pics of kids in daffodils

My sister took pictures of the kids at daffodil fields in AR. She is coming out to Utah in June if you want her to take pictures for you! www.kerryguicephotography.com
I LOVE LOVE LOVE these pictures!

food diary day 5

nutri grain waffles with Todd's freezer jam

wheat bread with peanut butter

low fat cottage cheese and peaches

popcorn with no butter at the movie

grapes

hamburger patty made with 93% lean meat and spices and brown rice mixed in (makes the expensive meat go farther, it's healthier, and you can't even taste it)
strawberries and banana slices with truvia (Yummy!)
peas and corn with salt, pepper and 0 cal butter spray

pics in AR

Here are just some of the many pictures my sister took of the kids in Arkansas:

We tried to take pictures with all of the grandkids in their matching outfits. I bet you couldn't guess how that turned out:) :

Papa with all of his grandkids:

This is a classic Nathan picture-- shoes on the wrong feet, shoes untied, engrossed in a video game:

This is also a classic Nathan picture:) :

Again, classic picture of my boys. Swords and guns are their favorite toys:

Katherine's cute pigtails:

food diary day 4

Day 4:
nutri grain wheat eggo waffles (taste good. maybe we'll try the low fat ones next time) with peanut butter (I should also get reduced fat peanut butter. It's a good protein in the morning, but also high in fat).


frozen carribbean smoothie popsicles made from last night

sugar free popsicles--told the boys they could have a treat for being such great helper cleaners (shouldn't have used food, but oh well)

kashi crackers

tuna sandwich- 1Tb. lite mayo per tuna can and relish, tomatoes and spinach leaves

dinner- burritos with whole wheat tortillas, corn, black beans, shredded chicken, spinach leaves and light sour cream

strawberries and bananas with a little truvia

I feel good today. Hopefully it's from eating better. Or maybe after I was crying for no reason last night Todd prayed he would have a normal wife again...

I think this is a good first step-- eating healthy and cutting out junk food, then counting calories. I'm sure I'm still eating a lot of calories, but at least they are not empty calories. Baby steps!

food diary day 3

Day 3:
Oatmeal squares cereal
low fat cottage cheese and peaches
fruit
baked torilla chips with black beans, salsa con queso and tomatoes
stir fry with brown rice
carribbean smoothie

I was SO proud of the boys today. Todd's dad offered them an otter pop but I told him about our 4 weeks of no sugar so he gave them oranges instead. The oranges were sweet and juicy! They also had a pan full of brownies on the counter....but we resisted. The boys are such good examples to me. Last night I saw a picture of a cheesecake and I was craving Todd's cheesecake SO bad! The healthy treats like the smoothies keep me going.

I'm frustrated because eating healthy is costing a lot of money. We're going to have to find some money somewhere to put in our grocery budget and Todd's going to have to help me find ways to eat healthy that will fit in our budget.

I found a good replacement for pretzels- Kashi crackers. They taste really good, are sweetned only with a little bit of honey and have lots of whole grains.

food diary day 2

Kashi GoLean cereal
wheat bread with peanut butter
scrambled eggs with turkey bacon, tomatoes and spinach leaves in it
fruit medley
dinner: YUMMY! tilapia with can chipotle diced tomatoes and green pimiento olives (olive oil the pan so it doesn't stick, put in oven at 400); spinach salad with avacados, tomatoes, cucumbers and fat free balsamic vinagrette Girard's; whole wheat bread with sprays of I can't believe it's not butter 0 cal. spray, garlic powder, italian seasonings and fresh rosemary, toasted lightly in oven
smoothie- frozen strawberries, plain yogurt, milk, 1 packet truvia

day one

First full day of eating healthy:
-Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal (we all liked it)
-unsweetned applesauce with cinnamon, heated up
-whole wheat bread with avacadoes and tomatoes and a little salt (Alex said it was ok, Nathan ate half at least. I liked it.)
-sunflower seeds
-carrots
-smoothie: pinapple, banana, coconut milk and plain yogurt-- we all loved it! It tasted like a treat but it was healthy!
-BLT burgers: whole wheat bun, small 93% lean (Macey's doesn't sell 96%) hamburger patties (and Todd added spices to make it yummy), turkey bacon, tomatoes, spinach leaves, light mayo, spicy brown mustard, ketchup and relish
-skim milk

The boys did so good trying new things. I had lots of cravings, but I didn't give in! Because I'm pregnant, I'm just eating when I'm hungry, but after I have the baby I'll probably join weight watchers to loose weight.

our healthy change

We decided to eat healthier as a family. I got some healthy cookbooks and I've been researching about what I consider "healthy" for my family. I want high fiber/low glycemic index so we don't get the sugar crash and cravings but instead feel fuller longer; whole foods with lots of vitamins and minerals and good oils and fiber, etc. because they are unprocessed and have more vitamins and good stuff and less of the calories, sugars and bad stuff; lots of vitamins and minerals, but I'll take some fat and calories if it has good vitamins and minerals, for example avacados; and no fast food, fried food and really high bad fat food. I don't want to do artficial sweeteners in place of sugar, and I don't want a ton of reduced-fat/light stuff- for example instead of sugar-free syrup on pancakes, we'll put mashed up fruit with maybe some truvia in it on our pancakes, and instead of sugar free cookies we'll make fruit smoothies. I read about sugar and sugar replacements and talked to my Dr. about it today. Here's a good article, the best one I saw about it: sugar info article
I did get some truvia to try though, because it's all natural and has no glycemic value. It's for drinks, yogurt and fruit. I did get some sugar-free popsicles though for a once a week treat or if other kids are getting treats they can have those. We don't mind light mayo, skim milk, light sour cream, and light balsamic vinagrette dressing (and we're trying low-fat cottage cheese). I'd rather have less of the regular stuff or replace it with something else that's natural. So, I told the boys if we can not eat sugar for 4 weeks, Todd will take them camping. They are really excited about it and we threw away their Easter candy and all the junk food in the house. I am so proud of them. They even came and told me today that a neighbor was giving them some popsicles and they asked if it was sugar-free. She said it was, so they ate them. Hopefully after going non-sugar for 4 weeks we won't crave it, and then we can just have a rare sugar treat after that. Right now we have a treat every day--I am REALLY bad right now, craving sugar like an alcoholic craves alcohol! It'll be a hard 4 weeks for me but I know it will be better after that.

I went to the store and I was so happy because my cart was full of fruits and veggies and whole grains and lean protein and whole foods. For snacks we can have fruits, vegetables, olives, grape tomatoes, whole wheat bread, sunflower seeds, walnuts, unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon, whole wheat bunny crackers (from the health food store, the kids loved them!), cottage cheese, yogurt, edamame, black beans (Todd makes yummy black beans!) or popcorn with cinnamon or the butter spray or nutritional yeast. I want to learn how to jazz up fruits and veggies and things (Kerry said she'd help- she's an amazing cook), for example I really liked a recipe I tried for a wheat pita with hummus and tomatoes, and I think something else but I can't remember, but it was really good. But that's also why I got some good cookbooks. I made my menu based on those cookbooks. For breakfast I read that it's best to have protein and complex carbohydrates to keep you full and keep your blood sugar even.

We're also going to do more exercise. We decided that the boys have to try one sport we sign them up for each year, but that they can pick which one they want to try. They can also ride bikes, jump rope, jump on the trampoline (once we get that up), ??. We do a "chicken fat" song in the morning as part of school that has them do sit ups and push ups and then we put on the Carmen "run for your lives" song and they run around for a little bit. I have to be strict about our 30 min. a day screen time rule, sometimes I don't pay attention to the time.

I'm definitely not going to be a health nazi, but more at first, but we decided that Sunday dinner can be whatever we want it to be. I asked Dr. Young if I should portion the kids' food and that's all they can have, and he said definitely no. I think that if all they have is healthy options and low- glycemic/high fiber foods they should naturally regulate themselves. Kids also have growth spurts where they need to eat more sometimes.

Those are my thoughts right now. I wanted to write them down:).

P.S. But some things I don't know about: banana bread? blueberry muffins?vanilla soymilk? will those send the blood sugar crashing? do I need to make a wheat blueberry muffin or something? What about pretzels?
Keri's healthy banana bread and other recipes- thanks!
info for vanilla soymilk and anything else
blueberry muffins- I guess I'll just move it from the breakfast category to the treat category
pretzel info

Daffodil fields

Spring is in full bloom here in Arkansas! It's so beautiful! Today we went to the daffodil fields in Bigelow, Arkansas, to take pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits. You probably didn't say "Bigelow" right, you have to say it with your best southern accent. My sister is a professional photographer (Kerry) and was SO nice to take pictures of my kids. She took pictures of my sister Sarah and her new baby, and pictures of her own daughter Violet as well.

It was a beautiful, gorgeous sunny day and we all even got some sunburns. Nathan said it was a hateful day because we had to take pictures. But the boys got to explore while we did the girls' pictures and came home with acorns, sticks, pinecones and even a tick. Kerry made a picnic lunch for us and it was wonderful to be able to spend time with Sarah and Kerry and their babies and my "babies". We said that we wished Allison and her boys could have been there, though.

There were lots of people there taking pictures of their kids and I could have stayed there all day (well, I guess we did) looking at all the kids in their cute outfits! White eyelet sundresses, Easter hats, just tons of cute kids! Ours were definitely the cutest though. I CAN'T WAIT to see the pictures! Kerry took a total of 700 pictures! I'll post some as soon as I can!

The public school, changed back to homeschool update

Well, it's a long story, but after a week of public school we are going back to doing homeschool. My dad tried out for the tv show "The Biggest Loser" and made it past a few rounds until the last round. They wanted a video of him with his grandkids to turn into the producers for the final cut. The catch- it had to be turned in this past week, and he lives in Arkansas, and I live in Utah and my sister lives in AZ. So last Sunday he called and asked if we would come out to AR for the video. My dad does anything and everything for us, so I packed the kids in the car Monday morning and headed down to AZ to meet my sister and drive to AR together. We drove for 3 days straight, 10+ hours each day. To make it back for school the next Monday, we were going to stay in AR 2 days, and then again make the 3 day trip back. There was no way the kids and I were going to make another 3 day trip! But taking more than a week off from school for the kids was not good, so Todd and I decided we would just go back to doing homeschool and I am staying in AR for a couple weeks. My parents drove my sister back to AZ so her kids could go back to school (they spring break last week), and they are going to drive my van back here. Todd is going to fly out here and drive us back to Utah. That is one of the great things about homeschool versus public school- being able to travel when you want!

public school update

The first week of public school has been successfully completed.

Alex has lots of friends, but usually he plays with Christina and Mikey at recess. One day the boys were trying to chase Christina and so Alex said he was tackling them. He said they like to play "camping" and put their coats on the ground for their beds. We brought treats to school for Alex's class and Alex sold the leftover treats for Ram Awards (you earn these and turn them in for little treasures). I think Alex would say that lunch is his favorite part of school. He always looks on the computer to see what they're having the next day for lunch. Alex's teacher got chick eggs and they are in an incubator in the classroom right now, and Alex is very excited about that. I talked to Alex's teacher on Thurs. and she said that he is having an adjustment academically to the way things are done in public school. What I mean is that things on the math page "look" different than in our book at home, or for reading comprehension they do a worksheet instead of telling back what they read, etc. He has never had a "test" before either. This has been hard for me, but doesn't seem to bother Alex. He is a very very happy boy and loves school and loves to learn.

Nathan had his first cry about school last night. As a mother, especially transitioning from homeschooling to public school, this ripped my heart out. He was crying because recess is boring, and all the stuff they do is too easy. I asked him even though it was too easy if he liked it and he said yes. He said he didn't want to go back to school, but I'm sure by Monday he'll be fine. All the other days he comes home happy. His kindergarten does more play activities than academics, which is good for Nathan so that he's having fun and not bored. He told me the other day they did math and he asked to do his workbook instead. Yesterday in math they measured dinos and other things. I saw math problems on his paper and asked what it was. He said he was adding the measurements together, like the width and heighth of his paper. So, he's trying to make it more challanging for himself:). I get the feeling that his teacher thinks I'm trying to push this poor kindergartener into doing all this academic work, but really this is what he wants. The day before public school we were doing some review and I put in a big math problem and Nathan said, "I can't wait until I get to the treat!" (the treat was the big math problem).

Todd told me this would be a transition, but it's really hard when I'm going through it! Todd's had to do a lot of talking me through things, and my emotions have been all over the place. So far though, I think it has been good. It's helped me see what I can do better/differently in homeschooling; and if we don't do homeschooling next year, what i need to teach them to be ready for public school next year. As far as deciding whether to homeschool or do public school next year, don't even ask! I am just trying to get through this adjustment, and have a baby, and try and stay somewhat sane! We'll decide that later in the summer when we have to. I do have to say that I have the very best husband ever. He is so good with me and my crazy pregnancy emotions! I am so glad that he is so level- headed, smart, sympathetic and patient with me. Thanks, Todd, I love you!

pictures

Alex in the starting-to-warm-up-so-we-can-play-outside weather

Katherine at the movie theater:

The homeschool Valentines roller skating and scooter party:

exchanging Valentines:

Katherine was SO wanting to go out there with her brothers! It was the saddest thing to see her sitting there! She found that blue roller skate and wanted me to put it on her (of course it was way to big so I didn't), so she just sat there with her blue skate she found, watching her brothers:(. I did figure out though, that I could put her on the scooter and hold the handle bars with her and take her around-- she thought she was hot stuff!

She ALWAYS wants to be doing what the boys are doing! Today Nathan was reading on the couch and she got a book and smooshed up next to him and "read" her books next to him. It was so adorable. I got a picture but they were both in their underwear so I'm not going to post it.

spoiled brats vs. grateful and helpful

Something happened today to make this transition a lot easier for me.

I took my kids to their spanish class today, and afterwards I wanted to talk to one of my friends for a little bit. It makes me feel a lot better when I get to talk to someone about the things I'm going through, and she's pregnant and homeschooling and a good friend.

My boys, however, were being quite rude. They were whining and complaining the whole time. I told them, "let's make a deal. I know it's not fun to wait for me, but I would like to talk with my friend. How about I talk for 15 more minutes and then we will go." Nathan said, "No deal." and they incessantly whined and complained the whole time.

When we got in the car, I told them I was very disappointed in their behavior. I only talked for about 20 or 30 minutes with my friend. Then Nathan interjected, "To me it was 2 hours." I explained that the reason I am having a lot of anxiety and having to cut things out is because everything I do is for them. Piano lessons, homeschool, library storytime, spanish class, friday fun class, on and on and on --I do all for them. I asked when the last time I did something for myself. "We went to Home Depot last week." I replied, "During our vacation. And I took you to Jumping Jacks yesterday and you complained the whole time there, too."

My blood was starting to boil. I do everything for my kids, and they were completely ungrateful and unwilling to sacrifice 30 minutes for me. They whine and complain all the time. Are they, dare I say, turning into spoiled brats?? I WILL NOT let my kids be spoiled brats.

I told them that in our family we need to have give and take, that we take turns helping out each other. That it's not all about them. I don't blame them, kids are naturally self-centered, and I remember being the same way as a kid to my parents. It's my job, however, to teach them to think about others, especially in the family. I told the boys that since they weren't respectful of my time, that their video game privileges were lost. Nathan screamed and cried and told me I wasn't allowed to touch him for 18 days. To which I responded, that is not being respectful and now I will not take you to library time this afternoon. He cried some more.

When we got home I told them that they needed to help make lunch- tacos. Alex was a great helper, and Nathan, still crying (which I ignored), was supposed to grate the cheese. Nathan said I was being mean to him. I told him that I wasn't yelling, that I wasn't mad, that I loved him, but he had a consequence (and I do think that it's a logical consequence). I remained calm and happy and when Nathan realized that he wasn't getting his way he stopped crying and just did his job. I told them they're going to help out a lot more- helping with everything in fact, and I am going to point out everything (every little thing) that I do for them and tell them to say thank you and be grateful for it. I told them there is a difference between whining and comlaining and voicing their opinions (Thank you for taking us to Jumping Jacks. I'm bored now, can we go home? --and if the answer is no, they drop it instead of whining and complaining).

Instead of my kids being spoiled brats, I want to teach them to help out and be grateful. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they are at a friend's house for dinner and they offer to help make dinner? Or say thank you for this and that, and then get up to help put away the dinner? And won't it be wonderful when they are married, for them to show gratitude and offer to help instead of expecting things to be done for them?

Last soap box paragraph: I'm not helping them by doing stuff for them, even though as a mother I think we want to, and it's good to. However, when Alex helped make the tacos today, he was very proud of himself, and couldn't wait to tell Todd that he knew how to make tacos all by himself. If I had made the lunch for them, the kids wouldn't have had that sense of pride and start learning life skills.

school on friday

The boys start school on Friday. We met their teachers today and they seem nice. It was picture day today and we got their pictures done, which I'm happy about. Katherine even got her pcture taken. The boys are very excited about starting school. I didn't cry at the school, only when we got back to the car. I'm ok now though. We're going tonight to get them a first day of school outfit (I guess underwear can't be their school uniforms anymore:)) and some backpacks. Alex is looking forward to school lunches and Nathan is looking forward to being in a class with Rhoman and Winston. They really wanted to start school tomorrow but I wanted them to go to one more Spanish class and do one more day of school with me. I told Nathan kindergarten will be just playtime and they'll say, "I have 3 bears. If I hide 2, how many are not hiding?" Alex said, "and then you can say what 3 times 900 is." Nathan said, "I'll say it's 2,700!" I told Nathan's teacher I'll bring worksheets for him to do while they have math.

public school

Well, my children are going to brave the public school system. I'm going to sign them up tomorrow and they'll start on Friday. I've already had nightmares about them going to public school, but I'm having lots of anxiety because of crazy pregnancy hormones. There's only 3 months of school left and I only have 2 1/2 more months left of pregnancy. 3 months isn't a big commitment.

I was talking with someone about my anxiety and they were telling me how she got into a depression with her first pregnancy because of the hormones. She said, "we hear so much about the physical challenges of pregnancy, but no one prepares you for the mental."

Wish me luck--I'll need it more than them!!

let's start over

can i just go to bed and pretend this day didn't happen? i shouldn't complain, but i had a bad day! these pregnancy hormones are the worst! Can i just be put in a coma until may 12, please?

Being prepared

Todd and I have been looking into food storage and emergency preparedness lately. Todd gave a sunday school lesson on it, and we're starting a garden and I love the idea of growing my own food and storing it for our family (self-reliance). I went to a garden class today and they said one blackberry plant (triple crowned variety) can produce 30 lbs of blackberries! Berries can freeze for up to a year. I've been looking into the "square foot gardening" because we don't have a lot of space, and we can get a lot of vegetables in a small space. I'd LOVE to have a lot of land and be able to can and freeze everything we had on our land and be able to live off of that. Add chickens, maybe a cow, and solar panels on our house and we'd be set:). (By the way, I have looked into solar panels.)

And then there's been the earthquakes, tsunamis and snow storms. When the roads are closed in a snow or ice storm no one can come in to deliver the food to the stores- we've had first hand experience with that! (our drive from AR to UT). In Hawaii they have tsunami warnings right now, and everyone rushed to the store for the last can of spam and headed for the hills. It's nice to have a 72 hour kit to be able to throw in the car at the last minute and the supplies we needed if the stores run out or close. Food storage/ emergency preparedness has always been too overwhelming, too costly, etc. but having a family plan, 72 hour kits for everyone in the family, and water storage is easy and covers the essentials.

Today we bought a feezer for the garage to start a food storage little by little, when things go on sale and when we get our garden in. There's some initial costs with a garden, but all we'll add the following years is compost and seeds, and I figure we'll make up those costs in the first year in grocery savings.

Here are some good links I found for making family plan and 10 steps to being prepared:
link 1
link 2
link 3

controblution and manly men

*This week is our vacation week (except Todd:(). No school or anything. It's very nice.
*Nathan made up his own math formula. He calls it "the controblution". It's the number, plus itself, times 3. Todd told him that's the same thing as just times 4, but it doesn't sound as cool. So what is the controblution to 5?
*Nathan and Alex are into being "manly men". Nathan said that right now they are "junior manly men". Daddy is the "ultimate manly man." To be an ultimate manly man you have to have a fuzzy chin. To be an ultimate ultimate manly man you have to have a fuzzy chin and big muscly muscles, and not eat McDonalds or ice cream. Nathan said he'd like to march with 3 ultimate ultimate manly men (like they do in the army).

the boys AND Todd went skiing!

The boys AND Todd went skiing today! We forgot the camera (doh!). Todd has never been skiing even though he grew up here in Utah; today was his first day. He said he really liked it and he'll go with the boys again. The boys are getting really good!
Today was a beautiful gorgeous sunny day. The drive through the mountains to Park City was beautiful. It snowed over the weekend so there was snow all over (but it's mostly melted in Spanish Fork).

Right now I'm planning my garden and yard. We're going to probably try the square foot gardening plan.

sprinklers!!!!

Todd did our taxes last night (thanks Todd!). We have been planning since last summer doing sprinklers for our yard when we do our taxes. I pulled out the backyard plans, the ground is not frozen, and I am so excited I can barely breathe!!
plan for getting right now: sprinklers front and back yard, electrical wiring for outside lampposts etc. in back, dirt, compost and sod for the front!

the game we played last night

Last night at bedtime Nathan was snuggling with me in my bed. He started to tell me, "I'm scared of..." but then said, "nothing." He doesn't like to talk about feelings. I tried to get him to tell me what he was going to say but he wouldn't. So I said, "let's play a game. We'll take turns telling what we're scared of." Then Alex and Daddy came in and we all played the game. We went around the circle a few times, each saying things we're scared of. Mostly the boys are afraid of the dark.

Then Alex said, "now let's tell about our hopes and dreams." So we went around the circle a few times telling about our hopes and dreams. One of Alex's dreams is to have wings and talons to be able to fly and fight. One of Nathan's dreams is to do pottery with clay on a pottery wheel and make a bowl, and also to see what a chilidog tastes like.

It was a fun game.

SO sweet!

Last night I was reading to Katherine and she was sitting on my lap. She loves books right now. Nathan came and sat next to us. After reading the book about 5 times, I said, "Nathan, she wants you to read it to her now!" So he read her the book and at the end, she reached over and grabbed him around the neck and gave him a big hug! It was the sweetest thing ever! Nathan loved it so he wanted to keep reading books to her. So I got Katherine off my lap to get the camera and take a video:

(wouldn't load. I'll try again later:()

my big baby boys

(For Kerry)

Alex at 5 months old:

Nathan at 5 months old:

Nathan at 5 months old

i like/ i hate

The boys always want to write "I like"'s and "I hate"s in their journals. So I am going to do it, too.

I like flowers.
I like reading scriptures with my kids.
I like doing homeschool with my kids.
I like my new floor.
I like holidays.
I like gardening/yardwork.
I like Todd's days off of work.
I like checking my email.
I like dogs.

I hate mornings, and having to be somewhere anytime before noon.
I hate housework.
I hate housework.
I hate housework.
I really hate cleaning my house.

VERY embarrasing!

To the people eating breakfast at IHOP this morning:

I'm very sorry I ruined your breakfast by throwing up at my table, and then running to the bathroom and throwing up outside the bathroom (extra sorry to the table next to the bathroom), and the lady in the bathroom while I finished.
I'm very sorry to the IHOP workers who were very busy with a packed restaurant, all of whom seemed to be staring at me. I hope you didn't see the throw up on my leg or the wet spot on my pants.
And to the poor lady who had to clean it up: Lo siento mucho.

I assure you, this WILL BE MY LAST PREGNANCY!!!