Farewell, friends

Are your Kleenex ready for this?

(My hubby will mock me for this one, but I've "known" many of the characters longer than I've known him.)

Family Home Evening in a Snap (or a pinch!)

I am excited for Family Home Evening tonight! We have had some major temper flare-ups this past week and so this lesson is just what we need!

Thanks Britta for the link!

When you have some time, check out this blog!

"I'm two, Mom"...

...thus Lydia informed me last week at the park when I told her that the apparatus she was attempting to scale was for big kids. She knows she's two now, but she thinks that means 10! Here are some pics of the festivities. We had a small present-opening for her on her bday last Friday with our little family, a Prestwich party in Moroni on Saturday, and a Lloyd party on Sunday. With families spread out, my kids have birth-week instead of birthdays!

Opening gifts from sisters.

One of many cakes this week.

Daddy & Grandma Barb- there was no screaming in terror after we sang to her this year!

She loves Heavy-heavy hangover and leans into it, waiting to get thumped. If you hand her a gift without bonking her, she will do it herself!

Her new bday dress- She even left the bow in her hair through all of church!

For the record: Two years ago, Lydia was born 1 1/2 hours before the RS Birthday dinner with as much trauma/drama as we could muster. This year, a few days before her bday, we were at the church setting up for the bday dinner once again. She was shoe-and-sock-less as usual and somehow got her foot under one of the giant curtain dividers and SHREDDED the back of her heel on some metal. You can't completely appreciate the gore in this photo, but it looked nasty and she screamed for a long time, which she doesn't ever do. I felt horrible, but not as horrible as she did! My poor baby!

Science Fair

Jenna did a great job with her science fair project! Her question was about which of four chewing gums stays softest longest. She was very professional about it and made a chart in her notebook. We took the gum to Grandma Lou's last weekend where cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents faithfully chewed each piece for 7 minutes and then rated its softness. We did the same with the Bentleys a few days later. Thanks for all the help!

I am proud of Jenna's hard work and diligence with this project! She and Tim worked out some graphs and she seemed to understand the math side of the project, too. She helped me make the poster and we went to set it up last night. She gets to show off her project to her peers today and I can't wait to see how it goes.

Great work, Jenna Bug!

Thought for the day

Set backs are set ups for great comebacks!

Thanks, Janece!

First sunburn!

Yeah! I got my first sunburn of the year yesterday! Somewhere between the park and walking to get Jenna after school, I got some nice raccoon eyes. It has been a LONG winter and I am so excited for some warmer weather. Hopefully we can have a gradual warm-up this year!

It has faded a bit since yesterday- and don't worry- I am heading for the sunscreen right now!

GrocerySmarts at Smith's

After you read this post, go to grocerysmarts.com. That link should take you to the right spot, but if not, use the passport g84ckv. Call me if you have questions about how to use it.

I wanted to tell you before the sale is over- GO TO SMITH'S! They have a 'buy 10 items and get $5 off' deal right now that is awesome! I won't torture you with a picture, but I got 37 items for $36 with this sale. That's $1.03 an item! I saved $63.38 total- $30.16 in coupons and $33.22 in FreshValues savings. Here's what I got for my money:

4 packages of Dixie napkins
4 bottles of Powerade
2 bottles of Ken's Salad dressing sprays
6 boxes of Fiber One granola bars
2 cans RF Campbell's cream of chkn soup (not a great price, but needed for dinner)
4 Colgate toothbrushes
8 oz mozzarella cheese
1 gallon milk
3- 2 liter bottles of A & W root beer
4-12 pks Diet Coke
3 lbs bananas
2.5 lbs grapes
1 Dole Salad kit
onions
15 lbs of potatoes

The Powerade almost made me feel guilty. It was .99 each, plus there were coupons on the Diet Coke boxes for a free Powerade, plus they took another 50 cents off each bottle with the buy 10/ save$5 deal. It's like they paid me 50 cents a bottle to take it off their hands!

And, you're probably thinking "If you'd quit buying pop you'd save even more!" Ok, I'm thinking that too! (If you're thinking that your stash is running low, I still have a few tear-pad Coke coupons (save $1.50 on 2 12 packs) that expire 3/31- let me know if you want some.)

The next step

I am ready to break past this stupid plateau I have been at for months! My WW leader offered to mentor/stalk a small group of people for 8 weeks at a time and I found out last night that I am in!

Just knowing that Janece will be reading my food tracker has already inspired(scared) me into making much better choices today. The whole choice and accountability thing has taken on a new meaning. She will also call us a few times a week to see how we are doing and help us with whatever we might need.

I have needed a serious kick in the seat for months now. I've been losing a few pounds and then gaining a little, then lose a little more, then gain half a pound, etc. It has been frustrating. This is the chance for me to fine-tune my habits and make sure I am doing exactly what I need to do. I have fallen into the trap of thinking I know exactly how many points things are, when I've probably been under-estimating them. I am sure there have been more than a few bites that crossed my lips that weren't written down, too!

When I started WW I worked diligently to follow the program as perfectly as I could. I know it works when followed ALL SEVEN DAYS! It's the few days a week that I'm not as diligent that are hindering me in reaching my ultimate goal. The first 20 lbs came off fast, the next 5 were slower and harder and the last 6 have been painfully slow.

Here's to a new resolve and a new me! Thanks, Janece.

(Now I'm really going to need people to help me eat my cake thingers I won!)

Everything I need to know...

... I learned on prime-time television!

Here are two nuggets of wisdom from this week's viewing. Mind you, I wasn't taking notes so the quotes may not be word for word, but the deeper meaning is still there.

"We all try to do our best. Sometimes our best just sucks!" Earl from My Name is Earl.

And last night's best quote:

"Ballroom dancing is like bull riding. You're never really ready, it just becomes your turn."
Ty Murray on Dancing with the Stars.

How right they are! There are many things I have to do even if I'm not ready, and sometimes when I do those things, my best isn't quite good enough. Luckily, my turn will eventually end!

I am someone special!

I won! I won! I think I have only ever entered two giveaways on blogs and I won something!

The giveaway was on one of my very favorite blogs - The Meanest Mom. There is a link to her at the bottom of my blog, too. She is hilarious! She has a great way of finding the humor in the not-so glamorous moments of motherhood!

I won one dozen cake bites/cookies from the Sweet Tooth Fairy in Provo. Small world, since the write of the Meanest Mom lives back East. (As I am trying to be super good with Weight Watchers, maybe I should have MY readers enter to win a chance to share them with me!)

Anyway, Jana, thanks for the prize!

Restaurant search

I'm looking for suggestions for a good place to eat in American Fork or Pleasant Grove (or even Lehi). Any recommendations?

A group from our Relief Society is going to the Timpanogos Temple tomorrow and we are going to have lunch after. I would love to hear your ideas!

Craft impaired

I have always considered myself somewhat crafty. Not a professional- more of a jack of all trades, an expert of none. I have supplies to make pretty much whatever you can imagine, including probably 18 different adhesives- anywhere from Elmer's glue sticks to E-6000 (you know, the good stuff).
Anyway, being the procrastinator that I am I was making handouts at 10:15 Saturday night for my Relief Society lesson Sunday. I reached into the basket on the top of the fridge and grabbed a glue stick and went to work gluing the thought printed on plain paper onto some cute paper. It was making a weird greasy stain, which I was hoping would disappear as it dried.

After I was about half way done and the early papers should have been clearly dried, I turned the glue stick over in my hand. In frustration I was thinking, "What- kind- of- piece- of- crap- glue- stick- makes- such- a...wait, Coppertone doesn't make glue sticks..." Yeah, it was sunscreen.

The picture isn't very clear- my camera batteries were about dead and I had neglected to recharge the new ones...

Eventually I got my act together and found an actual glue stick. All is now right in the world and hopefully everyone's hand-outs have been a life-changing source of inspiration since the moment they laid eyes on them!

Prisoner of war

If you have ever wondered about methods of torture and if they work or not, I can vouch for two- sleep deprivation and noise.


Note this entry from the ever-accurate Wikipedia:

In the 21st century, even when states sanction their interrogation methods, torturers often work outside the law. For this reason, some prefer methods that, while unpleasant, leave victims alive and unmarked. A victim with no visible damage may lack credibility when telling tales of torture, whereas a person missing fingernails or eyes can easily prove claims of torture. Mental torture, however can leave scars just as deep and long-lasting as physical torture.[62] Professional torturers in some countries have used techniques such as electrical shock, asphyxiation, heat, cold, noise, and sleep deprivation which leave little evidence.


It should be illegal for my kids to be awake all night and then make incredible amounts of incessant noise throughout the day!


A few nights ago Jenna and Aubrey were asleep and Lydia was not about to cave. Tim and I were trying to go to sleep, but she wouldn't hear it! She wanted me to put her tutu on her but I told her I wouldn't because it was bedtime. A few minutes later this is what we saw.

She figured out how to get it on and then found my boots to add to the outfit. Go to sleep!!!