Bodine Jibber-Jabber

Thanksgiving Holidays

2010-11-27T19:08:00.000-08:00

We had the privelege of spending our Thanksgiving holiday at Cory & Minnie's new house in Kennewick. Rob, Rachel, Amber, Steve & all the kids were there. The food was amazing, and we topped off our evening with games and karaoke. It was so nice to be able to visit with family for the holidays, especially since we were planning on going North (but had to cancel due to weather)

Christmas is fast approaching, and the shopping is more than halfway done!! Jeff braved the walmart masses on black friday, but wished he hadn't. The deals weren't all that great and most of the on-sale items were gone before he even got there in the wee hours of the morning. So I did most of my shopping online this year with coupon codes & free shipping offers!

We are full swing with 4H this year. We've been having monthly 4H super saturdays, with activities such as baking, cupcake decorating, arts & crafts, working with animals, and (this is my subject) theatre arts. I'm directing a nativity puppet show & will have some pictures of the homemade puppets up here shortly. We'll be performing this at an old-folks home, and at the ward party on the 11th.

An end to the insanity! (Or is it just the beginning?)

2010-09-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've finally come back from an extra long blogging-break! This summer was so crazy! Then, getting back into the routine called life took about a month. Finally I think I can actually take a breather & get my life back in order. Here are some things that we kept busy doing over the summer:

Summer activities at the community center; lunch, sports, and crafts
Going to the Eschbaugh park in Yakima a couple times, floating down the stream in inner-tubes is always fun!
4th of July at the Woody's house in Yelm. I think I saw the most amazing fireworks show in my life on a big screen TV with grandma & grandpa!
A trip in the early summer to Spokane, I did a Turbokick training, and Daddy took the kids to the children's museum! We loved the old fashioned horse carosel rides!
Going to the children's museum in Olympia (right next to the capitol building) with my boys. We love that place, it's so much fun - and so much history right next door!
We went to Moses Lake water park as a family. My favorite was the body boarding! Such a rush!
Our week-long trip to the Grimmers at Lake Palmer. We went swimming, hiking, fishing on a boat, got to see baby cousin Vance blessed, and spent endless hours playing games, getting tan, and eating yummy food.
Picking fruit and canning - we froze blueberries, canned pears, canned plums, made jelly and juice from plums and grapes, and we froze big freezer bags fulla nectarines.
Through diet and exercise I lost 15 pounds, and Jeff also lost some weight (which I'm not quite sure how much yet)

And what do I have to look forward to in the next few months? Weeeelllll....

We are going through with the purchase on the big house!! And we're keeping the Merrick house too, with some amazing renters who take better care of it than we could by ourselves.
I'm still teaching exercise classes and yesterday I ran a mile without stopping (if you know me, then you know I hate to run. And that is a huge accomplishment!).
I am also volunteering to coordinate a babysitting course for teen girls in the community. That will be going on in the month of November.
And I'm mentoring a teenage girl for her senior project. She in return is giving dance lessons to Keira.
4-H is still going on, and Keanu will be doing 4-H when he turns 5 this year! So teaching 4-H classes will be a blast - we'll be doing creative and expressive arts. (Don't worry, I WON'T be dancing!)

I feel so blessed to have a life full of excitement and fulfillment! All this is due to the children in my life, who add variety and interest to every day. In comparison, my life was dull and monotonous before kids! So even though I have an occasional panic attack and everyday stress, at least I am living life to the fullest right? (even if that includes hours in the emergency room!)

Summer Schedule - Updated

2010-07-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I'm teaching Turbo 4X a week now!! And I have SOOOO seen a big difference in how I feel, how toned my arms are, my energy level, and it's changed the way I feel about working out. I look forward to my workouts & try to find excuses to exercise just because I love it so much!! Turbokick has definately helped me!! Over the weekend I took a Zumba class with my sis-in-law Lea & I've taken it before at the club we have also. It's a lot of fun & I'm thinking maybe next year I'll get Zumba certified too, wouldn't that be cool?? I just love all that booty shakin & the cute jingle belts too!

So here's my summer schedule (for the most part) running thru mid-August. please everyone come join me!

Monday 6pm - Turbo at the Valley Raquetball Club. Class punchcards available & childcare is 1$ per child.
Tuesday 8:00am - Turbo at the community center. I believe a family pass is 20$ and that includes activities for your children every day. They are going to have something for kids to do during the class, so kids are welcome.
Wednesday 6pm - Turbo at Valley Raquetball Club again
Friday 8:30am - Turbo at the LDS Church on Lincoln Ave. Sunnyside - Kids run around in the gym, so bring sports equipment to keep them busy & cost is free!

One TurboKickin Momma!

2010-06-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we went as a family to Spokane (kids pictures coming soon). We took the kids to the old fashioned carousel with horses & other animals that go up & down, it was awesome! We walked around Riverfront park & stayed in a motel. In the morning Jeff took the kids to the parks around & to the children's museum.

I went to the YMCA for a Turbokick training. It was actionpacked & lots of fun, I was exercising my butt off all day long! In spite of floundering a quite bit with the choreography & feeling like a total idiot in front of everyone during the dance off (because I can't dance) & the practical testing part of it (because I didn't know the choreo that well), I still had a blast! They really did throw it all at you at once & it was easy to get overwhelmed with all the moves to memorize. HOWEVER - When I got home and today when I got a chance to go thru the choreography on the DVD they gave me, it wasn't so bad. I wrote it all out on cue cards for me to follow when teaching & I think with a bit more practice I'll be A-OK!

So at the club I'm going to be switching my class from 5:00 to 6:00 & will stay in the 6:00 spot all summer long teaching Turbokick. I'll also be doing a Friday morning TK class at the church in a couple weeks when I get that all set up. Woo hoo! Go easy on me everyone, I'm learning too!

Momma & the boys!!

2010-06-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

Our dishwasher was broken for a couple days. I finally broke down and did the dishes by hand. (after there were no silverware or cups to be had) The boys had lots of fun as I taught them to wash cups and bowls. They felt so grown up & were having so much fun! And then later on Kalani begged me to lift me up on my hands/feet high in the air. I remember my dad doing this. He'd lay down with his hands on the floor & the kids would put one foot on each hand. Then he'd lift us up in the air & put us on his feet. Does anyone else remember? I do it with my kids & they love it!

You REBEL you!

2010-06-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

Over the last several days from Thursday thru Monday, mom and dad came for a visit. It overlapped Jeff taking the boys to Yelm so Keira & I could have some quality girl time. First Keira and I went shopping, out to eat & visiting auntie Minnie in Kennewick. Then my Mom, Eli & I went shopping too & also out to eat, but in Yakima this time. So it was very nice to have some quiet time.

Soooo, for the story of rebellion! In a nutshell we went to a place we were NOT supposed to be. We took the family & some family friends, and we jumped an 8ft fence to get into an old abandoned railroad tunnel. Don't worry, the tunnel was abandoned in the 70's & it's carved out of solid rock. The floor was flat dirt because they had refurbished the tunnel & used to use it as a walking/biking trail. I have no idea why they don't want people in there now, but that didn't stop us. We jumped the fence with our flashlights & walked the 2.5 miles to the other end, where we jumped another fence. It was SOOO worth it! On the other side was this beautiful and remote waterfall & some gorgeous scenery! If you look really hard you can see a teensy tiny Keira & Malea down by the waterfall in one of the pictures.

Laundry Detergent UPDATE

2010-05-26T12:33:00.000-07:00

PS: The laundry soap DOES work & gets your clothes clean, but I wouldn't say it is as good as say, TIDE laundry detergent. It works about as well as a cheap laundry detergent. But for the price, it's even cheaper than your cheapest detergent & you get WAY more of it. So I still think it's worth it. I'm still planning on using bleach for my whites & an occasional soak and/or spray & wash treatment.

Do it your own darn self - Laundry Detergent!

I've been haunting the DIY websites & found a plethora of recipes for homemade laundry detergent that supposedly can save you a bundle! I've also found both positive and negative reviews. I decided to try it out for myself using a recipe that was most frequently found on these websites. We have very hard water, which makes it difficult to get anything clean. So, I adjusted the recipe to make my mixture more concentrated & included baking soda, which I've heard can act as a water softener in your laundry. It only took maybe 15 minutes to make, and right now my bucket is sitting in the laundry room. I'm going to try using it today & tomorrow I will post to let you know how well it actually worked!

Ingredients:
1 bar soap, 1 1/3 cup washing soda, 1 1/3 cup baking soda, 1 1/3 cup borax, a 5gal bucket with lid

Directions:
Shred the entire bar into a cookpot & add about 4-5 cups water. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally (Taking care not to let it boil over while searching for a bucket) until you have a bubbly "soap soup", with the soap completely dissolved. Fill your bucket 2/3 with water. Pour in washing soda, baking soda & borax. Stir in, then pour in soap soup. Mix well, put a lid on your bucket & wait overnight for the soap to gell up. You can then stir it up & put it into old laundry detergent bottles for easy pouring and measuring. Just be sure to shake the bottle well each time before using. This is a great idea for a moneysaver! I sure hope it works well!

Cirque Dreams Illuminations!!

2010-05-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

For our anniversary, Jeff & I decided to see a show. It just so happened that I stumbled accross an add for Cirque Dreams Illumination, that it was playing in Kennewick! So I jumped on it & got tickets. Last night, Aunt Dianne was gracious enough to watch the kids so we could celebrate our 10 year anniversary in style! First we ate our favorite - Chinese! Then we went to the Cirque Dreams. We had pretty good floor seats & were close up enough to see it really well. It was sooo amazing! The show had an urban theme. Everything took my breath away, from the arial acts to the dancing, the costumes and set design to the juggling and balancing acts, the contortionists and the live musicians.... WOW! This had to be the best show I've ever seen live! Too bad they wouldn't let us bring the camera in, so I snipped some pictures off their website so you could see some of the acts we saw. If I ever get another chance to see a cirque show - I'M THERE!

My Craftster Swap!

2010-05-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

OK everyone, since my Craftster partner finally recieved her package, I think it is safe enough to show you what I've been hard at work doing all month long! ...1st of all, Craftster.com is a crafting website in which you can craft to your hearts content, take pics & post them for all to see and comment on. You can also participate in closely monitored SWAPS in which you join & are paired up with a partner. You then "craft" something for your partner that goes along with the swap theme, and then send it to them. The partner sends you something in return. There are strict rules that make it so people fulfill their end of the bargain. SOOOO, I joined a photography swap and here are some of my favorite pictures that I sent my partner from Ohio. I also "crafted" her a picture frame for an 8x10 photo that I took myself. I talked to her & stalked her website to find out what she likes. She enjoys photos from nature, rustic photos, and wants photos for a "green photo collage", hence the kids and animals. I sent her well over 50 photographs on CD, and printed her out maybe 30. What do you think? Keep in mind that I am very much an amature!! Enjoy everyone!

Keanu's Preschool graduation

2010-05-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Keanu's preschool graduation at Teddy Bear Corner. Seriously, I have never seen such a huge to-do over preschoolers in my LIFE! But it was nice to celebrate the year with them. TBC had a very cool slideshow with music from the entire year that they gave each family a copy of. The program was pretty neat - the kids sang their special songs. Keanu bawled up until it was time to go on stage, but he was fine after we left him with his teacher! Stage anxiety I guess! We each gave him a Lei & all celebrated with banana splits afterwards with the kids. Congratulations Keanu, you learned a lot this year!

Rescuing a barn owl!

2010-05-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

Today the kids came in screaming that out on the playground, inside a tractor tire, they found a bird. So going out there, Jeff discovered that it was a baby barn owl. It was in danger in that location because, just being a baby, it couldn't fly and the dog could get it. We brought the dog inside, discussed the situation & finally contacted the audobon society here in Yakima Valley. On their instructions, we captured the owl, and inspected it for injuries. Then I climbed to the top story of the barn and set it free as close to the nest as I could get it. I'll be checking back on it in a day or two to make sure it's doing OK. This was quite the excitement for the kids! (oh, and here's an awesome picture we took the other day of the barn owls home. Isn't that rainbow awesome?)

Walk for Life

2010-04-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

As a family (minus daddy) we participated in the Life Options Walk for Life fundraiser on Saturday. Here we are on our 2 mile walk! We were able to raise money for (hopefully) preventing abortions & helping teen parents...... Um yes that was me pushing two preschoolers in a double stroller with an infant in a backpack. Insane I know.

Congrats Keira for the Fashion Revue!

2010-04-25T16:53:00.000-07:00

Keira is in 4-H, and just finished performing in the yearly fashion revue! With my help, she created this ruffle skirt using no pattern. For those of you who aren't familiar with this event, here's what it is. We have different classes in 4H head up by different parents. In the sewing class, the kids picked a wearable sewing project to complete. Then, when April comes around, they put this project together with an outfit to model at the fashion revue. For children who aren't planning on sewing something, they can participate in consumer fashion by purchasing an outfit on sale and becoming more knowledgeable about the material, care, shopping, etc... (this is what Keira did last year!). Well, this year Keira and I were browsing craftster, and saw a skirt that we both really liked. It was a 3-ruffle skirt and didn't look too hard, and keira really wanted one. So we created one kind of like it without a pattern using fabric she picked out. I did a LOT of helping her, but it was a team effort. She did a lot of ironing, pinning, using the sewing machine pedal, holding fabric as I fed it thru the machine, etc... I did the actual pushing fabric thru the machine for the most part, since she is only 8 & I'm terrified of her sewing her finger.
Keira learned a lot through this project about how to create an article of clothing. She had fun at judging earlier this week, talking about the construction and care of her skirt with the judges. She did a great job posing on the runway! Keep your eye out in Sunnyside papers, they were snapping away when she was on stage. Way to go Keira!

Here she is modeling her new skirt! Please excuse the over-the-top pose, she is a definate drama queen! (And also the background decorations, the theme was "dream career" and hers is a dance instructor) She was judged & participated in the fashion show wearing it, and now she has a pretty new rainbow ribbon to show for it! What do you think?

My Dad the Bishop

2010-04-12T08:31:00.000-07:00

Here is my Dad the Bishop! I just want you to know that my Dad was set apart as Bishop of the Oroville ward yesterday. We went up to Oroville for a nice visit over the weekend, to celebrate the occasion. I want the whole world to know that my Dad is the best Dad in the whole world. He's not a perfect guy, in fact he's made his share of mistakes and overcome a lot of weaknesses to get where he is right now. I think that all of the weaknesses he's overcome and problems/challenges he's tackled in this life have helped him become a very strong spiritual leader. They have made him a better dad and will make him a very compassionate loving Bishop. To Dad, congratulations! I Love you with all my heart & you can do it! You'll make a great Bishop!

Meet Savannah-Banana!

2010-04-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

Meet a new member of our family, Savannah-Banana! Vanna for short. (we didn't name her, this was the name she came with & answers to). We found her on Petfinder.org and got her from POPP in Kennewick (An animal agency that rescues abandoned strays & spays/neuters animals). We brought her home today, and she's currently roaming our house whining occasionally. I think she's feeling a bit insecure.... Well, she's a pretty big dog, but good with kids, pretty much ignores cats and babies. She's beautiful, goofy, smiley, and very sweet. She's very obedient (she's been housebroken, crate trained, and gone through obedience training). Jeff hasn't seen her yet, I think he's going to love her!

Easter Pretzels, Happy Easter!

2010-04-03T23:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone! Last night we colored eggs with the neighbor girls (they come from Mexico & I believe it was their first time!). And then today in the morning was the only time we were going to be able to spend with Jeff, so we had an impromptu Easter Egg hunt in the yard. Other than that I spent all day hanging out in the house with the kids. It occurred to me that I really should have some sort of Easter FHE, so I whipped this one up.....

Did you know that the Pretzel has Christian beginnings? If you turn one upside down, the design looks like arms being folded. The three holes are said to represent the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The design also looks like a heart, which could be representative of the Love shown to us by Christ when he gave his life for us, and then when we break it apart to eat it, it could be representative of his body broken for us. No one knows for sure when the first pretzel was invented, but back in the 600's, monks used to give them as treats to children who said their prayers and memorized their scriptures. Then in the 1400's, Germans ate them with hard boiled eggs for dinner on Good Friday. The pretzel for them symbolized everlasting life, and the eggs represented Easters rebirth. Soon, parents began hiding eggs and pretzels, often in the hay in barns for children to find. That is the origin of the Easter egg hunt.

So, today we made homemade pretzels & talked about what the pretzel represents, and what Easter is all about. The kids colored the fronts of their Easter lapbooks that we're going to be using for Conference tomorrow. Happy Easter everyone & don't forget why we celebrate this happy spring day! Someday, like Jesus Christ, we also will be resurrected with a new beginning and perfect glorious eternal bodies.

Good-bye Scooter!!

2010-03-17T05:21:00.000-07:00

We lost Scooter to the road yesterday.... The kids and I were out in the yard, we heard a loud noise come from the road. I'm not sure what made me start running towards the road except the possibility that our dog might have left the yard. And sure enough, there were some people with their dog walking down the road & he wanted to follow them. As he tried to cross, he got hit. I believe it was instantaneous. There was very little blood & I think he just died instantly. I picked him up off the road and carried him home. We lovingly buried him out in the pasture, kind of by where Robbie buried Fiona. I don't think the Keira and Keanu will ever forget him.

Scooter was by-far the best dog we've ever had. The kids cried, and cried some more. I had a long talk with them about how his spirit wasn't in his body anymore, and about Heaven, and we prayed that God would take care of Scooter until we can see him again. We also used it as an object lesson of why we don't go near the road. What else can you do?

I believe God was preparing my kids for this to happen, because twice in the last couple months we've hit and killed an animal on VanBelle. Once a cat and once a dog. Before that happened, I don't think Keanu and Kalani (especially) understood that animals die and cars can kill anything that goes into the road. It wasn't so much of a shock as it could have been.

Roller Skating anyone?

2010-03-07T09:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I learned to roller skate backwards -kind of! I took the kids to Prosser Roller Rink, where we met a friend for Roller Skating. Keanu refused to skate, opting for playing video games instead. I was able to get Kalani out on the floor a few times & he did great for a first timer! After a while both boys were pulling me all over the place on my skates. Keira had two friends that we invited to come, and she kind of hugged the wall quite a bit, but I think she had lots of fun skating with her buddies. The boys friends Ryker, Little & Christina were there. My friend Melanie is an awesome skater & she tried to teach me to skate backwards. At least I didn't fall on my face (though I did fall once on my rear end).

Sledding Trip up on White Pass - The good snow days are numbered!

2010-03-07T08:50:00.000-08:00

We went up on White Pass for a snow day. Pulled the kids out of school and everything! My friend Melonie watched baby Kai & we took her boy Tavin. We all headed up with our snow gear & it was a gorgeous day for it! The sun was out, none of us really needed our hats or gloves it was so warm. That must mean that the snow days are numbered! Some people up there created this huge snow fort complete with a big tunnel, turrets and towers, and two slides to slide down. We had a lot of fun throwing snowballs back and forth, sliding, sledding and climbing. On the way home, the boys crashed hard & they looked so adorable slumbering with their heads together! It was definately picture worthy!

Back in the blogging scene - Home based business ideas anyone?

2010-03-07T08:38:00.000-08:00

Well, here comes the end to my hiatus from blogging! Things got kind of crazy for a while trying to live my life, take care of my children, household, and run the family! But I'm going to try to get better at blogging. Its good for me to record our lives and a decent substitute for the scrapbooking hobby that I don't seem to have time or energy for.

January and March were busy. I worked really hard -hours on hours, days on end- on an unsuccessful business endeavor with Xango. I was so excited with the business model and program I was on, and I attacked it gung-ho. It didn't work, however, because not everyone was as excited as I was upon hearing about it. And no one was willing to take the risk. So- oh well! It's not for everyone & didn't work out for me! I'd like to work out of my home though, and so I'm still playing around with the idea of some sort of home based thing. Scentsy? Melaluca? Pampered Chef? I just don't know yet. And I really don't want to invest hundreds, so it needs to be low investment & something that the people I'm friends with would be interested in.

So to my friends out there, what kind of home based business have you tried & did it work out for you? What would you suggest?

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T18:54:00.000-08:00

Kung He Fah Choy everyone!! I tried to learn it in Korean, but it was so hard to say! Chinese is easier!
Do you have a NEW years resolution?? If so, what have you decided to do??
There is this scripture, D&C 88:119. It talks about what kind of house we should establish. A house of prayer, fasting, faith, learning, glory, order, a house of God. This is my focus for the year. To have this kind of house, these are some things we're going to be working on:
1. Family prayer at least once a day 2. Tuesdays FHE 3. Morning devotionals weekdays 4. Evening scriptures 4. A chore chart and regular schedule we follow to get things done 5. Temple trips

I'm going to try my best not to grumble, to stay positive and focused! In the past I've done fairly well with resolutions (morning devotionals was last years resolution & they're still going strong!) I just hope with my life being as crazy as it is, that I'll be able to keep it up! This one's going to be a challenge, to revamp our lives like this. I sure hope I'll be able to keep it going! All it takes is one little weekender trip, or having company, or some other minor upheaval to throw us out of whack & ruin everything we've worked so hard to do!

Please post with your New Years Resolutions, I'm burning to know!

Merry Christmas - Our Ward Christmas Pageant

2009-12-15T14:47:00.000-08:00

Our whole ward got together for a Christmas dinner & program. Keira and I were involved in the Christmas pageant. I performed two duets with my flute in the musical part of it, and Keira was a cow! Her & I had fun putting together a last minute cow costume! Here are a few pictures of the pageant. (pictures are a bit dark, sorry!) Merry Christmas everyone & don't forget the reason we celebrate Christmas, the birth of our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ! Please keep him in your thoughts & hearts this season!

Merry Christmas everyone!

2009-12-15T14:25:00.000-08:00

We had Santa Clause come all the way from the North Pole for a visit! The boys especially were enthralled, they were all eyes for Santa! He took pictures and joined us for Hot Cocoa and cookies before he whisked away on his Sleigh!

Kai is 1 month old!

2009-12-15T14:10:00.000-08:00

The kids have been enjoying having a new baby brother in the house. In this picture Kalani had drunk way too much Kool-aid (see the mustache?) and we were having a tough time getting him to be good for the camera, but the other kids were having fun with it!

Keira is a regular little mommy! She loves to carry Kai all over the house & if he's fussy, he'll settle right down if she picks him up.

Daddy is re-learning to take care of a baby!

And Keanu LOVES to hold Kai. A few times when I was busy & Kai was crying, Keanu has settled him right down & made him happy. He likes to lay down tummy to tummy with him.

It's not very often that I get everyone up & out of the house dressed nicely (make-up, what's that?) so we had to record the occasion. Isn't Kai adorable in his little man outfit?

He makes this face a lot, making an OOOO shape with his mouth. I remember Keanu doing the same thing! Merry Baby's 1st Christmas to Kai!

And here he is on his blessing day! Jeff blessed him & Dad/Mom were here to help us celebrate! Mom was here for a whole week to help out, she was a lifesaver!

Kai Lamoni

2009-12-04T09:18:00.000-08:00

I am SO in love with my sweet little baby boy! I look into his baby blues & can see each and every member of our family in his facial features (except for myself, of course). We've blessed him in the last couple weeks, and I can't believe he;s already 3 weeks old, but time flies!

We named him Kai Lamoni Bodine!

2009-11-13T18:36:00.000-08:00

He was 9lbs 3oz, and 23 inches long!! Born 11/11 at 10:06pm after a very easy (but lengthy) labor. Now recovering at home from delivery & a tube-tying surgery. Surgery recovery has been pretty rough, so you'll hear more from us & see more pictures when I recover a bit more!

Grape Juice Fiasco

2009-11-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

Last night I was reading in the family room & the boys were running around playing. Keanu comes in to say, "Kalani got juice on the carpet". So I ran into the living room to find an ENTIRE JUG of grape juice completely dumped on our living room carpet! This carpet is only maybe 6-8 weeks old, brand spankin new. I totally FLIPPED!

Luckily mom was visiting & I could call out to her to bring lots of towels. We carefully tried to soak it up. Then I googled how to remove grape juice stains. I think with the help of a big container of lemon juice, tons of towels, and a pitcher of cold water, we were able to remove almost all of it. You can hardly tell it was there. But I'm SO worried about it wicking up dirt & the stain showing through in a couple weeks!! I think maybe the next step is to buy white vinegar & apply/dab up the carpet again. Anyone out there have any better ideas???

Kalani REALLY got yelled at, I hope he learned his lesson to NEVER get into the fridge again!! The problem is, now we have two fridges to monitor. Time to buy more child proof locks!

Mother Daughter project today: Pie!

2009-11-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

I love my mother in law, she & I get along pretty well. And it is SO nice to have her visiting (even if the baby's not cooperating by coming on time!) She's helping me around the house, cooking, cleaning, caring for the kids, and I feel like I have time to enjoy things I haven't done in a long time. Today I showed her how to make apple pie from scratch. She's always used a mix and storebought pie crust, or bought the pie from the store. Homemade is So much better than the premade stuff!! We made apple, and then *surprise* she found out the pear tree in our yard had a few ripe pears! We made apple pear raisin pie. It was SOOOO good!

Halloween fun!

2009-11-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

Since the baby is SO close to coming & I really didn't have a whole lot of energy to devote to Halloween, I purchased the kids costumes way in advance and Halloween was pretty low profile. We went to the Outlook School carnival the week before. And, Halloween weekend we spent doing crafty activities with the kids. We did tissue paper pictures, played with playdough, and painted baby pumpkins. Sidenote: It's SO nice to have our dining room all set up! And all the crafty/messy games & activities are right there in the closet, so the mess never makes it to any other rooms in the house! - THEN we went to the Halloween Trunk or Treat at Sunnyside ward. I felt very lucky that Jeff was there to help take over, and I think he was pretty happy to share in the celebrating too. I did NOT dress up - and really missed it because I dress up every year & really love it. Well, there are many more years to come of more festive holidays!

Here are the kids getting crafty, they LOVE playdough!

And in their costumes...

One more piece to the puzzle, Our Dining Room Is Finished!!

2009-10-27T19:57:00.000-07:00

YES Jeff & I were hard at work the last two days!! He had two days off in a row & THIS is what our dining room looked like. The carpet was badly stained, the walls desperately needed some paint & it was the dumping grounds for flattened down boxes, several misc. boxes that had heavens knows WHAT inside, and boxes that were supposed to go to goodwill. Plus my desk corner stunk like cat pee & I really wasn't happy with how my office stuff was organized on all those track shelves. SOOOOOO - We've been hard at work the last two days going through boxes, taking things to the goodwill & cardboard recycling center, and FINALLY ripping up all that old carpet. Jeff found me a FREE desk that they were getting rid of at LTI that worked wonderfully for my needs! I painted the whole room in an entire afternoon, and made a trip to the lighting store in Sunnyside (I found a great deal on a floor model. It really was a PAIN to install that chandelier, but so very worth it!). Finally, after so much heartache, frustration, and backbreaking labor, this afternoon we finished! To celebrate, we put a turkey in the oven, made some pumpkin pie, and had some friends over for our very first sit-down dinner in our new/old house! It really was so nice to feel like one more big piece of the puzzle was put into place, and having a dining room all set up really made a huge difference on how homey our house feels! Now maybe I can take a break & relax tomorrow?

And the race is on!!! A bit of a rant

2009-10-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

OK, so many of you know that EVERY pregnancy has came with a major upheaval in our household during the last month or two of my pregnancy. Keira=Major room remodel, Keanu=House flood & all new flooring, Kalani=House addition/Sunroom remodel, and so THIS pregnancy is no exception!! This time we've moved & our whole lives have been turned upside down. So I have between 1 week and 10 days maybe? And the race is ON to get everything situated in this house so I don't feel like I have tons to do when I get home with a brand new baby. We've still got those two rooms/dumping grounds that need to be set up, a bit of painting, organizing, and putting up decorations, wall hangings, etc... I know myself well enough to know that I NEED to have some kind of control over my life to keep myself from being an emotional wreck after having a baby. So this week we're racing to get as much done as we can. Don't worry! I have some help & will try not to overdo it! I'll just have to pick & choose the minimum that can be done to have our house livable & comfortable.

At the same time, I've got appointments for stuff I'm selling through Craigslist. I'm trying to clear off our property a bit, so IF anyone is interested in any of the following, contact me OK? 2 used couches, 2 cheap bookshelves, 1 entertainment center, a little TV, a dryer, a stove, a dresser, a crib mattress, 2 older snowmobiles, 40 boxes of artificial stone for use on fireplaces or the exterior of your house, 200 square feet of patio blocks, and WHO knows what else is in that barn~!~ Eventually we'll get around to sorting through everything!

Moved, and on to new beginnings!

2009-10-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

YES, we did it!! Over the course of two weekends we moved into mom & dad's old house. And when I say old, I really mean OLD. It's almost 100 years old in fact, but they've done a lot of work on it and the downstairs is pretty nice. We plan on making a few cosmetic changes to the inside pretty soon, but other than that it's pretty comfortable.

The move was quite possibly one of the hardest things I've ever done. Between two houses to clean, TOO MUCH STUFF, taking care of kids, Jeff working 7 day weeks, and being very pregnant, this was a very emotional time for me. I want to extend a BIG THANK YOU to those sisters from the ward who came to help me clean my old house & pack up. And also the sisters who came to help clean the house we're moving in to - as well as sisters who brought meals!! Although there are still boxes here and there, and two rooms are still in a constant state of chaos, we're finally getting settled in & able to actually LIVE in this home. If anyone wants to help me, I still have a room that needs to have it's carpet pulled up & a couple rooms that need painted!! I'll probably end up having to do it myself so I could really use the help!

Our old house will be up for sale shortly. There's a guy in our ward who is going on a mission in January. We've made an agreement with him that he can live there & take care of the place, clean it up, paint etc... for us. So our house won't be empty, and I won't have to worry about painting & making repairs to the old house. This is an enormous blessing for us since the baby is coming so soon!!

The baby's crib is all set up, and we have a changing/nap area at the top of the stairs. The bedroom set I found on Craigslist was so adorable!! So now I'm KIND OF feeling like maybe the end of chaos is in sight & possibly I can be ready for new beginnings.

Shortly I'll be posting pictures of our home (something wrong with Blogger today - it won't let me) We're still in the last moving stages!! Most of the rooms in the house are 90% set up, but there ARE a couple rooms that ended up being the DUMPING GROUNDS. The dining room & family room still need lots of work. But all in all, we're happy to be here & the kids really like it here! There is so much more room for them to run around & play than our last place. Living in the country will take some getting used to though!

17 yrs since the Brain Tumor & counting!

2009-10-02T08:34:00.000-07:00

17 years ago today Jeff called me up on the phone (we were dating, but only had been together for about 5 months). For the entire month previously, he had been very sick. He'd had a lot of dizziness, nausea and vomiting, and was unable to keep anything down. I'd visited him every few days to keep him company & he'd been in to see the doctor a couple times (and sent home with tylenol). Well, his mom finally decided to take him to a different hospital, and this was where he called me from.

"They say I have a brain tumor", were his words. It was in the equilibrium section of his brain and they would need to operate immediately. They told him that if he had came even one week later that it would have killed him. Before he went in to surgery, they made him sign all kinds of releases. He was made to understand that he possibly wouldn't survive this operation and that if he did survive there were great chances of brain damage. His recovery time would be months, and he could end up essentially, a vegetable.

So he went into surgery. His famous last words to the nurse before he went under were true to his character, "Silly rabbit, tricks are for kids".

He had an experience while he was under, where he saw his Grandpa who had passed away a few years earlier. His Grandpa showed him a graveside, and he saw me and a couple children (a boy and a girl). He understood that it wasn't his time to go yet, and that he needed to go back.

The tumor was the sized of a triple yolked egg with a cyst around it the size of a grapefruit, but luckily it wasn't cancerous.

When he was still unconcious, his mom began to tickle his back (a very relaxing thing in his family). The nurses came running because it was making the monitors go all wacky. A short while later he awoke. Within a matter of days he was joking around with the nurses and walking up and down the halls. They released him 10 days later, with a bald head, staples up the back of his skull, much weight lost, but with a new lease on life.

I believe that Jeff was allowed to survive this experience for a reason. If he hadn't been given the chance to live his life, he would never have had children, we never would have this wonderful eternal relationship, he never would have been baptized, gone to church, or been to the temple. And I have NO CLUE what my life would have been like! Probably not as good as it is now. I'm grateful to have Jeff in my life. He's an incredibly patient, loving, forgiving person. I'm grateful that the Lord saw it fit 10 years ago to give him another chance at living, the allow him to develop himself, to grow, to have a family. So "happy anniversary" Jeff, may you have many more years with us. Your family loves you with all our hearts!

Is there an end to all this madness?

2009-09-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

OK, ranting time! I'm trying to pack up a couple boxes a day, and it seems like I'm drowning in STUFF! How on earth did we accumulate this much stuff in 5 1/2 years of living in this house?? I'd have a yard sale, but I KNOW I don't have the energy to pull it off. I'd sort it all for Goodwill, but in the rush to get packed I find myself just throwing things into boxes according to how it's already organized (or not). So anyone who would like to help, please drop on by! We have to finish getting this house packed up in a little over 1 week. I'm sure it will happen, but it sure is discouraging to try to do all this myself!

Happy Baptism, Keira!

2009-09-25T13:33:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow at 1:00pm, Keira will be baptized by her Daddy and will be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints. We're so proud of her, and she's so excited to get to be baptized! There will be a special program with talks and music. We plan on having a little family lunch afterwards (I'm making a white coconut cake with flowers). And Sunday, she'll be confirmed in a special blessing by priesthood power, and recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Keira will be baptized the same day as her friend, Claire. The two girls and mommies got together with our good friend Natalie earlier this week for a photo shoot. Don't the pictures look beautiful? Thank you Natalie & Thank you Yellow Rose Nursery for making this possible!!

Happy Birthday Keira!

2009-09-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

For Keira's birthday we threw an action packed, low-stress backyard campout for about 10 kids. We started out with a BBQ hot dog dinner with corn on the cob, salad, and chips. The kids played and played until dark!
After dinner we had a timed watermelon eating contest (thanks Brooke for the idea!) with two kids at a time going head-to-head. The Anderson sisters competed, as did the Esqueda sisters, everyone got a chance. Janai was the winner with 56 seconds! (Not including Keira's daddy, who wolfed down his watermelon in 16 seconds flat)

`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
Here Keira is blowing out her candles & opening presents! (get the eating action shot in the background haha!)

`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
We also roasted marshmallows for Smores, and had a game of flashlight tag and 6-7 games of nightime outdoor hiding-go-seek. (Sorry, no pictures of the kids running around in the dark!) A bunch of girls also banded up in the sunroom with keira's new Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus CD's, dancing and singing away! The boys banded up together playing cars & trucks in the boys train table (good for older boys, who knew?)
Finally it was bedtime! All of us cozied up in the tent & told stories until we were too tired to keep our eyes open. I swear, within 30 seconds of the end of my last story, most of the girls were OUT like lights.

`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
So the girls got to sleep around 11:30, and surprise surprise! Two of them were up before dawn playing in the sunroom. We all got up pretty early & had an early-morning PJ party where I did all the girls nails, makeup, and painted color streaks & glitter in their hair.

I think they all had a blast, thank you parents for bringing the kids & thank you to the Wilsons for joining us for dinner and helping with all the kids!

Back to School - Keira in 2nd and Keanu in Preschool!

2009-09-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

can you tell Kalani really wanted to be a preschooler bad??? And for Keira's first day, we worked hard to put together a very grown-up outfit for her & we ended up getting there too early. But she's enjoying school & making friends!

I'm drowning in an overgrown garden!!

2009-08-29T15:53:00.001-07:00

This year I ventured to spend lots of time and money to plant this gigantic vegetable garden. My big successes were the tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, beets, watermelons, spinach/lettuce, and various squashes. My radishes, pumpkins, peas and beans did NOT do well at all. So I guess it was a success, the problem IS WEEDS!!! Everywhere that is NOT vegetable garden is completely covered in weeds!! Since our underground sprinklers didn't work this year, we had to use a big spreader sprinkler, and it made weeds grow everywhere else. So now that we're moving & need to get our yard/house ready to sell, WHAT DO I DO??? All these weeds represent hours and hours of backbreaking labor! I went out in the yard this evening for some intensive pulling, and it didn't even put a dent! I simply can't do all of this with Jeff working such long hours (he won't touch the yard besides watering it) and me being 7 months pregnant. ANY suggestions on inexpensive hardworking lanscaping people who can get my yard in ship-shape?? Just the thought of everything involved in moving and selling the house sets me in panic attacks. So suggestions and help would be much appreciated!!

Moving!!

2009-08-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

YES! We ARE moving. But first you have to hear why! My dad got a job in Oroville (way up North, by Lake Palmer). They're moving within the next month to the little 2bdrm Lake Palmer house (5 hours away). We're going to be really sad to see them go. BUT they've been working so hard on their house in the last couple years! They put in 2 additions, they installed a huge wrap-around deck, they remodelled the kitchen and bathrooms etc... And they hesitate to sell it to just anyone. Well we've been having the problem of, how on earth do we squeeze 4 children into our little bedrooms?? We're outgrowing our house & need something bigger. So mom & dad are giving us a really good deal on their house & we'll be buying it when our house sells. We'll still be in Sunnyside ward, but we'll be living in Outlook School area out in the country. I'm REALLY going to miss living in town, I love living in a neighorhood & having neighbors, but we think that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Anyone up to helping us move?? We're really going to need it!!

Our Palmer Lake Trip

2009-08-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

We went for a week-long family reunion to Uncle Dennis' house on Lake Palmer last week and had an absolute BLAST! Those of us who came were my parents, the kids & I, Amber, Steve & the kids, Rob & Rachel, and a few close family friends. For those of you who don't know, Lake Palmer is about 10 miles from the Canadian border about 2 hrs north of Wenachee. Our Uncle Dennis has two houses up there on the lake, and it's a great vacation spot where we have family reunions and fishing trips. We stayed in the big house (6 bedrooms) this time, and it was so nice to spend quality time with the family! Here are some of our highlights that we did together: We went on the fishing boat and caught LOTS of salmon, we BBQed some of it, and smoked most of it (homemade smoked salmon, to DIE for!). We swam off the dock to the floating trampoline and played around in the water with the kids. We paddled the kids around the edge of the lake with the paddle boat. One of us went out in the Kayak and got stranded treading water when it flipped (thank goodness that wasn't me!). We went out on the speedboat with the tube and wakeboard (no, the wakeboard wasn't me either. They wouldn't have let me anyways and it would have been a hilarious sight!) We hit balls in the tennis court & the kids rode bikes and roller skated. We went on walks and saw LOTS of deer. We picked fresh peaches and then when it rained we played board games and Wii. We had a family home evening night where we talked about how we can make our family stronger, more of a unit. And Dad told some of his Alaska hunting/wilderness stories that we love so much! It was an such a wonderful experience, thank you Uncle Dennis for providing all the facilities to make it so much fun!!

Here are some of our fishing pictures:

And here are some of our boating/tubing pics:

Swimming off the dock, boat & floating trampoline:

The wildlife was amazing! If you wanted to see the eagles or hawks, all you had to do was toss out a carp off the boat & wait! I once saw 5 deer at the same time, and Amber & her kids almost had a run-in with a bear. Last time we were there, the kids saw moose.

The view off the deck is so panoramic, (here's Janai playing on the deck) you can see almost the entire lake & the mountains are so HUGE! We also watched a meteor shower one night & the stars felt like you could reach out and touch them.

And of course, pancake breakfasts, games, and down time to relax & visit with eachother:

I'm still waiting on more pictures, when I get them I'll update my blog. Nothing like a family reunion to rekindle relationships and make you feel more of a close knit family. We missed you Cory, Minnie, Scott, Diana, Dan & Kimmie, it was SO well worth the trip up, and we hope you're able to join us next year!!

Happy Birthday Kalani!!

2009-08-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday - Kalani is two!! And we threw a very nice family birthday party for him last week. Mom, dad, Amber, Steve, Minnie, Cory & all the cousins were there. We enjoyed a barbecue of hamburgers & salads, and then cake and ice cream! We completely demolished this choo-choo train cake that I fell in love with online & just HAD to reproduce. It took forever, lots of sweat & tears put into that baby, and we ate most of it!! Kalani is my sweet baby boy, but he's growing up and not a baby anymore! Before we know it a real baby will be here & he'll be one of the middle children! I love my sweet little baby boy, and it was so fun for us to all celebrate him as a family!

Computer CRASH!

2009-08-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? I went an entire week (or was it more?) without a computer! I felt as if I'd cut off a limb. Didn't realize how attached I am to being able to jump online whenever I felt like it & drop someone an email, type up a church lesson, print some labels, do a quick google search, or visit blogs!! It turned out that the motherboard to our old computer was shot & we could keep the hard drive, but we'd still need to buy a new computer. I found a decent refurbished one on Amazon for a good price, and we'll have that 2nd hard drive soon enough! So I'm finally online again, yay!

Oops overdun it again!

2009-07-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

I overdid it this last week. I don't know what my problem is always thinking I have to be supermom, but this summer I really thought we'd toned it down with running the kids from activity to activity (like we usually do in the summer), I did lots of canning and fruit picking, but maybe the problem was I never did take any breaks and I ran myself into the ground every night with housecleaning and taking care of kids and all that. So, I was really sore yesterday, but I just chalked it up to a big Friday workout. Today at church I was really uncomfortable and nauseous & couldn't walk without pain, somehow I made it through the morning. I'll have to cancel workout tomorrow & take more time to recoup because I barely have the energy to clean up Kalani's messes let alone chase kids around the house! Crossing my fingers that I feel better tomorrow after some more rest!

My beautiful monster batch of Jam!!

2009-07-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

And I have no pictures because I can't find my camera!! Today I made a humungous monster sized batch of mixed-berry preserves!! I used 11 cups each of strawberries, blueberries & raspberries (all freshly picked from the farm, most of it I picked myself!) It took 42 cups of sugar & 6 packets of pectin. This is my all-time favorite kind of jam & it tastes SOOOO GOOOD! I ended up getting a total of 29 pints, Yum! Yum!

On a side-note, I'm also getting ready to can apricots. I've got 1 1/2 boxes in my food storage room waiting. Can't do it yet because I used up every ounce of sugar we had on the jam.

Budding Harpist

2009-07-11T22:09:00.000-07:00

Here is Keanu at Grandma Grimmers house. She has 3 harps. Small, medium & huge. On this kid sized harp the boys like to sit and plink out melodies & sing to me. In this picture he's singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. He also sang and plinked Popcorn Popping, I'm a Little Teapot, and a couple other songs for me. How sweet and musical my little boy is!

cherry picking this week!

2009-07-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

Oh I LOVE it when the fruit finally gets ripe & you can go picking!! A few weeks ago we picked mulberries & made mulberry-rubarb jam. Last week we picked up strawberries (at a strawberry farm in Yelm) & I'm saving them for jam. THIS week it was cherries & blueberries! We got the best deal on U-pick cherries & have been picking them ourselves. I canned 24 quarts of Raniers, 18 quarts of Bings, & made a triple batch of jam from Bings. We also got an amazing deal on U-pick blueberries, and these we're freezing. If I can go out to pick more I might make blueberry syrup or jam too. So here are some pictures of us cherry-picking together. The trees were plentiful & We had lots of fun!

Trying to just keep up with life - Good luck!

2009-07-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

Um, do you EVER feel like you'd be lucky just to gather the kids to the table and make it into the kitchen to make something, but you don't even THINK of dinner until 4:30 or 5:00?? Oh it's dinner time already, quick! find something to feed the kids before they freak out! Today I took the kids to the free kids BBQ at the park & I left it up to Jeff to go pick something up. I'll find out what I'm eating when he gets back, and it's 7:30pm. Oh, bedtime already? Where did the time go? For some reason now that summer is here I'm having a harder & harder time getting into a routine & the swing of things. Everything is out of whack! I sure hope I can get it together soon!

Auntie Claire & Mom came for a visit!

2009-06-28T18:49:00.001-07:00

After a loooong week over the mountains in Olympia and Yelm, we finally called it quits and caravanned over with mom & Claire back home! My wonderful mother-in-law and auntie Claire from Hawaii spent lots of time visiting with us at home, going with us over to Amber's house and my parents house. They even got dressed up with us Sunday morning and went with us to church (AND convinced Tim to go too, he's never been to church in his life!!). Some of the highlights of our trip were the meals we shared (including produce from our garden), eating cherries straight off the tree at Ambers house, shopping in all the little Mexican stores (they got a kick out of Fiesta Foods!), visiting my own mom & dad's house to harvest walnuts, listen to mom's harp playing, and my dad EVEN gave mom (mary) a motorcycle ride! She hasn't been on one in 32 years. Then church was a definite highlight, to share our beliefs with them even a little bit was very special to us both. We said a tearful goodbye this afternoon to auntie, she is so very special to us and it has been a treasure to get to know her better and make memories with her!

Our Trip to the WA State Capitol Building

2009-06-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

The kids and I took Auntie Claire to Olympia this week. We went thrift store shopping (SO much fun! And -incidentally- that was where we were when Michael Jackson passed away) anyways, we found AMAZING deals on school clothes for next year! Brand name clothing barely worn woo hoo! So afterwards we got sushi for lunch & went to the Capitol building to be tourists for a while! We walked up the 60-some steps and went inside (forgot to take pictures of that), peeked in the Senate meetinghouse, and the govenors office, it was SO amazing the majesty and beauty of the architecture never fails to blow me away! But to share it with my kids & auntie was a wonderful experience!

Congratulations Rebecca & Jerry!!

2009-06-28T18:04:00.001-07:00

We are so happy to welcome Jerry into our family! (for the 2nd time - but that's a different story) Our cousin Rebecca married her longtime sweetheart Jerry this week. The kids and I were priveledged to be able to attend the wedding and reception. The wedding was a beautifully simple affair at a park in front of the pond & fountain, with just a few family and friends. We then went to the reception (which was held in Nisqually Pines clubhouse, the same place where I met Jeff for the 1st time!) and enjoyed a huge and delicious luau-type buffet (thank you aunties!!) with beautiful decorations (we all helped) and music with dancing. We danced and ate and visited long into the evening, and were all exhausted the next day. A couple days later we were able to have another get-together BBQ at Rebecca & Jerry's house in Yelm. It was so much fun to able to share in their joy and spend quality time with them!! Rebecca is expecting a baby, about 5 weeks before mine is due, so this won't be the first celebration for them this year!

Memorial Day Weekend & Time at Grandmas house

2009-06-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

4-Car fender bender

2009-06-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

CRUNCH!!

That's what happened to not ONLY my Dodge Caravan, but also Jeff's mom & dad's Dodge Charger. What happened was this - we were all caravanning, on our way to Port Orchard to have lunch & pick up our Hawaiian aunties. We'd finally gotten over the Narrows Bridge & past all the construction, and had gotten off the freeway. We were ONLY 5 miles from our destination!! There was a stoplight & there was one guy stopped. He saw a car coming up fast & scooted forward to avoid being hit so the guy was able to stop in time, but dad wasn't so lucky. He wasn't able to stop in time (we heard his brakes squeal) and crunched right into the guys bumper. I was right behind him & I also wasn't able to stop in time. I swerved to the curb and struck dad's car's right rear fender with the door of my car. So all 4 cars got crunched! I couldn't roll up my window, and no sooner did the police show up than here comes the thunder & storm clouds & we got DUMPED on, buckets of water for the whole hour we were trying to straighten everything out! I consider myself lucky now to be able to open and shut my car door & finally got my window rolled up. I'm SO glad that no one was hurt at all, that we were still able to go visit our aunties & have a fun time, and that the kids were really good throughout it all! But dad was pretty shaken up. He loves his Charger, it's such a cool car! We're hoping our cars will be able to get fixed right up, good as new. Thank goodness for insurance!

Hello Camp Wonka!

2009-06-21T22:44:00.000-07:00

All week long this week Keira attended Camp Wonka. Every year the High School drama department holds a fundraiser day-camp for school-age kids. They go for 4 days, 5 hours a day. The school feeds them lunch and snacks and they enjoy art activities, games focused on helping them learn to be little performers, they learn songs, play games, and have lots of fun! At the end, there is a performance put on by all the kids. Last year the theme was Dr. Seuss, but this time they did Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Keira was an Oompa Loompa. Here she is with her homemade props! A lollipop & a bubble-gum hat, and she's standing in front of the boat that's supposedly floating on the chocolate river. Fun fun!! Woo hoo Keira, my little drama queen!

It's a boy!

2009-06-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

She said he's already fetal-breathing, which isn't very common for his age. Strong lungs!! He also was VERY squirmy in there!

Absolutely NO question about it! I saw the proof! Another wiggle worm rambunctious boy! And I have mixed emotions about it! We were hoping to have 2 of each. Keira really wanted a girl, Jeff & I really wanted another girl. BUT on the other hand, once they're past the rowdy & wiggly toddler/preschooler stages, boys tend to mellow down and are generally easier to raise. Now HOW I am going to squeeze three boys in one bedroom, I have NO idea! So I guess we have a lot to think about with trying to organize the boys closet to accommodate another one! Boy or girl, we're SO happy to have another little addition to our family, and with 3 siblings he will really be loved! New due date: November 9th

We adopted a baby chick

2009-06-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

YES people, a CHICKEN! We were at a friends house & she'd bought tons of baby chickens & turkeys. One of the baby turkeys was mean to one of the baby chicks & hurt its leg. So she had it separated from the rest. She gave it to us for the kids to nurse back to health. SO we have a baby chicken in our den for the kids to look at and feed/water (but not touch yet). Kalani named it "tweet". Tweet seems to be doing OK, drinking water and eating food, limping around on one leg in its wood chip/paper bedding. The kids just LOVE watching him/her move around in its cage & talking about their baby chickie. We'll see if it survives! (as soon as my camera's charged we'll get a REAL picture up here).... um, and if it survives & grows, WHAT on earth am I going to do with a chicken????

Carbomb Last Night! Whodunnit??

2009-06-12T07:00:00.001-07:00

In the middle of the night, about 3am we heard an insistent pounding on our front door. I peeked out & I could see one of our neighbors pacing outside, his face lit up with an eerie glow. It wasn't until we got dressed & went outside however that we discovered what that "glow" was. Apparently someone drove by & bombed our next-door neighbor's car that was parked on the street. It was really close to our trash cans & maybe 30 feet away from our own cars, so we had to move our vehicles to a safe distance. We could see small explosions in the fiery inferno, they were loud enough to wake Keira up & bring her out to stand with us. It was several minutes before the firetruck came, Even longer before the police showed up. As we watched the firefighters hose the flames down, I got to thinking about whodunnit??
Here are my options: 1. Stupid kids out to have a fun time/random act of violence 2. Someone who didn't like my neighbors (but they're really nice people) 3. The security system salesman who seemed a little wacky, he was at our front door last night talking about the rise in crime. Cooincidence? Maybe not, hahaha! Jeff & I were pretty clear that we didn't want/need a security system. WHAT if WE were the target? (When he came Amber's car was parked pretty close to this one on the road - Good thing we chose to trade vehicles with her last night instead of this morning!) OR What if our neighbors were really rude to him & he flipped out? Have I been watching too many suspense movies? What do YOU think?

Ultrasound - Waiting Oh so Impatiently!

2009-06-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

With Becky getting her ultrasound, cousin Becca already had several, I'm squirming in my seat, chomping at the bit with anticipation to have mine & see that little baby, to know if it's a boy/girl & have that special experience!! Well, I have an appointment on Tuesday so I'll keep everyone posted. That weekend is going to go Ooooh sooooo sloooowly!

A fave recipe from the party

2009-06-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

Oriental Veggie Pizza:

Ingredients:
Refrigerated Pizza Dough, 1 pkg cream cheese, 1 clove garlic, 1 T. Soy Sauce, 1/2 inch piece ginger, grated carrot, chopped snow peas, chopped broccoli, chopped green onion, chopped red bell pepper

Directions:
Prebake the pizza crust, Crush garlic & shred ginger, Add garlic, ginger & soy sauce to cream cheese. mix Well. Spread on cooled pizza crust.
Grate/chop veggies & sprinkle on top. You can also add leftover grilled chicken. YUM!

Let's Party!

2009-05-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

Let's Celebrate Summer with a
Thrill of the Grill BBQ

Pampered Chef Party!

Join my friends & I Thursday, June 4th at 6:30pm
Sunnyside Central Park (by the pool)

Bring a friend & get a gift, bring two friends & get free shipping & handling!
You can look forward to door prizes & games with prizes!
Interactive Food Experience ~ Create yummy salads & appetizers using wonderful Pampered Chef Recipes
BBQ meat samplers so you can try our delicious Pampered Chef spices
Get the opportunity to try out many unique Pampered Chef tools!

Can't attend? Shop online at www.pamperedchef.biz/bethmulbry Click on "order products", then click on "Invited to a show" Input Tiffanie Bodine as your host and enjoy your shopping experience!

My nerdy tendencies - what are yours?

2009-05-23T09:23:00.001-07:00

OK, I guess it's OK to be a nerd once in a while! When I'm NOT taking care of & cleaning up after kids, perhaps when I have an extra hour & I don't feel like reading or getting crafty during naptime, I love to go to Pogo.com for games like Dominoes, Yahtzee, card games, word games, majong, & various other interactive games I play against people from all over the world. Plus sometimes I go to puzzles.com for logic puzzles or sodoku (yes, those "math" games), and the only PSP games I play are the puzzle ones like Lumines (kind of a Tetris type game) or Bomberman (which is vaguely puzzle-like - I beat that one). So I guess I'm a nerdy type, but it's fun! What are your nerdy tendencies?

Bye-Bye Baby beds, Hello Bunk Beds!

2009-05-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Jeff went out & got a mattress & dresser for Keira (thank you Craigslist). THAT meant we could take the mattresses she was using & put them on a bunk bed!! While he was out I put the bed together & dismantled/put away the crib and toddler-sized bed. The boys were SO excited that I couldn't get them to nap in their new beds. After naptime I was SERIOUSLY worried about bedtime. How long was it going to take to get them down?

SO bedtime came and went, and after what seemed like hours of reading books, rocking Kalani, singing songs etc... (probably about an hour) Kalani went to sleep (On his own without me laying down with him). Keanu ended up falling asleep on the couch & getting moved to his new bed. I was pretty thrilled though to wake up at 6:30 this morning to the realization that neither one of them had woken up at ALL through the night!! Milestone accomplished, woo hoo!

Keira's Talent Show performances!

2009-05-16T09:41:00.000-07:00

Last night was Keira's 4-H talent show and tons of kids were there from the Yakima Valley, showcasing their talents! We had piano, violin, recorder, lip sync, dramatization, skit, puppet show, readers theatre, and dance. The last 4 were things I had worked with kids to do. I think the kids had a real sense of accomplishment, and had lots of fun doing it!
~ Skit was called "Mary had a little goat", and the kids all got blue ribbons for it. It was all about a goat that follows Mary to her 4-H meetings (we had a stuffed goat on rollers). We'll be taking this one to the Central WA State Fair!
~ Puppet show was done with my stuffed jungle animal puppets. The narrator was an alligator, and it was called "Stone Soup". The storyline was all about how animals learn to share & not be suspicious of strangers. This also won blue ribbons & we'll be taking it to the fair!
~ I wrote a spin off "You read to me and I'll read to you", only it was "4-H for me and 4-H for you". This was a readers theatre done by two girls in our drama class. They got blue ribbons for it too!

~ Keira danced her solo jazz chair dance to "Best of Both Worlds" by Hannah Montana. (here she is practicing it at home). Her dance teacher choreographed the dance & I was on the sidelines to help her if she forgot her moves (which, despite daily practicing for over a month - she did forget at least once!) She got a rainbow ribbon (not old enough for competing) and we're so proud of her, she did great! For a 7 year old, solo performing is SUCH a HUGE accomplishment!

water & food & soap, oh my! A blog on emergency prep

2009-05-11T14:58:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend Jeff & I ran a booth at the Emergency Preparedness Fair. Jeff was there last year running a booth on financial preparedness, and this year I went with him and we did being prepared by being in good physical shape (exercise). We had tons of handouts from American Council on Exercise, and posters telling ways of exercising and the 3 parts to a good workout routine. Well, we had TONS of fun running our booth & taking turns making rounds to all the other booths they had. There was everything from 72 hour kits, nutrition, gardening, and food storage/preservation, to red cross & fire safety, cooking tips, food demonstrations, and how to cook different ways. One of the coolest things they had was a demo on how to make gluten meat substitute out of ground wheat flour. With enough spices, the finished product looked & tasted like meat, and wasn't too hard to make either!!

Sooooo, we were inspired this time to organize and replenish our 72 hour kit, work on our water storage, and boost our food storage by stocking up on spices and canning things this summer. Here's what we did today to make these goals.
* Jeff went to Tree Top, where they sold him 50 gallon water barrels for a buck a piece, SCORE!
* Jeff & I took off to the store & bought food & supplies to re-stock our 72 hour kit, then we came home & organized it into zip-loc baggies & packed it into a backpack and small suitcase. DONE!
* We also bought tons of TP, soap, toothpaste, candles, matches, and something to make a solar oven with.
* I signed up to attend a workshop in a couple weeks on how to can meat & veggies.
* I planted some tomatoes & peppers.

My only worry is - If power went out in the winter, how would we heat our home? We only have electric & pellet stove (which takes electric). Generators are SOOOO expensive! Any ideas anyone?
What are you working on for your emergency preparedness?

Baby names

2009-05-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

Here are some names we are considering for the baby. Still in the early stages of deciding, what do you think? Does anyone have any name suggestions that they think would fit our family?? Keep in mind that the other kids are named Keira, Kalani & Keanu.

Boy names:
Lonikai, Kai Kanoa (named after daddy), Nakia,
(still looking for others)
Girl names:
Eliana Leilani, Chloe, Caitlin (still looking at others)

4-H Fashion Revue!! (Now with pics of all 3 girls!)

2009-04-26T21:34:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Keira, Janai & Malea!! All three girls participated in the 4-H fashion revue last week. Keira's personality is really coming out lately, she's become a bit more outgoing. She used to freeze up in front of people, but at the fashion revue this month she simply shined! For those of you who don't know, she bought her outfit mostly secondhand. The top was such a cute floral fabric & she found these amazing fabric beads & other accessories too. We worked so hard together to get her paperwork & outfit ready! So finally at judging she jabbered the ladies ear off about her outfit & everything she knew about fashion, buying and caring for her clothing. Then on stage she struck the most drama-queenie poses possible, with a big smile on her face the whole time! Afterwards they handed out certificates, ribbons & trophies - Grandma said Keira looked just "pleased as punch" with herself. She got her little trophy, certificate, and a rainbow ribbon. No matter what I tried to say, she insisted that the rainbow ribbon was the best ribbon she could get. I think she felt sorry for Janai for getting a plain blue one. But since Janai is old enough to compete, we're proud of her for winning a blue!! Hahaha! Congratulations girlies, we're all so proud of you!

Bargain hunting addict....

2009-04-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

My name is Tiffanie and I'm a bargain hunting addict.....

Call me ghetto, but vintage is awesome & occasionally I like shopping secondhand!! I browse games, books (esp children's books!), clothing, purses and scarves, and whatever else catches my fancy. Probably at least 1/2 of my kids clothing I buy used, but I'm pretty picky. I pay attention to the quality of the material, how used it looks, but a missing button, minor tear at a side-seam, or problem with sizing won't daunt me. I like buying miniskirts designed for teens (because they come in such cute fabric!) and turning them into longer skirts for Keira. I have no problem altering a dress to fit myself better - and this way I have a customized wardrobe for a good price!

In the past, I've found things at thrift stores with price tags still attached, for a very small fraction of the price. But my LATEST great find was this: A huge bag sale (as much as you can roll up & tuck into a paper grocery sack) for $4.00. I bought 2 bags, and let me tell you, I fit TONS of baby clothes (a few ADORABLE baby girl dresses), 5 or 6 items for Keira, sporty pants for the boys, overalls, nice button-up tops for the boys, an entire set of illustrated hardbound classics, a hardbound set of kids books, 3 of the cutest summer dresses for myself, a pair of pants, and a couple other things for myself, church dress pants for Jeff & who knows what else! Granted I ended up at the sewing machine for a little while altering dresses to fit better and I'll probably have to put on a button or two. Maybe a couple of the things I'll only wear a few times, but who cares? It didn't cost me hardly anything! Woo hoo!

Easter fun & festivities

2009-04-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

We kicked off our Easter fun with 2 easter egg hunts on Saturday! Saturday morning we headed over to the park in Grandview for a huge Easter egg hunt with the kids. It was Kalani's first time, and he had so much fun picking up those eggs, especially after he figured out there was candy inside them! Afterwards, Jeff took Keanu & I took Keira to the older kids egg hunt. The kids each got a special prize inside one of their eggs - a certificate to go to the prize pickup for water bottles.

After the hunt we went to the petting zoo, where the kids petted piggies, little lambs, bunnies, goats, and the most gigantic bunny rabbit you ever saw (not pictured - but seriously, he was bigger than our dog).

After Grandview, we went to an easter celebration put on by Grace Brethren church in sunnyside. Several of our friends go to that church, so it was nice to spend time with them & get to know them better. And the food for their bbq was amazing, they did another hunt, some face painting (Keira was a tiger) and games (Keira participated in her first gunny-sack race!) Jeff had a friend to hang out with & I got to socialize lots, I think we all agreed that we had an amazing time!!

Saturday night after Easter Devotional & bedtime, Keira and I played Easter bunny for the boys. She had so much fun filling plastic eggs and hiding them all over the living room! After she went to bed, I did her basket. In the morning I think it really was a joy for her to help the boys get into their baskets & see the excited looks on their faces!

All good things must come to an end though, and boy am I glad to put all that candy away! The kids ate so much candy it caused multiple sugar burnout meltdowns (one of them during sacrament meeting!)

My very own square foot garden

2009-04-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

We did it! We got tons of compost, peat moss, and pearlite. We mixed it all together and filled two large raised beds and a 2nd bed (not raised). I marked off my squares with string and planted presoaked seeds just as the chart said to. It took me two mornings. In years past I've only planted tomatoes, peppers (that didn't grow), cilantro, and strawberries. But this year (hopefully) we will have green & yellow beans, pea pods, spinach, lettuce, cucumber, carrots, radishes, tomatoes, onions, watermelon, zuchinni, yellow squash, acorn squash, beets, banana peppers & green peppers. I'm going to keep it watered & hope/pray that the seeds sprout and my garden grows! This is my first time trying to grow from seed so I hope it works!!

Scone Recipe

2009-04-06T08:32:00.001-07:00

Now that conference is over and we've been fully fed to the brim both spiritually AND physically, I thought I'd share a little recipe with you. It's my scone recipe and I make them each conference weekend. I got the base of the recipe from Betty Crocker, but I've changed the recipe somewhat from the original (to make it yummier!)

Ingredients:
1 3/4 c. flour
3 T. sugar
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/3 c. butter/margarine
1 egg
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. chopped nuts
1/2 T. shredded orange peel
2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 c. shredded apple
4 T. milk

Mix dry ingredients and orange zest, sift together. Cut in butter/margarine (just as if you're making pie crust). Add cranberries, nuts, and apple - mix together. Then add egg and milk (just enough milk so dough leaves the sides of the bowl). Turn over onto a floured surface, cover with flour and knead 10 times. Shape dough into a patted-flat round on an ungreased pan. Cut into wedges with a knife. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes (give or take) until golden brown. Eat with butter & honey or jam. YUM!

This can be done without the apple, I've used lemon peel instead of orange & topped with a lemon glaze, you can omit the nuts or cranberries, substitute raisins, poppy seeds, shredded carrot, or whatever you'd like! Happy baking!

2009 General Conference is here!

2009-04-03T17:22:00.000-07:00

And what is your family going to do to keep the kids occupied and focused for two whole days while you watch conference on TV?? Or are you planning on going somewhere to watch? Well, last year I went to puzzlemaker.com and created some LDS themed puzzles, then printed out this little booklet I found for the kids to color. I put out reverence tents, one for each kid and each kid had their own crayons, booklet, blankies etc... in their own space facing the TV. I made TONS of scones for breakfast, and we had dinner with my parents.

This year however, Kalani has the flu (And maybe Keira too). I am planning on making scones again (that's the tradition) and doing the tent thing, the kids seemed to really enjoy that. I found some great resources online, booklets and puzzles to print out. We'll be having pizza the first night & salmon/sweet potatoes the second night. Because of the flu thing and Jeff being on night shift, I'm sure I'll be all alone at least for the 2nd sessions with the kids!

My burning question is, what will you be doing & do you have any conference traditions? Please share in the comments section!!

Links to the booklets are:
http://d.scribd.com/docs/1y8qkrk113z9gvo5cbsu.pdf
http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4295&Itemid=484

I'm so glad when daddy comes home!

2009-04-01T07:51:00.000-07:00

The kids really look forward to special times with daddy. He reads to them, wrestles around on the floor with them, plays games wth them, takes them swimming, cooks meals for them, tries really hard to be a good daddy. We love him so much!

Congratulations Chelsea!

2009-03-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

Last night my cousin Chelsea Heckert got her endowment in the Columbia River Temple. I was fortunate enough to arrange to go and it was amazing!! For those of you who know her, please remember to congratulate her! We love you Chelsea!

And the wedding bells ring!

2009-03-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

My sweet lil sister got married & we're so happy for her! For a long time we've hoped & prayed for her that someday she would find the right man for her who would fulfill her life and make her happy. Then Steve came along and the rest is history!! They were married last night at Mom & Dad's house, and today they're headed off on a honeymoon to Vegas! Steve works at a local animal pharmaceutical company here in town & Amber will start her Masters program this year. They've found a nice house and they'll be all moving in a couple weeks. I can tell he really makes her happy & he's such a good daddy to her children, we're so grateful for that! I love you sis & Steve, you too! We're so ecstatic for both of you & wish you a long & happy life together!

Our Little Trip to Seattle

2009-03-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun!! First we went to the Seattle Science Center, where the kids went to the Planetorium, played with numerous sciency gadgets and stations, saw lots of little critters, held Madagascar Cockroaches & walked among the butterflies. The next day, we went to the Children's museum where they explored a Northwestern themed playland, played with machines to move balls and water in cog city, splashed in the water, painted and played with clay, and learned lots of new things. The boys highlight was a trip over the monorail to Pikes Place Market (they squealed with excitement at the notion of being on a "real choo choo train"!) At Pikes Place I had lunch, visited, & shopped with my old-time bestest friend Becky, whom I haven't seen in person since the age of 10 or 11 years old. It's funny how we just "clicked" back in place.

Can you tell the kids had a blast?? My favorite was watching the kids get creative with paints. It was Kalani's first time. Watching Keira pretending to serve me sushi at a "real" Japanese restaurant was lots of fun too!

We celebrated Mom's 56th birthday. Her and I enjoyed Thai food one of the days (coconut curry is SO good) and Vietnamese food another day (we went to a pho house and had soup, noodle salad, plus the yummiest spring rolls & peanut sauce you ever had!). We shopped together, helping Keira pick out her outfit for the 4-H fashion revue. We went to line dancing lessons together and really had an action packed few days! I made her a pumpkin pie cake for her birthday, happy birthday mom!

And finally, Jeff & I met up with ANOTHER friend I haven't seen in 14 years. Her name is Lena and she was one of my bestest friends in Middle School. WOW! It was so fun to shop at Cabellas with her and her family. Keira and her daughter really had fun - it was almost like seeing us again as kids! And Cabellas animal museum was amazing, the guys really liked that!

I love Lena, she was my best friend during a time in my life where I fell off the deep end. She's seen a very very badly behaved Tiffanie, and she's also seen me at my best!! As a result, she knows me in a way that no one else does. Seeing her again after all these years brought back so many great memories! I can almost smell the mix of salty briny air, foresty pine, and maybe a little pot, hahaha!

Yes! We're expecting!

2009-03-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

Horray!! There was a lot of testing - I just knew I was expecting, but I wasn't testing positive for the longest time!! I haven't been to the DR yet, but our estimated due date is November 1st (give or take a week). This is SO exciting, because we've been hoping to have one more baby, and we're hoping for another girl (that sure would make Keira happy!). My nephew, Jameson needs a little cousin his own age, so Cory is really thrilled! And my friend Becky & our cousins Rebecca & Jerry are having their babies a month or so before we'll have ours!

Raising responsible kids

2009-03-12T21:01:00.000-07:00

Last year Keira and I were in Girlscouts, and we liked it OK because we'd never done anything like that before, but THIS year we were fortunate enough to find this amazing 4-H group in Sunnyside. Keira's become involved in art, photography, drama, cooking, and will soon be doing gardening as well. I've helped by being the drama leader. What's so incredible is that we would never be able to do any of these things if it weren't for this organization! Keira worked on a poster for the poster contest, we've created a lollipop tree for the carnival, I helped her prepare an entire demonstration about painting/art, and I think she learned a lot even though she didn't actually give her presentation. She worked on a commercial for cooking, has been practicing her new cooking skills on occasion. Next month is the fashion revue. She is to use a budget and shop for a complete outfit that she will model in the show, and be questioned about and judged on. I'm helping out by being a commentator for the show and bringing refreshments. Then in May we're preparing for the talent show, and she'll be dancing, in a skit, and in a puppet show as well. I'm helping out by directing the skits/puppet show, and of course paying for her extra lessons/choreography to get ready for the dance. It's a lot of work to start out for me as a parent, but the idea is to teach her how to do these things herself, and then ease off. Eventually she'll learn to do it all herself and be more independent.

What I love about the 4H group is that it's not so much on donations of money, but on donations of time, and the focus is on teaching children to be independent and responsible...

On THAT note, I'm tearing my hair out trying to get Keira to be more responsible. I instituted a token system in our house for her. She earns tokens each day by doing her chores. The better she does her chores, if she does them without being asked, if she does extra chores, the more tokens she recieves. She can trade them in for rewards like treats, extra TV or PSP time, packs of gum, trips to the dollar store, or whatever. I'm hoping against all hope that this will help her and motivate her to be more responsible!

I love Winco

2009-03-05T20:11:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I went to tri-cities with my dear friend Kathryn and my boys. We went on a jaunt to the Oriental Market, which was so much fun! We browsed the isles together looking at all the unique things they had, picking out this and that! Seaweed salad here I come! Afterwards we went on a food storage trip to Winco. Kathryn was invaluable with her calculator helping me find the best deals! And the Winco employees were so friendly and helpful, feeding my kids Jo's at the deli counter and giving them lollipops when they pitched a fit in the bulk foods section, joking around with me in checkout! It really made my Winco trip a pleasant adventure! It sure helped that the prices were SO much better than Walmart (I have much of Walmarts prices memorized on the things I buy a lot of) and now it feels so GOOD to have all my canned food shelves stocked to the brim and all my poly buckets full!

We ended our trip by running and climbing and laughing with the boys at Howard Amon Park. Trips like this one with a good friend and my boys bring me so much joy!

Maybe I'm doing something right?

2009-03-05T19:52:00.000-08:00

Today at lunchtime I had a giant green salad. The kids had corn beef & salad with pretzels. They all cleaned their plates on the hope that I'd give them some of my salad afterwards!?! And one of them climbed accross the table to pick off my plate repeatedly until it was gone. I ended up cutting them jicama and doling out the cucumber they liked it so well! And lately they'll do almost anything for a piece of "fruit candy" (dried papaya or pineapple) Go figure, maybe I'm doing something right after all??

I hate banks!

2009-03-05T13:10:00.000-08:00

Today I'm venting because the bank charged me money to get my own money!! Did you know that by law you can't make more than 6 withdrawls out of your own savings acct and if you do you'll be charged a 15$ fee? Ridiculous! Preposterous! I feel robbed!

New workouts feel amazing!

2009-02-20T22:26:00.000-08:00

This week some girls from the club shamed me into kicking my workouts into high gear. Actually, they assumed I worked out every day when in reality it's only like, twice a week!! I felt so guilty because as an aerobics instructor I really should be in better shape than I am!! So I did some choreography research & practiced some new moves. I played some new music, and went to an extra class (taught by someone else) and also went online for some ideas. Today I met the girls & we did a really good workout on our own from 4-5:30. SO this week I logged in between 5-6 hours of cardio/strength training. I feel GREAT! The only slight problem is my energy level late at night (since most of my workouts are in the early evening) it makes it difficult for my to go to bed when I should. And then the kids wake me up early -darn!
~~One of my new workout routines (thank you Kelly for ideas!) goes something like this:
Warm up: My new hip-hop/warmup and stretching
Step 1: 5 minutes up/down on the bench with weights/arm exercises
Step 2: 2 minute higher cardio interval focusing on leg muscle groups
Step 3: 2 minutes of Ab Crunches & Leg lifts on the floor
Step 4: Repeat Steps 1-3 Several times, step 1 changing arm muscle groups & step 2 changing leg muscle groups
Step 5: Good mornings (gluts/hams), oblique crunches, and squat/leg lifts with the heavy bar on shoulders
Step 6: Chest presses, Tricep presses, Clean & Presses with heavy bar
Step 7: Outer thigh slow boxer kicks, Inner thigh work
Step 8: Ab crunches & various exercises on the floor
Cool Down: Stretch & Relaxation

I know on paper it sounds pretty dry, but actually it's a lot of fun!! Now "self" NO MORE all you can eat pizza and ice cream binges - I need to get in better shape! And for those of you in town I'd like to challenge you to join me in one of my classes! Maybe together we can go from good enough to greater than!

Basketball, Dancing & Pizza!!

2009-02-17T21:42:00.000-08:00

Today was the day and it was amazing!! First of all, Keira started out with the 24hr flu bug last night, so we weren't sure if she'd be able to do it. Miraculously, after a desperate prayer right before the game, she popped out of it and was all better. Thank you Lord!

We watched a bit of the B-ball game from a birds eye view. We were in the upstairs section of Prosser Gym getting ready for the performance. Last minute touches to the outfits hair & makeup, and picture taking. As all this was going on, Keanu and I watched some of the game from high up and he was completely and utterly enthralled by the players and what was happening in the game! I gave him a running commentary of what was going on, who had the ball & he just loved it! I simply have to take him to more of these!! The problem though was, the game was between Grandview & Prosser. I didn't know who to root for!

The girls lined up. Keanu & I took our places in the center bleachers, and the little ones filed out. They got some laughs out of the audience with the cute & slightly catty choreography to "Hey Mickey". Then it was Keira's turn with the big girls to the song "I Love Rock & Roll" by Joan Jett. She did awesome! They got lots of applause and I was the epitomy of the proud mommy!
Keira's bestest Jazz buddy invited us to Shay's Pizza after the performance. We totally stuffed ourselves with all-you-can-eat pizza, pasta, salad bar, chicken & joes! And the best part of it all was good conversation with some new friends!

Happy Valentines Day!!

2009-02-14T10:25:00.000-08:00

I hope all of you are able to celebrate this special day with your loved ones!! Because Jeff is gone today, we celebrated our valentines day over the course of the last week or so. We painted all of our toenails (yes, even daddy got his painted), we made valentines cookies, cupcakes, a heartshaped chocolate fudge layer cake. Earlier this week Jeff & I were able to go to this amazing sweetheart dinner for the church. Also this week I went to MOPS and with these sweet Christian ladies discussed intimacy as husband and wife. It really was an inspiring experience and I felt so encouraged to be a better wife to my husband and increase intimacy on all levels so we can have a truly fulfilling relationship and a happier eternal family!

Last night I made a yummy dinner of NY steaks, shrimp, asparagus, twice baked potatoes & fresh fruit salad (sorry no pictures - couldn't find the camera). It's so nice to break out the fancy dishes once in a while! (The china we used last night has been in our family for many generations). Last night we also exchanged homemade valentines & had family home evening about the Tree of Life dream the prophet Lehi had, and we discussed the Love of God & how to feel God's love with the kids. How appropriate!

So here's me wishing all my friends and family a special valentines day in which you are able to recharge your relationships and express love for one another!

A book review, "The Hiding Place"

2009-02-09T13:15:00.000-08:00

This week I read "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom. This book about the holocaust was surprisingly spiritually uplifting! It's about a Dutch spinster and her sister, who run a citywide underground operation out of their home. It talks about the lives they changed, the people whos lives they saved, and how they were captured and imprisoned. In this book it tells of miracles straight from the heavens, and the atonement of Jesus Christ, and how it lifted their burdens and changed them for the better. It includes such how-to's as: handling separation, getting along with less, security in the midst of insecurity, forgiveness, how God uses our weaknesses, handling with difficult people, facing death, how to love your enemies, and what to do when evil wins. Just reading this book changed my outlook on the world, and the terrible things that happen to people. I only hope and pray that should I find myself in a situation similar to hers, I can be as strong, I can love those that hurt and persecute as she did. This might be my book if I don't find another one soon, my night for book club is at the end of March!

frugal living & financial goals

2009-02-09T12:27:00.000-08:00

As I read a friend's blog and began to respond, my response just got longer, and longer. So I decided to post my own take on the subject of living on a budget! I think a lot of people do little things to save a buck, things they may not be necissarily proud of! But I have no pride people! I'm the person in my family who manages all the finances! I see how much comes in and goes out, and over the years I can see that a few pennies here and there, a few hours here and there at a part time "job" really can add up to fun things for my family and more financial stability. For me, financial stability = security. I hate being tied down to credit card payments! Jeff might suggest that we charge a night out to eat or some little fun item, but I've learned through trial and error that this is a recipe for disaster!

When I was fresh out of high school, Jeff and I got our first apartment. I had a full time job as an office manager, but only made a measly 1100$ a month, paid only once a month right? Well, did you know that credit card companies will climb over one another for an opportunity to issue a credit card to someone so young with a regular source of income? YES! I racked up 6000$ on those credit cards in only a couple years with almost NOTHING to show for it! I was soon over my head in credit card payments I couldn't keep. Thank goodness for Consumer Credit Counseling Services! I know I sound like a commercial, but really, they saved my butt. I was able to pay it all off. For years we didn't carry a credit card at all.

NOW I've been trying my best -in spite of certain roadblocks- to pay off a credit card. We took out the debt for an addition and repairs to our home. I'm almost there! The end is in sight! Within a year we will have no extra debt (besides auto loans) IF I can just stay on track. But in the meantime, we still need to enjoy ourselves as a family, live comfortably, and yes-take the kids out once in a while!

My frugalness extends to such things as washing my car once or twice a year (or is that just being lazy?), buying much of my kids clothing at secondhand stores (although I'm pretty picky about the condition), rarely going out to eat, trading babysitting instead of hiring a babysitter, cutting and hemming old towels and tearing up my husbands old shirts for cleaning. Buying and selling things on Craigslist, buying much of my foods whole/raw instead of expensive processed foods. I'm sure I'm also wasteful in a million ways, but I'm always out for a way to make things stretch, save a dollar.

My latest attempt came from the realization that almost all of our tax return will go towards debt and our house taxes. But we still need a little vacation! It's been so long since we've really gotten away and done something fun as a family. I'm working at the athletic club, and also babysitting for extra money, which goes into our vacation fund. We found this place over the mountains, it's a little indoor water park/resort, and the prices seem affordable. Best yet, it's a short drive from Jeff's parent home. So this will be our vacation spot in March, and I'm saving up!

In the meantime, for financial goals this year, besides getting that blasted credit card paid off, I'd like to save a bit. I heard from a family friend that you can charge all your bills on one credit card & pay it off every month to earn points/gift certificates. I am, however, kind of chicken-hearted. After my previous experiences with credit cards I'm afraid something will go terribly wrong! I've also heard from a friend that you can round every purchase in your checkbook up to the next dollar, or a couple dollars up. Then you'd technically be saving money - but the problem is, how to find out exactly how much you have??

Please everyone, help me come up with some ideas! How do you exercise a measure of frugality in your home? Do you save money on an everyday basis, and how?

My favorite everyday pastimes...

2009-02-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

Today I enjoyed a favorite pastime! A trip to the mexican bakery with my kids for jalepino cheese bollitoes and mexican sweet breads. I absolutely love those bollitoes! The kids love the cinnamon sugar twists/rolls.
Funny how pastimes often involve food (I just can't help it!) One of our favorite family pastimes is a trip to the bulk foods section of Winco for all kinds of treats (candies, dried fruit, rice crackers etc...) and on to the park in Richland for a picnic/playtime. It is inevitable that Jeff suggest a trip to the bread outlet for bread to feed the ducks. Not my favorite, but the kids really enjoy it. And then we love to go to the Oriental food market for delicacies that we don't get to have often, like dried squid, chinese sausages, vietnamese sushi...
When we visit Olympia to see Jeff's parents, a favorite pastime is Vietnamese Hot Soup & Sushi with his Mom and secondhand store shopping. Sometimes we go to the Super Buffet (It's gotta be oriental & involve Sushi!)
Camping is another favorite pastime in the summer time (I can't wait!) but we haven't done it in a while because the boys are so small. But this summer we can! Jeff most enjoys yuppie camping at campsites with electrical access and wide expanses of grass. My favorite though is rugged camping that you have to hike miles to get to (not an option until the kids are older!)
And in winter, it's gotta be inside games with the kids - playdough toys strewn accross our kitchen, storybooks piled high around us on the couch, or a trip somewhere snowy to go sledding.
Of course there are always things that you'd like to become pastimes. Here are a few of mine: Trips to the beach (we've done it, but it's so far away), season passes skiing up in the mountains, lodge camping in Oregon, trips to Disneyland, floating the river, hiking the lava tubes... All these things involve kids being older so I guess I'll just have to wait!
What is your favorite pastime?

Pulling my hair out!

2009-01-30T21:50:00.000-08:00

Aaaargh, tonight I rearranged the boys bedroom with some wild idea that Kalani could be in a toddler bed right? I spent some time getting the furniture to fit, lowering his crib and taking off the side rail etc... as the kids ran amok. So I tried really hard, rocked him and told stories with low lighting, got him nice and tired, layed him down gently with music playing in the background. And two split seconds after I left the room he was crying and out of the bed. I remember this with Keanu, I led him back in over and over and oh, did I say over again? He just kept on getting worked up over and over. Laying down with him didn't help, he just woke up as soon as I got up. I ended up putting the crib rail back on the side of the bed, and a few minutes of crying and he was to sleep. An hour ordeal all for NOTHING

So I need your input ladies, I seem to have forgotten how to get a child out of the crib. I did it out of necessity with Keanu by getting rid of the crib completely. I believe Keira was two and a half when I moved her. I guess it's not THAT urgent, but I'd really like to get that bulky crib out of the room by the time he's two! Any ideas?

I'm an Auntie! Welcome to the world Jameson!

2009-01-27T09:29:00.000-08:00

YES! Cory & Minnie finally had their baby! Minnie gave birth via C-section this week to a healthy 7lb9oz baby boy, Jameson Koran Grimmer! He is so adorable, I think his facial features look most like Minnie, you can definately see a mixture of both of them though! We are so indescribably joyful for this long-awaited addition to our family, and you can just see the happiness in their faces (well, maybe some exhaustion too!)

Minnie & Cory chose to have their baby in the Philippines, so we won't get to actually meet Jameson for another couple months or so, that's OK, Minnie needs that time to relax and recover! Before they left I made a knitted hooded afghan blanket for him. I have the materials for another blanket, but it's bigger and he won't need it for quite some time! Well, congratulations Minnie and Cory, we love you so much!

Happy Jan B-days! Keanu, Janai, Amber & Dad!

2009-01-26T22:23:00.000-08:00

I'm so sorry for this 3 week hiatus from blogging!! Actually, we've just been recovering from a very busy stressful holiday season! It was nice while it lasted, with the different Christmas preparations, festivities, and celebration, and then the wedding, followed by a week long trip over the mountains and New Year and Keanu & Janai's birthday to boot! Soooo, it's nice to kind of relax for a while!

We have had 2 other birthdays this month in our family (Very recently!) my dad last week, and my sister Amber (today!) And I have to say, us girls have a very good relationship with dad, considering all the nightmares we've put each other through! He is a good role model for my husband, and we all love him SOOO much! Here are some of my favorite things that I have learned from Dad:
1. How to lose gracefully, be a good sport 2. To have a strong work ethic, to work hard and never give up 3. To take responsibilities seriously and lots of other things not so seriously! 4. Kids are important, family comes first 5. The church is important, callings are a priority, do your best! 6. He loves the outdoors, and being active outside 7. To stand up for what's right, be firm and steadfast 8. Walk softly and carry a big stick 9. Be a loving parent, have fun with kids & make memories! 10. Play as hard as you work!

And Amber, her birthday is today and she's 27! WOW! She's as beautiful as ever, and I love her with all my heart! Amber will be entering a Master's program next year, and has 3 sweet kids. Many of my favorite memories with her include our children! These are 10 of my favorite things about Amber:
1. She is very artistic 2. She is a very good mommy 3. She has a talent for making babies happy 4. She has very solid fashion sense 5. She is kooky, just like the rest of us 6. She is very easygoing most of the time, fun to be around 7. It took a while, but she's a good student! 8. She can be very social when around the right people! 9. She brings her kids to church and teaches them to pray 10. She thinks "outside of the box"

What is your New Years Resolution??

2008-12-30T08:22:00.000-08:00

Kung He Fa Choy everyone!! And now it's time to ring in the new year with increased determination to improve ourselves and our lives. How can we do it? A new years resolution!! Last year I resolved to improve the spiritual lives of our family by having a short easy family devotional each morning. Although we haven't been perfect at it, it really brought out family closer to each other and to the Lord. So I'm thinking, that since Keira will be baptized this year, my family resolution will be somewhere along those spiritual lines, to increase the testimonies of our family members & our spirituality. BUT my personal resolution? Maybe to lose those holiday pounds I've put on, maybe to be more organized (the same old ones right?)

Don't forget!! To make a resolution actually happen? You need to record it somewhere you can see it all the time, and plan out a course of action on how to do it! Otherwise, it's only a wish! SOOOO please tell me, I'm burning to know what YOUR resolution this year will be????

Our New Year Birthday vacation

2008-12-30T08:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we braved the treacherous roads and snowy weather over the pass to spend a week with my in-laws in Yelm. The scary roads were a small price to pay! When Jeff & I were first together we lived with his parents while I was finishing High School. So it feels like coming home... I'm on the computer in our old bedroom! You know the old jokes and stories about how women seldom get along with the in-laws? Well in this family that is SO NOT the case! Mary is my 2nd mother & I love her & Ralph so much! They've welcomed me into the family with open arms & took care of me as a teenager as if I was one of their own. So spending only a few weeks of the year with them, it's time so precious to us!

This week we get to celebrate the coming in of a new year, 2009! Jeff & I will have been married for 9 years this year, and together for 17 years. I will be praying to discover my weaknesses so I can know how I can improve this year. Also, Keanu will turn 3 years old in 3 days. I asked him & he says he wants a MUD CAKE for his birthday!! SO stay posted for pics from his birthday!

I have a new sister in-law!!! Congratulations Robbie & Rachel!

2008-12-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

I am SO thrilled, for today was an AMAZING day!! My littlest brother, Robbie got married to his sweetheart Rachel today. We were able to go to the Columbia River Temple and watch them be sealed for time and all eternity, the ceremony was so spiritual, and awesome. I could feel the spirit so strongly & I could see the joy in their faces. Rachel, words cannot express the joy I feel in having you as a sister and part of our family! She is such a wonderful, beautiful woman, and they are both so lucky to have one another!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

2008-12-27T15:33:00.001-08:00

Well, I'm hoping everyone had a great Christmas!! We enjoyed our Christmas Eve with grandma & grandpa Grimmer, with a delicious ham dinner and acting out the Christmas story with the kids. They had such a hard time going to sleep, they were so excited! Christmas morning started later than usual, and the kids just loved their gifts!! Especially Keira's educational laptop, and the boys spring horse and train/car table were hits. They've played and played!! We spent the rest of the day at grandma/pa's house with family playing games and enjoying family time. Here are some pictures from our special holiday.

Christmas Farm Impliment Parade

2008-12-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

For those who don't live in Sunnyside - I know, it's a weird name for a parade!! They take all the tractors, semis, farm machinery, and fix them up in lights and Santas and all kinds of decorations! It actually is pretty amazing! A friend said that this year brought in 30,000 people to watch! Keanu, Keira and I watched with friends, sipping hot drinks and munching cookies. Afterwards we walked down to town center to see the ice sculpture and big tree. It was pretty warm compared to last year, about 35-40 degrees and dry (last year it snowed and we froze our petuties off)

Tree trimmings

2008-12-06T20:19:00.001-08:00

We had a special family home evening trimming the tree this week! Mostly I handed out the decorations and everyone ran to the tree too put them on the tree. We tried to move them around so there were even! This is DEFinately a KID tree! Colored lights and fun decorations! I still miss having a beautiful mommy tree, all color coordinated with fancy bulbs and ribbon... Someday I will again, but for now the kids can have their fun colorful gaudy tree!

Note: As you can see, Kalani had a complete meltdown towards the end - look at that sad sobbing little face! Keanu thought the cinnamon ornaments were cookies, and tried to eat one (I think I have a pic of that here too), and so all of them are gone now, broken by kids who try to eat them!

My Grateful List, Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-26T21:25:00.001-08:00

This list really could go on forever, I have so much to be grateful for. But I will try my best to pick the most important things!!!

1. The True Gospel of Jesus Christ, including the Priesthood in our home, the Holy Ghost to guide me, the atonement of Christ without which I would have NO hope and would be lost, scriptures and living prophets! I'm grateful for my strong testimony and the adversity that shaped me spiritually - such as my amazing conversion process, the car accident that changed my life, having children...
2. My sweet children and husband who are eternally mine, and are so good to me! My joys are endless in our home because of them! My eternal companion really is my other half!
3. My support system of friends and ward family, I couldn't live without you! And of course my parents and other relatives, I love you all and am so grateful for who you are, all you've taught me, that you are understanding and forgiving too!
4. We are so blessed physically with a home that we own! Jeff's career that supports us, that I can stay home with the kids. We're blessed with a good education for us all, intelligent minds and able bodies (YES! I can walk, move, work out, and breaking my back and neck & other bones had no lasting effects!)
5. So grateful I don't live in the dark ages of technology! I love electricity, running water, dishwashers, TV's, cell phones, computers, my car!! It really is a miracle that all this exists just in the last 100 years!
6. I love our wonderful country, USA. It truly is a promised land, a fair and beautiful land of freedom. I am so grateful for the privileges I receive by being a citizen of this amazing nation.

Twilight Party!!

2008-11-21T18:39:00.000-08:00

Last night was SOOO amazing! Some friends of mine arranged this sweeeet Twilight movie/book party for 125 people. It began at Bon Vino's restaurant (which was, by the way, so amazingly decorated) with games and drinks, there was trivia, fortune telling, pictures with Bella & Edward... Then came a gourmet meal catered by Bon Vino's. T-shirts were sold, there was a raffle, silent auction, and drawing for prizes. There was also a costume contest judged by the owner of Bon Vino's. At the end of the party, the evening wasn't over! We went to the movie theatre for the Midnight showing of Twilight!

Natalie & Erin ran the whole thing. Kathy worked the T-shirt table, Becky worked the front door, raffle, and later the trivia/silent auction, Reagran worked the front door checking people off the list, Natalie's mom was there to help out too, and I helped with the trivia/silent auction.

The best part for me was helping out, enjoying the festivities, and OF COURSE the BEST part! All of us friends sat in the theatre together to watch Twilight (we missed you there Erin)! It was SO awesome, so THANK YOU Natalie & Erin for putting this all together & making it happen!

Ever lock your keys in your car?

2008-11-12T19:27:00.000-08:00

Aaaah! I did it this morning! It totally ruined my morning. I went to Chevron for gas (at least the prices can make you smile!). I pumped gas & tried to get back in - I only had my bank card with me, no keys or anything. I was locked out & the kids were locked in! I went inside to ask them if they had anything I could use to break in. They didn't. I borrowed a cell phone and NO ONE was answering, finally dad answered at the post office & was able to reach mom who came. Some guys tried to rescue me with my own antenna. It didn't work no matter how hard they tried, they just couldn't get it to pull the automatic lock button up. The police showed up and my boys were bawling their heads off by then. Yes, I tried to get Keanu to unlock, but he was buckled in and couldn't reach. So I called a locksmith & they came and unlocked it. So it was an hour ordeal. When Jeff found out what happened, he went to the lockshop and made lots of extra keys, some of which are hid on the outside of both of our cars. This isn't the first time this has happened!!! Thank goodness it's over!

Twilight Evening: Dinner & Private showing, can't wait!

2008-11-02T18:52:00.000-08:00

Any Twilight Fans out there? Well, I've read the whole series & am eagerly anticipating the movie!! The night of the premier, my wonderful friends, Natalie and Reagran have planned this wonderful Twilight themed party! We will enjoy a gourmet dinner and dessert at Bon Vino's, there will be door prizes, a silent auction, a drawing, and at the end, they've planned a private midnight showing of the movie! I can't wait, it's going to be so much fun! And the best part: Dressing up as my favorite Twilight character! Hmmmm, who will it be? Rosalie maybe?

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

Our Halloween was a blast!! What made it so was a chili feed, fun church carnival, an awesome trunk or treat with warm weather, another carnival at the school, extremely cheerful kids, and a huge candy haul!
Dad & Reggie serving chili!

trick or treating!

Myself with Kalani at the cake walk. Keanu was the big winner at the two cake walks we went to, winning 2 regular cupcakes & a decorate-your-own cupcake!

Keira was Hannah Montana!

Her wig lights up and I made her tunic top and silver jacket.
Keanu was a red dragon! He had so much fun running around playing in his costume!
Kalani was a little lion. He was one of the winners of the costume contest!
My niece Janai was a dark fairy

My niece Malea was a Power Ranger
Eli was a cowboy riding a horse.

He also was a contest winner!
Keanu & Eli, best friends!
Keira & her good friend Aline,

both Hannah Montana!

The blow-up slide at the school carnival. Keira went again & again, so much fun!

Harvest evening at Schell Farms!

2008-10-30T20:40:00.001-07:00

YES! We had lots of fun at the farm! Petting animals, playing in the corn & hay mazes, on the hay pyramid, and the slide, a hay ride, and dinner was roasted hot dogs and marshmallows at the bonfire.

Kalani's favorite was the animals, he kept trying to put his finger in their mouths. He laughed and laughed! Keanu was very shy, almost afraid of them. Especially the gobblers!

I think Keanu's fave, the little kid hay maze!

Posing in the corn - Yes we did get lost and ended up coming out the entrance instead of the exit, haha!

A very bumpy and slightly sprinkly wet hay ride - the kids loved it!

And pick your own pumpkin - oh, MORE pumpkins? As if we didn't already have too much!