Happy Day!

Little Dan gave me a belated birthday present: HE ONLY WOKE UP ONCE LAST NIGHT! It has been more than six months since I only woke up once during the night and I feel great this morning! It feels even better since lately he has been up between 8-10 times a night! Sleep never felt so good!

THIRTY!

Happy Birthday to me!

In honor of this 30th birthday, I am listing 30 things that I absolutely love about my life (By the way...it was really hard to narrow it to 30. I had to keep changing things as I thought of better ones...Maybe I should be turning 50 to get them all in!)!

1. DH, who loves me, protects me, provides for me, enables me to stay home with our children, and encourages me to be better each day!


2. K, who is so thoughtful and always looking for ways to make my life easier.


3. C, who is crazy and funny and can always make me laugh.


4. Little Dan, who loves me as if I am his entire universe.


5. Gospel of Jesus Christ


6. A living prophet


7. Wonderful parents and siblings


8. A house in the suburbs


9. Being a stay-at-home Mommy!


10. A dog that drives me crazy, even though she is the best dog ever!


11. Friends (especially ones that take you to brunch on your birthday!


12. Cute green purse that I think is adorable


13. Living the American Dream~owning a successful business!


14. Earrings and bracelets


15. Babies that sleep occasionally!


16. Pictures


17. Sunshine (with sunglasses so I don't get a headache!)


18. An awesome ward


19. Running water


20. Air Conditioning


21. Cell phones


22. Kids that are more excited than you about your birthday and whisper secretively as if you could never guess what they are doing!


23. A winning Utah Jazz team


24. An Education


25. A garden


26. French Manicures


27. The United States of America


28. A healthy body


29. Reading


30. My light blue eyes

Last night as DH and I thought about where we had been in the last ten years, I thought of how much has happened since then. Here are the major milestones since 20:

1. May 1997: Married DH


2. August 1997: Began first teaching job in Utah


3. July 1998: Moved to Portland, OR.


4. August 1998: Began teaching in Oregon


5. June 1999: K was born


6. July 2001: C was born


7. December 2001: DH graduates-changes name to Dr. DH.


8. December 2001: Moved to Texas


9. May 2003: Bought first house


10. September 2005: Opened our own business


11. September 2006: Little Dan was born

I feel so blessed to be living (for the most part) the life I dreamed of having since I was a little girl. The only thing I never predicted was that we'd be living in Texas (but, in general, we love it!)

Jericho

DH and I love Jericho! It started last fall on CBS and we couldn't wait for the new season to start. Last night was the first one. We always wish it was longer. We actually frequently comment that we wish it was a movie so that it would all be resolved in one night! It is too thematically scary for kids and it is on at 7, so we always have to tape it to watch it later. If you haven't seen it...it will jumpstart your need for that year's supply of food storage!

Oh BTW...I have no idea what happened to my comments link for the last few posts. I must have changed my settings accidentally. Sorry!

Yummy Dinner Recipe

It was K's night to help me cook dinner and she did it, even though it had many ingredients she did not like! It was yummy so here is the recipe:

Beef and Spinach Pitas (from Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely)

1 pound extra lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 bag spinach
1/2 t thyme
salt and pepper to taste
6 whole-wheat pitas
1 tomato chopped
1/2 cup low fat sour cream

Cook beef and onion until browned. Drain. Add garlic, mushrooms, spinach, and thyme and cook for about 3 minutes until the spinach wilts. Salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon beef mixture into pitas and top with tomato and sour cream.

It was soooo yummy. DH and I loved it. K was okay with it and C (picky boy) hated it, of course!

No sleep = No posts

It has been a long time since I last posted. I have had many ideas and many things I wanted to post, but without sleep....this has not happened!

This is what has happened in the last week:

• C came home from school sick with a head cold/minor flu.
• K had the stomach flu for three days (with 20 hours in between episodes of throwing up! How odd!) Maybe it was poisoned peanut butter (we did have the "bad" coded one...but we'd been using it for a couple of months so I don't really think it was that)
• Little Dan has a little of both plus is teething and NOT sleeping. I figure that I have been averaging 4-5 hours a night of very interrupted sleep for the last week!
• Performed a second-grade science experiment
• First one failed...scrambled to find a new one (Thank goodness for the Internet!)
• Performed second second-grade science experiment...success!
• Went visiting teaching...hurray!
• Lived life....normal stuff like feeding Little Dan, driving to the bank, feeding Little Dan, going grocery shopping, feeding Little Dan, cooking dinners, feeding Little Dan, paying bills, feeding Little Dan, doing laundry....etc.

I will post this picture from Monday. It was our hour-long 20-minute walk. By the time K got her bike and we pumped air in her tires, C got his binoculars to solve some neighborhood mystery, Little Dan got situated in his stroller, the dog needed a leash... we walked a nice long walk as the kids got to pick the route...then C's feet hurt since he was wearing sandals again for the first time in a while, so I piggy-backed him, held the dog's leash, and pushed the stroller. It was a sight and what I allotted 20-30 minutes for lasted more than an hour.

Works For Me Wednesday!

The title is a little bit of a misnomer, since I really don't know if this works. I am starting it today and, in theory, it will be great!

As a kid, we were never allowed to snack without "asking." I am not sure why..maybe it was money, maybe nutrition, who knows. Up until now, my kids have been too young to really snack alone anyhow, but lately I have been trying to solve the dilemma of the snacking. I always provide a nutritious after school snack, but after that it is rare that I let them snack. I don't want them to eat junk. I don't want them to spoil their dinner. I don't want to have my grocery bill skyrocket. So, I came up with the snack basket. In it I put relatively healthy snacks (granola bars, raisins, pretzels, cereal, etc.) in little baggies. Now, I will still prepare an after school snack for them, but if they get hungry otherwise they may, at their own discretion, choose one snack to eat whenever they want! I intend to make a second refrigerator-based snack basket to put in carrots, grapes, yogurts, etc. I think this solves all my problems: they have more freedom, and it is relatively healthy, it is limited-so hopefully the grocery bill won't grow.

We'll see how it works!

Sisters Make Great Best Friends!

My sister is my best friend. I guess it just snuck up on me gradually. First, we were too far apart to be really close friends. Then, when she got married and our life stages became the same, we got very close. It wasn't until recently, however, that I realized that she is my all-time best friend! She and her family were in Germany for two weeks and I missed her so much (even though we live some...750ish miles apart!) When frustrating things happen, it is her that I think of calling first and I have never been so genuinely happy (without any jealousy) for another person as when she told me that she was going back to Germany to visit with her family! I feel so blessed to have a sister!

K prays for a sister almost every night. I hope her prayers come true, although I also have faith that God knows what he is doing and our family will be exactly as it should!

I have also been blessed with my sisters-in-law and my "sisters" at Church! Aren't sisters awesome!?!

I would post a picture of me with my sister, but my batteries in my camera are dead...too many pictures of the Kindergarten play last night!

Valentine's Dance

I just have to post this beautiful picture. DH took K to a Daddy-Daughter Valentine Dance. They had so much fun and I love this picture. C took Little Dan and I on a date, too. It was cute to have a 5-year-old walking around the car to open my door for me! We ate a sundae and fries at Braum's. C would've eaten much more...he thought going on a date with Mami meant getting to eat whatever he wanted!

Profound Quote

DH and I were talking the other day about life. It reminded me of my very favorite quote. It came from a movie that came out in '93 or '94, but I don't recall the title.

"The pain now is part of the happiness then."

This is my favorite. It is so true. So much of what causes us heartache and pain stems from something that brought us such happiness, a hard break-up, a friend moving away, the death of a loved one, etc. If we had never had that joy than the pain would not be real. Is it worth it? Almost always the answer is "Yes."

Just thought I'd share.

Thursday Thirteen

13 items you may or may not know about me-as started on Thursday Thirteen.

1. I love math. I love accounting. I even love doing taxes. If it involves math I love it.
2. I have no idea what I am doing with this blogging thing, but I like it (think Jessica Simpson commercial)
3. I wish I had time/money to get a French manicure twice a week.
4. If I am stressed, I eat chocolate. It is my drug of choice and I am desperately trying to break the habit!
5. I would have three more kids if DH would want to.
6. I've never been east of Little Rock Arkansas.
7. I grew up in Colorado, but I have never been skiing.
8. I think that Nutella is heaven on earth.
9. I am the worst visiting teacher in the world.
10. If I could invent anything it would be an "Easy" button for my bathroom! I hate cleaning bathrooms.
11. I love vacuuming.
12. I am obsessed with watching the Utah Jazz with DH. Our moods depend on them winning!
13. I am on a countdown--the big 3-0 this month and I am living the life I've always wanted, stress and all.

First Cereal!

Today I fed Little Dan his first cereal! He loved it! He was so cute and would lick his lips after every bite to try and get it all! He is so much fun. Pictures say it all on this one!

"Peace, Be Still" and other random thoughts

It has been almost two weeks since I last posted. I guess that time just keeps plotting on by. Nothing really new. Nothing really bad. Nothing really good.

I have actually been doing really well. I attribute this to a renewal in my morning and evening "devotionals." I have been really consistent in making my priorities my priorities. One of my favorite Hymns is Master, The Tempest is Raging and I love the "peace, be still" part. I attribute my peace lately to the Master. Little Dan and I have been reading a chapter in the Book of Mormon and praying each day after the rest of the household leaves. This has been working better for me, since it has gotten harder to wake up early due to being up so much in the night! Then at night, I have been reading at least one article from the Ensign and praying (on my knees and out loud!) again. I hate to admit it, but I am not always this consistent and I really can tell a difference!

It helps me:

• to have patience with my kids and be more effective in spending time with them.


• to be happy and positive with DH when he comes home.


• to want to exercise every day


• work really hard on building my food storage


• etc.

One last random thought. It snowed again last week. I caught K's expression of wonderment as she walked home from the bus stop in it (she hasn't had much opportunity to walk around in snow). I love this picture!