I've Added a New Widget

I've seen these cool "You Might Also Like" boxes on a few different blogs. They've usually been high traffic blogs with lots of posts. It never occurred to me that I could install such a feature on my own blog, until I saw it on my sister-in-law's blog. Very cool!! I've thought about it for about a week and I've decided to give it a go. My greatest concern is that I simply don't have enough blog entries to make this a worthwhile thing for anyone. So, if the recommended posts are just too repetitive or annoying, let me know and I'll take it off for a bit. ;)

Favorite Photo Friday

What can I say? I just LOVE this one and I just LOVE this boy. This is 'Lashes about one year ago. :D

A Little Dream Interpretation, Anyone?

I should preface this post by saying that RM has gone sugar-free. He stopped eating sugar in early July and has done really well with it. He is very strict. We will eat my homemade pancakes even though they have a little bit of sugar in the mix, but he doesn't eat jam or honey or syrup. He doesn't even eat peanut butter because it has too much sugar in it. Things like sweet & sour chicken are out too. He even stopped eating my home bottled fruit because they were canned with sugar, so this year I canned everything in juice instead.

He did allow himself some pie on Thanksgiving, some treats Christmas eve and day, and some fun stuff on New Year's eve and New Year's day. He also paid for his indulgences with killer headaches that lasted for a couple of days.

He has lost at least 11 pounds (I don't know when he weighed last to know if it's more yet) and several inches. He desperately needs to take his suit in to be taken in. It only stays on his body by the grace of his suspenders. Without them, he'd walk clean out of them in two steps. I keep encouraging him to keep going with it, because I can see a difference in how he feels and his health in general.

He has been encouraging me to join him for months.

Well, I finally decided to take the plunge, sort of. I knew my sweet tooth was out of control and I really needed to get my casual sugar snacking problem fixed. But, I wasn't ready to give up sugar entirely. So, starting after New Year, I decided to go sugar-free M-F, with permission to eat sugar with moderation on weekends and holidays. I'm not as strict as he is. I will drink juice without diluting it with water. I might have a PB sandwich now and again, etc. But, I am not randomly walking through my house snarfing sugar all day.

It's been a real challenge. I was actually quite resentful at first, but I've gotten over that. (At least most of the time. ;) ) I spend most of my week fantasizing about exactly what treats I'm going to eat when the weekend comes, though most of the time by the time the weekend has arrived I've lost the mania for what I wanted so badly. I've been really, really good. I'm trying really hard to keep the commitment, though I really doubt RM would give me too much grief if I strayed. However, some days are much harder than others.

Which brings me to the point of this post...

What does it mean if I dreamt that I ate a large bowl of ice cream for breakfast...and then felt hugely guilty when I realized it was Friday morning and not Saturday? :P

Another Talker

It appears that 'Lashes is going to be as big a talker as Princess Bug and Bob. He's already using short sentences and vocabulary words that astound me. Some of his recent chatter has thoroughly charmed me, so I thought I'd share.

A few weeks ago, he was looking kinda thoughtful while I changed his diaper. Out of nowhere he says, in a cute little sing song voice, "Wee wee wee home." It surprised me so much I started to laugh. I quickly finished changing him and grabbed my video camera. I managed to get him to repeat it, but it was cuter the first time. If I can figure out how to do it, I'll post the clip here.

I'm getting pretty used to having him answer "yeah" or "no" to my questions at this point. However, the other day he managed to take me completely by surprise. I said to him, "'Lashes I have a question for you." And, he replied, "What?"

One of the best, however, happened late last night. We were driving home after visiting with RM's brother's family. From his car seat I can hear 'Lashes straining at his carseat buckles. I glance back to see him stretching as far as his little arm can stretch toward the window and he's saying, "Reach! Reach!" I asked him what he wanted to reach and he says, "Moon!"

A Little Mommy Bragging

When I went to pick up Bob from pre-school today, his teachers took a minute to visit with me. They told me that he says something fun (and impressive) nearly every day.

Today while they were reading a story they discussed that when you have more than one mouse, you call them mice. But, when there is only one, it's called a mouse. A few minutes later they came across a bee in the story. Bob chimed in that if you had a thousand bees they are called bees and if there is only one bee it's called a bee.

Now, if Bob had said that at home, it wouldn't have even created a blip on my radar. But, apparently it's a big deal for a four year old pre-schooler to have a grasp on singular/plural. Who knew? :D

Favorite Photo Friday

Yeah, yeah. I cheated and backdated this post. Wanna make something of it. ;)

This has got to be one of my favorite photos ever. What do you get when you cross a good-natured brother who is eager to please with a bossy, creative big sister?? Well, something like this:



What you don't see in this photo is the row of letter stickers just beneath the collar of his jammies neatly spelling out his name (complete with backward letters).

I giggle every time I see this one. By the way, did you notice those brown eyes? Those melt-your-heart-make-you-swoon brown eyes? Sigh. What's a mommy to do?

July 2006

Pondering on the fragility of life...

I received word this morning that a friend who used to live in our ward passed away yesterday. (You can read about the circumstances here.) My heart is breaking for her family.

My heart is also breaking for the people of Haiti. Whenever wide scale disasters like this happen, my head and heart just reel thinking about how many people are just "gone".

I'm grateful for my testimony of the Plan of Salvation. I'm grateful that I know that our Heavenly Father loves us, knows each one of us personally, and is there for us in our needs. I'm grateful for my Savior and for the hope that comes with the promise of the resurrection. And, I pray for the comfort of the Holy Ghost for those in need of His comfort at this time.

Favorite Photo Friday...a bit late...again.

One of my favorite photos of Princess Bug ever. My mom took her shopping for her baptism day dress and they picked out this stunning number. By lucky coincidence, Princess Bug was actually baptized ON her 8th birthday. It was a very special day. Oct. '07.

You May Have Noticed...

A decided lack of new blog posts from me. I've got a few running around in my head, they just haven't managed to make it to cyberspace.

One of the reasons for this is that I have been reading blogs instead. I've missed getting all those little glimpses into your lives. However, some of you are so prolific in your posting that I don't think I'll be able to get "caught up" with all your posts. It makes me a bit sad, but that's just life I guess. Hopefully I'll make my way through my "Blogs I Try to Follow" list soon. So, if you suddenly find your inbox stuffed with notifications that I've been commenting on months old posts, you'll know what's going on. :P

Favorite Photo Friday

I'm WAAAAY overdue to post another picture for Favorite Photo Friday. Sorry! So, here it is.



The kiddos were just monkeying around, making funny faces for my camera last January. I provided a small amount of coaching and snapped this funny picture of one of the most famous monkeying around poses there is. It makes me giggle when I see it.

A New Year's Resolution

A friend of mine introduced me to a new concept recently. Instead of making a long list of New Year's resolutions that will be overwhelming and forgotten in a few weeks, she chooses a single word to focus on for the entire year. I've given this idea some thought and I have decided that this year I will not make a list of resolutions. Instead, I will be joining my friend and picking a word to focus on throughout the year.

My word for the year is: Better.

It's my goal this year to be better than I was last year, in every respect. I want to be better at saying my prayers and doing my scripture study. I want to be better at keeping my house clean. I want to be a better wife and mommy. I want to eat better and take better care of my body. I want to make better use of my time. I want to make better choices. You get the idea.

Today at church I heard a quotation that impressed me so much that I tracked it down to it's original source. It seemed so incredibly appropriate to my state of mind that I thought I'd share it with you.

“A wise man once distinguished between ‘the noble art of getting things done’ and ‘a nobler art of leaving things undone.’ True ‘wisdom in life,’ he taught, consists of ‘the elimination of non-essentials.’ What are the nonessential things that clutter your days and steal your time? What are the habits you may have developed that do not serve a useful purpose? What are the unfinished or unstarted things that could add vigor, meaning, and joy to your life?”

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “As You Embark upon This New Era,” in Brigham Young University 2008–2009 Speeches (2009), 2; see also Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living (1937), 162, 10.

I think that one of the best things I could do to make my life better this year is to choose to leave more things undone.

I hope and pray that I and each of you will have a fantastic new year...full of undone things. :D