She loves her friends.

Let keep it pretty wordless today. These are some L's friends. And boy does she love them.

Soy Joy

So, I am on this new kick. Let me explain how I got there.

L drink whole milk , 2 gallons a week. Gary drink 2% Lactose-free milk (which is pretty expensive and not extremely tasty(when drinking a glass). I usually buy 1 gallon of 1% and it goes bad by the end of the week because I only go through a 1/4....and milk price went up by $1.00 to 3.50 if I buy 2 gallons.

So, I switched to Soy. Although it is more expensive, it lasts longer, and I am getting my soy in, which every women should have (due to the genestein which prevents things like osteoporosis etc. )

And the best part I love it. It is creamy, great for a glass of milk, albeit taste a little funny on my cereal. And the best part is, it is good for me, and less calories than my milk (and still creamy). It is very yummy, kinda like a treat. Soy milk has come a long, long way.

Perhaps some of you think (why not just switch to 1/2 gallon of skim but I was turned off to skim in Provo, where they added powdered milk (probably to increase the watery nutritional content).

We'll see how long this kick lasts.

Living by Family

Today I am grateful for many people who help me out with church assignments so I can go see my husband's cousin's baby (who is the perfect angel baby and never cries) blessed. It was a fun evening catching up with Gary's extended family gossip and remembering that we do have family close (albeit two cousins 1 hour and 2 hours aways, respectively).

Visiting made me want to live much closer to family, made me a little baby hungry, because that child was so little and very adorable. I also realized that family is an important thing to have around.

Cons: I know there are plenty of cases against it, like parents/in-laws interfering and having to attend every dance/piano recital of every niece and nephew. I know sometimes family can be clingy and not let you breathe. I think also we do not develop close friendships with other when we have our family right there.

Pros: I like the family thing too. I never grew up around cousins or grandparents and really never developed many relationships there (although I did later on with one set of grandparents). I feel pretty out of loop on my sister's lives currently. Traveling becomes very expensive when you live as far as I do, (and with the phase of life we're in is going from twice a year to maybe once this year. ) I want my children to have relationships with their cousins (which I don't know if they will considering the only cousin on my side is moving to Japan in January.

Compromise:
1)Live close, but not too close.
2) Be extravagantly rich and fly to all locales of family
3)Let everyone breathe if I live close, and maybe make a habit of not expecting everyone to attend every event in my life.

With that said I don't know if I can realistically live close to anyone I am related to. At least not for now... (Japan's out, Evansville ??, Utah out, California out, Portland?) However, I have opted to in my future life to make a fund for my children to be able to travel and meet up on extended family vacations at all the various stages of life they may be in (thanks for the idea Aunt Marvia)

Any pros or cons I didn't see?

Any suggestions?

It is raining the effects from this Tropical storm we are dealing with. With all the thunder, lightning, and periodic cloudbursts, all I want to do is turn on a Disney movie for Lily and read a good book. The only problem is I had a good book to read (Harry Potter), but finished that at 4am Monday (Yes, my family was not too happy with me Tuesday, but that is a different story). So I need a another good book. Any suggestions?

Any suggestions for fun indoor activities for little girls approx. 20 months?

Otherwise I think we have face the storm and go visit Target, the library, and the bank. What we need is some warm brownies, big glass of milk, and a chic flic...

another recipe...

Remember when I told you about this. Well here is new one, I have been splurging and buying bleu cheese the last two weeks and eating this salad every day....cuz it is so good (especially if you have home grown cherry tomatoes). Thanks to the new church cookbook...

Bleu Salad
Bleu Cheese
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Sugar-coated almonds or pecans
Celery
Chopped Red Onion

Dressing:
1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
3 tbs. dijon mustard
3 tbs. honey
1 clove garlic minced
1/4 tsp. salt and pepper

Thoughts on life...on Miss L

With the tv...blaring the morning ritual of "Sesame street" I take a break from daily life. I was thinking about motherhood a lot lately, probably because Lily is 20 months old and several piano parents have been been inquiring "When is the next coming" the mysterious of motherhood and other such wonders in life.

I am very passionate about different issues but of course have the right to change my passionate opinion at a moments notice. Right now those issue include Motherhood (naturally), Self-fulfillment (which if pursued correctly can enhance your family's life), and an optimistic attitude (which I yearn to have, however, in most situation I see most of the negative potential outcomes before seeing the positive ones) Vague, yes, well let me keep it that way.

And all of that thinking stresses me out and I want to eat a popsicle and watch Sesame street with L....

Life seem a lot less complicated for 1 year old. L has been very funny lately. She is really into taking off her clothes to sit on the potty (or rather play in the bathrooms for hours on end) Is this a normal phase? She also is really interested in body parts as well. The other day at the pool she poked a little girl in the belly button who was behind her in the line for the slide. I was mortified.

A break

Dinner's on the stove, and L's in bed (yes I know at 5....), and Gary hasn't come home yet... just a quiet time to blog.

Today was a stay home day. I wasn't feeling all that well, I am just getting over the cold Lily had here. So it was kinda nice to just veg. I did a lot of coupon clicking (thanks to Erika getting me pysched about CVS Extra Care Bucks).

I also went to the pool, did some reflecting on the piano lesson schedule babysitting situation we are going to start with Lily. I think she needs to be more social. More to express on that when I make some decisions.

But overall it was a good day. Lily and I made banana bread for my visiting teacher (who I hope likes banana bread, because I find you either like it or hate it). Note to self: Ask VT what she likes to eat.

Lily also helped me do the dishes and play we played hide and go seek. I think I was meant to be a kid.

I think she needed a rest day too, after yesterday.

Hold it there, kid.

Today has been a tough one. Let's be honest...although most moms praise their kids to high heaven (and I do too) some days you want to rip your hair out. Let this be one of them. I don't quite know what the problem is.

It started early, but not too early. By nine I had a 2-year-old throwing a tantrum in the grocery store. Nothing was right. Didn't want to sit in the car attached to the cart, didn't want to not sit in the car, didn't want to be held or push the cart. Just wanted to roll around on the floor. This has been a problem in the past but not quite to this extent. It is not naptime at 9am and I did feed her. Library time was about not sharing with the girl sitting in the adjoining seat, and distracting her until we left the library so screaming would not resume. She's not sick. Where did my happy girl go?

I've got to quell the grocery store weekly rampage somehow..... and don't get me started on getting her teeth brushed, every night is a battle of wills (luckily Gary and switch off in this regard) Any help in the area? Neil?

I'll tell you...can't wait till I'm off shift today.

At least she left the green barette in her hair.

Grateful Sunday

I am grateful for Sundays. They are a break from the week, and they make me love my family more. I have a challenging primary class, but I love the kids, and each of them has individual challenges and talents. I have wonderful friends at church as well. Lily is hard in sacrament meetings, but she looks forward all week to nursery (she could go last week because she was feverish). The whole day has an effect on me. I am lucky to have sister-in-law visiting who graciously helped me with my primary class, and who made me Chinese food for dinner, won tons, noodles, and eggs with tomatoes (and brownies which will be done shortly....they sure smell good. I like my house clean, but I also love kids that really enjoy building legos/block/book forts because it means they are enjoying themselves.

I have been thinking a lot today at the fact that everyone has different challenges. Some are visible to the eye, some are not. Some are known only by our families or spouses. I think for those reasons we can't really judges those around... So my goal this week....to be a little more understanding of those around me.

Swimming with the cousins

Lily did something for the first time...



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