Catching up

Yes, I've been neglecting my blog again. I've been busy reading other people's blogs but I haven't taken the time to post anything myself.

Todd is sick again, possibly strep this time. He ran fever for a couple of days last week, but no other symptoms except that he's been sleeping an awful lot. But, he's been falling asleep every afternoon for about a month now. We figured either he's staying up way past bedtime or he's going through a growth spurt. Now he's running fever again and he started complaining that his throat hurt. His tonsils are REALLY swollen, poor guy. He has a dr.'s appt. this afternoon.

We're getting another dog. He's a 4 y.o. Shiba Inu named Jack. He's very cute and not too big. A guy from church is moving and can't take Jack with him. We're also getting the kennel and doghouse which is great and saves us some money. I'll post some pics of him after we get him settled and see how he does with the kids.

Here's what one looks like. Jack looks very similar but not quite this big. And I think he has a sweeter face. The pup in the pic looks very mischievous and not too friendly. Ok, maybe a little friendly. ;o)

We've been struggling a bit with school lately. I'm having a hard time figuring out a schedule that works for us. We were doing ok for a while, but I was battling Lauren the whole time and it has gotten worse. Then I tried waiting until she took her nap to start school but she's napping later than usual and it throws our whole day off waiting until lunch to start. I'd rather start in the morning around 8:30 but it's not working for us right now. We'll get back on track eventually. I just feel like I have run by a schedule. And maybe that's part of the problem, too. But that's what I like about homeschooling. If it's not working, we have the freedom to tweak it until it does.

I've found this really cool blog, The Pioneer Woman. She is fabulous! I love her site. She has a wonderful writing style and I can always count on a good laugh. She has several different blogs in one site---cooking, home and garden, photography, homeschooling, and confessions. I love this site. Oh, I said that already, didn't I? Check it out if you get the chance. :o)

Cloth diapers & a school lesson

In an effort to try to save some money, I decided to switch to cloth diapers. Most people think I'm crazy, but that's ok. I know I am. Lauren is almost 19 months old and I figure she'll be potty-training before too long, which means I'll be playing in the potty cleaning undies. Why not diapers? Ok, TMI. Sorry. Everyone tells me girls are easier and potty-train earlier. Let's hope so.

Here's my first attempt. Ian cut out most of the patterns and I did the sewing. He also had to decipher some of the instructions for me because I must be sewing dyslexic or something. We need to make a few adjustments but I think it turned out cute for the first try. And, IT DIDN'T LEAK! That was after a nap, too. Yay!

Ian sacrificed several of his t-shirts for the project. How do you like the camouflage? You can't really tell much from this picture except that it looks small next to those scissors. It has an inner and outer layer of t-shirt material, a soaker made from microfiber material, and an inside layer of plastic(aka-cheap shower curtain). This is called an All-In-One because you don't have to use plastic pants over the diaper. I couldn't find the right size velcro for the tabs so I had to make this size work. I'll post pictures of some of the others when we finish and maybe have Miss Lauren model one for us, too.


I've been trying to come up with ways to make schooling more fun and not so monotonous. We usually stick to the text books and work books but the kids(and mom) get bored with it after a while. My mom gave the kids our old Scrabble game from when we were kids and I thought . . . 'Hmmm . . . this can be several subjects all in one!' So we played Scrabble today.

We worked on letter recongition for Matt. He's learning letters and sounds.

We worked on reading and spelling. Todd did pretty well with this. Even Zack could sound out some of the words.

And last, but not least, we worked on math. This was right up Todd's alley because he hates working in his math workbook. This was more fun and much less painful. :o)

Sad day

Our time with Brownie was short-lived. She passed away today. Ian(sorry dear) accidentally backed over her this past Saturday. She didn't have any obvious injuries like a broken leg, but we we thought there could possibly be internal injuries. She was up and about the next day, and back to her normal happy, running, playing self by the following day. We were convinced she would be fine.

We're not entirely sure if the accident was the cause or if maybe she ate something she shouldn't have. Whatever the cause, we're sad she's gone.

BTW--Zack is convinced the dog catcher came and took Brownie and left us a statue dog instead.

Bad attitude, spilled milk, and a prayer

Lauren woke us up this morning at 5 a.m. As much as we tried to lay really still and go back to sleep, hoping that she would too, we couldn't and neither did she. We finally gave up shortly after the alarm went off. As I was laying there listening to everyone else waking up, I thought to myself---Great. I get to wake up to someone crying or screaming and, one or more go to bed crying or screaming (usually Lauren because she knows it's bedtime or Matthew because he's gotten in trouble for coming out of his room one too many times after bedtime). Not a very good attitude to have to start the day.

Flash forward to breakfast---Ian cooked while I took a shower(yay!). I don't know if the kids were already on a roll before I got out of the shower but I could tell Ian was stressed. We sat down to eat, grownups and Lauren with oatmeal, and the boys with cereal. As usual, there were a few spills. Matt moved his bowl a little too quickly and some milk sloshed out onto the table. I told him he'd have to clean it up. He wiped it up with a towel, no problem. Breakfast continued on with the grownups eating silently and listening to (and watching) the goings on across the table. Matt spilled some milk again but this time cleaned it up with his tongue. After he finished slurping it up he said, "Ta da! I cleaned it up!". I gave Ian that look and then we both giggled.

Before Ian left for work, the kids wanted to have family prayer. We'd been trying to do this every morning, but we've gotten out of practice. So we did. It was a nice way to officially start our day. Hopefully we can get back into the practice of doing this every morning. It does make a difference.

Happy 2009

Happy New Year to everyone! Ok, I know it's Jan. 2nd already. Seems I'm always a day late and a dollar short.

I was thinking about the new year and what it means to me. I like to think of it as a fresh start. Instead of resolutions that tend to be made and broken within a few short weeks, I decided to set some goals for myself as well as set some family goals.

I found this on a friend of a friend's blog and it hit the nail on the head with something I've been pondering a lot lately. She talks about how she wants to improve the way she speaks TO others; to her husband and children, and also the ways she speaks ABOUT others. This is something I definitely need to work on. We also need to work on this as a family, but someone has to set the example.

I don't know this person's name or I would give her the credit here, but this is what she had to say about this goal.

First I want to share a scripture that is going to be my character goal :

"Therefore, strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings." Doctrine and Covenants 108:7

I have really felt that one area of my life that needs work is the way I speak TO others, from myself to my husband to my children. This also includes the way I speak ABOUT someone to other people. There are a lot of scriptures that tell us the importance of our words and here are a few :

"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grevious words stir up anger." Proverbs 15:1

"A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perversness therein is a breach in the spirit." Proverbs 15:4

"Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles." Proverbs 21:23

"A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike." Proverbs 27:15

The reason I like the verse in D&C 108 so much is that it puts my goal in a positive light. I am trying to strengthen and uplift others instead of being critical, rude, grumpy, unkind, or angry with my words and actions.

I agree 100% and I couldn't have said it any better if I had written this myself.

Other goals I have for the new year---

Make better food choices: Meal plan for healthier family meals. Cut waaaay back on refined sugars---sodas, junk food, etc. All things in moderation! Ween myself off caffeine.

Food Storage, Food Storage, Food Storage! This one has been on my mind A LOT lately.

Study scriptures for at least 30 min. a day. I want to include studying the Relief Society lesson, Sunday school lesson and Ensign with this. I usually read the Ensign fairly often until I've read the entire issue, but I tend to neglect the others.

I have other things I want to work on, but I know I better start small, form the habit, and recognize my progress before I try to add anything else.

As for our family goals, those are a work in progress. We attempted to work on it in FHE this past week, but I think we'll have to do a "part 2". You know how kids' attention spans can be. We were also putting together a time capsule of sorts for 2008 and we didn't quite make it to the goals for 2009 part.

A couple of things I'd like us to work on is being more consistent with FHE and family scripture study. We're already doing much better with FHE. We used to read the scriptures every night before the kids bedtime and I can see a huge difference in the atmosphere in our home from then to now. I want that back. There are other things we need to work on but we'll have to take things one step at a time.

Best wishes to all of you for a happy and healthy new year!!!