Busy Day

Busy

Today will be a busy one. At least I'm hoping for that because I have so much that needs to be done. I'm posting my to do list here today.

*Morning Walk
*Get Tyler Dressed
*Get all the kids up and fed breakfast.
*Wipe down kitchen counters
*Sweep Kitchen
*Get kids to clean rooms, make beds and unload dishwasher (in morning).
*Take kids to school.
*Get bloodwork done.
*Pick up Tyler's toys and Misc. papers in the house.
*Laura coming over to make the Tissue Paper Plates for Enrichment Table.
*Get Vinyl to Kay for Glass Block Enrichment project.
*Make some Enrichment phone calls.
*Look over Primary lesson for Sunday.
*Get Rilyn from school.
*Feed Rilyn and Tyler lunch.
*Go back to school and get Kayla, Alyssa, and Kyle.
*Look over school papers, get backpacks and lunchboxes put away.
*Mop kitchen, entryway, dining room and walkway through Family Room.
*Fold laundry and put away with kids.
*Read Twilight
*Make Dinner
*Hopefully a date with Laren

So...let's hope I'm able to accomplish all of that today. Sometimes making a list makes all the difference in me being able to get done what I need to or not. Sometimes it doesn't matter what I plan on doing, my day takes a life of it's own.

Sick Day

Sick

I have been sick lately with kidney stones. Actually, I've been having trouble for several months. But today they are especially bad. I'm supposed to have Lithotripsy (where the doctor blasts them into tiny pieces) next week. I hope the stones stay put and don't try to pass sooner because the pain is seriously killer pain! It makes me feel like I'm gonna die.

I don't know why my body is such a stone producer, but I don't feel too alone in this since I know some of you who also blog have kidney stones too. I'm not looking forward to going under general anesthesia either. It always scares me.

But despite being sick, I was able to manage visiting teaching this morning. It's a good thing I could just sit really still and not have to chase after kids because I doubt I could have handled it otherwise.

Maybe I can find the energy to do a little something else productive today if my body allows me.

It's finished!

Finished!

Remember this?

and then this in our driveway...



It has been turned into this!





This retaining wall has taken nearly ALL summer! So it is such a relief to have it finished! Well, it is almost finished. We ran out of block so we will have to buy a half a pallet more or something like that to finish it off where it wraps around behind our swingset (not pictured).
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Today I spent the morning doing something I dread. In fact, I don't know a woman alive who enjoys this but it is a necessity! My Annual Exam was today and I just had to tell myself I was doing it because I love myself and that it is taking good care of my body. (What would I do without that inner self-talk?)

I always rush to get my clothes off and the gown on, I don't know why because then I end up sitting there foreeeever waiting with that darned paper covering my nether regions while I wait for the doctor to come in. After a 30 minute wait in the waiting room, then a 30 minute wait in the gown the doctor finally arrived! At least I'm smart enough now to just get out the stirrups and "put my feet up" while I wait!!

The good thing is my doctor is really great! He is especially good on "patient education." I have a Mirena IUD and I got a little worried because I have a friend who's IUD (copper) disappeared and she turned up pregnant. I mean, how does an IUD disappear? Anyway, he said he had one patient who must have had it fall out and she didn't know it. After her baby was born they x-rayed her pelvis and abdomen and couldn't find it, so that is why they concluded it must have fallen out.

After going to the doctor I had to wait for some pictures to get processed at Costco so I went to Hobby Lobby. I needed a mat for a frame I have (trying to frame our family pictures we recently had taken and a new Temple Picture we are doing for Super Saturday). While I was there, I meandered over to the card-making/scrapbooking stuff and had to pick a few things up.

Afterall, one of my goals for this year was to acquire a hobby. I've recently realized I've let all of my hobbies slide and child bearing and rearing has overtaken my life. Though I love being a Mom, I also like to do other things too - but I just have to find out what I like to do again. That seems so weird to say, but it's true.

So my girls and I spent the evening (after Family Night) making cards and scrapbooking.




While we did that, the Boys did this



While I was driving around today in Laren's car, since he was working from home and he needed the van to pick up Rilyn from Kindergarten, I noticed the brakes were VERY bad. They feel like they are rubbing the rotors when I press them and I feared they would go all the way to the floor causing an accident.

I knew the brakes weren't good for sometime but after driving it today, I knew they couldn't wait any longer. Laren was anxious to get to planting the trees we bought over the weekend but this took priority! And as many projects seem to go, it seems it is taking much longer than anticipated and he is still out there. To his credit, he had to run and get an additional part he needed and in the process he realized the CV Boot needs replaced as well. Plus, he had a couple of young helpers too!

Her first day!

First Day

Rilyn, first day of Kindergarten.


As I look back through my years of school, I don't think I can recall a specific first day but I do have "blanket" type memories of the beginning of the new school year. The new clothes were always one of my favorite things.

Of course we were poor and so many years it meant a new pair of shoes and me wearing whatever clothes my Mom sewed for us. I will never forget the dark green corderoy jumper dress my Mom made for me in Second Grade. It had "I Love School" painted on the front.

Me in first grade. This outfit was not homemade.


Part of why I loved that dress was because of what it said on it. I truly did love school. I always looked forward to not only the new clothes, but the new school supplies, a regular routine again, and the crisp air of Autumn.

I liked learning new things and thrived at being a student. I looked forward to football season in the Fall and that sort of thing.

With all of my firsts, I now look upon my very own daughter, Rilyn, she's my 4th child and I still keep looking at her amazed that she is already old enough for school. But she is and yesterday was her first day.

Mom and Rilyn.

Rilyn, first day of School 2007.

She is so excited to be a "Big" Kid now!! I'm so happy for her. I think it's because I know so many good things and experiences are in her future and because I've been down the road 3 times before that I didn't get sad or teary yesterday. While standing there with all the other Kindergarten Mom's and Dad's my eyes scanned acrossed the crowd and I noticed one Mom who was quite teary. My first thought was, "What is she crying for?" And then it dawned on me that this is probably new territory for her and she is sad to see the previous season of her child's life pass.

It reminded me that everyone has a first time for everything and for my daughter this is her FIRST experience (aside from preschool) at school.

Rilyn, just before the big day began!


And though everyone experiences school in their own way, I look forward to it for her because it was always such a positive thing for me and I'm hoping it is for her too!

Rilyn and Mrs. F, her Kindergarten teacher.

Freegan

I like shopping, but I quickly tire of spending money. I consider myself to be Frugal. I buy the store brand whenever it doesn't drastically effect quality. I shop at the dreaded Walmart because that is where I can get good food prices.

I try to employ self-control and not impulse shop. I make a lot of things from scratch. I limit the amount of school clothes and other items I buy for my children, though we could probably afford more I feel it is wise to get less and save more money.

I am not a person of excesses. I am frugal when it comes to getting gifts for birthday parties, I don't like to spend over $10-$15 but if I get a killer deal I will spend less if I can. I buy as much as I can in the "off-season" so I can buy on clearance.

In all of my frugality, I've realized that I'm not as frugal as perhaps I could be. We throw out a lot of food leftovers. My husband hates leftovers and my kids let a lot of food go to waste. I do reuse shopping bags as trash can liners in the bathrooms and study.

But I don't pay the $48 per year to recycle my milk cartons, pop cans, etc... Here in Colorado you have to pay a fairly steep amount to be given a couple of very small yellow bins to put your recycle contents into.

I cannot stand clutter and so I'm one to throw a lot away, and give a lot away. I am not big into having my own yardsales because it makes me sick to have to sell for so much less something that I paid so much more for. I have only ever had one single, solitary yard sale. So I give most of our stuff we are done with away to Goodwill, mainly clothes and household items and home decor. My kids are expected to wear hand me downs because that is part of being wise financially in my opinion.

Anyway, all of this to say I read this article about being a Freegan. Now, call me crazy but there is a lot about this that appeals to me. This gal is going to go an entire month without buying anything except for food, medical supplies and emergency essentials.

I often times feel as though I spend way too much on non-essentials that simply do not matter. I usually buy home decor things, a cute item of clothing or a toy for my kids or a tool for my husband with our discretionary money.

If I did the same experiment as the gal in the article, I would not however become a vegan. I think I could become vegetarian without too much effort because I'm not a big meat person, but I don't want to go without eggs and cheese (though I try to eat very little cheese anyway) and things like that that vegans go without.

But I would like to try out not spending and see how much money I could accumulate in savings. It is an intriguing thought that I will probably never do, but it does occupy quite a bit of time in my mind.

**Could you become a Freegan?
**Could you go a month without buying anything but food and medical supplies?

Temptation!

I gave into Temptation...

I have really been kicking it in high gear to work off the few extra pounds I gained back in April/May these past few weeks. I've been counting my points (Weight Watchers style - but not formally on the program), I've been exercising at least 5 days a week walking for nearly an hour every morning a very fast-paced walk with a friend. I've been somewhat successful about not eating past 7pm (I've done pretty good there, but had a few slip-ups). And I've been weighing myself everyday. I know the weighing everyday has mixed reviews but for me, that is part of what made me successful at my weight loss before. And it's a daily reminder of what my goals are.



So I step on the scale yesterday and I'm up a little. What? Yep, my weight was higher. So I try to brush it off knowing that I'm staying on my program and it HAS to get better because I'm not budging. So this morning I step on the scale, knowing for sure it has gone down because I've done everything right. And the scale defies me, instead of going down it goes up again!! I told Laren all about this this morning and how it makes me feel like giving up. But I promised to give myself one month at trying super hard.



So, somehow my best efforts were not my best today when I went to visit my Sister and she suggested we go out to lunch. In my mind I was thinking Subway, but nope she was thinking Cici's Pizza Buffet. They were having a benefit fundraiser for a local schoolteacher whose wife finally succombed to cancer yesterday. I thought that was a noble cause and agreed. So, I went and indulged. I didn't PIG out but I "pigged out" for me, eating 2 pieces of pizza (it was delicious), one piece of dessert pizza (which wasn't so good) and some cinnamon roll (very tasty). Blech! WHY did I sabotage myself?



This sort of thing makes me so upset at myself. But I did come home and had only steamed vegetables with some garlic powder sprinkled on top for dinner to help myself recover the calorie difference. It was very filling and nutritious.And I had done good all morning by having oatmeal with a bit of skim milk for breakfast and no snacking.



I know we all need an indugence sometimes but this was at a time when I was intentionally trying to stay indulgent free as much as possible!! I guess I wasn't as committed as I thought. Here's hoping for a better tomorrow!!

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

How does your Garden Grow?

This year with having moved into a new house in January and not having our backyard done has made things different than usual around here. We knew it would take us some time to get our yard in and do everything we need to do to get this place fixed up. But I still really wanted to plant some things this Spring. Laren did not want me too, but relented a little.

So, Rilyn, Tyler and I planted these Zinnia's along our back fence they have made the most beautiful wallflowers. Usually I plant Zinnia's around the border in my garden, but this year since my yard has a different layout and I haven't got a "garden" per say, so I planted them here instead. They turned out so well I will for sure keep planting them!

Zinnias. This is just a small piece of them, they extend for about 16 feet along the fence. And to think all this beauty only cost $1 for the packet of seeds!


Also, I had to plant some yellow summer squash and zuchinni because we love to eat it and if we couldn't have a full-fledged garden at least we could have something. So against Laren's initial resistance I planted it anyway.

Yellow Squash and Zuchinni. Laren is now SO glad I did it anyway ;)

I Love flowers. And I love color. And since my yard was all dug up, in both the back and the front this year when I planted, I had decided I would for sure plant flowers in my pots. Petunias are my old faithful's. They give such a great splash of color and are so hardy and resilient that I plant them every year.

My Petunias along with some Snap Dragons. They are starting to get stalky as the warmth of the summer sun has given them a beating. But they are still beautiful.

I love Sunflowers, they are one of my most favorite flowers. And so this year I planted these smaller ones along with some bigger ones. They just make me happy everytime I look at them. And I had to nestle them along the edges in my yard so they didn't get ruined in trying to put up the block retaining wall and sprinkler system in.

My "small" sunflowers.

And since I was planting small ones, I decided to also plant some giant ones just for fun. Here are our giant sunflowers (last week before they bloomed). They are taller than our 6 foot high privacy fence by a long shot!

They've even grown higher since I took this picture last week and now they have finally opened up! They are beautiful substitutes for tree's in my treeless backyard!!