Tuesday - Switcheroo

I had good intentions today. I really did.
My plan was to make an easy, cost efficient skirt...and then give you some ideas to do the same.
HOWEVER...my sewing skills are a little rusty. I had everything all cut out ready to sew and as I began to put the skirt together I realized that I had cut the wrong piece out of the wrong fabric and when I went to right the wrong, I didn't have enough of the fabric left. (Rrrrrrr.....I'm a little annoyed with myself right now, but I'll go back to the fabric store tomorrow and hopefully they'll still have some of the fabric left, then I can get back on track.) Hopefully tomorrow I will have the tutorial/tip for you. Keep your fingers crossed!!

In the mean time I thought I would share with you a little project that I stumbled across on another blog. This project is called, "Finding Joy in the Journey" and it is focused on preparedness. We all know we need to be physically/temporally prepared (food storage, etc.)
but we also need to be prepared spiritually for the challenges that lie ahead. Participation in this program entails a small daily task for 31 days.
*Please note that this is not my program (nor did I actually finish all the tasks when I originally started them) so I will using the instructions given from the other blog (with permission) verbatim...and I'll be doing this with you.
Let me know if this would be something of interest to you, and I'll get it started. Tell your friends about it. Talk to your hubby about it. I think the more people we could have join us on our journey the more fun it would be. I'll do a follow up post later in the week if I get any response to this and let you know when we'll start!

Monday Mom-blings

Are you a mean mom?
I am...or at least that's what I'm told.
And do you know what? I'm ok with that.

Take today for example.

By 7:25 AM, both Ashlynn and Breven were grounded for the day because they were fighting over who got to use the bathroom first. Ashlynn was (according to Breven) exerting her "inner girl" and trying to rip Breven's arm off. Breven was (according to Ashlynn) trying to cause a problem. I don't know about you, but I'm not about to be nice at 7:25 AM when two fighting kids are about to wake up my baby who just happens to be sleeping peacefully in the next room. No discussion took place. No explanation was needed. They were just grounded. Period.

I have a tendency to do that...not put up with any, for lack of a better word, crap, from my kids. It's one of the reasons my kids consider me a mean mom.

I expect a lot from my kids....(and just for the record, I think my kids are pretty outstanding!)

My kids are expected to do their chores well...and in a timely fashion. I'm a mean mom!

My kids are required to do homework everyday. I'm a mean mom!

My kids don't get to play video games every day...only on the weekends (after they've completed all their chores ON TIME.) I'm a mean mom!

My kids don't just get to go and play with whoever they want whenever they want. I have to know where they are and who they are with. I'm a mean mom!

(I'm sure there are more reasons that I can't think of right now.)

Ashlynn and I had a conversation last year that went something like this:

(Ashlynn was in trouble for some reason I can't remember now)
Ashlynn: Mom, why can't you be nice like everyone else' mom?
Mom: Because I'm not everyone else' mom.
Ashlynn: Mom, you're suppose to be nice...you're suppose to be my friend!
Mom: No Ashlynn, I'm not suppose to be your friend. I'm your mom...that means it's my responsibility to make sure that you're doing what you're suppose to be doing and if it means that you don't like me, then so be it. Hopefully down the road I'll get to be more than your mom...hopefully I'll get to be your friend too, but for the time being if all I am is your mean mom, I'm o.k. with that.

When I think about my childhood I don't remember my mom as being a mean mom. I remember her telling me that I had to clean my room or do my other chores. I remember her expecting me to get good grades. I remember her wanting to know where I was going, who I was going to be with, and when I was going to be home, but I don't remember her being a mean mom. Hopefully my kids will look back on their childhood in the same way. (It may take a while for them to realize I'm not trying to be mean...I'm just trying to be mom.)

Motherhood...it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

Note

It was brought to my attention again today that there continues to be some problems printing out the conference journals/workbooks. I've gone into Scribd to try to figure out what is wrong and this is what I have found...

The document was made in landscape page format, however, it seems to default print in portrait format. Obviously this will cut off half of the page. So, if this is the problem you're encountering here's the solution: Whether you're printing the document directly from my blog page or going into Scribd, simply go to the document, click on the "More" button at the top of the document, Click print. When it goes into the printer selection, click "Preferences." Then there are a bunch of things to choose from: Paper Quality, Effects, Finishing, Basics, Color. Choose "Basics." This will allow you to change the page orientation. Change the orientation to "Landscape" and hit okay. Then click print and everything should be okie dokie! (I hope)

FYI...here's the next installment:  Conference Journal Older Kids

Conference Journal - Older Child

   Publish at Scribd or explore others:            Magazines & Newspape              Books              Fiction                  kids              Workbook      

Let me know if you've had any other problems and I'll try to solve them for you! Thanks for being patient!

Friday Favorites

It's Friday again, which means I get to pick a favorite subject to do a post on. So, let me think for a minute...(hmmmm)...(I know)...FOOD!! I love food. Especially, the kind with lots of sugar and chocolate in it. (I don't know...maybe I was deprived as a growing gymnast so I'm just trying to make up for it now! (probably not, since my grandma was always baking something yummy!)) Fruits and veges have their place too, but since this is a "favorites" post I'm gonna have to give way to the dark side and share a yummy, Yummy, YUMMY, cookie recipe that I just found. Jackee...this should be right up your alley!

I found this recipe at www.allrecipes.com and it was submitted by Debbi Borsick. Don't know who she is, but I could just run up and give her a huge hug for this recipe...LOVE it! I've made the cookies twice now...with a little variation, so I'll give you the original recipe and then share the variations on it afterwards!

Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3.4 oz) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.


Now I'm not usually one to actually make my cookies from scratch, but I'm trying to make my dollar stretch a little farther so I figured I could cut the budget by ridding myself of the unnecessary cost of pre-made cookie dough. I usually just buy the ready made Nestle Tollhouse dough because normally I hate the way my cookies turn out, BUT, this recipe has given me hope! Hope that I won't need to buy my cookie dough anymore...because I've finally found a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I like! This is a cookie that has a little bit of crunch on the edge, but is nice and soft in the middle...and they stay soft after they cool...even after a couple of days! (if they last that long!)

Anyway...now for a few alterations and variations...

Alterations:
*use more vanilla - I would suggest 2 tablespoons instead of just 2 teaspoons
(this was a suggestion made by one of the people on allrecipes...not me (I'm not that ingenious of a baker/cook) - tried the regular vanilla with one batch of cookies, and then tried increasing it with another batch of cookies and liked the taste much better with more vanilla!)

Variation:
*try it using a different flavor of pudding - I made it once with vanilla pudding and loved it. Then I tried it with chocolate pudding (told ya I can't pass up chocolate)...again very yummy. I bet white chocolate pudding would be yummy...maybe butterscotch pudding?? My favorite of my experiments was combining the vanilla pudding cookie dough with the chocolate pudding cookie dough. I made half 'n half cookies...I called them Ebony and Ivory cookies (look how original I was being!! LOL!)

Quick Notes:
-Do not over bake these cookies! (I dare say...leave them in for 12 min. max!...they may not look completely done, but they are!
-When making the dough, combine the sugar and butter, then slowly add in the pudding mix until it is completely mixed into the sugar/butter combo...then add your eggs and vanilla.
-This recipe makes a lot as it is written (about 6 doz.) so I just made half the recipe...actually half vanilla, half chocolate and then combined them, so I guess I got tons anyhow. Halfing the recipe works just fine though!

Enjoy!!...and come back and tell me what you thought of them after you make and EAT them all!

Quick Contest/Giveaway FYI

I was blog surfing again (the house isn't spotless, but a least dinner is already done) AND....

I found a great little blog called 30 Days.
It's got some really fun ideas for all of you crafty peoples out there and EVEN BETTER...right now she is running a contest to win a swim suit from a company called Lime Ricki.

The company makes cute, modest swimwear for younger girls AND for us "older" girls. I'm not quite ready for swimsuit season yet (I really don't think I ever am) but maybe a new suit would push me over the edge...or into the pool!
















Anyway, it's really easy to enter. Just go to her blog, read her post, and follow the instructions. Oh...and if you enter, mention that I sent you and I'll get an extra entry too! Yay! Good Luck!

Oh, and by the way, can I just say...I don't think anyone could pay me enough money to be a swimsuit model! LOL!

Thursday Things to Do

Do you have any plans for the weekend?
I think I'll probably be working down in the basement. Kenny spends most of the day Saturday down there...and I usually end up running errands (without kids) or taking care of kids at home, so it's probably high time that I get my rear end down there and help! BUT if you're lucky, your weekend probably won't include anything involving mudding, taping, and sanding. So what could you do??? Here's a few suggestions...

How about a movie...

Monster's vs. Aliens is opening on Mar. 27th. - My kids can't wait to see this flick. (Don't know that it will happen anytime soon...but they can always hope!) Just be aware that this movie is rated PG for sci-fi action, some crude humor, and mild language. It's getting a pretty decent rating on Rotten Tomatoes (72% Fresh rating) so it may be worth spending some of the hard earned moola to check it out in the theaters.

*Just for beans - If you don't want to spend the cash to go to see the flick but the kiddies want a little monster fun try making your own monster slime.

Ingredients

• 120ml of water (about 1/2 cup)
• 120ml of glue (about 1/2 cup)
• 5ml of Borax
• Food Coloring (any color)

Preparation

1. Mix all the above ingredients together and knead until it forms a soft, gooey slime!

2. Have FUN!

This slime is not to be eaten!

(Recipe courtesy of Good Things Utah)

Not sure about monsters this weekend...how about superheroes, er...superdogs to be more exact.

Bolt came out on DVD this week. We just rented it last night and the kids enjoyed it. Is it a Disney "must have"? No, probably not, but it's cute and worth spending $1 at the Redbox or even a few $$$ at the local video store.

Wanna skip the movie altogether? How 'bout picking up a book and ploppin' down on the couch!

For a little light reading, why not pick up a copy of one of the books in the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. This is a young adult series. (I started reading it to preview it for Jackson...but I've really enjoyed it!) If you're into monsters and magic (something akin to Harry Potter) you'll enjoy this series AND for those of you who have already started reading the series, the 4th book, Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary, came out on Mar. 24th...look for a copy in your local library or on the store shelves.

Need something more meaty?? Try The 5000 Year Leap by Cleon Skousen. This is a book that Glenn Beck has been encouraging people to read and Kenny has been bugging me to find a copy of the book for him. I tried Barnes and Noble last Saturday...all sold out! But, Amazon has copies for about $10.95 (that's almost half price) or of course, you could try the library again.

Have a great weekend!!

Wednesday Wisdom

"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now....Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.”3 We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us."
-Pres. Thomas S. Monson, Finding Joy in the Journey, Oct. 2009 LDS General Conference

Are you finding joy in your journey?

Tuesday Tip

Just a quick post today...
I realized that conference is coming up pretty quick and I still hadn't finished the workbook/journal for the older kids that I had planned on doing. So, here it is. I made this workbook specifically for my older kiddos. (The link for the workbook for younger children is on my right sidebar under quiet books.) I think it's got enough of a combination of "fun stuff" vs. "learning stuff" to keep them occupied for at least 1 session of conference. FYI: I also designed this little workbook/journal to coincide with one of my favorite ideas from the article in the Mar. Ensign about preparing children for general conference. As I mentioned in a previous post, one of my favorite ideas out of the article was to have each of the kids think of 3 (or however many you want) questions as they watched conference and then make a game of it the next night for FHE...who was paying the best attention??? The questions could be anything from, "What color tie was Pres. Monson wearing?" to "Who spoke about temples in the Sunday morning session?" I know my big kids would get a kick out of this...but I think that even my little ones would too. So...with that in mind, in this workbook the kids have to write down 3 things they heard in each talk and then come up with a question at the end of the talk.

Conference Journal - Older Child

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Newspapers kids Workbook

Monday Mom-blings

Today's momble: Budgeting/Saving Money...ugh!

We've been trying to be really good the last little while....spend money only on the necessities; tighten the belt; eat out less, etc. Basically, we've decided that we need to do everything that we can to get out of debt as quickly as possible, save as much as possible, and live on as little as possible, so that we are prepared for any type of emergency...job loss, natural disaster, etc. (you know, all those really pleasant things to think about!) USUALLY,I'm pretty good at controlling my spending habits, and limiting my wants, but there are times....

Sometimes budgeting is just torture! Like this weekend. No, I didn't fall off the money-saving bandwagon, but I was close. It seems like every time the weather changes it feels like I need to spend money. Last week was beautiful! Almost spring! It gave me the "time to buy new spring things" itch. That would be o.k. if I could just buy new spring things for just one person, but there are 7 people in our family now. How do I buy for one and not the other (although, I can make that decision very easily when it's a necessity.)? That means 7 things to buy, and then there's stuff to buy for the house (cause of course the house would feel bad if everyone got something and it didn't) and my neices and nephews, and sisters, and brothers, and...you see where I'm going with this? Compound the "itch" with the fact that a lot of stores are having some great sales....AAAAHHHHHH! Torture! What to do???

I was at the store on Saturday. I was tempted! I think I had something in my hands for pretty much everyone. Woohoo! Then my brain kicked in...my sensible, money-saving side, so I went back through the store (probably for another look, just to make sure I didn't miss anything) and put everything back. Well, mostly everything! You know what the worst part of recklessly spending money is? The guilt that I get afterward. The "did I really need this" feeling. The "I should have used my money to buy food, not clothes" feeling. I probably look pretty crazy wandering around the store putting things back. Oh well...it saves the guilty conscience! And I suppose a clear conscience is worth more than a new pair of shoes (unless they're red patent leather!). I suppose that's what budgeting is...torturing yourself in one way so that you don't torture yourself in others!

Dave Ramsey always says..."Live like no one else today so that you can live like no one else tomorrow!" That's the goal! One day I won't have to budget anymore...by that time it will be so in-grained into my subconscious that I will do it anyhow...but until that day I'll just have to keep my spendng habits under control.

So, what about you? Are you feeling the need to spend money or have you already got that money-saving, budgeting thing down?

Friday Favorites

Since I've started doing this blog I've found tons of fun little projects to put on my to-do list. This next project is not technically a "favorite" yet (because I haven't started...yet,) but I'm sure it will make it onto my favorites list, so I'm sticking it in my "favorites" posts.

My sister-in-law, Camille, got me interested in this little project after posting about it on her blog. (Thanks Camille!) She is a GREAT scrapbooker! I like to try occassionally, but I don't usually get very far. My new interest is in digital scrapbooking or digital photobooks. That's what intrigued me about this idea. It was initially set up for regular scrapbooking, but has been or could be tweaked easily to accomodate digital scrapbooking and photobooks. The project is called Project 365 and is designed by Becky Higgins. Basically, you take a picture EVERY DAY for an entire year and journal whatever you feel is important for the day. ANYTHING!!!

Personally, I think this project sounds fun...and there are a couple of bonuses for me.
1) It helps me keep a journal
2) I have an excuse to use my camera more, and I will be able to learn how to take better pictures and hopefully become better at photography in general.

If this project sounds fun to you, check out the Project 365 link. There is more info about it, some free downloads to do the project digitally, and even some alternative ways to do the project. Have fun!

Thursday - Things to Do

It's another late day. But I have an good excuse....it was beautiful outside! I figured it was about time to get working in the overgrown flowerbed out in front of our house (although you'd never know what I did if you drove by,) and then I got caught up taking pictures of the kids enjoying the warm weather. Anyhoo....

Here's the happenings this weekend:

For all you scrapbookers out there it's the Scrapbook USA Expo this weekend at the South Town Expo Center. Click here for more details. I'm not really a big scrapbooker anymore. I don't know if I ever was. Although I really liked to pretend. I'm just horrible at getting out all of the stuff...and then putting it away when I'm all done (that's almost worse than having to get it all out. I really need a room to dedicate to crafty things where I can leave all my stuff out. Maybe then I'd be motivated to do more.) Personally I prefer digital scrapbooking...or even better, the digital photobooks that you can do!

If you're looking for a sporting event, the BYU Women's Gymnastics team goes up against Utah on Friday Mar. 20th at 7pm in the Marriott Center. Tickets are $5 at the door. The girls have had a rough go of it this season what with injuries and such so I'm sure the support would be much appreciated.

Saturday, Mar. 21st from 1pm-2pm is the Bunny Hop at the Covey Center in Provo. It's $3 for kids and parents are free. Just a note for anymore mom's out there with a little princess or 2 (or more)...the princess party is coming up on Apr. 11th, 2009.

Lastly, if it's food you're after, it is March Madness Grilling at Sunflower Markets in Orem (1375 South State.) Burgers and bratwurst and all the fixin's for $1. I've actually heard a lot of good things about this farmers market. The prices and produce are supposed to be fantastic. My sister raves about their fruit...so make a grocery trip out of it and kill two birds with one stone.

If none of these sound interesting, how about just a bike ride or a walk. Go play at the park and swing on the swings. Throw the ball around outside with the kids. Just take advantage of the beautiful weather before the next storm comes!

Wednesday Wisdom

I've posted previously that not all wisdom comes from a quotable source (ie. books, leaders, well known people.) Some of the best wisdom comes from our children, or even from observing our children, and that's exactly where today's wisdom comes from. Here is Lesson #2 from Lesson's From My 3 Year Old...a blog that I have long since abandoned but not forgotten....(and as I've said before, this will be an on-going, occasional indulgence of mine)

Lesson #2
Bandaids Can Fix Everything

Kenny always says that you can fix anything with duct tape. It's a "must have" in every man's garage.

I've come to the conclusion that a bandaid is a kid's duct tape. Bandaids make everything better! Get hit in the shin with a baseball...use a bandaid. Sliver...bandaid! Wipe out on the pavement and skin your knee after attempting a quadruple twisting double back flip on your skateboard...bandaid! FYI, bandaids are good for moms too. Kids being too noisy...bandaids (to close their mouths.) No tape to wrap a present...bandaid. Need some sympathy...bandaid (a well placed bandaid can get you a well earned 15 min. of down time...and a load of hugs and kisses to go along with it) A house without bandaids will, in all likelihood, fall apart at the seams!

Funny how something so simple can make everything all better...but it does. The tears fade, the smile returns, and 2 min. after affixing the bandaid, Rylen is back out on his scooter attempting another stunt with reckless abandon. I guess life is like that. Simple things can solve the biggest problems. We have the right idea as kids. Our bandaids just evolve as we get older.
My bandaids: Chocolate, Kenny, and Prayer.

What are your bandaids???

Tuesday - Tutorial

So...I'm kind of late posting today because this took me a little longer to make than I anticipated. I've decided to get back to me roots (so to speak.) Now, this may come as a shock to you...but I actually used to be a pretty decent sewer. I don't know if you could go so far as to call me a seamstress, but I could sew. My grandma taught me. I used to sew quite a bit. In fact, at one point in time I even thought I would become a clothing and textiles home economics teacher. When I was in high school I even had my own little business making and selling gymnastics leotards at my gymnastics club. Then I came to BYU...all excited to begin my career. I took my first clothing and textiles class. It was a pattern making class. It was horrible! I hated it, got a terrible grade, and as a result gave up my venture into the clothing and textiles arena. Well, like I said, I've decided it's time to get back to my roots. At one point in time I actually did have a talent in this area, however, you know the parable about the talents....if you hide them away, they get taken away from you...it's true. It's been quite a while since I've sewn anything. In fact...Rylen's never even seen my sewing machine before, and Jackson commented that "...it's been a long time since I've seen you sew anything." as he stood gawking over my shoulder as I sat at the sewing machine. Needless to say, I'm a little rusty. With that in mind, here's the project for the day....


A tote bag.
I'm not going to give you an actual tutorial for this bag because I didn't come up with the pattern. However, you can find an excellent tutorial at Mama's Pocketbook, which is where this FREE pattern came from.
I'll simply tell you what I liked and didn't like about this pattern:


Likes -

It was fairly simple. (Given the fact that I haven't sewn in several years, and I was able to make this in a couple of hours, I'd say it was pretty easy!)
Love the boxed corners. (Sorry...they're hard to see with these pics, but the tutorial shows them well.)
Love that it is reversible. (As my kids would say, "...when it gets dirty on one side, you can use the other.")
Love that it was cheap. (I didn't buy anything to make this tote...I went scrounging through old boxes of fabric, however, if you did need to buy materials, it uses very minimal fabric.)
Love the top-stitching. (Since I didn't actually go out and purchase anything and I didn't have any matching thread, I decided that I would use some top-stitching to accentuate the fact that the thread didn't match...and I like how it turned out.)

Dislikes -

It's not big enough. (I wanted a bigger tote...at least big enough to carry a binder OR multiple coloring books and supplies to church in. This tote would be big enough to carry my scriptures and a small manual in...or about the size of a purse. Next time I make this I will definitely make it bigger. It really wouldn't be that difficult.)
I didn't put in any type of closure at the top...mostly because I just couldn't find the one I wanted, but it would look better with one.
Those are really my only complaints...other than the fact that my stitching looks horrible because I couldn't get the sewing machine to work correctly, but that has nothing to do with the actual construction of the tote itself.

I'll have to give it another try one of these days...tweak a few things, maybe even splurge and buy some cool fabric to do it, but if you're looking for a fun and easy little tote to make this is a good one. Have fun!

FYI

Just a quick FYI...

There have been a few problems with trying to print or download the conference workbook I posted last week and the quiet book I posted a few weeks ago. I have gone back into Scribd and uploaded the documents again, but I made them public instead of keeping them private. I'm not sure if that will make a difference or not, but we'll keep our fingers crossed. If you're not able to print it directly, you should at least be able to download it to you computer and print it from there. (I made the switch on the original post or you can also find a link on the right sidebar.)

Also, please note for future reference, I will post any links to the quiet books or workbooks that I make on my right sidebar. I will most likely do a post about them to let you know about them, but occasionally they might just end up on the sidebar without any notice. If there is something specific you would like me to try to do a quiet book about let me know and I'll work on it. Thanks!

Monday Mom-blings

Ok...there are seriously so many things to post about today I don't know where to start.

I suppose I'll start with the obvious...it's St. Patrick's Day tomorrow. WooHoo! I hate to admit it, but I'm not really one of those cool moms that does really fun things for her kids for the little holidays (Is St. Paddy's day considered a holiday??) Our box of Lucky Charms is about as festive as I get with this one...oh, except that I do LOVE to make sure that each of my kiddo's (and Kenny of course) get a little love pinch, even if they're wearing green. Wearing green is fun (and who couldn't use a wee bit o' luck) but that silly little excuse, "...it's on my underwear..," to avoid the pinch is WEAK! Maybe I'll be ambitious this year and make some green shamrock cookies...shamrock's are pretty cool. What about you? Do you do anything to celebrate St. Paddy's day or are you a grinch like me...come to think of it, the grinch is green, so at least I'm on the right track.

#2 - (I guess I've started numbering now) Is anyone tired of their kids being sick??? Luckily we only had a small bout of the flu this year but we've had that lingering cold and cough thing on and off since Christmas. It must have been a rough weekend, cause the kids are all coughing AGAIN...even Bright. I can handle it when the older kids get sick, but when the baby is sick, life is miserable. He just wants to be held all day long so I don't accomplish anything. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll at least avoid the ear infection this time around.



#3 - Did you happen to catch Glenn Beck's program last Friday...We Surround Them? I didn't get to watch it live, but we recorded it on the DVR (cause Kenny loves Glenn Beck) and watched it last night. I'll admit, he's probably not my favorite (I'm a Hannity kind of girl,) but he is passionate about our country and I think he's got the right idea. He's starting a project called the 912 project and is encouraging everyone to join in. Basically, he says it's our responsibility to take back our country so he is encouraging us to meet with our family and friends and discuss what is going on in the country and what we can do to make it better. If you missed the program, go to the link to read about the 9 principles and 12 values that Glenn thinks we should get back to. I like it! I think it could be interesting meeting together and having discusions about the state of our country and what we can do to improve it. Is anyone interested? Let me know...we'll arrange it, and of course treats will be provided!!

#4 - (This is the lst thing...I promise!) I've mentioned in previous posts that I'm taking an on-line seminar by Time Out for Women. The focus this month is The Divine Gift of Influence and last week's topic was the first half of Sixteen principles of Leadership. I've really been enjoying the classes and I thought I would just share a couple of things that I found interesting. One of the 16 principles of leadership is Less is More. What I loved about this principle is that Sis. Dew made a point of saying that not everything we do deserves our best effort...sometimes it just has to be done...on the other hand, some things demand our best effort. Does this mean anything to you? I've always been one who says that if you're going to do anything you might as well do your best, but I think Sis. Dew is right. There are some things we need to do just to get done (ie. the laundry) but there are other things that require our best effort (ie. our families.) Another principle of leadership she mentioned was Leaders Communicate But They Do More than Just Talk...specifically (for me at least) that leaders speak the language of those they lead. She's right. People respond more to yoiu if they feel like you are speaking their language. I tend to take the authoritative position with my kids (which, I suppose as a mother I should do) but I think that if I learned their language I would be able to talk to them more and be more of an influence in their lives because they would see that I understood them. I guess I'll be taking a few languages courses over the next little while. How about you? The final point I wanted to share with you was a kind of cool story that Sis. Dew told. It had to do with the principle, Leaders See Opportunities Where Others Don't. She shared a story about Tiger Wood. In the 1999 Phoenix Open Tiger hit a shot that landed behind a rock (more like a boulder.) The rules, at the time, stated that if something was blocking your shot and you could move that "something" you could do so without any penalty. If you couldn't move whatever was blocking your shot then you could take a penalty and move your ball. When Tiger's ball ended up behind the boulder, knowing the rules, he turned to the crowd and jokingly said, "...so what do you think? Can we move it?" A bunch of people watching in the gallery came out of the crowd and moved the boulder. Who else besides Tiger would have thought to involve the crowd? Who else besides Tiger could have even asked and then had people willingly volunteer to move the boulder? The point of the story was three fold. Leaders see things differently than others. Leaders seize opportunities where others overlook them, and Leading is usually not about doing more, it's about doing something differently. (I mention this last point because I think it fits in well with the whole Glenn Beck 912 project.) I will just mention that although you may not consider yourself a "leader" remember you are a parent and that is probably the most important kind of leader there is.

Well. that's it. I'm one. Sorry...that was a lot of mombling about a lot of different things, but if you made it to the end of this post, congratulations! Hopefully the baby will be feeling better soon so that I can get to the rest of my posts this week. If he's not then I'm sure you'll understand the lack of posts as I will be speaking Bright's language and holding him until he does feel better!

Friday Favorites

Last night at our RS enrichment meeting we had a seminary teacher come do a presentation on centering our lives on Christ. He did a great job! Along with speaking he showed a slideshow of a song that I have never heard before. This is not his slideshow (I really liked the slideshow he did a lot better) but I wanted to share the song with you. The song is, "I Am" sung by Nichole Nordeman, and it has jumped up there on my list of favorites!



Pencil marks on a wall, I wasn't always this tall
You scattered some monsters from beneath my bed
You watched my team win
You watched my team lose
Watched when my bicycle went down again
And when I was weak, unable to speak
Still I could call You by name
And I said, Elbow Healer, Superhero
Come if You can
You said, I Am

Only sixteen, life is so mean
What kind of curfew is at 10pm?
You saw my mistakes
And watched my heart break
Heard when I swore I'd never love again
And when I was weak, unable to speak
Still I could call You by name
And I said Heartache Healer, Secret Keeper
Be my best friend
And you said, I Am

You saw me wear white by pale candlelight
I said forever to what lies ahead
Two kids and a dream, with kids that can scream
Too much it might seem when it is 2am
And when I am weak, unable to speak
Still I will call You by name
Shepherd, Savior, Pasture Maker
Hold onto my hand
You say, I Am

The winds of change and circumstance blow in and all around us
So we find a foothold that's familiar
And bless the moments that we feel You nearer

When life had begun, I was woven and spun
You let the angels dance around the throne
And who can say when, but they'll dance again
When I am free and finally headed home
I will be weak, unable to speak
Still I will call You by name
Creator, Maker, Life Sustainer
Comforter, Healer, my Redeemer
Lord and King, Beginning and the End

I Am
Yes, I Am

Thursday Things to Do

What are you doing this weekend? I'd like to say we'll be doing something really fun, BUT, I'm pretty sure we'll be sanding the basement. Hopefully your weekend will be more fun. There are a lot of things going on this weekend...something for everyone I'm sure. Here's the scoop: (Click on the links for more info)

MUSIC

BYU Men's and Women's Chorus Concert - Mar. 13-14th -de Jong Concert Hall

The Osmonds - Second Generation Concert - Mar. 14th - Scera Theater

Light of the World - Mar. 15th - Scera Theater - FREE Admission

SPORTS

BYU Baseball vs. Utah - Mar. 13-14th - Miller Park

Utah Flash Basketball - Mar. 13-14th - McKay Events Center

FAMILY

Kids Time at the Covey Center - Mar. 14th 1pm - 2 pm - $3/child, parents are free

Museum Monday - (at Thanksgiving Point) - Mar.15th, 5-7pm -$10/adult, $8/child

Wednesday Wisdom

I recently saw a clip by a comedian on Youtube making fun of people because they/we complain about everything. Unfortunately, he was more right than wrong. It made me wonder if I was like one of the complainers? Hope not! Anyhow, then I read this quote on a friend's blog. It immediately reminded me of the Youtube clip, but it also reminded me that all I need to do to NOT be one of the complainers is to count my blessings!

Excerpt from "How to Be Totally Miserable" by John Bytheway


Lots of people complain. Most people complain about their problems, but miserable people are different-they complain about their blessings. If their car breaks down, they complain that it isn't new. If their waitress is slow, they complain and withhold a tip. If their cell phone drops a call, they complain about their service. They're like the people in the Old Testament who got free food from heaven and said, "What? Manna again?" By contrast, happy people are grateful to have a car, thankful they can afford to eat at a restaurant, and stoked that they have a cell phone. Most people in the world don't have cars, can't afford restaurants, and have never sent a text message. Happy people count their blessings, while the miserable complain about theirs.

Count your blessings today. It will do wonders and, more than likely, put a smile on your face!

Tuesday

Wow...today has been a busy day. It's almost dinner time and I'm just now getting to this post. Better late than never I suppose!

Well, once again I don't really have a great tutorial for you, but I've been working on a conference worksheet/journal for younger children since conference is coming up so I thought I would share it with you. One of my previous posts talked about some of the ideas mentioned in the Mar.2009 Ensign to prepare children for conference. I really liked the idea of having each of the children come up with questions for a family night conference quiz on the Monday after conference, but I didn't know if that would be possible with a 3 year old. I tried to design this little workbook so that it would entertain my 3 year old but also so that, given a little direction I could help him come up with 3 questions about things he remembered for conference for our FHE quiz. (I'm also going to do a workbook for older kids...just check back later.) The pictures are mostly from the gospel art kit and the Friend. Hope it's useful to you...

Conference Journal - Young Child

Publish at Scribd or explore others: kids Workbook

Word of Warning: I didn't really do a great proof-read job on it so hopefully there are no major mistakes. Let me know if you find any and I'll fix them and then re-post it. Again this can be downloaded through Scribd. Sorry for the inconvenience but I'm not super computer literate and this is the easiest and most convenient way for me to do this at this time and registering is free so it's not too big of a deal!

Monday Mom-blings

I think I'm a change kinda gal...easy, minor changes anyhow. I wouldn't go so far to say that I would love a major change like moving to a new country or maybe even state for that matter...I mean, I definitely have a comfort zone...but I definitely like to change things up.
Take hair for example. I love to try new hairstyles. I probably wouldn't go for the green spiky mohawk, but I can go from long to short without a second thought. I'm sure it drives my stylist nuts because every time I go in I want something different.
Here's another one...furniture. I love to rearrange my furniture (much to the dismay of my husband since he's always the muscle involved.) This ones a little harder though. Furniture is kind of heavy sometimes and it takes me a few tries moving things to different places before I get what I want and more often than not it involves moving furniture to and from several different rooms, but it's a change and it keeps things interesting.

Why am I talking about change??? I don't know. I just felt like a change this morning and since "the muscle" is not home to rearrange the furniture and my stylist is booked 3 weeks out I went with the next best thing...the blog. Do you like it?? I've been looking for a good 3 column (love the 3 column!) layout FOREVER! Well, maybe not forever, but for a long time and I just found a bunch. So, I'm excited. I can't say that this will be the end to my blog changing because
#1-I like change (I think I already mentioned that)
#2-I'd still like to learn how to write HTML and figure out how to custom make my own layouts so that I can get just what I want (although that's no guarantee that I still wouldn't change things up all the time...in fact it's probably a catalyst to my change addiction)...and
#3 - I'm just beginning to develop this blog.

So what about you? Are you a change kinda gal? What are you in the process of changing?

Friday Favorites

Kid's love books. I love books. In fact, in what's left of my spare time you can usually find me reading a book...and guess what, it's usually a kids' book or a young adult book (I like to preview them for my older kids.) Today, I thought I'd share a couple of my favorite children's authors with you.


Tedd Arnold - He is both author and illustrator for his books. This particular book is one of my favorites of his. Love the rhyming and repetition, and of course the illustrations are great. My kids also like his books about Huggly (the little green monster.) Admittedly, I have not read all of his books, but my kids and I have both enjoyed the ones that we have read.

Audrey Wood - Kenny's grandma introduced us to these books and she has been one of my favorite children's authors since. She and her husband work together...she writes, he illustrates. Some of her books are funny. Some are serious. Some teach lessons. Elbert's Bad Word is one of my favorites...but King Bidgood's In the Bathtub is right up there too.

Doreen Cronin - I don't know if my kids have enjoyed these books as much as i have, but I think these are hilarious. I love the duck!

Robert Munsch - This post wouldn't be complete without mentioning Robert Munsch. Thomas' Snowsuit is one of my all-time favorites (I laugh just thinking about it,) but there are so many more good ones...The Paper Bag Princess (I had this book when I was a kid!) Love You Forever, Makeup Mess...to mention a few.

So there ya go...plenty of books to keep you and your kids entertained for a few days! Take a trip to the local library and check something out. You won't be disappointed!

Thursday Things To Do

The annual Spring Home and Garden Festival is going on over the next few days. I've never gone before so I couldn't tell you what to expect, but spring is on it's way which means it's almost time to plant flowers and start gardens. I'm sure this event could offer some good suggestions to that end. It would also probably offer some good suggestions towards any home improvement or renovation...even if you just need an idea for a small change. Here's a link if you'd like more info. You can buy discounted tickets with this link.

Here's a couple more ideas for a date night:

Vocal Point - Performing at the Covey Center in Provo Mar. 6-7. (One of my personal favorites!)
Jericho Road - Performing at the Scera in Orem Mar. 7.

Hope you have a fun weekend!

Wednesday Wisdom

I'm taking a "Time Out For Women" seminar. Sheri Dew is the instructor for the next couple of weeks. The lessons this month are focusing on "The Divine Gift of Influence" with a specific focus each week. This week the topic is "Righteous Women Can Change the World." Sis. Dew spoke about our focus and influence this week and asked us to think about:
1. What our focus is on
2. How a life focused on Christ compares to ours
3. What we can do to improve our focus
4. What influence we have as a result of our focus.

The following are 2 quotes from the lesson that I found particularly poignant. The first reminds me of where my focus should be. The second leaves me feeling hopeful, in spite of trying times, for a brighter future.

"What you're focused on determines what you see and what you don't see.....If we focus on the world, we don't see the Lord or the adversary. If we focus on the Lord, we not only see Him with clearer vision, but we are also better able to detect the presence of the adversary." -Sheri Dew


"These are times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life...that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues."
-Abigail Adams (David McCullough, John Adams, Simon & Schuster, 226.)

*Just a quick note. If you're interested in the Time Out for Women Seminars, they are available on-line now. Click here for more info.

Tuesday Tip

I'd like to say that I have a fabulous tutorial or totally awesome tip for today...but I don't (aside from making sure that your kids never use regular dish soap in the dishwasher.) I'm working on a lot of things and have a bunch of different ideas that I would like to try out but I have nothing to show for it...YET! Stay tuned....

Monday Mom-blings

Random Blessings
Today's momblings will truly be momblings because I've been thinking about a lot of things, but each of my thoughts always bring me back to the blessings in my life.

Blessing #1 - We went to the BYU vs. Utah basketball game on Saturday with some friends. It's always nice to get together with friends and talk and reminisce. We dropped the kids off at my sister's house (thank you! Kir) and her husband asked us how we got tickets. Kenny replied that his friend always gets a couple extra tickets for this game and it's become kind of tradition for both of us to go together. What a tradition...someone else buys the tickets and we get to go along!! LOL! Anyway, I was thinking what a blessing it is to have good friends. We've known these particular friends for quite a while...in fact, Kenny grew up with them. I always think of what a blessing it was for Kenny to have such good friends while he was growing up, and of the blessing that we still enjoy now because they have been able to maintain that friendship over several years and many miles.

Blessing #2 - I went to make dinner yesterday and remembered that I didn't have any rolls to make to go along with dinner, SO, I did what I haven't done in a long time...I made them FROM SCRATCH!! Yikes! (Technically I made the dough in the breadmaker but it still counts!) Anyway, it gave me the opportunity to teach Ashlynn how to make rolls...just like my grandma used to teach me. That (to teach Ashlynn how to do something) was a blessing in and of itself but it go me thinking about what a blessing my grandma was in my life. She taught me a lot of skills that really aren't used very often anymore, and although I don't use them very often, I can still do them which will be another blessing if hard times continue.

Blessing #3 - We've been trying to get our family on a budget and work towards getting out of debt as quickly as we can. Thankfully, we've never had a huge amount of debt, but with a house payment and a car payment and a credit card payment (we broke down and used the credit card to help us finish the basement so that we wouldn't take too much out of our savings) on top of all the other bills things always seem tight. I was counting my blessings last night for several reasons. Kenny was preparing our taxes and it looks like our return will cover most of our credit card costs. Blessing! As Kenny was doing our taxes he commented that we made significantly less money this year than last. Not a blessing in and of itself, but what a blessing to still have a job in such a difficult economy AND what a blessing to be able to live on less and still be ok! Blessing!

Are things perfect right now? No, but things are good and if you think about it I bet you can come up with a few random blessings that you haven't thought of in a while. So, what are some of your random blessings? Think about it!