Random

Searching through pictures I came across this one of Joel as a baby. This was when we were in Hawaii, after he and I came back from our stay at the children's hospital in Ohio. He looks a little different from the steroids and his trial but I love this picture!

I conquered the cake!

Last week a friend told me about her exercise group that she meets with in the mornings. She has mentioned the group to me before, but this time I considered joining. It is in the early morning so it doesn't interfere with the family and it's a private group of ladies, no clubs or anything and there are MANY levels of fitness. (much less intimidating then the college gym) I've known I've needed something for a long time. I've been amazed at how falling apart I already feel at my young age.
Enoch: "Mom, can you do a cartwheel?"
Me: "You bet!"
As I turn my beautiful cartwheel my body cries out in pain.
Me: "That didn't used to hurt!"
We also plan on having atleast one more baby and I'm nervous about being up to snuff, so I talked to Bart about joining this group. Then I prayed to the Heavenly Father that I felt like this would be good for me but I haven't slept through the night in over a year and a half so he would have to get me out of bed. 5:15 AM the next morning. PING! I was awake, guess I'm going.
The two days that were left in that week I worked my tail off. (Hopefully) It was brutal for someone who considers kneading bread exercise. (And I still do.:)) I have been so stiff and sore the past three days.
Then I noticed something. Today is our ward's "Linger Longer." A potluck dinner they do every third Sunday after church. Now I don't buy junkfood, I don't usually make junkfood, but hey, if those cookies show up in the hands of my visiting teacher I will eat most of them to save everybody else the torture. So potlucks are an obvious temptation. But today it was different.
I found myself thinking,"I should go back! Kathy just brought Lasagna. I need some Lasagna."
Another voice replied."Why? Don't you have enough on your plate to fill you up?" I didn't get any lasagna.
"Look at all those desserts! I should try all of them!"
"You don't need all those desserts, how about a small piece of cake and a cookie?" (which actually turned out to still be more than I needed.)
Later that evening we had popcorn with the kids. Suddenly, I thought. "I don't want this anymore. I'm done." Now, does that ever happen? NO! Popcorn make everyone a mindless eating machine, but we left some in the bowl!!!!
Then tonight after the kids were in bed, Bart offers me some of our leftover cake that we had scraped together for the "Linger Longer." (Yes, ironically enough we made cake to take.) I thought about it and said:
"No, I think I'll just have a glass of water."
Who is this person? Did I just pass up a piece of spice cake with my mother's maple frosting on top? It suddenly hit me all the will power I had demonstrated today over food. Where did it come from?
I tell you this long story because I think it comes from the exercise! Just this small beginning of challenging myself physically has made me already respect myself more. I haven't been aching for three days only to screw it up for a free sugar cookie. (More than one anyway. :))I also feel stronger on all fronts because I found the will power to get up before 6 am and challenge myself physically.
I admit, it may not last. But the idea that this experience is helping me in so many ways, might just get me out of bed tomorrow.

Yum popsicles!

On the way home...

On the way home from Utah we discovered about midway through Oregon that the road we had planned to take was closed do to a fire. Luckily, there was another road we could take instead of turning around. Granted it was a little roaming :) but only added about 2 hours more. Could have been worse. It was definitely pretty! We stopped at a pretty trail for a break and a small hike to get the wiggles out.

Going back a bit.....

Last week we got back from a wonderful trip to Utah to attend the sealing of our dear friends, the Belands. However, as I get ready to post this I realized I have an extremely sad lack of pictures, not to mention a smudge on my camera lens. *sigh* We had a great time with so many loved ones, I apologize to you all that your pictures are not on my blog!
We drove through the middle of Oregon ( no mans land) and stayed the night at our friends, the Goings in Boise. We had a good time that night at the playground with them and their three daughters.
Next day, we went to Logan. We stayed with the Belands and immensely enjoyed our time there. Thank heavens they have a big house! Together we had eleven children and they did beautifully. They played so well together, it was great! Pictured are the all children except Nathan, and their twins, Oliver and Elliot.
We enjoyed having a Medieval themed birthday party for their eldest, Truman, attending their daddy's endowment, and their family sealing. We also had lots of great conversation and even traded babysitting so we could have date nights!
We also had a nice time attending church in our old ward and seeing old friends there, and seeing family Sunday afternoon. Bart's parents, and three siblings' families came together to visit us and we are so grateful for their effort to come from Idaho (and for Ruth for hosting) so we could see them all.
I also made a new friend. Hi Katie! :)
On the way back to Oregon we spent the night with the Dames in Fruitland. What would we do without all these good friends! It is so much better to be able to enjoy time with friends then go to a hotel. (Hopefully our friends we imposed on felt the same way.):)
Anyway, thank you to all, and we know we didn't catch everybody (sorry to those we missed), but we thank you all for being there for us.

Whew!!!!

Today I was determined to get back on track. Uh-oh. The funny thing about that idea is when your trying to raise 5 independent, thinking individuals, (and one husband) that is a lot of tracks to well, keep track of. (Until, they are independent, thinking individuals. And I mean the kids, Bart does pretty well for himself. :))
So as a salute to myself, I'm going to list what we did today. Follow along if you so desire.
-Got up at 6:30 AM with baby. Had personal scripture. Made breakfast for my Dad who was stopping in and had an early meeting.
-Devotional with Family. Kids put to right their bedrooms, I put together breakfast. (Hubby very helpful)
-Eat breakfast. Kids wash their own bowl and spoon. ( I have no dishwasher so I employ 4, Enoch, Eli, Joel and Naomi.)
-We divvied up chores during breakfast, so then we did our chores. I did mine, and gave assistance to those who needed help. (Thanks Naomi for watering the plants.) Best two year old ever! :) While I finish up my chores kids do activity books.
-Got together for "Mom school." Well, all except Eli who wasn't finished with chores yet. I won't badger you, you just start missing out.
-We are studying the middle ages for "mom school" this year. We talked about ideas, schedules and our cool new school supplies. We read out of our Book of Mormon readers for our Ward's Book of Mormon challenge.
-Designed and Decorate our personal notebooks for this year.
-Snack
- Sneak laundry in many times of the day.
-Did another art project with some of our cool, new, supplies.
-Naomi needed attention, played "memory" with her and other kiddos joined. (North American wildlife memory no less, thanks Grandma. )
-Lunch
-Joel break. He's tired and stressing. SO he and I hide in a room and read a few books. Grab Naomi to read a book and put her down for a nap.
-Mom study time. Make a list of all the cool things I would do and study if I had any money. :) Enoch and I practice our cursive. (Yes, I said Enoch and I.
-20 minutes outside, we play around and dehead flowers.
-Silent reading time. We all read books for 30 minutes then all who wanted to, read a book to the group or shared a favorite part of their reading.
-We clean out the Suburban. After our long trip to Utah, (did I mention that?) We had to empty it and vacuum it. Ironically, the "stuff" is now sitting in two boxes in the kitchen.
-Free time. Everyone plays, while Mom sorts mail, does laundry, etc.
-We ALL make dinner. Joel watches and flips eggs, Eli toasts the english muffins, Enoch slices cheese, and cuts the green pepper, and Naomi sits on the floor and peels a carrot. (Peels onto a cookies sheet.) Mom supervises and washes dishes. The scene reminds me of the breakfast scene on "Cheaper By the Dozen," with kids everywhere in the kitchen, but that's how we like it. Yes, we had egg and cheese sandwiches, but hey, there were pepper slices and carrots on the side! :)
-Clean up dinner in the kitchen.
-We got outside to have our FHE treat. (homemade Popsicle) Yes, we have the treat right after dinner. We decided it's the best way to let the sugar run it's course BEFORE bed.
-Enjoy outside so much we decided to have the activity first and played frisbee.
-Come in and clean up for bed and the rest of FHE. Bathe three younger ones who are covered in "treat." All children get a room to pick up, helped by Dad, Mom vacuums under the dining room table from dinner.
-FHE Lesson.
-Brush teeth, go potty, put away your clean clothes, etc. TO BED! Pray, Read three books, Sing one song. Leave room.
-Bart and I sit and sip our peach tea, eat our shortbread. (which I made this morning did I mention that?) (Thanks Amber for a new tradition!) Relax and look over the Pier One Catalog. Not impressed. Look over Diabetic Cooking that comes in the mail for my Dad, actually find some good recipes.
-Bart working, I"m blogging, and will hopefully be going to bed soon.
I read this this post and think sure, I also took care of Baby Nathan, changed two kids diapers continually, returned phone calls, etc. But it doesn't sound like so much written down. SO why am I wondering: When do I find time to plan for tomorrow?