Camping and Primping

This weekend was fabulous! Ian took the boys camping with the scouts on Friday as soon as they got home from swimming lessons. They were gone for less than 24 hours, but they had a blast. It was Davin's first time camping overnight. The first thing he said to me when he got home was "Mom, I pee on pwants!" Only two of the young men ended up going on the camp out, so it worked well for the kiddos to go too. It was also perfect weather for it. Almost 80 and didn't cool down too much at night. A couple hours after they got home on Saturday though a storm blew through and dumped rain across the valley, so it was good that they didn't stay too long.
While the boys were gone I cleaned the house (which was kind of a waste, but I enjoyed it for one night and a morning). I mopped the kitchen and entryway, vacuumed, cleaned the stove, tidied, folded laundry, etc. I ended up staying up a little bit late to paint my nails and watch Psych. Talia was a champion sleeper and we both had a great night's sleep. It was nice having the bed to myself and not having to worry about being kept up by snoring. Talia was only up once and then slept in until 7:30! It totally made up for my having to get up early all of Mother's Day weekend. Maybe next year I'll ask for Ian to take the boys camping. ;) I didn't get any pictures of Talia while the boys were away because she honestly slept most of the time, but here's a shot from this morning of my littles playing on the bed while I got dressed for the day. I love my job.

Doesn't Talia look so much like Davin here?!?

Weston and Davin were exhausted on Saturday from staying up way too late the night before, so they took naps and everyone rested and hung around the house while I went and got my hair done. I am so bad about waiting and waiting to get it done until my hair is a desperate situation and I just cannot put it off one more day! Needless to say I am loving having fun color (we did dark mixed with a bright red) and a cute cut again.
It's kind of refreshing and renewing to get my hair done right in the middle of My May Challenge. It is motivating to keep taking care of myself, you know? Speaking of the Challenge . . . we are on to Week 3 and going strong!

I may have sort of failed at last week's treat goal, but in my defense I baked the batch of cookies I ate with whole wheat flour! :)

Week 3 Goals:
-Do 30 Day Shred Level 2 at least 3x.
-Eat 5 servings of fruits/veggies per day.
-Choose healthy options on my CA trip this weekend!

That last goal is a bit of a cop-out, but I honestly believe that life isn't worth living if you can't have food you love, so I'm not going to make any unrealistic goals for my trip, however I am going to try to be mindful of what/how much I am eating.

Tidbits

Tidbit #1:
Talia Christine is officially 5 months old (yesterday)! I swear the first year goes by faster with each child. I just barely got out the baby toys for her because I just realized that she is old enough for them and has probably been bored for the last couple weeks. Talia is now reaching out and grabbing and gumming toys (including my hair and jewelery), laughing, trying to sit up constantly (but usually failing), and sleeping on a more reliable schedule at night. She is usually only up once between 7:30ish pm and 7ish am. I know this picture is a little fuzzy, but I love it as her 5 month photo because of her huge, cute grin. Love my baby girl!

***Is her bow far enough to the side for you, Joy? ;)

Tidbit #2:
The boys are taking swimming lessons! They are actually pretty close to finished with this session, just 3 classes left. I have brought my camera every time, but kept forgetting to get it out and take pics until Wednesday. Whoops. Better late than never though, right? This is Davin's first time and he loves it. He is going to be my fish.
Weston is having a grand ole time too. He is in the same class as his friend from last year, so that's extra fun! The boys got these cool goggles with holograms of monster eyes on them for this summer and they can't seem to swim without them.
I have enjoyed having swimming lessons in the afternoons too. It keeps us from being on the computer or watching a movie every afternoon. Every SAHM knows that the hours from 4-6 (or 3-5 if your hubby gets home earlier) are the hardest, so having something to do during those hours has been nice. Plus it's a bonus that I get to sit and visit with my friend (Weston's friend's mom) for half an hour.

Tidbit #3:
Healthy eating. It's coming along. I was surprised by how hard it is to eat 4 servings of fruits/veggies each day. I really have to think about it. Thank goodness for V8 VFusion juice! :) It also takes lots of time, energy, and planning to eat healthy! I spent awhile on Tuesday in the kitchen chopping up veggies to use for the rest of the week. It paid off though because I have been able to throw together salads and wraps for lunch and dinner pretty quickly and easily because of that hour or so of prep.

I am also surprised by how quickly I am going through fresh produce! Yikes! I already ate the big cucumber I bought and an entire bag of carrots. I only have about 2 salads worth of romaine lettuce left from the big Sam's Club bag too. I guess that's a good thing, but I'll have to go shopping twice in less than a week. I have to say how much I am liking this increasing fruits/veggies goal because I'm basically not saying "no" to any foods. I eat what I like, but by the time I eat that many servings of fresh produce I'm too full to eat too much else, you know? I'm really trying to listen to my body and not eat emotionally (which is a big problem for me). OK, enough about that for now. I will do a full wrap up of what I am learning from My May Challenge at the end.

BTW I had almost this entire post done and ready to post yesterday morning, but by the time I went to actually post it at lunch time Blogger was having maintenance problems. And apparently they lost what I had already written, so blah for having to re-write everything! Not cool, Blogger. Not cool.

Happy Mother's Day!

I am so blessed to be a mother, especially to my awesome kids! I had a very nice Mother's Day. Weston made me a laptop computer card complete with wannabe qwerty keyboard (which he is just learning about). He was very proud of it and gave it to me as soon as I was up. Unfortunately it just wasn't feasible for me to get what I really wanted for Mother's Day . . . sleep. We have church at 9am. I would have slept in on Saturday, but there was a ward service project that morning at 9am also, so it just didn't happen. I did, however, get a very nice Sunday afternoon nap. :)

Just because she looked SO cute in her Spring outfits this week!

The universe gave me a gorgeous, sunny, 75 degree Saturday. The boys gave me a grill pan that I had been wanting, an exercise mat, and a movie. Talia gave me a decent night's sleep on Saturday, and Ian gave me a good back rub. Ian also took care of baking me a chicken garlic alfredo Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner. Yum. I talked to my mom on the phone and got to tell her how much I love her. She really is amazing. I credit her with most of my best qualities and mothering abilities. I can only hope to be like her when I grow up.

Just in case you missed my guest post over at Mamablogga, and for my own records, here's a copy of it. I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day!

Lessons Learned

I tend to struggle to learn life lessons. I generally only really appreciate them in hindsight, which seems slightly unfair. They would have been really helpful to know in the middle of my life’s experiences! Lessons in motherhood are no different. I am finally able to apply many of the things I have learned as a mother with my third child. It sure would have been great to know that it was not that big of a deal and not to freak out when my newborn wouldn’t nurse for 5-6 hours. Or to have known that my insomnia, crying spells, and lethargy could possibly have been something a little more than “baby blues.” Now that I am a veteran mother (hey, I’m on newborn number three, that should give me a little street cred!) I have a tin bit more wisdom under my belt.

Oddly enough I had a motherhood epiphany while cleaning toilets last week. I was thinking about all the things I wish I would have appreciated while I was in the middle of them, and I suddenly realized that someday this exact toilet scrubbing, diaper changing, baby cuddling, Dr. Seuss reading stage will be one of the times that I will look back upon and wish I had appreciated. Ten years from now I may be going back to school or working or possibly both, and I’ll sigh wistfully and think, “Man, remember back when all I had to do was be a mom? Those were the days.” And I will be right. These are the days!

I am a doer by nature, so being a stay at home mom has been a struggle from the beginning. Now that my brood is growing I stay a little more traditionally busy, but really my days don’t usually consist of much that the world would define as productive. I used to really struggle with that because I felt like I wasn’t really doing anything. I have come to realize over the last five years that I am mothering! It’s my job, and whether or not it is acknowledged by the world in general, it means the world to my family. And to me.

I am lucky to have this season in my life to just be a mom. I am still a doer; motherhood hasn’t changed that, but now I count things like finger painting, baking with my children, going to museums, aquariums, parks, and libraries, doing laundry and dishes, and reading picture books as productive. They are producing the most important thing . . . my children. Although I will still probably look back on these years and think “Man, remember when all I had to do was be a mom?” I like to think that realizing it now will help me enjoy just being a mom!

***Unrelated to Mother's Day . . . here's My May Challenge update:

Update on Week 1: I did ok. Not perfect, but not bad. We ate Taco Bell tacos on Cinco de Mayo. I exercised 4 days then my knees were both bothering me, so I counted the clean up service I did on Saturday as my exercise. We also walked to Weston's school to register him for kindergarten. It was a good mile walk, so there you go. I will continue with my week 1 goals throughout the challenge.

Week 2 Goals:
-Drink 64 oz. water daily
-Take my multivitamin daily
-Eat 4 servings of fruits/veggies daily (this will pretty much be increasing throughout the month)
-Limit treats to two each day (I like to end every meal with something sweet, so two is the least I can do. Happily.)

Baking Bread

Today was a very big day in my domestic life . . . the first time I baked my own bread. I'm sure this sounds anti-climactic to the majority of you talented ladies, but bread has been my cooking nemesis for the past 5 years. It's not that I had tried it and failed, I was just too scared of it to try. It sounded so overwhelming and hard.

You may recall THIS post in which I listed my 11 things to do in 2011. Learning to bake bread using wheat and my new wheat grinder was on the list. Well, 4 months later I did it! I unwrapped my (apparently top of the line, thanks Mom and Dad!) food mill, managed (with help) to open the pail of hard white wheat I bought for our food storage over a year ago, and got my first glimpse of what wheat looks like! Sad, right? My sweet friend and bread tutor, Alison, was kind enough to not laugh at me. We ground 12 cups of wheat and made enough wheat flour for a batch of bread plus a gallon Ziploc full for my pantry. I felt so wholesome. :) I remarked that the wheat smelled like a farm, (aka dirt) but not in a bad way, in an earthy way.
Alison mixed up the water, honey, and oil while I fed Miss Talia, who had NOT been a fan of the noise of the wheat grinding. I was an active participant in the rest of the bread making process. We ended up kneading it by hand because we weren't sure if the recipe would fit into my Kitchen Aid. It would have. I was still glad that we kneaded by hand. It felt so domestic I could hardly stand it. Alison and I chatted while we took turns kneading and keeping the chaos of 5 kids at bay (thank you Mickey Mouse Clubhouse). We shaped 3 loaves and a pan of rolls and left them to rise. I put the kids down for naps and cleaned up the kitchen, then decided it was time to bake! The bread all turned out fabulous! It tastes great and smelled even better. I am so glad that I took the leap and made it. I couldn't/probably wouldn't have done it without Alison's help, so I definitely give her a ton of credit, but I feel so accomplished.
Having freshly baked bread on the counter made me want to have a clean house. What a great motivator. I was more productive today than this entire past week. I dusted the house, swept the kitchen (twice . . . it was a messy kitchen day), did a load of laundry, washed all the bread dishes, and vacuumed the floors.

Lest you think I am Superwoman or something . . . we had Taco Bell tacos for dinner. It's Cinco de Mayo and I was out of tortillas and tired of doing dishes.

Ian came home a little early and we all went to the park to enjoy our gorgeous 70 degree day! We brought the kids' bikes too. Weston hasn't had a chance to practice riding his new bike since he got it for his birthday in January, so he was really excited. He did great too! He is going to be pro by the end of the summer. It was so nice to get to play outside. It was so nice to have Ian with us. It was a good day.


As I finish writing this I can't help but be grateful for all the blessings in my life. Especially my family, my home, lovely weather (it's important), good friends, good health, and the peace that living the gospel brings.

"Lessons Learned"

With Mother's Day approaching this weekend I was asked by my college friend and fellow mommy blogger, Jordan, to guest post about motherhood on her blog. It's up today! Go check it out HERE!

My May Challenge

The last few months I have been trying to "get healthy." I haven't been overly successful. I have been exercising a couple days a week with a group of ladies at church, and that has been really fun. The problem was that I couldn't get my eating under control. I have a major sweet tooth, but that wasn't even the problem. I was just eating all day long, and eating way too much junk. Candy, fast food, chips, soda. I took a step back and couldn't figure out what my problem was. I have never eaten this badly in my life!

I considered my options: crazy detox diet, cutting out all sugar and fats, etc. I decided my best bet for a long term change was to re-train myself how to eat right and listen to my body. My May Challenge is helping me with that goal. Basically the May Challenge is me re-training myself to be healthy. Each week I have a specific goal to help me eat better. The next week's goal will add onto the first week's. The other piece of the puzzle is exercise. I haven't been doing too badly in that department, but as long as I'm challenging myself I may as well ramp up my exercise efforts too.

May Challenge: Week 1
Week 1 Goals:
-Exercise 5 days (I am doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and using my elliptical)
-No fast food
-At least 3 servings of fruits/veggies per day

I have a notebook to keep a tangible record of my goals and to honestly chart my eating. I know that these goals may seem really lame, but I'm embarrassed to admit that they are a challenge for me. So far this week I've been doing ok. I've exercised 2 days, and barely met my fruits/veggies goals on those days. I, of course, haven't eaten fast food, but let me tell you I was tempted as I drove past In N Out yesterday with just Talia in the car . . . I managed to resist. :)

I am always hesitant to publicly commit to any sort of goal simply because if I fail then everyone knows it, but I guess that's exactly why it's a good motivator. Anyway, I'm not really looking for any healthy eating advice (I know plenty of what I SHOULD be doing), but encouragement is always appreciated!

Bits and Pieces

Last week was kind of long and blah. Davin and I had colds, the weather was horrible (woke up to 2 more inches of snow on Saturday morning!), and Ian was busy and worked late. Sigh.

A few random happenings around the house . . .

I can't remember what day this was, but Weston was coloring in his Spiderman coloring book that has a couple sheets of stickers in the middle. I was doing dishes at the sink. When I turned around I had to laugh. I guess this is what happens when you have a 5 year old brother.
Talia is such a big girl these days! We are borrowing an exersaucer for the next few months, so I put her in it this week. She is getting better at reaching for the toys every day and she looks so cute (but tiny) in it. She also rolled over for the first time on Saturday! She did it about 6 times in a row and I managed to catch the last time on video. Barely. She hasn't really done it again since Saturday, so we'll see if it was a fluke or if she will keep doing it.



I finally got the entryway of the den decorated! My sister gave me the fabulous family names print and I had it custom framed. Then I went to DI on Friday and picked up the glass vase and vintage books. I bought a pear potpourri vase filler at Target, and the cute "There's no place like home" sign I got at Deseret Book on clearance for $4. The clock is from CSN stores. I am really happy with the way it turned out, and I'm so glad that the room is finally feeling homey and done.
Saturday afternoon we went on a family trip to the mall. I got some killer deals at JCPenney thanks to a couple coupons and a random gift card. I ended up paying only about $7 for a pair of shorts for Weston, a cute purple onesie for Talia, a fun Spring top for me, and a necklace for me. When I was done shopping I couldn't find Ian and the kids! They weren't at the dino playground where I had left them and Ian wasn't answering his phone or my texts. What was I to do? Well, I wandered a bit and found a beauty supply store having a sale on OPI nail polish. I took advantage and bought 3 OPI polishes for $9 (a buy 1 get 2 free deal). Happy Mother's Day to me. I did eventually find my family and we all headed home worn out from our shopping trip.

Me wearing my new necklace with my cute nakey Talia.

I am finally feeling better from my cold. Just a lingering cough left, which is good because I need to be well for the month of May. More on my May Challenge coming up.