I'm Getting There!

It's 11:05 and I've got to go to bed - we go to 9:00 church tomorrow.  It's my favorite church time.  I love being done early in the day.  But...it's going to come early and I'm not prepared!

It's nice to get the blog somewhat updated.   Man oh man, going through the hundreds of pictures we take is really daunting!  Upload to iPhoto, categorize by months, export to desktop folders, import to Picasa, sort through them, edit the really bad ones, make collages, export the collages to the desktop, import to Blogger, write the posts and insert the pictures.  It's a time-consuming process!  Totally worth it, though.

I've back dated several posts so they'll print in proper order when I do the book this month.  Scroll down - they're all on this page.

Two Things

I'm on a blogging roll lately.  It won't last long, I promise.

So, two unrelated things.

First, I went into Dillard's today looking for a red cardigan (why I didn't put cardigans in my favorite things post, I just don't know because, seriously, I wear them pretty much every day).  Anyway, I went to Dillard's looking for a red cardigan and came home with these instead:

 Will I regret those in 15 years?  Probably, but I'm planning to enjoy them right now.

Second.  I like Pinterest, but it hasn't been a life changer for me.  It's great, though.  And today I found a quote that pretty much sums up my entire existence.

Another thing I didn't put on my favorite things list.  Ice cream pretty much rocks my universe and I would eat it for every meal.  My favorite kind lately is Farr's German Chocolate Crunch Cake.  I can't find a picture of it on the internets...sorry.  But do yourself a favor and look for it.  It's in a brown box and it's delicious.  I could maybe even write a poem about it.  But I won't.  You're welcome. 

Favorite Things

Just like Oprah, except you don't get anything!

1.  Every Toy Story movie.








If I had to choose a favorite, it would be number 2, but honestly, I don't think there's ever been a better set of children's movies made.  In my Top 10 movies of all time, easily.  And yep, I cry.  Every time.

2.  L'Oreal Infallible Lipstick

This is the best lipstick ever.  It stays on for 8 hours (sometimes more) and has a really nice neutral shade.  The white side is just basically a shiny chapstick that you put on whenever you want the lipstick to look new again.  It is just a really great, hard-working lipstick.  Try it.  You'll love it.


3. Blistex brand chapstick (the green tube)

I probably have 15 tubes of this in various places throughout the house, car, purse, etc, including several backups in the medicine storage.  I love this stuff.  It has no flavor, which is super important to me, it doesn't get addictive, it goes on smoothly, and it's just plain fantastic.  There isn't another chapstick that even comes close.

4. Martha Stewart Everyday Food Magazine

No articles, no perfume inserts, and really great recipes.  I end up using even 10 or more recipes from each issue, which is more than I use out of a lot of cookbooks.  Love the pictures, love the recipes.  Most everything takes about 30 minutes or less prep time and while the ingredients aren't always the first things on your normal shopping list, they're readily available at your grocery store.  My culinary skills have improved so much by reading and using this magazine.  Awesome.

5. Weight Watchers Online
We've been tracking since January.  Stanton has lost 30 lbs. and I've lost around 8-10.  We've been SO happy with the results.  I love having a place to "budget" my calories and be aware of what I'm putting in my body every day.

6. E-Mealz.  This has been my go-to menu planner for the last 4 months.  It's easy to follow and has a "Portion Control Plan" that includes Weight Watchers points for each menu item.  For $5 a month, it's a bargain.  Love it.

7. E.L.F. Bronzer in Luminance

8. Maybelline Define-A-Lash Mascara in Very Black

I have long eyelashes.  I have tried pretty much every drugstore mascara on the planet (honestly, I have tried A LOT) and about that many department store brands.  I have two favorites -- Lancome Definicils and Maybelline Define-A-Lash.  They are almost identical in my book.  Well, except that one cost $45 and one costs $7.  Take your pick.  Define-A-Lash is seriously so great.  It doesn't clump, it gives beautiful definition, isn't heavy, and stays on without flaking for the whole day.  I'm in love.  *sigh

9. 21 Days Closer to Christ by Emily Freeman

This is a wonderful book to get back in the habit of scripture study.  I love the scripture prompts (most of which are in the New Testament) and find that often I don't even need to read the commentary she gives -- I've found my own with the few verses she suggests.  And the daily challenges are great, too.  Terrific book. 

10. Kraft Fat Free Thousand Island Dressing

One WW point for 2 Tbsp.  And it's delicious.

11. Freebies2Deals





This is my gold standard deal finding blog on the internet.  I've found some really great stuff following her blog.  She does do the weekly ad/coupon match-ups with the grocery stores, but I'm not couponing anymore, so I don't use the site for that.  I love the deals on the internet.  Some of my favorites are the Chili's free kids' meals, boots from Famous Footwear for 70% off, a really high quality Santuko knife for $7, etc, and the entire Star Wars collection on Blu-Ray for $79.  I don't buy every single one, but when they're up my alley, I'm sure glad I have someone looking for me!

12.  Speaking of Star Wars, that's definitely one of my favorite things lately.  The whole series, but wow is that episode 5 awesome.  Love it.

13.  Old Navy's Fall Collection.  I've mourned the end of the summer, but looking at these clothes has me just ever so slightly looking forward to the changing of the seasons....

And guess what?  You do get something.  I'll pick a winner from the comments to get a little package in the mail with a few of my favorites.  Who knows which ones?  Not me, but you might just get lucky.

Wants vs. Needs

What I want to do:

1. Update the blog.
2. Go on a trip with just Stanton & I.


What I need to do:

1. Dishes.
2. Laundry.
3. Exercise.
4. Clean up the house.

Blah.

The Thing About the Salad

See previous post and comments for background.....

See, guys, I'm no amateur.  Honestly.  I can pound a Cafe Rio salad with the best of them.  But, see, I'd already munched on Cannon's chicken nuggets and french fries.  And should Cafe Rio only be eaten with friends?  Because I just went and got one because I wanted it.  I think that might be breaking some kind of unspoken Cafe Rio rule.  Anyway, it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be....too much lettuce, not enough meat.

Also, I forgot to remember one other thing that I want to remember.

Each of my three olders points in a different way.
Chloe points with her middle finger like a South American.
Lily points with her pointer finger while closing one eye to hone in on the object she's pointing out.
Brigham points with his pinky.

Finally, have you ever noticed that I do these nonsense posts to put off actual blogging?

Oh, and Alysia, I promise I'm not a homemade pudding pop kind of mom.  PROMISE.  It was a fluke.  It will probably never happen again.  And the beds only got mulched because Stanton did them.  And our garden, while producing lovely vegetables, is a weed patch.  We only weeded once.  Oops.

Various Items

*Stanton took out the kitchen garbage last night.  At least I think so, because I just now discovered that I've been putting garbage in a can without a bag.  It's half full.  And I still appreciate the gesture.....

*Sometimes I annoy myself.

*Brigham is making pies in the sandbox.  I love when my kids discover, on their own, joys from my childhood.

*Our new cement pad in the backyard is awesome.

*We got a humongous, giant, cozy, comfy, enormous sectional for our basement.  I am loving it.  I might never leave the house again.

*I am 98% finished cleaning out the storage room.  Guess what that means?  It will remain 98% finished for another 5 years.

*I've gotten used to the girls being in school.  We're all loving it.

*Gymnastics is taking over our lives.  Does anyone know where I can buy good quality leotards for the girls at a reasonable price?  I don't even know what a reasonable price is....

*Oh, and does anyone know of any local theatre productions looking for children?  I think Lily would LOVE something like that.

*Why is getting out of shape so much easier than getting in shape?  And on a related note, why did I eat almost that whole Cafe Rio salad?

*Pickleville tonight!  Finally!  Yay!

Instead of Actually Updating....

I played with Blogger's new layout helper.  It's fantastic!

So...whaddya think?

So, we have this new Walmart in our town -- that makes 2 Walmarts and zero Targets for our population of around 100,000. I've been pretty grouchy about the whole thing for like the last 2 years.
I changed my mind recently. See, the one up here by my house is now pretty empty (well, if you don't count the crazy Christmas shopping going on right now) most of the time, which is great for me -- I can almost always find a decent parking spot.
And yesterday I took the kids to the new Walmart to do some shopping and it was clean and the aisles were huge and it was altogether a really nice experience.
And then today, well, today I got around to acknowledging that I really needed to order more Christmas cards since I grossly undershot my first estimate. I couldn't go and order them online because they'd be here after Christmas. I planned on ordering them to pick up at my old fashioned Walmart on this end of town, but their 1-Hour Photo wasn't available, but guess whose was?? Yep, the new one on the other side of town. So now I'm pretty grateful I live in a small town with 2 Walmarts about 3 miles apart from one another.
Although, I suppose the new Target could've come through for me, too, if we had one.....

Various Items

Lily is doing great. I need to do a real post about her whole tonsil experience.

Her voice is different. It makes me a little sad.

I love Apple's Customer Service. My power adapter cord thingy for my laptop wasn't working -- it was approximately 1 hour from the time I called to the time I had a new one in my hands -- under warranty.

The thing about lessons (of the Popsicle Stand variety) is that they have a short half life for me. But I'm working on it.

Facebook is easier than blogging.

Choir.

14 months seems to be the age that my kids go from baby to toddler.
I'm not sad about that...mostly.

I'm tired lately -- more than usual. It's bugging me. -- I think I've solved this problem. We had a new quilt on our bed and I think I was getting cold at night. I ordered a light down blanket and the combination of the two, along with the nice, comfy new sheets has made a huge difference. I'm not feeling as tired anymore and seem to be sleeping more soundly.

My kids are really cool. I love to see them work hard at a project.

Potty training was going really, really crappy (quite literally, in fact) for a while there. It's better again. Brig's starting to stay dry through the night, which is great, too.

I'm learning that "chore charts" don't really work for my kids. We are trying a "Do Your Best" chart right now (they just earn stickers whenever I see them doing their best at something, whether it's chores or playing nicely or coloring really well or not whining, etc.). When they fill up all 30 squares with a sticker, they earn a prize. It's going so much better.

Speaking of prizes -- I've discovered that I prefer to give them a prize of a Polly Pocket or Pony or Car or whatever instead of a dollar store prize. The thing about it is, I can never justify just buying them Polly Pockets or whatever for no reason, so they're always waiting till birthday or Christmas, which just isn't all that frequent. The dollar store stuff is junky, they only like it for a few minutes, and I'm always throwing that stuff away when de-junking. Soooo, when they can earn quality toys instead, they actually have a place to be put away and the kids enjoy them for much longer. It's more expensive, I suppose, but a greater value in my eyes. It gives me a bit of sanity and reprieve from what I perceive as crap coming from the dollar store.

We had Chloe's SEP conference on Monday. I decided not to take her because I wanted to hear unfiltered reports on her progress. She's doing great and seems to be catching on to things very quickly. I wish so much that I could be a fly on the wall in her classroom. I'm sure it would be so informative.
One thing her teacher mentioned is that she talks very very quietly in class. She wondered if that was the way we talked at home. Ha ha. I had a good laugh at that one. No. And neither does Chloe.
She's ahead of the curve and doing well in the different areas they're assessing right now. I'm really proud of her -- school is a great place for her.

Facebook Tag

I just did this tag on Facebook and wanted to post it here -- you know...because I'm just sure the kids will want to read it one day...ahem....

1. I usually have to be tagged for a thing like this a million times before I actually get around to doing it. And I'm always nervous to tag other people.
2. I spend way too much time on the computer. But I'll never admit it. I love Google, Facebook, blogging, following other people's blogs, and iTunes the best.
3. I love teaching and speaking in public.
4. I never finished college.
5. My political views have changed more than I ever thought they would.
6. I remember very little of my childhood or even teenage years. The things I do remember are very random and strange -- like singing "It's All Coming Back to Me" by Celine Dion in my bathroom and slamming the door shut when she says "Thought you were history with the slamming of the door"
7. When I drive with my kids, I constantly check the back seats to make sure I didn't forget any of them.
8. I love frozen anything: yogurt, candy, chocolate, vegetables, etc. Love. Them. I also love stale candy -- gummy bears, marshmallows, etc.
9. I am trying to become a recovering know-it-all.
10. I once did the first 14 days of the Atkin's Diet and celebrated its finish by going to Uno Pizzeria.
11. I enjoy crafts, but never stick with one thing for long. And I often buy craft supplies I never use.
12. I am convinced my 3 year old is the funniest 3 year old that ever lived. Also the most frustrating.
13. I am a quick learner and can fake being smart.
14. I love eating out because I don't have to do the dishes.
15. If I had someone who would clean up after meals, I would cook a lot more than I do.
16. I rarely make the same meal twice...unless you count pancakes for dinner. I make that a lot.
17. I had never been to a state that didn't touch Idaho or Utah until I was 20 years old.
18. I can never state that fact without clarifying that I went to California when I was 18 months old, but don't count it because I can't remember it.
19. I love to go on vacation without my kids and only feel guilty about it for about 10 minutes while waiting for the airplane.
20. I really truly look forward to the time when my kids are old enough to go on vacation with us.
20. I love to read to my kids, but find that I can't keep my eyes open for much longer than 2 or 3 books.
21. I can't wait to see what kind of teenagers my kids turn out to be. So much, in fact, that I have to remind myself to enjoy them now while they're still preschoolers. I think I will be a really fun mom of teenagers.
22. I can make my kids laugh really hard.
23. I don't get embarrassed very easily.
24. I. hate. to. scrapbook. But I love making handmade cards.
25. I wish I did more for/with other people instead of holing up in my own little world. But I am a total and complete homebody at heart and I find it very difficult to break out of that zone.

Lately

Blah Blah Blah...sinus headache...runny nose...Cannon has conjunctivitis...lots of laundry (washed and folded AND put away, thankyouverymuch)...messy kitchen...addicted to Facebook...blah blah blah.......but on the verge of some seriously awesome news, I can feel it...

I Hereby Declare

The rest of today to be TV Day. I have a very cluttery house (why do weekends do that to a house??) to get put back together and a very whiny little child by the name of Lily Love who is making that extremely difficult. So...TV it is.

In other news, I had another awesome morning at the grocery store. Here's what I got for $37.18
In case you can't see it all, here's a run-down:
*24 boxes of Cinnamon Life
*16 boxes of Life
*2 boxes of Honey Kix
*2 boxes of Fiber One Frosted Shredded Wheat
*4 cans of Quaker Oats
*4 gallons 1% milk
*1 dozen eggs

All for $37.18! And in case you think that might be overkill on the Life cereal, you just don't know Stanton.

Some of you have asked me to share how I'm doing this. I use a website called Grocery Smarts. It's only available in Utah & Las Vegas, NV right now, but there's a gal who blogs at The Obsessive Shopper who seems to have a helpful system for people outside of that area.

Addicted

I swore I wasn't going to do it this season. I was going to deny the undeniable draw two nights a week. I was going to walk away. But I can't.

I LOVE AMERICAN IDOL!

I can't stop watching. I'm hooked for another 5 months. Sigh.....