We've got our eye on a nice little property down the street from us:
Link!
...or maybe we'll just move in ourselves!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
We just finished off the last of my homemade pancake mix and the kids loved them! Time for a new batch - this time with a little more whole wheat flour and a little less white flour.
I finally made it to the rec center yesterday! It was great! There's so much to do there. As Roy's "designated guest" I only get to go between 6:30am-2pm. So, I pretty much have to go as soon as it opens or there won't be time for Roy to get to school on time. I can't believe I have access to all this stuff for free! I'm trying to make it part of my routine so that when it's cold and dark outside I still get up and go. On Saturdays I can use it anytime of day, so I plan to have nice long workout today, and hopefully every Saturday. I should ride my bike to the school, but then I might be too tired to do anything else!
I finally made it to the rec center yesterday! It was great! There's so much to do there. As Roy's "designated guest" I only get to go between 6:30am-2pm. So, I pretty much have to go as soon as it opens or there won't be time for Roy to get to school on time. I can't believe I have access to all this stuff for free! I'm trying to make it part of my routine so that when it's cold and dark outside I still get up and go. On Saturdays I can use it anytime of day, so I plan to have nice long workout today, and hopefully every Saturday. I should ride my bike to the school, but then I might be too tired to do anything else!
Friday, August 29, 2008
WOWZA!
I missed the two-year anniversary of starting my blog!! I did my first post on August 13, 2006! You see, I was "hip" before blogs were so popular. :) I think my friend "Bluebell" over at Degenerate Subspace was the one who made me really want to start a blog. Hers is very honest and fun to read. And I like that it's changed tones over time to reflect things that have gone on in her life - proof that she's not trying to please any audience. Her early posts always made me crack up and feel relieved that I wasn't the only one who thought that way (but I'm usually too afraid to admit!) Some of favorite posts: Santa Rant
and Moo
Anyway, Happy Birthday/Anniversary/Whatever to me! Thanks for reading!
and Moo
Anyway, Happy Birthday/Anniversary/Whatever to me! Thanks for reading!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Randomness (edited to include pictures) Updated: "After the storm"
I'm officially a Missourian. I got my driver's license on Tuesday. Whoop whoop! I went today and registered our van. (We had to get it inspected first, which ended up costing a bunch of money because there were a few things to fix - ergh!)
I love the "DMV" here. It's just a little tiny office with 3 or 4 employees and they are all super nice. And the two times I went there were only a few other customers. Way better than in CA!
Our oven doesn't cook very evenly. I burned some muffins the other day, my oatmeal cookies didn't cook right today and I just took some rolls out of the oven and the bottoms almost burnt!! Ergh! I never burn things! Seriously - I hardly even leave the kitchen when something is baking because I'm constantly checking it!
Our kitchen has such little counter space that we are forced to do the dishes constantly or we won't even have room to butter a slice of bread. Seriously, no counter space, especially since there's only one drawer in the kitchen, so all of our knives and spatulas are in little "carousels" on the counter top. My BIL Chad would have a heart attack if he came into our kitchen since the counter tops are so covered! (He's got all the counter space in the world, yet he insists on putting the paper towels in the pantry!) :) Good news is: the dishes are ALWAYS done!
Butter and margarine are sold in long skinny bars here. In CA they were a little shorter and thicker. Weird.
Check out the size of the praying mantis we found! We actually found three this size. Creepy!
Went to a thrift store the other day and I got a really cute pair of pjs for myself, a Halloween vest for Rae and a Tigger costume - all for $1.25. Awesome.
The other day Roy was being neglectful in the morning, so Rae got out leftover eggs (green eggs to be exact) and two plates from the dishwasher and served up breakfast! She's been super helpful lately. She gets herself dressed for bed every night and even gets out PJs for Blaise! Notice the fly on the table. We have a lot of flies here. Gross.
Rae can't decide what to be for Halloween. She wanted to be a little old lady, and then she got that tigger costume, which is cute, but not super exciting. She wants Blaise to be a cat. Weird that Blaise doesn't even know what Halloween is! I know he'll LOVE it though!
We've had some nice cool weather lately, but it was pretty warm today, I even considered going to the pool but we just didn't have enough time. We picked Roy up from school at about 4:45 and it was hot and sunny. I wish I had more of a notice of rain..check it out... by 5:45 it looked like this:
After the wind settled down a little we let the kids go out and play in the sandbox, which was now a pool!
Okay, here is a picture from 7:30 tonight...the storm is completely over and it looks as if nothing ever happened!
Yup, total randomness. I've been meaning to blog about most of these things for a few days now, so here it is - all in one post!
I love the "DMV" here. It's just a little tiny office with 3 or 4 employees and they are all super nice. And the two times I went there were only a few other customers. Way better than in CA!
Our oven doesn't cook very evenly. I burned some muffins the other day, my oatmeal cookies didn't cook right today and I just took some rolls out of the oven and the bottoms almost burnt!! Ergh! I never burn things! Seriously - I hardly even leave the kitchen when something is baking because I'm constantly checking it!
Our kitchen has such little counter space that we are forced to do the dishes constantly or we won't even have room to butter a slice of bread. Seriously, no counter space, especially since there's only one drawer in the kitchen, so all of our knives and spatulas are in little "carousels" on the counter top. My BIL Chad would have a heart attack if he came into our kitchen since the counter tops are so covered! (He's got all the counter space in the world, yet he insists on putting the paper towels in the pantry!) :) Good news is: the dishes are ALWAYS done!
Butter and margarine are sold in long skinny bars here. In CA they were a little shorter and thicker. Weird.
Check out the size of the praying mantis we found! We actually found three this size. Creepy!
Went to a thrift store the other day and I got a really cute pair of pjs for myself, a Halloween vest for Rae and a Tigger costume - all for $1.25. Awesome.
The other day Roy was being neglectful in the morning, so Rae got out leftover eggs (green eggs to be exact) and two plates from the dishwasher and served up breakfast! She's been super helpful lately. She gets herself dressed for bed every night and even gets out PJs for Blaise! Notice the fly on the table. We have a lot of flies here. Gross.
Rae can't decide what to be for Halloween. She wanted to be a little old lady, and then she got that tigger costume, which is cute, but not super exciting. She wants Blaise to be a cat. Weird that Blaise doesn't even know what Halloween is! I know he'll LOVE it though!
We've had some nice cool weather lately, but it was pretty warm today, I even considered going to the pool but we just didn't have enough time. We picked Roy up from school at about 4:45 and it was hot and sunny. I wish I had more of a notice of rain..check it out... by 5:45 it looked like this:
After the wind settled down a little we let the kids go out and play in the sandbox, which was now a pool!
Okay, here is a picture from 7:30 tonight...the storm is completely over and it looks as if nothing ever happened!
Yup, total randomness. I've been meaning to blog about most of these things for a few days now, so here it is - all in one post!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Good ol' Blythe
I grew up in Blythe,CA (in case anyone out there didn't know) My friend sent me a link to a video from "pvtv" with my daddy in it! My dad is the principal at the high school there - and his name is Jeppson, not Jessop.
A few things I must point out:
-How unprofessional does that "news anchor" look?? Nice tattoo.
-The football stadium took a really long time to remodel (I dunno how long - but something like 4 years!) and it look exactly the same! :) Okay, it does look nice, but not that much different.
-All the other principals had a few short sentences to say, but my dad had a whole speech prepared! I think he's probably the only principal that has anything prepared for the school year as well.
-The last principal they showed - Jeremy James - was a teacher at the HS when I was there and I had a huge crush on him.
-How pathetic is our band?! Some things never change.
A few things I must point out:
-How unprofessional does that "news anchor" look?? Nice tattoo.
-The football stadium took a really long time to remodel (I dunno how long - but something like 4 years!) and it look exactly the same! :) Okay, it does look nice, but not that much different.
-All the other principals had a few short sentences to say, but my dad had a whole speech prepared! I think he's probably the only principal that has anything prepared for the school year as well.
-The last principal they showed - Jeremy James - was a teacher at the HS when I was there and I had a huge crush on him.
-How pathetic is our band?! Some things never change.
Monday, August 25, 2008
He's finally here!
My sister Katie finally had her baby boy today! (5 days late) I'm so glad he came safely and without any complications! Congrats Katie!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Toys toys everywhere
I've been thinking lately about starting a Christmas list because there are certain people in my family that like to shop super early (ahem, Baerbel!) but I haven't really come up with anything the kids need. Here are a few things they do NOT need:
Cars - Blaise loves to play with them but he has about 30 or so!
Dolls - We are overrun with dolls. We have talking ones, swimming ones, and cuddly ones
Doll clothes/accessories - We have blankets, towels, bottles, toys, beds, swing, etc
Puzzles - I think we have plenty, although maybe some more complicated ones for Rae
It's amazing how many toys you realize you have when you have to pack them and then unpack them. We got rid of lot of junk but we still have enough to fill the playroom. I do want to get a kitchen for them, but I'm not sure where it would go.
Anyway, just some random thoughts I had while I was cleaning up the playroom tonight.
Oh, I stumbled upon this video on You Tube today, and it pretty much sums up Kirksville! Well, it's focused on the medical school here, but that's pretty much the center of the community. It gets a little boring, but the beginning is funny.
Cars - Blaise loves to play with them but he has about 30 or so!
Dolls - We are overrun with dolls. We have talking ones, swimming ones, and cuddly ones
Doll clothes/accessories - We have blankets, towels, bottles, toys, beds, swing, etc
Puzzles - I think we have plenty, although maybe some more complicated ones for Rae
It's amazing how many toys you realize you have when you have to pack them and then unpack them. We got rid of lot of junk but we still have enough to fill the playroom. I do want to get a kitchen for them, but I'm not sure where it would go.
Anyway, just some random thoughts I had while I was cleaning up the playroom tonight.
Oh, I stumbled upon this video on You Tube today, and it pretty much sums up Kirksville! Well, it's focused on the medical school here, but that's pretty much the center of the community. It gets a little boring, but the beginning is funny.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
One more post today
Here are a few random pictures from the past few days:
Several parks here have these "wading pools" and are open various times of the week. They are free and there's a lifeguard there. It goes from about 1 foot deep to about 2, maybe 2 1/2 feet deep. We've only been to this one a few times because the weather has been so unpredictable, but it's a great free activity and you don't have to fill up your own wading pool! (And yes, they empty them every day)
Burger King playground rules - look closely...
Ummm, okay...like this?
Several parks here have these "wading pools" and are open various times of the week. They are free and there's a lifeguard there. It goes from about 1 foot deep to about 2, maybe 2 1/2 feet deep. We've only been to this one a few times because the weather has been so unpredictable, but it's a great free activity and you don't have to fill up your own wading pool! (And yes, they empty them every day)
Burger King playground rules - look closely...
Ummm, okay...like this?
Should have looked outside
I got up, got dressed, put on my socks, grabbed my shoes (I like to sit on the porch and put them on or else Blaise will ask for his shoes on too) and went outside to go walking only to discover that it is raining! Ugh. I don't know how I didn't notice it was raining, or think to check (it was about to rain when we went to bed). I have a pass to go to the Student Rec center on campus now, but it's too late in the morning to attempt that. Bummer. Oh well, maybe I can go tonight.
When it's rainy outside I like to have creamy soups and hot chocolate. Or, at least I did when I lived in southern California. When I moved to Davis it was rainy from Dec to Feb so I got a little used to it. But my first two weeks here I found myself craving hot chocolate and soup when it rains, because one day it will be hot and yucky outside and then 10 minutes later it will be cloudy and rainy and chilly! But I better get used to it, because I will get really fat if I eat creamy soup every time it rains!
(Especially if I can't go walking!)
When it's rainy outside I like to have creamy soups and hot chocolate. Or, at least I did when I lived in southern California. When I moved to Davis it was rainy from Dec to Feb so I got a little used to it. But my first two weeks here I found myself craving hot chocolate and soup when it rains, because one day it will be hot and yucky outside and then 10 minutes later it will be cloudy and rainy and chilly! But I better get used to it, because I will get really fat if I eat creamy soup every time it rains!
(Especially if I can't go walking!)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Happy Birthday Christie!
Today is my oldest sister's birthday! Hope you have had a good day so far and maybe even get to do something fun or relaxing for yourself!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
BTW
Blaise is all better. Just a little bug I guess. He still breathes a little funny when he's sleeping, but overall he's all better! Thanks for all of the suggestions and well-wishes! :)
And we decided to go with Geico. Their rates were way lower than what we were currently paying and a bonus is that you can do it all online and don't have to call anyone, which I avoid as much as possible! (which is why we were using Esurance!)
Umm, I think I was going to update about something else, but I can't remember now. And it's way past my bedtime!
And we decided to go with Geico. Their rates were way lower than what we were currently paying and a bonus is that you can do it all online and don't have to call anyone, which I avoid as much as possible! (which is why we were using Esurance!)
Umm, I think I was going to update about something else, but I can't remember now. And it's way past my bedtime!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Quick question
What kind of car insurance do you have? We've been with Esurance for a few years and now that we've moved we have to cancel our current policy and do a new one, so I'm shopping around making sure we have the best deal. So, what company do you use and have you had any problems or really good experiences with them?
Saturday, August 16, 2008
No pictures, but lots of fun
I'm teaching a lesson at church tomorrow in Relief Society. I honestly can't focus on assignments like this until it gets a little closer to the deadline. I read the lesson several times throughout the week and figured I'd work on it Friday night and today. But I started my day by getting up with the kids for a while and then waking Roy up and going back to bed till 10am - ah, lovely! Then Rae and I went to Walmart during Blaise's nap and as soon as we got home he woke up. He was feeling better today, so we all went to the State Park to swim in the lake. It was a nice, warm day, but not too hot. The water was cold, but Rae was willing to go out to the deep area on my back. We built some sand castles, ate lunch and finally towards the end I sat down in the shallow part of the water and got Blaise to play with me. He got really into it and was throwing himself into the water and had a lot of fun. Roy and Rae built a huge tower but it fell when Rae tried to put a window in it. We brought the camera with us, but we left it in the van. :( We'll have to go back sometime soon and do it all again!
Anyway, I worked on the lesson a little more after dinner and started to work on it some more after the kids went to bed but I decided I better go for a walk while it was still light out. Well, my walk turned into a bike ride, which turned into an exploration of the city, which turned into me getting a little lost. :) I'm home now, should be working on the lesson, but blogging instead. I am now officially out of excuses and I will go finish that lesson now!
Oh, and Blaise's fever went away this afternoon (which is why we decided to go to the lake) but he's worse now. We really shouldn't have gone to the lake. :( (We've just been waiting for a nice sunny day and were so excited that the weather was perfect!)
Now he's more congested and he's back to having a fever. :( Poor little guy. At least he had fun at the lake!
Anyway, I worked on the lesson a little more after dinner and started to work on it some more after the kids went to bed but I decided I better go for a walk while it was still light out. Well, my walk turned into a bike ride, which turned into an exploration of the city, which turned into me getting a little lost. :) I'm home now, should be working on the lesson, but blogging instead. I am now officially out of excuses and I will go finish that lesson now!
Oh, and Blaise's fever went away this afternoon (which is why we decided to go to the lake) but he's worse now. We really shouldn't have gone to the lake. :( (We've just been waiting for a nice sunny day and were so excited that the weather was perfect!)
Now he's more congested and he's back to having a fever. :( Poor little guy. At least he had fun at the lake!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Any ideas?
Blaise has had a fever for about 24 hours now. I just took his temperature and it was about 101.8 :( He hasn't shown any other symptoms yet. He's been acting really achy and tired but tries to have fun too. He tossed and turned all night last night even after giving him Tylenol. He ate a decent breakfast and was energetic this morning, but around 11 he was ready for a nap and could hardly walk. Ever since his nap all he's had to eat are some grapes and a pear. He tries to do something and just gives up and lies down or crawls into your lap. His poop is normal, no throwing up, I guess one other symptom he does have is that he's a little bit stuffy. We don't have any insurance yet (doesn't start till Sept) so I'm not taking him to a doctor unless it gets more serious. Besides, even if we had insurance I wouldn't take him, there's nothing they could do at this point. Any ideas of what it could be? I'm counting on all you moms with experience to have some insight into something I haven't thought of, so maybe I can either be prepared or know what to watch for. Most likely it will all just go away tomorrow and I'll never know what his fever was trying to fight off.
Anyway, thanks in advance for any ideas you might have!
Anyway, thanks in advance for any ideas you might have!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Sleep-out
Rae is always asking to go camping. We were going to go this week at the State park near by, but we don't really have much camping equipment. We had to leave our ice chest in Charlotte because we couldn't fit it into our van. Our tent is big enough for all four of us, but we only have two sleeping bags. We have no equipment to cook food, etc,etc. So, anyway, yesterday Blaise didn't take a nap so we got him to bed super early and then set our tent up outside and Rae and I slept out there. She was an angel all night getting ready for bed and was giddy with delight when we settled down for the night. She fell asleep pretty easily even though our porch light is pretty bright. Our new neighbors arrived last night after Rae had fallen asleep, so I spent the next hour or so talking to them. I went to bed around 11 and sometime during the night it started raining. The roof cover wasn't on the tent so I felt the sprinkling and got out and put the cover on just in time. It started pouring and was pouring all night. Rae woke up around 7:15 and was so excited that she had slept in the tent all night and that it was raining and thundering. We had to run inside in the rain. It was so much fun to do that with her and I'm sure she'll ask to do it again soon! Sleeping out like that just made me want to go real camping. But camping in the rain isn't very fun when you don't have a house to run to if your tent leaks!
On a side note, we ran out of pull-ups for her the other day, so I told her it was time to start wearing underwear to bed. She was going most nights without peeing in her pull-up, so I figured she was ready and things are finally calmed down around here. She peed in her underwear the first night but since then she's been dry! I usually wake her up when I go to bed and make her go potty. But last night I forgot to even have her pee before bed! And she slept out in the cold with it raining, I'm very impressed that she didn't have an accident. I told her this morning that I was proud of her and she said "I didn't want to get the tent wet." I'm very very glad, because sleeping bags are a pain to wash!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Pathetic
Is it sad when you can plug in your vacuum in the kitchen and it reaches throughout the whole apartment? And is it even more sad that this apartment is considered "big" compared to your last one? I love vacuuming. Mainly because it means your floor is completely clear. I love to vacuum right before the kids go to bed and sit on the couch with something yummy to eat and watch a movie, which I am about to do!
A few more things I'm loving:
Garbage disposal. I have a bad habit of letting things rot in my fridge (I blame my mom - sorry mom, but I think I got that from you!) and now I don't have to dump it in the trash can and then either empty it immediately or deal with the smell. I can just put it in the garbage disposal! It doesn't take much to make me happy!
Dishwasher. I've never been much of a fan of dishwashers because they always seem to leave a few things dirty. But now I realize a few items not getting all the way clean is worth a bunch of items getting super clean. And since we have barely any counter space it's nice to not waste any on a dish rack. This is our first apartment with a dishwasher and garbage disposal.
Cool weather in August. We got a bunch of rain today and have had the windows open all day. Feels so good and saves on the bills!
Water filter. Ever since we moved here we've been trying to figure out what to do about drinking water. We drank the tap water the first few days and it literally made us sick. It smells like mold and has a really thick feel to it. We aren't even that picky about tap water but this stuff is really bad. We bought a couple of jugs at Walmart, planning to refill them with one of those water machines, but apparently those machines don't exist here. We looked everywhere and couldn't find one. So today we bought a Pur water filter and we love it! Ahhh, water, yummy.
Off I go to watch a movie instead of doing things on my huge "to-do" list! Yay!
A few more things I'm loving:
Garbage disposal. I have a bad habit of letting things rot in my fridge (I blame my mom - sorry mom, but I think I got that from you!) and now I don't have to dump it in the trash can and then either empty it immediately or deal with the smell. I can just put it in the garbage disposal! It doesn't take much to make me happy!
Dishwasher. I've never been much of a fan of dishwashers because they always seem to leave a few things dirty. But now I realize a few items not getting all the way clean is worth a bunch of items getting super clean. And since we have barely any counter space it's nice to not waste any on a dish rack. This is our first apartment with a dishwasher and garbage disposal.
Cool weather in August. We got a bunch of rain today and have had the windows open all day. Feels so good and saves on the bills!
Water filter. Ever since we moved here we've been trying to figure out what to do about drinking water. We drank the tap water the first few days and it literally made us sick. It smells like mold and has a really thick feel to it. We aren't even that picky about tap water but this stuff is really bad. We bought a couple of jugs at Walmart, planning to refill them with one of those water machines, but apparently those machines don't exist here. We looked everywhere and couldn't find one. So today we bought a Pur water filter and we love it! Ahhh, water, yummy.
Off I go to watch a movie instead of doing things on my huge "to-do" list! Yay!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Do you scroll?
Sometimes I get crazy and post a lot in just a couple of days, so you might need to scroll down to see all of my newest posts.
We had pancakes for dinner tonight and they turned out really good (see post below)
Went to the swimming pool again today and Roy watched the kids while I checked out a water aerobic class. It was fun and just challenging enough to make me feel like I could do it but still feel like I was getting exercise.
Happy Birthday to my little niece Lily! It's her first birthday today. I take all credit for her being born early. I went to visit Lindsey in Visalia and brought her a bunch of baby essentials and Lily was born just a few days later. You're welcome :) Oh, and her daddy's birthday was on the first of the month so happy birthday to you too :)
And my sweet sister-in-law's birthday was on the 3rd -Happy Belated birthday to you too! Sorry, I guess I was a little busy at the beginning of the month. :)
And one more random topic: Rae has an invisible friend. She talks about him nonstop and even got Blaise talking about him. She says that he used to live in Davis and just moved to Kirksville too. Apparently his family drives a convertible because when we saw one in town Rae said "Oh, my friend has one of those cars that roof comes off". His name is Ckeiee. That's how she spells it. It's pronounced "kyhaki". She used to just talk about him and about how she goes to sleep-outs at his house a lot. But today he was actually here and playing a game with her. Kids, fun stuff.
More shutterfly pictures coming tonight.
We had pancakes for dinner tonight and they turned out really good (see post below)
Went to the swimming pool again today and Roy watched the kids while I checked out a water aerobic class. It was fun and just challenging enough to make me feel like I could do it but still feel like I was getting exercise.
Happy Birthday to my little niece Lily! It's her first birthday today. I take all credit for her being born early. I went to visit Lindsey in Visalia and brought her a bunch of baby essentials and Lily was born just a few days later. You're welcome :) Oh, and her daddy's birthday was on the first of the month so happy birthday to you too :)
And my sweet sister-in-law's birthday was on the 3rd -Happy Belated birthday to you too! Sorry, I guess I was a little busy at the beginning of the month. :)
And one more random topic: Rae has an invisible friend. She talks about him nonstop and even got Blaise talking about him. She says that he used to live in Davis and just moved to Kirksville too. Apparently his family drives a convertible because when we saw one in town Rae said "Oh, my friend has one of those cars that roof comes off". His name is Ckeiee. That's how she spells it. It's pronounced "kyhaki". She used to just talk about him and about how she goes to sleep-outs at his house a lot. But today he was actually here and playing a game with her. Kids, fun stuff.
More shutterfly pictures coming tonight.
I don't want to grow up
I've been getting a lot of gray hairs lately. They make me very sad. They wouldn't be that big of deal except that they are really noticeable when I pull my hair back at all and they are so coarse that they don't lie flat like the rest of the hairs, they stick out and call attention to themselves. This is the first summer in a long time that I haven't chopped my hair off when it gets hot. But with the humidity here I at least needed to get an inch or so cut off so it wouldn't feel so heavy on my neck. Anyway, after getting the trim I decided I should dye it too! I did it this morning and I don't see much of a difference except that it did seem to cover up the grays.
I don't actually mind getting older, it's just looking older that I mind. When I was a teenager people always thought I looked older than I was, so does that mean I still do? I just don't think it's fair to have zits and gray hair - come on!
And in case anyone thinks I'm totally shallow and appearance-obsessed, I really don't think I am. I spent like 8 bucks on the hair dye and it's only something I do when I'm feeling particularly depressed about my looks and dying my hair is the easiest, most convenient change to make (easier than clearing up zits and losing weight!) And yes, the gray hairs do bother me, judge all you want! I'll let my hair go gray when I'm a grandma, but until then I'll probably keep pulling them out or coloring them.
But I really should work on the losing weight thing too. Sigh.
I don't actually mind getting older, it's just looking older that I mind. When I was a teenager people always thought I looked older than I was, so does that mean I still do? I just don't think it's fair to have zits and gray hair - come on!
And in case anyone thinks I'm totally shallow and appearance-obsessed, I really don't think I am. I spent like 8 bucks on the hair dye and it's only something I do when I'm feeling particularly depressed about my looks and dying my hair is the easiest, most convenient change to make (easier than clearing up zits and losing weight!) And yes, the gray hairs do bother me, judge all you want! I'll let my hair go gray when I'm a grandma, but until then I'll probably keep pulling them out or coloring them.
But I really should work on the losing weight thing too. Sigh.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Resourceful
I've been trying to make a switch to whole wheat products. I do most baking with half white flour and half whole wheat flour and I'm starting to slowly make it completely whole wheat. We've switched to whole wheat pasta and we've always used wheat bread. (Some day we'll use a healthier, whole wheat bread when it gets a little cheaper or I start making my own) We'll probably never switch to whole wheat tortillas unless they find a way to make them tastier!
At my sister Katie's house they had whole wheat pancake mix and I decided that when we moved I'd make that switch. Well, I've looked all over the place in all the grocery stores and can only find one brand of whole wheat pancake mix and I've tried it before and didn't like it. Then I realized that I could make pancakes from scratch. But first thing in the morning is not a good time to try to measure flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, etc. So I looked up a "homemade pancake/waffle mix" and found one I'm going to try out. I just mixed up and I will try it tomorrow morning. I did a 60/40 mix of whole wheat flour and white flour to try to get Rae a little more used to the change. (She kind of balked at Katie's pancakes) If this works out I'll be so glad! No more buying pancake mixes!
Here's the recipe:
HOMEMADE PANCAKE MIX
10 c. all-purpose flour (3 lbs.) (I used 6 cups whole wheat, 4 cups white)
2 1/2 c. instant nonfat dry milk
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. baking powder
2 tbsp. salt
TO MAKE PANCAKES OR WAFFLES:
2 c. homemade pancake mix
1 c. water
1 egg
2 tbsp. oil (waffles - 3 tbsp.)
I'll give it a try for breakfast and let ya know how it turned out. (Hopefully they are good because I just make 13 cups of it!)
At my sister Katie's house they had whole wheat pancake mix and I decided that when we moved I'd make that switch. Well, I've looked all over the place in all the grocery stores and can only find one brand of whole wheat pancake mix and I've tried it before and didn't like it. Then I realized that I could make pancakes from scratch. But first thing in the morning is not a good time to try to measure flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, etc. So I looked up a "homemade pancake/waffle mix" and found one I'm going to try out. I just mixed up and I will try it tomorrow morning. I did a 60/40 mix of whole wheat flour and white flour to try to get Rae a little more used to the change. (She kind of balked at Katie's pancakes) If this works out I'll be so glad! No more buying pancake mixes!
Here's the recipe:
HOMEMADE PANCAKE MIX
10 c. all-purpose flour (3 lbs.) (I used 6 cups whole wheat, 4 cups white)
2 1/2 c. instant nonfat dry milk
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. baking powder
2 tbsp. salt
TO MAKE PANCAKES OR WAFFLES:
2 c. homemade pancake mix
1 c. water
1 egg
2 tbsp. oil (waffles - 3 tbsp.)
I'll give it a try for breakfast and let ya know how it turned out. (Hopefully they are good because I just make 13 cups of it!)
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Random tourism: Burger King in Columbia, MO
On our way here from Charlotte, we just had to stop in Columbia to see the largest indoor Burger King playground in the world. This is a composite of 15 photos, which is why it's slightly distorted near the ceiling, but it gives you an idea of the size of the structure and the room that houses it. That's Blaise there on the right.
Trying to catch up
I just cannot figure out where to pick up from. So I'm not going to catch up, at least night right now, maybe later.
As for this week, we spent most of it unpacking, buying dressers and bookshelves, almost getting the toy room all set up and we even had a little fun. :)
Monday we went and checked out the city pool. It's really great. They have a little pool all by itself with a few little fountains. It's enclosed by a 2 foot wall, so it's a little harder for your kid to just run off. The kids spent most of their time in there, because there's a big bucket of toys to play with. And then there's another pool that slopes down like a beach and gets about 3 maybe 4 feet deep. That one has a floating frog slide and log boat to play on and a couple more fountains. Then they have a bigger pool with a slide and a diving board. They also have an indoor pool, but it's mainly for lap swimming and exercise classes (which I really want to check out one of these days) We had a lot of fun there, and are definitely considering getting a year pass.
On Thursday we went to Nauvoo,IL for the pageant that they put on there. On our way we realized that Carthage was really close, so we were going to head there too. Well, we got a little lost on the way and ended up in Carthage! That was great because it saved us on some extra travelling. We toured the Carthage Jail (the kids weren't very reverent, but they weren't too bad). It was a really neat experience. Seriously people, come visit us, there are so many cool things up here!
Then we headed into Nauvoo and planned to go on a covered wagon ride, but it was closed for the day by the time we got there. We walked around a little and saw a few cool buildings and then tried to find something to eat for dinner. Man, Nauvoo doesn't have much! We finally found a buffet restaurant, and although it cost a lot more than we had planned to spend, it was really tasty.
We got back to the pageant site just as the "pre-show" activities were starting up. The kids got to do some crafts, play games, watch a puppet show, and walk on stilts. It was way less crowded than I thought it would be (I was picturing the kind of crowds that are at the Mesa pageant). We were parked really close, so we went back to the van and put PJs on the kids and got our blankets and went and found a spot to watch. They had chairs set up and then they had one hill where people could sit on blankets. We got a nice spot and settled in. We borrowed some bug spray from a nearby person and got some popcorn from the snack shack. We thought the kids might go to sleep but they were too excited. They were really good though and Rae actually watched most of the play. Blaise fell asleep at about 9:30 and Rae fell asleep a little bit after that, but I woke her up towards the end because she wanted to see the "temple" be built (and I wanted her to walk back to the van instead of carrying her!). We left Nauvoo around 10:30 and the drive home was a little tricky. Blaise kept waking up and screaming and then would go back to sleep. And the rode is really curvy and there are a bunch of one car bridges, which is all a lot trickier in the pitch black darkness! We were pretty much the only car on the road. I made a mental note to never go to the temple at night when I'm driving!
Anyway, it was a really great trip and I hope we are around to do it again sometime. And I'd love to be able to volunteer to do something next year! And I'm looking forward to going to the temple sometime (we didn't even actually go up close to the temple) and seeing more things on my own. And if anyone wants to come next summer and see it all, you are welcome to! (if we are here)
Our goal tomorrow is to get all of the recent pictures (I'm sure there are hundreds of them) on Shutterfly and we'll send that out instead of trying to post them here. I'll post the link to that here. Or maybe we'll start using Photobucket, since my sister wants all of the reunion pics pooled together on there. Anyway, pictures to come soon!
As for this week, we spent most of it unpacking, buying dressers and bookshelves, almost getting the toy room all set up and we even had a little fun. :)
Monday we went and checked out the city pool. It's really great. They have a little pool all by itself with a few little fountains. It's enclosed by a 2 foot wall, so it's a little harder for your kid to just run off. The kids spent most of their time in there, because there's a big bucket of toys to play with. And then there's another pool that slopes down like a beach and gets about 3 maybe 4 feet deep. That one has a floating frog slide and log boat to play on and a couple more fountains. Then they have a bigger pool with a slide and a diving board. They also have an indoor pool, but it's mainly for lap swimming and exercise classes (which I really want to check out one of these days) We had a lot of fun there, and are definitely considering getting a year pass.
On Thursday we went to Nauvoo,IL for the pageant that they put on there. On our way we realized that Carthage was really close, so we were going to head there too. Well, we got a little lost on the way and ended up in Carthage! That was great because it saved us on some extra travelling. We toured the Carthage Jail (the kids weren't very reverent, but they weren't too bad). It was a really neat experience. Seriously people, come visit us, there are so many cool things up here!
Then we headed into Nauvoo and planned to go on a covered wagon ride, but it was closed for the day by the time we got there. We walked around a little and saw a few cool buildings and then tried to find something to eat for dinner. Man, Nauvoo doesn't have much! We finally found a buffet restaurant, and although it cost a lot more than we had planned to spend, it was really tasty.
We got back to the pageant site just as the "pre-show" activities were starting up. The kids got to do some crafts, play games, watch a puppet show, and walk on stilts. It was way less crowded than I thought it would be (I was picturing the kind of crowds that are at the Mesa pageant). We were parked really close, so we went back to the van and put PJs on the kids and got our blankets and went and found a spot to watch. They had chairs set up and then they had one hill where people could sit on blankets. We got a nice spot and settled in. We borrowed some bug spray from a nearby person and got some popcorn from the snack shack. We thought the kids might go to sleep but they were too excited. They were really good though and Rae actually watched most of the play. Blaise fell asleep at about 9:30 and Rae fell asleep a little bit after that, but I woke her up towards the end because she wanted to see the "temple" be built (and I wanted her to walk back to the van instead of carrying her!). We left Nauvoo around 10:30 and the drive home was a little tricky. Blaise kept waking up and screaming and then would go back to sleep. And the rode is really curvy and there are a bunch of one car bridges, which is all a lot trickier in the pitch black darkness! We were pretty much the only car on the road. I made a mental note to never go to the temple at night when I'm driving!
Anyway, it was a really great trip and I hope we are around to do it again sometime. And I'd love to be able to volunteer to do something next year! And I'm looking forward to going to the temple sometime (we didn't even actually go up close to the temple) and seeing more things on my own. And if anyone wants to come next summer and see it all, you are welcome to! (if we are here)
Our goal tomorrow is to get all of the recent pictures (I'm sure there are hundreds of them) on Shutterfly and we'll send that out instead of trying to post them here. I'll post the link to that here. Or maybe we'll start using Photobucket, since my sister wants all of the reunion pics pooled together on there. Anyway, pictures to come soon!
Thursday, August 07, 2008
INTERNET!
Woo hoo! We have internet! (Ugh, internet we actually have to pay for) Being without internet and cable the past week has been good for us. We got the dishes done every night and got a ton of stuff unpacked. At this time of the morning I would usually be unpacking and taking advantage of the kiddos not being bored yet, but instead I'm on the computer. It's hard to blog after getting so far behind on everything. I don't even know where to begin. Plus, our keyboard cord isn't long enough for the keyboard to fit onto the desk (we got a new desk from our neighbors) so we have to have the keyboard on our lap until we get an extension for it. It's really annoying to type on your lap. And now Blaise is being really annoying, so I better go.
We are thinking about going to Nauvoo today since the pageant is still going on till tomorrow. It's a lot of work to go, and I don't know how well the kids will do and whether they will sleep during the actual show, but this might be our only chance to go and I'd hate to miss out on that. But then again, there is a chance that we could be here next summer, so maybe we should just take that chance. I have to decide in the next hour or so. We could always go tomorrow too, but it's closing night, so it might be more crowded. Anyway, I'll try to get some pictures up soon.
We are thinking about going to Nauvoo today since the pageant is still going on till tomorrow. It's a lot of work to go, and I don't know how well the kids will do and whether they will sleep during the actual show, but this might be our only chance to go and I'd hate to miss out on that. But then again, there is a chance that we could be here next summer, so maybe we should just take that chance. I have to decide in the next hour or so. We could always go tomorrow too, but it's closing night, so it might be more crowded. Anyway, I'll try to get some pictures up soon.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Bloggin' from McDonalds
We don't get internet until Wednesday and we needed to pay a bill online, so we are using the internet at McDonalds. I thought I'd give a quick update. Most of the house is unpacked and we are adjusting nicely. Although our apartment is overall bigger, there's not as much cupboard space in the kitchen or storage space elsewhere, so unpacking has been kind of tricky. We are headed to walmart right now to buy a dresser and hopefully some shelves. I'll blog more on Wednesday or Thursday when we get internet.
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