart (Hymn No. 232).
We never need to repent of kind words we've spoken, or regret kind deeds we've performed. We shall not weep at the death of a loved one — or a casual acquaintance — because our last words to him or her were filled with kindness. We have no desire to take back anything done or said in kindness. May we always speak kind words to each other. We never know when ours will be the last words that someone hears on Earth.

The Magic of School

I say the magic of school, because I magically have the time for the odds and ends projects i have been wanting to do. Like clean my fridge.
Yesterday i got the kids rooms cleaned, new sheets, toy boxes cleaned out, Lego's organised. Monday i got my room and the family room cleaned out.
And because one can never have enough mustard...... or hot sauce for that matter. (not shown, Tabasco red and green, tapitio, and franks)
I guess after a good cleaning, i realize it needs a good filling. I haven't grocery shopped in weeks besides the milk egg and cheese run. I haven't had time. It doesn't do any good to bring 5 kids with me, because where would i put groceries. If you know 4 of 5, she needs to be in the cart, and i don't like shopping at night. It seems like a daytime activity.


Yesterday i could hear both girls back in my room laughing. I guess whatever it was they were doing was entertaining both of them.

Failure

I'm feeling like a failure this morning. We had a really bad potty day yesterday. I just about gave up. Then it dawned on me... the kids went back to school yesterday. Of course it threw her off. So we're back at it this morning. I took it as a good sign, when i took her diaper off and she ran to the potty. Any one have any good potty tricks. What worked for you. I'm looking for more ideas.
Oh, and the reading while she is sitting is doing wonders for her vocabulary. She can repeat just about anything i say to her.

And I Quote

I just wanted to share something i heard Michael Phelps say in an interview, that just warmed my heart.

Him and a team mate were teasing each other about one helping the other out. The teammate teased that Michael would have to name his first born after him, and Michael responded by saying " I'll have to be married first, and then see how my wife feels about that" I LOVE it. marriage first, then having kids is not a lost art in America. And, a figure in the spotlight, in the for front of our minds, is saying this. This is someone famous that i wouldn't mind my kids admiring. I'm so mad when i hear about actresses having a baby, just because they feel like it's time, with no thought about having a mother and father to raise the child. Or, men having 3, 4 or 5 kids with just as many women. I won't even bring up the statistic i heard about how many women in New Orleans were single moms. So, to hear that there are still people out there, that believe that it takes a mom and dad that are married first, to have children makes me feel that i won't be fighting a sea of immorality as I'm raising my children.

On My Mind Monday 8/ SCHOOL

To day is the day!!! I can clean my house and it might stay clean for more than 5 minutes. (can you hear the song in my voice?) I was actually totally unprepared for this morning. Usually, i have kids new school stuff sitting by the door, and the clothes they will wear, for a week before they go. This year, the summer went by so fast, i need another week. We had fun this summer. Not doing a lot, but it was productive, and calm.
I guess anything is better than last summer. Hot, i was in my first trimester with 5 of 5 and they went from A to D track, so we had 13 weeks of summer.
And my other bit of news. Finally back to my pre pregnancy weight. I was back 3 weeks after having the baby, but when i nurse, i retain enough fat to sustain myself and the baby. (Although, i loose it when I'm done.) I put back 7 after loosing. Now, i on;y have about 17 left to go!

Saturday's plans

This is what we did today!

Free recipe Friday 10

Stamps left to the airport about 10 minutes ago. can i just tell you.... one of my absolute favorite people. I'm really sad home is TX, not Magna. or Utah.

So after lasts nights festivities, i decided to post the poke cake.

My favorite way to do this is with lemon. raspberry is good, and straw berry is also yummy.

You make any box cake mix and poke lots of holes in the top. mix a box of 8 serving jello, but don't add the cold water, so it's super concentrated. Pour over the top of cake. refrigerate for an hr, then top with cool whip. I prefer to used real whipping cream. Then i put berries on top.

It's 2 pm, do you know where your children are?

We have finished at the dr. My bed is made, cake is made, but the bananas are still sitting there.
I feel pretty accomplished today. I wish the house cleaning fairies would have stopped at my house while i was gone. I guess you know what they say; "wish in one hand........" I'll let you finish that one.

Here are my findings. 4 of 5:
6 percentile for weight (average is 31.1 she is 26)
7% for height (average is 37.3 she is35)

Keep in mind they are comparing her to "normal" kids, and they are now doing a BMI (how sad is that) and it's at 15.0

5 of 5
9% for weight (average is 16 lbs, she is 13.11lbs)
48% for length (average is 25.8 she is 25.75)
And head circumference (drum roll please) 65% Ha... take that.

10 things i can't think about ( taken from thelazyreader.blogspot.com/)

10) The cake i am making for tonight
9) The dinner tonight
8) The dr. appt in 2 hrs for 4 and 5 of 5
7) The fact that 4 of 5 has to have a blood draw and Hubby won't be there to help
6) The unavoidable task of dragging all5 kids with me. (I have bribed them with Mc.d's )
5) my dishes
4) 4 of 5 Is downstairs watching her beloved Sponge Bob, in underwear
3) 5 of 5 is stirring. (Please don't wake up until cake is made and dishes done. Oh, and blog is updated)
2)banana's that need to be made into something, sitting on my counter
1)My bed is unmade still. (hate the unmade bed. Even if my room is a mess, if my bed is made.... I feel good)

On the plus side...... i have all ready run and showered. I Love the running thing. Then i HAVE to shower.

Last night while i was at YW, hubby kept 4 of 5 in underwear instead of resorting to a diaper because it's easier. Good Man.

what nots

Did you catch the Men's High Bar last night? How exciting! I got the chills watching each perfect landing.

And did anyone feel the earthquake yesterday morning. It actually woke me up. The one last year woke me up also. I guess it was 2006. But hubby never feels them, and every time i wake him up to tell him we had an earthquake, he tells me that I'm nuts. Now maybe he'll believe me.I'm surprised that they wake me up, it's never been over 2.5.

Thursday

We will be at the downtown Magna park. Not the rec center. Bring a salad. It will be pot luck.

On My Mind Monday 8/ My Weekend

So.... here it is. My nursery. I still need to get the curtains hung, but every time i don't have a baby in my arms, she's in here sleeping.




This is what my kids have been doing this weekend. I found the Harry Potter movies for 8 bucks a piece, so they have been camping here. We got one of them from the library last week, and they Loved it, so we went and got them.

1 of 5 is so proud of her house. They will spend hrs playing Legos. which is why i don't mind the movies. They are rarely watching them, they are usually playing Legos with the movie in the background.

And, i am up to 2 miles this weeks. I ran all but .25 of them. and i was on for 19 minutes. I need to run more, i was so bad yesterday. I made a poke cake, and ate a lot of it. I LOVE the poke cake. I didn't loose more than .5 of a lb last week, it was a really bad week of sandwiches and pasta. Oh well. This week i will be better.

Also, sorry about no Free Recipe Friday, i didn't even get on the computer, Stamps was here, and i was busy. And yes, we are still on for the park on Thursday. Every body bring a salad to share. We will be at the downtown park, at 6:30.

My goal this week.... to get 4 of 5 ready to potty train Next Week! and get 5 of 5 eating 2 meals a day, of real food.

Now, On My Mind. First of... I am outraged at this John Edwards thing. How dare he..... His wife, sick with cancer, and he's messing around with someone. How Dare She! this woman, who knows he's married. I'm so glad this came out. If he would have been the nominee.... Republicans would have this one in the bag. But as Stamps said..... at least the public is outraged..... Maybe we are still for the most part a moral society. I honestly think it should be a crime. Punishable by jail time, or a huge fine. Or, maybe people should just have to wear the scarlet letter.

And, petroleum. I'm kind of mad that we went from having the lowest gas in the nation, to the highest. Did you know that it is at an average of 3.85 right now, everywhere but here and Cal. and Alaska? I mean come on. We refine it here!. Did you also know that carpet, asphalt shingles, plastic, tires, Styrofoam and many other things are made from petroleum? What are we going to do when people can't afford to carpet their home, put a roof on their home or make packaging material. Or it's sooo expensive to do that, that it's only for the rich. I can see road trips quickly becoming something for the well- to- do. Anyway. That's it.

My Cool Husband

This is after we rolled the carpet out, to let it "relax"
My favorite thing about my husband is that he can do just about anything. He didn't know how to lay carpet, but our Stake President does and offered to come show him how. So, now he can also lay carpet. Teach a man to fish, right? This is about 4 hrs into the project.
He also can put a roof on a house, wires electrical outlets, does major and minor plumbing jobs, drywalls, maintains our cars, and fixes them when broken, gardens, cooks when needed, and he'll even change a diaper. Caught me a good one i tell you what. After seeing him do this quite a few time now, it is one of the harder trades. It's time consuming and tiring

Almost done, we need to get closets seemed cut and tucked. Then clean up, and my favorite part.... I get to vacuum. really is nothing better than cleaning up after the project and seeing it in all its glory.

Still Alive

I have made contact with Stamps, and she is still alive. A few of us were beginning to wonder you know......

She is sick. But she said if she was feeling better by tomorrow night, she would still come. Her flight gets here on Friday at 1 or so.

So we are still on for Thursday pot luck at the park. As of now. I'll update you on Friday.

my newst dilema

I am having computer issues...... That's why there was no post to this before. Now I'll try again.

So i started running 2 weeks ago. I went from struggling to get through .5 of a mile, to running 1.3 miles. I am on the treadmill for 13 minutes. I think i will start adding a minute every 3-4 days because what i am doing now, has become easy. I am on this low carb, lower sugar diet, and have taken off 3 lbs so far. Great, right? Well not exactly. I have now started loosing my milk. And since i am not going to give up nursing to get skinny again, i need to start adding more calories into my diet. I am a huge advocate of nursing. It takes me a long painful time to get started, and i am not going to give it up anytime soon. Even if i don't take off another lb until i do. So, does anyone have any suggestion to this problem? How do i keep loosing, with out loosing my milk supply.

Medium Well

All we have left to do is pad the walls floor and ceiling, and i will feel like it is complete.
Medium well, because it won't be well done with out the padding, medium rare was before the paint, and raw was before we started.
There are a few places that need a bit of touching up, but i can do that tomorrow. Can i tell you how bad my neck and shoulders hurt from looking up to primer then paint then tape, then untape the ceiling? OUCH.
DH is laying carpet tack and pad tonight, and will lay carpet tomorrow (Kristy, you hubby is welcome to come learn)