Something I made

Aaron and I went shopping for some nice fake flowers on our date last week. We were lucky and caught the last half hour of the 60% off sale at Micheal's craft store. We picked out a heart shaped wreath and some flowers. On Sunday, I spent a little time putting it all together and later took the wreath to Renee's grave. I thought it looked nice, so I took a picture.

Weigh in

I weighed myself yesterday. I weighed myself again today in case it had changed. It hadn't. Actually, it hasn't changed since last week. Oh, well, at least it isn't going up, right? I'm going to have to work harder if I want more to come off though. I need to exercise. Is that spelled right? I really don't know. Anyway, it's something that I have not been doing consistantly-hardly at all in the last couple of weeks-and I'm going to have to bite the bullet and do it if I want to look and feel better. Eating better has been helping, but I've got quite a ways to go.
Yep, gotta start moving!

Walk through the desert

Leonora and I went for a walk this week. It was HOT! I'm dreading it getting hotter, which of course, it will! Since our walk, we've had a wind storm come through and cool us off. It's been nice. While we were on our walk, I took some pictures of some of our desert flowers that are blooming. When I went to Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, there were all kinds of flowers blooming along the freeway. It was so pretty! I haven't been able to find quite as much diversity or quantity of flowers here, but here are a few that I found.
This was our first find. It's one of the bushes that grows along the river here. Most of them are just green right now. I love the feathery look of these bushes when they bloom.

We had been walking for a bit, and I was anxious to find more flowers. I saw a few along the top of the hill we were walking around, but none of them were close enough for a good picture. When we got to the other side, we were rewarded with these blosoms.

Here's a closer veiw.

As we walked on some more we found these small purple flowers growing out of the loose "red" dirt hillside. On the road to Las Vegas, there were large patches of purple flowers. I assume they are the same kind.

Here are some cute daisy-ish flowers we found. There's a little purple one in there too!



On our way home, we saw these flowers growing on an outcropping of rock.



I hope you enjoyed our little walk! It's certainly not as lush and green here as a lot of places, but it has it's own beauty. Seeing the desert in bloom is one of those things that reminds me of what a miraculous world we live in.


Note: This was my first attempt at trying edit some of my pictures so you could get a better veiw. A camera with more zoom would be better... hopefully they look okay though.

Aaron is in reading a bedtime story to William. I just got back from driving Leonora to sleep. It's a terrible thing to make a habit. I try to only use it if I'm pretty sure she'll fall asleep quickly. Or as a last resort. Anyway, she hadn't had a nap and had been very clingy all afternoon. I think she's teething again/still. She's also gotten a little spoiled with being sick. She's also almost two. We sat out in the parking lot of the apartments for about 10 minutes to make sure things had calmed down inside. Leonora slept in her carseat, and I sat thinking and listening to the radio.
I realized that tomorrow is Wednesday, and that I've been weighing myself on Wednesdays. (I admit that I'm not looking forward to this week much.) Then I remembered that the last time I posted was my weigh in! Hmmm... I haven't been posting a whole lot lately, have I?
It's not for lack of subject matter. I just have been busy... I think... Hmmm... what have I been busy with? Good question. Then I realized... I've been listening to a book on Aaron's Ipod. Garlic and Saphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise. It's a memoir of a previous New York Times food critic. She's a fantastic writer. Her descriptions of the food she eats always make my mouth water- well, the ones from good restuarants do anyway! I've been enjoying it.
... It's getting late. I don't know if this post makes much sense. I'm being distracted. I think Aaron needs to go to bed. He's getting strange. I have more to post-some pictures even! but I'll have to get to it tomorrow. :)

Weekly weigh in

Was anyone anxiously waiting to see if I'd lost any weight? :) Well, I did! I lost 4 more pounds! Yay! :) Here are some things I learned this week:

Water is good. When I'm drinking more, I have more energy, and I don't get munchie. I don't crave junk as often when I'm well hydrated.
A little is okay. I've tried not to ban anything completely. I've had chocolate this week. I even had one peice of chocolate cake Saturday. It was really good! The two things I can't seem to go without are chocolate (obviously) and pizza. I don't know why, but I've always had a weakness for pizza.
I heard a few questions that I've been trying to keep in mind when I'm deciding what to eat. Is what I'm puting into my body going to be good for me? Is it going to help me reach my goals? and if not, is it worth it? Gourmet pizza is worth it. Papa Johns comes close. Little Ceasars, not at all! Jelly beans are not worth it, but a piece of dark Dove chocolate (just one!) is.
Portion size is important. I went to Las Vegas with my mom for a Tupperware convention. We were served a delicious lunch! It was set up buffet style, and we were given huge plates! Everything looked great! I picked out what I felt would fall into those questions above. I was a little tempeted by some things, but knew I didn't want to overfill my plate. When we sat down, my mom said, "You didn't get very much!" But I got enough to fill me up without stuffing myself. Then, I felt like it would be okay to get one desert. I watched what everyone else was bringing back from the desert table and made my choice before I went over. I was very pleased with myself for making good decisions! Did I splurge a little, yes. But I didn't binge. I watched most of the people at the table come back with 3, 4, or 5 different deserts after eating a huge plate of food. You know, I wasn't jealous of anything they got that I didn't. I wasn't disappointed about any of my choices. And I didn't feel guilty. The splurge was worth it! This is how I want to live! I feel like that lunch was a milestone. I proved to myself that I can enjoy good food without having to feel bad about it. Yay! :)

Hello, can we all be healthy for 5 minutes!?!?

Leonora is sick... again. Aaron just got over a nasty cough. I've had a slight sniffle (hopefully it's related to all that beautiful spring pollen floating around). Before Aaron's cough set in, Leonora also had a little cold. Nothing serious, but anytime I call the doctor's office with a list of symptoms, they say, "You'd better come in." So, I took her in when she had her little snifflie cold. (It was just a cold.) And again yesterday when she threw up. (Just a flu bug.) And again today, because her fever hasn't gone away. (Hmmm... we don't know what this is. Could you bring in some poop?) My alergies/cold/whatever hasn't been too bad, but William seems to be the only one who continues to avoid whatever case of the sickies seems to be going around. Ironicly, he tells me almost daily that HE is SICK, and needs some kind of special treatment. Hmmmm...

It's Wednesday

Okay, I did weigh myself today, and I'm not terribly excited or surprised. After all, I "cheated" (can you cheat when you're not really on a strict diet?) a few times. We went to a funeral last Thursday, and I stuffed myself with rolls, ham drenched in brown sugar, and "funeral potatoes." Oh, and a piece of chocolate cake. What can I say? It was 4:00 in the afternoon, and I hadn't had anything but a shake up to that point. (It was a good shake too! A berry smoothie (with protien powder) from Emerald City Smoothies. Any of you Seattle types been there? Aaron was excited to see one put in here. Previously, there wasn't any place to get a smoothie that wasn't made with ice cream. Or otherwise loaded with sugar. At least, we hadn't found any place. Anyway, I'm distracting myself.) The point is, I didn't eat all that great. (They also handed out chocolate bars in Relief Society! I couldn't NOT eat it!) On top of not eating as well as I could have, I also didn't exercise much. I went on a short walk yesterday with Leonora, but that was it for the entire week! Pretty terrible if I do say so myself. So, as I said, I was not terribly surprised to see the needle on the scale pointing in exactly the same spot as last week. My not perfectly accurate scale told me 3 consecutive times that I didn't loose anything. Ah, well, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained," as my Grandmother has been known to say. Or in my case, "Nothing ventured, nothing lost."

Bigdog, worlds most advanced quadroped robot

Aaron was watching this video earlier. I can't get over how strange this is! I mean, okay, it's a robot that walks on four legs. Not too weird right? But you have to watch the video. This thing looks man made, but moves like an animal. The combination is what makes it strange. Anyway, watch this clip, I think you'll see what I mean.

Weigh in Wednesday

It's been a week since I last posted about loosing weight, and I'm excited to say, I'm still loosing some! Yay! I've lost another 5 lbs in the last week for a total of 12 lbs! Yay! :) I had a couple of requests for picture last week, so I had Aaron take one of me this morning.

William's favorite video

Spring has sprung!

I'm so excited to be seeing more of this around my apartments!

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Earlier today I recieved this in an email. I don't usually post about politics or related topics, but my in-laws have been visiting (they like to keep up to date and to discuss political issues), and I've been reading The Entreblog, and I like a good discussion. So when I got this in my email, I thought it may make an interesting one.
The email follows:
Subject: The ant and the grasshopper


There are 2 Versions - Read Both

TRADITIONAL VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all
summer long, building his house and laying up
supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and
laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The
grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out
in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!


MODERN VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long,
building his house and laying up
supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and
laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a
press conference and demands to know why the ant
should be warm and well fed whil e others are cold
and starving.

CBS, NBC , PBS , CNN, and ABC show up to
provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next
to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a
table filled with food.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such
wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer
so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the
grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing,
'It's Not Easy Being Green.'

Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front
of the ant's house where the news stations film the
group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Jesse then has
the group kneels down to pray to God for the
grasshopper's sake.

Nancy Pelosi , John Kerry & Harry Reid exclaim
in an interview with Larry King that the ant has
gotten rich off the ba ck of the grasshopper, and
they all call for an immediate tax hike on the ant
to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and
Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of
the summer! The ant is fined for failing to hire a
proportionate number of green bugs and, having
nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home
is confiscated by the government.

Hillary Clinton gets her old law firm to
represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit
against the ant, and the case is tried before a
panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed
from a list of single-parent welfare recipients.

The ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper
finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while
the government house he is in, w hich just happens to
be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because
he doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related
incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over
by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once
peaceful neighborhood.


I have to say that I think this is a bit of an exageration, but it did come in the form of an email forward, so I think that's to be expected. However, I do think it illustrates the entitlement attitude that many seem to have. If you notice there's a moral to the first story, but not for the second. If I were to choose one, it would be that Success cannot be given away. However, it can be learned. If we wish for our lives to be different, we should learn to aply the principals of those who have the lives we wish we had. (This is something I'm always working on myself.)
What moral would you give the second story?

Good News!

Leonora had a check up with the doctor today. He said that although the numbers from her most recent blood draw were not perfect, but good enough that he thought it was time to end her antibiotics! Yay!! So, tomorrow she will get her picc line out with the home health nurse, and we will see the doctor again in two weeks to see how she is doing! This is great news for me as well as for her. I don't have to stay up late or wake up early to make sure she gets her dose at the right time. Yay!! More sleep! or at least a choice between staying up or sleeping...

(Another) new background

Okay, maybe I'm a little bit fickle. I decided the whole dot thing just wasn't what I really wanted on my blog. The problem was that I really don't know anything about Html or publishing websites. If it isn't a templet, I'm in way over my head! So I decided to check out this link which I got from Andrea's site. Andrea has one of these cute templates on her blog as well. (btw, it's very cute Andrea!) Anyway, I did some copying and pasting (I do know how to do that!) and changed a few colors, and I think I like it! At least for now... I might change my mind again soon! What do you think?

Oh, and if anyone wants to see what they have, the link is now in my side bar as well. Check it out! :)

Yay for me!

So it's been 8 days since we started trying to eat healthier, and I am happy to report that I've actually lost some weight! Yay! I've lost about 7 lbs. My scale isn't the most acurate thing, so that could be off a little, but I am loosing weight! Aaron has also lost some. I'm not sure how much, but he is looking better. Both of us have more energy too, which is nice! I only have 27 more pounds until I get into my ideal weight range... Ugh, I can't believe I let myself get so overweight, but I'm changing that! I know that the scale isn't the only thing, but I do feel better. Both physically and the way I see myself.

Paddy's Day

I hope everyone had a good St Patricks day yesterday! I took a couple of pictures of the kids in their green cloths and thought I'd share. If I knew how to edit photos I could make them look nicer, but here it is anyway!

Why I blog

I read this on my cousin's blog and thought I'd do it too.

1. Why did you start your blog?
I started mine when I was living in Seattle. I had a couple friends who had blogs, and I thought it would be a good way of keeping in touch with them. It also was an easy way to post pictures and stories about my kids for my other friends and family to be able to keep updated with them.

2. How did you come up with your blog name?
Well, I think I was trying to be clever. I've thought about changing it to something else more descriptive of myself, but haven't come up with anything, so it's stayed the same.

3. Do your friends and family know about your blog? What do they think of it?
After reading #1 this shouldn't be to hard to figure out. I don't know what they all think about it, but I know there are at least a few people who read it. My mom doesn't read it so much anymore unless I tell her to look at a picture or something. She sees the kids all the time now though.

4. How do you write posts?
Some of them are just my thoughts and feelings. Some are fun or cute things my kids are doing. Sometimes if it's been a while since I posted, I just try to come up with anything that might possibly be of interest. I've thought about starting a different blog just for "writing." I wish I had more time for it.

5. Have you ever had a Troll or had to delete unkind comments?
No trolls, just spam.

6. Do you check your stats? Do you care how many people read your blog? If you do, how do you increase traffic?
I've never checked my stats. I don't really care how many people read it, but it is nice to know that someone reads it. I do like getting comments.

7. What kind of blogs/posts interest you?
All the blogs I read are people who I personally know. Most of them are just updates about themselves or their families. I do enjoy when they post pictures. I like to see their kids and I like to see other things they come across that are interesting. Like the Snag on Heidi's blog, Tearese's posts about art, Stephanie's sewing projects, and Saskia's honest opinions about everything. And of course, as I said, I like to see everyone's kids. It's fun to watch them grow, and don't get to see most of these kid's in person very often.

8. What do you like and dislike about blogging?Hmmm... well I think I've been over most of the things I like. I just enjoy getting to know people better. As far as dislikes, well, hmmm... I don't like spam. Other than that, I just wish I had more time to put into making my blog more interesting and reading other people's blogs.

I'm tagging anyone who needs something to post about! :)

Tupperware givaway

Hi everyone!
I'm providing Tupperware for my friend Heidi's surprise givaway, and wanted to give those of you who are not regular readers of Heidi's blog the opportunity to participate! Just go to Heidi's blog to find out how! Have fun!

Leonora dances

Leonora has always loved music. She has to move if there's music playing, and the more dramatic the music the better! She loves all kinds of music. She'll rock out to heavy rock and twirl to pretty classical. Here are a couple of videos. The first one she's a couple of months old, and the second is from yesterday at breakfast.

Great Chili

Aaron and I have decided we need to be healthier. This includes losing a bunch of weight, so we've started a "diet" for lack of a better word. Mostly, we're just trying to eat less of the bad stuff and more of the good stuff. Anyway, here's a recipe that I'm making for dinner today. I got it from a diet program we've used before. It's good and good for you! Just watch your portion size! :)



Ingredients
Olive oil-flavored cooking spray
1/2 lb extra-lean ground beef of soy crumbles
1 small onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 T. finely chopped jalapeno peppers, or to taste
2 16-oz cans diced tomatoes
1 16-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 16-oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 T. chili powder
1 T. cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Spray nonstick frypan with the olive oil-flavored cooking spray. Brown ground beef or frozen soy crumbles. If using boxed soy crumbles, skip spray and add water, heating mixture according to package directions. Add the onion and green pepper; cook until onion is translucent. Add remaining ingredients; cover and cook over low heat 15-20 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Serves 6
255 calories, 17 g protien, 7 g fat, and 31 g carbs.

Enjoy!

In case you didn't notice...

I decided it was time for a new look. What do you think? I also started labeling my posts, so it will be easier to find past posts. Yay me! :)

Some more of William's art

The other day, I was trying to straighten out the kids' room and get things put away where they belong. I picked up this notebook of drawing paper.
The cover was kind of lopsided, and in the proccess of trying to straighten it out, I happened to open it to this page.

William says it's a Superman Flower.

Just so you can see how cute she really is...

Please, Don't Die

Leonora is cute. I probably hear it at least half a dozen times a day, and I think or say it as often myself.
Tonight we were at the store buying "superman" milk. Everything William likes is "superman." His favorite cereal is "superman" cereal. AKA Cherrios. William is cute, too. Anyway, as we were leaving the store, Leonora, who was standing in the basket, excitedly started bouncing and yelling, "Die! Die!" Of course, I know that what she actually means is "Bye! Bye!" But a gentleman near the exit looked at me with a puzzled look and asked me what she was saying. "Well, it sounds like 'die' but it means 'bye.'" A nearby cashier laughed and repeated the words "sounds like 'die'" as Leonora cheerfully waved and shouted to each passerby, "Die!"

Online Party

Hi Everyone! I'm hosting an online Tupperware party and you're all invited! Here's a link to the invitation. Let me know if you have any questions!

I'm Blue

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Blue

You're blue — the most soothing shade of the spectrum. The color of a clear summer sky or a deep, reflective ocean, blue has traditionally symbolized trust, solitude, and loyalty. Most likely a thoughtful person who values spending some time on your own, you'd rather connect deeply with a few people than have a bunch of slight acquaintances. Luckily, making close friends isn't that hard, since people are naturally attracted to you — they're soothed by your calming presence. Cool and collected, you rarely overreact. Instead, you think things through before coming to a decision. That level-headed, thoughtful approach to life is patently blue — and patently you!

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=colorogt&c=50652

Paper Dolls

My aunt Isabel gave this cute die cut paper doll to Leonora. Here are some pictures of her playing with it. Thanks Isabel!

Hospital pictures part 2

Leonora getting unloaded from the life flight plane.

Still sick at the hospital in SLC.

Feeling a little better.

A Smile! Always a good sign!

Happy to be back home!

Pictures of Leonora Hospital visit

Here are some pictures! This first one was taken sometime in January before she got sick.

Poor Baby! At home Sunday, February 3rd, the day she went into the hospital.

In the hospital in St George. Very sick little girl.

Leonora's first plane ride. The life-flight trip to Salt Lake.

The plane and Leonora being unloaded.

Mixed emotions

Today was Renee's due date. I'm glad that Leonora is home and doing better, but I can't help remembering that I would have had another baby to "bring home" if things had been different. It's occured to me that the last three weeks would have been more difficult if I had been pregnant or had a newborn, but it's not much consolation. It's nice to have William and Leonora back home with us, but I don't feel like our family is all together. It's been a hard day for me.

Home again

Leonora was discharged yesterday afternoon, and we spent the rest of the day traveling. Today William came home. It's nice to have him back. Leonora still has to get 2 antibiotics 5 times a day-3 times through an IV and twice by mouth, and once a week a nurse comes to draw blood to make sure everything is going well. She lost about 5 pounds during her two weeks in the hospital. She looks a lot thiner to Aaron and I, and she's a lot less stable on her feet. It feels like she's gone back about 9 months as far as mobility goes. It's hard to see her struggle to walk, but at least she's home and happy again.

Still here

I thought that you'd like to know how things are going. Leonora is doing better. They took the tube out of her chest yesterday afternoon and it looks like things are going fine there. She is doing so much better, but still can't go home until her fever is gone for at least 24 hours. She also needs to eat and drink better, but I think she'll do those things better when she's out of the hospital.
The stay here has been very tiring. I feel really ready to go home. And now that I'm not as worried about Leonora getting through this, I'm realizing how much I miss William. Thankfully, he's been having fun with his aunts and uncle at grandma's house, and seems to be doing fine. This has been such a long drawn out proccess. I'm just exhasted in every way possible. I just want her to get better so we can all go home and get back to normal-whatever that is!

quick update

Leonora is still at Primary Children's. She has to go 24 hours without fever, eat, and get her chest tube (that's draining the fluid) out before we can talk about going home. They are considering surgery to remove the infected part of her lung if her fever doesn't go down.
On the upside, she is feeling better. She's sitting up more and playing some. That is encouraging. She seems more like herself.

Still sick

Well, things have not been going well. I'm in Salt Lake. Leonora was Life flighted to the hospital here. She just was not getting better. She has some fluid in her chest but outside her lung. The antibiotics and her own antibodies couldn't get to it, so they put a tube through her ribs to drain the fluid out. It will take a few days for the fluid to drain and then they'll keep her for another day or two to make sure everything is going well. Hopefully the fluid will continue to drain. If not, they'll have to do surgery. She has not really been looking better. She's also having problems digesting the stuff they've been feeding her through a tube. Poor baby has so many tubes and wires attached to her! She's so miserable! I really hope she'll turn around soon. I'd be grateful for anyone's prayers.

Sick, sick, sick

We've all been sick with the flu. Guess this would have been the year to get a flu shot. Most of us are starting to feel better, but Leonora has just gotten worse. She was not doing well at all yesterday, so I called the Doctor. He met us at his office to check her out and sent us straight to the hospital. They did x-rays and found that she has a pretty bad case of pnemonia on top of the flu. The doctor said to expect her to stay at the hospital for 2-3 days.

Take the Quiz here!

I saw this on Tearese's blog (who got it from Heidi's blog). I love Jane Austin! I got her complete works a few months ago. It took me awhile, but I finished Sense and Sensability and started on Pride and Predjudice. Anyway, I don't know if this is totally acurate, but it was fun anyway!

William's Artwork and zyx's

I found William writing on his magna doodle thing today and was impressed with his penmenship. So I took a picture. He said it was XYZ and that it said "Dinosaur." Obviously he hasn't quite gotten spelling perfected. He wrote it backwards, and I'm not sure if I should be concerned about that or not. In any case, I thought the letters looked pretty good!

After having that picture taken, he wanted pictures of all his doodles for the next hour or so. He drew a picture of Superman...

Batman(notice the bat ears on top)...

and I think this is the Flash.

Even though Superman is probably the best likeness, Flash is my personal favorite! He's a naturally artistic kid. I hope he keeps it up for a long time.

What do you think?

I got my hair cut today. I meant to take a "before" picture but forgot. Anyway, here's the finished product!

I've been meaning to post the last few days, but things have been busy. So, I'm posting now to tell you that Leonora went potty on her potty chair! I set her on it first thing in the morning, and she went! Yay! She didn't go any other time of day, but she went first thing in the morning three days in a row. She probably would have gone this morning if I hadn't been a bit lazy. We're on a later schedule for church now, so we tend to lay around a bit on Sunday mornings. Anyway, I'm hoping that she's on her way to potty training! Maybe I'll get a break from diapers!

Since Ailene Asked...

Here are some of the Tupperware products I love and can't imagine my kitchen without.
FridgeSmarts

These may not look like much, but they keep vegetables fresh for an absurdly long time. I have carrot sticks and cut celery in one in my fridge. They've been in there since the begining of December and they still crunch. I also especially love them for lettuce and other leafy things. The large one fits about 3 Romaine hearts. Anyone who finds lettuce turned to slime in the "crisper" drawer should invest in these-they will save you money!
The little vents on the end are how it works. Different veggies need different airflow. They produce gases as they sit, and if they aren't ventilated properly, they begin to break down. The vents keep the gases from building up and slow the break-down process. Each fridge smart (except the smallest) comes with a chart printed on the side to tell you how much ventilation your specific fruit or veggie needs.

Modular Mates (40% off this month!)

These are wonderful for organizing you pantry or cupboards! They all fit together in a "modular" system to save wasted space. The set in the picture is actually 50% off this month. All the others are 40%.

Rock 'n' Serve (25% off through Feb.)

These are frezer safe and microwave safe. They are great for leftovers or freezing food ahead of time. You can cook lasagne in the microwave in the large deep. I use them when I have more meat than I need. I just cook it all and store the leftover in the freezer. When I need it, it's already cooked.
You can check the prices on the Tuperware site. Let me know if you want anything!

Tupperware anyone?

So, I've been "selling" Tupperware (yes, just like your mom had-but prettier) since just before Leonora was born. Back in September, I finally got up the guts to ask someone in the ward to do a party for me, and since then have come to the realization that there are people in my ward who will actually pay money for a good product! Amazing! Anyway, I had a party yesterday. I'm still waiting for the hostess to get back to me about her order and a couple others who didn't make it to the party. I've decided that this is a good neighborhood to do parties in. This is my third here since October and I will have made about $700 so far. Which brings me to another thought... I might actually have to file taxes this year. Blah.

PS If you'd like any Tupperware, go to the Tupperware site and email what you want to me. That link on my side bar isn't working.

This Video is for You, Leonora

Swimming

In an effort to be more consistant with my blog, I'm going to post today. I don't like to post on days like today. But since I am lousy at journaling, and this is pretty much my only form of record keeping, I think I should give an acurate picture of my life, not just the pretty days. So... here goes.
Today is one of those days that I just don't want to do anything. I've been feeling really overwhelmed and just down lately. There's no one particular event that has caused me to feel this way now, it's just a build up of things. I keep thinking I'll have a relief from some of the stress, but it never seems to happen. So today, I feel like I've had enough. I just don't want to do anything... unfortunately, I have too much to do. I can't lay around in bed. Of course, laying around in bed probably wouldn't help anyway. Too bad I don't have a fairy godmother to come bibbity-bobbity-boo everything into perfection.
But then again, if everything was magically done for me, would it make me happy?
...
No, but I'd be able to stay in bed!

Yay for pants!

Yesterday, I went to Target and used a gift card we got for Christmas to get some pants. Some for me, some for Aaron, and some for Leonora. Here's Leonora modeling hers. The shirt is new too. $2.48 on clearance! :0

Check out this trailer!

The business of birth.
Okay, I just saw this link on another blog, and I am so excited! I love birth! Ha ha! That has to sound so strange to some people! I just get excited talking about my experiences with birth. It is just the most emopowering, exciting, emotional, painful, powerful, exhilerating experience I've ever had. Really, words can't describe it. If I could go back and change anything about my birth experiences, the only one I'd change would be the one in the hospital. Even then, I'm grateful I had my midwife there, and a doctor who respected her opinion and my needs. The only thing I would have changed there would be a nurse who didn't know me or understand my relationship with my midwife, and ended up questioning my choice and offending my midwife. Anyway, I digress. I am just so passionate about birth, and feel that women should be educated about it and empowered by it. So many women just take what they are given without researching or questioning it.
I do believe that hospitals and doctors are needed for SOME births. But the role they have given themselves goes far beyond the neccesary. And that is not just my opinion either. There are so many studies that back it up. That's why this film being made is so exciting to me! I hope it gets seen by a lot of people.

hair

I have a love-hate relationship with my hair. Really, I should be grateful to have thick, dark, full bodied hair, and I am. At least I'm grateful to have it on top of my head. It's everywhere else that I wish it weren't that dark and thick and lovely. So I'm always hoping to find a quicker, easier and less painful way of getting rid of the everywhere else hair. Anyway, a while back, I bought some wax for face and eyebrows. I've used the strip things before, but this said it didn't need any strips, just apply and remove. I had to let my eyebrows and such grow a bit before I could use the wax. Then I started to get nervous about this stuff. And my eyebrows got bushier. Well, I finally just did it. I think it turned out okay, but I'm never buying that stuff again. It cooled way to quickly. I had to keep re-heating it. So the search for something better continues.
This is the only thing I could find that could qualify as "before." As a bonus, you get to see my cute daughter trying on daddy's new headphones! Below is the finished product.

Okay, I did it.

In general, I have tried to leave Leonora's beautiful locks alone, but they were becoming a bit overwhelming to everyone involved. No matter how I tried to keep it out of her face, she always ended up with food stuck in it and hopeless knots every morning. She was constatly trying to pull her hair out of her eyes and, more recently, her mouth. So, I finally did it. I cut her hair. It was kind of a sad thing for me to do, but it seemed neccesary. Anyway, here are a few pics:
Before:

After:


A bit of hair that I trimed off one side. It was actually longer in the back, but I didn't think to save it until after I'd dropped the longer peices in the garbage.

Christmas

Well, we had a much bigger Christmas than we planned on. We have been given so much by those around us, I don't even know where to start. We have probably recived gifts and money from over a dozen families. Most was given anonomously. I don't think it was from anyone who checks my blog regularly, but just in case, Thank-you! :) Also, a special thanks to the woman in Walmart who pointed out the hole in the back of my pants. Yes, I knew it was there. I've been "planning" on loosing a few pounds before I bought new ones, but she inspired me to use some of the generously given money on myself. Yay for new pants! Anyway, here are some pictures-maybe even a video of our Christmas.

Boo! ha,ha, you didn't know I was here, did you?

Okay, sorry it's been so long since I posted. The above picture is part of the reason why. I smashed my finger! Yep, the car door got me. Do you know how many things you need your index finger for? Especially if it's on your dominent hand. Well, I don't either, but typing is sure a lot easier with it than without. (Sorry the picture is so blury. Taking pictures is also hard to do without that finger.)