It's Been Awhile

Ah the thrill of a nice trip to the grocery store. The last few months we've been using what we had and not really stocking up on anything. But today, oh the joy! I know, I'm a dork. But who would pass up Finish dishwasher soap for $0.74 a box! My total was around $127 before store discounts and coupons. I ended up spending around $43. (That's like $0.83 per item.)

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Jason will be so happy when he finds the white chocolate Flipz and the Sobe, I'm happy about the paper plates and dressings, and the girls were SUPER excited about the Goldfish Crackers.

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Happy Shopping! On my side bar there is a link to Grocery Smarts. A lot of the deals were great even without coupons. Oh, I went to Smiths. You'd need to know that. Duh!

Just In Case You Didn't Know

Jordyn told me the other day, "I know Jesus loves me, but he only sorta loves Tessa because sometimes she's naughty."

We have 170 children's books on our bookshelf right now. I'm not kidding. I just counted them. Ask Jason...he thinks I'm nuts!

Last night I stayed up until 1:30 am baking bread (six loaves) and NONE of them turned out!

I love Netflix because I get to watch shows like Zena the Warrior Princess, Hercules, and Lois & Clark the New Adventures of Superman.

Jordyn would eat Pop tarts for every meal and Tessa would eat chips, if I would let them.

We drink at least 5 gallons of milk at our house every week. This is not an exaggeration!

Tessa doesn't take naps in her bed any more, but the past few days she has climbed up on my lap, told me she's tired, and gone to sleep. Usually this happens around 5:00 in the afternoon.

We want more kids. Most of the time.

Jordyn cried very hard today when Jason told her that her punishment for not listening was going without Dora...It was heartbreaking.

On Saturday Jason and I were talking about going to Costco to buy diapers. He looked over at Tessa and told her it was time to learn to use the potty. She said okay, took of her pants and diaper, got up on the toilet and WENT! No joke.

My Favorite Room

Have you been to my house? I don't really have a style. I wish I was more crafty and could decorate better. My sister, Julie, has a way cute style. She knows all about hanging things on the wall and putting things on shelves. She knows about colors and patterns, blah blah blah.

I thought I'd share my favorite room in our house. I love it because it stays clean, and it feels like home. I have lots of pictures and books and nicknacks.

Here's what it looks like from the front door. The book shelves were made by Jason's dad. They were in Grandma Hunter's house and we got them when we got married. I LOVE them!Here is a closer look at the top of the fireplace. Norah gave me the plant and the flag. I gave Jason the picture of the Temple when we got married. The pictures (left to right) - Jordyn and Tessa Christmas 2009, Steven, family pictures 2009, Jordyn and Tessa Christmas 2010, Jason and I on our wedding day, and new baby Hallie.This shelf is in the corner you can't see in the top picture. It was my Grandma Johnson's. She died along time ago and when my Grandpa died just before we got married the house got cleaned out and nobody wanted it. I know it looks like a "grandma shelf" but I love it. It belongs in my front room, like hers. These are my two favorite shelves in the entire room. My girls, Heber and Houston, a picture of my sisters and I, baby Hallie, and me...in the wedding dress. And last of all...The flag raising at Iwo Jima. Jason got this picture for his graduation. Isn't it beautiful. (It might surprise you to know that most people who see it say something like, "That's a cool picture of September 11th." HA!)
So, there you have it. My favorite room. Clean. A little bit of grandma style. Cozy.

Today...

Today I went to hear Julie Beck speak at a three stake meeting. IT WAS AWESOME! Today Leslie started a blog...check it out, follow her, leave a comment. (Those things make people feel cool.) Today Jaymie updated her blog and let everyone know there is a bun in the over, finally, I've been dying to post about that. Today I had a great dinner date with Norah. Today I went to dance and preschool with Jordyn and we learned about "toes in the back yard" and animals. Today I ATE LEFTOVERS! I never do that. Today was the second day in a row that I ate an orange. Today the girls had a new babysitter and LOVED her. Oh, and today I wasn't late for anything.

Today Was Great!

Eating Better, Trying To Anyway

Jason and I have been trying to make a "life style" change. I hate the word diet, and never stick to them, plus when it comes to chocolate or cheesecake I have ZERO willpower. And let's not even talk about what happens when the two things are put together.

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We decided to try Bountiful Baskets. It's a produce co-op. I've heard great things about it. I've been an little nervous about it though. I'm not a fruit eater. I don't know why, I just don't like it.

For $16.50 we got all of this... ($15.00 for the produce and $1.50 "basket fee"). I'm really happy about all that we got. Especially the pineapple! I'm not sure what to do with the chilies or the kiwi or the Asian pears. I think Jason will be excited when he sees all of this.

Music To My Ears

I spent the day cleaning. Almost six hours worth of work. And I finally feel better about all those sicky germs floating around our house. Anyway, while I was cleaning I pulled out my IPOD. I'm just really tired of listen to Dora la Exploradora. Enserio!

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I love music. I love how a church hymn can invite the spirit. I love how a cheesy country song can remind me of my Grandpa Johnson, or how grateful I am to be a mother, or how much I love the country I live in. I love how Jessie Clark Funk songs can remind me of my mission and the many things I learned while serving my Heavenly Father.

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Today as I was listening I wrote down some of the words that really stuck out to me.

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"I think I'll take a moment and celebrate ... "

Tim McGraw

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In the song he says "my age" but I should be taking more moments to celebrate lots of things.

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"You waved your hand and it was done. Said let it be and there it was. A mountain, so high, it broke through the sky. A canyon, so deep, it'd bring a man to his knees. I've seen what you can do, I've seen you make miracles and hopeless dreams come true. You made the Heavens and the stars ... "

Rascal Flatts

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If you haven't heard the first part of this song you should. It is beautiful. (The rest of the song is about a guy who wants the love of his life back and he knows God can help him with that.) How grateful I am to a loving Father who created such an amazing world for us to enjoy!

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"Talk is cheap and free advice is worth the price you paid."

Tim McGraw

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"I told you so."

Carrie Underwood

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"Times are hard and rents are high. What can a working girl do, but struggle through another day? . . . Then, I'll take care of you."

Dixie Chicks

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This is another really beautiful song. A wife who does her best, works hard, and just wants to "take care of you" (you know who you are!). Sometimes I feel like I'm not very good at this, but I hope that someone knows how much I love him, always think about him, want him to be happy, and try my best to take care of him.

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Last of all....My very favorite....

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"It's not about living another man's life, but seeing your own in a different way."

Rodney Atkins

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I needed to hear this today. I needed to be reminded that my life is good. I have all I need. I'm happy. My girls are happy. We're healthy (or getting there) and we love each other.

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Thank you cheesy country music for an uplifting day!

Tissue Supply

I used to have more than this, tissues that is. We've been going through a lot of them lately. (See below.)
This pile is only about two hours worth...

But, if she needs 100 tissues or 1,000 tissues to make her feel better then she shall have them. I mean, really, when you can get a "thumbs up" from the sick one then things must be a little better.
The truth is, Jordyn seems to be doing much better today. Her fever is gone. She has been up and playing much more today, oh, and fighting with Tessa. She still has a terribly runny nose (as noted by the tissues above) and her appetite is still not that great. But, she is currently eating a frozen corn dog. One more step in the right direction.

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Thanks so much for all your thoughts and prayers. I know they've helped!

Today I'm Mad At . . .

. . . ME!

Jordyn is STILL sick. In fact, today she is worse. And actually, I've never seen her like this before. Except maybe way back when she was sick with Foot and Mouth disease.

So, we had the gross eye stuff going on for a couple of days. She hasn't left the couch for three (3) days. (That's a long time for a little kid to sit.) She complains about her stomach hurting. She sometimes says that her head hurts. Tonight she had a fever (101.8) and she was totally out of it. For the last week or so she's had some "girl problems." I'm not sure what is related, or if anything is related at all....The fact is She. Is. Sick.

I took her to the doctor today, and he made me feel TERRIBLE! He said, "Well come on Mom. What took you so long to bring her in? Runny noses go away on their own. "Girl problems" do not." I was feeling terrible. Really.

Then tonight I went to a primary meeting and left the girls with my Mom. I thought about staying home, missing the meeting, keeping the girls home. I Should Have Listened! Jordyn called me part way through my meeting crying that she didn't feel good, wanted her mommy, and just wanted to go home. UGH!

My Dad and Jason gave her a blessing tonight. (Oh, I'm so grateful for the Priesthood!) She's sleeping now. Her fever is down a little. Tomorrow will be better.

And hopefully I won't be so mad at myself for being such an awful mother.

1-11-11

Only so I can remember this day.

Dumb?

Probably, but really, when will I see it again? Oh yeah...in about 10 months or something (11-11-11). I'll post on that day too.

This morning I put these beauties on the bunk bed. A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. And talk about Spoiled! You see Gammy (A.K.A. Jason's Mom, Norah) surprised the girls with matching bed sets. I love them. They are so soft and comfy. The girls love them. They went to bed so easily tonight because I reminded them that they get to sleep in their new beds. What lucky little girls!

Today Jordyn stayed home from dance and preschool. She doesn't know. I didn't want her to be sad. I just thought that one more day of resting would be best. She's doing much better. Her eyes are mostly cleared up and she had a lot more energy today. But still, we watched only about a million episodes of Dora. Ugh!

Then there is this beautiful little creature. My sweet Tessa. She seems to being doing better today too. We are, however, having a napping problem. She always falls asleep around four or five in the afternoon. Then she's up all night. Drives me crazy. But still, I love her. She loves Dora too, but more than that, she LOVES books. Good thing Aunt Leslie was her today. I bet they read twenty books.And, on this super exciting day, this is what we had for dinner. Looks pretty gross in the picture....Grapes, cheese, rolls, and Western Family Pasta Sides. Can you have a pasta side as your main dish? The girls ate them up. Actually, they ate everything except the rolls, which was my favorite part. To drink...Sprite.

So, there you have it. Happy day! I'm actually glad it's over. Sick kids are hard. Staying home all day is hard. Although, the weather has been so cold that I don't really want to go anywhere. I guess that's life. Hard days and easy ones. Fun days and not so fun ones. But mostly happy ones...

Pink Eye

This morning we had to use hot towels to clean ours eyes. I said to my Mom, "Do you think she has pink eye?" and Jordyn said, "My eye is not pink. It is white!" Silly kid. I was hoping Tessa wouldn't get sick, but this morning she woke up all stuck together and gross. My poor babies! It was so sad listening to Tessa cry, "My eyes. My eyes."

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I think this picture says it all. This was pretty soon after she woke up.This is about an hour after Tessa woke up, so she looks better.This is about half an hour after the last pictures. So, the day is getting better as we go along. Here's hoping the eye drops work quickly. Somebody will be pretty sad if they have to miss preschool and dance this week.

Tessa Reads

The Kids' Table

My Mom is AWESOME! Everyweek, everyone is invited. Sometimes everyone is there, and sometimes not. The kids are getting bigger. Too big for highchairs, but not big enough for the big table. My parents have a card table with really short legs. They set it up and the kids LOVED it...all four of them. (Love you Dad.) It was cute watching them all eat together. Silly kids.

New Years Goals

Okay. I've had time to think, really think. I'm always worried about posting goals. I've never been good at keeping them, and I just didn't want myself up this year for failure. But...we're on day five and things are going pretty good. I tried really focusing on just a few goals. I know that I can't change everything at once so I'm taking baby steps.

Family Goals
**Scripture Power! This is what the Hunter family calls "family scripture study" and we've decided to start at our house. So far things are going great. Well, sort of. The girls are still really young to sit still while we read a chapter from the Book of Mormon. I mean really, sometimes the words are hard for me to understand. But, so far, we've read each day. I love it!

**Eat out less! This is one of our biggest problems. We spend way to much money at restaurants. It kills our budget each month and makes us stressed, fat, and unhappy. So, what's the plan? I'm actually not sure. Jason and I really haven't set any rules. I think for me and the girls...we can eat out once a week. This will be a night when Jason is working late. Other than that, I hope Jason and I can go out every other week. I'll be the first to admit that I LOVE eating out and it will be hard for me, but it really is something we need to change.

Personal Goals
**Grocery Shopping/Meal planning. YUCK! I hate cooking. But... I LOVE to coupon. I wish I loved cooking. It just takes so much time and energy. Then, when you're all done you still have to clean up the kitchen and the kids. (Can you see why I'd rather eat out.) The last few months I've been slacking on my coupon shopping, but I'm back at it. Our grocery budget is $200 a month. Wednesday is my day to plan my list and plan my meals. I CAN DO IT!

**Being more healthy. I'm going to the Pleasant Grove Rec Center. I'm trying to eat less. I'm THINKING about giving up Diet Coke, but I'm not quite ready. I'm working out at home. Things are going good. My goal... 50 pounds! Wish me luck.

So, there you have it. Life is good and we're happy. (Oh, except that Tax Season is here and I'm not ready.)

Blessed

Sometimes I wonder if I'll make it to the end of the day. My girls are active and crazy and fun. They have amazing imaginations. They love to play together, read books, and pretend to be mommies. They also cry A LOT, fight, push, pinch, and want their Daddy. Most nights I'm tired. I sometimes yell way to much. I try to be patient, but loose it over silly things like spilt milk and dumped out toy buckets.

Then I find blogs like THIS ONE. I'm quickly reminded how lucky I am to have my two beautiful girls. They've taught me more about myself and what I want out of life in three short years than I learned in all the rest of my life. They remind me about the Savior's perfect love for each of us. They make me laugh and cry and work and play and remember my own childhood.

Tonight Jason and I watched Tessa sit on the couch with her baby. She was reading a book and taking her doll's hand and pointing to things on the page. We watched her cuddle up with about four different dolls. She made sure they were cuddled up and safe next to her. She is so loving and kind and good.

Today Jordyn helped me pack a good-bye box for Nonie with food and supplies...to take back to college. She got a pink elephant from her room and put it in the box. She said it was for Nonie to look at and think of her. She said Nonie could play with it. I watch Jordyn share and give hugs and kisses. She has a very active imagination and when she grows up she wants to be a Princess Mommy. She is smart and giving and beautiful.

And you know what the best part is. They are ours. All ours. And no matter what happens to our little family in the years to come I know that they will ALWAYS be ours. Heavenly Father has blessed me so much, not only with a perfect little family, put with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He love us, and I know it.

Four Kisses

Happy New Years!

I am so excited for this new year, even though I have yet to sit down and write my goals. I worry too much about failure. So, I'm sitting on the goals for a few days. By now I bet you're wondering about "Four Kisses". You see, every night before bed we brush our teeth and say our prayers. Then we get together and give each other a kiss at the same time. This is called "four kisses". The girls love it, and so do we. Tonight we went to my Parent's house for some steak. Yum! The kids played with toys and the older kids worked on a puzzle. (This time the puzzle matched the box.) We all stayed up until mid-night. The girls did AWESOME! And here we are....the first "four kisses" of the year.

And here we are...One tired family!Even Heber made is until midnight. What a kid.Houston on the other hand, rang in the new year all tucked away in his car seat. He was ready for bed and by 12:01 so were the rest of us.The night was fun. And to all you blog readers.....I hope this New Year brings you many laughs, more smiles, and great times with family and friends.

The Best Of The Best

I've been sitting at the computer for over an hour making a list of my favorite things from this past year. I've only cried about a hundred times because I've been reading through all my old blog posts. Seriously! I'm one lucky girl. So here's the list...

In January I started back in school. I only went for one semester and I only took two classes, but it was challenging and pushed me. After that one semester I decided that it's just not the right time in my life for school, but one day I'll make it back. After a few months of physical therapy Tessa took her first steps. We also had Tessa's first birthday party, even though her birthday was in December.

In February Jason and I went to the Hunting Expo and spent the night in Salt Lake for Valentine's Day. We really enjoy our little mini vacations and wish we could take more...

In March I caught Heber stealing cupcakes from the garbage can. Silly kid. I've really missed watching him these last few weeks. He's so funny and cute, and really growing up. We also went to Discovery Gateway. It was fun, but I decided that I'm NEVER paying to get in.

In April my sister Jaymie got married.

In May Jason graduated from the University of Utah with his Masters. WOOT! It was a long road, but he did it. I am so proud of him. We also went to the Zoo.

In June Jason and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. Lucky us! We also finished our front yard. It took forever, but it was worth all of the work.

July was a hard month for us. We had to say goodbye to Jason's brother Steven. He went to Afghanistan. We're so proud of him and the service he is giving to our Country. We love you Steve! We also celebrated Jason's 27th birthday.

In August Jordyn had her 3rd birthday. We celebrated with a family party at Grandma Sue Sue's and a friend party at home. We also went to Park City for a quick overnight trip...Jordyn broke her collar bone.

September was my birthday -28- and Jason took me to see the Lion King at the Capital Theater. Jordyn started pre-school and dance. She loves both very much and is always asking, "What day is today?"

In October we went Trick-O-Treating.

November was filled with lots of fun. We took a three night vacation to Park City (we go there a lot). We had Thanksgiving with the Hunter family, the girls fit into their miracle Christmas dresses.

And finally December. This has been a busy month for us. We had five family parties. Jason went to Chicago for a work conference. Jordyn sat on Santa's lap. Jason had his wisdom teeth pulled. I got the "viral flu" - what ever the heck that is. Santa came. We went to a cabin with the Hunter's and Tessa had her second birthday. Oh, Jordyn had her first dance recital and our second nephew and first niece were born one week apart.

What a great year! We've been blessed with many great and happy times and not too many sad ones. We've been stressed. We've worked hard. We've relaxed and had fun. Here's hoping the next year is just as great, and maybe a little better.