girls run this show

Fotofly

2012-03-08T08:41:00.002-08:00

We went to Fotofly yesterday to spend my birthday money. I'm trying to decide when I can justify going back because it was just so awesome!
Here are some of the very best from the shoot, and there are prints of a few ready to mail to grandparents once I get to the store and get a card or cardboard mailer to send them with.

You see how huge her eyes are in that picture ^? He (the photographer) thought her reactions to his scaring her was hilarious, and it was. The kid loves being scared. He wanted to capture her expression, and he succeeded.

I really loved it. They are so good at using the space they have to their best advantage. I'm looking forward to going back. For sure this will be a yearly (tax return time) thing. In totally we ended up with 71 pictures, and it seems that was on the low end of how many people end up with due to Drama Queen getting over excited and prancing around and slamming her big toe on the floor or something that resulted in her bending the nail back so far it was bleeding. As well as a potty break. Hopefully Mr. Man will be getting the hours he expects to be getting so that I can take them all in for their birthdays. And did I mentio that the entire photo session with a CD of the picture with copyright release is only $79?

Lovely

2012-03-05T19:25:00.003-08:00

Qwirkle.

Not only is it a fun game that even a 5 year old can play, but you can also use it to:

learn colors
learn shapes
count
practice patterns
make matches
build towers
introduce the circle to the square and invite them to be friends
satisfy your OCD of lining things up
entertain your little sister

A warm day. A trip to the park. A walk along the path reading the plaques telling what tree was each. A bag full of treasures. Time to build, dig, dance, crack a few acorns, and eat a few pinecones.

Oh, what a happy day!

2012-03-04T18:10:00.000-08:00

On Friday, Drama Queen randomly asked if Santa was real. I told her that Santa did live once upon a time. "But is he real?" she asked emphatically again. I responded that I would no lie to her, and again repeated that at one time, Santa was a real person. That seemed to satisfy her. Or at least she stopped asking. Santa isn't a big deal to me. Or my children. Regardless of the mythical present bearer, they will get presents and that's what interests them.

Today she asked if we could plant our garden on the first day of spring. I informed her that no, we couldn't plant until May or the seeds would not grow. I do have our Spring Equinox celebration in the works, so we'll see if that helps her desire for spring and growth of things. Though in part she's just eager to plant things in hope of attracting faeries. She's going to plant flowers and watermelon and cucumbers and carrots. In fact I'd better go order the seeds for those last three.......if Baker's Creek still has any left!

Hazel Mae enjoyed carrots today. It was her first time having them and she ate almost half a jar!

Today we finally got a sign of why Hazel has had numerous fussy fits day and night for a week or two now.
Look close and you can see her gum is now bumped up next to her existing tooth.

Mischief came to me today...with a belt around her arms. "I bad guy, Mom. I trapped! Need do my legs, Mom!" I grabbed a second belt and obliged. Here she is doing her best "bad guy" look.

She was quite upset that I wouldn't leave the green belt on her.
And because I don't want to leave DQ out, here's the only picture I captured of her. She's a very active child.

And lastly........Hazel enjoys cruising. And attempts to climb the dining chairs. Though I didn't get the camera in time, she was on her tiptoes so she could hang on the bar just above her head.

2012-03-03T07:34:00.002-08:00

Drama Queen made me a beautiful flower for my birthday.

I have this horrible habit of being inspired at night to make a plan and gather things to do with the girls the next day. So I end up gathering and making a list of things w can do, late into the night. Like midnight or one in the morning. And then I'm so tired in the morning that I can barely function and everything goes out the window.

Today is one of those times.

I went to bed at 12:48am.
Mischief came to play at 5:45 in the morning.

I want a do over.

Eventually, once my brain starts functioning, I plan to do the things I planned for us to do and play. As it is only 8:32 though it feels like it should be lunch time.

Though the kids have all had breakfast, I have not. I'll go do that now. And scrounge up some caffiene to see if that helps....And even though Mr. Man doesn't want Cafe Rio style food again yet (we had it a week ago), I do, so I'm putting the pork roast in the crockpot.

"Fun is our middle name." "No, Fun is your middle name, remember? Mine is Angelica."

I'll send brownies to anyone who can name what that is from.

Otherwise.............

Drama Queen made herself a chore list this morning. AND she is actually doing those chores of her own will. The only influence I gave was to veto a chore....
"[DQ] what are you supposed to do after you poop?"
"Oh!...*starts running to the bathroom, then stops* Maybe I could put THAT on my chore list!"
"Um, no. That's just common sense."

She made her bed beautifully. I gave her a nickel. She was SO excited. All that much more money towards a playhouse....or whatever she decides on next.

Mischief has learned to ask if something has wheat, and in the event she does forget, Drama Queen has become her champion. They were over at a friend's house, and I forgot to tell the friend that Mischief can't have wheat, but DQ took care of her little sister! If you tell Mischief she can't have something, she immediately asks, "It have wheat?"
Her bum is looking so much better. Love that.

Winter finally arrived. I admit I was hopeful that it'd just stay away. It's March after all. We've had snow for three or four days in a row now. We never ended up plastic wrapping the windows, and you can really tell in Mr. Man's room. It's freezing in here. We may have to remedy that. Friday night's snow storm was crazy! So much for having a carport to keep the snow off the car (and everything else).

At first I was like, Okay, I guess the wind was blowing in a north eastern direction, that's what it would take to cover the strollers and steps....but that doesn't explain the front of the car being covered as much as the back....and besides, it's to the door of the trailer south of us as well.

I cleared 3 bottles of salad dressing out of our fridge today. They were all half to a quarter full, and hadn't been used in quite a while. This is my favorite thing to do with salad dressings we didn't love. Reduced price chicken. Stick it in a bag, pour in the dressing, throw in the freezer. Then it marinates when it defrosts and is quick and yummy.

Yes, Mischief really is wearing a pettiskirt outside to play in the snow. And her snow coat is in the car which is with Daddy at school so she is wearing her bear sweater. And yes. She's eating grassy snow.

2012-03-01T22:08:00.000-08:00

My hair is losing it's curl.
I'm slightly traumatized.
I'd chop it short to see if that was the problem.
But Mr. Man really likes it long.
Even though I always wear it up because I don't get to shower every day and because Hazel loves to pull it.
I'll chop it short anyway.
Once my face isn't so fat.

Got running shoes today!
It was very busy at Runner's Corner, so I didn't get quite the personalized service I might have otherwise had.
I was grateful for that. I'm not good with one on one attention from skinny cute girls that are just a few years younger than me.
Thankfully she never once made any comment about my size.
Though she did tell me all about their running technique classes and that I might think about coming to one. Or more.
We found me a really comfortable pair of shoes.
They are not the cute Altra's I wanted.
But they're what I need for the way I run right now.

Aunt Tawnya watched the girls tonight while we went out for my birthday dinner.
We went to Sushi-Ya for their all you can eat sushi. It ended up that it would have cost the same getting the sushi we got, had we ordered al la carte. Next time we won't get any nigiri sushi, tasty, but not worth the stomach space. :)
And there will definately be a next time. It was so yummy.

I'm not satisfied with the doll and haven't gotten around to making her clothes yet either. I just don't feel like drafting clothing patterns.
That's why I have sewn little the last year or so.
Just no magic.

We cleaned the kitchen, office, and living room today, though I need to clean off the entertainment center. And there's now a clean clothes pile on the couch.

Hair

2012-02-26T10:18:00.000-08:00

My index finger is positive it has been abused. Pushing the needle in and tugging it out isn't the easiest task. I imagine it will become easier with time if I continue making these. Mr. Man wants me to make and sell them. I'm not overly thrilled with the hair, I think I should have put a layer between one and two to help the transition for up-do's. Next time I'll try a crochet wig cap.
See, there's a reason to buy a Bamboletta! See how they do the hair! (just kidding. I do not have 200 dollars for a doll)
The hair from behind:

I'll do clothes tomorrow.

Waldorf Doll

2012-02-25T09:59:00.002-08:00

Last year when we received our tax return I resisted spending $200 on a Waldorf doll. Instead I purchased a doll kit from Weir Dolls and Crafts. And now as we wait for our tax return, I am again resisting buying a Waldorf doll. Instead I pulled out the kit and started working. I'm on day three and the main body and head are done. I need to finish sewing on one arm, embroider the face, and make the hair.

The hair behind her is from flickr - clicking the picture leads to it.

I've decided to go with a bit more whimsical of a face rather than the classic doll or classic waldorf. Not a huge difference between them each, but still changes the overall feel of the doll I think.

Update: face is on and feet sewn into place

60ish degrees outside

2012-02-22T14:18:00.002-08:00

Grass, meet Hazel.
Hazel, meet grass.

Caribbean Cruise - Part 1

2012-02-21T21:46:00.001-08:00

Back in December Mr. Man and I were given the gift of a Caribbean cruise. We went with his parents, two of his sisters and their husbands. We travelled on the Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas. It was FABULOUS! If you haven't been on a cruise, here's a run down.......

First you leave your luggage in the drop off zone at the port and get in line.
(sorry Audrey for this not overly flattering picture, it's the only picture I took of the line, this is the 2nd line btw)

The first line is to check that you have a boarding pass and passport. The second line sends you through security. It is much like the line you have to stand in at the airport. Next you stand in line to turn in your "health survey" which you are on the honor system for. I lied and said I hadn't had a cold within the last two weeks cause I wanted to avoid the line to have a "health evaluation". Also when you turn in the health survey you receive your sea card. This card is also your room key and what you use to buy ANYTHING on the ship. Drinks, souvenirs, toiletries, excursions, food at the 'specialty' places.....Next you go through a line to get your picture added to their computer system to show when your card is scanned. Then you get to board the ship!! Unless of course you get to the gangway when they're trying to adjust it to be level with the deck again. Then you get to stand and watch the process, if you are in the front of the line like we were, and also watch the line behind you get longer and longer.

Then finally, welcome aboard!! There were some crew members standing around eager to help guide you in the direction of your room. We found ours quickly, Room 6311 - 6 being the deck we were on and 311 being the room number. It was an inside cabin, and I LOVED it. It was far roomier than I expected. Starting at the far end of the room, here is what it had...a Queen size bed with night stands on either side, only about 15 inches wide, but I hadn't expected a walk space at all! There were curtains at the foot of the bed so you could close off the bed area, incase someone wanted to sleep and the other didn't. They didn't do a fabulous job blocking the light, but it was better than nothing. Then there was a dresser/desk/entertainment center/vanity. This also held the room safe and mini fridge. Across from that wall unit was a love seat and coffee table. Then came the closet, which was on the same wall as the desk thing. It was very roomy and comfortably held all our clothes (the desk had drawers for our unmentionables) as well as shelves that were perfect for shoes. In the closet was a couple of life vests also. Across from the closet was the bathroom. Very small, but not uncomfortable. On first view I was overwhelmed by the smell akin to a portapotty, but that dissipated quickly. The toilet is kind of small and looks flimsy, but I got used to it. It flushes via a button on the wall with a big woosh. The sink is in reach from the toilet. The shower though was of a nice size, and had doors not a curtain which helped make it more pleasing. The shower head could be moved up and down per your needs. So low for me and high for Mr. Man! I apologize for not getting any pictures of the room.

We had about two hours before we had to go to muster, so we went up to the buffet. It was confusing because they tell you the buffet is in the Windjammer, and then we got there and they sent us back to the Island Grill. It was not so confusing once we walked into the Island Grill, as it turned out that was just an extension of the Windjammer. This buffet, the Cafe on the Promenade and the main dining room were all the places you could eat without a fee.
The food was good, but then I've always been fond of buffet food. Only thing unpalatable was the fish, it was dry, tough and flavourless.
After eating we headed off to investigate the ship.

Looking at the promenade from deck 6

The main pools on deck 11, we never used them.

The sky chapel on deck 14

When it was time for the safety drill(muster) we headed to the location indicated on our sea passes.

It only took about 15 minutes as they explained the safety procedures and how the life vests & boats worked.
As the deck 4 walkway was full of people we just sat and waited for it to clear then played shuffleboard.

I think Mr. Man and I then went and unpacked.
For the entire trip we had every dinner in the dining room. I highly recommend it. While the Windjammer is great for breakfast and lunch, dinner in the dining room is excellent! Our servers name was Erol and he was from Turkey. He'd worked on the ship for 5 years. His wife is a chef in the kitchen. Joking back and forth was sort of hit or miss. It also depended on how long he'd been working, but he was a very nice man and quite congenial no matter what. He learned by the third day to not even ask if we would be getting any wine and just immediately would remove the wine glasses for us. He also was quick to learn that we liked to share and try each others dishes and so he'd bring extra of the top items for us to have. Like on the night we had lobster he brought us three or four extra! There were two formal nights and we wore church clothes for that.

Erol, our waiter, is in he background of this one of Mr. Man's parents

There's always something special about ordering off of menus! Every night the menu was different. I enjoyed that there was always some indian dish, I had it twice and each time it was delicious. The appetizers and desserts were always different as well. Most everything was delicious. One night I ordered just a steak from the "for the non adventurous" menu (just what I called it, basic stuff available every night). The main memorable item was the Royal chocolate cake. It was WONDERFUL. And as a side note, the Windjammer does serve some of the same dinner items that you can get in the dining room. So if you can't decide, know that you can dash up there for the other desserts as well as the hot soups. Oh, you can also have breakfast and lunch in the dining room if you want to, I just don't enjoy having every meal take an hour and a half or more. We did do that a few times, and I recommend having lunch there at least once because the salad bar down there is amazing. Really. So good. They also have unique and delicious things on the lunch menus. For breakfast you can have chocolate pancakes with chocolate chips and chocolate syrup........in the dining room. I had the eggs benedict, it's not on the menu but you can order it anyway. I don't think it's possible with dining room food, but you can take anything from the Windjammer back to your room. The Windjammer closed at 9:30pm, but no worries if you got hungry after that. You could order room service for free from 5am to 11pm, and there was also the Cafe Promenade on deck 5 with baked goods and little sandwiches. The drinks you can get free vary. At breakfast you can have water, orange juice cocktail, apple juice, and milk. At other meals you can get water or lemonade. Anything else will cost. And cost quite a bit. One cup or can of soda pop is $2.75. Alcoholic drinks were at least double that I think. I don't know, we don't drink liquor. In the Cafe you could also get hot chocolate. Oh and basic coffee was free I think. I can't tell you if it was good or not. They also had hot tea and ice tea for free, I think.

All over the ship, especially at dinner time, were photographers trying to take pictures of you in an attempt to get you to buy them for an arm and a leg (really, one picture costs like $25!!). Of course if you really want to do that, I recommend take as many as you possibly can because at the end of the cruise they'll have a 'deal' where you can buy the prints PLUS a CD with all the pictures for $110. We discovered that if we got down to dinner early we'd miss the crowd and the hold up caused by it and also not have to deal with the photographers prodding.

And thus ends Part 1 of the cruise review!

Wheat Allergy confirmed.

2012-02-18T18:39:00.000-08:00

If it were worse I'd take her in the the after hours care when Mr. Man got home. But as it's been 6 hours since she ate macaroni and cheese with her big sister, I think we're safe in that it won't be getting worse. Right? Please correct me if I am wrong. I've put her to bed already as well.

I got little sleep last night and that is my excuse for being so lazy today. I'm sorry my sweet Mischief. I was making mac n cheese for Drama Queen and Mischief begged to have it too. She'd only had a banana for breakfast, so I agreed she could as that meant I wouldn't have to think of something else for her to eat (I had a pb&j, something else she can't have unless I make her special bread). So I gave her a bowl of macaroni and cheese and she ate the entire thing and asked for more.

Fast forward 6 and a half hours, she didn't want to eat dinner, but I did get half a banana into her. She got a diaper and pajamas and I discovered she was splotchy. We were doing so good with her eating gluten-free! Darn me!

2012-02-17T10:46:00.000-08:00

Drama Queen was just 'off' yesterday. After school, she came home and laid on the floor. Very mellow. We read a few books together and then she went next door. The way she was acting, I let her go and didn't let Mischief go with her. When she returned she laid down on the couch and promptly fell asleep. Wasn't interested in dinner when she did wake up. Went to bed at her usual time, feeling very overheated (aka feverish) . This morning she got up and said she felt better, but is still acting lethargic, so we kept her home from school. She was only interested in laying down, so that's what she did. Eventually ate two cuties and a banana. Fell asleep.

Mischief is on day 3 of clingy, so we're just sitting and watching shows cuddling. I'll probably have her go get some books for us to read.

Hazel Mae is her usual delightful self. Full of smiles, wonder and delight.

I'm trying to decide what to eat for lunch. My neck pain is FINALLY going away. Yay!

We've had two nights of delicious dinners, thanks to Pinterest. I need to hop on it and pick which recipe we'll have tonight. I'm thinking a soup. Last night we had cuban black beans with coconut rice, fried plantains and mango salsa. I was worried what Mr. Man would eat or not. Last week he told me he didn't like black beans and I filed that away in my head with the reminder that he said the same of asparagus and then it turned out he'd never actually had asparagus. Well last night he came back for a full plate of seconds of everything. And the request that we make this a regular. :)

So that's where we are. Under the weather or on the mend.

Love on Valentine's day

2012-02-14T10:01:00.000-08:00

I love my mom for putting up with me as a kid/teenager/adult. She is the most awesome mom, and daily I have "OH" moments of understanding things that frustrated me as a child/teen. My mother is brilliant and kind and wonderful, and I hope someday my children will think the same of me.

I love my dad for instilling a love of music in me. And not just any music. The good stuff. Moody Blues, The Carpenters, John Denver, Cat Stevens, and any and all musicals! He's just wonderful and supportive and well, he's dad!

I love my husband because he doesn't complain when I don't shower for a week. He is working hard to support us and go to school. He doesn't get frustrated at me for my poor housekeeping skills. He makes me laugh.

I love my girls for being so cute and fun. I love how Hazel scrunches up her nose and snorts when she laughs. I love that Mischief snuggles and is so certain she owns the world. I love how creative and sensitive my Drama Queen is.

I love our ward (church) cause everyone there is so friendly. I'm having to learn to get over my ideas of how people are due to appearance. Even the gorgeous talented gals are so kind and friendly, not superficial like I expected. They seem to like me even though I am not so fabulous and stylish as them! And everyone is generally so kind and willing to help you.

I love the people who's blogs I follow because they either make me laugh or inspire me or both.

I love pinterest because it gives me new ideas for my constantly wanting 'crafts' children!

I love brownies. They taste so yummy and make my taste buds happy.

I love water heaters and indoor plumbing. I may not get to make use of the shower as often as I'd like (unless I want a 'surprise' when I get out) but it makes them all the more enjoyable when I get the opportunity. Right?

I love chocolate. Not milk chocolate. The dark stuff. Rich and slightly bitter.

I love cows. They taste good. Whether dead or alive, they provide yummy things to eat and drink.

I love pink and yellow. And blue and orange. And green and brown. And sometimes purple.

I love fresh lemonade. In a jar. With a straw.

I love the mild winter we're having. It's almost ideal for me, I actually would like a bit more snow! But not too much...

I love socks. I can't stand being barefoot, except when I'm asleep. or it's summer.

I love sugar-free red bull. Yes, I know it's so bad for me. But I only have them like once a month. And I resist the urge to have them more often than that. They not only taste good (in my opinion), but they make me feel like a super hero. For real....

I love PBS kids. It makes me feel less guilty for the times I let my kids watch more than an hour of tv a day.

I love water. Especially from my bathroom sink, because that's nearest where it comes out of the main pipe and so in the winter it is ice cold and delicious.

I love Target. I could spend hours walking around and looking at things there. And if we had money I could spend lots of it there.

I love Jesus Christ for making it possible for me to someday return to our Heavenly Father's presence. I make great use of the sacrifices he made for us. Don't know where I'd be without repentance.

I love cilantro. It's tasty. On anything.

I love Mischief's ability to play by herself.

I love rice.

I love vegetables right from the garden.

I love gardens.

I love being able to randomly tell the world random things.

2012-02-13T20:46:00.000-08:00

Mischief had a had time going to sleep because her stomach hurt. She finally fell asleep long enough for her muscles to relax.......and hurl. Some how she succeeded in getting most of it inside the back of her pajamas.....Not sure how that worked. And gross is how it came out of her nose as well. A bath has not gotten rid of the smell...Can't really clean out her throat and naval cavities....And she still is moaning "my tummy".

And now I'm enjoying nausea and shakes......baah.

Drama Queen

2012-02-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

Check out Drama Queen's new backpack! Isn't it adorable? It's from Pottery Barn Kids via eBay. PBK clearanced all their back packs and the only ones left were navy blue and DQ was not interested in them. So I ebay hunted and most people were trying to get the full price for the backpacks which I'm sure they bought at the clearance price. Then there was this backpack that had a cut on the bottom, but was brand new. I bought it for less than the clearance price was and mended it today and now it's great and DQ loves it.

Not a perfect darning job, but it was a long and tedious task.

More DQ drama is that she's given up her dream of a treehouse, that tree wasn't growing overnight like she wanted! Now she wants a playhouse, and she wants to build it with the bricks that trim the front garden. She wasn't happy when I informed her there were not enough of them to build a whole house. It was very cute though because she was all set to use mud as the mortar like she did with her rock fairy house. And so instead she decided she would use the bricks to make a fire pit so she could cook her dinner (ramen is her plan).

I'm watching the ksl listings and craigslist for anyone selling a used playhouse that isn't plastic. Otherwise I did find a free how-to online for building a wooden playhouse. Cause this kid obviously needs something to call her very own. Though I wonder if the neighbors would consider selling theirs since their youngest is in junior high now.......
And I talked her out of building a fire pit, but she agreed to that only if I get her a volcano. Funny kid. Trying so hard to grow up already!
Today we had to have a discussion, first with daddy, then he told me to keep an ear out for it, and so she and I had a talk about it in the car, about using the Lord's name inappropriately. Friends at school say "Oh my G**" and so she began saying it. We explained why we feel it is not a good thing to say and asked her not to continue saying it.

And now I need to go work on her Valentines day outfit. I tried to make a cute personalized shirt for her, but it seems my tshirt transfer paper only has a 6 month life expectancy and I bought it 18 months ago....darn fine print! It almost worked, but not really, so now I have to make some appliques to cover up the parts that sort of ironed on.

2012-02-11T15:27:00.000-08:00

The trouble with comments on facebook is you say something and don't always get responses you like. Ha ha. I know, no duh Abby! I've been working hard to get Mischief gluten free again. We had her GF for about three weeks in December/January and her rash completely disappeared. I was not clear when making mention of it on facebook, and got a couple people going on about eczema and that a gluten-free diet is a bunch of crap. I'm sorry, but saying gluten-free diets are crap is like saying, give the kid with a peanut allergy a peanut butter sandwich!
So I decided for my own satisfaction, I'd share Mischief's rash as of two days ago. It's actually looking better.

This is not a full body rash. It's not something that causes her to be itchy, except when it's really bad and crusty and weeping and dry and then it bothers her and she scratches it until it bleeds. This rash is on her buttocks/lower back. It gets up to 4 inches in radius. Two days ago I devoted myself to making her completely gluten free instead of just mostly. Hit the health food store and she picked out some GF cereals, cookies and pasta.

Yes, she tested negative for having any food allergies. Her celiac blood test was also negative. We expected that one, due to her age. Regardless of that, it doesn't change the fact that when we take her off of eating high gluten foods, her rash goes away. Her cronic diarrhea goes away and she actually has normal poops. Her belly stops being distended. And she started having growing pains. She's finally outgrowing size 18 month clothes. She'll be three years old in 4 months.

That is why we're putting her on a wheat free diet. I have cut out citrus for a while as well, much to her dislike.

2012-02-11T08:09:00.000-08:00

A child's point of view:
"And I'm going to buy stuff to get more money."
"Can you explain that to me?"
"Like when we go to Target and buy stuff, they give us more money."

Drama Queen is not only all about growing a treehouse, but she's all for earning money to buy stuff for it. She has a long list. We're trying to figure out how to get her to understand how money works, because she obviously doesn't so far. She has chores she can do to earn money, 5 cents per chore is what she decided was a reasonable rate. But she doesn't understand that even though she has 7 cents now (found 2 pennies while cleaning) that's not enough to buy anything. Most things cost at least $1, and that's 100 pennies. "What about five dollars?" That's 500 pennies. When you buy something and it doesn't cost the same amount as the money you give them, they give you back the money that you didn't spend.

She wants to go to the store (Target of course) to buy stuff for her treehouse, but I explained that she doesn't have enough money to buy anything and it's better to wait until her treehouse actually exists before buying stuff for it. She has plans to have a lemonade stand "and I'm going to sell lemonade for a $1.00 so I can get lots of money." I informed her that I didn't think anyone would pay $1 for a glass of lemonade, but she is set in that price because "I want to make lots of money." She was also all ready to drag stuff outside this morning and have a yard sale. We explained to her that a yard sale is a great way to get money, but it requires more preparation, like signs and good weather(it's supposed to rain today).

Now she's come and asked if she can go to build-a-bear and make a thing there for her tree house, I told her if she wants to do that for her birthday, that's fine, we can do build-a-bear as her present. But she wants to do it now. I informed her that it costs a LOT of money and we don't have money for that right now. Not the answer she wanted to hear. Thankfully she's not getting super upset, but just pouting a little.

How have YOU explained how money works to your kids?

2012-02-10T14:23:00.000-08:00

On Monday, Drama Queen came home with a homework folder, which includes a book she's supposed to read every day (and is not supposed to count toward the 20 minutes she's supposed to read a day......really?!) I was rather irritated over how large a book it was 28 pages with up to 16 words per page, and not words that are easy to sound out like "lightning".

Today I asked the teacher which part of her homework is supposed to be returned on Fridays, and she told me and said if DQ was done with the book, she could bring it and get a new one to start.....infact she expected that DQ would be be through with it already, because DQ is one of the best readers in the class and she'd even give DQ a couple of books next time so DQ woudn't get bored......
Apparently we expect less of our child than we are capable of. She WAS given a hard book, intentionally, because she's that skilled.........at school. Huh. No more funny business here. I think we're going to pick up some easy reader chapter books for her to work on, because my being thrilled at how good she was doing with Dick & Jane is.......well I feel silly now.

Hazel Mae is growing up too fast! She is scooting on her tummy, using her toes to push her forward after lifting her chest off the floor, flopping down then scooting her arms forward to repeat. She followed me about 3 feet, then got board of that and went about 2 feet toward the door before getting tired and complaining.

Been having headaches lately and I totally have convinced myself it is due to a lack of produce. Feel free to laugh at me. I really want a nice dark green salad. Going to get some greens later so I can have a salad for dinner tonight.

Drama Queen has planted a maple seed in the garden and is positive it will turn into a tree tonight. I tried to explain to her that trees take a very long time to grow. She doesn't want to believe me I think. Why is she trying to grow a tree? So she can build a tree house and live in it all by herself.

I'd really like a nap. Hazel doesn't sleep when she's on regular formula. Though I wanted the pediatrician to give us a note for the 'hypoallergenic' formula, she pointed out I'd never tried lactose-free. It's true, I haven't. I automatically went to soy because lactose free didn't work for DQ as a baby. So she gave us a sample of lactose free and on Monday I will call WIC to arrange getting our vouchers changed up. They aren't open on Friday. And by Hazel doesn't sleep I mean she takes 2 half hour naps (though if I keep her up till the afternoon she'll sleep an hour to an hour and a half) and last night she went to bed at 10pm and then at 2 was awake (and mad) got her back to sleep at about 3 and she was awake at 6am. And it's been a week of this. She woke Mischief up at 2:30, but thankfully Mischief went back to sleep.

Hazel got 3 shots today. She was not impressed. She's on top of all her milestones (or ages & stages as they call it here) and even smiled at the doctor. I'm supposed to go get fluoride for her......I don't remember giving either of the other girl fluoride as a baby. DQ did a fluoride treatment in school, which I expected....I don't know why I'm giving the baby a fluoride treatment. There is fluoride in city tap water anyway, right? So she's been getting it through her food? I'm going to go google why I'm giving my 6 month old a fluoride treatment........

Truth is........

2012-02-09T11:25:00.000-08:00

Truth is......The person who ran the triathalon club last year is no longer at UVU............Mr. Man was not very thrilled with that and has been in contact with all the members of the club...they re formed the club, and Mr. Man is the president of it. I'm happy that he's found something active that he's sticking with!

Truth is........Mischief had raisins and oatmeal for breakfast, her snack was a pediasure, now for lunch she has already finished one corn on cob and is on her second of both, which she asked for herself.

Truth is........Hazel Mae surprised us all today by going from laying to sitting all by herself.

Truth is.........Hazel Mae gets the biggest, cutest smile on her face when you clap and cheer for her.

Truth is.........Hazel will jump in her standing toys (as in toys that help her stand) if she sees you looking at her because she wants you to clap and cheer for her.

Truth is..........I've been up since 4am, cause Hazel was too awake.

Truth is.............I'm greatly looking forward to Hazel's doctor appointment tomorrow, hopefully we can get samples and a WIC order for this allergy free stuff I've been told about (and costs $28 a can that's the size that will last only half a week).

Truth is............Mischief is hilarious to watch Hoarders with. She's has the most entertainingly simple comments.

Truth is...........Drama Queen decided she'd rather making valentines than buy them. I'm all for it! We did buy some stickers to give with them though.

Truth is...........I'm out of ideas for this.

Zucchini Bread experiment

2012-02-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

We were able to get some zucchini's a week(or so) ago. The girls and I made some fried zucchini for lunch one day, and I grated the rest up to be used for zucchini bread.
Mr. Man loves zucchini bread.
Mischief thinks she loves bread.....infact two days ago she insisted she needed to eat bread. So I gave her a hamburger bun, as I've noticed white bread doesn't cause her as much a problem as whole wheat (she won't even eat whole wheat). Unfortunately she'd also had spaghetti the night before. I need to make some gluten-free noodles for her from now on. She hasn't eaten much in the 2 days since. Says her tummy hurts or is not happy. She's been willing to eat oranges, drink juice, drink pediasure(which turns her poo even worse colors than the oranges were doing) She ate a hot dog and oatmeal one day. Monday night she woke up at 10pm hungry. Luckily I was in the process of finally making myself dinner, so she ate some salad and some salmon. Anyway, I know she would want to eat some zucchini bread if I made it, so I decided to make the recipe gluten-free so she could eat it without complication.

I'm no pro at cooking, I'm not someone who can just invent recipes, but I think I've gotten pretty good at understanding how to do substitutions thanks to Allrecipes.com I've used it for years and always read reviews and have learned that way what sort of things can be substituted or played with in recipes. I had already printed off Mom's zucchini bread recipe from that site, so I grabbed my stack of gluten-free recipes and came up with this recipe that uses less sugar, less oil, and is gluten free.

Mischief was a great helper:

It turned out really good! We didn't cook ours long enough, so I adjusted the bake time for our recipe. I guarantee Mr. Man won't know there's not a speck of wheat in them!

2012-02-07T13:33:00.001-08:00

Shock.

2012-02-06T07:41:00.000-08:00

DQ: "This is really bad."
"Yes, it is."
"Did a family die?"
"Yes, they did."
"Someone bad did that."
"Their daddy did."
"Why did their daddy do that?"
"I don't know."

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=19132089&title=josh-powell-2-sons-killed-in-house-explosion&s_cid=featured-1

I don't know if states besides Utah and Washington have covered any of the Powell case.

Ponytails & Crowns

2012-02-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

Our version of Toddlers & Tiaras. Via picnik.com, cause I only own mascara, bronzer, and lipslicks.

And other cuteness by the girls when we were doing our "Pageant Photos".

But this was by far the best picture I got from today:

Baby gift

2012-02-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

I had to do something super cute and creative, cause the mommy is awesome and talented.

In other news.....I thought I had Hazel almost off of formula, down to two bottles a day.......then my cousin said said a way to tell how much she was getting was by weighing her before and after she nursed......well, that completely explained why after a month she was still nursing almost constantly after a month and a half.......when pumping I was only getting half an ounce each side, I figured whatever, she nurses more effectively than a pump.......ya.........she gets a whole ounce........since her 3 month check up, she has lost nearly 2 pounds. I think it's time to give up my dream of getting her nursing again. Since I'm actually starving her...................

2012-02-03T19:24:00.000-08:00

Mischief: I see moon, Mom! I see moon!
Me: Want to learn a little rhyme? Repeat after me: I see the moon
Mischief: I see my moon
Me: The moon sees me
Mischief: Moon sees you.
Me: No no no, the moon sees you. The moon sees [Mischief].
Mischief: Moon sees me.
Me: God bless the moon
Mischief: God bless moon
Me: And God bless me.
Mischief: And God bless you.
Me: And God bless [Mischief]
Mischief: And God bless me!
Me: Great let's do it again: I see the moon
Mischief: I don't see moon. Moon gone!

2012-02-03T07:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of regularly scheduled programming this week. I'm still a bit unbALAnced and would rather not just sound whiney to everyone. today I will be tending my children and finishing up the baby present that was supposed to be for the awesome baby shower I missed out on last night.

Curls!

2012-02-02T18:54:00.000-08:00

Not perfect but I think it's pretty good for our first try! They softened (or fell out) beautifully by the end of school, leaving her hair just gently curled at the ends.

In happy news, the checks we have been waiting for arrived today. Bills will now get paid!! And we're on WIC again, took care of that this morning. Mischief was hilarious about the iron blood test, "No want anyone see my blood! No! No see my blood!" Then the nurse told her she'd get a pink bandaid. "Bandaid! Oh Yes! Bandaid!" As the nurse prepped her finger, "No like pokey! No like pokey!" and for the poke itself she gave a brief high pitched scream. And the program has changed, limiting to only store brands, so incase store brands do not have anything gluten free, the dietician gave us a paper that says we're allowed to get Rice Chex, as it is gluten free. Mischief of course doesn't like them but I just found a recipe to make them honey nut flavored myself. She is anemic, so we have to go back to test her again in 3 months and I'm supposed to let her snack on cereal and raisins as often as I can since she will for certain eat those and is not always guaranteed to eat meat or beans. Though she does like refried beans, so I may have to figure out how to make them myself. That's right, I'm great at making our own corn tortillas, but I've never made refried beans..........

The runaway, Part 2

2012-02-01T21:51:00.000-08:00

After discussing her complaints and wants, we came to an agreement that she'd give us one more week of a trial.
When I got to school and we were in the lunch line, she turned to me and said she did not want to stay another week she wanted a new home now. One that was pretty. I told her how about the playhouse from Uncle Matt and Aunt Emily? That could be her new house she could sleep in it and make it pretty how she wants. No. She didn't want that house. She wanted a different house with a different mommy. She started crying in line because I told her she had to come back to our house. I didn't know what to do. So she sat and ate her lunch with her friends while I tried to keep an over tired Hazel happy and keep Mischief from getting in the way of the janitor.

On the way to the car she kept going on about how she was not going to stay at our house, and I had enough and told her fine, she if she was that determined then she could go find a new house and a new mommy. Then we got to the car and she needed help getting buckled, "Mommy? Can you buckle me?" I thought I wasn't your mom. Instant tears, because she couldn't get buckled, not because I pointed out that she didn't want me for her mommy anymore. We got home and she got her backpack while Mischief excitedly started for the playroom to put together the cardboard house. Drama Queen wanted to help, but I told her it was a present for the little girls who lived in this house, and if she wanted to make and color the house with us, then she'd have to re-decide to live here. Nope, not interested. She grabbed her backpack and announced she was going to go live at Linda's. Out the door she went and a few minutes later returned bawling, saying she would live here.

I happily thought that reverse psychology worked...........only to discover about 15 minutes later that the truth was no one was home next door.

Once tired of putting a dozen pairs of shoes in their new house, Drama Queen came to me and said she wanted to make a house for her and teddy up on her bed. Having been through this event and the mess it leaves behind, I said no and pointed out that she just make a beautiful new house, why not use it (and thereby keep all the toys in the playroom - cause their room got cleaned yesterday). Instant tears. Nooooooooooooooooooo, she wanted a house just for her and teddy and no one else. And I admit I was just done and I said fine, go find a new home.
She perked up and said "Really?!"
Yep, bye.
So she ran and grabbed her backpack and was out the door. And back in a minute when she discovered Linda still wasn't home. She decided she'd go up the street and find a different house.
Okay bye.
Instant tears.
But it makes me sad to think of that.
Then stay.
No I want a new home!
Then go.
I want you to help me find a new house.
Not happening, I love you and want you to live here with us.
*bawling*.
So I went into what did she think that the people at her newly chosen house would say, Yes please, live here random little girl? What do you think will happen when they have to go to work? Like Don and Linda, they have to go to work during the day just like now, what do you think you'll be doing, do you want to sit on the porch in the cold all day while they are at work? Does that sound like fun? Or would it be better to be in a home with your family and toys and little sisters to play with?
But I don't like it here, it's not pretty. I want a nice mommy!
Oh that's why you don't like it here, cause I'm a mean mommy and you don't like me?
Yes. You're not nice. I don't like being in time out.
Honey, all kids get put in time out. Have you asked your friends at school, I'm sure they get put in time out sometimes too. And they have to clean up their toys too.
She didn't say anything and just kept crying. I told her to go lay down until she felt a little better.

And that's how it ended. With no solution and whispers that she's going to run away when mommy and daddy are asleep tonight.
We've locked the screen doors as well as the locks on the doors. I've put the swing and my donate bags infront of one door, because she knows how to undo the door locks. We'll block the other door with the treadmill.
Mr. Man talked to her after I shared all this and he talked to her and said she agreed she'll stay here. He told her all the things she wouldn't get to do if she didn't live with us. Though she said she wants to stay and loves us, I'm sure the thought is still lingering there because she's said that to me twice throughout the day and I also tried that tactic. I pointed out the things she'd miss out doing with her sisters, and that she wouldn't get to talk to Namma on the computer anymore, etc.
I'm out of ideas and to tell the truth, I'm drained. I'm done. I don't know how to deal with the situation anymore. I'm in automode. Which is also yes mode because it's just easier. Hence why she will be sleeping in the cardboard house tonight once she's decided she's watched enough Backyardigans. I just want this day to be over. I just want this life to be over. If this is what I'm having to deal with already, I don't want to know what lies ahead in the teenage years.
The one nice spot of this day with her was after her shower she let me put her hair in rag curlers.

The runaway

2012-02-01T07:30:00.000-08:00

My 5 year old has decided to run away. She wants a new house where she doesn't have to clean up. I laid in bed this morning listening to her plotting and packing then quietly got the camera and took a picture of her trying to stuff dress shoes into her backpack (which appears to only have pull-ups in it). She then told me her plan to run away to find a new house with a new bed where she doesn't have to clean up. Then she asked if I would help her find her a house. And first she'd draw me a picture of herself to remember her by and could I draw her a picture of me, Cause she was really going to miss me. I told her she could stay then, but no she really has to find a new house. A house she's never been to before. Shannon Wanlass Fox, if we had the means, I'd mail her to you! As it is.....trying to convince her she belongs here and no matter where she goes, she has to clean up, though I do know a hoarder and perhaps I can take her over there as her new house.......maybe that'll change her mind.

These are her complaints:

does not like to clean up
don't like to be in time out
don't like mom and dad taking stuff from me
want to see new people
want to go to a different ward
want to see new people in the ward
want to know new names
want to have new toys - like trunks, new different baby dolls, new baby beds
want different movies - a mermaid movie, a new princess movie,
want to see a new home and look around
don't like to go to bed
don't like making my bed
don't like Hazel pulling my hair
don't get to watch movies when I want to sometimes
don't get to do crafts when I want to

Things that would make living in this house better:

do crafts when I want to
watch movie when I want to
get papers when I want to
see new friends
more sleepovers at places
new pictures hanging in new bedroom - pictures of princesses - belle, cinderella, sleeping beauty, jasmine, ariel.
want a new bed like had before(daybed), and new blankies

She has agreed to a trial of staying her for another week. She knows what house she wants to live in instead, it's one we pass on the way to school with "things decorating the windows". She's going to point it out to me on the way to school today.

Ugh

2012-01-30T07:43:00.000-08:00

Keeping Drama Queen home from school today as we all have a "funny feeling" in our throats. Going to drink lots of imitation tang today.
Also going to spend the day saving copies of activity ideas and recipes from pinterest to the hard drive in anticipation of losing internet sooner than later. If you can't call us, it's because our phones are shut off right now. We're still waiting on the VA money for this semester. And then we'll probably only be paying tithing and rent. So if you can't get ahold of us, we're doing okay! We have food and our gas and power has been paid for the month, so we're good on that. It's just all the extra stuff that will be gone temporarily. I've got no problem with that!

A note from Hazel

2012-01-28T00:39:00.000-08:00

who decided to make "I'm going to puke on you" noises at 1am..........Cause they go so well with her 101.2 (via armpit) fever.

l,,znaxcbfch ,dcv6666 rffgvggggggggggggggggg g fa vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvva n v hazxel;
'

Yes, I tried to help her type her name

And here they are again.....

2012-01-27T08:39:00.000-08:00

Thank you Namma for the gorgeous outfit!

Today we had DQ's parent teacher conference. And, of course, our child is brilliant. Her Progress Report says that on a scale of:

AA A B C D E F G H

Her current grade level is at level A. Drama Queen is at.........level D. :) That's my reader!!

She got moved to a different table a few weeks ago and today we found out why.....not because she was spending more time helping others.....not because she talks alot.......because the entire table that had been together before, they were "the smart kids" and were finished at least 5 minutes ahead of all the other kids. And so the teacher separated them so that when they are working on worksheets and things, they are at tables with other kids, which distracts them, and they take longer. LOL

I've done a little online research and it looks like they do what I call G.A.T.E. (gifted and talented education) testing in 2nd grade. It's called A.L.L.(accelerated learning lab) here, and while you do testing in 2nd grade, you aren't a part of it until 3rd grade. Here's what the district webpage says:

"The Accelerated Learning Lab, or A.L.L. is the district program offered to elementary students grade 3 to grade 6. The curriculum is built upon the Utah State Core, with students moving at an accelerated rate in math, reading advanced level literature, and going deeper and broader in science and social studies. Music and art will be threaded throughout the curriculum as well.

Placement in the A.L.L. class is intended to be a two-year commitment. Students test in their 2nd grade year for the third/fourth program and 4th grade for fifth/sixth grade placement. 4th grade students who have successfully maintained appropriate behavior and academic expectation levels are automatically moved on to the 5th grade A.L.L.

Testing will be done in November of the students’ 2nd and 4th grade year and placement will be viewed as a two-year commitment. Students may test in 3rd and 5th grade for placement but due to the nature of the program, placement is limited to any openings that become available as other students withdraw from the program."

So until then I guess she'll just have to deal with whatever the teachers choose. And then, this is all assuming she is "accelerated" enough, she may or may not get to be in the accelerated program? Was California like this? It never seemed to me to be a difficult thing to be in a G.A.T.E. class!

When we go with Drama Queen to lunch, as she is eating in the cafeteria now and loving it, the lunch ladies always gush over Mischief. The curls catch their eye

and then the overall cute pocket-sizedness of her turns grandmother age women into........well their grandmotherly instincts tend to oooooze out.

This is good because I don't have $2.50 to buy lunch for Mischief and she gets highly offended if she doesn't get to eat when Drama Queen does. So they all turn a blind eye to the extra sides Drama Queen gets as well as while Mischief eats those extra sides.

And Hazel Mae is just cute.

Mischief.

2012-01-25T09:50:00.000-08:00

Mischief knows how to work the people around her. She either gets out of or reduces her time outs by doing/saying something that leaves us cracking up. She's got this grin that lets us know she knows exactly what she's doing. Little bugger! Her latest habit though involves pulling at heartstrings. For the last few weeks all we hear is "I hungry. I hungry mom. I hungry." From the moment she wakes up, until you are tucking her in bed, she is declaring she is hungry. Even when she has food in front of her. But she's now added on to that with, "Will you feed me?"

It's like really child? Really? Honestly, I'm afraid she'll say that to someone else and they'll think we keep her locked in a closet without food or water. And so she's our hobbit. She has first breakfast, second breakfast, as well as thirdsies.
Today she started with a big bowl of Crispy Rice and milk. Ate it all gone. Moved on to some cookies and turkey meat. Now she's having a bowl of oatmeal.

Since dinner will be turkey and rice, I think I'd better get started making some corn tortillas for lunch. I try to keep some variety for her rather than feed her rice all the time. Or perhaps I'll dig through the cupboard and find some quinoa if we have any left.

Speaking of the weirdo, she is now sitting at the table playing with two cookies......like they're dolls. She's unique. At least the cookies are getting smaller as she is taking a bite every so often. Oh Mischief. I hope you always are able to find humor in life and make it a bit happier for those around you as well!

Tutu Tuesday: Gluten Free cookies

2012-01-24T13:59:00.000-08:00

Drama Queen wanted to make cookies, but I haven't been wanting to make any. Mischief loves cookies, and I know she'll eat them even if them make her not feel good. The other trouble with making cookies is we're out of butter. So I hopped online and looked for a recipe that Mischief could eat without trouble, and didn't have need for butter. And ta-da! Some delicious gluten-free Soft Molasses cookies. It's Mischief's favorite type and they are really SO good!

She had three for lunch. The recipe calls for sorghum flour, but I replaced it with rice flour since that is what I have, and it worked fine.

I admit I can be easily entertained. Like when I pulled out the box of 9 month clothes for Hazel and discovered one of my favorite outfits in it....
Mischief at 15 months.......

Hazel Mae at 6 months.......

Anyone else find this hilarious? Does this mean Mischief was an itty bitty person walking around, or does it mean Hazel Mae is a chunk? Or both? LOL

Picnik is going away! and fairy houses

2012-01-23T12:52:00.000-08:00

Despite other options online, my favorite photo editing source, Picnik.com is going away. Google + is taking it and renaming it it sounds like. Anyway, until April 19th, all the features are free!! No premium membership needed!! That's fabulous. Cause I was able to take this cute picture of Drama Queen:

And go KA-POW!!

Don't you just love the mud on her forehead? She's very busy at work outside! Since the snow finally came, she's been concerned for the fairies. So she's out there building them a house:

And she left them some food too, "cause there's none growing in the garden."

Love this song

2012-01-20T17:32:00.001-08:00

Truth is.....Thursday

2012-01-19T17:23:00.000-08:00

Truth is........it's better late than never, right?

Truth is........my days have all been off this week. On Tuesday I was absolutely positive it was Wednesday. Just like I was absolutely positive Friday would be payday. Not so. :(

Truth is.......Mr. Man found out that UVU (the school he's going to) is hiring night custodians. I may not have to get a job. Which is good cause I fully feel like I'm going to throw up now everytime the phone rings.

Truth is........Mischief is a bottomless pit. Seriously. The child eats All. Day. Long. We're crossing our fingers for a growth spurt.

Truth is.......Mr. Man has all 3 girls in the man cave right now. Never mind, he called for rescue.

Truth is........Hazel tried stealing my turkey burger while I was eating dinner.

Truth is.......Drama Queen just came to me and asked, "How is it your sister, Shannon, sees ghosts?" Um.......that's new to me if she does!

Truth is..........That led to a ten minute conversation about ghosts/spirits. And DQ deciding that a ghost was watching her last night when she was trying to go to bed.("I felt someone looking at me but when I looked, nothing was there.") I suggested perhaps it was her imagination getting away from her. "Oh, I bet that's it."

Truth is..........my child is random. And I so just put on Ghost Hunters for her........hahahahaha. Really, I'm not a bad parent, she likes this show. A LOT. She is her mothers daughter!

Truth is..........We had turkey burgers for dinner. I made the buns myself and for the first time (I've tried a few times before) they were good! Yay! And Mr. Man grilled the burgers for us, as I tend to make them tough and dry on the George Foreman.

Truth is......I'm resisting the very strong urge to go Boo! at the girls. Really don't need to be encouraging nightmares........

Truth is.......someday I'm going to build a house with no closets in the bedrooms. Built in bookcases are fine, but I love the look of armoires/wardrobes.

Truth is........Not only do we get to pay off a furnace, but we now also get to pay a higher gas bill. SERIOUSLY?! How the heck is it that a 40 year old furnace was far more efficient in gas usage than a new 95% efficient furnace? Our gas bill is up $30. I have lots of not nice words to say about this. Keeping them in my head though.

Things we're enjoying

2012-01-18T18:59:00.000-08:00

We got two great games for Christmas. These games are fun for adults AND kids. The first, is Qwirkle.

It's a very fun game where you have numerous tiles with 6 different shapes and 6 different colors, and it's kind of like dominos. You make rows of either the same shape or the same color, without repeating the shape/color in a row. If you make a row with all six shapes or a row with all six colors it is a qwirkle. Drama Queen is awesome at this game! And we play until all tiles are gone, so it's not a short game. It lasted half an hour two nights ago and DQ asked if we could play again when we were done! It says recommended for ages 6 and up on the box, but at 5, DQ has no problem getting the concept and is even starting to figure out strategy. She won fair and square on Monday!

The other game we got is Battelo.

Drama Queen beat me at this game also, which is embarrassing because it's a memory game of 9 coloured tiles you flip to move your panda around the forest to gather bamboo leaves. The tiles don't change places, so you'd think it would be easy to win. It was a fun game and another we look forward to playing each night.

Yesterday we went to the library and got a few books. I really like two of the books the girls got. One of the books Mischief picked she calls her "Munchie" book, because the art work is the same kawaii style as Menchie's frozen yogurt. It is called You Are My Cupcake.

It is very simple with just food related nicknames parents may give their children and cute simple graphics to go with it. The girls crack up at it though because we don't call them food names, so it's a novelty and silly.

The book I really really like is one Drama Queen got. It is called Nora's Roses and is by Satomi Ichikawa.

It has lovely illustrations and a just as lovely story about Nora who has been sick in bed. Outside her windows are some roses and she watches various people she knows come by and pick a rose for one reason or another. She falls asleep and dreams of the roses then wakes to find a "monster" has taken all but one rose, which she wants for herself, but how to keep it? I really like this book and hope to one day add a copy of it to our home library.

Rambling

2012-01-17T21:27:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here, looking through Utah jobs and it's terrifying. Jobs are all so people oriented and require a pleasant and friendly disposition. I just keep thinking, Ya, they don't require a specific educational degree for this position, but I'm not qualified, they'd never even consider me. Then I come and start pulling up the location and phone numbers for past jobs and realize, oh. Oh ya. Wells Fargo..........Dave & Busters........DISNEYLAND. Those ARE all "people friendly" jobs. They are all guest/customer service related. Oh.
I could do this once.
And then comes trying to write an "objective statement" for jobs.utah.gov...........I don't know how. Yes, I wrote a resume once. Might as well have been some past life. "An objective statement is a one or two sentence statement about your career/position goal that relates to the position you are applying for and will show on your resume." The other option I have is "A career summary is a brief summary of your qualifications that can be viewed on your resume by employers who are looking for applicants."

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhhhhht.

We need more income. Due to the housing money Mr. Man gets from the G.I. Bill, we no longer qualify for food stamps. We are barely scraping by. I don't like it. It leaves me stressed constantly. I pay the bills. Or at least I try to. But the truth is (and I'm not writing this to backhandly ask for assistance for anyone, I just need to voice my frustration and worries) I'm tired of having to choose which bills get paid this month and which get to wait until next month. Our credit rate is shot at this point. I want to be able to pay all the bills on time. I want to be able to occasionally go out to eat. I want to be able to buy clothes that fit. We're hoping that I can get a job at Target (it is hiring right now Mr. Man says, in preparation for the remodel they're going to be doing) so they can work around his schedule and hopefully we won't have to farm our kids out.

I've been very happy that we haven't had to ask for money in almost the last year. Yes, my parents have helped in other, large, ways (Thank you so much!) like our furnace and roof. And my mom single handedly keeps my kids clothed thanks to the wonderful yard sales and thrift stores California has. But I want to keep up not having to have someone else aid in paying our bills. So I'm getting a job. Or will attempt to.

I'm terrified of the "real" jobs that I apparently can do and was once able to do. All I want is a job. Retail would be fine. Do I want to plaster a vaseline smile on my face and constantly have to say "Can I help you find something?" No. But I'll take it over fielding customer service calls.

It's funny. While pulling up my job history information, I remembered that back when I applied at Wells Fargo, I also applied at R.C. Willey as Customer Service in the warehouse. I got both jobs. Had to choose which to go with (should have gone with R.C. Willey. I didn't realize what a sales job a bank teller position is. If there wasn't such a huge push for sales, I'd say a bank teller is THE perfect job.)

Anyway, back to job hunting and applying. The girls all had trouble going to bed and I had caffiene so as to be able to deal pleasantly with them. I imagine I'll be awake most of the night if not all. Oh well. Maybe I'll move my sewing machine to the man cave and get some sewing done. I cut out 3 dresses this week and part of a jumper. Two dresses are for my kids and the other two items for a little girl in California who's been waiting about a year for some clothes made just for her.
Yes, I've given up my dream of ever owning my own kids clothes company. Even threw out the business cards because I just have no follow through.
I wonder if McDonald's is hiring. Too bad Hogi Yogi is gone, I even know how to make about half their stuff..........Though you know what my ideal job is? They used to make fun of me at Disneyland for wanting to do this.....

Housekeeping. You know, go in, clean hotel rooms. I've always been far better at cleaning other people's houses. I work better, and faster, alone. And it's minimal in interaction with guests/customers.
The other "cast members" at Disneyland (you're not called an employee or co-worker, you're a cast member) would say, and rudely I might add, "but you speak english!" I say why should immigrants get all the fun?!

UPDATE: I have now applied for somewhere between 8 and ten jobs. I kind of lost count. I'm done now though cause I'm tired of typing the same info over and over again. Some are part time, some are full time, some are food service-in hospitals, some are random, some are office work, some are housekeeping. We'll see if I get calls (*cringe* yes I know I'll have to get over many of the antisocial tendencies I've developed in the past 6 years). At least I do have a black skirt and a blouse that fit that I can wear if I get any interviews! The one I hope to hear back from most is this, the company is just up the street and does patches, emblems, and insignias on shirts:

Job Title:	Embroiderer/Trimmer
Salary:	$8.00 - $12.00 Hourly
Location:	OREM, UT, 84057-3152
Description:	An Orem employer is hiring an Embroiderer/Trimmer. Must have High School Diploma. Sewing experience is helpful but not required. Will trim threads, cut backing out, fold count and box, and will be trained to work on embroidery machine.
Open Date:	1/9/2012
Close Date:	2/9/2012
Education:	High School Diploma
Shifts:	Day
Terms:	Full
Days Off:	Sat, Sun
Openings:	2
Work Schedule:	9am-5pm, 30-40 hrs/ week
Months of Experience:	0
Lifting Requirement:	Up to 20 lbs In other only partially related news, DWS is SO confusing. A few weeks ago we got a letter, that IN the letter it first said You are approved for $NAP and right after that on the same page it said we were not approved for it. HUH? So now I just got a letter that says the same thing but in regard to health insurance for the girls! Oh and it also says that we are getting SNAP money in February. SO I'm like, what is it? I'm hoping that it turns out to be that they do get covered like we are actually getting a small SNAP. I don't want to ask them and have them say the system screwed up and shouldn't be giving us anything. We'll see if we get medicaid cards for January and february. Infact I need to locate Hazel's January one so she can get her 6 month shots.

A letter.

2012-01-17T09:38:00.000-08:00

Dear Treasurer for The Colonies HOA....
PLEASE MAIL OUT THE W-2s!!!

I would like to get our tax return in so we can get money. See, we had a baby last year so that means we get a decent sized refund. The sooner we get said refund, the sooner:

We pay off our furnace
We get the car registration renewed
I can legitimately go kid clothes shopping because my 5 year old needs size 6 clothes. And I fully intend to drive up to Salt Lake so I can go to Naartjie. More expensive than the thrift store? Yes. But being the mother of three girls, I've come to the conclusion that since these clothes will be worn by three children, not only should they be good quality and cute, but really, I might as well LOVE them. and I am rather fond of Naartjie's current Spring Transition line. The Spring 1 line, not so much, but the transition line yes, and the winter and fall lines which are on clearance right now which I am MISSING. The trauma. Amazing Naartjie dresses disappearing for $12.....
We can get a step closer to being out of debt (again). This time though, we've already got the cards all deactivated before paying them off because well, that's our down fall. We get out of debt, then the man loses hours and our income goes down and we end up living off the credit cards. It was a horrible cycle. Went through it twice in 5 years. Really. Got married, I had a little nest egg, the man had a large debt. Paid off his debt, got a credit card so we could start building our credit (and cause Sam's Club Discover did cash back, loved getting an $80 check at the beginning of each year!) then his hours at RC Willey dropped and we used the credit card to pay bills and buy groceries while his pay check paid for rent. He changed jobs twice, trying to get better pay, we got out of debt. Then I started us back in debt with a depression relieving spending spree (retail therapy works, until you get the bill), and we started paying it off only to have his hours at Target cut in HALF, so we lived off our tax return as long as we could and then turned to the credit card until we got on food stamps. Long story short, SAVE MONEY, PAY IN CASH!! You never need a credit card! If you don't have enough cash, keep saving! We can learn much from the people of Jamaica, they build their houses a brick at a time, literally. They build it as they can afford it. Yes this means many live in shacks built of a modge podge of materials, but there are also some lovely cinderblock and rebar homes that you can see in progress there.

So you see, I would appreciate it if we got our W-2 before February (when the car needs the registration renewed). Thank you.

2012-01-16T16:23:00.000-08:00

Drama Queen is a sweetheart. That's why the type of trouble she's having in school is kind of frustrating to me. It's not only at school that she is the way she is, but in correcting the problem, I fear she'll lose that goodness. See, the trouble is, she wants to help everyone else, before she does things for herself. This means her work in class doesn't get done, because she spends the time helping the other kids at her table. Sometimes she is helpful truely, and sometimes well she's just nit-picky about other people's work (lol). At home she does the same thing. She'll encourage Mischief to eat while neglecting to eat her own food or will spend 20 minutes trying to get Mischief into pajamas when she infact was the one asked to get pajamas on.
It's sweet. I want her to retain the desire and inclination to put caring for others a priority, but she also needs to learn to take care of herself and her own work.

How do we teach her to do her stuff first, without losing that giving/caring spirit?

PS there were no individual Fancy pictures of DQ because she could not hold still.

Fancy Nancy Party

2012-01-14T13:59:00.000-08:00

Last week after they girls cleaned their room, they decided to have a Fancy Nancy Party. Everyone (the girls and their pets) got dressed up fancy. Cake and cookies were served, and Christmas lights added an extra bit of festiveness to it.

Mischief is in love with these popcorn cobs we bought yesterday. I found a craigslist listing to get potatoes for cheap. The guy also had butternut squash (massive ones) for $3 each and popcorn cobs for 50 cents each. He threw in 3 onions for free. I love cheap organic and local. Well, his family's farm is in Idaho, but that's fairly local, right?

We threw one cob in a paper bag, folded the top over a few times then microwaved for two and a half minutes. Delicious! Very much more flavorful than the kernels we buy in bulk at Winco.

2012-01-13T20:31:00.000-08:00

One of the classes Mr. Man is taking this semester is a history class. He's had two classes so far, and after the first mentioned that his teacher was entertaining. Today he had a story:
"[The teacher], Shes an older lady, in her 50s or 60s and has a habit of calling us "adorable". Today when we were handing in our papers, she was calling everyone adorable and when I got up to her I said, "Oh I don't want to be adorable, I just strive to be cute". She looked startled for a moment then said, "No, you know what I'd call you? Scrumptious." And my husband (being the quick witted one he occasionally is) responded, "So should I start singing Toot-sweet?" No one in the class got it, but the teacher started laughing."

Do you get it?

2012-01-13T13:27:00.000-08:00

Today I was able to go shopping. I got pull ups and diapers (which I'm pondering if I should return and just move Hazel up to the next size instead...) I also got more formula for Hazel. And I got a B vitamin complex and fenugreek. I was going to get Blessed Thistle as well, but The Herb Shop was out. I'll probably check Sunflower later. I'm done being out though. I'm going to make Jordan go up to Herriman to get our 60 pounds of red potatoes (cause the guy is out of yukon golds, i should have called yesterday instead of posting about it on facebook first). I just watch too much Criminal Minds and I'd rather send my husband for potatoes posted by someone on Craigslist. It's a fabulous deal and I'm looking forward to it, a gal in the ward (Sara, who I've mentioned before) went in with me on a bag, cause 30 lbs is far more reasonable.

Anyway, Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle. My milk still isn't returning like it should. I make Hazel nurse and nurse before I consider a bottle, but in the end she still has 5 or 6 bottles a day. I tried pumping in between feedings, but that's exhausting (Mooo) and disappointing, as I am only getting ONE ounce after 20 minutes of pumping. I used to get 4 ounces in ten minutes. Soy formula is expensive and constipates Hazel. I asked a friend who is a professional breastfeeder (hehehe, really! Remember the facebook nurse in? She was on the news. Just this past month, the Target Nurse in, she was there.) and she refered me to kellymom.com which has great advice. Only trouble is I'm afraid to take Hazel off the bottle all together and have a grumpy fussy baby for a few days. But as we're at the bottom of another can, should I just do it? Go cold turkey on the bottle and make her continue nursing up my milk supply? I admit I fear my milk will never come back in full enough to feed her. And that's why I'm taking fenugreek now To kind of give me the extra reassurance that my body can do this. A single bottle of it should be enough to get my milk supply up for sure. At least that's my thought process. And I've now convinced myself to return the new canister of formula and deal with a fussy baby for a few days. So if I blog even less and don't want to answer the phone, it'll be due to a lack of sleep and trying to stay sane via my b vitamins rather than caffiene.

And that's that.

Just talked to Mr. Man and he's going to go get our potatoes (and now butternut squash and ears of popcorn as well). He's very willing due to the hope that he knows the guy since the guy is from Herriman and that city only recently got their own high school, so maybe he went to high school with the guy.

And here is a random picture just for the sake of having a picture and cause Mr. Man figured out how to get the scanner to work so I could post it on facebook......

Homecoming Dance - 2001

There was no theme. We were just awesome like that.......

And just because I'm vain about myself in this picture.....

*Ah* Newlyweds......

2012-01-11T09:08:00.000-08:00

AppSumo is giving away a MacBook Air. Click here to enter to win it!

I am sorry for the lack of blog posts. I'm going with what Thumper's dad says.

Cue "Jaws" music.......

2012-01-06T21:16:00.000-08:00

Hazel hass started getting that tummy up off the floor. On hands and knees, rocking. Sometimes getting her whole bum in the air. Of course the only direction she is going still is backwards. But she's starting to get fast and than and is figuring out how to steer!!

Fabulous!! Make your own Matryoshka.

2012-01-06T21:01:00.000-08:00

Remember those felt Matryoshka dolls I made for the girls while pregnant and lazy last summer? The ones I had gotten the idea for from Sarahndipities on etsy?

I recieved quite a few comments on them including many people asking how much for me to make them for them. I never responded because I SUCK at sewing for other people. While the sewing I do for other people is fine quality wise, I am ridiculously irresponsible when it comes to time management and efficiently getting things made and mailed (just ask Jennifer). Anyway, my point is, they're super cute dolls and you know it, but you, like I, don't want to pay $20 for one. Well guess what!!! Sarah of Sarahndipities is now selling a pattern and tutorial for making them. You can now make as many as you want for a very reasonable price!! Go check it out, they are darling dolls, commonly referred to as "baby" here. And you don't have to try and make it up as you go like I did!

My Newest obsession: My Child dolls

2012-01-06T10:21:00.000-08:00

Do YOU remember My Child dolls? I don't I was 2 when they came out and 4 when they stopped being sold. Apparently they are Mattel's answer to Coleco's Cabbage Patch dolls.
How did I discover them? Well it started like this.....hop on to ebay to browse barbies and prices.....think hmmm, I did once like barbies, infact I LOVED my Heart Family....browse Heart Family on ebay.....be grateful I no longer use my ebay account, cause we have lots of bills.....in browsing the Heart Family, which is actual not a "Barbie" but an "other" doll by Mattel, I ran into other "other dolls" like Herself the Elf.....Baby Beans.....Softina....oh the memories. But I kept seeing these ADORABLE baby dolls that seemed to be all cloth.
And I swear they look just like my kids!

Like I need this one, cause it is SO totally Mischief:

And doesn't this sweet girl make you think of Drama Queen back when she had fringe(bangs)?

*LOVE*

So if you ever spot one of these dolls, of any hair/eye color or condition, I WANT IT. So adorable. There's even a My Child Workshop webpage that tells you how to take care of any well loved ones you find. I have nothing against Cabbage Patch dolls, I had a number of them throughout my life, but honestly? These are way cuter! How did they not last? Oh that's right, the year they stopped being sold is the year Mattel bought the Cabbage Patch Kids from Coleco. Poo. Forget borderline creepy reborns, I'd like a houseful of My Child dolls!

Oh, and Mr. Man thinks they are adorable too, and has stated that I should find them for the girls for their birthdays. I'm so not joking or stretching the truth on that. His exact words were "Those would make good birthday gifts for the girls this year." And so the hunt begins. It is possible to find them in good to fair condition for around $25, so it's not impossible and I have at minimum 5 months to find just the right one for each.

Mwa-ha-ha

2012-01-05T19:06:00.000-08:00

While we were out today hunting for thrift store Barbie dresses (fail) and instead discovering a larger bike for Maddie to earn ($10 and it's tires are still good and it's in other wise good condition minus the seat, but we'll just put the seat from her too mall bike on it.) Mr. Man and I were talking about what would happen to the US if someone were to attack our power grid. Mainly conversation went like this:
"Everything now-days relies on some form of computer and electricity and there's only so long that generators can work."
"And you know who the only people who would not be effected are? The Amish."
"I wonder if anyone is going to them asking how to do farming and crop production without the aid of mass machinery."
*insert long schpeal about Heirloom/Organic gardening here*

Okay, I didn't actually go and tell him that the Amish aren't the only ones who know how to produce their own food off grid, but I am please *hence the Mwa-ha-ha* to now know how to catch my husband's interest in being self reliant/off grid. I did instead proceed to explain that that is why I really want to learn to cook with a dutch oven as more than a camping treat and how this summer I will be making a solar oven to try out.

I'm so ready to order this year's seeds!! I'm totally going to attempt to grow dent corn along the back of the trailer next to the back garden. It'll go right into our food storage to use for flour and meal. This year I'm going to learn to make corn tortillas and tamales and will hopefully master cornbread from scratch (I've failed terribly so far and always go back to the jiffy mix).
Eventually I want to grow and store Amaranth and hull-less oats as well. I only really have room to grow one grain at a time right now I think.
I like the idea of growing corn since you can grow beans or pumpkins right along with the corn.

I attempted to sew a Barbie dress. And failed.

Truth is........

2012-01-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

Truth is.....I feel kinda stupid today. I didn't even check the thrift store for barbies yesterday because I remembered the last time I bought one there (one of the supporting characters from the Barbie Rapunzel movie) it was $3.99, the dress was lovely but her hair not so much. Mischief and I went to the thrift store today because after researching barbie dresses, which is all Drama Queen wants, I determined that we should check the thrift store for any barbies wearing nice dresses, because $3.99 for a dress is a deal! I guess I bought that barbie sometime before their half off sale (twice a year), they always raise the prices a month or two before it. Cause we got 5 gown wearing Barbies (well one was imitation, but she had a nice dress) for $10. *pounding head on desk*

Truth is....I really want the Heart Family again. I'm oogling them on ebay. You can buy them new in box even. Yes you pay a far bit, but do you know how easily that lavender dress snags?

Truth is......we're all a bit sleep deprived here today. Hazel Mae didn't really want to sleep last night, and Mischief had a fever and was so congested she kept choking and snoring and waking herself up. Mr. Man heard all of Hazel's complaints but didn't even realize the Mischief ones. Yet he gets to sleep in today so he can be a happy parent.

Truth is......I want to do nothing useful today, but that's not an option. Dumb life.

Truth is......I do plan on posting about the cruise sooner than later. I think everyone one should go on a cruise. And if you're rich you should just bounce from one cruise to another.

Truth is...I keep trying to think of things that are funny and light-hearted to post, but it's not working.

Truth is........My head is bouncing from: do dishes, vacuum, shoot - do laundry, call DWS, I still need to get the stuff to Sis. Wayas!, I owe so many people sewing stuff! (okay two, maybe three), and of course, I know I'm forgetting something...........

Truth is.....I'm feeling a bit better now, after discovering the bills have been processed and we still have money in our account!!

Truth is.......that means I finally ordered Hazel's birth certificate! It's looking like DWS (department of workforce services) is going to require it for verification and we need it for WIC anyway.

Truth is......I'm on hold with DWS right now for the "telephone interview" part of re-applying (for CHEC and SNAP). It said wait time was approximately 5 minutes......it's been 27.

Truth is.......Hazel Mae is crying, but I'm busy being productive. The man can wake up and take care of her.

Truth is.......I should remember that doing things I don't want to do makes me feel better about life. It makes me feel capable.

2012-01-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

Why Mischief tends to be given things more often than DQ.

When handed a box of barbies (four barbies one box, Walmart clearance), Drama Queen's looks at it and says, "Why did you buy just this one?"
Where as Mischief sits there for a good 10 minutes gushing about how she loves them and they are beautiful and thanks mom!

Ya, DQ didn't get to stay up and play with them at all after she said that. I threatened to take them back since they obviously weren't good enough for her. Then I opened it to look at them myself and that's when Mischief came over and appreciated them.

*sigh* Children!

Tutu Tuesday

2012-01-03T13:49:00.000-08:00

Mischief: Bunnies eat orange?
Me: I bet bunnies would love oranges.
Mischief: And bunnies eat carrot!
Me: That's right they do.

Mischief: Oh, 'nother bean.
Me: Put the seed in the trash.
Mischief: Seed?!
Me: Yes, tangerine seed.
Mischief: Grow in garden!
Me: Well you could try but I don't think it'd work.

The girls watched The Princess and the Frog this morning and just before the credits I noticed something in the picture. I rewound, paused it, then pulled up our New Orleans post to show Drama Queen. Jackson Square with the Cathedral behind. Just like on the tv!

After two weeks on formula, Hazel Mae turned into a baby DQ. Drama Queen was a thoroughly disagreeable child. Wanted nothing to do with sleep and spent every afternoon and evening screaming. We didn't know she had a dairy allergy. With Hazel Mae doing the same we determined it was the formula, which was cow milk based and I've been working harder at getting her to nurse more (she nursed twice last night and only needed one bottle, woo hoo!) as well as transitioning her to soy formula just in case. Over the last week she has successfully gone from 100% generic "gentlease" formula to 2/3 soy and 1/3 dairy. A few more days and she'll be on all soy until the can is gone and then she'll hopefully be back on nursing full time. She has started sleeping again is doesn't cry quite as much.

One day we were driving up to Salt Lake and DQ was sitting in her seat singing song after song about the most random things. Mr. Man was just quietly laughing and shaking his head when I fessed up that when I was pregnant with her I prayed often that our kid would love music and randomly break out in song, like in a broadway musical. He gave quite a nice reaction and now blames me everytime she's randomly singing.

Unfortunately I didn't learn my lesson in time. While pregnant with Mischief I prayed for a child as creative and mischievous as Eloise. Time will tell.....but so far the kid has ever sign of being an Eloise, and infact this morning requested to watch Eloise, which we are doing now.

Thank you to Aunt Mary for the food!!
After we picked up DQ from school we swung by Roberts craft to see if there was any cardstock packs left. Roberts is going out of business, and this week everything that's left is down to 75% off. They did have red and pink like we were looking for but I discovered they had felting needles and felting needle holders! So instead we got two sheets of dark red and two sheets of pink and a few other things as well as a needle holder. DQ was ecstatic that she got to buy a set of wood craft hearts all by herself. After we checked out I noticed that they were less than a dollar so I grabbed another bag, handed DQ the dollar we had left and she stood in line by herself and bought them. She was more thrilled with getting to keep the 9 cents change.........

When we arrived home there was a bag of KFC at our door. Woo hoo. That is a gorgeous picture of Berkley, Aunt Mary, Thank you!!

New Orleans Louisiana

2012-01-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

Bright(okay the bright part is far from true it was dark and I wasn't very bright either having not slept the night before) and early on December 16th we went to the airport and hopped onto a plane to New Orleans. The sun was just beginning to rise as we pulled up out through the clouds trapped in our valley.

Eventually we landed in New Orleans. Unless you have a car there, or someone to pick you up, you have to pay to leave the airport. There are no free shuttles to hotels. And it's expensive to get on a shuttle or taxi. We checked into our hotel on the Riverfront, the Hilton Riverside, and I was quite impressed once we got past the massive and gaudy lobbies. It's a very large hotel. The room was gorgeous and oh so comfortable. we met back down by the concierge desk, grabbed some maps, then walked up the street to check out the French Quarter. Note: If you have never been to New Orleans and you aren't big on the whole getting drunk and "earning" beads, go to Disneyland. New Orleans Square captured New Orleans French Quarter PERFECTLY. The look, feel and smell of it.

Mr. Man and I got distracted by a courtyard on our way to the lobby.

What Disneyland did not equal is the food. I'm not overly reliable on that statement, as I actually very rarely ate at Disneyland, but I have a hard time believing they could get the food anywhere near as delicious as what we had at The Gumbo Pot. It was expensive, the prices seemed high all over, but by golly was it good! I got the blackened red fish and I would so get it again.

Mr. Man got the fried catfish which was so tender it melted in your mouth. My sister-in-laws both got the stuffed crab which was very yummy.

I don't remember what everyone else got. Sorry.

This is Jackson Square and the Cathedral beyond.

It rained on us as we were walking around, except it wasn't really like rain. It was like being misted on with huge drops of mist. In other words, you never really felt soaked, and you knew the outside of your clothes were completely wet, but it was never heavy enough to soak through. Cause that makes tons of sense I'm sure.

I recommend hitting the French Quarter in late afternoon/early evening. We got there after all the artisians left, and as the palm readers, fortune tellers, and "spiritual counselors" (he was dressed as a monk) started setting up. It was an ideal time for us since we had no desire to interact with any year round drunken revelers. I do wish some of the shops had been open still though as we saw some very nice masks in the windows of a few.
We headed back to our hotel and tried out the hot tub, which I thought was perfect and everyone else thought was 'eh' because it wasn't hot and the jets weren't working or we couldn't figure out how to make them work. I enjoyed it because it was square, so I could sit in a corner and keep my hands and feet out (I don't enjoy being prune-y, it hurts) and it was the perfect temperature for me. I don't like hot.

In the morning we could see our ship from the window in my in-law's room. We got all our things packed up and in one room, then headed off to find breakfast in the French Quarter.

We asked somewhere where they recommended and they told us to go to the Cafe Du Monde. We did and it was packed. The Cafe Du Monde is the "Original French Coffee Stand". The place was packed and then there was a massive line out the door. Fortunately they have a "to-go" line on the other side of the building which moves quickly. The only things they serve are coffee, hot chocolate, and beignets. We also got to watch them making the beignets on that side of the building. It was entertaining that they just quickly stack the squares of dough in their hand and toss them behind them into the oil without looking! Quite impressive.

So yummy!

After that delicious breakfast (seriously, YUM) we hopped on a trolley and headed to the garden district. Don't let the name fool you, there are no gardens. The public transportation is the best deal you will find in New Orleans. For $3 you get a day pass and you can use the trolleys, street cars, and buses as much as you want.

There is a little cemetery, and I say little because we passed a MASSIVE one on our way to the hotel.

I'm used to boring west coast cemeteries, I think I should die in the South so I can have a family tomb. So much prettier than just a headstone on the ground.

Signs of Hurricane Katerina are still all over.

Though it think it adds character to the cemetery.

The Garden District is pretty, it is full of gorgeous old houses.

And old trees.

And brick sidewalks (seriously in love with the sidewalk).

I liked this fence alot.

After walking around for a bit and admiring the houses and reading the historical plaques on some of the fences, this one being the most entertaining:

We headed back to the hotel to grab or luggage and head to the ship.

Photo shoots

2012-01-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

This past week we had one random day of 60 degree weather, then it went back down to the 30s....We took advantage of the warm day and played outside for a bit. I took my new camera with me because I realized my fabulous framed pictures of the girls are a year and a half old.

Here are some favorites which will replacing the pictures on our wall:

Cruise Part 1

2012-01-01T00:28:00.000-08:00

Random pictures in no particular order from our week long cruise.

Mr. Man and I on a boat in the Grand Caymans about to head out for some snorkeling/star fish hunting/sting ray dodging. That's right. Sting Rays are second only to spider on my list of things to fear. And second only because I will never have to encounter them again.

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.

Tulum Ruins - Mexico

Mr. Man on a beach in Mexico. He looked at the water......then went and sat in a chair......

HELLO WORLD!

2011-12-31T20:29:00.000-08:00

Phew! Try to remember passwords after 3 weeks? That's tough! In my world, it's still 3 hours until 2012, but for some people, like the fabulously lovely and entertaining Julianna, it's already a new year.

I feel like I've been gone for ions, yet I could have kept going, I wasn't the one going, "What am I suppose to do? I can't stream anime!" Can you guess who in this house that was? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't an estrogen driven complaint........and yet I'm sure you'll be told that it was all me, simply because I said my mom was calling more often since she wasn't getting facebook updates.

Where have we been? Well, the first week of no internet was due to not being able to afford it (aka bill past due and no money with which to pay it), the second week, well, if I was willing to spend 65 cents per minute I could have used the ship's internet, and this last week was due to the same reason as the first week and also my telling my husband that we should just drop our service provider all together because we really couldn't keep pretending we could afford it, as the whole point of getting cell phones (okay not the whole point, part was so we could be in contact when he was at school and I had the car) was for it to be cheaper.....after a measely week I've been overruled and I'm not going to complain much. See, I was really running out of craft ideas. That and it's too cold for me to be willing to walk across the street to the drug store so I can copy the rice krispy treat recipe off of the Kelloggs brand box, so now I can look it up on the internet. My generic Crispy Rice and store brand marshmallows don't have the recipe.......and it's also not in any of the cook books I own. What's up with that?! *sigh* Now I'll have to get caught up with pictures of Christmas and the cruise and the cute photos of my girls that I took yesterday and today with one of the greatest Christmas presents ever. It was a really awesome Christmas, let me tell you. Or well let me tell you eventually. Right now I have a couple hundred emails to go through and I want to check facebook and more importantly Pinterest, cause by golly we've about run out of ideas, though we did make some pretty cool paper birds from the Family Fun magazine.

Bye!

Ah the smell of......

2011-12-08T14:28:00.000-08:00

a new furnace. Kinda funky and not overly pleasant. That'll go away in a bit they say.

I was going to keep the flat front panel of the furnace to use for a magnet board for the kids, and the guy putting the furnace in says, oh, want a piece of sheet metal instead? Sure! Very cool. And free.

And somehow these two slept through most of it! And that was noisy! We'll soon be warm!

Pictures!

2011-12-06T08:52:00.000-08:00

Mischief in her new winter pajamas

The 40 year old furnace

Hazel Mae who is cute even when she is unhappy.

Daddy is her favorite.

Seeing if the Johnny jumper interested her. It did so we pulled out the jumperoo (we have limited doorframes). She didn't overly mind being stuck in the girl's doorway, but with the jumperoo she can be in the middle of the floor. Thanks Aunt Shannon for the hand-me-down!

Drama Queen, another favorite person of Hazel's.

My Mr. Man

Funny Drama Queen

Stocking stuffer in progress.

2011-12-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

Last night my sister-in-law invited us over for dinner. It was super nice since I had no brain as to what to make. My thought process involved "Okay we have turkey......we could have turkey and cranberry sandwiches.....if we had bread, which we don't. Alright, we can have turkey stirfry..........or we could if we had vegetables besides just broccoli.......Um, um um um...................."
Of course today though I feel worse than I did yesterday, I realize we do have carrots and celery that I could have stir fried or we have all the fixings for turkey broccoli casserole. Some days I'm just brainless, and thankfully April rescued us yesterday. It was really yummy too. And so so nice to spend time with them! Hazel Mae loved their Christmas tree. We need to put our up.
I'm so glad I have such an awesome family, both my own and my husband's. It's nice to have good relationships with your family.

I had cheese and sour cream yesterday and Hazel Mae was not happy last night. She didn't want to sleep, she didn't want to swing she didn't want to lay down she didn't want to be walked and bounced, she didn't want to be held. I gave her tylenol and finally was so tired (this was all from 2:36am to 3:14am) I just put her to bed and let her cry a bit. She didn't cry long before she was asleep. It woke up Mr. Man though and so he's going to be super tired today. At least he ended up working on his essay for 4 more hours!

I don't feel good today. I mean, ya, I've been sick and miserable for almost a week now, but really, I just want to crawl back into bed today and just sleep. Guess I over did it yesterday with the cleaning in the play room and socializing. And I really really hate the something-is-lodged-in-your throat feeling that you get partway through a cold/flu. I took sudafed to help with my head and chest congestion. I may just lay down on the floor here and take a little nap. Nevermind, I have to go pick up Drama Queen from school in less than an hour. And take Mr. Man's movies back to redbox, cause he SUCKS at doing that. I love him. He just cost us a LOT of money last time he got redbox movies.

It is extremely cold outside. I am very grateful for the space heaters we have been loaned. And that my sister-in-law is going to call for bids for the furnace. Really, how do people learn about doing this stuff? I'm glad she's around to tell us what-for and to keep us from just closing our eyes, opening the phonebook, and sticking a finger on the page to pick...........

UPDATE: Um, I so didn't even think to check if sudafed was okay for me to take, and according to babycenter.com it's only listed as "probably safe" to take while breastfeeding. So it's up to your digression. I've looked up DayQuil, and it is okay to take, which is mainly what I've survived on the last week. (store brand).

Update: furnace

2011-12-04T13:09:00.001-08:00

Well that didn't work. On to Plan B...tomorrow. Thank you again to those who have given us space heaters to use or offered help or even just commiserated with us through facebook or by phone.

What a Weekend

2011-12-04T09:48:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning I was laying in bed working on waking up as Mr. Man puttered around getting ready to go running. Hazel Mae was asleep in the swing still, I assumed, so I asked him to go check to make sure she was still alive (slept there 4 hours straight!). He said she was starting to wake up. I then told him how when I put her out there at 3:45 I tried to turn the heater up, but it didn't work. He looked at me then dropped what he was holding and went over to the thermostat. Pushed buttons. No effect. Went to the heater. Pilot light is out. He spent 15 to 20 minutes trying to light the pilot. I started to get out of bed and realized just how cold the house was. It was 64 degrees when I put Hazel in the swing. 4 hours with no heat and light snow outside, it was at least ten degrees colder. So Mr. Man went for a run to help him think of what to do. And I, of course, got on facebook.

I love my family. Especially my ward(church) family.

I love that a number of ward members are on facebook. Including the primary president and the Bishop's wife. The primary president, who is not on facebook frequently, signed on that morning, read my post regarding us not having heat and that it was the same temperature outside as it was in, offered her space heater. She even brought it over to me.
Mr. Man headed up to Ogden because a niece of ours got baptised yesterday and took Drama Queen with him as she's the only kid who's really not sick. Before they left they bought an electic blanket for Mischief, Hazel and I to keep warm with as well.
Then the Bishop's wife got on facebook and was her fabulous self. told me who in the ward knows furnace stuff and even offered that we could sleep at their house so we'd be warm. I thanked her and told her I'd have Mr. Man call, as I could not, having very little voice (seriously, I'm a mix between a boy going through puberty and a heavy smoker. It's not pretty or very understandable). She decided to call. And last night the fellow who knows furnaces came with his gorgeous wife (we hadn't met them before) to look at our heater. He took it apart and told Mr. Man what it looked like was the problem, and if it wasn't that, then the furnace is dead. He was sure that the piece would be hard to find and we'd probably have to call someone to come and look at it officially to order the piece.
After they left, we went to Target to get warm pajamas. Footsie pjs for Mischief, Drama Queen.........and me! We also got some 24 month onesies for Mischief to wear underneath, as she kicks her blankets off. On the way home we went by my brother's house because they have 2 space heaters also. While Mr. Man was getting the space heaters, apparently he was talking with my brother about the part that probably needs replacing on the furnace and low and behold (don't you just love those words?) HE HAD THE PART. God may give us trials, but he also gives us the ability to overcome them. Apparently their furnace had needed that part replaced at some point and they'd bought the item and it turned out there's a right hand and a left hand version (kinda like doors, eh?) and their furnace takes a left and ours a right.
Long story shortened a bit, we all stayed warm last night thanks to the borrowed space heaters and electric blanket (under Mischief) and Mr. Man will try to fix the furnace after church today. Hoping and praying it works! Though I do quite like my footsie jammas. Except that Nick and Nora (brand) don't seem to realize that women require a bit more space in the bum area.
I have pictures to go with this post, like of how 24 month onesies and 2T fleece jammas are massive on Mischief, and of our furnace doing nothing (so exciting), but that requires going to the other computers, so they'll have to wait a bit as I'm choosing to stay by the space heater in our room that is now up to 57 degrees! (it was 55 an hour ago).

In a completely unrelated bit......has anyone seen the "Beautiful Bangs" infomercial? It frightens and disturbs me.

Trying out the new equipment.

2011-12-01T19:44:00.000-08:00

Mischief's dinner that she chose not to eat. Except the apples. Well the meat of the apples.

Cute feet!

Hi swinging Hazel!

Beads.

2011-12-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

I have slept most of the day. I'm grateful to my husband for allowing me to do so. This also means the kids spent the day watching tv. Oh well, that's what happens when you are sick, yes? My throat still hurts but it doesn't feel as swollen and thick as this morning.
Funny thing is I'm still tired. Lovely. Anyone have any brilliant and easy dinner ideas? I guess we'll go with fish sticks and green beans. Or we've got microwave burritos. Hurray for easy food!
I just don't feel good. Time for more tylenol probably. Oh, time to start a new load of laundry too.

2011-11-30T21:14:00.000-08:00

I feel the same, Hazel, I feel the same.

Sick

2011-11-30T07:27:00.000-08:00

Last night I got a fever. I was freezing. Chilled to the bone freezing, and that really really hurts! I went to bed and froze until shortly before Mr. Man came to bed. Then it developed into the too hot too cold phase of fever. It was too hot with blankets, but too cold without. Hazel Mae had congestion issues. Suctioning her nose didn't help, it was too far back. Have you ever met a baby that loves getting her nose suctioned? Well you have now! It'd stop her from crying and she'd lay there nice and still while I tried to make it so she could breathe well enough to eat. No such luck. So while I sat up with her patting her back to keep her calm and quiet, my fever changed agaain and I was cold again but not freezing. Anyway, I finally fell asleep around 4 and was up at 6 with Hazel who couldn't breathe and couldn't eat and was utterly disagreeable. Eventually I couldn't sit and hold her any longer and just laid her down, and wouldn't you know she went right to sleep. And then Mischief was awake.
I'm all achey now. And I have Mischief's meeting with the allergist today. This will be fabulous I'm sure.

In non-whiney me news, Mr. Man is very stressed about his finals. He struggles with tests, so even though he's turned in all his homework and did fine on his tests throughout the semester, he's terrified he's going to fail. And if he does, he gets kicked out of school for a semester. And we need the money he gets while going to school. So please keep him in your prayers.

Hazel Mae - 4 month check up

2011-11-29T16:35:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving day, while the bigger girls colored thanksgiving pictures, Hazel Mae got to sit in the big girl chair and eat crayons. Hence why I gave her only the plastic ones rather than deal with a waxy diaper and possible choking.

At her well child visit today, she weighs 13lbs 11.5oz. That's only a 2 pound gain in the last two months, but it didn't cause concern because the kid grew THREE inches! She's now 25 and a quarter inches long. The doctor gave us a prescription for some eye drops due to her red and goopy eye as it's gotten worse over the last few days rather than tapered back off.
She was delightful for her entire appointment up until her shots, but she calmed down quickly afterward. She loves looking at that baby in the mirror!

2011-11-29T08:47:00.000-08:00

Mischief: I hungry mom. I hungry.
Me: I could make.....
Mischief: grapes.
Me: No, we're out of grapes. I could make oatmeal or soup?
Mischief: No, all gone, it's lost.
Me: We have some I could make.
Mischief: No. No want.

And today............Mommy is sick. SOOOoo, it's a chicken noodle soup day. I'm going to try making my own noodles. With gluten-free flour. Got supplies at the grocery store yesterday. Today my eye was goopy and my head and throat feel all thick and foggy. Lovely. Hazel Mae's dr. appointment is this afternoon. At least I can leave the other girls home with Mr. Man who is still throwing up.

A friend mentioned Celiac disease after reading my post about Mischief. I looked it up, and sure enough, she has almost every symptom of it - the ones she doesn't have are: vomiting (she doesn't eat enough to have anything to throw up), and two we can't see a result of due to age: delayed puberty and dental enamel defects to permanent teeth. What are the symptoms she has?

Diarrhea or constipation (or both)
Failure-to-thrive
Short stature
Poor appetite or food aversion
Vomiting
Bloated abdomen or stomach
Fatigue and irritability
Weight loss (although people can be overweight or of normal weight)
Iron deficient anemia (well her iron level was actually okay last time we were at WIC)
Behavioral changes

So I'm going to see if the allergist can order the blood test for it, or I'll ask the Pediatrician about it at Hazel's appointment today. Yesterday when they weighted Mischief she weighed 24 pounds. If you take away the pound her princess dress must have weighed, then she weighs 23 pounds, which means she's gained all of one pound this YEAR. Anyway. That's what I am looking into now.

Mischief Monday Update for Laurel and everyone

2011-11-28T14:38:00.000-08:00

Mischief has an ear infection.

I admit I don't know the difference between a wheat allergy and a gluten allergy. Isn't gluten from wheat? Therefore if you're allergic to gluten you're allergic to wheat and vice-versa? Mr. Man has ulcerative colitis, which is not as bad as Crohn's Disease, but may or may not develop into Crohn's Disease? I'm not sure, neither is he I think. Thankfully we can apply for PCN health insurance on the 10th so next time he has a flare up he can do something other than be miserable.

Mischief decided to NOT put on her shoes (she had taken them off when they weighed her, which I thought was hilarious because her dress has got to weigh at least a pound...) when we left the doctors office and being the on the all mom that I am, I did not notice until I buckled her into the car. I was not pleased. And am still not thrilled, but there was no way I was going to unbuckle everyone to go get them. Hazel has an appointment tomorrow, I'll ask about them then.

I'm seriously running out of patience with these children today.

Mischief

2011-11-28T11:14:00.000-08:00

Mischief, dressed for Thanksgiving dinner, standing infront of our "Thankful" tree.

I've mentioned Mischief's health issues on here before and you're about to hear about them again. One of my facebook friends who is a photographer has a blog. She only posts monthly, pretty much, but the pictures are gorgeous. Yesterday I hopped over to it and was scrolling through when I stopped on a post about her, then, seven year old daughter. As I was reading it I couldn't help but think that it sounded like Mischief. The screaming, dark circles under the eyes.....well here's what I emailed her to say: I was over at your blog admiring your gorgeous photography (and your girls clothes) when I happened to read the post on your seven year old. And was surprised to discover just how much it sounds like my two year old. Now I know yes, 2 year olds normally have a short attention span and don't always understand what you ask them to do and think screaming is great, but it just always seems somewhat off with my little [Mischief]. But what got me most is that you said you daughter would "say "my tummy is making me do it". Our 2 year old often tells us "tummy sad" when she is having what we call "hard days". I've suspected that something is wrong internally, and so does her Pediatrician but neither of us have answers. Her pediatrician just says to take her to an allergist. We don't have any pediatric allergists local so I need to get ahold of Medicaid to see where they want us to go. I think it's more than allergy related because she isn't growing. It concerns her doctor and I but like I said the doctor has no answers besides to give her pediasure, but even 3 pediasures a day hasn't helped. She's 2 1/2 and fits 18 month clothes. Anyway. I was wondering if you would share some more details about your daughter's diagnosis so I can see if it does sound more like my own daughter, and can maybe get a clue as to what direction we should go.

She sent me a message back this morning, and I scheduled an appointment for Mischief at her pediatrician's this afternoon. Her pediatrician had once said she wanted to do a thorough bloodwork-up, but we never got it set up. And I really want to even more now. Because I have noticed over the last few months, that wheat seems to be a trigger. I am still not sure about dairy, but wheat for sure is questionable. The times that Mischief has issues tends to be when she has had wheat or we are trying to feed her a wheat product. Those are the days when we get the "tummy sad" comments. She does avoid wheat on her own. If she's very hungry, she'll eat a bit otherwise the only grain products she willingly eats are rice cakes and corn chips. She knows what makes her feel okay and what doesn't. Mr. Man wants to wait until she's older so we can see if it actually is due to some health issue or if it's just because she's two, but I don't like that logic. Why should she have to suffer for years? I admit it's hard to give her a diet different that what we are having. Drama Queen and Mischief tend to have a limited menu for lunches, cause I like easy. Peanut butter and jam on whole wheat bread, macaroni and cheese hot dogs and fruit, chicken nuggets and veggies. Those are their basics. All include wheat except the hot dogs, and well, in truth the hot dog meal is the only one that Mischief eats entirely. She will lick out the peanut butter and jam from her sandwich. She refuses entirely to eat Mac N cheese, and she usually eats only one nugget and her vegetables.

Mischief being "schroeder" on Thanksgiving afternoon.

So now you know more about our guessing game. I guess I need to stick with the selective foods for her for longer than I did last time. We've got an appointment scheduled with an allergist (turns out the local one does take 2 year olds, as they only do skin testing) for Wednesday when we will meet with the doctor. Apparently our insurance requires a meeting to talk first and then we can schedule testing.

And now I'm out of things to say about that until after her appointment this afternoon. I've distracted her and Drama Queen with their little pink "tree" to decorate in their bedroom... (And yes Isaac, I know I said I'd be home all today except for taking Maddie to, and picking up from school but when they have room day of, you go!)

2011-11-27T10:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we headed north to my cousin's house. He's got an awesome camera and a gorgeous backdrop and fun photo props. He did our family pictures, thanks Anthony! And thanks mom for setting it up and sending us clothes for them! The girls looked so cute! After that we went to Mr. Man's sister's house and visited for about an hour or so. Hazel Mae adored her, which is VERY good since she'll be there for a week next month!

Mischief had a hard time last night. Instead of being just kind of winter snotty, she's officially congested and green snotty. I put the humidifier in the girls room, but she still woke up at 9pm, thankfully I was able to rock her back to sleep, after a dose of tylenol (she kept saying her hair hurt, and grabbing the hair behind her ear, which in my opinion means she either had major head congestion or is developing an ear infection), some homeopathic cold medicine, and melatonin, and put her in bed. She was awake again at 4:23am. I got up, with her and we laid on the couch watching kid shows until Hazel woke up to eat at about 5:30 - 6ish.

Mr. Man took Drama Queen and Hazel to church with him. I've done dishes, fed Mischief and I, cleaned off most of the kitchen table. Submitted our job connection case review (and am irritated with myself for reading the paperwork wrong. I thought it said I had until the 1st of December to submit it, but it turns out it was supposed to be submitted by Nov. 10th. Now, due to it being late, we may not get money for food next month. Grrr. stupid me.)

It's sunny. Once I remember where I put the diaper bag, I can upload pictures from this past week. But for now I'm going to return to cleaning up, my way of showing Mr. Man that I really appreciate that he took Hazel Mae with him too!

Tutu Tuesday: A science experiment

2011-11-22T18:24:00.000-08:00

On Monday Drama Queen and I started a science experiment while the littler girls slept.

First she measured out 2 cups of water

then poured the water into a saucepan.

Next she carefully measured 5 cups of sugar

And added each cupful to the pan. Doing this she noticed that the water turned white.

Mommy put the pan on the stove, and turned on the burner.
Time to stir,

stir,

stir!

She noticed while stirring that the sugar stopped being crunchy and disappeared. We talked about solids and liquids (she's been learning about them in science - yes, her kindergarten has a science class......no painting, or dancing or singing "Farmer in the Dell". Science and Math.). She also excitedly informed me that sugar said "Sh" so it starts with S-H! Nope, sorry kid. English is rather inconsistant.
Once the water/sugar mixture started making bubbles(boiling), we pulled it off. She put in a few drops of food coloring and I added some strawberry flavoring. Then more stirring. And yes, she did all the stirring herself, she let me stir all of twice, and only cause I said I wanted to feel how it wasn't crunchy anymore.

No pictures as we let it cool then poured it into the jars. Just plastic wrap wasn't strong enough to hold the sticks in place, I folded foil into layers then stabbed a stick through for each.

Now we wait. Drama Queen will look each day to see what happens to the sugar after a few days.

I enjoy having Drama Queen sound out words. She does it constantly throughout the day. Of course then she runs into spelling problems, such as with sugar and shoe.

2011-11-22T07:31:00.000-08:00

I'm so tired of waking up tired! I even went to bed at 9:30 last night! And Mischief slept in until 7:30! (DQ dragged herself out of bed around 8 even). Yet I could totally go lay back down in bed and sleep sleep sleep.

2011-11-21T14:40:00.001-08:00

Oh good grief, how do you explain to a 5 year old why sugar says "sh" and doesn't have an H or why shoe has the "oo" sound, but only one o and a silent e? really, I'd like to know how!

Christian Books

2011-11-21T13:24:00.000-08:00

Due to a giveaway going on, I'm making a post about the Vision Forum. I discovered them a year or so ago, while looking for Life of Faith dolls. They don't carry Life of Faith dolls (well, no one does anymore), but they have a TON of awesome products that I'd totally want to buy if I had a little boy. They also carry a large selection of educational and Christian DVDs as well as Christian Books. I enjoy Christian books more than others. Mind you some Christian novels are far too sappy for my liking, but at least they're clean. When I was a child I LOVED (and still love, hence having almost the entire collection) the Mandie series. I can't think of the author off the top of my head, but they're a good middle reader series. Each has a scripture at the beginning if I remember right. They're published by Bethany House. Anyway, when we moved up here I discovered I had a copy of Elsie Dinsmore, which I was familiar with entirely because of the Life of Faith dolls. So I was excited to discover that, I had picked it up due to it's age and the pretty cover. Unfortunately it literally fell apart as I read the first book of that dear little girl's story. Yes, she made me cringe and want to hurl on occasion with how perfectly righteous she is, but really, she is an excellent example for little girls. To always turn to the Lord for help and be kind to others even if they are not kind to you, and other Christ like qualities. She does cry an awful lot also. Anyway, Vision Forum has the entire series of Elsie Dinsmore books, I totally want it. They also have some great looking books on developing a godly home. Godly seems like a odd word to me "what you're trying to be God?" but no, it just means a faithful God fearing home. But what have I wanted most from Vision Forum for years, besides their Christian books? The Patriotic Textbook Set

For home schooling of course. Their description explains it well:

There are several books that every home school family needs to bring to their table this year.

For the foundations of your faith and worldview bring your Bible. To help you define your words and build your vocabulary in terms of that Christian worldview bring your Webster’s 1828 Dictionary — a self-consciously Christian standardization of the English language that continues to provide “original intent” explanations and Scripture-based definitions to tens of thousands of home educators today.

Add in The Original Blue-Backed Speller published in 1873 by Noah Webster created to provide an American, Christ-centered approach to training children, and then the New England Primer which was the used by almost all of the Founding Fathers of our country in their primary training, and you have a tremendous resource set for laying the foundations of education with your young students!

So yes, I enjoy the Vision Forum's catalog. I hope to someday order from it. I know Mr. Man would love the high impact practice swords they have. I think every woman should watch and learn from the Homestead Blessings DVDs. If they have time and the desire, of course. Not everyone has to think the way I do. Though it'd be easier if my husband did! Anyway. This is my blog post proclaiming the wonderfulness of the Vision Forum Family Catalog (one of the few catalogs my girls are NOT allowed to mark in, as it is yearly not monthly like some) and how they sell great Christian Books, and how I want to win the $300 gift card they've given The Modest Mom.

Patience

2011-11-20T16:27:00.000-08:00

I am striving to have patience today, and to be very interactive with the girls. It is not an easy task. The girls are being Princesses once more and we are focusing on Princess-like behavior. Screaming, whining and fighting are not what Princesses should do. So when they start up I quickly, and quietly hush them and explain a better way for a Princess to respond or ask. It's not easy for them, or myself. We'll learn together.

Proverbs 31:26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of ^akindness.

Doctrine and Covenants 52:16

16 He that speaketh, whose spirit is contrite, whose language is meek and edifieth, the same is of God if he obey mine ordinances.

Doctrine and Covenants 31:9

9 Be patient in afflictions, revile not against those that revile. Govern your house in meekness, and be steadfast

Princesses

2011-11-19T12:34:00.000-08:00

When my sister and I were young we'd occasionally play princesses. I don't remember much regarding it besides our "names". We were Princess Snowflake and Princess Buttercup. Princess Buttercup was the far better princess to be and I recall one time she let me be Princess Buttercup and I was so happy and it made me feel so special that she was being Princess Snowflake for once so I could be Princess Buttercup! Really, it has stuck with me all these years. It was on the forefront of my mind today after the girls changed into dresses to play Princesses. They were squabbling about something Princess related and I decided to distract them from that by giving them their Princess names.
Introducing:

Mischief as Princess Sugar Plum and Drama Queen as Princess Forsythia.

Princesses Sugar Plum and Forsythia set sail.

One cold autumn day Princess Forsythia thought
it would be lovely to set sail in the puddles of melted snow.

Delighted with the prospect of being out of doors again,
Princess Sugar Plum eagerly joined her elder sister

and gracefully set her own boat adrift in the icy deep.

After determining that the ships were not casting off due to the weight, the passengers were invited to disembark and instead explore the depths of the Queen's coat pockets.

Once more, the Princesses set their ships a-sail upon the waters.

Having no breeze with which to move on their own accord, the boats were given aid in their travel.

Alas, caught up in the delight of the adventure her little paper boat was having, Princess Sugar Plum failed to notice that she too was in the puddle.

Cold and wet, the Princesses returned to their royal castle where they carefully left their elegant footwear at the gate.

2011-11-19T08:16:00.001-08:00

Bread

2011-11-18T09:07:00.000-08:00

Have you seen the book The Joy of Cooking? My mother-in-law has the 1967 copy of it and every time we go to their house, I love to sit and browse it. It has many recipes I've never heard of, but interest me so much! So earlier this year I hopped on ebay and browsed for a few weeks, hoping to find the same edition for a near thrift store price. No luck. But I eventually came across one that was very beat up (read, well used and loved) and dirt cheap.

Year of printing? 1936. I'll take it! I don't recall the exact cost, but it was less than $5 and most of that was shipping cost. The only thing I don't like about it is the layout is a touch different. But oh how I love the information and unique recipes it has! There's even a hand-written one on the inside of the cover:

I was entertained at our last visit to my mother-in-law's to hear her say she wants the new edition of it BECAUSE her book has so many recipes she's not even interested in trying.

One of my resolutions this year was to make bread by hand. It hasn't happened. I've used the bread machine plenty. And well, actually I guess it has happened, I did make sour dough by hand, but the man didn't eat any of it so I let the starter die. After catching up with Aspiring Homemaker's blog, I decided today I would make bread! I was going to use the recipe on the can of "Dough Enhancer" I got at the grocery store yesterday, but either I put it away so well I can't find it, or it fell out of the bag and is still in the car. I don't want to use the BHG cookbook, because many of the recipes I've used from it did NOT turn out. Darn new editions! I want the edition my mom has! So I hit the cookbook bookshelf in the play room and rediscovered my copy of The Joy of Cooking. In opening to the Breads section, I was delighted to discover the following paragraph (remember my post in regard to modern cooking temperatures, you'll understand then why I'm so delighted, that and now I'll have a gauge for when I get a wooden cook stove in my dream house):

"Oven Temperature Tests

For Those Who Have No Thermometer

Sprinkle flour on a pan and place it in a heated oven.
If it turns a delicate brown in five minutes the oven is slow-250* to 325*.
If it turns a medium golden brown in five minutes the oven is moderate-325* to 400*.
If it turns a deep dark brown in five minutes the oven is hot-400* to 450*f
If it turns a deep dark brown in three inutes the oven is very hot-450* to 500*.
A piece of white tissue-paper may be used in place of the flour."

Awesome! Okay now I need to actually go get some bread started proofing before I get distracted again.

Post note: Oh the awesomeness, it even explains details of how the yeast works and how to knead!! Also how to scald the milk! This book is awesome for people who don't know or are unsure of what they are doing!!

Moments

2011-11-17T17:05:00.000-08:00

Mischief - When given the option of a white shirt with teal flowers or an off-white button up colored shirt (it does have velvet ribbon trim, so it is girly) she chose the button-up, exclaiming, "Jesse shirt!! I wear Jesse shirt! I Jesse!" (Jesse is a friend at Church. Two Sunday's ago she kept standing up backwards on our pew so she could see him.)

Running from the computer room to the tv room when she heard the Word World music, "OH! I like that show! Frog! I like frogs!"

While mom was using the potty, she came in to announce her hands were dirty and she needed to "Wash them myself!" climbed up to the counter, washed her hands then requested help getting down. Not everything is "myself"!

We picked up the mail and there was an American Girl catalog. I handed it to Mischief and she exclaimed, "Dowwy!(Dolly) I need pen!" Yes, I'm training them well.

Unfortunately it's not all cuteness and entertainment with Mischief. She wakes up before Drama Queen(and everyone else) and does her rooster impression. It results in waking Drama Queen (and everyone else) up. So we have a tired DQ these days. A tired DQ is an irrational and emotional DQ. She's currently in her bed, crying for the 10th time today (I do feel for her, but literally, she's crying over everything), this time it's because she was in the playroom screaming at Mischief that she didn't want to play. So I told her to get out of the playroom because the playroom is for playing. Who's idea was it to have a bunch of moody and dramatic little girls?!

And now the many expressions of Miss Hazel Mae:

Isn't her "confusion" face adorable. She gives us that look all the time. She thought the camera cord was great fun to grab:

And I was thrilled to see I did get a picture of her mouth open minus hand, so you can see her tooth!

Mischief and Drama Queen were playing "school".

2011-11-16T09:18:00.000-08:00

Starting to get a bit mobile.

She had been facing the mirror with her chest and arms on the blue kickboard.

Hazel Mae is the only child here that will hold still and smile for me, so yet again, you only get pictures of her.

She likes being tickled and thinks Muck-lucks is a hilarious word.

And she sure loves getting her toes!

And now I'm going to finish gathering stuff for freecycle today.

2011-11-15T14:58:00.000-08:00

Today is going better. Which is funny since I got practically no sleep last night (Hazel didn't want to go to bed until 2am and Mischief was up at 5 something) and have no brain today.

After dropping Drama Queen and Mr. Man at their classes, Mischief, Hazel and I went to Smith's and I bought 48 cans of green beans, plus canned carrots, corn, spinach and tomatoes. So I feel better about our food storage for now. When we picked everyone up from school we stopped at WinCo to get the rest of the week's groceries (minus produce cause really, my brain isn't here today). And we got a free turkey!! WinCo has a deal going on right now that if you spend $100 you get free turkey. Well that was easy! Or I thought it'd be. When we checked out we were 3 dollars short so I told Mr. Man to just grab something. He grabbed two chocolate oranges, or well one was orange the other is toffee crunch.

Before we picked up Mr. Man we stopped at my sister-in-law's quilting group. And Hazel Mae somehow got more poop into her clothes than in her diaper. Kid has skills. Thankfully one of the women there (who's also one of my visiting teachers) has twins that are the same size as Hazel and she lended me the spare outfit she carries for them as well as gave me a diaper because I totally spaced having a diaper bag today......really, I'm a winner today.....

In other less than fortunate news, Mischief is taking a nap. Yes it's nearly 4pm. She needed it desperately. She really needs a nap daily still, but she doesn't wind down enough until about pm and so she'll be up until 11pm at the earliest. Mr. Man says "that's okay I don't work tonight". And I just smile and nod my head because that's what he says everytime and then he goes to bed before both of us. hahaha. He does have work and school, so I'm okay with it.

I've discovered I have some major cleaning roadblocks. Like more so than I thought. For example, in my bathroom, there's a vanity that has 3 drawers. Well. Said vanity and drawers are cluttered and haven't been used, except for the first aid kit, for many months. So you'd think I could just go and toss all that crap into a bag and be rid of it right? No. I tried. I tried many times. I think I'll make Mr. Man do it.
Like right now.

2011-11-14T22:14:00.000-08:00

We have grand intentions of being useful and productive members of society. Some days.
Monday was not one of those days. Neither was Sunday.
I am having a hard time leaving the house. Like verge of panic attack, hard time. So I don't leave the house and all is well. We didn't go to church on Sunday. I almost didn't take Drama Queen to school on Monday. It was a minimal day which means she had school from 9:15am to 11:15am. I had to debate with myself if the threat of being outside was worth an hour and a half of peace at home. In the end I took her and so Mischief got to be at home without fighting over something from 9:20 to 10:50 when we went to pick DQ up. I never understand why I get this way. It's one of the reasons I didn't really do anything in high school. I did try swim team, but I couldn't stand being away from home. I think it's along the lines when I was a child, if I was playing outside I was always alert for the sound of a car coming and I'd run and hide until the car passed. I'm a weirdo. I think it must be some degree of my depression, I don't want to consider that I have something else going on.
My depression hasn't been to bad lately, in my opinion. Mr. Man thinks I've been more vacant than usual. I think that's due to the negativity that my mind is trying to feed me lately, I go with what Thumper's dad said, "If you can't say nothin' nice, don't say nothin' at all." Just because I think everyone hates me and wishes I weren't around doesn't mean it's true. I know that Hazel's crying and the girls constant fighting isn't just happening with the intent to torture me.
If this all sounds horrible, I'm sorry. I'm just to process everything further and see if anyone else has some insight.

Tuesday is grocery day! I want to be very careful with it this month. No "Do you have the munchies? I have the munchies" runs. I wish the Cannery took EBT, haha. Local grocers will have to do. I'm going to hit the sales Smith has right now on green beans, corn, Annie's Mac & Cheese, and........I know there was something else. Peanut butter is on sale at Macey's. Wheat, salt, sugar, yeast, oats. Need those added. Where, other than the cannery, can you buy oats in bulk? Oil too. How long does oil store before it goes rancid?

I got Mr. Man's main present finished today! It got up to 50* so I grabbed all the stuff and ran outside to finish. Two of the pieces didn't quite turn out how I wanted, but oh well. Got another gift idea for him from pinterest. I should be working on gifts or outfits for a friend's 1 yr old right now. Instead I'm bouncing Hazel in her bouncy chair and freezing on the couch while watching old episodes of Criminal minds.

Mischief spent most of Monday screaming for one reason or another. I don't know what to do about it anymore. Putting her in time out when she screams hasn't helped. Reminding her we don't scream inside doesn't work. Telling her she has to go to her room until she can stop screaming is a temporary solution. She spends quite a bit of time in there due to her screaming. I did smack her mouth once today because I could hear her screaming while I was outside spray painting, and she was already in her room, but instead of calming down, she got louder and louder, and there was no reason for it. She just screams and screams. If she doesn't get her way is the usual trigger. She decides she wants something Maddie has, she wants to do something she's not supposed to, like put stickers on furniture (cause sometimes she thinks paper is not good enough).

That's enough for now.

Thanks Pinterest: Marbled paper prints

2011-11-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

On Pinterest I found this craft:

So today we did it.

filled some empty plastic drawers with shaving cream

Added food coloring (note: you'll want to add plenty rather than think a little goes a long way - I did Mischief's and it definately could have used more)

Use a spatula or stick to swirl the colors around (note: if doing this with kids, use sticks or dowels or something other than a spatula or you'll end up with just smears of color)

Press a piece of paper - we used cardstock - into shaving cream

Pull your paper out and use a spatula or a squeegie ( I recommend getting squeegees) to scrape off the shaving cream

Hang your beautiful marbled papers to dry!
The food coloring actually didn't stain our fingers too bad. I've also seen pins of this with the kids using paint brushes to pain the colored shaving cream onto the paper. I think we'll try that when I find where I put the cardstock down......

2011-11-12T10:07:00.000-08:00

Growing up, we had an "neighborhood grandma". Her name was Molly and her husband was Otto. They had two dogs, Lady and Annie. We'd go down to their house and she'd give us candy and we'd sit and talk for awhile. Some days longer than other, as I was a child and admit sometimes I simply wanted the candy.

Where we live now the girls have two "neighborhood grandmas". One is next door and Drama Queen goes over them about once a week and will play for a few hours. The other is up the street a few trailers and she's much like Molly. She loves the neighborhood kids and delights in their company. If her door is open, you know you can stop in for a lollipop and some hugs. I love talking with her because she is nonjudgemental and has entertaining stories.

Today she stopped by our house, because she had come across a little dress and thought it would fit Mischief. Oh my, Mischief's joy at being offered a dress. It's a darling dress too, I'll have her wear it to church tomorrow and get pictures. Mischief eagerly accepted that dress and most willingly gave Joyce a hug in exchange. It was so cute.

Anyway, we love Joyce and Linda, the girl's unofficial grandmas.

Hazel Mae - 4 months tomorrow

2011-11-12T09:43:00.000-08:00

Hazel Mae loves that baby in the mirror.

When sitting in the bumbo chair, Hazel Mae loves to try and get......

Those toes!

She has started accepting a bottle, so she won't starve when Auntie Beth is watching the girls! She, like DQ did, prefers the drop in's style bottle nipple over the evenflo classic glass bottles. Now what to do with all our glass bottles from Mischief......

2011-11-12T08:25:00.000-08:00

The trouble with wanting to make an afghan of naturally dyed wool is.......the cost and the fact that natural dyeing tends to take place in small quantities....not 3,245 yards at a time.... *sigh*

2011-11-10T19:03:00.000-08:00

Dry cracked knuckles.
Everyone but me asleep before 8pm.
Pile of clean clothes on the couch.
Glass of Dr. Pepper TEN.
Husband cleaned kitchen.
Bones almost on tv.
Freshly showered.
No more hair tangles.
Paula is wearing a very bad color lipstick for her.
The lighting is harsh on her wrinkles, showing her age.
Lame drama.
Apparently 3 spirits have visited Simon before Christmas.
He's being too nice.
Next we know he'll be taking a goose to the group just cut.
Munchies for salty.
Walked/jogged 2 miles today.
Vacuumed the girls room today.
Caffiene starting to kick in.
Really want a steak and loaded baked potato.
Oh the rats on Bones are so cute!!!
It's true, I like rodents.
They are adorable and make wonderful pets.
The end.

2011-11-08T20:39:00.000-08:00

I don't have much to say lately. Been pondering next year's garden and the canning of it. Here are some pictures.

2011-11-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

Calypso.

It's a song I have loved since I was a kid.
My dad would play his guitar and sing it.
I wanted to listen to it the other day.
Searched for it on Grooveshark.com
Eventually discovered it is a John Denver song.
Discovered I like John Denver.
Still think my dad singing/playing Calypso is better though.
Plugged John Denver into Pandora Radio.
Discovering I like(or that these people play songs I grew up loving, like Leader of the Band):

James Taylor
Jim Croce
Peter, Paul, and Mary
Bread
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Dan Fogelberg
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Simon and Garfunkel

Feeling the need for a blowy dress and flowers in my hair..........

Oldest & Youngest

2011-11-04T23:34:00.000-07:00

These two have such a sweet relationship so far. Drama Queen used to tell Hazel all about her day and now Hazel will tell DQ right back. Hazel lights up when her big sister comes over to play. Though we really need to buy a bottle of hand sanitizer so mommy will stop being paranoid everytime DQ touches Hazel's hands.

Truth is. . . Thursday

2011-11-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

Truth is........If my house weren't a disaster area, I could.......

paint the walls
do an exercise video
crawl around the floor chasing my children.
dance around the house with my children.
lay on the floor to read books to my children
lay on the floor to color with my children
cut out pattern pieces
build a fort
invite people over
have crab walking races
get to the windows to put up plastic seals
rearrange furniture
vacuum

Truth is.....It's only 10am and Mischief has eaten:

a serving of oatmeal (one packet cooked)
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt with sliced strawberries and honey
an apple
grapes

Truth is.......so far today I have:

given one child a shower
gotten two children dressed
photographed two children
ran a load of laundry
ran a load of dishes
gotten dressed
fed three children
checked email
checked google+
checked facebook
checked pinterest
started writing down the plans for Christmas presents so I can stop making more plans

Truth is......I forgot it was Thursday until I heard the trash truck headed down the street. I quickly ran outside and put our can out.

Truth is.....my socks are dirty from that.

Truth is.....I don't know where to begin with the disaster that is my house because all my efforts seem fruitless since the next day the tv room always ends up looking like I'd never done anything.

Truth is.....my Christmas present plan for my husband is not going to work out if the weather keeps getting colder. I'll see if I can do it today while he is at school since today is supposed to be the warmest day for a while. (it involves spray paint)

Truth is......This kid is going to have issues for a week in December when she won't have me next to her with breasts to smoosh her face into at night. Seriously, she would NOT sleep Tuesday night until I laid down with her and she scooted herself next to me until her cheek was pressed against me. She didn't want to eat, she just likes milk scented pillows I guess......

Truth is.....she's also in 6 month clothes now.

Truth is.......I'm going to stop being lazy and get some cleaning done.

2011-11-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

Maddie: "Mom, what's those papers say?"
Me: "Well this one is about make-up picture day next week."
*silence for about a minute*
Maddie: "I think make-up day is when people put make-up on their kids for school that day."

Bottomless Pit

2011-11-02T16:39:00.000-07:00

Mischief has gone from not eating, to eating almost non stop.
Breakfast: bowl of golden puffs with milk
Snack: banana
Lunch: corn dog with a copious amount of ketchup and sweet potato waffle fries
Snack: applesauce

She is now begging for dinner. And so long as today continues the same as the past week or so, she'll eat all her dinner, have num num milk at bedtime, and still wake up hungry at 2am.

Wallowing Wednesday

2011-11-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

Today I miss........

Disneyland
my Disneyland paycheck
going to the gym whenever I want
water drinking competitions with Ms Jennifer C.
year round warm weather
Rod Miller playing rag time
living in a clean house
being able to live off of diet coke and saltines

Today I'm grateful for......

my easily amused 2 yr old
kindergarten
a baby who goes to bed easily when tired
a nice house to live in, even if it's over flowing with my crap
pinterest
craft stores
having let my husband join the air force. It's still the only reason we survive even though he's been discharged.
doll blankets made by my grandma
a working furnace
my husband's job
my husband going to school
getting to help my husband work on his essay final draft last night
caffeinated pop
news and shows on regular channels that give tips and discuss church stuff. HAHAHA. Only in Utah does President Monson giving the BYU devotional make the news or does a morning talk show give tips about dealing with kids and church. HAHAHA.
garlic salt
my parents and siblings
the pumpkin fairy's candy stash
people who give things other than candy on halloween
having a Christmas present idea for my husband! Can you spray paint in 40 degree weather? cause if not then there goes that......
caffiene kicking in and my no longer being as burst into tears ready.

Trick or Treat

2011-10-31T19:56:00.000-07:00

I always found the Halloween scene in Meet Me in St. Louis thoroughly entertaining. But wondered about it. There's no trick or treating as we knowing. Just the kids running amuck the town destroying stuff and "killing" the people (throwing flour in their faces). Then I watched National Geographic's documentary on Halloween and learned that yep, that's what used to happen and it brought about trick or treating because kids were given treats in stead of the destruction or "tricks". Huh. Now you know.

Well even though half the houses we hit did not answer, we were nice and did no tricks. The girls had a great time getting treats. Mr. Man convinced them to wear their costumes and even he dressed up. I tried to, i had half my costume on, couldn't find the skirt though. My closet is a disaster. After we did our trick or treating we went to the Bishop's house for some food. Thanks Green family!! I didn't have to make dinner! I now forgive our ward for not having a trunk or treat, haha.

Bumblebee and Butterfly Princess

One of the things I love about living where we do, is we knew almost everyone we ran into or trick or treated to.

Hazel Mae, Queen of the Wild Things.

I wasn't able to catch her "Are we done yet" look that she kept giving us.

Some of these steps up the the doors were SO big for Mischief. We had to constantly empty her basket to reduce her chance of falling off balance and down stairs.

A bit of socializing over the candy bowl.

Handsome Mr. Man. My mom made his shirt, I made the doublet. Tristan Boots from Museum Replicas Limited (I think they're just called Museum Replicas now).

And all but 9 pieces of candy are in a box waiting for the pumpkin fairy to turn them into toys tonight. We are quite fond of this tradition we are creating. Kinda worried about Mischief's conprehension of it. She did great with it last year......

Make it Monday

2011-10-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

Make it........Clean! (Pinterest gets total credit for the deep cleaning happening in my kitchen)

Folded them all while watching a Lifetime movie.

Make it........Yummy!

Make it.........when your mom refuses to buy one........(Drama Queen is ingenius with punching the holes it for the stick to go through!)

Make it.............a costume!

A lesson from Mischief

2011-10-30T13:53:00.000-07:00

How to get out of being scolded and having your mouth smacked after shrieking yet again (because your big sister wouldn't let you steal her toy)............

When you see mommy headed toward you, throw your arms open and exclaim adoringly "Mama!!"

And as mom starts remembering why she was coming over, wrap your arms around her neck and press your cheek to hers while sweetly whispering "Hi Mama."

If she starts talking again just snuggle closer.