January 26 - Sharing Citrus

Today I had the most delicious tangerine I've ever tasted.  

The only thing I can compare it to is eating a garden fresh tomato or a garden fresh strawberry vs. eating a store bought one. 

I loved everything about it!  

The smell, the peel, the color, and of course, the soft juicy fruit!!  

It was absolutely delicious!!

Thanks Berneen!! You gave our family such a special treat! 
Thanks for Sharing your Citrus Ü!!

January 25 - Best Buds

The boys are off track and wanted some friends to come over and play.  So, Jeffrey let them have friends over for about 4 hours today. The kids had so much fun playing together, watching a movie or two and playing on their DS's.

Hayden and Isaac are so funny together.  They are either completely fine just playing by themselves or they are inseparable best bud.  Today was one of those times where they were BEST BUDS.
I convinced them to stop for a minute and let me take a picture. 

Aren't they cute :D 

January 24 - Framed Goals

This new present that I got from Jeff's mom for Christmas hangs in my living room. I only wish the saying was bigger.  I think I'm going to order some of the lines in vinyl and put them throughout the house.  I love the thoughts shared here.

Within these thoughts lie many of my goals. "Life is not a race ~ but indeed a journey. Love your life and what you've been given, it's not accidental ~ search for your purpose and do it the best you can. DREAMING DOES MATTER. Appreciate the little things and ENJOY them. Take time for yourself. Recognize the special people you've been blessed to know. Live for TODAY, enjoy the MOMENT."

 This was written by ~ Bonnie Mohr ~ I like her.  

I found her website & linked it to her name above.  
I need to find out more about her Ü

January 23 - Homemade Granola Bars

Here's my new attempt at not eating Soy Lecithin. 

This ingredient is all of a sudden popping up everywhere, seems to be in everything. And quite frankly, the articles I read about it are freaking me out a little bit. Here's one more. :( BAD SOY

As I scanned the list of ingredients in the granola bars at the store, which I love for a fast breakfast, I could not find one single brand that did not include this nasty ingredient.  

So. . . . I just decided to make my own :D

They are very Yummy :)


They don't hold together very well though. So, I'm going to have to play around with this recipe until I can get them to hold together or try a new recipe all together.

January 22 - Dirty Little Secret!

Shhhhh!!!  Here's my dirty little secret . . . . . . . my plant shelf has looked like this for the last 10 months!!  Oh no!!  

The last time I dusted off this shelf was in the spring of 2010.  Yikes!!  That's almost been a year now!!  Can you say Groooooooooooooooosssssssssssss!!!

I cannot believe I am showing this to you. . . . . . . . how embarrassing!!

My hope is that this will help me to not let this happen again.

I have "meant to" clean this shelf now for about three months.  I finally tackled it today. I've sort of been dreading it. I am a horrible cleaner - I hate the act of cleaning it. However, I have to admit, that because I was so excited to finally be crossing this task off my list, that the actual act of cleaning off the shelf wasn't so bad.

And. . . .the results feel great!!

Oh you know I had to show you the after. . . .it just wouldn't be fair not to post two pictures with this post Ü

January 21 - Toe Socks!!

Tonight Jeffrey and I had a date night!!  Fun :)
We went shopping at REI.  

We looked at shoes, backpacks and TOE SOCKS!!  
I, sadly, cannot buy toe socks, because of my webbed toes, but Jeffrey can, and he DID!! 

I think they are way COOL and wish I could have a pair.  

I'm going to have to figure that out ÛŨÜ

January 20 - Wax Museum

Today was the Wax Museum for Third Graders at Herriman Elementary School. They have to pick someone they want to learn more about and read a biography on that person. Then they make a tri-fold on that person.  A portrait, a famous quote and a time line of their lives. The day of the Wax Museum, they dress up like their person and stand like a statue. The moms, dads and other students get to walk around and look at them and read about them on their posters.


This year was Hayden's turn. Josh and Zac both did it too.  Hayden chose Joseph Smith. Ü What a sweetie my Hayden is. At first I was surprised that he chose Joseph Smith and a little nervous about having him as his person. Then I thought how neat it was that he would choose Joseph Smith and I LOVE that he chose Joseph Smith for his person to do the wax museum at school!! Jeff and I have said, on more than one occasion, that Hayden is our family's Nephi.  Hayden has such courage and always wants to do what's right.  I think he chose a great person to learn more about and to portrait at his school's wax museum.


Plus, I think he makes a darling Joseph, don't you?

January 19 - Facebook

Today I really should be posting a picture of me on the phone at work.  That's what I felt like I did ALL DAY LONG!  It was shutoffs today and we had a record day.  It was one payment, argument and response, right after another.  I rarely got a breather.  But when they came I was so glad to just be able to stand and walk to the end of the counter for a minute.  I do have to say, that when I got home tonight, I was so glad to be HOME!!  I did have a homework assignment for 3rd grade that I had to finish, but once I did that I tried to unwind and relax.


And what did I do to relax once I was able to?  I opened up Facebook.  It often makes me feel happy.  It's like checking in on a good friend.  It often makes me laugh and helps me unwind and feel very relaxed.  Although it can be a huge time sucker - I am glad it's around.  It's reconnected me with friends, family and introduced me to new friends.  I like it.

January 18 - Note to Self - NEVER BUY WHIRLPOOL AGAIN!!

Today was the day. Jeffrey decided to get it done. Time to fix the washing machine. It has been faulting now for about a week ☹ We kept making it work somehow. But Monday - it wouldn't even drain anymore. 
So. . today was the day to get it fixed.

Jeffrey discovered that the fault was saying something was wrong with the pump. So he pulled it all apart at lunch. It was NASTY!! Seeing the wrath of Herriman's hard water! Destroying our appliances! ☹ 

He got it all put back together and tried to drain it. . . . . . 
but . . . . NO LUCK!

So he called around and found out we couldn't just replace the pump, we had to replace the whole component. AND it was going to cost $125 instead of the $40 - $50 Jeff had hoped for just the pump. ☹ Boo for Jeffrey ☹ 

Oh well . . . . it was either that or head to the LaundrOmat!!

Guess he chose to replace it and fix it!!

So here it is all shiny and new. 

Thank you Jeffrey - you are amazing!!

One more note. . . NEVER BUY WHIRLPOOL AGAIN!! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!! (this is the 5th thing that has gone wrong with this machine since we bought it :( boo)

January 17 - New Sleeping Bag

Lookie what Jeffrey ordered me!!  It was fun to get this in the mail today.  Yep, it's a new sleeping bag!! It was on such a good sale. Plus it's a 0º bag - which means it will keep me warmer  Ü Yay for me!!

What a fun surprise for today. Now I am looking forward to a camping trip this summer.

Jan 16 - New Apple Computer

I realized today that I never introduced you to my new computer. So here she is - my new apple computer. I made the switch from PC to Apple and so far, I am not disappointed!!  It's taken some getting used to but there are a lot of things on this computer that a PC just doesn't have.  

For example the mac is always ready for you.  When you open it up, it's ready.  There is no loading up.  It's just always right there when you open it up. I love that!!  I love the features it has and how they work with the internet too.


It is also very well built.  It feels well made. It feels strong and slim.  I really like the color and I love the key board too.


I've always heard - once you switch to an Apple, you'll never go back.  Looks like that's true for me too.  Hope we can switch them all over this year.  It will take some time to pay it off though.  Haven't put something on credit like this for a while, but I've decided it's well worth it :D

January 15 - Lost Tooth

This afternoon around 2:30p or so, Josh came into my room in a panic.  I wasn't quite sure what was wrong yet, but it was clear he was hurting.  He had a mouth full of food and what looked like some blood. 

He looked quite scared and my heart was racing.

We found out he bit down on a loose tooth and must have jammed a sharp root into his mouth.  He said that he bit down on his tooth and now it was stuck.

Jeffrey (the level headed one) quickly plugged the sink in our bathroom and had him spit out his food and blood :{ in the sink.  Making sure the tooth wasn't in there, he had him rinse out his mouth.  

Ah ha!  The tooth was still in his mouth!  (At this point Josh was crying and wasn't quite ready for his mouth to be touched.  Josh had to rinse one more time. Then Jeff said, "okay I'm just going to feel your tooth, I'm just going to feel it okay." Josh nodded yes, took a deep breath and opened up.  Jeff said he reached in got a hold of the tooth, wiggled it carefully, and realized it was already out - it was just sitting there.  He pulled up on it and WAHLAH!!  The tooth was out!! Whew!

Then the tears came, and mom stepped in for the hugs. I found a piece of gauze - rolled it up and let him bite on that.

January 14 - Friend Fun

Berneen invited us over tonight for a fun friends night.  She made Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner. Yummmmmmo!!!  

I have been craving hawaiian haystacks for about a month now and was very excited about it :) :)

Tell me that this doesn't look fantastic?!

After the yummmmmo dinner we talked, played games and then had dessert.  

We play rock band. It's been a long time since I played that game.  I have to play it on "easy" & the first time through (well I shouldn't even say through) I had an "EPIC FAILURE!" lol 


Then we play Sing Star.  Which is way fun!  Kinda makes you feel like a rock star! (In case I forget some day or if you haven't ever played it). Two people take turns singing a song while the music video plays in the background and the words to the song scroll across the screen.


It's been very interesting to find out all the words to these songs I've been singing for years.  What's a real eye opener is when you discover the words that you've been singing for YEARS are actually WRONG!    ;) LOL ;)

January 13 - Exercising

So I found another new way to exercise.  

It's actually fun and it gets my heart a pumpin'!  

Not only that it makes me feel like I can dance.

It's a new wii game, Just Dance!  It's so much fun.  

You really need to come over and try it with me if you don't have one of your own.  I love it!!

I know I didn't take this picture but I'm counting it anyway :D

January 12 - New Duvet Cover

For Christmas this year, we got a new down comforter.  
Very much needed - the old one was Jeff's, from before his mission!  


Let's see that means it was 21+ years old!  Wow!  
It was still very warm but very dirty!  
I'm not going to even tell you how few times it had been washed.  
Let's just say it was NOT enough.  
So before Jeff would let me use the new down comforter,
I had to buy a duvet cover for it so we can wash it more often :) LOL

Here is the new duvet cover over our new down comforter :D 
I'm excited to break it in :D

P.S. Jeffrey won't let me get rid of his down comforter yet.  
We have to try to save him :)

January 11 - Giving

I was completely surprised today when 

Lynda brought this 
totally cute 

new sweater 
to me this morning. 

She must have been in a giving mood and . . . . . . . LUCKY, LUCKY me  
Ü  Ü  Ü  

 I was the receiver!!  

I must admit, I feel a little spoiled today.  

New clothes for me Ü.  
How fun!!  

Thanks Lynda you are a sweatheart!!

January 10 - Cell Phones

This picture will remind me all about today when I look back at it. Which I'm hoping will be a good thing by then. This is a poor, poor picture of Zac's cell phone and yet here it is :)


Cell phones are simply amazing to my simple brain. Honestly they are some what of a miracle to me. With them you can be available at any time, in any place at a moments notice.  But do you really want to be available all the time?


I know that's often the question running through Zac's head. My answer is "Yes, yes you do. That is what you have the cell phone for. So I know where you are at ALL times."  Zac's answer: "I'd rather answer it when I want to and text you at all other times."


Cell phones can be such a help and such a hindrance too. With them you feel the ability to be connected to anyone, any where at a seconds notice. Yet, without them you feel lost and disconnected. As I'm sure Zac did today and will feel that way  tomorrow as well :(


It provides distractions in ways I never even knew as a teenager. It requires learning a whole new etiquette and with it comes an entire new set of rules that we are making up as we go along.

January 9 - Brothers Shoveling

I asked the boys to shovel the driveway. 

With very little resistance they all got dressed in warm clothes, coats, gloves and boots and they worked together to get the driveway cleared off.  

It was a "working together" moment for them.  I heard Hayden repeat what I said (almost in shear astonishment) "Mom, it did go a lot faster when we all worked together!"  :D :D :D

January 8 - New Library

We have a new library that I haven't gone to yet.  It's been open since September I think.  Anyway. . . .we finally went today. Hayden's next book report is supposed to be a biography. They also have to do a wax museum.  Hayden chose to do his report on Joseph Smith.

He is very excited and has all sorts of plans already for the wax museum.  

January 7 - Fog/Frost

Today was so foggy on my way to work.  I LOVED it!!  Dont' you think the fog seems so mystical?!


When the fog cleared, and the sun came out, you could see that all the trees were frosted!!  I ran out and took a few pictures with my phone, but it didn't seem like they were going to look real great.  I kept telling myself, I'll just get some when I get home.  Well to my dismay, not a tree at our house was frosted.

                          

 I couldn't decide between the two of these pictures - so I posted both of them :D

I love fog!! 

January 6 - Closet Organizers Complete!

This is a follow up picture from January 3rd!!  The boys closets are complete!!  And they are already filled up making more room in our food storage for, well, food :D

Jeffrey never ceases to amaze me at what he knows and is able to do.  This project took him all of two days (part-time days at that).  If this were my project, I'd still be reading up on it.

January 5 - Morning Madness :D

Tackling the morning madness has always caused me stress.  Getting the kids ready for school before I walk out the door to go to work doesn't always go smoothly, but we've figured it out most of the time.

This week is full of new morning madness.
We have new guests at our house.
Look at those faces :) :)   They are darling kids!

Figuring out how to have all of these adorable kids still get ready in the morning is tricky though.  After all they are all good friends.  I've asked them to be nice to each other and I've been told it's easier to be nice when we are playing.  (OOOOOOH that is a GOOD one :)

Here they all are (well except Hayden) eating breakfast together.  

Here's to hoping things go smoothly.  So far, everything has been fun and loud.

January 4 - Tackling the Junk Room

Time to tackle the dreaded Junk Room.  Park of my organization this year will involve getting everything out of the junk room from downstairs and bringing it up to Zac's old room upstairs so we can finish Hayden's room downstairs this spring.

Here is the beginning of the new "better organized" Junk Room.

January 3 - Organization

In an effort to organize the house, today's picture is shelving for the boys closets.  


Just purchasing this shelving was quite a task in and of itself.  Figuring out measurements and how things go together has never been a strong point for me.  Thanks goodness for Jeffrey!!  :D He figured out how much we'd need of this shelving material and all the little brackets and doohickees that go with it.  So tomorrow maybe he can start on the cutting and sizing.  Hope to post a picture when they're complete :D