California (part one)

The boys and I are in California visiting my family.  Craig and Ethan LOVE playing with their cousins everyday and doing all the fun little activities we do when we come here.  If how dirty and sticky they are by the end of the night are any indication of how much fun they've had, then they kids are having the time of their life.  Grant is just as amiable as ever.  He loves the attention he gets from his girl cousins.  Their mom is due in July and they are SO excited to get some practice with a REAL baby. :) Here are pictures from some of our activities ranging from Saturday through Monday.  (Yesterday we took it easy.)

This is the candy store in Columbia, an old western ghost town that is thriving as a tourist attraction.

We saw this butterfly that was drying its wings.  It seems like it had just "hatched" and was waiting to fly away.  After a minute, it caught the wind and was off!  It was pretty cool.

The 19th century bowling alley with wooden pins and wooden bowling balls.  Craig LOVES bowling, so this was a favorite place.

We went fishing at a little lake near my parent's house called Willow Springs Lake.  Craig's been dying to go fishing for a long time, so he loved this activity.

Ethan spent most of the time we were fishing wandering around and dancing on the edge of the water, just about to fall in but managed to stay dry.

This was right after the net had been used to bring a fish in.  Gross.  Like I said, they have been getting filthy and stinky by the end of every day.  Funny thing: Craig was really wanting to use the net and I told him we had to wait until a fish was being reeled in.  Then he said to me, "I'm going to put the net in the water, the fish will turn his head, and then swim into the net!"  That would be awesome.

Craig doing a happy dance after someone caught a fish.

There were a total of four fish caught that night.  Each of Craig's girl cousins (Bryan wasn't quite so lucky) caught one with the help of their dad and Craig caught one (Uncle Dustin helped with him, too). :)  He was one happy little boy.

Our obligatory train ride.  Whenever we are within a 20 mile radius of a train, we MUST ride it.  I think it's in the Mother of Boys Code I signed when Craig was born.

Grant loving his baby swing. :) I took a video of him talking and laughing and swinging.

Last Saturday we went to a breakfast that was held at an apple orchard here that's run by people called the German Baptists.  They live a rustic kind of lifestyle, but not quite Amish.  They use electricity and cars and everything, but they still maintain some of the older methods, like this old apple cider press.  This is how they really dress...they aren't just dressed up for the day.  This is one of my most favorite places to go when we come to California.  I think I'll take the boys back pretty soon here.

Ah, poppies!  (Name that movie. :))  We passed this beautiful field of poppies when we walked to the lake near my parent's house.

Grant's first time actually sitting in the stroller.  We were taking a walk to the Willow Springs Lake (there's also a park there).

Grant with his cousin Lily.  She has been a great helper with him and he loves her.

At the apple orchard breakfast, watching the train pass and holding hands. :)

Everyone eating breakfast.  I met my sister and her family there.  That's who those people are.

Birthdays

I am a little behind on things here, but better late than never.  Things have been pretty crazy.  So, a week ago last Monday (April 30th) Craig turned four years old and I turned 31!  It sounds weird, but feels right.  On our actual birthday, I decided it would be fun to take Craig to the fire station down the road from us.  It was the best birthday idea I've ever had.  They surprised us by taking us on a ride on one of their biggest fire trucks!  Craig loved it and I did, too.  He really liked asking about all the different types of trucks and seeing inside all the compartment.  After all that, we went to get Chinese food for dinner (Craig's pick but I concurred).  We opened presents there and got Coldstone for dessert.  This was our first day off our strict diet (which I lost ten pounds in 21 days and Robert lost about 30) so it was a great come back to real eating.  

I made Craig a superhero cape with a big "C" on it.  Ethan actually likes it better than Craig, but he was pretty excited when he first opened it.

This picture was just from this last Sunday.  I was planning on having a party for Craig at the park with his friends the Saturday after his birthday and have the special cake he said he wanted.  But we ended up coming to California for some family stuff last week (more on that later) so we had a little extended family party on Sunday.  We had pizza, cake, ad presents.  At first he told me he wanted a James cake (from Thomas) so I had plans for one with the actual toy train on it.  But then when I asked him what he wanted one last time before buying the stuff on Saturday he changed his mind.  He said he wanted a cake with orange frosting and yellow inside.  I put James on it, anyway, but when he saw it he took it off.  Just orange frosting, I guess.  He liked it, though, and that's what matters.  We opened a couple more little presents and he played the rest of the night.

Craig and his cousin Bryan are playing with Craig's new bowling set in this picture.  Good form, Craig.

California here we come!  The boys and I are heading to California today and I am really excited.  I will try to get birthday pictures posted ASAP.  See you later!

End of an era

Not only am I out of my 20's, but there is now a whole year between me and that stage of my life.  To commemorate this momentous occasion, I have planned my Daniel Fast diet to end.  This morning I had eggs and waffles and milk, all of which are outlawed on the diet.  It was a great experience, this fast.  I really enjoyed trying new foods and developing a new relationship with food, in general.  Losing 10 pounds was definitely a plus.  I really needed that jump start and it got me to a really big weight loss milestone for me.  I have made a few resolutions on this very significant day.  Today is the day I embark on a new way of eating, almost as if I'm coming out of a 21 day food rehab and now I have to learn how to live each day with my new perspective and resist temptation among all the choices out there.  It is also the day I was born and the day I became a mother for the first time.  My oldest son, Craig, turns four today.  So, here are the things I am resolving to do.  Since this is a record for myself, mostly, I might be adding to this list off and on as I think of things.

RESOLVED:

1.  I will not weight myself today, April 30 2012.  I do not want anything to make me feel disappointed today.
2.  I will appreciate the size I am now, because I know six months ago I would have given anything to be here.
3.  I will eat smart and get plenty of activity, but I will not worry about whether or not I lose weight.
4.  I will not gain weight.
5.  I will not think of myself as "old" since in ten years I will look back and think how young I was and how I wasted time thinking I was old.
6.  This year, I will receive my teaching credentials.
7.  I will be an example of calmness and clarity to my children.
8.  I will remember that even though Craig is getting so big, he is only a little boy.
9.  Today, I will let Craig play Mario Kart until his heart's content.  Or until we go to the store.  Whichever comes first.
10.  I will take pictures.

Rag rug

I have an Easter post still in the works.  I promise we did celebrate Easter.  There are a few pictures on  one camera and a few on another and never have the twain met.  Yet.  I have several projects I've been working on, though.  One is this rag rug I saw and repinned on Pinterest.  Here is the link for the tutorial I followed.  I had a bunch of scrap fabric and sheets, an empty entryway floor, and a new sewing machine.  All the pieces seemed to be coming together so I tackled this project.  It was fun, but kind of time consuming.  On the other hand, it was a good project to pick up and work on here and there.  Also, ripping the strips and braiding them was a good activity to do anytime, anywhere with the kids playing, watching T.V., or anything really.  Now it's done, I like it, and I am on to the next.

(Craig wanted to be in the picture.  I can't believe my baby is going to be four in two days!)

Things are going well with our Daniel Fast. I've lost about five pounds and Robert's down 15! We've got about 13 days to go, I think. We've also had some pretty interesting revelations about Robert's health. For those of you reading this who know him, this will be more interesting. He's been steadily gaining weight ever since we've been married. Yeah, I know, a lot of guys do, but he's gained when it didn't make sense--like he was working 90 hours a week and hardly eating enough calories to maintain his weight let alone gain any, yet he gained. He's gone to doctors before and the attitude has always been, "Weight's a tough thing...eat well...exercise..it'll take some time," yada yada yada. Since we moved, we got a new doctor and Robert went in to get something non-weight related looked at but the doctor talked about his weight. And then came up the subject of Robert's frequent headaches, his persistent fatigue, and other random issues. (Might I mention mood swings? :)) Anyway, the doctor had some tests run (one we're still waiting to run for sleep apnea) and we got some eye opening results. Apparently he is severely (and the doctor stressed VERY severely) insulin resistant. It's a condition that is made worse through weight gain and made better with weight loss, but not solely caused by it. His body has always had a hard time using insulin properly and it only gets harder the more weight he gains, but he gains more weight because his body doesn't use insulin properly. I only put all this out there so if someone reading this thinks to themselves: "That sounds like me/my husband/my mom/etc.," then maybe we can help them with our discoveries. This condition could lead to diabetes, but is not necessarily a standard precursor. If this goes untreated, the pancreas could give up entirely and quit. THAT would then become diabetes. I am just so grateful that we finally found a proactive doctor who doesn't just brush Robert off as one of "those overweight Americans" and we are now on our way to (hopefully) some changes. This doctor also discovered that Robert has a hormone imbalance, which contributes to the weight gain and the low energy/headache issue (might I add mood swings?), so he is on a hormone replacement regimen.

In other news, I just realized I forgot to post about Easter. This last semester of classes really kicked my bum. I've had a hard time getting back into the swing of things. But I've been getting a lot done around the house and spending a lot of time with the boys. I've been loving working in the yard, taking the boys on walks and bike rides, going to parks, playing with their toys, and dancing to the demo song on my keyboard (over and over and over). I am working on a rag rug for our entryway and have plans for a tiled mirror, once I get some more decorating money together. Grant's been sick yesterday and today and having a sick baby always makes for a less-productive day. But that's okay. Now I have the time to be less productive. And read some books. I'm starting with Daughters in My Kingdom (the Relief Society book) and then I think I will move on to either Heaven is Here or the first book of a young adult series Robert got me for Easter (called Embrace, I think). And then, we'll see what the summer brings.

The Daniel Fast

I am going vegan. Temporarily. I found out about a cleansing diet called The Daniel Fast. It all started when some people decided they wanted to eat like Daniel did when he was fasting for 21 days in the Old Testament. You can eat any fruits and vegetables you want, as much as you want. You can also eat any whole grains (nothing leavened, though) and you can use any plant-based fats, like olive oil and peanut oil. You do this for 21 days. I've hit a plateau in my weight loss so I'm hoping this will get things going again. We started this today (Robert and I...the kids of course are eating like normal) and so far I am really excited and loved what I ate today. I got some awesome recipes from a blog called cheekykitchen. She's a vegan so there are some adjustments I have to make. She uses some sweeteners (not allowed), leavening, and white breads, but they're easy enough to work around. I made a creamy basil pasta today with coconut milk and black bean tamales. Of course there's also hummus with baked tortilla chips, tapenade, salads, soups, and lots of other options. I love it! I might stick with something like this longer than the 21 days, but we'll see how it goes. Not that I've sworn meat and dairy off forever, but I am firm believer that the word of wisdom emphasizes meat sparingly and good, whole grains as well as fruits and vegetables. Wish us luck!

The best way EVER to dye Easter eggs

I had to post this. They look way better in person. This was probably the best crafty idea I have ever come across online. I searched homemade ways to dye eggs. I found this AWESOME method where you wrap eggs in onion skins (yellow and red), tie them up in white fabric with some string, and boil them as you normally would. You can even put grains of rice, blades of grass, leaves, pine needles, herbs, or anything inside the onion skins. They turn out so awesome! I love the marble effect. But the best part is when they're done and you get to unwrap each one. It's like Christmas. Well, not quite, but still...it's a lot of fun. I highly recommend this. I think this will be a standing tradition. I'm thinking next year, I'm going to use white onion skins and put some diced beets in the water. Oh, and one last tip: to get a lot of onion skins just go to the onions at the grocery store and fill a bag with the skins that have already come off.

This and that

These are just some pictures that I was finally able to get off the camera. For some reason, the desktop won't read the pictures off the camera anymore. I had to use the laptop to get them off. Just one more proof that our ancient (four year old :)) desktop might bite the dust some day soon. Anyway, here's a little this and a little of that.

I finally got around to blowing up this ducky tub for Grant. I've used it since Craig was a baby, but it's beginning to lose air quickly. They just look so cute in it. :)

This was so funny! Ethan is our sleeper. He'll even put himself down for a nap sometimes if he's tired. I found him in bed the other day at 9:30am. :) Today, we were eating lunch at the kitchen table and Grant woke up from a nap. I got up to get Grant and change his diaper really quick. When I walked back into the living room, I found Ethan like this. I was gone for literally one minute, at the most. He was completely out, too.

This was taken a couple weeks before we moved. Ever since Craig and Ethan started sharing a room, Ethan has taken to Craig's habit of getting up at 5:30 in the morning. I can usually manage about another hour of periodically interrupted sleep and they play or watch T.V. They handle it well, for the most part. At their best, they play quietly in their room until I get up, at their worst they've pulled the stuffing out of the couch cushion and scattered it around the house like a light dusting of snow. The morning I emerged from my room and took this picture falls somewhere in between.

Ethan took this picture the other day. Letting him take a couple of pictures of me was payment for me taking a picture of him wearing nothing but a hat, gloves, my slippers, and a diaper outside the other day when it was pretty darn cold out. I kind of like how it turned it. This is the first picture of the outside of our new home, actually.

For the time being...

I've been having trouble getting some pictures off our camera, so until I can get more stuff uploaded to post about, these cuties will have to do. You might recognize one I made into the big picture I hung in our room.

My new favorite decoration for our new home

This picture took me five minutes to make and cost me $17...that includes the $6 can of spray glue I had to buy for this project but has enough in it for a thousand more uses. I got the idea from Pinterest, of course. You take a picture, put it on a flash drive, take it to Staples, have them print a 2x3 ft. picture--or bigger if you want--in black and white ($2, color is like $88...dead serious). While you're waiting for it to print, pick up a large piece of either black or white foam core board ($9), stop by a craft store (unless your Staples has small cans of spray glue for about $6, but mine didn't), pick up a can of spray glue if you don't have some already, go home, spray the back of your picture with glue, center it and glue it to the board. To hang it, get some wire, yarn, twine, whatever and duct tape it to the back in two places. Done!

P.S. Yeah, I painted that wall. Okay, so Robert did the two coats of primer, but I taped it, did the edging, and did the three coats of red. My first time, too! I've done white on old white before, but this was new for me. I love it.

Snow, school, and stuff

A lot has been going on here lately. I haven't been very good about taking pictures--partly because the batteries in the camera were dead (which isn't much of an excuse because we still have the Xoom tablet that takes better pictures than the camera) and partly because moving is so overwhelming. I got really behind in my school work since it took a while to get our internet hooked up. I am getting back on track, but the poor boys have been really feeling neglected among all of these goings on. I am really looking forward to when I'm done with my classes (these are my last courses for my teacher certification program!) because I plan on spending a lot of time doing the things I love to do: playing with Craig and Ethan, reading to them, reading for myself, baking, going on long walks to discover our new little town, and just being Mom for a while. There are also a few things I really need (and want) to do like potty train Ethan and make a rag rug for our entryway out of the scrap fabric I packed all the way to Idaho and of which Robert said, "Why do you keep this stuff? You never use it!" I really do need a rug, but I think making it will be as much of a "see, I told you so" as it will be useful. I won't have to do anything else until October when I have my nine week student teaching--which I'm looking forward to, but I'm glad it's six months away.

It snowed here off and on during our first week. This has been a very mild winter, they say, for this area. The temperature hasn't gotten much above 60 and is usually more in the 40s and 50s, but I have been very grateful for the weather. One day, earlier this week, it started snowing big, fat flakes and it was coming down pretty hard. Craig and Ethan were eager to get out in it. They've seen snow before (Craig was born in Montana, but he doesn't remember that first winter of his life) when we've visited Robert's mom in Show Low, AZ but they've never really watched it snow before. Craig suited up and was off. He loved it!

Ethan was a little less enthusiastic at first. I don't think he liked the feeling of the snow flakes on his head. It took me a little while to find his jacket, hat, and gloves so his first time venturing out into the snowfall was a little chilly for the poor kid.

A couple of hours later we had a good inch or so on the ground and they wanted to go back out and play. This time we got them both ready for the snow and they had fun playing in it for a little while. A very little while, but I think they did great for a couple of Arizona kids.

And then yesterday, Ethan decided he wanted to go out in the backyard and we didn't know it. It's been relatively warm the last couple of days so he felt pretty good about dressing himself and going out.

They say you lose the most warmth through your head and feet, so at least he's has those covered.

The big move

We have moved and are still settling in here in Rigby, ID. A lot if going on still. This has been a crazy, drug out kind of move and I will be SO glad when everything is in its place and life is bumping along again. It's time like these that make grateful for ruts. Luckily, my mom has been here and was a great help with us on the drive up here and painting/unpacking the last couple of days. We are sad to see her go tomorrow and still with so much left to do, but I guess every little birdy must leave the nest (us, not her. :)). I will be back, hopefully with pictures, as soon as I can.

Enchanted Island

We've been here for almost three years and have never been to this place called Enchanted Isaland. It was awesome! It's a huge, beautiful park in Phoenix that has all kinds of rides made for kids who are under 56 inches. Ethan barely made the minimum height requirement, but he made it and had SO much fun. We even got a coupon so it was only about $10 per kid for an all day pass. We didn't need to ride with them, so we only got enough tickets for us to ride the train (which I didn't get any pictures of). It's too bad it took us so long to find this place and get there because now we're leaving. Craig's been begging to go back ever since so we might have to squeeze in one more trip in the next week and a half.


The boys LOVE helicopters and planes so they were all over these rides. Craig actually rode the airplane ride twice. Can you see them in the red plane? It was hard to get a picture of them together since the planes flew up higher than us.

I think the bumper boats were their favorite. There was a kid standing in the pool (which was only about a foot and a half deep) pushing all the boats around. There was nothing electric or paddle-like about them. Even though they moved the steering wheel like it actually worked.
I think this was a big favorite.

Craig was the most excited about the Dragon Wagon. He's seen roller coasters on TV shows and always said he wanted to ride one. I wish I could have gotten a good picture of them during the ride (this was at the beginning). Ethan had his little hands clenching the sides with all his strength but was laughing and happily screeching and smiling the whole time. Craig just look worried. Once in a while he would smile, but with a furrowed brow. It was pretty funny. When they got off Craig said, "I didn't like that one!" No kidding.

And here's Mister Smiley Face Baby. He just likes to sit in the stroller and charm everyone standing around him. He'll fix his gaze on someone who's not looking at him and just stare, with his little cute smile, until they feel his eyes upon them and look to see who's staring them down. But then they can't resist smiling and talking to him. He's such a great little baby.

A crazy Valentine's Day

We had a bit of a scare earlier this week. Robert had some very minor chest pains on Monday morning. He actually didn't want to call it "pain" it was so mild, but then they came back a little stronger on Tuesday morning so he went into NextCare. They did an EKG and said there was an abnormality and that he should go to the ER. At the ER they ran some blood tests and said that there was a protein in his blood that appears when there is damage done to the heart. The ER nurse told us that he would be admitted to the heart hospital for 2-3 days, he would see a cardiologist, and he would be on medication for probably the rest of his life. Basically, what she was saying in "code" was he had some sort of cardiac episode or heart attack. Right after they moved him out of the ER to the new area, two guys from the ward came and gave him a blessing. In this 24 hour observation area, they did more tests and two different CAT scans. Anyway, after the blessing and for the rest of that day and into Wednesday morning, he got back a bunch of more test results with everything coming out perfectly fine and clear. His arteries were clean, the irregularity in his heart was gone, the protein levels were diminishing, and they had no concerns. So, he was sent home yesterday afternoon. It was a crazy and hectic way to start the week and we missed Valentine's Day, but at least everything turned out okay in the end.

Family Home Evening topic book

Boy, I'm on a posting spree! I don't think I've posted this much in a long time...over a year? Anyway, I got an idea from Pinterest. I saw this (follow the link) for a quiet book. My kids are far too young and far too destructive for something like that, but it gave me an idea. I struggle having Family Home Evening with a three- and a two-year-old. I've been needing something quick to pull out, interesting to them, and on their level. I've tried printing off lessons from the nursery manual, but those take too much effort to remember to do, find the pictures that go along with it, and keep them interested. I've done a story out of the children's Book of Mormon, but Ethan just wants to commandeer the book to "read" it and Craig isn't interested by those pictures. When I saw this quiet book, it all came together. I would put them on card stock, laminate them, and bind them with a book ring! Then, on Monday, when I've prepared nothing and at 7:05pm I remember we need to do Family Home Evening, I can pull these puppies out, flip it open, and voila! Something to read on their level, a picture to go with it, and pretty darn kid-proof, too. Here's the final result:


I'm really happy with how they turned out. For being someone who likes to craft and create things, but has a hard time thinking of things like this on my own, I'm pretty impressed with myself for being able to adapt this to something I can not only use but something I've really been needing. Anyway, there you go! Feel free to copy the idea, if you like. :)

6 months already!

Today Grant is 6 MONTHS OLD! I love this stage of baby-hood, but I hate how fast it goes. I ask him everyday to stay just as he is and never grow up, but he is already disobeying me. Here are some things I love about him:

-He's taken to sucking is thumb the minute I turn off his bedroom light, sit in the rocker, and he plucks his little head on my shoulder at nap or bed time.
-He's a snuggler when he's tired, and only with me. :)
-He looks so much like Craig to me, but I see Ethan in him, too.
-He's so sweet and easy and has been sleeping AWESOME lately.
-He's a momma's boy.

Of course, there's more, but I'll wrap this up with an impromptu picture of brotherly love.

"Mom, the shopping cart beat me up."

Can you see his eye? I told Robert that Craig was acting up at the store and wouldn't listen, so I socked him. Robert had a look of not really believing me but wondering if it might be a possibility, and if so, what would he do? But then I told the truth: Craig was bouncing, skipping, running, and looking at where he had gone and not where he was going (in typical Craig fashion) when he ran into me (not realizing I had stopped and was starting to turn down an aisle), tripped over the back of my foot, and fell head first toward the cart. His eye hit the metal part above the wheel as hard as a 45 pound three year old can hit with that kind of momentum. Poor guy. I was sure that when he pulled his head away from my shoulder, there was going to be blood. But, nope. We were lucky.