When will she come?

Well it's 9 days till my due date, and no baby yet. So how about a little contest? Enter your guess for birth day and weight in the comments. The winner will get the satisfaction of being a better guesser than everyone else!

I hope she comes tonight and weighs 8lbs

Halloween!!

I figured I'd better post this pic before Halloween is too far behind us:

Underdog, House, and Darth Vader

Homemade costumes really are much cuter then storebought. I'm especially pleased with how the Vader costume turned out. It is really quite impressive in person. Don't know who House is? I'm sorry. DH had a great time playing House for all his students on Halloween, complete with attitude and 'vicodin' (m&m's in a perscription bottle). Me? I did my best impression of a pumpkin by wearing an orange shirt and sitting around while the boys went Trick-or-treating. You don't want a picture of that, trust me.

Wishlist

I was going to make a list here of things I wanted that weren't available at Amazon, but with the new Universal Wish List button I can add ANYTHING to my Amazon wishlist. Cool.

In honor of "Talk like a pirate" day

BTW

We've finally moved into our house!! It is really nice, but there is dog hair EVERYWHERE! It's driving me nuts. I'm a little neurotic when it comes to housecleaning. Thankfully the floors are mostly hardwood, much easier to rid of doggie mess than carpet.

Also, the baby is a girl!! Rather, it is most likely a girl, we can't be 100% sure.

Just thought you'd like to know...

Family Fun

Ever been parasailing? You should try it! A family in our ward owns a parasailing business so when my sis and her dh were visiting this past weekend, we thought we'd try it out. FUN!! The boys enjoyed it so much my older ds keeps suggesting we go parasailing every Friday.

dh and younger ds

"Everything looked like toys!"

Sister and bil getting dunked

Me and older ds after a dunk

Details

I'm about 13 weeks along now, just entering the 2nd trimester. The baby is officially due Dec. 15, but both my boys were born 2 weeks early so we'll be ready for it to come by the end of Nov. That's three Dec. birthdays! (I think we're going to start celebrating half-birthdays instead.) I've been feeling pretty sick, but it seems to have subsided a little so I'm hopeful that stage will be over soon! The ultrasound picture is from 11 weeks. I was having a hard time really 'connecting' with this pregnancy. My last pregnancy ended in miscarriage at 11 weeks (the baby had died at 6 weeks) and I just couldn't get over the fear that this one would end the same way. So the ultrasound was purely for my reassurance that everything was okay. I can't tell you the relief I felt when I first saw the baby on the screen and it was moving! The heartbeat was strong and it's growth on target, even a little big (this is my family after all.) After that I felt confident enough to tell the boys. They were/are soooo excited! They immediately told everyone. My older ds keeps saying "I can't believe it's not a dream!" I think he's more excited about the baby than about Christmas. It's really cute.

This next part may be TMI, if you're not into NFP or other fertility stuff. You've been warned!

This baby is actually sort of a surprise. I say sort of because we've been trying for another child for over a year now, though without much hope. I use NFP and my charts were showing that my pre-peak cervical fluid was not of the quality or quantity so important to fertilization. We finally went to see a fertility specialist who uses the same NFP system in her practice that we use to see what our options were. The first step was to do several blood draws at different times in my cycle to determine what my hormone levels were. After some thought (and prayer) we decided that it was too much to undertake right now and that maybe adoption would be the best option for us. So that's where we were when, to my amazement, we were pregnant! My cervical fluid hadn't changed at all, and according to our "timing" I really shouldn't have been pregnant. So this is our miracle baby, there's really no other explanation!

I'll let you know in 8 weeks if it's a boy or a girl

Guess What!?

Mothers

Ladybug
Originally uploaded by awsyoung

Isaiah 40:11
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Happy Mother's Day

This photo was taken in my mother's garden last year. I'd love to have a garden like her's someday.

Breastfeeding in the news

New study results!

Breast-feeding boosts a child's IQ, says study
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor

"Researchers looked at almost 14,000 children over a period of more than six years and found that those who had been breast-fed performed far better in IQ tests."
Click here for the full article.

Breastfeeding makes children smarter
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor

A more detailed article about the same study.

Resolutions continued...

Time to bore you again with my resolutions update!

1. Keep up my exercise routine.
I'm changing this one to 'establish a new excercise routine'. My knee is finally better and I have been out walking a few times, but now I'm having difficulty finding a consistant time. My dh's schedule isn't condusive to walking it seems. Maybe I can find a good DVD.

2. Eat more.
Good. I can't wait for the local farms to open so I can get really fresh fruits and veggies!

3. Write in my journal once a week.
Still good.

4. Write in my blog once a month and once a day for one month.
Not bad for my first 30 days attempt; I only missed one day. It was fun and I hope my posts were interesting enough! I didn't do so well in my additions of blogging once a month on the family blog and posting on the LDS homeschooling Yahoo! group. Time to regroup for this month!

5. De-clutter one room a month.
I managed to finish organizing the choir music, but I still have a pile of stuff to get rid of. I had bad luck getting anyone from Freecycle to pick any of it up. :P I'll try Craigslisting it all next. Once it's gone, I'll choose a new room to declutter!

6. Find some service to do.
The best think I can come up with is crocheting leper bandages, so that's what I'll do. I'll work on it at least one night a week.

7. Say "I love you" to my children and husband every day.
Good!

Thanks for listening!

Let's go to B&D's

Today has been a rather lazy day. I just didn't have the energy to follow our usual schedule, so we spent most of the afternoon watching "Life in the Undergrowth", another installment in one of my favorite nature series, the Life Collection, from the BBC of course. We haven't seen them all, but the ones we have seen are excellent! And I just love David Attenborough. The Blue Planet is another nature series favorite, but I digress. Anyway, when dinnertime came around, I didn't want to fix anything so we ordered pizza and finished watching "Life in the Undergrowth". I'd say it was a good day. It wouldn't be good to do that sort of thing everyday, but once in a while it's fun (and necessary) to have a "B&D's" day. For those of you who don't know, B&D's was a burger joint within walking distance of the music building on the U campus. Whenever we needed a break from the stress of college life, someone would say, "Let's go to B&D's" and we'd go. Gradually a B&D's day came to mean a day where you just say to heck with life/responsibility and go have fun and relax. I don't know if anyone from that group still uses the term, but I do because it perfectly captures the feeling, in just a few words, of days like today.

Long live B&D's.

House Shopping

We had made of offer on a house. Sadly, there was another offer to compete with. The offers were equal, but the other offer had a contingency. They had to sell their house before they could buy, so our offer looked like the better one. Since their offer was technically first, we had to give them a chance to remove the contingency. Well, they did and we lost the house. Oh well! The market is still coming down, so I have high hopes that we can find another house without too much trouble. I'm excited because some 4 bedroom houses are coming into our price range. The top of our range, granted, but we're within striking distance now! When we first started looking, I couldn't believe the junky houses that people were trying to sell, and for how much! I'm so glad we didn't try to buy a house when we first moved here. The market is in a free fall and we would have lost a lot of money between then and now. When we were in grad school, I was very concerned about our being able to afford a house when we finished because prices were rising so fast, so I feel really blessed to be looking for a home in such a buyer favorable market. To tell you the truth, I don't really like home shopping. You have to shift through a lot of 'crap' to find something good and it takes a lot of research time and legwork to say nothing of the legal hoops once your offer is accepted. But it will all be worth it in the end if I can finally have a space for my garden and the kids can have a yard to play in!

Musings

Some days my life feels like an endless monotony of laundry, cleaning, and cooking (though I do enjoy cooking, it does get a little tiresome to be preparing for and cleaning up from 3 meals every day). I once read somewhere that doing at least one thing every day that did not need to be done again would help combat that feeling. So today my thing that did not have to be done again was to finish reading "Pride and Prejudice" (again, I must admit, but I certainly didn't have to!). I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the book and what fun the story is to read. Reading is probably my favorite "don't have to do it again" activity, but I also like doing things that have concrete results, like sewing, cross stitching, or crochet or even cleaning and organizing a closet. It makes me feel accomplished and I have something to show for the time spent. Granted, I don't have the luxury of being able to do those things every day, but the more often I can, the happier I am with life.

And crochet therapy is cheaper then real therapy.

Answers

1. Through the Looking Glass

2. "I Want to Hold Your Hand", The Beatles

3. Star Wars: A New Hope

4. "Sunrise, Sunset", Fiddler on the Roof

5. The Pokey Little Puppy

6. "California Dreamin'", The Mamas and The Papas

7. The Magic Flute, Mozart

8. "We Will Rock You", Queen

9. The Tell-Tale Heart, Poe

10. "Dancing Queen", Abba

11. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

12. "Smells Like Teen Spirit", Nirvana

13. The Elephant’s Child

14. Peter Pan

15. "Nothing Compares 2 U", Sinead O'Connor

16. Fahrenheit 451

17. 1984

18. "Rock Lobster", The B-52's

19. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

20. MacBeth

21. What about Bob?

22. "With or Without You", U2

23. The Princess Bride (the book)

24. "June is Bustin Out All Over", Carosel

25. A Christmas Story

26. "Blowin' in the Wind", Bob Dylan

27. Mary Poppins

28. "The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald"

29. Monty Python & the Holy Grail

30. Pride & Prejudice

Looking at these again, I think I should have chosen fewer songs and more books. Oh well! If you'd like, you can post how many you got correct, along with your favorite first line that I didn't include here.

"It Was a Dark and Stormy Night"

One of my favorite regular features in Home Education magazine is their "Good Stuff" segment. It is always based on a theme and the author recommends various resources to learn more about the chosen theme. This month's theme was "Wretched Writers Welcome" based on the The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest in which participants compete to write the first sentence of the world's most dreadful novel. (You can read more about that in the article.) One of the recommended resources was a game called "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night", a board game of first lines, in which players move their pieces around a board, trying to identify titles and authors from the first line of a well-known book (or movie). I love board games and I love books so this sounded like the perfect game for me! Sadly the $50 price tag is rather more than I can justify spending on a board game. However, as the last line of the article says: "...don't forget that adroit homeschoolers with a handy pack of index cards can always invent first-line games of their own." And so came the idea for this post.

In this version of the game, anything is fair game for first lines; books, movies, songs, operas, plays, etc. I tried to choose lines from media that a larger number of people would have been exposed to, just to be fair. There are 30 lines. I'll post the answers tomorrow, and, if you'd like, you can post how many you got correct, along with your favorite first line that I didn't include here. Enjoy and good luck!

1. One thing was certain, that the white kitten had had nothing to do with it: - it was the black kitten's fault entirely.

2. Oh yeah, I’ll tell you something, I think you'll understand.

3. Did you hear that? They shut down the main reactor. We’ll be destroyed for sure. This is madness.

4. Is this the little girl I carried, Is this the little boy at play?

5. Five little puppies dug a hole under the fence and went for a walk in the wide, wide world.

6. All the leaves are brown, And the sky is grey

7. Help! Oh help! Or else I am lost, a certain victim of the cunning serpent.

8. Buddy you’re a boy make a big noise Playin in the street gonna be a big man some day

9. True! – Nervous- very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?

10. Friday night and the lights are low Looking out for the place to go

11. It was the middle of winter, and the snowflakes were falling like feathers from the sky, and the queen sat at her window working, and her embroidery-frame was of ebony.

12. Load up on guns. Bring your friends. It's fun to lose and to pretend. She's overborne and self-assured. Oh no, I know a dirty word

13. In the high and far-off times the elephant, oh best beloved, had no trunk.

14. All children, except one, grow up.

15. It's been seven hours and fifteen days Since you took your love away

16. It was a pleasure to burn.

17. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

18. We were at a party. His ear lobe fell in the deep. Someone reached in and grabbed it

19. Dismount! Herman’s horse-sick!

20. When shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning, or in rain?

21. I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful.

22. See the stone set in your eyes. See the thorn twist in your side

23. This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.

24. March went out like a lion Awakin' up the water in the bay;

25. Ah, there it is. My house. And good old Cleveland Street. How could I ever forget it?

26. How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?

27. All right, ladies and gents, comical poems suitable for the occasion, extemporized and thought up before your very eyes.

28. The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee.

29. Whoa there! Halt! Who goes there?

30. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Fantasy and SciFi

Megan's comment on my 100th post really got me thinking. I said I love fantasy and science fiction books (#22), but it has been quite a while since I have read any! Sad. Part of that, I believe, is because I am very picky about what I read. I am especially wary of books that seem too popular. For example, I didn't read any of the Harry Potter books until just before #5 came out. Of course once I started I was hooked. I haven't read any of the Twilight books for the same reason. Another reason why I haven't read any scifi or fantasy lately is because I read them all when I was a tween/teen! During the summer I would go to the library and check out 3-5 books (usually 200+ pages), read them all in one week, then go back and get more the next week. I quickly burned through the entire fantasy section of the library and most of the science fiction section. Ah, to have that kind of time again!

So what are my favorites? In fantasy my absolute favorite books are the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I think I have read these books more times than any other book (except the scriptures). I first read them when I was in 7th grade. I come by my obsession honestly; my mother was a ring nut. She once skipped all her college classes to read through the whole thing in 3 days (I think, correct me if I'm wrong). She wanted to name me Arwen, but my dad wouldn't agree to it. Just FYI, if we ever have a girl, she will be named Arwen (or maybe Arwyn).

As for favorite science fiction, that one is a little harder to choose. I'd have to go with the Foundation series, just because I've read them more times than the others. Probably not the whole series though, just the first 3 books. Isaac Asimov is definitely my favorite scifi author. I read every book they had of his in the library, short stories, the robot novels, etc. Ray Bradbury runs a very close second. I like his short stories better and his novels are definitely more thought provoking. Of his books, I really enjoyed "The Illustrated Man" (short stories), "Something Wicked this Way Comes" (maybe not strictly scifi), "The Martian Chronicles", and of course "Fahrenheit 451". My favorite short story of his is "A Sound of Thunder". Wow!

Here are my second tier favorites:

Fantasy
Shannara Series (though I stopped when I got tired of the formula)
Magic Kingdom for Sale-Sold
The Dark is Rising series, Susan Cooper
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Merlin Series, Mary Stewart
Harry Potter series (of course)
The Hobbit
A Wrinkle in Time series
The Last Unicorn

Science Fiction
Sphere (book is SO much better than the movie)
Jurassic Park
2001: A Space Odyssey (also 2010 and 2061)
Richter 10
1984
Dune
Frankenstein

I'm sure there are more I could list, but these are the ones that come to mind first.

Not really on topic, but I just have to bring up one of my favorite, newly discovered, sites for bookophiles: GoodReads.com. Share all your favorite (and not so favorite) books with your friends! And be my friend too!

What are your favorites?

Better Air

I want to comment on an article from the May 2008 issue of Discover Magazine. There are several good articles in the segment "Better Planet Solutions" that I will probably comment on later, but this one caught my attention first. It is not available online, but if you want to read the whole article, it should be available at almost any library. Entitled "Better Air" it addresses concerns about world wide pollution. According to the article, 800,000 people are killed each year by the effects of air pollution.

"While big vehicles like Hummers and other SUVs are often blamed for excessive emissions, some of the worst culprits are the smallest rides around. Throughout Asia, vehicles with two-stroke engines produce vast amounts of pollutions."

Apparently, a single two-stroke engine produces pollution equal to that of 30-50 four-stroke engines. The author estimates 100 million motorcycles in Asia, giving off 2.5 billion cars' worth of pollution. Yuck! Several solutions have been tried, but without lasting effect. Enter Envrofit with a retrofit kit for two stroke engines that reduces emissions by almost 90 percent while increasing fuel efficiency by up to 35 percent. They have done field tests in the Philippines on tricycle taxis where after 8 months, the retrofit not only reduced emissions, but saved the taxi drivers money.

"By cutting fuel loss and reducing oil use by up to 50 percent, the modified engines may save their users as much as $600 a year. Bauer (co founder) believes that Envirofit could produce up to 500,000 kits in five years, 'putting $190 million into the hand of some of the poorest people' in the world."

IMO, that is the best part! I'm no big fan of pollution and if technology can reduce it AND save people money at the same time, it definitely has my support. Now, the article doesn't say how much the kit costs, which I can see as a big drawback if the upfront costs are prohibitive, even if it will save money in the long run. People aren't always very good at considering "the long run" so we'll see if this brings the improvement hoped for. Hopefully the word of mouth from the trials will be enough to get interest going!

After all, it's a step in the right direction...

Halloween (a little late)

Time to play catch up! I don't know how I missed posting this, but here are the boys 2007 Halloween costumes.


Younger ds is a cat, costume made by my mother. Older ds is a dog, costume made by me. I actually made his sweats with a pattern I drew myself because I could not find any cream colored sweats in the stores to match the hood fabric.

This is Fred. (Younger ds named him.) We made him out of milk jugs and hung him outside our door. We liked him so much we even made a pilgrim hat for him so he could stay up for Thanksgiving too. We were planning to give him a santa hat for Christmas, but the wind blew his legs off and he had to be recycled. Poor Fred.

Awareness Test

For all the cyclists in my life (esp. my dh)

My Favorite Homeschool Reads

A Thomas Jefferson Education

The Well-Adjusted Child

Home Education Magazine

The Homeschooling Book of Answers

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

By no means an exhaustive list, but a good start if you're starting out!

My skirt

As promised, here's a pic of the skirt I sewed recently! Sorry, the pics aren't great, bad lighting. It's an a-line wraparound skirt. No waistband, no zippers. It uses snaptape to hold it together. The best thing about it is I didn't have to hem any of the edges since they are all frayed. I just sewed a straight stich, then a zig-zag, pulled out the extra threads and viola! EASY! And super cute.

Close up of a frayed hem

The book with the instructions. I highly recommend it!

"In a different voice"

Normally on Saturday we clean the house as a family in the morning, and then have the afternoon for family fun. Not today! My dh had to observe a class at the college this morning at 8am, so he was gone by 7:15. The boys and I started the cleaning and worked up until he got home just after noon. After lunch I had to get ready for a rehearsal and performance about 30 minutes away (I didn't get home until 10pm!) My dh finished up the cleaning and then he and the boys went biking at the local elementary, watched "Underdog" and ate pizza for a "boys' night in." When I got home the house was [mostly] clean, the dishwasher was loaded and the boys were peacefully asleep.

My favorite "servant" is my sexy dh.

Ghostwritten by the sexy "servant"

ds Pics

When I got my new digital camera, we gave the old camera to my older ds. He loves it! Here are some of the photos he's taken.

Lego Creation (not sure what it is)

Our fave ice cream from CA

The boat made from his prize winning zucchini

Of course, he is especially fond of taking silly pictures. And being in silly pictures, which means he has to share with his younger brother.

He does a good job with a not-so-hot camera, IMHO. I love that he can take as many photos as he wants and I don't have to worry about wasted film!

Kids

Today at dinner my younger ds said "When the sun sets on Sunday, then it's Moonnight, because there's a moon and it's night." Makes perfect sense to me!

Yes, Your Highness

When I have a busy day and am feeling "put upon", I like to pretend to be a queen, ordering my servants around.

I order my tub to fetch me water and warm it up for my bath. I order the sink to fetch water so I can brush my teeth. I order the washing machine to wash my clothes and the dryer to hang them out to dry. I order the stove/oven to cook my food. I order the dishwasher to clean up the dishes. I order the vacuum to beat the rugs (I have to keep careful watch to make sure it's done right.) If it's cold, I order the heater to build up the fires. If it's hot, I order the air conditioner to fan me. I order the car to hitch the horses to the coach so I can drive to market. I order the computer, TV, CD player, and mp3 player to entertain me. Sometimes I order the breadmaker to make me a loaf of bread and the crock pot to make my dinner. I order the phone/email to take a message to the neighboring kingdoms.

All this helps me be grateful and remember that I have it better now then most royalty ever did.

FHE

Last night for Family Home Evening my younger ds had the lesson. His idea was to have everyone draw pictures of something Jesus did. Here's what they came up with:

Older ds: Jesus and Peter walking on the water.
(Check out the guy in the boat)

Younger ds: The resurrection

The one kneeling down is Mary. Sadly, I wasn't there as I had a rehearsal. I was really impressed with what they came up. The whole thing was younger ds' own idea. I don't think I could have planned a better lesson myself.

100th post!

Sorry to copy everyone who has done this, but I think it's really cool. So here you go!

100 things about me...

1. I love to cook.
2. I'm not a gourmet.
3. If you ate at my house, you'd think I was a health nut.
4. I probably am a health nut, by most people's standards.
5. I miss my garden in California.
6. I miss most everything about California, except the cost of living.
7. I really, really miss going to Disneyland.
8. I love ice cream.
9. I don't eat ice cream much anymore, because none of it is quite as good as Strickland's in CA.
10. I love chocolate, really, really dark chocolate.
11. I don't like chocolate ice cream.
12. I love my husband. He's my very best friend.
13. I want a sexy nightgown, but not too sexy.
14. I haven't found a nightgown I like, not even a pattern for one.
15. I love to sew.
16. I have a crappy Bernette sewing machine.
17. I love my serger! Well, my grandma's serger that she is letting me borrow....
18. I hauled the serger onto the plane in the carry on luggage. They stopped me at security and I had to send it back through the giant x-ray before they would let me go.
19. I will never to that again.
20. I heart my dishwasher! No more paper plates for me!
21. I am a voracious reader.
22. I love science fiction and fantasy.
23. I read a lot of non-fiction, mostly for my job as executive in charge of domestic affairs.
24. I would die without the library. Well, maybe I'd just be buried in the books I would have to buy without it.
25. I have 4 bookcases full of books.
26. I have given away 3 bookcases and the books that were on them.
27. I still have more books than will fit on my bookcases.
28. When I am reading, I am blind and deaf to the world.
29. Most of my work can be ignored for a time without serious consequences, except feeding the children.
30. I make lists and schedules for everything.
31. I have an impossibly high standard of cleanliness. It's my mother's fault. ;)
32. I have (for the most part) successfully enlisted the aid of my children in cleaning.
33. I like broccoli.
34. I hated broccoli as a child, mostly because it was organically grown in our garden and I would always find worms/caterpillars on it right as I was about to eat it. I had to eat it anyway.
35. I have always loved tomatoes and spinach.
36. I liked that I was usually the only one in my class that liked tomatoes and spinach.
37. I hated always being the tallest in my elementary class.
38. I am one of the shorter people in my family.
39. I can't think of anything I'd rather do than be a stay at home mom. Really, I've tried.
40. I'm thinking about adopting.
41. I'd really like to adopt a deaf child.
42. I really miss my deaf friend from CA.
43. I'm thinking about completing the ASL interpreter program at the college.
44. I'm scared that it will be too hard.
45. I'm socially inept.
46. My hands are the same size as my husband's, just skinnier.
47. I learned to read music at about the same time I learned to read.
48. I've always wanted curly auburn hair.
49. My hair is poker straight and 'dishwater' blonde.
50. I'd like to go on a cruise.
51. If it takes longer than 30 minutes to drive somewhere, I probably won't go.
52. I don't make friends easily.
53. I still keep in touch with some of my friends from High School.
54. I don't know where any of my mission companions are.
55. I think my kids are amazing.
56. I love Legos.
57. I love doing crafts, but I hate making messes.
58. I don't like being cold.
59. I don't like being hot.
60. Did I mention I miss CA?
61. I wish I were a better mother.
62. I don't like going out to eat.
63. My first date with my husband was a marching band performance at the unveiling of the mascots for the Utah Winter Olympics. I was playing in the band.
64. I have worked at a shaved ice stand, the "Country Shopper" (now defunct), as a flagger, house painter, theatre usher, bus driver and dispatcher.
65. I could never have a desk job.
66. The furthest East (and West) I have been is Japan.
67. Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada is the furthest North I have been.
68. Hawaii is the furthest South I've gone.
69. I don't like watching movies or TV that much, but I always get sucked in.
70. I wish someone would nominate me for "What Not To Wear".
71. I love nearly every show on Food Network, but especially "Good Eats".
72. I don't like "Law and Order: SVU" that much, but I can't stop watching it once I start.
73. I am a huge Star Trek fan.
74. I love to get old kids shows from my childhood (Underdog, Electric Co., Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street Old School) from the library.
75. I have a terrible short term memory, esp. for number and names of people and streets. Sometimes my long term memory for those things isn't so hot either.
76. I love reading other people's blogs.
77. I have a BMu in Music Education.
78. I have never taught music in a school.
79. I would not teach music in a school (public or private) even if I was desperate.
80. I might get a masters and teach music at a community college, if I had to.
81. I really enjoy teaching private music lessons.
82. Instruments I play, by proficiency: flute, piano, baritone, sousaphone, trombone, recorder, and everything else (in the orchestra) on a beginning level.
83. Instruments I cannot play at all, but wish I could: guitar, accordion, bagpipes.
84. I love to crochet, but I do not knit and do not intend to learn.
85. Stuffed animals are my favorite things to crochet, then baby and toddler clothes, esp. girls.
86. I have too much yarn and fabric. Just ask my husband.
87. I just made myself an awesome skirt with a pattern I drew myself. I'll post a pic of it soon.
88. I have a hard time saying no when someone asks me to do something for them.
89. I don't understand why anyone would ever smoke. Not even a little.
90. I am very paranoid about noises in the house at night. If I hear something, even something imaginary, I can't go back to sleep until I send dh to go see what it is. (He never complains. Really.)
91. I don't play with my kids as much as I would like to, or thought I would, or should even.
92. I replace all purpose flour with whole wheat flour in every recipe I make. It's worked fine every time, so far.
93. I hate driving.
94. I wish my kids would like what I fix for dinner.
95. When I got married, we registered at a piano store rather then a department store. Who needs dishes? A piano is much more important! I have never regretted it.
96. I am teaching my older ds piano lessons. I'm not very good, but he is.
97. I love gardening. It is the best therapy for me. I don't have one now but I like to imagine all the things I will plant when I finally have a garden of my own.
98. I hate shopping. Clothes, food, all of it.
99. I either need more storage space or less stuff. Probably less stuff.
100. I spend way too much time on the internet.

Whew! That was hard but kind of fun. I bet this list will be fun for me to look back at in a few years, assuming Blogger is still around!

Thanks to everyone who is still reading my blog after 100 posts!

Homemade Christmas: Cranberry Conserve

I canned a few jars of this cranberry conserve for local friends this past Christmas. Yummy! Just FYI, it's a conserve and not a preserve because it has nuts in it (pecans; I don't like walnuts). It also has golden raisins in it. Mmmmm. It goes great on bread or as a garnish on turkey or other poultry. Think leftover turkey sandwich. I think I'm going to have to make this a tradition every year.

Often, the less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it.

PS In case you didn't notice, I forgot to blog yesterday! Oh well, I'll just do like the public schools and have an extra "snow day" post on the 1st of May. Hopefully I won't miss any more days.

Homemade Christmas: Blues Afghan

I made this afghan for my sister who just returned from a mission in Spain. It's (sort of) my original pattern. I'm telling on myself here, but the two center squares are from this pattern. When it became apparent that I would not finish in time if I continued, I changed to the above simpler pattern.

I had an extra square that I sewed onto the back so it could be folded into this handy dandy pillow. Plus you can stick your feet in the pocket to keep them warm when it's unfolded.

What's on my Yahoo! toolbar

(besides the normal stuff):

Google Calendar
Flickr
Yahoo! Groups
Blogger
goodreads
YouTube
Wikipedia
SheetMusic Plus
AddAll
PaperBack Swap
Amazon
Half.com
Yahoo! Comics
Yahoo! Games
Weather

Anything else I should add?

Sad Good-bye

I've been meaning to post these pics for a while now. They were taken on our last visit to Disneyland and CA Adventure.

We got the whole family SoCal Annual passes for Christmas 2005. Expensive, but well worth it! If you divide the money spent on the passes by the number of days we went to the park(s), it ended up being maybe $5 a visit. You can't get that kind of family fun cheaper anywhere! We had only intended to keep the passes for a year, but the last week before they expired the boys decided that they liked the faster rides (ie. Big Thunder Mtn., Star Tours, etc.) So of course we had to renew!! Then my dh got his job here and we had to abandon our passes in the middle of the year. These pics were taken on the last day before the passes were blacked out for the summer, just before we left the parks forever (most likely). It was a sad, sad day. I still get misty looking at them.

Good-bye California Adventure!

Good-bye Disneyland!

Though they were expensive, I don't regret getting annual passes for a moment. We created some great family memories there and it was great to watch as the boys grew from Fantasyland to Adventure and Tomorrowland. I hope the boys will have some great childhood memories of that time to look back on.

Good-bye, old friend.

Wash day

I am so impressed with my boys! Today was their day to help with the laundry. They've gotten pretty good at it. My older ds can do the whole thing himself! He knows how to sort the clothes, how much soap to put in the washer, and where and how to set the dials. He also knows how the dryer works. And the best part is that he feels so accomplished knowing how to do it all himself, I rarely have to encourage him to do it. Now if I could only convince him that folding his clothes is cool too.

Homemade Birthdays

I crocheted this cute little piggy for my niece's birthday. It was super quick and easy! I found the pattern here. They have several more designs that are just as cute. Now all I need is an excuse to make them!!

Show me how the piggies eat!

General Conference

Well, it's been another wonderful conference! This time I tried something a little different from what I've done in the past. Before conference, I wrote down some questions and inspiration I wanted answered to see which would be answered by the talks, and to focus my listening. Well, every thing I wrote down was answered in some way during conference, some directly and some by spiritual impressions that weren't necessarily related to the topic. Even though I was expecting it, I was really amazed.

There are two talks that really stand out in my mind, both from the Sunday afternoon session. The first one is Elder M. Russell Ballard's talk to young mothers. I felt like it was addressed directly to me. The best piece of advice for young mothers that I got from it was to realize that joy comes in moments. This short time raising children is too soon gone, so live in the moment!! I am too concerned with finishing whatever it is I'm doing, especially with the kids, that I don't take the time to enjoy it and them. So this week I am going to do my best to enjoy, really savor, some moments with my boys.

The second talk didn't really address anything I wrote down to listen for, but I was very inspired by the talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. It was so direct and powerful!

I loved every talk and I can't wait for the May Ensign so I can read them all! Luckily, I don't have to! They are all available online here, to read, listen to, or watch in English or ASL.

This year we ventured to take the boys to conference at the church. Usually we just watch it on the Internet, but the bishop challenged us to attend at least one session at the church. So we went to the Sunday morning session (at noon here!) and it was a good experience. The boys behaved really well, and I really enjoyed it. I don't know that the experience was any better than watching it at home, but I'm glad we followed the bishops counsel. We'll definitely make it a tradition.

Just as an aside, I was so excited to see the improved video feeds on the church website. There were virtually no problems with stalling that we have experienced in the past. We alternated between watching the English feed and watching the ASL feed. If you've never watched the ASL video feed, you should. ASL is a very expressive language and can really add depth to a talk, even if you don't understand it.

The Family Farm

Recently I came across an interesting article in the Intercollegiate Review (a conservative publication, you've been warned) called The Curious Return of the Small Family Farm. I was amazed and excited! I grew up on what might be termed a 'small family farm' and it's a way of life I would really love to have again, if I could.

Here's an excerpt from the first page:

Industrialized farming appears to be “pregnant”... with agrarianism, a humanistic approach to agriculture that would re-attach people to the soil. The farming future may not lie with the consolidators, speculators, and agribusinesses. [yay!] Rather, it may lie with the resurrection of a family-centered agriculture. ...[L]and-use expert Eric Freyfogle enthuses, “agrarianism is again on the rise” and “agrarian ways and virtues are resurging in American culture.”

It is something I think we have been sorely missing since the advent of the industrialized farm. Our mass produced produce, available only in artificially lighted stores without a trace of dirt on it, has created a disconnect from 'nature' and where food actually comes from. Ask any child where they get their food and they will tell you "From the store". I've also noticed a growing concern about children (and everyone really) not getting enough outdoor time and I wonder if the two could be related. But of course that is a topic for a dissertation, not a blog!

At any rate I found this article very compelling and exciting. The section 'Household Restored' really expresses my feeling as to why the agrarian way of life is valuable to our society. Here's an excerpt:

What is agrarianism? The poet, novelist, essayist, and farmer Wendell Berry—America’s
leading agrarian voice—describes this worldview as the countervailing idea to industrialism. The industrial economy, he writes, constitutes the culture of “the one-night stand. ‘I had a good time,’ says the industrial lover, ‘but don’t ask me my last name.’” Agrarianism rests, in contrast, on a culture defined by marriage, a long-term covenant of mutual care.

That means not only care for your own family, but care for your neighbors as well. The article further states that healthy agrarian households require recovering husbandry and housewifery.

Husbandry is “the work of a domestic man, a man who has accepted a bondage to the household.” The husbanding mind is “both careful and humble,” ready “to keep, to save, to make last, to conserve.”

Sounds like a great guy! ;) The antithesis of 'husbandry' (soil and animal) is “soil science” and “animal science”, the latter which the authors characterize as “the animal factory which . . . is a vision of Hell.” Indeed.

In the agrarian world view, family is central. It's everything really, you couldn't survive without it. Perhaps this the the biggest reason why I find this way of life so appealing.

While sharing many traits, agrarianism differs from environmentalism in an important way. Particularly among “deep ecologists,” human beings are seen as the problem, the source of environmental degradation, a “cancer” on the planet. This view might be summarized as “the
fewer humans, the better.” In contrast, agrarians are buoyant humanists, welcoming children and the close settlement of human beings on the land. As two sympathetic writers summarize, “Agrarians. . . assert that a flourishing life standardly incorporates . . . interdependence with neighbors in a geographically limited, relatively self-sufficient, intergenerationally stable community . . . and a measure of personal self-sufficiency through physical labor, preferably on one’s own property.”

And that is what makes it so great! It promotes strong family ties and a strong community, both of which are sadly lacking in a purely industrial society. In the industrial society, children are seen as a burden because they cannot contribute to that society in a meaningful way.

Well, I could say more on the subject, but the article really does a better job of it than I could. Maybe I've been reading too many "Little House on the Prairie" books lately, but I really feel like this new agrarianism is definitely worth supporting. Since I can't live it myself (though I would love to) I will do the next best thing by supporting my local small farmer. Luckily, there is a small organic farm just up the road from us, so it will be easy for me to get my produce there (once the harvesting starts) rather than exclusively from the grocery store. And I am looking forward to having my own garden soon, hopefully next year!! After that, we may consider adding a chicken or two, maybe a goat, but not for a few more years.

Homemade Christmas: Blanket and Juggling Balls

My older ds made these Christmas gifts. The first was for one of his cousins on my side. He designed it himself, I sewed the candy cane on and we both tied the edges. The beanbags he made all himself. The juggling balls were for a cousin on my dh's side. He cut out the fabric himself and sewed them together with some help from me. They turned out so cute! I had to hide them after he finished so he and his brother wouldn't play with them!

Resolution Update

1. Keep up my exercise routine.
I am especially frustrated with this one. Because I injured my knee I have not been able to exercise much for the last month and a half and I am going crazy!! I've been doing some upper body weight training, but it just isn't the same. Thankfully, I think my knee is finally up to exercising again, if I take it slow. So starting Saturday, I plan to go walking for at least 30 minutes 5 times a week. Of course, that all depends on how my knee handles it.

2. Eat more.
I have really been making a concerted effort to buy and eat more fruits and veggies, especially veggies. So we are now eating more legumes, more whole grains, more fruits and veggies, and more things that are homemade (like tortillas, refried beans, hummus, and yogurt) and I'm working on eating more slowly. I don't know what more I can do!

3. Write in my journal once a week.
Going great! I'm almost done with my current journal (from my mission, 10 years ago, yikes!!).

4. Write in my blog once a month and once a day for one month.
Also great! And hopefully I'll be able to keep up the daily blogging this month. It's going well enough, that I'll think I'll add to this goal. So in addition I will blog once a month on the family blog and post on the LDS homeschooling Yahoo! group I'm in charge of (I've been really slacking on that). You won't get to see those posts since the groups are both private, but I thought some public accountability would help me there.

5. De-clutter one room a month.
I totally slacked off on this one for March. But the boy's room is already pretty organized, out of necessity. Anyway, it's a new month, so I get a new start! I'm going to change the schedule a bit. The living room really needs to be decluttered this month. I've got a pile of choir music that I'm organizing and cataloging before I return it to the church and a pile of stuff to get out of the house, either through Craigslist or Freecycle. So that's my goal this month.

6. Find some service to do.
Sighhh. Nothing here again. There must be a good way for me to do some service, but I'm really stuck. Any suggestions you have for me would be very appreciated!

7. Say "I love you" to my children and husband every day.
I think I'd like to add to this one too. I'm going to make "I love you" the first thing I say to my boys every day. I think it will help set the tone of the day for all of us!

8. 'Compact' participation (not perfection)
I'm still trying to reduce my junk mail load. Any ideas on how to stop them from sending me those annoying packages of local ads?

Thanks for keeping me motivated!

Easter

This year for Easter we decided to celebrate the whole week. The events of Easter are too important to our beliefs that we wanted to make sure it would be a holiday that they boys would enjoy, maybe not as much as Christmas, but at least more than Halloween! Basically we decided to have a devotional every day based upon the events in Christ's life for that day plus some little activity related to it.

We started out Palm Sunday by making 'palm leaves' out of construction paper and sticks and then doing a readers theatre (with simple costumes) of Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. It was a big hit with the boys. They read the script probably 5 times through before I made them stop. On Wed. we acted out the parable of the talents and showed them the 30 pieces of silver (quarters) that were promised to Judas Iscariot. Thursday we had a meal like the meal Jesus may have eaten at the Last Supper. The boys liked eating on the floor but they weren't too crazy about the food. Friday we watched "To This End Was I Born". A bit graphic, even for me. Sunday we woke up the the Hallelujah Chorus and had fish and honey (minus the comb) for lunch.

In all, I think it was a good experience, though there are a few things I will change for next year. But I think the importance of the message got through to them, as evidenced by this picture my younger ds drew:

He told me the first person, in red, is Mary, the one in brown is Joseph, the other two are disciples. They are thinking about the tomb.

Maybe I need to focus more on the resurrection next year. ;)

30 Days

I have chosen April as my "blog every day" month! I've never attempted this before, so we'll see how it goes. I hope I can think of 30 interesting things to blog about! Okay, so being "interesting" is not a requirement, but hopefully most of them will be interesting.

As April 1st approaches every year, dh and I contemplate announcing an "April Fools'" pregnancy, but so far we haven't been brave enough to do it. It's sometimes hard to tell if an April Fools' joke will cross the line, and I suspect an "April Fools'" pregnancy just might be one of those. So instead, late last night, we moved the boys into each other's beds. My older ds woke up at about 11pm, called my dh in and said "I think something's wrong here." We convinced him to stay there so his younger brother would be surprised in the morning. Younger ds was surprised, but I think they both didn't know quite what to think. Our final prank will be played on the ward choir. My dh signed up to bring the refreshments tonight and so we're bringing "french fries". We even got bags from Burger King to pack them in, and we'll buy a few bags of real fries to add the signature smell to the deception. We'll see if anyone is actually fooled. Food pranks are my favorite!

OK. You've fooled around long enough...

Need More Holidays?

Here's how they extend Valentine's Day in Japan and Korea. (Thanks to my friend in Japan for cluing me in to these!)

White Day
In Japan, girls give boys chocolate on Valentine's day. White Day (March 14th) is the boys day to reciprocate. The generally recited rule is that the return gift should be two to three times the cost of the Valentine's gift. Sounds good to me!

Black Day
If you didn't get to celebrate Valentine's Day or White Day, you celebrate Black Day (April 14th). Basically, you go to a restaurant with similarly single friends and eat white noodles with black bean sauce. Wish I'd know about this holiday when I was single! I might celebrate it anyway, just for fun.

Book Meme

I was tagged (voluntarily) with this by a friend from CA. Sounds fun, so here goes!

The rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!
2. Find page 123
3. Find the first 5 sentences
4. Post the next 3 sentences
5. Tag 5 people

I have a whole bookshelf next to my desk. "Mothering Your Nursing Toddler" seems to be the closest.

Weaning during pregnancy the 'natural' choice? The widespread taboo against nursing while pregnant is probably natural in the strictly biological sense of the word. Pregnancy is a state in which your system focuses its resources on the needs of the new baby, no matter what you may think about it intellectually.

Interesting.

Now it's your turn, if you want. Tagging is totally voluntary here. You can respond in the comments or post on your own blog. Be sure to let me know in the comments if you do.

Opera!

I love opera! For those of you who don't, here are some lighter looks at it that may just change your mind!

All The Great Operas in 10 Minutes
(Warning: may not be suitable for younger viewers)



What's Opera Doc



The Rabbit of Seville

Resolutions Update

I've been at it for a month! Time to see how it's going...

1. Keep up my exercise routine.
Grrr. I dislike winter. I was doing pretty well, considering, until I injured my knee. Not sure what happened, but it was really painful. I stayed off of it for a week so it would get better in time for me to brave the airport alone with my boys. Thankfully it did, but that means I haven't been excercising at all for over 2 weeks now (no excercising in UT, brrr). And now I'm sick and don't feel like walking in the cold. I feel like a blob. But on the up side, it's starting to get lighter by 6am so maybe I can start running/walking everyday! Yay for spring!

2. Eat more.
I certainly did that during the UT trip. ;) I couldn't find the books I wanted to read from the library, but I did manage to find some others along the same lines. My favorite was the Bean Bible. Tons of great legume recipes! I'm going to read some more books to see where our menus can be improved. I've started making tortillas from scratch (to avoid all the preservatives in the store bought variety); they are really good! We have also been eating more veggies, though not a lot more. They are hard to come by in winter in NJ. It is definitely easier to eat more fresh food in CA. Oh well, soon it will be spring, and maybe I can start my own garden!!! (assuming I have a house.)

3. Write in my journal once a week.
Not bad, though I did miss two weeks while we were in UT. But I'm not going for perfection here, so I'll just keep going. My boys write in their journals once a week as well. I love to read what they've written (or dictated)!

4. Write in my blog once a month and once a day for one month.
So far, so good. It's really fun! I've decided I'll need to choose a month to write every day before June when we will hopefully be moving into a house. I'm betting I'll be too overwhelmed after that to blog every day. So maybe April (or May) will be my blog every day month.

5. De-clutter one room a month.
I de-cluttered the 3rd bedroom and it looks great! My house feels so much cleaner/more organized, even though the rest of it really isn't. To be totally honest, some of the clutter from that room just moved into other rooms. Oh well, you've got to make a mess to get rid of a mess sometimes. Eventually it will all be organized or gone! For this month, my bedroom. I haven't started on it yet, but it shouldn't pose too much of a challange.

6. Find some service to do.
Why is this so hard for me? In my last ward we had a humanitarian interest group and the leader was great at finding service opportunites for us. There's nothing like that here and I'm not nearly as good at finding service as she was. Sighhh. Also, I just found out one of my friends is expecting, so the baby blanket may go to her instead of a hospital. Sorry! Maybe crocheting leper bandages will be the way to go for me.

7. Say "I love you" to my children and husband every day.
So far so good! I think I'll add 'be more positive' to this one.

8. 'Compact' participation
This is actually proving more difficult. I have stopped reading mailed (and emailed) ads and catalogs. And I have looked at used options for items we want to purchase. But it's really hard to buy something used when it only costs a few dollars less then new! Grrr. I've also stopped looking for used clothes for the boys. None of the stores have them in their sizes. And I can understand why, they wear them out faster then they grow out of them! Oh well. Like I said, participation not perfection. I think the next step I will take in this direction will be to cancel all the catalogs I get in the mail (except seed catalogs!). I don't know how they found me when I moved, but they did.

There it is!

Vegetarian Recipes

A friend of mine recently asked for vegetarian recipies on her blog. Here's my contribution! These are some of my favorites. I've been toying with going vegetarian for Lent for a few years now, but haven't actually done it. Good luck to you!

Spicy Lentil and Bean Chili

Heat In a large pot:
1 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup diced carrots

Cook, stirring frequently, 3 to 5 minutes til softened.

Add:
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. dried oregano

Cook and stir 30 seconds.

Add:
2 cups vegetable stock
½ cup brown lentils

Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 25 minutes.

Add:
1 (10 oz.) can diced tomatoes with chiles
1 (14 ½ oz.) can red kidney beans, drained, rinsed.
¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper

Cook, covered, 10 to 15 minutes or until lentils are tender. Spoon into bowls with sour cream or rice, if desired. Serves 4 (with leftovers).

=============================

I found this next recipe in a vegetarian magazine. Yummy! Makes a lot of toppings, so unless you want leftovers, I'd half the recipes. IMHO, the one with tofu isn't quite as good as the other two, though tofu might be a good cottage cheese replacement instead.

Baked Sweet Potato Bar

Cook until tender:
4 medium sweet potatoes

Tofu-Apple Topping
Combine in a bowl:
1 cup silken tofu, drained and crumbled
1 apple, diced
½ cup granola
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
½ tsp. ground cinnamon

Cottage Cheese and Spinach Topping
Combine in a bowl:
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup chopped baby spinach
½ cup golden raisins

Maple Yogurt Topping with Bacon Bits (my favorite!)
Combine in a bowl:
1 cup greek yogurt
2 Tbs. maple syrup
¼ tsp. (or less!) ancho chile powder
1 Tbs. chopped chives
¼ tsp. (or less!) cayenne pepper
⅛ tsp. salt
6 oz. vegetarian bacon, crumbled

Negativity and family life

I'm stealing the idea for this post from a friend's blog, but I'm sure she won't mind! I found it very interesting....

First some articles:

"Our Brain's Negative Bias" by Hara Marano

Basically, it says our brains pay more attention to negative input, therefore to have a healthy marriage (and other relationships), positive interaction has to outweigh negative by 5 to 1.

This statement really stuck out to me:
"Occasional big positive experiences--say, a birthday bash--are nice. But they don't make the necessary impact on our brain to override the tilt to negativity. It takes frequent small positive experiences to tip the scales toward happiness."

Actually, dh and I don't have much trouble getting enough positive interaction. I guess that's why we're still married after almost 9 years!

"The Positive - Negative Ratio" by Sarah Chana Radcliffe, M.Ed., C.Psych.Assoc.

In summary, parental power to discipline comes from establishing a good relationship with the child and a good relationship (from the child's POV) is created by more positive interactions, at a ratio of 4 to 1.

"If the parent consistently makes predominantly positive actions, the child will perceive the parent as loving.On the other hand, if the parent makes predominantly negative actions, the child will usually perceive the parent as unloving, even hurtful -- despite the fact that the parent might be filled with love for the child!
"The ideal positive-to-negative ratio is 80 to 20.That is, for every four positive actions a parent makes towards his child, he can afford to make one negative one."

I have actually believed this for some time, though I never had any research to back it up. ;) My younger ds had been acting up recently, being belligerent and spending a lot of time in 'time out'. Our usual methods didn't help at all, so I thought "maybe he just wants more attention and if I give him more positive attention, then he won't need to act up to get it." So my dh and I started giving him more hugs and telling him we loved him more often, esp. first thing in the morning and last thing at night. And it really helped! Of course, we're not perfect (who is) but things have definitely improved. I really didn't change any of my other discipline techniques. This says to me that it isn't how you discipline, it's how you treat your child when you are not disciplining them that make discipline effective.

At any rate I will be putting even more effort into creating positive interaction in my family!

ASL at the Super Bowl!

Watch for the commercial during the super bowl pre-game, and perhaps during the game.

Behind the scenes:

LOL!

See more here.

Suprised? Of course not!

Yes, I'm a trekkie. But not an uber-Trekkie. Though you might argue with the results of this test if you saw my Netflix Queue with every single Star Trek episode on it and knew that we (dh and I) are in the process of watching all the episodes in order. We've made it through TOS and we're at the point in TNG where DS9 starts, so now we need to alternate the two according to original airdate.

Homemade Christmas: Striped Lapghan

This is the Lapghan I made for my sil (dh's oldest sister). I actually bought the yarn at the beginning of the year, but didn't get started on it until the last quarter. Thankfully the pattern is really simple and it worked up quite quickly. It's made with Lion Brand Wool-Ease, so it's soft and washable and won't break the bank.

Homemade Christmas: Puppet Theatre

This gift was from my younger ds to my brother's oldest dd. As you can tell, he didn't make most of it. Here's the story: It was originally a gift for him, but when I asked him if he'd like to give it to his cousin, he was quite excited about it. (I'll make him another one at some point.) He and his older brother helped me design the layout on the front, and they made the sock puppets to go with it. It's hard to see, but there are four of them; a pink flowered one with sparkly pink hair, a brown dog, a purple striped snake, and a red striped 'alien'. We checked out a book from the library about making puppets, and for weeks it was the only thing they could talk about! They were really excited to give it to their cousin, they were just sure she would love it!

2008 Resolutions

My motto for 2008 is "Participation NOT Perfection".

That means it is not necessary to follow these resolutions perfectly, just do something! It also means that if I happen to 'mess up' I don't give up, but I move forward and try again. So with that in mind, here goes....

1. Keep up my exercise routine.
2. Eat more.
3. Write in my journal once a week.
4. Write in my blog once a month and once a day for one month.
5. De-clutter one room a month.
6. Find some service to do.
7. Say "I love you" to my children and husband every day.
8. 'Compact' participation (not perfection)

The Details

1. Keep up my exercise routine.
That means running 3 miles at least 3 days a week. It will prove to be more difficult this semester. My dh will leave for work at 7am, so I'll need to go running at 6am! Early! Dark! Cold! But the alternative of exercise DVDs is not a good one for me. Boring! I'm not sure how I'm going to do it....

2. Eat more.
Healthy stuff, that is! I resolve to eat (and serve) more fruits, veggies, legumes, and whole foods. To help me do this, I plan to get (check out from the library) two books, "Country Beans" and "Whole Foods for the Whole Family". I've also been thinking about joining a co-op for the fruits and veggies, but it is rather expensive. We'll see how our finances are!

3. Write in my journal once a week.
This seems to be my max at this point in my life, so this resolution won't change. I'll write in my journal once a week on Sunday afternoons.

4. Write in my blog once a month and once a day for one month.
I'll keep up with the once a month thing, but for one month this year I will write something on my blog everyday. I haven't decided which month yet.... I hope it will be a fun and challenging creative outlet for me.

5. De-clutter one room a month.
Once again, this is necessary for my sanity. You'd think I wouldn't have clutter yet since we just moved recently, but you'd be wrong! I think the problem comes from having less storage space in our current apartment than our previous one. So it's time to get rid of stuff and find homes for everything else! I'll start with the third bedroom (jan), then my room (feb), the boys room (mar), kitchen (apr), living room (may), bathrooms (june), move (july).

6. Find some service to do.
A quote that captures my intention with this; "you can't do everything for everyone everywhere, but you can do something for someone somewhere." I'm not sure what I will do; I'm hoping opportunities will present themselves if I'm looking for them. To start with I will make a flannel baby blanket with some fabric I've already got and donate it to a local hospital. It's not much, but it is something I think I can do pretty easily. I'm not setting a hard deadline, but I plan to finish it within the first half of the year.

7. Say "I love you" to my children and husband every day.
This is probably the easiest but the most important resolution this year. I think I'll give them hugs too!

8. Compact participation
I can't do 'the compact' perfectly this year, but I can do my part to reduce my consumerism! Here are my rules that will allow me to participate without worrying about perfection. Do not look at ads or catalogs. Cancel newspaper, delete inbox ads, recycle mailed ads. If there is an item(s) that I need to purchase, check used options first. When giving gifts, choose homemade or 'experience' gifts first. For homemade gifts, use materials on hand first. I will also try to do a 'no spending streak' at least once this year.

There it is! Wish me luck! The best thing about posting my resolutions on my blog is it gives me an extra level of accountability. Lots of 3rd party viewers to keep me honest and a place to 'return and report', as it were. I hope you don't think it's too boring of me to do this because it really helps me a lot! Thanks!

2007 Resolutions Recap

Happy New Year! Hope you all had a great 2007 and are looking forward to an even better 2008!

It's resolution time! Posting my resolutions on my blog last year went so well (for me anyway, I'm sure all 2 of you were bored stiff by them) that I'm going to do it again. But first....

2007 Resolutions Recap
1. Keep up with my exercise routine.
Pretty good, though I lost my walking companion to Japan halfway through the year. :( Moving didn't help either. But I've managed to keep up a fairly regular routine and I even picked up the pace. Today I ran my whole route, about 3mi! (I use the term "ran" loosely; I'm averaging just over a 10 min. mile, so we're not breaking any speed records here.) It's a major improvement for me, esp. considering that a year ago I could barely run a mile.

2. Eat more legumes.
Good. I've even managed to get my kids to eat more by hiding them in some of their favorite foods!

3. Write in my journal once a week.
I missed big chunks during vacations and moving, but I wrote a lot more than I did last year, so a definite improvement.

4. Write on my blog once a month.
Perfect! In the first week of each month even! Well, except Aug. but that was the month we moved so I'm going to excuse myself. ;)

5. De-clutter one room a month.
It didn't go quite as I'd planned since we had to move in the middle of everything. But I get bonus points for de-cluttering the whole apt in 3 weeks while we packed!

The Compact
From Feb. to July we did really well. Then we moved and suspended it, and never really picked it up again. It was a good experience and I will definitely try to do it completely again, but probably not for a while since we're hopefully buying a house this year! Though in the meantime I'm not abandoning it completely (more on this later).

There it is! Much better than my previous resolution attempts! And I'm really excited about my resolutions for 2008....