Sweet Suckers

Smiling

Sharing

Stealing... (the candy inside Jacob's mouth)

Sticky

2 more weeks & the cast is off!

I love the pleasant summer evenings relaxing at home.  Trips are good, but home is better :)

A String of Summer Fun

 So far this summer has been so enjoyable for me:)  I haven't taken much time to blog so I'm doing a string of posts all in one day. Part of my happiness is that my kids have been unusually cooperative about doing their chores & practicing piano everyday. I hope it lasts! Although I know my happiness shouldn't just hinge on their behavior or piano skills, it seriously makes my day when all 4 of my older kids practice piano & the house is pretty clean before noon.  Last year I tried a point chart from my friend Angela.  It worked okay for a few weeks, but maybe my kids have matured a lot or I've found more things that motivate them, but this year it is working so much better. 
Everyday they are expected to do their first 5 chores by noon & then the rewards start adding up. We lucked out and got a super deal for a fundraiser on a 3 month gym membership for $7 a month .  It has been fun to go on "outings" & teach Jacob & Daniel how to play racquetball.  I especially love playing Jared on our date night even though he totally beats me every time.  The kids are more motivated to work when they know they might get to go swimming in the pool.  They also each have great friends that live close by which is such a blessing.  I think one of my favorite parts is seeing them read spiritually uplifting things regularly & watching them be so helpful with Alyssa who still has 4 more weeks before she can walk again..

Prayer & Scripture (10)

Daily Job (10) (Rotate between bathrooms, family room, kitchen floor & playroom)

Practiced piano 15 min (10)

Read 30 minutes+ Learning Activity (10)

Bedroom Sparkling (10)

1st 5 finished by noon (25)

Read 15 minutes from Friend or New Era (15)

Extra Chore Weed/Laundry/Make Meal, etc. (25)

Care for Alyssa/Josh 1 hr (25)

Rewards:

First 5 + 15=Treat or $1 (to save up for Lagoon trip)

First 5 + 50=Gamecube 1 hr, Computer 1 hr or 1 Movie or Friends Over

First 5+100=Outing w/ Mom&Dad or Lateover

BYU Fans

The "Double Princess Twist" that Emily designed after looking at some cutegirlshairstyles blog videos

 

 

 

Pancake Girl

 While Becca was gone at Youth Conference & the other 3 "Bigs" headed down to help Jared put sprinklers in my parents yard, I enjoyed a quiet house with the "Littles."   I made some pumpkin pancakes & egg pizza for dinner.  Alyssa loved this "Little House on the Prairie" style pumpkin girl pancake.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but the syrup adds the finishing touches of blond hair like "Lyssa."

 

 Joshua enjoyed the feast too.  He is getting way too good at climbing and helping himself to anything he sees!

 I picked up this buckled booster from a garage sale in the hopes that it would be safer than his high chair which he easily slips out of and can stand on top of if you're not looking, but the booster seat didn't stop him one bit.

 At least he hasn't figured out how to climb out of his crib yet!

Party with a Twist

 Becca opted to have her best friend Ashlee over for a late-over for her birthday celebration on the last day of school.  The weather was perfect & her siblings joined them for some outdoor games and of course cake & ice cream. 

 But while they were jumping on the trampoline, Alyssa hurt her leg....badly.  In fact, she fractured her tibia & fortunately just has a cast for 6 weeks instead of a costly surgery :(   So the rest of the party was a bit more mellow with a quiet movie.  When Alyssa had finally calmed down and fallen asleep, Rebecca tried out her new camera by camcording some paper bag movie skits which were hilarious.  I gathered some random items around the house & had them come up with a commercial using them.

Alyssa with her pretty pink cast (2 weeks later)

Mother's Day Weekend

My brother Jon and his wife Molly surprised my mom for Mother's Day weekend by flying in and being surprise "dinner guests."  When my mom got home from shopping for flowers in the evening, Aaron (who had picked them up from the airport) mentioned that he had invited a few friends over for dinner and they were waiting inside. Her first reaction went sort of like this, "What???!"  "Aaron how could you do this?"  "The house is a disaster...and..."
I would probably have reacted in a similar way.  Truthfully, I know my mom's house is never truly a disaster, but just like me, she likes it to be in order when guest's come over & I feel more like Martha "much encumbered" than Mary when spur of the moment guests drop by. She was elated to see them though, and we enjoyed being able to visit with them.  Of course the boys loved playing football & gamecube w/ all of their uncles.  Our visit to the BYU Athletic Museum was unforgettable...

especially when they spotted Riley Nelson coming in for practice and grabbed him for a quick picture.  Alyssa was especially enamored with the 2 giant flights of stairs & the magic box (elevator) that she kept me busy in when the tour guide was explaining things to the interested fans.

 A few days later we were able to see Jared's brother get sealed in the temple (forgot a pic of that) & took the kids to the temple square visitor's center with their cousins.

A New Way of Life Now

A couple of months ago Jared & I made some goals to start eating healthier and exercising more regularly.  I have always dreaded exercise & am a serious sugar addict so this hasn't been easy, but fortunately I found a great friend to walk with 5 days a week which has made the exercise part a piece of cake. The movie "Hungry for Change" on Netflix that we watched also motivated me to change (& has helped Jacob to eat better too.)  I just thought I'd share a few new recipes/food ideas that I have really enjoyed because I've appreciated the things my sister Melinda has shared on her blog.
We also starting meeting every week (by phone) with a friend of ours who is a personal trainer and health coach(Nancy anewwayoflifenow.blogspot.com).  She has given us some excellent encouragement and guidance as well as tasty ideas for healthier eating.  My main goal was to start exercising more regularly, reducing the # of treats I eat & increasing my vegetable intake.  A nice side benefit has been that I lost 5 lbs (Jared lost 10) even with all of the peanut butter, cream, butter and pistachios that I've still indulged in.  The main change I have made is eating more whole foods and less stuff with additives and preservatives & baking with fresh whole wheat flour.  Its weird to just go grocery shopping on the outskirts of the store because all I buy is tons of produce, bulk foods, dairy & a couple loaves of bread.

Some of my new favorite foods are
Frizzled Cabbage (finely chopped cabbage sauteed in butter w/ salt).  This makes a healthier (& sweeter) replacement for pasta which I love.  I was surprised how much I liked this, because I hated the boiled cabbage my dad made us growing up.  And it cooks up a whole lot faster than pasta.
Steel Cut Oats topped with strawberries or blueberries, greek yogurt or milk & honey.  This is one of the few foods Josh will gobble up without any problems although my other kids like Malt o Meal much better.
Sweet Potato Fries - I discovered these when I made these Yummy Yammy Tacos & loved eating the sweet potatoes so much, no else even got to make any tacos!  When I'm craving some cookies or brownies at night, I make these instead.   I'm planning to add some sweet potatoes to the garden.
Smoothies (w/ spinach)  - I usually use plain greek yogurt, spinach,  a few oranges and a variety of frozen fruits (peaches, mangoes, bananas, blueberries,  grapes, strawberries, etc.) & a little stevia or honey.  But one day I ran out of greek yogurt and used whipping cream instead.  Obviously this isn't as good for me, but it was super awesome & quick homemade ice cream.  (I actually weighed a lb less the next day:)  If there are any leftovers I freeze them in popsicle molds for after school snacks.
No Bake Granola Squares - I like to freeze these  in baggies so I can just grab one when I'm craving something sweet.
Steamed Spinach with mozzarella cheese - I luckily had some spinach go to seed last year in my garden and it came up spontaneously this year.  I like the flavor a lot better than the store bought stuff. Funny to hear my 2 year old say..."Mommy can I have some more spinach?"  Unfortunately she's more the exception than the rule at our house as far as spinach loving goes.  I add spinach in the scrambled eggs or smoothies for the other kids. 

The hardest thing for me has been to reduce my sugar intake.  I am a serious chocolate lover and emotional eater.  I still allow myself 2 or 3 days w/ a treat (1 portion) but that is serious improvement compared to the 1 or 2 dozen cookies I could down all by myself in one day, or the bag of Costco chocolate assortment that I'd buy for Easter or Christmas & end up eating it all before the holiday actually arrived.  The Raspberry Ice Box Dessert I had at my mom's on mother's day was seriously divine, because I had held off of treats all week long knowing that my mom would make something awesome when we came down to visit.

Jared is amazing with his discipline.  He hasn't eaten candy for more than a year and has gone without treats (cookies, ice cream, brownies, cake etc.) for more than 6 weeks.

Life with My Teenager

 Rebecca turned 13 today, so now I officially have a teenager!  She has definitely grown up a lot this year (in many good ways).  Not only is she taller than her grandma, she has totally loved being a babysitter & earning some of her own money.  I love how she is so creative and fun with kids. I think she is Josh's 2nd favorite person because she spends so much time doting over him.  He'd probably like her best if he wasn't still searching for his milk source :)

 Rebecca is super motivated and conscientious in school.  This year she was surprised to get the highest score on both the Science & Language Arts ISATs (Standardized Achievement Tests) out of her entire 7th grade!  She also worked super hard (in Honors math) so she could get straight A's.  It's nice that her conscientious behaviors have also trickled over into caring for her teeth with braces, so I don't have to worry.

Her favorite classes in school are yearbook (she's a natural writer) & choir.  Last month she was so brave and sang a beautiful solo in sacrament meeting.
I love how she has started cleaning her room and the bathroom every morning before school!
Yesterday it was a treat for me to browse throught her school journal .  A few excerpts that I loved w/my comments in blue)

"My main goals in life are to go to college, get married and have kids... because I value marriage and families and I just really want to go to college." I had the same goals as a teenager & feel so blessed that my plans worked out... even though they are a lot harder than I dreamed up back then.:)

"15 years from now, I plan to be married, have a college degree in family science or teaching.(If I were to do it again, I'd pick teaching... family science was interesting but not a great backup plan if my husband dies young) 
I should have three kids and have a food blog on the internet.  Life will be hard as a stay at home mom (SAHM) but I will manage.  My husband will bring me home pizza when I've had a hard day. (She learned this from her awesome dad's example :)  
I may teach piano. ( I don't enjoy piano but it makes a lot more money than working at McDonalds).   
And this is my favorite part, so Rebecca-like
I will astound my children by making culinary wonders, such as...
cake batter whipped cream
cake batter pudding (tastes excellent when it's warm)
butter pecan dip
german chocolate popcorn
mozzarella stuffed meatballs
banana cream pie popcorn Yum!
Looks like she inherited my sugar addiction, but her amazing vocabulary is all her own.  I guess that's what happens when you constantly read books and blogs.

She is a witty writer- a lesson on making a difference...
"I decided to make a difference.
I began by looking at my candy.  There was way too much.  I had to make a difference.  I began by eating candy. (Reminds me of an elementary school subtraction problem!)
I can feel the difference.  now I feel really full.  I have made a difference.

I decided to make a difference so I cleaned my room.  Now I can see the difference.
 Moral of the story:Now we see that not all differences are good.  Some are really good, but not all.

Rebecca amazes me with her creative writing abilities because the extent of my creative writing  starts and ends with a little story I struggled to compose "The Day it Rained Strawberries"

A little excerpt from Rebecca's writing : " If she didn't keep moving she would freeze to death.  So driven by that inner core of strength that had gotten her thus far, she continued on.  She finally saw a light on a hill and knocked on the door.  An old woman came to the door.  She had white hair in a bun with wisps falling into her face.  The hands that opened the door were gnarled and old, connected to skinny arms with bulging veins.  Her face was so wrinkly it was as if you could drown in the crevices.
I am so happy to have Rebecca in my life! Happy Birthday Becca!