FreshMommy

Embarrassing Moment #387

2011-10-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

Seriously. Could this really happen? It did, it really did. I was in the new and improved local Walmart and I went to take a potty break right before we left and I used one of those thin toilet seat covers to keep away from those tiny, ugly germs. You know those thin paper covers that you pull UP and then DOWN, with the directions there to see because if you don't do it that way the seat cover rips in a weird way. By the way, I'm really glad Walmart has upgraded to having the seat covers and the foamy soap. Ok, so all was well, my daughter and I were walking out of Walmart and out of the corner of my eye I see these two hoodlum brothers and they were a bit on the creepy side. As I walk out the skinny one says, "Excuse me." I keep walking, picking up the pace and ignoring the request. My daughter and I were becoming a bit nervous. The guy repeatedly tried to get my attention and I was afraid they were coming after me. I finally turned around and said, "What?!" He then proceeded to tell me that I have toilet paper coming out of the back of my pants! Ha! I reached around and sure enough, there really was remnants of the lovely toilet seat cover! So embarrassing. My daughter was like, "MOM what in the world!" The guy then reassured me that not that many people saw it. I hurried and got into my car and the two guys were parked right in front of me and were laughing and then they left in their getaway van with no windows. For some reason, I felt like I was in a Far Side cartoon, like the one where the guy leaves the bathroom and a huge sign flashes, "Didn't wash hands!" Such a random thing that now makes me laugh. Good thing I can laugh at all the random and funny things that happen to me!

The One Thing...

2011-08-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

To be an entrepreneur, you have to stick with it and see it through. You can wish it to be easy, but it usually isn't.

-Donald Trump

In starting a business together, my husband and I want something better for ourselves. Layoffs, traveling out of town, being under paid, and not having passion for your work are just some of the reasons we are taking the plunge into the unknown. I saw the above quote on Facebook and wow, is it ever true. My oldest daughter is old enough to realize that we don't have quite as much as we used to. She has a hard time with not being able to get a lot of the things that I would normally buy for her. And it. is. hard. Something to learn for our family during this time is being able to distinguish between our needs and our wants. I realize kids stuggle with understanding this concept, but I will do my best to teach them the value of things. For example, we aren't doing much school shopping this year. We are using some of the clothes that the kids have from last year and only provide them with the needs.

Some of the best lessons that can be learned while going through this time with our kids are happening right now. Instead of daddy going off to work every morning and then coming home at night to be with us, they see a much different picture of business and work. They see how hard we work for our business and how we are making it grow. Instead of wondering what dad does at work all day, our kids know exactly what he does and that is making pizza for people and the passion he has for doing what he does. We visit the farmers markets where daddy works and see him in action. Over these years we will watch the business grow and turn into a restaurant, a place for families to come and eat together and love the pizza we cook for them in our brick oven.

Through our conversations my older kids are picking up on what it takes to run a business. They were playing with Lego's and they created this brick oven pizza restaurant complete with a pizza oven, cash register, dough maker, and seating for customers. My oldest daughter was engaged in pretend play at it's finest and having her younger brother stay back and manage the restaurant while she and her other brother went on "vacation." Well, my son didn't want to stay back and "miss" the vacation with her so she gently told him that it was important for him to stay back and take care of the business while she was "gone." This very scenario had just happened with our business. We, as a family had gone on vacation and had one of our trusted employees run a couple of events for us while we were gone. Isn't that the whole idea and luxury of owning your own business? Have all the systems and people in place so you can go and come back and things run on their own. But in reality, that take some major work, time and planning to make that happen. So worth it though.

The STORM

2011-04-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a week this has been. When it rains it pours I've once heard. That would be the case for me. Up in the night last night, I couldn't sleep. At 2am there were many tears and much prayer being offered. Listening to "How Great Thou Art" my grandmother's favorite hymn, I couldn't help but think she was watching over me in my time of need. Life just keeps moving along and there are so many obstacles along the way, a test, a struggle. A test to see if I will be faithful to what I know is true and right. There are attacks, personal ones from some we love. It hurts and cuts deeply. What would Christ do in situations such as these, I ask myself. I realize He would just take the blows, and let it pass. My thoughts turn to him this Easter season. I must remove myself from the situation and know that those who attack are hurting inside, the anger bursts out in ways unimaginable; for we were friends...

Amidst one trial, another is in the background of my mind. I had been holding it together until, it all came out, last night when I was alone and it was quiet. My precious father is sick, very sick. And I am very far away. I love him, deeply for he has given me so much and taught me so much of how to serve others and what real love is. I found out this week that he can hardly walk. He is so weak and tired from the cancer that is on attack. As I was up in the night typing a letter of thanks and love to my dad, through my misty eyes in the darkness I glanced over at our desktop computer to see this:

Lindsey. I love her. She is hilarious. Amidst the tears came laughter. Lindsey had put this as the wallpaper on our desktop last night before bed. I am so thankful for her. She is such a wonderful daughter. I feel so blessed. She really cracks me up. Thank you Lindsey for brightening up my dad, I mean my night. : )

Weight LOSS

2011-03-02T16:33:00.000-08:00

BEFORE

My birthday 2010

AFTER
My birthday 2011

So some of you have inquired about my weight loss. Yes, I have done it and I'm loving it! My baby is about to turn 3, so I have no excuse of keeping all that baby weight.

My quest began last year in March. I wanted to know how many my calories my body needed each day to maintain itself. I subscribe to the school of thought that if a person is continually overeating, even with exercise, the weight will not come off because they are eating more calories than their body burns. So with that said, how many calories did I need to sustain myself? At this time I had been studying in the scriptures, the Word of Wisdom found in the Doctrine and Covenants. This code of health contains things that we should not take into our bodies to be healthy, but also things we should be partaking to be in optimal health. My mission became just that. To be in optimal health so I could serve my family and others and have energy and vitality. I started with a 10 day cleanse, the lemonade cleanse. The one where you drink Smooth Move tea at night, Celtic sea salt water in the morning and then fresh lemonade with grade B maple syrup and ceyanne pepper. Wow, it was hard and I only made it to day 6 because I got the worst headache in America. I couldn't finish it out, but I felt really good afterwards. I lost 7 pounds at that time.

In April of 2010, I started thinking again about my personal calorie intake and really wanted to know how much I really needed in a day. My good friend Lolly told me about the Weight Watchers points and how the system counted calories for you. It sounded like a game to me. So since she was going to the Weight Watchers meetings she bought some points books for me and points slider scale and I was ready to begin. The first two weeks were so hard. It made me realize just how much I was overeating. I never thought I was an overeater until I started points. My experience has been amazing. I was loosing 1-3 pounds a week. Steadily. I've now lost a total of 35 pounds and I love how the points have taught me portions. It's actually really easy to do points. I really treat it like a game for myself. A challenge.

During the summer, my husband and I also started eating less meat. Especailly red meat. We have meat every other night now for dinner. But my meat portions are cut way back. About 3 oz is all my body really needs. We have tried many vegetarian recipes and we love this way of eating. Our son has autism so he is on the gluten-free, casein-free diet. Because of this, all of our family dinners are GFCF, which has also helped change the way we eat. No more cream of chicken soup. No casseroles. Really simple food and yummy food, fresh veggies! I have some GFCF Recipes here. I love the not-so-heavy feeling after a dinner. So awesome.

Here are some links to get you started with the points. Have fun with it. Write down everything you eat! Everything that goes into your mouth. It doesn't take a lot of time to have a food journal. Think all the hours of your day. You are only spending a fraction of that time writing down your foods and calculating points.

1. First, figure out how many points per day you get.

Points Calculator

2. You get 35 extra points in the week called Flex points. So if you eat over your points in that day, they count as flex points. (I don't use all mine in the week) Keep track of these daily.

3. You can get activity points for working out etc. You can choose to use these points to get extra points in the day. Calculate them here. Also, on the same website is a points calculator. Just type in calories, fat and fiber content on any food label and it will calculate the point value for you.

4. When I started I didn't have the points values books so I found it all here.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions. I have lost my weight without going to a meeting or paying for the website etc. Just the initial $25 for the books and a digital kitchen scale from Walmart is all I have put into this. I'm sure it would be helpful to go to the meetings, but I just decided to do it on my own. And it worked. Really. Good.

Super Mario Brothers Volcano Cake

2011-02-26T11:16:00.001-08:00

With the help of the hubby I made this fresh Super Mario Brothers Cake for my son's 5th birthday party. If the kids weren't impressed, well the adults were. It's fun to come up with an idea then make it and have it done and have a new fun creation. My husband came up with the tea lights as the different levels you have to pass in each world...great idea! I really love making birthday cakes. The volcano is made with a barbie dress cake pan and I thinned out the frosting and dripped it right on. The green cake is actually a gluten free/casein free cake for my other son who can't have wheat or milk products. We try to include him in the fun as much as possible, so he doesn't feel left out. Awesome!

Chore Sticks

2011-02-23T13:27:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to motivate my almost 5 & 3 year old to do simple chores around the house. I was looking for some sort of chore chart on the web and I came across this fantastic idea for CHORE STICKS from this blog: Make and Takes. So simple and easy to use. Eli's sticks are blue and Leah's are purple. When they get done with their chores they just flip them over to the colored side up.

I got the clip art from The Idea Door, really cute.

Thank you very much, and I sized down the clipart to fit on the sticks. They turned out super awesome. I was very crafty today I must say.

Yummy Healthier Pumpkin Muffins

2010-11-10T10:57:00.000-08:00

Made these wonderful pumpkin muffins today from a recipe from the Internet (joyofbaking.com). I changed the recipe a bit to make it more healthy, ie. applesauce instead of oil. They turned out fantastic and you will love them too!

Healthier Pumpkin Muffins

1 Can Pumkin Puree

2 Eggs

1/2 C. Buttermilk (add 1 tsp. lemon juice to milk and let sit for 5 min)

1/2 C. Unsweetened Applesauce

3/4 C. Whole Wheat Flour

3/4 C. Bran (I use oat bran)

3/4 C. Sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 C. Craisins or Chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the pumkin, eggs, buttermilk, and applesauce together in a bowl. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, bran, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add to wet mixture. Mix well. Add in the crasins or chocolate chips, if desired. Pour batter in muffin tin and Bake at 400 degrees for 16-18 minutes. Muffins are done when toothpick comes out clean after poking muffin. Makes 12 muffins. Enjoy the season! Love that pumkin.

I Started Juicing!!

2010-09-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

So I've been sick a lot lately and have developed asthma and allergies this summer...YUCK! So I dusted off my juicer and found this not-so-yummy juice recipe, but oh-so-good for you anyway. Drink it up, it gets things moving and I swear it has melted some of my excess fat away! It's a cleansing type juice and good for healing any illness. Here it is:

Healing Juice

3 Carrots

3 Kale leaves

2 Stalks of celery

2 beets

1 turnip

1/4 pound spinach

1/2 head of cabbage

1/4 bunch parsley

1/4 onion

1/2 clove of garlic

1/2 Cucumber (optional)

Wash, peal and cut most of the veggies. Some people don't peal, but I do. This is good for 3-4 servings of juice. For one person use 1/4 of the recipe. I make enough for one full glass and I plug my nose and drink in down in one breath. Tell me how you like it. After drinking this almost everyday for 2 weeks I have started to acquire a taste for it. The problem is that most of us only like sweet tastes and that is what we are used to. Now, when I eat sweets they taste too sweet and I don't even want them. My husband and I have been drinking this concoction and we click our glasses together and say, "Cheers to good health!" I do believe I will wear out my juicer because I love the effects this is having on my body. I want to have optimal health and live long and prosper!

Tourist

2010-07-03T22:46:00.000-07:00

I am a tourist in my own hometown. I have been away for two years and have come back mid summer to see the sights and the ever changing landscape. Gilbert, Arizona is where I come from, where I grew up. Back when there was only one stoplight in town and one high school. Now it is a thriving huge city with everything you need around you. As I am swimming in the pool, I hear the never ending hum of the air-conditioners and the crickets at night. I smell the stagnant water from the irrigated lawn and I see the bright white puffy clouds in the distance with the mountains nearby. All the sights and sounds that I remember from back when I was a kid growing up that seemed insignificant at the time, but when you are away living in the Midwest and then return, you capture all those memories of childhood in a short visit. The bright, scorching sun that always shines here, casting contrasting dark shadows on the sidewalk, the locusts buzzing in the trees in the backyard. All such familiar surroundings that I sometimes miss.

So many new things have been built here that I just can't believe this is where I am from. Because it was not like this growing up. It was a small town back then, I lived on the outskirts of city life, which are now the city. I visit Joe's Farm Grill and take a picture of the sign with my family because it is an attraction and a new place to see. I really do look like a tourist my husband says. But all in all, I came here to see my family and my parents and all those that I love. I don't get to see them often, but when I do I feel grounded and taken back to my roots of who I am and how I was raised to be. I like it. It's like a breath of fresh air, a new beginning to go back and raise my little family back in Wisconsin, where not so many people know me in the community I live in. Not that I don't like it, I really do. It's just well, a different culture there. I suppose there are a lot of people like me, who don't stay where they grew up. That fits me, for I love a new adventure. But I do love coming back, even when it feels like an oven outside.

Interesting

2010-04-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

In this day and age of electronics and communicating, my Facebook account is where I go to catch up with friends and family and just see what in the world are people up to. My Facebook account is an escape from the monotony of the day, which is full of crying kids, housework, and a host of undone accomplishments. These are details that I never would have known pre-Facebook, but now that we are all plugged into this communication machine, we get caught up in following people's lives. We find out what is important to people, what they value, what their priorities are. If I think about it too much, it's sorta scary how much information about ourselves is out there.

High School Memories

2010-04-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

I really liked high school. Seriously I did. I had tons o' fun. To make it fun and interesting I used to carry a cassette tape recorder around with me and I would walk down the vast halls and narrate what was going on and I would have teachers talk on it and friends, of course. I'm pretty sure I would fit more into the intellectual, nerdy category. I would also do these strange social experiments like place my backpack in the middle of the floor inbetween classes in the heavily traveled "mall" as we called it. Then I would find a bench nearby and watch what people would do. I just wanted to see how people would react to a full Jansport backpack in the middle of the action. So random, I know. One of the only regrets I have about high school is the fact that I missed one important event. The Senior Banquet. And just guess where I was? At a Yanni concert. Now we know how nerdy I really was. Seriously, I was jamming out to Yanni instead of recieving my crowning peer-voted award of Best Sense of Humor. That is really humorous that I loved Yanni so much to miss my best moment. The black flowing hair, the synthesizers and the New Age crowd. What a fantastic memory I must say.

Fun Mom, I think

2010-03-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

So I took the kids to a birthday party at the stinky gymnastics place in the next town around here. I must say that I had just as much fun as the kids did. I purposely wore stretchy pants with a long shirt and one to tuck in because I was planning on doing my cool tricks too. So they had these two trampolines side by side in the ground so you could just walk onto them. And they were BOUNCY! What a dream to me. Perfect for my tricks. So I hovered around the trampolines so when the kids would get off, I could make my move. I brought back the ol' back flip first, then the backhand sprang, and then the ariel. Too bad none of the other moms were doing tricks and I was embarrassing my tween daughter because of it. The kids even clapped for me and I felt like a kid again. So the best part was that after the fact, I read all the rules for birthday party guests and I realized that I broke rule #1 and rule #2.

#1 No parents allowed on any of the equipment.
#2 No flips on trampolines

Hahahahah! So hilarious. What a bad example to the kids I am. I didn't know and none of the workers told me to stop. I want to be the fun mom that is active with her kids. Why not? But really, after having four kids I may need that surgery to keep the pee in?!?!

OLDER...

2009-08-21T22:13:00.000-07:00

You know you must be getting oldER when you enjoy canning...anything that will store for the winter. We have an abundant garden this year. Tons o' cucumbers. So I decided not to waste, but to make pickles and oh how the vinegar stunk up the house. It drove the kids away, which was excellent so I could turn up my random mix (including the High School Muscial soundtrack)on my ipod and figure out how to preserve these cucumbers. What a successs, 25 jars of pickles later. I am so proud of them that I put them up on the top of my cabinets in the kitchen for a lovely display of my new-found homemaking skill. The next night was strawberry jam and the fine jars are displayed on the other bank of kitchen cabinets. Tonight it's homemade salsa, which is boiling away even as I write. Wow, I must be getting oldER, not OLD, but old enough to actually enjoy canning on my used-to-be night out on the town Friday night. Things have changed when I can be thrilled about such things!

Facebook Frenzy

2009-08-08T22:37:00.001-07:00

When I'm on Facebook and I find this to be rather random, I tend to look in the background of my friend's photos. I don't know if this is a fault or not, but I want to know what kind of house they live in, how is it decorated, is the house messy like mine and all other small details of people's lives. Facebook is an interesting phenomonon. It almost seems like some friends are really over the top sometimes. "Look at my awesome pictures of the circus-themed, 4-year-old birthday bash that the whole neighborhood came to and I have these sweet pictures of all the things that I did to create this beautiful event that turned out flawlessly and made my baby so happy today." And then the influx of all the comments come in. "You are the best mom for creating such a spectactular party for you kid, etc, etc. Now I know I am exaggerating here a bit. But come on, be real. Some people just take things a little to far. (Not everyone is like that by the way). It's just all kind of funny to me. I also feel like so many people are wasting time playing games and taking unimportant quizzes. Are we all really that bored? Diversion I suppose. Away from the dishes, screaming babies, kids fighting, ants crawling in the kitchen, laundary, husband wanting dinner...The work part of life.

Hair flowers...Yikes!

2009-07-25T16:06:00.000-07:00

What is the deal with these gigantic flowers that people are putting on their newborn baby girls? The flowers I have seen lately for photo-ops are bigger than the baby's head. Are moms trying to outdo each other by trying to see who can get the biggest flower? What ever happened to the tiny bow with the corn syrup? That's what my baby wore. And the headbands are getting thicker and thicker. I personally think the smaller the better, like the silky bands that are 1.99 on the endcap at Walmart. Pretty soon we see not just the giant flower, but the plant that goes with it. "Oh look at your newborn baby, how cute. Where did you get that flowering cactus plant bow? That is sooo cute!" Too bad the baby has no say in all this.

I got stuck!

2009-04-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

I am the mom of all moms. Super, duper mom. You don't even know me, I am somewhat of a stranger here. But really, you should have seen me at the grocery store when I got my dang car cart stuck in the bathroom! I have my 3-year-old who won't go to the store without one of those littletike look-a-likes car grocery cart. These things are so crazy dirty, it makes me nervous. I need a canister of wipes to clean it off. So I have my 3 year old with me and my infant. She's 12 months, but small. She's still in her infant seat probably until she's like 2 because she only weighs 17 lbs. Out of conveniece, poor baby just stays in the infant carrier when I'm grocery shopping. At least she can see my face. So, I'm forced to drink as much water as possible due to kidney stone scares. So I get to the store and I have to pee real bad. I don't want to leave my two babies in the cart alone outside the bathroom at the store so I wegde the dang cart into the small bathroom. I swear it took up the whole thing. Too bad someone came in while I was in the stall to use the bathroom and my car cart was in the way; they had to leave. Sorry, I'm a mom. K, so as I was leaving the bathroom I tried to push the cart out, but the thing is so long it gets stuck between the doorway and the wall outside of the bathroom! I'm pretty sure to get it out of there I made some dents/marks on the wall trying to manuver my way out! I started the hot sweats, mostly from embarrasment, then I thought, this is hilirious. I just love it! Run from me, I can't steer the thing due to crappy wheels, of which the front ones don't even touch the ground. The crazy things we do for our kids.