May Update

This is a close-up of the quilt I bought (you can read about it here!)

We spent a lot of time this weekend pulling weeds and reseeding the lawn in the patches that didn't grow the first go-around. That was harder than the first seeding. We've had a lot of good rain this past week, we're really enjoying it, but not the mud that comes in.
The kids beds - Sarah's new quilt (close-up above). You'll read about Kannon's quick decision to remodel - we took out the crib that night and moved the love seat in it's place. So, Sarah was put in her "big girl" bed that night. She has done so well! There have only been a few times where she gets up and gets in trouble. Usually she will lay down and go to sleep, nap times too!

So, I guess just some random things to blog about right now. I haven't blogged in awhile because I didn't think there was anything going on, but now I've got a collection of anythings.

First, big news for our family, 2 NEW COUSINS! Sasha had her baby girl, Lillie, on May 10. We're really glad things didn't get too bad. There were some complications, but mom and baby are doing fine. The other kids have had a few weeks at Grandma's house so Sasha can recuperate better.

Nancy had her baby boy, Colby, on May 12. Her labor was really quick and they are doing really well, too. We can't wait to get to see them both soon! It's kind of funny that they both missed having their babies on Mother's Day by just a few hours each way.

Ben's had a fun friend month. I have been babysitting another boy his age and he's had a good time playing with him. There was definitely more noise, dirt, and mischief those days. I'm not sure if Quinlan will be coming over anymore. Not sure what those plans are. We also had a little picnic day last week with some friends.

We got our stimulus check just over a week ago and Kannon wanted to use it to start remodeling our living room - the next day! I convinced him to hold off for awhile. Let us get really ready for the mess that will come with that. We've been able to buy almost all of what we'll need for that job - still need to order new windows and rent the floor sander. I'm not sure when we'll actually get started as we have a trip and I have girls camp coming up. I'll get before and after pictures to post. Kannon has also been doing some sewer work. He hates that kind of plumbing. He was trying to dig a hole on the outside of the house, to make a bigger entrance to get under the house. Right now we have a little hole in our little cellar. The guy who did our home inspection was small and barely fit in it. Kannon hasn't tried, but it does look to small. He wanted to cut a door, but the wall there is 7 inches thick! So, he started digging is way under the house. In the process he found our sewer pipes, and dug a hole IN it! So, he's had to dig out a bunch around the pipe and then cut out the pipe and replace a section of it. I'm so glad he's a plumber! That could have been a very costly repair. He really hated the job, though. Doesn't like mud and, obviously, doesn't like sewer!

I had a couple of fun evenings last week. A sweet lady from Utah was in town teaching about better women's health. Mostly she talked about estrogen and progesterone and how our health will be better if/when they are in balance. I've used progesterone cream before, when I was trying to get pregnant with Ben. I also used the fertility pills at the same time and so I wasn't sure what actually helped me get pregnant. I tried the cream again when I was trying to get pregnant with Sarah, but it didn't seem to be making a difference. I can tell my hormones are not balanced right now. Tons of symptoms of that, and so I am trying the cream again. This brand I bought www.arbonne.com/products/balance/prolief.asp is supposed to be the best. Progesterone cream is sometimes called "happy cream" and helps men, too. A huge help for anyone going through menopause. Some good books with a lot of info are "What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Menopause" or "What Your Doctor . . . . About Premenopause" by Dr. John Lee. The second night she talked about diet and I felt impressed to follow a book called "Original Fast Foods" by James and Colleen Simmons. Basically takes you back to the basics, eating fruits and vegetables. Adding grains and legumes when needed for more energy. Cutting out animal-based foods. I'm really excited about this, I'm trying to make some changes now and will add more when I'm back from our 2 weeks of "stuff". You can check out their website for more information www.originalfastfoods.com

(Jaime, I even found a huge list there of gluten-free foods under Support Center and Health Articles.) Once I make these changes I expect to see the pounds come rolling off. I will keep you updated and share more as I learn more. I'm really excited about this.

We went to a fundraiser last week to help support a friend who's 2-year-old son is in need of a kidney transplant. They had a spaghetti dinner that we all enjoyed and raffles, silent-auction and a live auction. I think I got a little carried away, but I'm glad it was for such a good cause. I ended up buying a really cute quilt for Sarah's bed for $90. I also let Ben bid on a popcorn pack since he didn't get the one he wanted in the raffle. Kannon won $15 to McDonalds and 2 passes to the local gym in the raffle. This is their blogsite http://www.daniellords.blogspot.com/ So, we all came home pretty happy and had a good time, too. Except when we kind of lost Sarah - for the 2nd time in a week! She kept wandering around and we were watching her, but somehow we didn't see her disappear. I was outside looking and Kannon inside. He finally found her, she just sort of showed up. We don't know where she was. That sounds so bad. She IS short! And there were a lot of people around and other kids. Some of the kids were playing in and out of some closets in this building and there was also a kitchen in another area where she could have been. I'm so grateful that she was safe. The other time she disappeared was when a neighbor and his 2 boys were here. She had been following the boys (and Ben) all over the front and back yards and in the house. Kannon was outside and I was inside. When I hadn't heard her or the boys for awhile I started searching and everyone was gone. The neighbors had gone home, I don't know where Kannon was, and Ben came back from riding his bike around the block (by himself, without permission). Then Kannon showed up and he didn't know where Sarah was. My only thought was that she followed Ben around the block. Kannon went one way, I went the other way and I found her about a quarter of the way around. Again, I was sooo glad that she was safe. I'm going to have to keep a better eye on her. I was thinking I might get one of those child leashes for busy places. Kannon had to chase her down at Walmart yesterday!

We were at my sister-in-law's (Jackie's) graduation party and Uncle Nathan was teaching Sarah how to eat the frosting - she really had a good time!
This is Ben and his ABC school class at their graduation. They had a lot of fun playing at the park together and eating popsicles and licorice, too. Ben was pretty proud of the fact that he graduated before Aunt Jackie!
Sarah, reading a book on the kitchen floor. I caught her this morning, too, reading a book while sitting on Ben's toy 4-wheeler and singing a song - that's what got me out of bed today! A Four Generation Picture
my grandma - Doris Mae Reed Young, 90
me, Elizabeth - 32
my daughter, Sarah Elizabeth - almost 2
my mom - Kathleen Debra Young Bake, 55

Father and Son Campout

Benjamin and his Dad went to the Stake Father and Son Campout last weekend. I wanted Kannon to blog about it - since I wasn't there - but I know he won't. So, when Ben dictated to me for his journal on Sunday I decided I would let him tell you about the campout. These are his own, approved by him, words.

Ben and his friend Reed
Blocking the wind!

"Me and Reed went hopping to rock to rock. And I went into the water and it was fun. But, I got 2 rashes on my legs - or a sunburn. And we roasted marshmallows in the morning. At night we went hunting with another friend and Reed. We had my flashlight - we found a bunch of rocks and we tipped them over and we saw how disgusting it was on the bottom of the rocks. And we saw 2 tents almost blowing away. And we saw the disgusting parts on the bottom of the rock - you know on the flat part on the bottom of the rock. And me and my Dad had so much fun. We threw our Frisbee and it went so far we couldn't even catch it. And then when it landed we could catch it. It was super-windy at night time. And we found perfect skipping rocks. Some people caught a fish there, but not me and Dad. That wasn't fun. We played cowboys before we left - me and Reed. And Dad was the Indian with the pipe that me and Reed found. And we played Bocce ball there - but me and Reed didn't - just the big Dads did."

Just before shower/bath time Dad had Benjamin come in for his annual head shaving. We do this every summer, all summer. I think he looks his best with a shaved head. Daddy, too - look his best with a shaved head. That's my opinion. And it's so easy. Ben hates the feel of the hair on his neck, or face, even arms. So, the quicker we get it done the better. (Now you know why I've had a hair-cutting cape on my gift wish list for years!)

New Grass!

Have I written about our lawn efforts? Last year we installed our sprinklers on one half of the backyard. This spring we finally felt we had the ground ready to plant grass (ie. sprayed the salt grass, pulled the other weeds, tilled and raked it smooth). So, we planted about the second week of April. The grass never grew. We knew it might not. We had been given some seed that was about 10 years old. Last Saturday Kannon and I reseeded the yard and by the middle of the week we saw grass! I did a little dance, I was so excited. (Sarah joined me!) We've discovered that the ground is NOT completely level. We have a few low spots that become puddles. And we are still trying to figure out the sprinklers. We have 6 of them and the middle and west end are always a lot wetter than the edges and east end. So, we're working out the kinks! I'm really looking forward to having a lawn this summer. I hope I will be diligent about taking care of any weeds along the way. And maybe next summer we will have a front lawn?!

Teddy Bear Tea

Today was our local Library fundraiser - The Teddy Bear Tea. This is our 3rd year to participate. Every April they announce the teddy bear categories and prizes. We have about a month to plan. They also display tantalizing prizes for the youngsters. Benjamin knew right away which prize he wanted: the bike, the spiderman action figures, the Scooby-Doo puzzles, the Diego play set and Hideaway, the Nerf Air Tech 3000. . . . . You get the picture! I made him narrow it down to one since each bear has a $3-5 entry fee. He chose the Detective Bear, prize=Scooby Doo floor puzzles and Myster Puzzle Party. The last 2 years he has come home disappointed because he hasn't won (and both years Mom DID win.) The Children's Librarian said she had an extra one that wasn't being used as a prize and she was going to give it to him if he didn't win. She knew how disappointed he would be. But, he won! I was so excited for him. He really likes these awesome puzzles! I chose to do the Princess Bear, because I thought it would be fun to do. I didn't really think about the broken hearts of all the little girls out there. But apparently there were some since we did win. I changed that from "I" to "we" because Sarah took the Princess Bear as her own when she woke up from her nap and saw it yesterday. So, I ended up entering it for her. She is the proud winner of 8 Disney Princess Pez and 4 Disney Princess Barbies! I will put them away for now, she is too young for these kind of dolls. I also entered a Pre-School Bear and a Realistic Bear, neither of which won. That's really okay. The Library raised over $2,000 dollars for their summer reading program and we will be able to benefit from that as well. I do have to add that as happy as Ben was with his Scooby-Doo stuff, he took about 15 minutes to mope (and yell at his sister) because he didn't get as much stuff as she did. That surprised me. I just thought he'd be happy for them both. I do think it might have been an effect of the Father and Sons Campout he had just come home from. Anyway, it's fun and we'll surely do it again next year.

For My Twilight Fan Friends!

I just found this fun quiz - like the jane austen one - I couldn't get the whole thing on here right now, (there are pictures!) But this should tell you a bit and hopefully the link will work for you.

Which Twilight novel character are you?
You're Esme Cullen - Your maternal instinct to take care of people and be kind draw people towards you. You're compassionate and loving, yet firm when you need to be. You appreciate hard work and value the beautiful results of your dedication to any project. Take this quiz!

No more teachers dirty looks!!!!

Yeah!!! I am so excited! Today was my last day of teaching ABC School. The kids have one more week - the letter Z and graduation - but for my part, I'M THROUGH. It has been very fun, but also very time-consuming. Granted I only had it a week out of the month, but I am the kind that thinks about it the whole month and does nothing until the night before! For the letter Y we laced yellow yarn, made "you" books filled with pictures from the year, and practiced yo-yo-ing! We also played with playdo, did "hot-cold" with a yellow Y, explored "you" by testing our skills, skipped, and played letter bingo. Plus, we had snacks: yogurt, yoo-hoo, yellow cupcakes, yo-go's, and yellow popcorn. This was spread over the 2 days we have school, and we didn't have time to do everything I had planned. That is SO okay with me. After the kids left today, I did....NOTHING! Read emails and blogs and put the kids down for a nap. Now, I have wanted to do "nothing" all week, but have still stayed pretty busy. This afternoon, NOTHING. It did feel good. And I was more ready to wash the days dishes and clean up the house than I had been all week. So, despite my 3-4 hours of "nothing", my husband still came home to a decent looking house. AND, I still had the energy to help Ben with his letter T stuff we had missed when he was sick. Now, after this day of preschool, I get to spend and hour or so with my girlfriends discussing a great book! Maybe I don't need the vacation I was screaming for 2 days ago. Then again, I'm dying for a shopping day alone (aka no children!) Sometimes I feel like I'm not being a good mother because I always need some time alone. I know mothers who don't desire that at all. But, how do you drive an hour to the stores, shop for clothes for yourself, look through the craft store and your favorite thrift store; then drive the hour home - with two little ones? If you have the solution, I'm all ears. Otherwise, I will continue to desire a day to be alone, and just try to let my children know I love them despite that need.