Article of Faith #2

Technically it is #1 and #2, but I love her facial expressions while she says them in this video. Man do I love this little girl!!!!!

Drive-In Fun!

Friday night we decided to drive to Granbury to go to the Drive-in theater. They were showing Horton Hears a Who and Juno. We loaded up a bunch of snacks and bundled up for the trip. We had so much fun. It was a bit cold, so there were fewer people then usual. That is ideal for a drive-in. If any of you live near a drive-in I recommend it, we always enjoy ourselves. Cailyn always loves it. Something different.

Noxious Weeds!

I have decided to plant a garden. Not much, just a few vegetables. Tomorrow a sister in my Ward is coming over to give me some advice. She is on our Emergency Preparedness Committee and one of her areas of expertise is gardening. I have always wanted to have a garden, but anyone who knows me, knows that I can kill any plant just by looking at it, so I never have.
After I made this decision, I looked at my yard. WOW, I knew it was bad, but I had no idea how bad. I have been pulling weeds out of the front yard, and raking old leaves and pecans up in my back yard for a day and a half now. (I am getting the best work out I have had in a long time) I already have 17 bags of leaves/pecans filled in the back and I have only done half the yard.
I think that I would be done if I didn't have children to take care of. But as it is, I do, so the process is going slower than I would like. If it wasn't so stinking hot outside I wouldn't even think twice about just having them out there with me all day. But, it is in the 90s today and stale. Cailyn could handle it, but I hate to see Jessica all red and sweaty. I guess I will just have to wait until Jason gets home so he can watch the girls for me.
As soon as I get the garden planted I will post some pictures of my work. I am really excited about it and hope that I can make something grow.

***On a side note, I have this ENORMOUS fear of snakes. Last fall I found a snake in my front yard and have been scared to go in the back ever since. That is why it is so horrible back there. It is completely my fault. AND, just so all of you know, I found another snake this morning in the back. This is one BIG reason I don't do much gardening.

Easter Weekend

Saturday:


We had a Primary Easter Egg Hunt at Sheryl and Jason's house. It is ideal for a large egg hunt. They have a huge yard and own the lot next to them. The entire neighborhood got involved though. Their next door neighbor provided the hot dogs(he even grilled them for us) and we used the houses across the street for the little kids to hunt(it is safer to keep them separate from the big kids). We blocked off the road so we wouldn't have traffic issues. It was a blast. There were tons of eggs, the weather was perfect, and many people to share in the fun. We appreciate Sheryl and her family for putting together a fun party.

Cailyn obviously did a great job finding eggs, her basket it full. Such a little scavenger!
Jessica had a good time out in the sunshine that day also. She loves to just watch other children, so she was in Jessica Heaven!

Sunday:

Jason did not have meetings in the morning so I recruited him for help in the kitchen. I was rolling out the rolls and he made some muffins for breakfast. We had a friend riding with us to church and he came over for breakfast. There was a mishap with the recipe and they didn't exactly turn out, so we all ate 'not quite perfect' muffins. They filled our tummies enough to last through church, so they did the job. After church we headed to the Bishop's office for Cailyn to pass off her first Article of Faith(and then retrieve some candy, of course). She did a fabulous job. Once again, we are so proud! Then we piled into the van to eat at the Smiley's house for dinner. This couple is the only other couple in the Ward that doesn't have family within 20 miles of them. So, naturally, we bonded instantly. They kindly invited us to dinner and it was delicious. She made this amazing Lemon-Herb Chicken, with baked potatoes, steamed veggies, salad, and a gorgeous berry cake. All from scratch. I am impressed. We brought rolls and a pie. When all was said and done, we had been gone from our house for 10 hours straight. Jessica had only slept a little over an hour collectively all day and was more than cranky, and Cailyn was having a hard time eating her veggies, but over all it was a perfect Easter. I am sorry to report we didn't get many pictures, but this is what we did get.

It was Jessica's first Easter. Isn't she adorable?

HAPPY EASTER!

BUBBLES!!!!

When we met with my parents yesterday, they gave us some Easter toys. One of them was technically for me(so I can occupy the kids I watch) but Cailyn LOVED it. As you can see it was a cute little bubble maker.





I think bubbles are so beautiful.

The girls had a blast playing and catching the bubbles. Cailyn, of course, had to be He-Man(or He-Woman if you will) and destroy the bubbles.

We are so glad that we are having a beautiful Easter weekend. I hope everyone does.

Lucky or Blessed?

The girls and I had the opportunity to travel to Stephenville(a neighboring town) to meet my parents for lunch today. On the ride home I started thinking about luck. I know that it is real, however, I think that more often than not, it isn't luck at all. It is a blessing. I fear that I, along with a great deal of other people, don't give our Heavenly Father the gratitude he deserves for our 'luck'.

I don't think that I was 'lucky'. . .

*to have been reared in a home with both parents who showed love to everyone around them regularly, I am blessed!

*to have the Gospel, and therefore the Priesthood, in my home growing up(and now), I am blessed!

*to have a loving husband, who just happens to be very attractive, I am blessed!

*to have two healthy, beautiful daughters(not to mention uncomplicated deliveries), I am blessed!

* to have a roof over my head, food on my table everyday, and clean clothes on my back. I am blessed!

*to have a good relationship with my siblings and family-in-law. I am blessed!

*to live in a free country that I can worship how I please, I am blessed!

And countless other blessing in my life that are unfortunately too often disguised as lucky, instead of blessings. Which they are!

I pray that we can all give thanks to our loving Heavenly Father who is constantly demonstrating His love for us.

Patience

I had a conversation with Cailyn yesterday, this is how it went down:

Cailyn(while looking at herself in the mirror)

"Do you have patience? (pause) Tell me Mom, do you have patience?"

Me "Uh!"

Cailyn "If you have patience, then it will make me. . . . Happy."

Me "Yes, baby, I have patiennce."

Cailyn (looking back into the mirror)"I don't have patience."

It just made me laugh. Kids say the cutest things.

Article of Faith #1

One of our new goals is to teach Cailyn the Articles of Faith. We would like for her to memorize one a month. Here is #1----We are so proud!

Stay tuned for the next Article of Faith!

Weight Loss Update

After extremely 'hard core' dieting and exercise this week, I am happy to report that I have lost somewhere between 5 and 8 pounds this week. It really depends on the time of day I weigh myself on how much I have lost. I will go with the smallest number to be realistic, but at least I know that I can do it.
I believe the plan from here on out is that we will be doing 'hard core' dieting during the week and relax a little on the weekends(withing reason). Our exercise will progressively get more intense, no relaxing(except Sundays of course).
My motivation is alive and active now. I am really excited about my new outlook on food. I don't have to deprive myself of anything really, just be extremely cautious of how much I eat and definitely use all the calories I consume and then some. I guess I always thought that if I was going to diet that I would have to miss out on all the yummy food I was used to and always have hunger pangs. That is absolutely not true. I just have to learn to manage it(like everything else).
Let me just say, "Thank you Jason for your loving support and motivation to get healthier and in shape!"

They grow so fast

Jessica is table food now. She eats toast and eggs for breakfast, I only give her one jar of baby food for lunch(with more table food) and then for dinner she just eats some of what we are eating, within reason of course. I still breast feed, but she eats so much of the other she doesn't like it much anymore(I think it is mostly just because she feels she is missing out on whatever Cailyn is doing). She also has two 4 ounce bottles of diluted juice everyday. I just can't believe how fast they grow.

Her favorite right now is peas. Yay, a baby who loves veggies. She eats more than Cailyn does for dinner.

And naturally, a rinse in the sink comes with that.

What a fun little girl we have!

Tax return FUN!

Jason and I decided that this year we would put aside part of our tax return for something that we wanted, not necessarily needed, just wanted. We have both wanted a new stove for a while. Our other one was pretty old and gross. One of the burners didn't work, and we just wanted a new one.

So, drum roll. . . . .. . . . . . . . .





Here she is. Not the best pictures, but you get the idea. I LOVE IT!

Book Tag!

My dear friend Heather tagged me.

This is what you do:
1. Pick up the nearest book (with at least 123 pgs.).
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next 3 sentences.
5. Tag 5 people.

As it so happens that the closest book to me right now is the first Harry Potter book. I am reading this right now(well in my extra spare time-you know how often that is).

5th Sentence: "Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words."

Next 3 Sentences: "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" (technically that is 4 sentences, but I thought that the last word really needed to be included.

My tagging never really goes well, so I won't officially tag someone. However, if you would like to share some of your literature with us, please do.

Just Do It!

When it comes to weight loss you really have to take the Nike slogan and 'Just Do It.' A lack of motivation is hard to fight, but when you just start and begin to see results your motivation appears. I am here to say that my motivation is knocking on the door. I wouldn't say that it as officially arrived, but I can hear it knocking. I think a lot of that comes from the fact that Jason has decided to help me. Way to go Jason. He told me that it was inspiration this morning. I really think that he was told by Heavenly Father to help me. But whatever the reason he is here to help. We are doing "hard core" (Jason's terminology) diet and work outs this week to see how much we can lose, and then make a plan from there. I was sent to the store for a scale. I have it purchased but am afraid to stand on it. I realize that it can help me to reach my goal and continue making new ones, but it is still something that I am dreading.





Here are some of the things that really help me to keep going and find success.

You should always have water near.

A good sturdy pair of shoes is necessary.

Weights help to build muscle.

An exercise ball makes workouts more interesting, and challenging.

AND, if you have kids then a good running stroller comes in handy. Thanks Dad, we love it!

Fun in the snow!!!

Jessica trying to have fun in the snow.

Cailyn thought the snow was tasty!

This is as far as we got with our snow person before Jessica had had enough.

Winter is late!

Yesterday was so gorgeous. It was in the upper 60s and sunny. Almost no breeze to speak of and so peaceful. The girls and I went out to play in the sunshine. We used our sidewalk chalk to practice our art. I really thought that today would be the same.

This morning I got up early and went to the track to run. It was a normal day, kind of cool, but warming each minute. It was beautiful. Around 10 am it started snowing. Nothing big, just a regular Texas snow. It melted the minute it hit the ground and just left everything wet. Then at around noon it really started coming down. The flakes turned into chunks and the wind was blowing so hard that the chunks were falling almost horizontally. The roads were slushy, not icy like a normal Texas winter(we had to make a diaper run, or we probably wouldn't have gone out). Of course, the school closed early and much to our surprise, so did the bank. Jason was able to come home early today. What an exciting day. I guess as soon as the girls get up from naps we will go play in the snow.

This is some of our work from yesterday that is currently being washed away with the melting snow.

This is after the big snowfall. Our bushes aren't strong enough to hold the snow.

Hurry and wake up Cailyn so we can go play in the snow.

Definition of Family

Many times I have wondered how I could define Family. As I have tried to do so I always find that the English language is not vast enough(or I just don't know the right combination of words) to do it justice. However, I do know what it means to me and how important it is in order to feel true joy in this life. I don't think that I understood that until I was a wife and mother. I am truly blessed to be a woman and be so close to everyone in my family.

Family to me is. . .

*being excited to wake up and see smiling faces ready to play

*a tight squeeze at the end of the day

*someone to hold my hand for no reason at all

*someone to cry with me, or let me cry while they hold me

*having a reason to get ready for the day

*a listening ear when I need to talk through a problem or decision

*having someone see the potential in me when I can't

*laughing with each other until our sides ache and our eyes are wet

*inside jokes

*understanding each other without saying a word

I thank my Heavenly Father every day for my beautiful family and all those friends who have become my family through the years. I would not have made it through many of my trials or be who I am without you. Thank you for being my family, I love you!

Giggles!

Why is it that the kids will laugh and giggle incessantly when you are not in the room, but the minute you come into the room with a camera they stop laughing?

Anyway, I just thought that I would share some of the joy we felt yesterday after church together. :)

Jessica has started to move around a lot more. She has started to sleep on her side, well the other day when we went in to check on the girls before bed, Jess was on her stomach. We had to take pictures because she usually hates to be on her tummy, but she was obviously too tired to care that night. We made the pictures in night vision so we wouldn't wake her up while we took the pictures. Sorry they look so weird.

Gum

Occasionally we give Cailyn some gum. She is really pretty good with it. She almost never swallows it and has never left it on the carpet/couch. However, yesterday we got to experience gum in her hair. I will apologize right now for not taking any pictures. I am not so good at taking pictures of those moments.

Well, when we picked Cailyn up from Primary we didn't notice it right away. We had a meeting after church and while we were waiting, Jason saw it. He thought that we should just cut it out, but I thought we should at least try the peanut butter idea first. Luckily it worked and we didn't have to cut it. It wasn't super close to her scalp, so we could have cut it and have it turn out alright, but I didn't really want to.

She loves gum, so we are just going to have to make some new rules. That is always hard, but in this case I think it is completely worth it.

*****The amazing thing is that I wasn't mad at all. I wasn't looking forward to getting it out of her hair, but I wasn't mad. Those of you who know me well, can probably see the miracle in that one too.

Texas Weather!

Yesterday was in the upper 70s-lower 80s, today it is in the 40s. I find it interesting that you really can't tell what is going to happen with the weather here.

You couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day yesterday. Sunny, warm, gorgeous. Then, last night we got hit really hard with a thunder storm. If you have never experienced a Texas thunder storm, too bad, because they are very exciting.

Jason was woken up by the lightning, and I was by the thunder that rattled our windows. Cailyn told me this morning, "the thunder was saying hello to me and Jessica last night."

We told Cailyn (last year I guess) that the thunder just has a loud voice and wants to say hello. That seemed to calm her. So now that is how she stays calm during the storms. I guess it worked because she heard it last night and it woke her up, but she didn't cry or come in to us in the middle of the night. I am glad that we found a way to help her calm her fears.