Parental Advisory... Some Pictures May be Shocking

Today after church, I told CK to get changed out of her church clothes. She wasn't really cooperating, so I finally took off her church dress and sent her to go and get her play clothes. I then turned my attention to getting lunch ready. Once it was time to eat, I realized I hadn't seen CK come back up and so I started calling for her. No answer... I called my sister to see if she had escaped during her rage against me for requiring clothes. No luck. She wasn't there. Then, I decided to all her BFF's house to see if she had gotten really brave and made a grand escape. Struck out again. Now, I started to get concerend. I had been calling and calling her name to no avail. The back yard door was still locked, so I knew she hadn't gone out there. I looked all over upstairs and sent L to look down. Once I was sure she wasn not in the house, I decided to go out and look around the neighborhood. Lucky for me, Dave ws just getting home so someone could be here with the other kids. He said he would go looking , but ran in to the bedroom first to drop off his suit coat. When he walked in the room... he found this (Warning: Some may be shocked by this picture. Please don't be offended!):She had fallen asleep in the corner of my bedroom on the floor like this. While you can't see it, she is actually wearing more than it seems. She was also wearing her church shoes.

Here is just another cute picture. We were getting ready to send the kids down for bed and Dave called me to to take a picture of our cute girls getting all cuddly with each other.

Getting Organized... Finally!

Awhile ago, I did a post about my new goal to shop the sales and stock up when things are on sale. I have this lovely food storage room to keep all my finds. However, my food room had no shelves. A few years ago, I bought some really cheap shelves that I was using, but they really weren't cutting it. Awhile ago, I asked my very handy brother Mark to build me some real shelves and so he did this week. Yea!!! Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of what a disgrace it was before D got to work clearing it out (really, I'm happy that he was doing such a great job. It is great to have such a great help around). I did take some pictures of all the food and stuff that was being stored in there.

Now, I have to forewarn you that I had to put most of the stuff in the bathroom because I needed a door I could lock so the little girls didn't get into everything. But, please don't get too grossed out because scrubbed down first and used bleach to disinfect everything before putting a single piece of food in there and then I locked the door so no one could get in there to contaminate it. For those of you who think this is going a little overboard... this is the bathroom that the kids use. There is no such thing as going overboard.

So here we go... there was all this:

...and this...

...and this...

...and this...

...and this.

It really was a mess. You could barely walk inside, which meant I would often just buy new ingredients when I knew I was going to make something, rather than go down there and try and find it in the tornado wreckage.

And now... here is what it looks like:

There is even room to spare!! I get to go shopping again!

It just makes me so happy. I just keeping going down there to look at it all. Thanks, Mark!!

My little helpers relaxing after all their hard work.

KL carrying a big heavy can of spaghetti sauce.

Also, the day we cleared out the food room, I decided that maybe it was time to clean out the deep freeze. This was party because Dave wanted to have roast, and I knew we had some somewhere in there, but really... it had just gotten so bad, all I could see was the top layer. Here is before...

And here it is all nice and organized.

The best part was just going through it and seeing what was in there! I'll tell you!!! We won't be buying any chicken for a while! It kept going on sale for $1.67/lb and I just couldn't pass on that deal. I really didn't realized just how much we had amassed!! Needless today, we will be having chicken for dinner tonight!

Finally, here is just a little video of my little KL helping. She kept bringing all the food back into the food room and it was so cute. While she isn't doing it in this video, she kept grunting under the intense pressure of the big loads she was bringing in. What a fun little girl!

Big Day For D

Yesterday was a busy day for D. He and B had their first Flag Football games of the season. Unfortunately, KL has been sick all week, and L woke up yesterday feeling sick as well, so Dave and I had to tag-team for the games. I had to stay home for B's game, so hopefully, next week I'll have pictures to post of his. Anyway, D and I worked hard all morning to get our food room emptied (I'm getting shelves built in next week... Yea! More to come...). As soon as we were done with that, we headed off to his first game. They won! This isn't something his team is accustomed to. Last season, they didn't win a single game. Of course, it was an 11-12 league that D and one other 10 yr old was able to join. They also had kids that they added to the other teams because there weren't enough 13-14 sign up. But, D's team was full, so they didn't get any of the big kids. (I put a post of it, with illustrative pics of the difference here). Anyway, this season, the league is for 9-11 yr olds. There are 3 kids that have since turned 12, and there are no kids on the team less than 10. This bodes well for their season ahead. Like I said, they won yesterday (27-6) and that was without 2 of their biggest players. I keep reminding him that it doesn't matter if they win or not, but it is still fun to win now and then!

As soon as we got home from the game, it was time to head out to the Pinewood Derby. This was D's last pinewood derby. It was definitely his (my) best year! He's (I've) gotten better every year. This year, he/we took 5th over all. He would have placed higher, but he had one race where he went up against the top 2 overall, so he came in last in that heat, but not by much! Other than that, he always came in first or 2nd. Yea! We'll really have this down next year for Brandon.


Just before we left, he told me his head was hurting (this wasn't the first time... I had given him some motrin in the morning). I felt his head, and sure enough it was feeling warm. We got home and I took his temperature. He was running a fever. Then, I looked over at CK who was looking a little drained and took hers. She was running a fever too. Then, just for fun I took B's. He was running a fever as well (he soon after started complaining of a sore throat). So, we spent the rest of the night at home trying to take it easy while all of the kids fought their fevers. This morning, we are all home from church, but thankfully, the girls seem to be doing better. Cross your fingers that it doesn't spread any further! I really don't feel like being sick.

Paying Up

D collected the spoils of one of the bets he made back in Nov. on the UofA/ASU game. The video says it all. We grabbed a few other UofA families in our neighborhood to enjoy this experience. The kids loved it.

Crazy Hair Day

Last week was spirit week at the kids school. One of the days they had was "Crazy Hair Day." We went all out. B didn't want anything to do with it, but CK felt jealous when she saw L's hair and insisted on getting hers. Here are the fun pictures.

D begged me to pull out the clippers and dig into his hair. I kept resisting, but he wouldn't relent and said that wonderful Aunt Jill always lets her boys do it. I finally relented, but told him not to get use to it because we were never doing it again. I just shaved off most of it, but left a few pieces long.
The back view: You can really see just what a hack job it was from this view.

Of course, the end result is that we get this haircut for awhile now (which he is quite thrilled with):

CK:

Back view (they all wanted me to take a picture of the back so they could see it.)

L:

Popcorn Popping on the Orange Tree

Yesterday, "I looked out my window and what did I see? Popcorn Popping on the [Orange] Tree!" I was so excited! It is orange blossom season! For those of you who have never smelled the blossoms, the closest way I can describe it, would be to say it smells like gardenia... only a 100 times more potent. I love it!! It smells SO good! We have 3 citrus trees (2 orange, 1 lemon). Unfortunately, only 1 tree is blossoming, but there are lots of blossoms on it and I couldn't be happier. Especially because it is the window right outside my kitchen sink. So, as I wash my dishes... this is what I get to look at:

CK was so excited, she ran out and picked me one of the pretty flowers. I had to quickly explain to her that if we pick the flowers, they can't turn into oranges. Hopefully, they will be able to grow up to be delicious oranges that I can blog about next winter!

Self Control

I have been "exercising" my self-control the last couple of weeks. What exactly do I mean? Well, I have been trying to not eat everything I see. As many of you know, I LOVE to eat... in fact, to some of my dear friends out there (namely, Em), we could say that our friendship is primarily based on our mutual love of food. Well, I had been noticing that despite my new dedication to exercising, my pants have still been getting tighter. That combined with the fact that my daughter is constantly reminding me how big I am... (see "fat devil"... also just the other day, she saw a dress in my closet that I wore to my sister's wedding a couple of years ago and she asked, "Mom, did you use to be tall and skinny, or were you always like you are? Because this dress is tall and skinny." Dave, who was present, wisely chose to ignore the question). Anyway, despite L's opinion, I really don't think I am fat, but still... I have noticed that when ever I would work out, I would use that as an excuse to eat more of my favorite things... hence the tightening of the jeans. So... I have been exercising self control. I promised I would do this for 2 weeks. I haven't totally got there, but I'm just a day and a half away.

It hasn't been an easy 2 weeks, but if I with stand the temptations I have, then I think I can do anything! Let me tell you what I have had to pass up:

Day 1: Nothing really... just hard to get use to not popping everything in my mouth as I was feeding my kids. We had a picnic with my sisters where there was... CHEETOS! I know not everyone thinks these are great, but i just love them (I can easily eat a bag on my own. My mom use to never buy them when I was little. I thought it was because she didn't like them. It wasn't until I was grown that she told me she didn't buy them because she couldn't stop herself once she started. Maybe it's hereditary).

Day 2: We had enrichment night and it was all about chocolate. We played a little get-to-know-you game (it was like speed dating) then we dined on chocolate... chocolate fondue, chocolate cake, brownies, chocolate cookies.... I forgot that I had even signed up to bring some mint chocolate oreo truffles (which, if you haven't had them, they are TO DIE FOR). I resisted them all. I just had 2 strawberries from the fondue table... with no chocolate.

Day 3: Girl Scout Cookies. My neighbor is a girl scout, and we love those dang cookies. When she brought her order form around, Dave ordered 6 boxes (which I wholeheartedly supported): 4 Thin Mints and 2 Tagalong 's. I have only eaten 3 thin mints... and not all at once. It has been over several days.

Day 4: We had planned a big dinner date with all my siblings. We went out for Mexican... once again... my favorite!!! I love it all, but my favorite part of going out for Mexican are fresh hot chips while you are waiting for your food. I can usually put away 3-4 bowls by myself easily. I have usually eaten so many chips that by the time my food comes, I'm not that hungry so my most of my entree comes home with me for lunch the next day (which I love!). However, I cooked my own tortilla's (the one's from Costco, which, if you haven't tried, you are missing out!) and was resolved to just eat those. I did good, but let me tell you... Ahh!!! They were running slow that night. It was a small resturaunt that rarely has a crowd. It was the busiest we had ever seen it and the owner's husband was gone, so she was cooking solo. As a result, we waited for an hour for our food so those hot tasty chips just kept coming and coming. I also only ordered a taco salad, but didn't eat the shell... well, I did crumble a little bit in. Also, I didn't eat the whole salad (that's another thing I'm working on... stop eating when I am no longer hungry... not just when I am so full I can barely move. This is a tough concept for me).

Day 5: Sunday dinner... need I say more? Again, I just tried stop eating when I wasn't hungry anymore and not eat dessert. What!?! Me?!? Not eat dessert!?!

Day 8: I was visiting on of the ward's in our stake's New Beginnings. They served cheesecake.

Day 10: I was invited to an old friend's house for lunch. She invited a few of us over from HS/Jr. High. She had all sorts of delicious looking chocolate chip cooks, chocolate cookies with a marshmello cream over them, and apple/snicker's salad. Now, I have to admit, I have never had apple/snicker's salad. But, there are snickers, and cool whip. How could it go wrong?

later that same day: It was my brother-in-law's surprise bday party. Luckily, the main dish was sub sandwiches w/o mayo, so I was safe, but still, I did have to pass on some pretty tasty side dishes.

Day 11: My sister threw a bridal shower for her sister in law. Jill and I went over to help set up. There were all sorts of delicous salads and some of the best looking chicken salad I have seen in a while. Also, I made mint chocolate truffles again. I even took it a step farther by using ande's mints in the chocolate coating. I was told by my sis-in-law that they were my best batch to date. I had to take her word for it. Unfortunately, there were some left over and so some are still sitting in my fridge... be strong... be strong...

Also, before I even went to the shower, Dave went to go and get his hair cut, which is right by Higley Hot Dogs. He brought me home one. Now, I LOVE good hot dogs. The ones I buy and feed my kids don't count. But a good hot dog? Especially the BBQed ones? He ended up giving it to CK who didn't appreciate it because it had "stuff" on it and so he said it ended up in the trash because no one ate it. Ouch. That still hurts.

Finally, we went out that night. PF Changs. I kept it under control and only ate small portions. It is right by Krispy Kreme. Jill and I have a standing agreement that if either of us are ever there, we pick up a dozen for the other. Dave decided that if we were getting her some, we had better get us some as well. I still maintain that if I ever really wanted to, I could eat a whole dozen by myself. Especially the "hot and fresh" ones. It makes my mouth water just to think about it. And the ice glazed kreme filled? whoa.

Day 12: In addition to still trying resist the box of doughuts on my counter, and not eating even a lick of the kreme filling when I cut one in half for the kids, it was neice's blessing. We had picnic at the park for dinner. The hard part was the desserts... mini cheesecake cups, rice krispy treats, chocolate rice krispy treats, pretzel salad (which is actually a jello salad with a creme cheese filling).

So, here we are at Day 13. So far, nothing has tempted me, but the day is still early (and I still know where to find those left over mint truffles, and the girl scout cookies, not to mention all those PF Chang's leftovers). Luckily, I am staying close to home, and we aren't going anywhere, so I think I'll be ok. After tomorrow, I won't be as strict with myself. My goal is to allow myself the indulgences, but keeping in mind that I don't have to eat it all. Again, this is a tough concept for me. I really can't say that I have noticed a change in the way my clothes fit me, but hopefully, I have taught myself enough self control over the last couple of weeks that when I am not longer really "discipling" myself, I will still know when to stop and all my exercising will be able to have the desired effect! Who knows... maybe even L will no longer see me as some sort of giant beached whale! Well... maybe that's pushing it. I guess so long as she sees herself in a positive way, she's allowed to see me however she wants!