Wednesday, May 13, 2009

1, 2, THREE!


Rowan turned 3 this weekend. We were a little busy on her birthday so decided to celebrate on Sunday which also happened to be Mother's Day. So on Mother's Day, the bishopric decided to do me and 2 other young moms with small children a real favor and have our husbands speak for sacrament meeting. This left 9 kids to be handled by 3 moms during the most treacherous hour of church. I begged a few people to sit by me because I knew I'd need all the help I could get. A super nice guy with 3 'older' daughters (8, 10 and 15) said they'd help me out. So his girls helped out a lot with the older girls. Lachlan and Rowan were very fussy and I gave Lachlan a cookie and he made the biggest mess ever. I was wearing a new skirt which just happened to be part silk and I did not want it to get all over me as well as everything else. I had to leave with Locke to go get cleaned up. When I came back, a wonderful friend of ours was holding Rowan in his arms. She eventually fell asleep. Another 5 minutes passed and he got up and carried her out whispering to me on the way that she had just peed all over him. So I passed off Locke and went out and cleaned her up while he went home and changed his clothes. His wife wasnt' there so he left his two daughters 5 & 7 there 'alone'. There were a bunch of unminded or half'minded children during that meeting. When I finally got back in & settled for the rest of the meeting there was about 10 minutes left and Abram was just finishing his talk. Afterward he asked if I'd heard any of his talk glorifying Mothers. I told him I didn't need to hear it, I'm living it!!
I got to teach my class, which was actually fun for once because we combined with another class and my friend and I team-taught together. Then I got Lachlan back to wrestle with the last hour of church. Which was more amusing than usual because there were 2 little boys behind us. One of them kept bopping Locke on the head as kids that age do and eventually Lachlan turned around and just rammed him. They were in a head-lock and wrestling to the ground. I was trying not to laugh becase we were having a really good lesson. But it was so funny! Even funnier than not getting peed on during sacramant meeting. ( I wonder if the friendship is over)
After church we got some stuff ready for our big BBQ potluck at the park. I made a big ice cream cake for Rowan (she kept saying she wanted ice cream chocolate or cheesecake) which was an adventure in itself. We had a great turn out at the 'party'. Everyone except my sister & her fam who were at a mother's day BBQ with her in-laws and my lil bro's wife & kids. So the guys had a great game of ultimate frisbee (until Abram pulled his hamstring again) and the kids ran around playing kid games and the adults sat around and talked. Jake & Tay & vali came over & we watched The Bourne Identity which Jake had never seen ( I know, I think we broke the Sabbath like 5 times)
It was a great day for seeing family and having Rowan's party, but a terrible mother's day. I told Abram I wanted a raincheck. :)
Rowan has been just a delight. She is so adorable mostly because of her personality and the cute things she says in her own cute way. She loves to help me in the kitchen anytime I'm making anything, she gets right up there with me. Aside from peeing on our friend, she is very outgoing and good at charming people. Everyday she runs outside to race the school bus to the corner after Aisling gets on. That crabby old busdriver never lets her win. But she never gets discouraged and just tries harder the next day. She is really sweet and likes to 'soft' people and animals. (pet them) "Mom, I'm softing him". She definitely has a mischievous side and knows how to work it. But she keeps us laughing and that's a needed aspect in our home. We love our little snuggle bug, Row-Poe.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Lachlan's Girlfriend





The 3 girls got 3 of these monkeys from the 'easter bunny' (thanks granny Margi) this year and Lachlan got an elephant. But locke is in LOVE with these monkeys. He carries at least one around with him all day, sleeps with 2 all night and rides in the car with one in his arms. He is about the same size as the darn things, and will work & work to drag two up the stairs at once and cry and cry when he can't get them up. It is so funny when you see what kids get attached to, and I think it is so cute that he has fallen for these super soft long-limbed monkeys. They make a strange sound when you squish their tummy ( almost like a toot) and make a smoooooooch!ing sound when you squeeze their hand. Too funny and endearing.
What are your kids hooked on?

Delicious!!!


I got to eat at Tucano's for my birthday in March (at tucano's birthday club you can get your 40$ meals for $10) and I had the MOST delicious 'lemonade' ever!! I am a huge fan of the new stuff you can find in the refrigerated aisle of your grocery store called Lime-Aid. It tastes a LOT like that, only even more heavenly. Abram found a recipe today that is very close to Tucano's brazilian lemonade. There is a similar recipe which calls for coconut milk. I'm going to try that next time. These ingredients are going to be on my grocery staples so we can drink this all the time. So stop on over and I'll whip some up.
He also is cooking a fabulous chicken dish right now. It's at the pre-wine stage and is SO good, I can't believe it. I am not a chicken fan. Try it out and Enjoy!

Hand-Me-Downs


I clothe my children almost exclusively in hand-me-downs. First choice is hand-me-downs and after that we resort to second-hand clothes. What do you think? Do my kids look grubby? I LOVE Hand-Me-Downs! I have been so grateful that I have a sister and a sister-in-law who pass their adorable and too-expensive-for-me clothes on for my kids to use.
just this month, I have been the beneficiary of hand-me-downs. Now, I've had a few hand-me-downs before, but they were usually of the variety of, I don't really like them, but it's better than nothing, for awhile until I finally pass them on or D.I. them. But this month I was given a bunch of name brand, stylish, super cute stuff, even shoes! Probably 2 large garbage bags of them. Seriously, if you read my blog, you've heard my lack of clothes woes. I got more clothes this month than I've gotten in at least the last 9 years that I've been married. No joke. Almost all of the clothes in that picture are brand new to me. That doesn't include the pants, skirts and shoes. I finally feel cute! It is so fun! I even got asked if I lost weight yesterday, (I've actually gained 5) cuz I look so good thanks to my closet-cleaning-out friends. THANKS a Million!!! I feel so lucky (and lookin' good) :)

Is It Spring yet?







The weather has been very frustrating here. It seems like it has been an especially cold spring ( in the 50s and 60s) oh, except those 2 or 3 days it was in the 80s. Then back to shivery cold. What I would give to have a month of 70 degree weather. Is it too much to ask? How about just a week of it? A day? I'm not trying to complain, really. I love the spring time flowers and blossoming trees. But it really has been too cold to enjoy it. (Or too hot) :)
I have been attacking the weeds and finally got rid of my abhorrent barberry bushes and a worthless mugo pine in my front bed. It looks so open and lovely. What kind of yard work are you doing?

Rice Face




Sorry it's been so long since I've written anything good. I almost forgot how to upload pictures because I haven't done it for so long.
I pre-cooked some rice for dinner later and was upstairs working out, waiting for Abram to get home. When I came down, I found the girls had gotten the rice onto the table, dumped a bunch of soy sauce in it and had helped themselves to it and put Lachlan up to eat some too. They had all finished and were off playing, so I found this sight when I came down. I especially love the rice in the nose. How Fun!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Nourish the Children

NuSkin has now delivered over 150 million meals of nutrient-rich food to third world countries. "It is 5% of what we do, but 95% of who we are."

www.nourishthechildren.com

Nourish the Children was founded in June 2002 by Nu Skin with a mission of saving malnourished children around the world.

IN JUST OVER 5 YEARS NTC SURPASSED 100 MILLION MEALS DONATED. NOW HAVING TOPPED 150 MILLION MEALS, WE ARE WELL ON OUR WAY TO EXCEEDING THE NEXT 100 MILLION IN JUST 3 YEARS.

Nourish the Children is an innovative partnership between a company and charities that was awarded the American Business Award for Best Corporate Social Responsibility Program in 2007. The food given through Nourish the Children is VitaMeal® which was formulated specifically for malnourished children with 25 vitamins and minerals.

VitaMeal is produced in Malawi where the food plant can provide income for hundreds of workers and farmers and in China so that the food can reach children in China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, etc.

It is so easy to participate. Just go to www.nourishthechildren.com to purchase and donate VitaMeal. Nu Skin participates with matching donations. Join us today.