Auntie Shelley goes home

Auntie Shelley left for Buffalo this morning. It was so much fun having her here. We laughed a lot, cried a little, and just really enjoyed being together. Her Auntie skills were put into good use and she totally captured the hearts of all of my kids, especially Ella. We sure will miss her.

The last 24 hours in pictures

The last 24 hours have been bliss, well except for the sleep deprivation and this cold that has taken my voice. It has been one of my most favorite Christmas' by far. Visits with family and friends have been perfect, the food delicious, the Spirit abundant, and the smiles plentiful. As an added bonus I got incredibly spoiled by my wonderful husband, children and my Mom and Craig. In fact, it was the first time in years that I have been completely surprised by my gifts. What fun it is to be surprised! Yet as much fun as it was to receive the joyful reactions from my children, Andrew, Craig and my Mom were even better. Today was a fabulous day. You can see all of the fun that we had in the many pictures in th slideshow.

I do hope that the rest of you had a Merry Christmas as well and that this new year is full of happiness.

Ella at 16 months old

The above is a picture of Ella taken a few days ago. The photo captured the face we have seen a lot around here. She has developed this habit of sticking her tongue out like that and it is so cute. She comes by this trait honestly from her father and grandfather who are known to do the same thing.

It is hard to believe this tiny (18 pounds 11 ounces at her check-up) troublemaker is 16 months old. I wish this time would stop flying by so fast. She has such personality and she is beginning to understand and say so much. She can say the names of all of us, as well as the words: baby, hi, baba, no, three, and amen. She also babbles a lot and gets frustrated when we can understand her. She adores all baby dolls, climbing the stairs, and being chased. She is a wonderful sleeper and still takes two naps a day. Our favorite thing about Ella is her laugh, which can put even the grinch in a good mood. She finds so many things funny so we hear her laugh often. Her best laugh happens when you try to surprise her, what a hoot that is.

My top 25 movies

I was tagged to list my top 25 movies so here is my list. I thought it would be much harder to come up with 25 but I definitely had to whittle it down. The ones that I chose either had to have to be ones that I can watch over and over and still enjoy it, or they were movies that made me think about them for weeks after I watched them. I did not put any movies, although I was tempted to with ones like Shawshank Redemption and The Matrix, that were originally rated R (I don't watch unedited rated R movies) that can be seen edited on TV, because you can't rent them edited. So here is my list:

Mary Poppins
Spitfire Grill
Gattaca
You've Got Mail
Annie (the original)
Sound of Music
Castaway
October Sky
Ocean's Eleven
The Pelican Brief
Pride and Prejudice (A&E version)
Pursuit of Happyness
Sliding Doors
Hitch
Men in Black
Elf
The Santa Clause
Big
Contact
Disney Pixar's Cars
Anne of Green Gables
Catch Me if You Can
The Bourne Trilogy (cause you can't watch just one)
The Fugitive
National Treasure
The Italian Job (oh I know, that is #26, but I just remembered it and it deserves a spot)

You may have noticed that none of the Harry Potter movies are on there. As much as I love the books and the audio recordings, the Harry Potter movies are just too short for me to truly love. Now if A&E would like to do a long miniseries as good as Pride and Prejudice, well I will revise my list.

Now I tag Jamie, Logan, and Monique, and anyone else who wants to do so.

Brianna's homework assignment

Brianna wanted me to share with you her latest homework assignment that she worked really hard on. She is so pleased with her work. This was done with very little parent help and we didn't let her use spellcheck. Andrew helped her format and insert the picture, and she typed 90% of it. He also would read it and tell her what sentences she needed to write in a different way but not how. She is one smart cookie.

You know you live in Tennessee when . . .

Santa Claus is a drive through experience! Drive-thrus are crazy popular here in TN. I just didn't know how popular. Here's the story.

This last Monday night, Andrew was in charge of Family Home Evening. He planned a little car trip to go see a Christmas lights display. You know the kind that you stay in your car and drive through after paying an entrance fee? Well this one was very fun and at the end was a barn that you drive through to get to the exit. Much to our surprise and the kids delight, in the barn was Jolly Old St. Nick (he was watching Monday Night Football in between visits from the children, ha!) Santa came right up to our car and asked all the kids what they wanted for Christmas. We had know clue that Santa would be there so the kids weren't sure exactly what they wanted yet, however, Santa reassured them that they could change their minds. We topped off our night with some Frosty the Snowman Cocoa (a.k.a. chocolate Frosty's from Wendy's) and headed home very happy.

As silly as a drive-thru Santa sounds, it was definitely our best Santa experience ever. Seriously, no crying children, you wait in your comfortable warm car, no trying to keep your kids from running away, no long lines, and no overpriced pictures, how can you top that? We will definitely do that again next year. A new tradition, love that.

(sorry no pics because the evening was a surprise and I didn't know to bring my camera)

GeoBee

Yesterday, Brianna took a school-wide test (4th grade and 5th grade I believe) for the National Geographic Bee. Brianna came in 9th. That allowed her to participate in the 100 question test today. Brianna was very excited about coming in 9th yesterday, so today she comes home and says to me with perfect drama,"Mom, remember that practice geography bee thing yesterday and how I came in 9th? Well, yeah, I just won it for the whole school." Then she whips out her medal. A real medal from the National Geographic Bee which has engraved on it "2008 School Bee Champion" She is so stinkin' pleased with herself. Apparently, she is now famous at school and will have her picture in the paper. A kid at school even asked if she could hug Brianna because maybe some of her smartness will rub off. Yeah, that's my kid.


And for a little dose of humility, Brianna only got 24 out of the 100 questions right to come in first. The next closest was 18. Apparently, geography isn't very advanced in 4th grade.

A photoshoot of three stylish sisters

I had another great session today and it was really fun. I am still struggling with group shots, so I think I will focus on learning more that this week. The three beautiful girls are daughters of my good friend, Sandy. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

I created a poll, please vote!

I am trying to pick a website address for me as part of my effort to start a photography business. I would wait but I have learned that waiting means risking having some of the web addresses taken by someone else. So I have created this poll to see what potential customers would like best. Please vote so that I can purchase my domain soon. Thanks!

Happy Birthday Ben!

Ben is married to my sister-in-law, Paula. He is a great dad, husband and uncle we want to wish him a happy birthday from all of us here in Tennessee.

So to Ben :
"Happy Birthday! We hope you had a great day!"

Our fears

We all have our fears. Andrew's fear is losing one of the kids in a crowd, my fear is a house fire, Brianna's fear is getting bad grades, Arick's fear is getting lost, Ty's fear is showers, and Ella's fear, well hers is balls. Yep, you read that correctly. Our little punkin is scared of balls. Beach balls, basketballs, soccer balls, etc. If you roll one towards her, she runs away in a panic with sobbing soon to follow. Absolutely hysterical to watch, not so much fun for her, but fun for us parents. Maybe Bounce-a-Rounce 2007 was just too much for her to handle.

Don't be fooled by that sweet face!

Don't be fooled by that sweet face. In that little brain of his, he has dreamed up plenty of mischief. Unfortunately for me today, the stars aligned (a.k.a. mommy was busy making lunch when he discovered a perfectly sharpened pencil and lots of empty wall space) and his dreams became reality. 100 ft of scribbled wall art later, he came to me so proud to show me his accomplishment. Oh how his excitement/giddyness was quickly erased (both literally and figuratively) in the ensuing freak out by me. Ugh, two broken hearts today. It is so hard to punish sometimes. Thank goodness for Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

Brianna at a glance

It has been a while since I have posted about Brianna, so here is a current picture and a few facts about what is going on in her life right now.

* She is attending a gifted and talented program at her school that she totally loves.
* She is currently reading Harry Potter 5 and can't wait to finish it.
* She is doing very well in piano and is currently practicing the song "The 12 Days of Christmas."
* Her current challenge in life is to keep her room clean much to my frustration. Ella will have lots of access to her stuff and she doesn't realize the importance of keeping everything out of reach just yet.
* She is an incredible helper. She will change Ella's diapers, help me make dinner, watch her siblings, without much complaint and usually with a smile.
* Her current sport is archery and has earned 3 awards so far.

The winner is . . .

Susie. At first I didn't know which Susie, but after a quick phone call I solved the puzzle. She didn't believe me when I told her, so I have to put this on the blog to make it official and all. Thank you all for taking the time to read my blog and leave a comment.

Some statistics

One of the reasons I am doing the blog birthday prize (which includes a gift certificate to Target by the way, just in case you needed more incentive to leave a comment and be entered to win the prize) is to see who is reading the blog. According to my idcounter, I have had:


Total hits: 6068
Total visitors: 2961
Average visitors per day: 12
Total for last 30 days : 481

I am very surprised that I have had that many hits and it totally makes me curious to find out who. Even more interesting is where you all are clicking from. If you go to the bottom of this blog and click on the map, you can also see a very general area of where the visitors are from. Quite interesting.

By the way if you have a blog of your own, the idcounter and clustrmap are free, just go to their website and sign up. I bet you will be surprised at how many visit your blog too.

Happy Blog Birthday

So I just discovered that I have been blogging for 1 year, and I would love to mark this occasion with a contest. Leave your name in the comments section and I will draw a name and mail a special surprise to the winner. It would be a lot of fun for me to see who is even reading this blog. You have until Sunday night to leave your name. I will draw the winning name on Monday morning. Good luck!

A family of four photo session

Yesterday I did a family photo shoot. Photographing families and toddlers are the hardest to photograph and I knew that this would be a challenge. The family was so gracious to let me do my thing without pressure and they were very patient. I did make mistakes and I learned a lot, so it was totally worth it.

I just love this photo:

Poor Arick!

This cute kid is very sick, so sick that he had to miss trick or treating, and that just really stinks.

"Attitude determines your altitude"

If you asked me a year ago how I was doing, I might have responded that I was doing fine or okay. Today, I might respond with the words wonderful,great or fabulous. Why the change in answers? Well,I have changed my attitude. I started counting my blessings and focusing on what I have, not what I am missing. And you know what? My life is pretty great. Everything isn't perfect and I still have my quirks and struggles, yet that isn't what I dwell on anymore. I love living with this attitude! I have never been happier. One of new my favorite sayings is, "Attitude determines your altitude." That is so true. I don't know why it took me so long to figure out how much my attitude can affect my life, but I am so grateful I finally did.

Disclaimer: Please don't confuse my new attitude as perky. Perky does not exist in my life, especially in the early hours of the morning.

(This picture of me was taken yesterday by a friend. I very much prefer being behind the camera but I figure one picture every few years won't hurt.)

Happy Birthday Cory!!

We just wanted to wish this special boy a "Happy, Happy Birthday!" today. We love you and hope you are having a great day!

(Blogger won't let me upload a picture, so I will try again later.)

Ty's Best Friend

I was able to do another photo practice session this morning with this beautiful little girl. Her mom (Andrew knew her in Hawaii) and I have become very close friends, while this little girl has become Ty's best friend. They play together almost every week and they get so excited when they see each other.

Session from this morning

I had my first portfolio building session this morning and I learned lots! Here are a few from the session. What a cutie!

Tag I'm it! again and again and again!

So I can't answer all of the tags I have been receiving just yet, so I will put up a few random facts about me.

1. I am just not that into the costume part of Halloween. Honestly it is the cost, it has gotten so ridiculous. If money was no object, I could get into it, but other needs are higher on the priority list. In fact this year I offered the kids $5 each to come up with their own costume with stuff around the house. I am happy to report that my offer was accepted with glee, especially from me.

2. I can't stand Campbell's Tomato Soup.

3. Dove milk chocolate is by far the best chocolate on the planet.

4. I only cut my hair twice a year.

5. I dislike anything with peanuts or peanut butter.

6. I have paid more money in library fines than I would like to admit.

7. When I am feeling down, I plan an imaginary trip to Disneyworld. Happiness soon follows.

8. I have to eat Kit Kats a certain way. First, I eat all of the chocolate on the outside (accept for the thin layer on the bottom) and then I eat each wafer layer individually.

Well so that should tide you over until I can answer the other questions.

The cutest pink flutterbug you have ever seen!

Here is a shot of Ella wearing her warm and cozy butterfly costume. Such a darling!

Ella (14 months old)

Just had to share how much she is changing. Ella is 14 months old and loves to get into everything.

My 5 year plan

I would love to put more pics of Ella up, but shoot she is hard to get to sit still. However, Ty will pose for me anytime I ask and he is pretty good about being still, as long as I don't take too long. So here is the shot from our session today. He is such a handsome little dude.



So I am really working hard trying to become a professional photographer. Art school around here costs $20,000 so I have decided to just teach myself. Fortunately, in this day and age, the Internet is available. I have found fantastic photographers who are happy to share their skills for free and answer the long list of questions I have. I spend about 2 hours a day studying and learning. I am not ready to start charging yet. I still have so much to learn, but I feel like it is coming along.

When I first decided to make photography my career path, I created a five year plan. The first 2 years will be spent learning, practicing, acquiring the gear, and building a portfolio. I have to learn about printing, packaging, advertising, plus all of the actual photography skills. The third and 4th year, will be more of the same, however I will charge more and keep a limited schedule. By the fifth year (when Ella is in school full time) I hope to have an established photography business with a studio. I am totally excited about this. I will get to set my own schedule. It isn't about the money, although a little extra to put in savings would be nice. I just love photography and the idea of doing this forever just makes me giggle. hehe.

Bento goodness

I thought I would update you all on how the bento is working. I am still doing bento lunches. I am pretty much making the same bentos that I have posted before. To make it easy, I have a list of available bento foods on my fridge so I don't have to think so hard in the morning. It definitely makes the prep go faster in the morning. All this bento stuff has been worth it though. Brianna told me she would rather have my bento lunches than buy lunch at school. I do believe that I have officially won the lunch war, woohoo!

Here is a pic of today's bento, enjoy.



Sticky rice with spam and teriyaki sauce (nori and sesame seeds are sprinkled on top)
Carrots and Cucumbers
Mini Gala Apple

Orionids Meteor Shower

Early on Sunday morning (5:00 AM), Andrew, myself, and Brianna went out to the back yard to view the Orionids Meteor Shower. We have Andrew’s self-described “astro-nerdiness” to thank for this fun star-gazing activity.



Each time Comet Halley swings by the sun, solar heating evaporates some of the ice and rock from the nucleus. The trailing comet particles are usually no bigger than grains of sand. Although they are very small, these tiny meteoroids make brilliant shooting stars when they strike Earth's atmosphere at nearly 90,000 mph! The Orionids meteor shower happens each year toward the end of October when Earth passes through the debris stream of Halley’s Comet.

We stood outside and watched as about 10 or so “shooting stars” streaked by Orion. The meteoroids are visible in the area of Orion and Mars in the south sky before sunrise. October 21st was the peak of the shower.

This link explains more about meteors and meteor showers: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/meteors-ez.html

This link shows the schedule for more meteor showers: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/meteor_showers_2007.html

And this link gives you a better idea of all the other things you can look for in our night sky: http://www.space.com/nightsky/

By the way, here’s Andrew’s favorite space picture. Back in 2004, scientists in charge of the Hubble space telescope must have been a little bored looking at visible objects, so they decided to spice things up by looking at non-visible objects. They focused in on a small, very dark region of space where there was absolutely nothing visible to earth’s telescopes. They wanted to confirm, by taking a very long picture of that area, that they were looking at the ‘end of space’. So, after THREE MONTHS of staring into that blank space, Hubble produced the following photograph.



Keep in mind that most of these tiny dots and swirls are either galaxies or CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES!!! Just to blow your mind, one galaxy is a collection of BILLIONS of stars like our sun!!!!!! If this doesn’t ram home the fact that we’re not alone in this Universe, I’m not sure anything will. It’s almost comical to think that scientists here on earth have a good idea of what life, the universe, and everything is all about.

Ashley

I took this photo of my friend, Ashley, and her baby 6 months ago (before I left for TN). That adorable little boy is now 1, which is so hard for me to believe. Ashley and I became friends through our mutual love of scrapbooking, stamping, and photography. If it wasn't for her, I never would have pursued this photography dream of mine. I sure do miss her.

Happy birthday to Papa!

Today is my father-in-law's birthday. He is a wonderful man and we all love him dearly. So on his special day we wanted to wish him a happy birthday and let him know that he is a mighty fine Father, Father-in-law, and Papa. So to Papa: Happy Birthday from all of us, we love you!

Some pics from Dave and Logan's wedding

I finally have been able to work on the pics from David and Logan's wedding in August. I tried to give the photos a vintage, classic feel and I am pleased with the final product, I just hope David and Logan like them too.

David and Logan when they first came out of the temple.






The beautiful bride, Logan.

Ty, just chillin'

Just wanted to share what Ty is looking like these days. He is as handsome as ever. Right now his passions are anything with wheels and Scooby Doo. He is having a hard time being a little guy these days and really wishes he was big like Arick so Arick would play with him more. He loves to play with water, ugh, and we are struggling to keep him away from the faucets. Such a little stinker!

My new favorite veggie!

I have my friend Cristina to thank for introducing me to my new favorite veggie. Purple yam, or ube, and it is delish. I bought this at the local international grocery store. I steamed them for about 30 minutes. I like eating it cold the best. It has a sweet flavor but it is hard to describe. So if you ever come accross this veggie, don't be scared to try it, it is very tasty!

My first stitchery

Here is a stitchery that I did, my first one. I like how it came out, although I am sure I could make it better. I just need to figure out where I am going to hang it.

I. Can't. Keep. It. A. Secret. Anymore.

Okay, I recently learned a new skill that I desperately wanted to blog about. However, Andrew asked that I wait until I see his siblings in person to surprise them. I tried, but it might be a year or more until we are all together again, and I can't wait. What is this secret skill? Well I learned to make manapua. Now if you are not from Hawaii you probaby have no clue what I am talking about and you are probably pronouncing it wrong. Here is a good definition from Wikipedia:

"Manapua is Hawaiian slang for the Chinese food cha siu bau (pork-filled bun). The word does not mean "chewed-up" (mana) "pork" (puaʻa) in the Hawaiian language, as its spelling suggests. Rather, the current form is a shortening of meaʻono-puaʻa, meaning "pork cake" (meaʻono = "cake"). In the US mainland, the Chinese term is commonly used. The Chinese brought this dim sum item with them when they were brought over as plantation workers. This food usually consists of a white bun with a red-colored shredded pork filling. The bun is occasionally baked, but is more frequently steamed when it is made."

Manapua is super yummy and a favorite treat in our home. Here is a picture of one that I made:



Now I can't take all the credit. I learned how to make this thanks to my friend Cristina. She is from Hawaii and actually knew Andrew in high school. Small world. She and I share a love of Asian and Hawaiian foods, so we are becoming fast friends. We made 80 buns and split it up between us. Sadly the 40 buns I took home barely lasted us a week and I will need to make more soon. We had a great time and the results were fab, even Andrew couldn't believe how authentic they were.

So to the Smith clan, the next time we are together I look forward to making this for you all. You can act surprised if you want to, hehe!

Frugal Gift Giving

Last night I taught a class on frugal gift giving and I thought I would post a little bit about it here. I love to give gifts. I love
the whole process, including the planning, shopping for (or making) the perfect gift, and finally giving the gift. It’s definitely one of the things that make me happy. Since I don't have a limitless supply of money to fund this gift giving love of mine, I have had to learn to be frugal. Now my definition of being frugal may be different than others', but the following tips that I have learned are valid no matter what your definition of frugal is.

The Four P's of Frugal Gift Giving Plan

One day a year, sit down and write a list of who you need to buy gifts for and when you need to give the gifts. Don't forget to plan for those birthday parties that your kids are invited to attend. Make sure to include all gift-giving holidays that you participate in. Also, when you plan, pay special attention to the date. It is very important to make sure that gifts are received on or before the special day, as this attention to detail is noticed and appreciated by the recipient. A late gift, especially an obviously frugal one, may end up conveying the wrong message.

Ponder

Now that you have your list, think about the people that you need to give gifts for. The less money you spend on a gift, the more time/thought you should probably spend on it. People recognize when thought has been put into a gift and they appreciate it. Find out their likes and dislikes, their favorite colors, hobbies, foods, places, music, brands, etc. Keep little notes if it will help you remember. When you are shopping, it will save you a lot of frustration and make it easier for you to select the perfect gift. It also increases the chances that the recipient will love the gift no matter how much you spend.

This master list will be key to your success as a gift giver and will enable you to make your purchases when its financially beneficial for you, not for the retailer.

Purchase/Prepare

Many people believe that frugal gifts are always homemade. While it’s true that you can often save money by making a gift ourself, it is not always true. I have handmade items that have ended up costing more than store bought gifts. Frugal gifts can be purchased or homemade. No matter what you decide, try to decide early. This gives your more time to find or make the perfect gift that fits your budget.

Now that you have a master list and some guidelines, carry the list with you. Every time you go shopping (especially at Target with their regular clearance deals) make sure to go through all the areas. If you don’t walk down that aisle, you will never notice the good deals that will fit in your frugal budget and be perfect to give as a gift. Doing this only takes an extra 5-10 minutes of your time, and it will help you find the perfect, frugal gift. Also, watch for sales in craft stores to save money on materials for homemade items. You can even bargain shop online, go to yard sales, etc. Be creative, be alert, and have an open mind.

Presentation

Although we are told never to judge a book by its cover, it happens all the time. A gift wrapped in newspaper just doesn’t have the same impact as an attractive, well-wrapped present. A beautiful presentation will show the recipient that you paid attention to the details. Nice gift wrap and packaging can be purchased inexpensively as long as you buy it ahead of time. Clearance deals of 50 – 90% off are not unheard of at end-of-season sales. Don't wait until the day you need to give the gift or you will likely discover that you don't have the wrap that you need, forcing you to spend more than you’d like to.

Finally, depending on the situation, the gift can be accompanied by a simple card (handmade or purchased on sale, of course) to let the recipient know how much you care.


So that was the quick version of my class. The ladies loved it, especially the examples that I brought in. The following item was probably the most popular and it may actually be an upcoming Enrichment project. It is a church activity book that I hope will keep the kids reverent during Sacrament Meeting, while helping them to focus on gospel topics. There are about 100 pages of gospel-oriented activities (crosswords, puzzles, games, coloring pages, etc), some that I came up with myself and others I printed from the online version of our Church magazine for kids. It took me about 2 hours to print all of the pages from lds.org. Once you print, make sure you keep the master copy for yourself to always make copies from so you get the highest quality copies.

Cover:


Inside:

Kazoo

On Monday I took Ty and Ella to the zoo with friends. Later that day I told Ty to tell Andrew what we did. He ran up to Andrew and said, "Daddy, Daddy, guest what? I went to the KAZOO!" Ha. Kids. Gotta love 'em because life just wouldn't be as funny!

Relief Society

My day was pretty crazy. All of us spent the day cleaning the house so that we could have guests over this evening. Andrew had invited a fellow BYU fan and his kids over to watch the football game. His wife and I then left to attend the broadcast of the General Relief Society meeting ( I know some of my readers aren't familiar with some of the terms I use, so let me clarify a bit. All the women in the L.D.S. Church are part of the Relief Society. This society of sisters, bound together under the motto Charity Never Faileth, has grown to become the largest women's organization in the world.)

When I first arrived for the meeting, I was assigned randomly to the pink table. One of the goals of the evening was to get to know the women from the other congregations. It was a little awkward at first but pretty soon we were chatting away. We were served dinner and then we watched the broadcast from Salt Lake City over the satellite. The talks were phenomenal and I was truly inspired to be more observant of the needs of others around me, so that I can provide more 'relief'. Relief can be given in big ways, but it was stressed that those little bits of relief that we offer others (providing a meal, giving a compliment, sending a note, babysitting in a pinch, etc) can be just as crucial. I learned many other things as well and it felt great to be inspired to live better.

One special thing that I want to note is the size of the group of women that met to night at the Stake center (An LDS Church with a larger floor plan so that bigger groups can meet together). The event was standing room only. There must have been 32-40 tables set up with 8 seats at each table. The chapel was also packed and we filled every inch of the pews, plus the overflow room. I was incredibly impressed with how many came when they could have watched the meeting at home on their own tvs. The best part though was when we sang the hymns, how powerful and beautiful this large group of ladies sounded.

Happy Birthday Unckie Dave

We want to wish Andrew's brother, David, a happy birthday. He is 23 today! The picture above was taken on his wedding day this past August.

Swing Smiles

Ella loves the swing, the higher you pusher the more she laughs. A little daredevil in the making, yikes!

On her own

Well, I am a little morose this weekend. Ella is walking pretty much all the time now and it all goes downhill from there. I tried to not show her the floor, and it worked well for a while, but I can only hold her so much before my arms give out. I have to admit it is wee bit fun to watch her walk, especially to see the huge smile on her face as she gets to her chosen destination. She is growing up too fast.

The Tuesday Ten

So I apologize for neglecting the blog lately. I have been soooo very busy lately and thought I would share 10 things that are going on.

1. I took Brianna, Arick and Ty for eye appointments last week with interesting results. Brianna's eyes have improved and she no longer needs glasses. Arick and Ty on the other hand did not fare as well. Arick's eyes are worse and the doctor thinks that is what is causing his frequent headaches. I only brought Ty in as just a precaution and it turns out the kid has the worst eyesight of the bunch. Poor little bugger. So now my boys need glasses. Pictures will follow soon.

2. My Primary calling at Church is keeping me plenty busy. Lots of meetings to go to lately and I have to plan our yearly program.

3. Organizing and cleaning. I have lost lots and lots of things and it is driving me nuts. So I have been organizing, which means creating a bigger mess first and then organizing. Such a long process. I have definitely thrown out lots of stuff but I have so much still left to do. I still haven't found those lost items yet which makes the process even more painful.

4. Participating in a children's clothing consignment sale. Hopefully I get some money from this to help pay for an external hard drive so I can get my old photos off of my PC and work on them. My PC is not a happy computer and I am scared it is going to crash and take all my stuff with it. I am scared to even turn it on, which it doesn't do well half of the time.

5. Preparing a class on "Frugal gift giving throughout the year". I will teach this to the ladies at Church and I am so excited since it is one of my favorite subjects. I am also helping to put together a class on stamping.

6. 9 doctors appointments in 3 weeks, I really miss our old doctor in CT. Even Ty says he wishes "Dr. Iogas" moved to Tennessee with us.

7. Playdates and story time for Ty.

8. I have listened to 5 Audiobooks in the last 2 weeks but I am missing having a book to read, so I checked out 10 books for the next 6 weeks. I am trying to figure out what book I will suggest for bookclub when my turn comes again. I am reading Plainsong now and have a few others on my list. I will review a few of them when I am finished.

9. Busy planning for the upcoming holidays. I have to start early so I can enjoy December.

10. Driving. I have been doing lots of driving. I am finally reaching that point that I am feeling like a taxi driver. We have signed Brianna up for Piano, Arick for guitar, and Brianna will soon be doing Girl Scouts. Plus there is Activity Days for Brianna.

I haven't even taken 1 picture in 2 weeks which isn't from lack of desire, just haven't had time. But I will tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Andrew's DVR list

Just so you don't think that I, Amy, hog the dvr, Andrew has his recordings as well.

NFL Football
Pimp My Ride
How it's Made
Rugby
College Football

With an occasional Formula One race in the mix.

DVR

Recently we had Dish Satellite service installed so that we could watch BYU football games. Part of that service includes a digital video recording device that records shows, pause live tv, etc. Let me just say wow! I admit I love watching tv but I hate the time it takes. Now I can watch a 1 hour show in 30 minutes and Andrew can watch a 4 hour football game in 1 hour. That is huge! Plus I have been able to record my late night shows and watch them in the morning so I don't have to stay up late. I love love love DVR!

Curious to know some of the shows I am recording? Here are my top five, at least until the new season starts:
Murder, She Wrote
Monk
Psych (can you tell I love mysteries/solving puzzles)
Hannah Montana (I record them for Brianna, at least that is what I tell myself)
Good Eats with Alton Brown on the Food Network (I love how he explains the science of cooking!)

OAMC

OAMC stands for "Once A Month Cooking". The premise is that you cook 30 meals over a 2 day period with shopping and prep on day 1 and cooking on day 2. I have always this was a great idea but I have never had the best freezer space. Well now I have a large freezer and I have been thinking of trying it. As I was talking to my friend, Cristina, about it, she told me that she has done it before, however, she and a friend did it together to cut down on the work. Instantly I knew that doing OAMC with a friend was the better way to go, so we made a plan to do so. Picking out the recipes was the most fun. Some recipes we chose included: beef chimichangas, apricot chicken, pizza rolls, chicken enchilada casserole, shredded barbecue pork, and hawaiian chicken. We decided only to do 22-24 meals the first time to ease into it and I am glad we limited it. OAMC is one of those things that become easier every time you do it. I did manage to do my 22 meals, although one meal was a bust and I had to throw it out. The cooking day was long although not as hard as I thought.

It was all worth it though. When I open my freezer and see all the foil trays lined up with healthy, homemade from scratch dinners, I get a little giddy. I even have each dinner marked on the calendar (I love love love iMac's calendar program!) so I don't have think about it. All I have to do is just look at the calendar, pull out the correct meal the night before, thaw and reheat in the oven. I will use 5 meals each week and the other two nights we will have a meatless dinner such as spaghetti, rice and beans, bean burritos, pizza, etc. 4 weeks of no dinner hassle, that rocks!

Labor Day Swim

Hello! I apologize for being so behind on my blog. Going from PC to Mac is harder than I thought. Old habits really die hard. Add the fact that I using software with icons so different than what I am used to and you can imagine that this is a slow going process. It took me longer than I should to figure out how to save my photos to a web-friendly format with my new software, whew. I love it all though.

Look for a big post from me on Sunday about my first adventure with OAMC. If you don't know what OAMC stands for, you will have to read my blog to find out.

In the meantime, here are some pics from Labor Day. We spend the day at the beach on the lake, it was wonderful. Perfect weather too. Click on the photo to see it bigger.



I love this photo!

Bento catch-up

Teriyaki Rice with Spam
Papaya
Edamame beans
Homemade mochi cakes with red bean in the middle



Spaghetti with parmesan cheese and butter
Fruit salad
Tomoto, black olive, and cucumber salad with dressing
Ham and cheese cubes



Sandwich
Plum
Carrots

As you can see in this last photo, bentos don't have to be made from exotic ingredients. It is totally adaptable to what foods you and your kids will eat.

Moonlight painting

Andrew had a little fun with long shutterspeed and a full moon. The 'A' is made from the moon. Cool.

Bird in hand

As part of Andrew's Father's Day gift we gave him a seed bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder (see below). Bird watching has become a family hobby, even the kids get excited to see the birds and they can identify many varieties. The hummingbirds are a big favorite of ours because they come close to our windows and we can see them better. We actual got a much closer view than we ever dreamed of yesterday. When Brianna went out to the garage to get something for me, she came running back to let me know a hummingbird was trapped in our garage. Andrew was able to rescue the bird and we all got a chance to see her up close. The bird had tired herself out trying to escape and this made her calm in Andrew's hand. Pretty cool!

Oh the anticipation!!!!

Tonight feels a lot like Christmas Eve to me. The kids have been tucked snugly in their beds and I have butterflies in my tummy, so excited for what tomorrow brings. Except tomorrow is about only one present . . . my new iMac. I saved my birthday money and then some for this darling. Now I do love pc, particularly Dells, but my photographry work just screams to be handled on a mac. I do believe that it is a perfect solution to my needs.

You, the reader, should be excited too since it means that I will back to my regulary scheduled blog posting with pictures! Woohoooooo!

440 and other blog happenings

What is so special about 440 you ask? Well that is the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop according to Arick. After church on Sunday he came up to us with a bright orange tongue and so excited to share his discovery!

As for other blog news, well you may have noticed that I haven't blogged as frequently lately. I have a good reason. You see, my computer has run out of memory. I can't download any new photos and I definitely can't edit my photos. So until I get my new computer (a new iMac woohoo!) I won't be able to work on the pictures to put on here. Unfortunately the computer won't be here for 7-14 days so you will have to be patient ... and so will I, ugh.

EDIT: Amazon's shipping estimate was WAY OFF, which is a great thing. It came on the 29th, woohoo!

Ty's first pony ride

Last Saturday we went to the fair near here. Why we ever thought that going to the fair would be fun in 100 degree weather, I will never know. We did try to make the best of it. I loved visiting the competition building and seeing the photo competition entries. My goal is to do this next year. Hopefully that goal will help me take my learning more seriously. As part of our short trip we let the kids each ride one ride. Brianna and Arick rode a Superman-style ride and they had a great time. Ty was too little so he decided to ride a pony. He loved it too! With one ride each and some yummy fair food (gotta have my gyro!) we left the fair. Hopefully next year we can enjoy the fair a lot more. This heat wave/drought is such a bother!

Ham and Cheese Bentos

Here are two bentos, the left one is from last week and the one on the right is from today.

Left: Pepperoni, Provolone and Canadian bacon with crackers, fruit salad and carrots
Right: Ham cubes with cheese cubes on toothpicks, green peas, rice with a nori star, and fruit salad

Assembly time for 2 of each bento was less that 10 minutes both days. All fruits/veggies had been cut earlier in the week and I bought the ham already in cubes. The cheese was actually cheese (the lower fat version to be healther) sticks that I sliced into 1/2 inch pieces. The rice and peas were leftover from dinner the night before. Easy peasy!

So do you like seeing bentos on my blog? I don't want to inundate you with all things bento. I could make a new blog for bentos only, but having just this one blog would be easier. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Happy 1st Birthday Ella!

Yesterday Ella 'celebrated' her first birthday. The poor little bugger has a cold and wasn't feeling so great, that is why she isn't smiling in the photo. She did manage to enjoy the cake though as you can see in the picture below.

It is amazing so me how much Ella has changed in the last month. She is saying the words: mum, dada or daddy, hi, ooooh, uh-oh. She is also trying to say the words Nana (for Brianna), Arick, yum, and more. She can mimic the tone correctly but does not enunciate. She can wave hi and blow kisses which is just so cute! She is eating more and more solid food and is not picky about what we give her. She will drink juice from a bottle, but refuses to drink formula or milk. She has 2 teeth with 4 more on top coming through. She is getting more confidant with her walking as well and can stand alone for few minutes before sitting down. She is growing up too fast!