New Journey

I started a new journey yesterday, and that is a quest for a healthier lifestyle which I'm hoping will result in permanent weight loss. I'm not starting any fad diet or using any weight loss pills, but I am reading this book called "Healthy for Life" by Dr. Ray Strand. It has been a real eye opener for me. I don't usually put things out there in the open for the whole world to know what I'm doing (especially dealing with weight issues and weightloss), but I feel that by doing so will help me be more accountable for my new lifestyle. I'm going to admit that I'm nervous and scared of failure, and that my motivation will quickly go away (like it has in the past), but I'm determined more than ever to be healthy, to look healthy and finish what I've started. So I hope you don't mind that I periodically let you know how my new lifestyle is going and I'm going to post before, during and after pictures as well.

Halloween 2009

Our Halloween week started off with a neighborhood party. We played (of course), decorated cookies (they didn't quite know what to do with them), and played games, the girls were so cute, we played duck duck goose, and when they'd say goose, they ALL got up and ran around chasing each other. Here's a few pictures of our PaRTy:








On Friday we ventured over to the school's Halloween parade. We re-used a costume that Ian was in 2nd grade, a Colonial Soldier, he loves history, I love the fact that he wants to be completely different that what is the normal or most popular thing to be.

we dressed Morgan up in her ladybug costume from last year for the school parade.

Jeff had some vacation days to use up so he took Wednesday-Friday off to work on this:

his mad scientist lab

this is only a portion of what he did. He had the outside taped off, spiderwebs, and 3 different scary music soundtracks playing in different locations. He even went as far as shaving his head for.

And here are the pictures of Jeff and the kids all dressed up. One of these days I'll get my act together and find a cool costume that I can make, I'd love to dress up too, but can't find the time to make a costume for myself.

I can't get enough

of him

and her

and them

I'm reminded everyday how lucky I am to be their Mom!

Switching Roles

Lately we've been having MAJOR attitude problems around here with our 10 1/2 year old, to the point that sometimes I wonder if he's 10 or 2, and yes I have one of those too. It starts off with a simple request, and ends in a full blown temper tantrum, throwing himself on the floor and extreme sighs of exasperation. I've talked to him until I've litteraly turned blue in the face, tried to reason with him, but nothing has seemed to work.

So, I racked my brain for a couple of weeks, and then came to Jeff with my idea, and he helped me execute it. What was my ingenious plan (altough we don't know if it's ingenious yet)? We put Ian in charge of reminding us of our duties, i.e. fixing dinner, laundry, giving Moran a bath, etc. etc. So, last night after F.H.E. and treats, he started his duties reminding us that it was prayer time, and to ease him into my bad attitude about his reminders, I just plopped myself onto the couch, sighed, and said "I don't want to say prayers". He immediatly told me that I wasn't setting a very good example, both Jeff and I grinned at each other, but deep down inside I was doing my infamous Witch cackle (my mom can do it better than me, she was a good teacher). We'll see how this all turns out, hopefully he'll realize how frustrating it can be to deal with bad attitude, and then again, maybe not, we'll see. Stay tuned for next weeks post to see how it all turns out.

New Goals

We returned from Wyoming last night after my Grandmothers funeral. My heart is heavy with saddness to see her passing. It's really hard to imagine my life without her. One good thing about her passing is that her funeral brought us ALL together. My brothers and sisters with all of our kids, and my Aunt and Uncle, their kids and grandkids. We had a family get-together in my grandmothers back yard. I felt that my grandmothers spirit was there smiling with us, laughing with us and crying with us.

One thing I brought home with me was a new goal. A goal that I have been trying for years to accomplish and get in the habit, and that is Journal writing. My grandmother would write just a few words down daily, without fail. They were not long journal entries, but just little snippits of what happened that day. We had SO much fun reading some of her journal entries, and I can't wait to have the chance to read ALL of her journals. So this morning, I got up before the kids got up and had quiet time. This is also something that I've been trying to do. I get up about 30 minutes before I need to get Ian up for school, and have scripture and prayer time. I haven't been very consistent, but I'm trying harder to be. I've noticed that when I do this my life feels more peaceful, I'm able to face my day knowing that I've done the most important thing to start out my day. So, part of my quiet time consists of journal writing too. My grandmother has left me with a great legacy. I want my children, and grandchildren and great grandchildren, to read about my life, to read about my struggles and triumphs and know of my testimony of the gospel. This link has some great ideas for quiet time. It has helped me feel closer to my savior and helped me to have more peace and less contention.

Bitter Sweet

My dear sweet Nana passed away this morning with my mom and dad and my aunt by her side. About 6 weeks ago she found out she had lung cancer. She moved to Montana to be closer to my mom and to help her with her cancer treatments. This was a very big move for her, she hasn't lived outside of her house for 50+ years. She was a homebody and didn't like to go anywhere, but when her Doctor suggested that she go be closer to family, she listened and went. She was brave and was enjoying meeting new friends, playing bridge, going to church services and visiting with family. Unfortunately this didn't last, and she quickly went down hill, requiring 24/7 care, and last week she entered hospice care, and decided to forgo further cancer treatments. I'm grateful for the opportunity that I had to visit with her this past July. I'll never forget the sweet memories that I have of her. She is in a better place free of her ailing body and mind. I'm sure she is having a wonderful family reunion seeing so many family and friends that have passed on.

A GREAT deal

For the past month or so we've had hardly any light in the kitchen/nook. It has been driving me completely bonkers. I can't see when I cook, we can't see when we eat especially if we wait past 7. One night when having a late dinner we had to get out the coleman lantern. This was not due to not having any light bulbs, but due to some electrical shorts in the fixtures. They would come on periodically, but for the most part they decided to stay off.

Last week for date night, Jeff and I decided to head to Lowes to look for a new light. I wasn't really expecting to find what we needed right away especially in our price range $50-$100. I was really excited when I stumbled upon this light in the clearance section for $49. This chandelier was originally priced at $125. I think I found a great deal, and now I have light in my kitchen. YEA!!!!

I love how it dresses up our dining area, it has made a huge difference!

This dinky light is similar to the one we had over our dining table the we just replace, just a boring little ball- this is our next light to figure out what to do with, but thankfully this one still works.