Lily's Got My Back

Nice to know I have a friend in Lily.


Actually, laying on the floor is the main way I can multi-task. She is happy crawling back and forth across my back for hours, and I can actually DO something. I can read. And that's about it. Lily is spoiled rotten and makes anyone who has a list of to-do's to do feel absolutely worthless. That's one of my pet names for her. Worthless.

But she's cute. And I love her. As I type this she has found me and has got my legs and is requesting to be assisted to a higher level of viewing. Gotta go.

The Food Nanny

In April, the Food Nanny came and spoke at a Relief Society Meeting in our Stake, and my life has not been the same since. I've now organized my dinners, menus, and shopping around her how-tos. Here is her website, and her two week menu planner. I've also organized all my used to be loose recipies neatly in a binder with pocket tabs that are labeled like her book is organized.


I bought her book that night, and highly recommend it if you struggle with dinner. At the meeting, she spoke some things that I needed to hear, saying "Whether we want to believe it or not, we (women/mothers) own dinner." I've known that but not wanted to believe it for a long time. It's been Corey's consistent request that we have sit down meals an that I make dinner. So, I'm doing it now and have been pretty consistent for the past 2 months, and that feels good! I'm learning how to cook! Here we are on a Saturday morning enjoying some pancakes with the Food Nanny's recommended accessories. The kids had fun, and I loved it too.

Show offs

Joe likes to impress his younger siblings, friends, and family by doing something he finds really tough - going bare in the snow. It's cold, he tells us, but it is a matter of mind over body. I think the kids started doing this after I did it - when I was training for a half marathon during January and February in 2008. I had found something online that said the best way to help your muscles recover after a long run was to get them cold. I thought I'd try it, so I'd usually sit in a tub of cold water. Not very enjoyable. It was easier for me to sit in the snow for a few minutes if there was snow, which there was on occasion. The kids thought I was crazy tough, and now like to show how tough they are. Here are Joe and Hyrum rolling in the snow.
I had put up the trampoline in March, so the kids also like to go jump on the snow covered trampoline barefoot. They're nuts!

Shoot Me Thursday - 1 of 52

I got this idea from my friend Kristen's blog -

Post a picture of YOU (yes YOU) with a child, spouse, friend or even by yourself every Thursday. You'll be glad you did! See you on Thursdays!


So here's my picture - top of the head is gone, but not bad for a 7 year old. This was when we took Lily to get her 6 month immunizations. Things went better this time than they did when she got her 3 month, at which time Abigail also got her 2 year immunizations. Then she passed out while I was paying the bill. Had to get her some juice and after 10 minutes one of the nurses helped me and my girls out to the car.

**Shoot Me is a year long challenge to get in the picture since mommy's are usually the ones behind the camera, if you want to jump in her is the link to Carin's blog where the party started.**

St. Patrick's Day

So this is over a month late, but here's some pictures of our St. Patrick's Day happenings...

Joseph is learning how to cook


and made some Green Puffy Pancakes for the kids



Wesley in his green clothes - aka Peter Pan.


Wes and Mel enjoying their Pancakes out side in the back.

One funny thing about the morning of St. Patrick's Day - See those tights above that Wes is wearing? When Hyrum came up for breakfast in the clothes he was going to wear to school, I had to try not to laugh... he wanted to wear the green Peter Pan tight pants to school, which were funny because a) they are tights b) they are really tight tights on him vs. how they look on the small kids that are supposed to wear them c) they were floods

It took a good ten minutes to convince him that it was not a good idea, that ALL of your clothes don't have to be green on St. Partick's Day, and if he wore them to school kids would probably laugh at him so if he wouldn't like that to happen, it would be best to ditch the Peter Pan Pants. I love my kids.

Sons of Sandy Boy Band

We rented Sons of Provo from the Library, and I think that is what inspired my sons to form their own boy band...
Doesn't Ethan look H-O-T? Oh yeah, He's Bad! He's Bad, He knows it.

Wesley, he was playing along, not sure the Batman ensemble really fits the look that the group's going for. But I guess if your band members play the clarinet and maraca, what's wrong with a Batman mask.
The kids singing the Bad/Tough Guy version of "How Firm a Foundation" - Hey, I guess ya have to go with the songs ya know...

Rub a Dub-dub...

...7 kids in the tub!

(I have a tub picture for each number of kids we've had except for when there were 5. Sad, I could have had a complete set! Oh well)

Hyrum Made Lunch for Dad

Pretty Creative, I thought...

Looks like a Muppet Sandwich.

I is for Immunizations

These pictures that Ethan took of Lily getting her 6 month immunizations are in the running for Lily's ABC book entry under the letter I - I is for Immunizations

Or C is for Cry?


More like S is for Scream.

Narnia Legos

Melodie made these legos on her own, I was very impressed. Corey was reading the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to her and I thought she did an amazing job making these legos so she could play along.

we have the Wardrobe


The white witch and her sled



She also made the witch's Ice Castle, but I couldn't get it to upload. I'll try again later. She made the White Witch's hair out of a kneaded eraser.

Melodie and Kacey

Well, I uploaded pictures from my camera! We'll start with a story from Melodie's birthday in December 2009. First, some background...

Our family's first encounter with Webkinz came one day, I think in 2007, when Melodie came home from a friend's house - they had gone to the store together and she had bought a Lil' Kinz white rabbit. Her name was Kacey. Melodie and Kacey had something special. We could all see that. She was Melodie's pet. Kacey came with us everywhere, from trips to the store, a hike to Timpanogos Cave (above), to the Dinosaur Museum, and Kacey also waited in the car until church was over. For a time, I also was asked daily by Melodie to assist Kacey in waving to her as she passed by our house in the bus on her way to school, and then post Kacey in the window to wait for Melodie's return. It was really cute. They had something special.

Then, in June 2009, during the week in Park City with Corey's family, one day Kacey was left by the swimming pool and was never seen again. Nothing at the lost and found. Nothing turned in during the following weeks when we called to the resort. Melodie was heartbroken. We could all feel her pain. I went to Hallmark and fye to see if I could find another little white rabbit for Melodie. They told me I'd have to wait until Easter when they get shipments of white rabbits. Still, I kept checking the stores when I was in the area. I found one in November 2009, just in time to present to her on her birthday December 12. I was so excited to see her face. And I was so excited to have caught a picture that captured the moment.
Melodie is convinced that it is the same Kacey, cause it looks just like her, even the slightly offline level of the eyes. (I had a good eye when I was looking at the rabbits :) ... I got to know Kacey too.) Melodie says Kacey was found by someone and sent back to the Webkinz factory where she was washed and repackaged. It's nice to have Kacey back in the family.

Kristi Approved - Live the Life

Well, time keeps ticking. I haven't been taking pictures or scrapbooking like I want or need to, but I'm going to get there. It's not that I don't have the time for it, right? Cause you make time for things that are priorities to you, right? Last month I set some real goals for myself after I read this BLOG POST on Kristi Approved - "it's not about time, it's about YOU". I need to make the time in my day for the things that are important to me. That being said, last night I spent a wonderful hour reading to the kids. I've been going to bed consistently at 11:00 for the past 3 1/2 weeks (that's a big miracle!) - I've been eating healthy, I've been exercising, I'm feeling really good. I'm on week 4 of Life the Life, which is a lifestyle program that I learned about the night before our 11 year anniversary last month. I knew I wanted to do it, and I already was doing most of it, but the program presented itself in a fool proof way which took out the guessing work. That in itself has kinda been a revelation to me, that you don't loose pounds, you remove them. You don't have to guess what the scale will say, you can know what it will say if you follow the path that will get there. That being said, since I started Live the Life, I've consciously removed 2 pounds a week. I started at 145 on Feb 20, at the end of week 1 I was 143, end of week 2 141, end of week 3 139, and when I weigh in this Saturday I will be 137. At this rate I will reach my goal by my birthday next month! That will be a good birthday present to myself. Life the Life has a 7 day free trial/challenge if you want to try it, or feel free to ask me any questions.

As a side note, I really have done quite a few things to loose weight, since I've had so many pregnancies which have given me so many opportunities to do so. Growing up in high school and such I was always size 12, always considered myself a stocky soccer player. I would jog occasionally after Kid 1 Joe and Kid 2 Mel were born, but was able to get back to size 12 pretty easily. Then after Baby 3 Ethan was born and after watching a home video of our vacation to Disneyworld that we took when he was just 1 month old, I was so embarrassed to see myself in the videos. I did not know I looked like that, and when I saw it I did not like it. Sure, the baby was just a month old, but I hated those pictures... that was not me. So that's when I decided to try a program - my sister in law Nancy gave me a book by Marilu Henner, and she also introduced me to Body for Life. Following those two programs, I was able to get to size 12 and then those pants got smaller, lo and behold I was amazed to find out that I could be a size 4/6. I was amazed. So after Ethan and again after baby 4 Hyrum, I got down to size 4/6 and 125 lbs. I was eating in the Marilu Henner "Total Health Makeover" style of food combinations, but that didn't work as well after Wesley, probably cause food combining just wasn't a practical way to live. Anway, after pregnancy #5 and baby Wes was born, I still have 10 + pounds on. I did a half marathon after baby 6, Abigail, which I thought would fix any weight problems, but I still had 15 lbs after the half marathon. Then I did P90X, which made me strong, but it was really intense and I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up that pace forever. Then pregnancy #7, and this time after Lily was born, I was stuck at 155 for a while, then after doing a TOPS thing with my mom and Beka, I got to 145, but then I got stuck there too. So I've been so pleased to see progress these past 4 weeks. Really excited to get below 140, and excited to reach my goal of 125! Live the Life is really working for me.