On My Mind Monday

Now that we are done cleaning up the Christmas explosion... Back to normal.

What a Weekend.

Oh yeah, It's only Friday. So, why does it feel like it should be Monday.

After spending the past 4 days shoveling and shoveling some more, I have concluded, a snow blower would be really nice. I'll just put that on my list. And after Christmas, I need some more shelves. All of the kids stuff does not fit in toy boxes any more. Ah, the joys of having kids ranging in ages from 8-1. Books, breakables, little thingies. You can't just throw them in a box.

And, I don't want to eat another piece of chocolate for a month, or a cookie. Although i wouldn't turn down some Chex mix.

Did you notice the doll house 4 of 5 is playing with. That is my Christmas score. 3$ at the DI. And it came with a family. She plays with that for at least 30 minutes a day. Which may not sound like much, but it is soooo nice.

And last, I am so excited about 9 am church. I hope this works. I will not have a husband at all in the mornings. I get 30 minutes with 11 am church. But, can't complain about having an hr in the afternoon to relax.

4 of 5, and Waffle's

4 of 5 has discovered the art of dipping. And her preferred dip.... Ketchup. Ketchup of fries, nuggets, carrots, and waffles. She will also use yogurt if I she is in a pinch. To each her own, right? Yes, I am putting a fruit on her plate. And she will dip her peach too.

Look At Christmas Past

My Friend is Having Her Baby Today....

Good luck 2+2=5 now.

LOVE

At the last count, we had 9 inches. And it is still coming down. I LOVE this weather, it makes me happy.

Night Training

I am now at the point where I want 4 of 5 out of diapers altogether. How do I accomplish this?
She is potty trained for day and nap time, how do we get her through the night. We've tried cutting off liquid after 5, we've tried getting her up before we go to bed, I've tried getting her up at 5 am. The last one seems to work, but that ruins my day. And if you know 4 of 5, it takes 4 weeks to get something to stick. We're looking at a few months for that to work. Is it worth it? Should I just suck it up and do it? Or should I not worry about it... eventually she'll get it. The problem with that, she won't eventually get it. Potty training was hard work. And As with most kids, they say don't push it, they won't go to Kindergarten in diapers, 4 of 5 would have. And the hard work was worth it, I only have 1 kid in diapers. Would this hard work be worth it? Or just a pain for all. Our other potty problem.... she would rather use the potty chair still. Unless we are at the store, then she doesn't seem to mind the big potty. And for some reason, she always has to go (excuse my terminology) #2. But, at least she makes it. Hauling 3 kids in with me isn't fun.... "please let the handicap toilet be free".
Feel free to send suggestions........

Problem With a Big Dog

We knew when we got him, he wouldn't be small. But we really didn't think he would get this big. He's not our neighbors Husky by any stretch (150 lbs). But he's a good size pup. Here's my list.
7. he eats, and he eats a lot.
6. he's tall enough that he doesn't have to get up to get things off the table, he just has to lick.
5. he knocks the baby over if she is where he is walking.
4. The glass on the sliding door it dirty 5 feet up.
3. he drags you down the street when on a leash
2. He's always rubbing that wet cold nose on your arm as he walks by.
1. I am always stepping on him. He has become part of my entourage. 5 of 5, 4 of 5, and the dog. The are where I am. Always.
So far, he's a good dog, he tolerates 4 of 5 really well. even when she is riding him, or pulling on his lips and ears. He stops doing what ever he;s doing if you say no. He goes out side when you tell him to. We're still working on stay, and lay down. But he can sit. And, he barks when there are people out side, and not any other time , except if he's chained. Which doesn't happen now that there is snow on the ground. It's frozen so he can't tunnel into the neighbors yard, and the chickens don't venture out.

I'm Slacking

I feel like I haven't been here in forever. It also feels like Thursday. I'm glad it's not. We have had busy weeks lately,. Tonight I am going on splits with missionaries. I've never done this before, and wasn't very excited when none of my councilors volunteered when the Bishop said he needed some one from YW to go. But after talking to a few others about what splits are and how they are done, I am pretty excited. I have quiet a few YW I need to go see. My Presidency has a hard time getting together out side of Wednesdays, Sundays and our meetings to do visits, and my class presidents haven't been doing them either. I say this is a slump. I recall the saying, "you're only as good as your leader" . So tonight, I will take the opportunity to go and visit the 4 girls that I need to touch bases with, and maybe take a little treat as an ice breaker. I know when I was in YW, I hid when the leaders came over. Treats always made everything better.
Anyway, hectic is what life is. There has been no shortage of babies with Down Syndrome born this month. No less than 6. So that means I am busy with family, calling, and UDSF. But... who isn't.... right?

Let It Snow

Have I mentioned that I LOVE the snow? We got a good size storm this weekend, and I took my kids out and played for hours. Now it is freezing, so I'm off to settle into a warm bed, with a cup of hot chocolate. Can you think of anything more perfect?

Free recipe Friday

Can I tell you how excited I am for the storm coming in. I hope we get pounded. 6+ inches. I Love the snow, I wouldn't want to live anywhere it didn't snow. My kids love the snow, I actually enjoy shoveling the snow, the birds stay in, the dog loves it. There is just something about the quiet of a storm. I Love the day after when the air is crisp and clean, the sun is shining. Even better, when it snows on Christmas. Nothing better. I Love the winter.
Now for my recipe, I made fried artichoke hearts the other day, and they turned out amazing.
1 can hearts. these can be pricey, so check NPS for them. I get them for .70$ a can sometimes. drain
2 cups flour and seasoning of your choice. I like the Lawery's seasoning with Tabasco.
mix 1 egg and 4 TBS milk.
dredge in flour 1st, milk and egg mix, then flour again.
fry in 2 cups oil that has been heated on medium heat.
They are best drizzled with lemon or dipped in mayo.

A New Crush

Okay, not really, but I really like this guy. This is the page you find him on, his web site. It's Steve from SteveSongs. If any of you watch PBS kids in the afternoon, you've seen him. "I have a cat, named, Mrs.B." Just so catchy. I really liked Joe from Blues Clues, too. Can you tell I'm a mom. I don't think Brad Pitt Is attractive, just Joe from Blues Clues. Anyway, that's really all I have for today.

I guess a chicken update. It is up and walking, um, limping around. It can now get to it's own food. I think we may quarantine it from the others so it's wound can heal. Other than that, It looks like it may live. It is now half the bird it used to be, but I'm sure it'll fatten up again. it's still laying, so it must not be too bad.

Did anyone catch this? It was the Barbra Walters 10 most fascinating people special. I don't usually watch this stuff, or buy People's top what ever issues, but there was nothing else on.
The part that bothered me the most, was her interview with the man that had a baby, and was pregnant again. He made this comment "gender is a social label" and it just made my stomach turn. Now instead of going into why this is so wrong, I will just share the conclusion I came up with. It is now more important than ever, that we give our children the truth and knowledge in our homes. They Will Not be getting these things from school, TV, or peers. We as parents have a very important job, that we cannot hope or even want our children to get somewhere else. We should not leave it to out side influences to teach our kids Morality, civility, or ethics. It is our job, and we cannot fail.

On My Mind Monday

On Saturday, I filled my tank up fot 28.00. That is under 30 bucks. That hasn't happened in years. At least not since we got the van, 4 years ago. I'm thinking that's pretty dang close to a Christmas Miracle.....
Here's the problem. High gas prices drove up the prices of , well, everything. And, even though gas has come down, nothing else has. I guess I'm just grateful that gas has come down. I can afford the other things, you know those extras like food and heat, because gas is less. We have also, learned to drive less. It was getting pretty tight around July.
Husband works for the Church, in their welfare division. He is a job coach in the facility where they build the mattresses, tables and beds. He said that the only thing that has come down with gas prices, is their steel. And not to what it was 5 years ago, last time gas prices were this low.
I'm wondering why. Does anyone have any insight on this? Right now, I'm just chalking this up to greed. I hope there is more to it. Like maybe when petro was at it's peak, they held out raising their prices as long as possible at the expense of themselves, and now they are just making up a little of their losses before the adjust their prices to current fuel prices. Not not the " people paid this $ for our goods, so they will probably keep paying this, not matter what the $ should be" attitude.

Free recipe Friday / Thanks Neighbor

Just a quick thank you to my neighbor who save the red hens life. She came out and noticed the dog had another bird in his mouth. Luckily it was in time, and no harm was done. but did make his current situation more urgent.
Right now he is allowed full run of the yard. we are on a half acre, so he has room to run. But instead of being happy with that, he's dug under the fence to go play with the neighbors dog. I get it, they are pack animals. Then as mentioned before, the birds keep getting out, and eaten.
So solution one, tie him up on a long leash. Pro, poop all in one area, out of neighbors yard, and if a bird gets eaten, it's their own fault for getting too close. (just kidding, we are moving the birds this weekend, to another part of the yard.) Con: it's not nice.
Solution 2. Put him on in the side yard. Pro: he's confined, out of neighbors yard, poop all in one place. Con: it's small, he would probably bark, and there is no grass.
Solution 3. Get rid of him. Pro: No poop, out of neighbors yard. Con: kids like him. And I like him.
So, I'm not sure what to do. I have to keep him out of the neighbors yard. I like to have him in the house. But not all the time, and as soon as I put him out, he goes next door. And if we block the spot he gets through, he makes a new one.

Now on to my recipe. I had a version of this recipe at a little Greek restaurant on State and 30th.
2 tomatoes cut up in to bite size chunks
1 cucumber peeled and cut the same way
1 half sweet vidali onion in wedges
1 green pepper cut into chunks
put into a bowl with 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
and 1/4 cup olive oil 1 cup chunked feta cheese
mix together. It needs to be eaten with in a few hrs of making, so only make what you will eat.

Gain Some and Loose Some

Last night was our youths annual trip to Temple Square. So, we packed up the kids and headed out. And from the look of the place, it was every wards youth Temple Square night.
Then a few teeth firsts. 3 of 5 lost his 1st tooth. 5 of 5 got tooth # 4, 5, and 6 last week. And 2 of 5 had his first root canal. Yes, my 7 year old. It wasn't technically called a root canal, because it was a baby tooth. Apparently he has this buckle on his molars that make it hard to get food out of a spot, so the dentist filled it about 2 years ago to prevent this. He lost the filling, food got in it and decayed. He'd said his tooth hurt about a week ago, so we made an appointment for him. We go in today to get the rest of the old filling out and the tooth capped. "Why not just pull it" you ask? Well, if you pull it, the permanent one comes in, and the roots aren't formed yet. And his mouth isn't big enough for that big of a tooth. And, the let time a tooth spends exposed to air, the healthier they stay.

Beat the Cold

Our family has been fighting a cold for about 2 weeks now. It hasn't been just one, I know I have had 2 or 3. So have the kids. Luckily they haven't been those death warmed over colds. I can still get up and do my job, I just have had this constant runny nose. Which is better than a stuffy nose. And sneezing, and the cough that leaves you with that itch in the back of your throat. I'm wondering if any of you know of any cold remedies, that are not medicine. I don't like the way cold medicine makes me feel. I'll take a nighttime dose, and sleep if I can't on my own, but I don't like the day time stuff. I'm loopy enough with out it. Cough drops make me want to throw up. NyQuil is the grossest thing ever invented. Can't they make it taste like bubble gum or something. even the cherry and grape flavoring is just wrong. I will usually just stick to my Tylenol ibuprofen combo, but I'd like to know what you take. Or what you do. I did get up and run yesterday, and that cleared out my lungs, but I'm just not feeling like doing that today. BTW I did 4 miles in 30 minutes. Which equates to just over 7 minutes a mile. I was dying after, but it felt so good. Nothing like a nice sweat in the morn. I'm hoping to be up to 7 miles by January.

On My Mind Monday/ Long Time No See

What a long weekend. Between company, sickness and a munched bird, I am so glad it is Monday, and the kids go back to school. Let me start from the beginning.
Wednesday, we had friends over, which was just fun. Then my parents came. and then bed.
Thursday, I got up, husband didn't feel good, 3 of 5 was sick, and I got started on dinner. Husband did the turkey, and he infused it with a garlic butter. It was truly the best turkey I had ever had. And, by Friday, the leftovers were even better. Dinner prep was hard, but I love cooking holiday meals. Luckily, also, I ran up at the HS before it all started, and that always puts me in a good mood. (sorry Call, I forgot about Saturday. My days were all screwed up.)
Thursday was also the day that I let 1 of 5 take her cousin out and play with the birds. I don't let them do that, because 1, they are not pets. and 2, they are not nice to them. So I look out the back window, and her and her cousin are carrying around the birds, teasing the dog with them. My aunt and mom are laughing "you can't eat those bird, they love them, they are pets" which is exactly why we don't let them play with them. And no, they are not pets. We have also stressed over and over and over again, to keep the birds away from the dog. The 2 just don't mix. Chickens are on the bottom of the food chain for a reason. They are yummy.
We all settle in, and go to bed, and about 1 in the morning, cousin has a nightmare, or something and starts screaming. I have never heard anything like this. It is like an hr long fire drill at 1 am. My mom hauled her out to the garage, but it was still very loud. On the plus side, the kids all slept through it.
Friday was pretty uneventful. Luckily. Everyone was just exhausted. And everyone was sick. And, since I had gotten up at 5 am to get my aunt to the airport, I took about a 30 minute nap. Can't take much more than that with 7 kids running around.
Saturday we got the kids up to get their pictures done. My parents had decided to leave on Saturday instead of Sunday because they (dad) was just done. I don't think I have ever seen anyone pack as fast as he did. I get it, that is exactly why we don't travel with kids and stay with people. It's hard on everyone.
Which brings us to Sunday. Remember the events with the birds on Thursday. keep that in mind. we get home from church, and go look at what the dog is doing on the back patio, we are all looking. He has got a chicken in his mouth. One of the problems, the dog has never cared about the chickens. So they have been out in the yard. They come and go as they please, they were not afraid. one of the other problems. 1 of 5 was shoving the bird in the dogs face, and teasing him with them. The bird is alive out there. we're not really sure what to do with it. Hopefully it'll recover. If not, do we eat it? bury it? It's not a pet, and I'm afraid if we bury it, it'll give that impression. I guess, it's alive, I don't have to worry about that yet. Another problem. She didn't tease the dog with her bird, (or the one she claims is hers) She did it with 3 of 5's bird. So guess which one he ate. And another problem, it was one of the birds still laying eggs. We only have 4 of the 7 laying right now. What kind of consequence do they get. We have asked her and asked her not to do that, and she does it anyway. Then exactly what we told her would happen, happened.
Which brings us to today. It is Monday, thank goodness. It couldn't come soon enough.