Differences

McKayla is at that age when she is noticing that people are different. She noticed that a friend of Chad's is bald, and she was very concerned. She is not being rude, but she does want an answer as to why this is. last night for Family Home Evening, i decided to talk about this. We discussed how some people are born a little different, like my ears didn't work when I was born. Heavenly Father made me this way. I am not sure why, but he did. Other people are different because they grew up or live in different areas of the world. We then talked about how fun it is to know different people and what they bring to our lives. McKayla has been wanting spring to come "with warm sunny beaches". I wanted to help her with this so we had the girls dress in their swimsuits. Then we turned on some music and had a hula dance. Then we sang some songs. Last, we ended with ice cream. We all had different toppings on our ice cream, so we pointed out that all of our ice cream's were different, but they still tasted good. I hope that McKayla understood the message. I know I had fun! Here are some pictures of it.

We decorated with pretty flowers.

Ariana was not happy about this idea.

McKayla did her own style of dance.

Here McKayla and I are doing the Hula!

The Roof, The Roof, The Roof Is On Fire

Before saying too much more, I am taking full responsibility for the following incident. Background story, my parents bought my kids some banana chairs for their birthdays. These chairs came in big boxes. We thought that the boxes would be fun for the kids to play in . Last night the kids were fighting over the boxes, so Chad stuck them in the corner by the fireplace, he wasn't planning on making any more fires this season. Today, I thought I would do some spring cleaning and burn some confidential papers. I lit up the fire. I watched it for about 15 minutes. Then I went to fold some laundry. Chad was at the computer doing some homework. I told him that I smelled a lot of smoke, which was odd because it should have been done burning. He turned around and the cardboard box on the outside of our stove had heated up enough to catch fire. I ran upstairs to get the fire extinguisher. Chad put the fire out with the extinguisher. (Thanks Steve and Janis for buying us that). The powder made a huge mess, and our house was filled with smoke. We opened every window and cleared out for about 2 hours. When we came back, we were so grateful that the house didn't burn down. However, the carpet has some very large burn marks in front of the stove, there is a powdery film all over everything. We tried to use a shop-vac to clean it and it just blew it out because the powder is so fine. We will be calling our insurance on Monday to get an estimate. Until then, the kids can't be downstairs. I don't even know where to start to clean. Should I clean it, or should I wait until after the insurance looks at it? We were so very blessed that we had only the small amount of damage that we did. We are blessed that Chad and I were both home and downstairs. We are blessed that we had a fire extinguisher. We are blessed that no one was hurt. We are blessed to have good friends to go to while our house aired out. They also came back with us to check out the damage. I took these photos shortly after it was put out.

Scrapbooking

Last night I went with some friends to Shelley. There is a scrapbook store there called Simply Scrap. The lady that owns it has open scrap from 7-12 every Friday night. I really enjoyed it. I made some great pages and I got to have a girls night out. I hope we get to do it about 1 per month. That would allow me to save up my pictures up and think of some great ideas.

First Ponytail

Ariana's hair is quite a bit darker than McKayla's was at this age. however, McKayla had more hair. I was able to finally put Ariana's hair in a ponytail yesterday. Well, at least I got about three hairs to stick together.

No More Snow

McKayla woke up today chanting "We want spring. We want spring." I can't say that I blame her. This is what we woke up to this morning. I can't really say that I blame her.

Spanish Rice

I learned how to make Spanish Rice for a church dinner. This recipe is so delicious. I am posting it here and at Kitchentokitchen.blogspot.com

1/4 cup of oil
2 cloves of garlic crushed.
Brown garlic in oil and then remove.
Add 2 cups of white rice and brown on med. heat.
When rice is brown, add in 1 cup of tomatoes and 1 cup of onions diced.
Then stir in 1/3 cup of tomato sauce.
Add 5 cups of boiling water.
Add 3 tbs of chicken bullion.
Cover and cook on med heat for 20 minutes.

This recipe is so good. I really love it and so do my kids.

Idaho Spring

On Friday it was 60 degrees here in Idaho Falls. On Sunday we woke up to snow. This is very typical for Idaho weather. My oldest daughter McKayla was so very upset. She wants to be able to go outside and plant flowers. She knows she has to wait until the weather is nice, so the snow was hard for here to deal with. Someday she will understand that given the nature of where we live, snow can show up at an time.

What's Been Going On

I have been so very busy. I have been having so much fun with my girls. They are getting so big. Chad gave them a bubble bath the other day. Here are the pictures of the fun

I also have been working on a church dinner that I am in charge of. We decided to do a Mexican dinner. We made enchiladas, rice and beans. It was so good. I also made tissue paper flowers for the tables. They were fun to make.

Also, the weather has been nice. I love it! We are excited to get out of the house.

Funny Thoughts

When I went to Walmart the other day, I noticed something very funny. We were in the checkout line that has the tobacco products. On one side of the isle there were lighters. On the other side of the isle there were the products to help you kick the nicotine addiction. Then, when you got up to the register, you could purchase the tobacco product of your choice. Chad and I laughed as we were making up little scenes about this isle. One a person would commit to stop smoking/chewing, so they would throw one of the patches into their basket. Then by the time they finally got to the checkout stand, they were so stressed out that they needed some nicotine. Then they would remember they they needed a lighter. In conclusion they would buy some nicotine and start to use their patches tomorrow. I just think it is interesting how stores set up their merchandise.

What I Remember From 7th Grade

When I was in 7th grade I had a cool science teacher named Mr. K. His real name was Kofendofer (I think that was how it was spelled). Anyway, I remember him teasing up about osmosis. When, I think Ariana is trying to using osmosis to take her medication. She spits out her antibiotics and closes her eyes very tight when I try to give her the drops. I can't even get Motrin into her. However, if osmosis works, then she is absorbing it through her skin. Well, at least that is my hope. Her fever is down today and her eyes look much better. Her disposition is still very foul. I miss my sweet baby. I hate that she is in pain and I can't fix it!

Sick kids

I hate when my kids are sick. I feel so bad for them. I want to take away their discomfort and make everything all better. Today is the third day that Ariana has been ill. She has a fever and her eyes have a yellow discharge. I took her to the doctor and she has an eye infection and and ear infection. I have eye drops and oral antibiotics that I need to give. The instructions fail to mention how to convince an 11 month old baby to keep their eyes open while they are getting drops put in. Of course I'm suppose to give her the eye drops every 3 hours so maybe by the time the day is over I might manage to get a little into her eye. The doctor didn't say it was contagious, but to keep her away from day cares. Now I am wondering is it contagious and my other child will get it, or did he say that because her immune system is very weak right now and her little body can't handle and more germs. This is really not the week I wanted to deal with a sick baby. I know we can't pick a time for illness, but it really seems to hit at the worst times.

Being Crafty

I love to make things. I really enjoy scrap booking. The hard thing is coming up with cute ideas. I can follow patterns, but new ideas are difficult for me. I was able to participate in a mini album class yesterday. My wonderful husband agreed to watch the kids while I was able to go create. This is what I made:

I plan on making it a journal of 2009. I saw a great idea on another blog where the lady took pictures every month depicting the season and then put them all together to create a page. I want to do that with this book. I am going to put pictures of the girls in it from every month. I know I have pictures from January and February. Today I put them in green dresses for March. I am so excited to see how this turns out. I also adored doing the class and making the mini album.

Exercise and stuff

I love exercising. Those who have been to my house can attest to this statement. I have been working out regularly with little results. Well that's not 100% true. I haven't had much luck on the scales. Fitness wise I feel great. I have been lifting weights and running on the elliptical consistently for 5 weeks now. I do notice I have more energy and I feel stronger. My cloths are fitting better, but that silly scale fails to recognize this. I personally think that the scale has something against me. I truly expect to get on it one day and have yell it at me, "You're never going to see those magic numbers, so get off me!" Really, we have that kind of relationship. However, I can honestly say that the key for me is healthy eating, and I don't really like to diet. It makes me very grumpy and that's not fun for my girls. Then I realized, I'm not going to stop exercising once the evil scale grants me my magic number. I plan on exercising for the rest of my life. I feel good when I get done with a grueling workout. I love feeling like I tested my body and came out still walking. So I guess I will be the strongest, overweight person, that you know. And you know what? I'm okay with that.

What's the Rating on This Book

I think there should be ratings typed on book just like there are on movies. I am so disappointed when I get a book and find out it's not appropriate. It really bugs me. What's worse is then I worry that people think I actually read that junk. Not so much. I went to the book store to buy some books because I needed a little fun. I saw some books in a series and bought two of them. I asked the sales person if they has read them and they hadn't. I quickly read a few pages, and they look okay. When I got home and started to read the first book I was appalled. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but considering that the book was about high school students I was not impressed. Lucky for me the book store has a policy that you can return book with the receipt up to 14 days after purchase. I guess I will go and try again. But, all of this could be avoided if there were ratings on books. Plus, the reader could see what causes that rating. For example, there are some PG-13 movies I won't see because of the material. It could be the same way with books. I know I am not the first to think of this idea, honestly why hasn't it happened? I think of some of the books I see young people reading and I can't help but wonder if there were ratings on the books would the parents be okay with letting them read it. I love the Twilight series. I'm not going to lie, but when I see 12 year old girls reading it, I'm a little worried. It's an adult type book dealing with adult issues. Granted I realize that the youth of today are more desensitized than I am. They read and see things that I find inappropriate. Yet, everyone accepts this as okay. Shouldn't we be protecting out kids from inappropriate things? Shouldn't we be teaching them correct principles so that they don't seek out that stuff? Granted kids will be kids and I understand that. What I don't understand is the adults approval of this as the new way of life. It all goes back to parents being parents and standing up to "societal norms". All right, I will get off my soap box. Lastly, if there could be ratings on books to help me not read what I shouldn't that would be helpful too! I hate a double standard and I want my kids to know that I practice what I preach.

Chad

My husband is awesome. I know every wife thinks that about her husband, but I am so grateful for mine. He is going to school full time as a gradate student in social work. This requires a lot of reading time and doing papers. On top of that he has to do 20 hours of practicum per week. Oh yea, he also has to work enough hours to pay the bills. I am very blessed to have such a hard working provider. With such a tight schedule, it is difficult for him to go to the dentist or doctor on a regular basis. We finally got him into the dentist last week. He has 4 cavities and gingivitis. I learned that you can get gingivitis by brushing too hard (who knew!) 2 of his cavities are on his wisdom teeth. The dentist recommended just taking them out due to the difficult nature of keeping them clean. So, Chad gets a break from school from the second week of April until the second week of May. On May 1st he will be sedated and have 2 cavities filled and his wisdom teeth pulled. Oh yea, his birthday is May 15, so happy birthday to him. I feel so bad that he has to go through this. We are hoping that he body reacts okay to the sedation and he can go back to work soon after the surgery. I have promised him all the Oreo shakes he could possibly want though. On a positive note, we have awesome dental insurance, so the medical bills won't be too bad. Does anyone have any great ideas for what to fix someone who has had their wisdom teeth out?

I'm walking (Kind of)

Stories!

So, my friend Marie asked me to tell the story about my history paper. I like this story. Growing up my brothers would tell conspiracy theories around the camp fire. One of those theories was about a cover up at the INL (Or whatever it is called these days). In 1961 there was a nuclear accident resulting in the death of three men. The details were fairly gruesome, but interesting. However, there was some speculation that the bodies were never given to the families because the families couldn't do near them due to the radiation. I was able to research the accident, talk to people that were alive at the time and interview some of those working out at the INL. The paper was the first to go into detail about the accident. It also demonstrated how people in America were starting to distrust the government. The idea of the government watching out for the people were beginning to fade and the argument for no secrets were starting to rise. Thus we see the attitude of the 60s coming out. I was asked to go to a historians conference in Washington to deliver this paper. I loved doing it and at that point in my life I was a scholar.

The Answers

Well, I didn't get as many comments as I thought I would,but I decided to tell the truth today.
The lies were: #8 I want to take a photography class, but we are too busy right now. #15 I love meat. I grew up on a cattle farm until I was 10, so I love beef. #17 Growing up in the country, of course I know how to drive a standard.

Chad's lies were #5 I'm sure his father laughed really hard at this one. Chad knows very little about cars, but can appreciate them. #9 Chad competed in Judo locally, but he never did national tournaments, that was me. Last, #14 Chad's mom worries that he is going to need hernia surgery because it tends to run in the family, but as of yet he has not had to do this.

This was pretty fun to do. At first I didn't think of any thing interesting that I have done in my life, but the more I thought about it, the more I came up with interesting facts. Thanks for those of you that left comments.

Lies!

Sounds scandalous I know, but really it is a game. I am going to list somethings about myself. I want you to guess which three are lies. I will reveal the answer on Sunday. I hope you have fun with this.

1. I have only had two jobs in 10.5 years.
2. I have a brown belt in Judo.
3. I wrote a history paper that impressed people that worked out on the desert.
4. I have visited 10 states.
5. I went to modeling school.
6. I was in special education.
7. I wanted to be an air line stewardess.
8. I took a photography class.
9. I love camping and being outside.
10. My favorite color is clear.
11. I almost bled to death twice.
12. I have two girls and I wanted boys.
13. I was considered one of the "enforcers" at my last job.
14. I have a pillow on my seat of my car, so I can see better.
15. I am a vegetarian.
16. I love to ride in boats, but am afraid of the water.
17. I can't drive a standard.
18. I have 4 brothers.
19. In high school I was the flier in cheerleading.
20. I am very competitive.

Chad wanted to do this too, so here is his list.

1. I'm an Eagle Scout.
2. I preformed in a choir in Carnegie Hall.
3. I was born the heaviest in my family and still am .
4. I been to 8 states.
5. I competed nationally in Judo.
6. I like to shop.
7. I love movies.
8. I like superheroes.
9. One of my hobbies is to restore old cars.
10. I have suffered from migraines.
11. I own over 1000 pounds of weight lifting equipment, but I don't exercise.
12. I like to camp and be outdoors. I especially like the fire part.
13. I performed at Junior Miss in Idaho Falls.
14. Due to my weightlifting, I had to have hernia surgery.
15. I was vice president of the ISU Student Social Workers Association.
16. I played city league volleyball in Pocatello.
17. I've met 2 apostles of my church.
18. I have eaten fermented beans on purpose.
19. I have squatted over 500 pounds.
20. I have worked 20 hours straight before, and have worked over 80 hours in 1 week.

Walking

Ariana took her first 3 steps last night. I was so happy. I tried to get her to do it again when I had the camera, but she wouldn't. i will try to get her to do it again soon so that I can post the video. I am happy she finally decided to walk. The girl can stand, bounce, and furniture walk perfectly, but she has not ventured more than 1 step yet, so this is big. Yea for my little girl!

Ahoy Matey

Okay, so I can't type pirate. Yesterday I took the girls to the library for story time. They love story time. Yesterdays theme was pirates. The stories were so cute and McKayla just laughed and laughed. For the craft they made a pirate hat and eye patch. So all of you land lubbers can see what scary pirates we have in this house.

"Were You Good Today?"

I am very blessed. My oldest daughter loves going to church. Yesterday Chad had to go to a meeting at 9 and she thought he was leaving her to go to church. There were many tears. In our church, the family attends Sacrament meeting together, then the kids and parents go to their separate classes for Sunday School and Relief Society and Priesthood. I always tell McKayla to be good for her teachers. My husband teaches the youth ages 6, so he can keep an eye on McKayla during the last hour. When ever I get done with church I always ask McKayla if she was a good girl and what she learned. She always tells me that of course she listened. Yesterday while she was declaring her sainthood, her father was behind her shaking his head. I have tried to explain that she needs to sit and listen to her teachers. I honestly don't think she means to be bad. She is almost four, but 3 hours of church is a lot. By the last hour, she simply can't sit any longer. So, I think she is telling the truth. If I ask her if she as good for her teachers, she tells me that she was being as good as she can be.
This gave me insight to my own faults. Heavenly Father ask me to be good and go to church and listen to my teachers. When I get done with this earthly existence, He will ask me if I was good. I will tell him that I was as good as I could be. We are not perfect. We do the best we can and then the Savior makes up the rest. Sometimes we are really good and other times we get restless and want to run around. Just like my beautiful daughter, I am trying. I will recognize that her "being good" is not my being good, nor is my being good perfect. I am grateful that my Father in Heaven loves me despite my shortcomings. I am also grateful for a daughter that is excited about going to church and to learn about God, yet she teaches me far more than she will ever know. We will both work on being good.

Sunday Best

I love taking pictures of the girls in their Sunday dresses. I think they are adorable.

Life's GPS

Circuit City is going out of business. Yesterday everything was at least 50% off. I love those deals. We went and bought a GPS system. My parent's GPS system really helped with out trip to SLC. I even found some scrapbook places in the area that I didn't know about. I am excited to travel places without worrying too much about getting lost. It even had areas in Canada, Alaska and Hawaii. Good thing that I won't get lost the next time I go to Hawaii.
This got me contemplating about how nice it would be to have a GPS for our life. As we are traveling through life we could know every decision to make. We could set our destination to be with our Heavenly Father and allow the GPS to get us there and have a lot more stress. If we make a mistake the GPS saying recalculating and gets you back on track. Of course this would limit our free will and lesson our trials of faith, but sometimes it would be so nice. Every decision we make affects our journey. Sometimes it is the smallest things that chart our courses.
Then, I got up this morning and as I was reading the scriptures I realized we do have a GPS. Heaven Father has spoken to us through scriptures. His word guides us back to him. If we make a mistake we can repent and "recalculate" our course. I am so grateful for this. I know I have made many mistakes, my GPS at points in my life would be screaming "recalculating". We have our destination and our directions back. Of course we can't always be sure of what twists and turns are going to be in our pathway, but if we are faithful and follow God's commandments, we can be sure that we will eventually make to our final destination.