Did you know you can freeze Milk?....

This is it...my last shopping trip until after the Holidays are over.

3 weeks.

I am not taking a single coupon on our trip.

I am not even packing my vita-mix this trip.....

I predict it will be sorely missed by all the nay sayers of past years.

PUBLIX - 12/15/2010

......almost $20 of it was spent on chicken.

Enough said.

.......except for I HEART coupons!!!

Recital...

On Saturday the kids had their piano recital.

They all did a great job.

With our trip coming in just days, and the big recital, the boys all got

their hair cleaned up.

Ryker thought he would document.....I liked what he came up with, I think he really 

captured the moment.

(I am especially loving the piles of rubble in the back ground)

 Thanks to me, we got lost on the way to the recital....went a good twenty minutes out of our way.

I had originally thought we left "extra" early....plenty of time.

We actually got to walk in 6 minutes late, have our teacher showcase us, and 

finally start once "everyone" arrived.

Very good first impression.

She has 26 students!!....so 

the place was pretty packed.

Kev was none to thrilled about any of it....

especially the getting lost part.

 Very fun and exciting if you ask me.

 Little M had a bit of a tough time.

This was her first recital.

She had perfected her pieces, I wasn't worried at all for her. 

Well, as you will see....she really got stumped when she made a mistake....

she could not figure out how to go on, or find her spot.

Felt bad for the little trooper,

but she held it together and she finished out.
Here is a really bad recording...didn't upload correctly...but I still wanted to post it.

I am proud of them all.

I hope they continue to play the piano for many years.

(Really I have no doubt that they will).

I know they will never regret the time they put into their practicing, the seemingly endless lessons

where I am falling asleep, and these twice a year recitals.

They will one day thank me.....I just know it!

Proven strategies for staying warm.....

If you know me, you know I am "thrifty".

Maybe you also know I like a good challenge.

It has been record breaking (at least it feels like it) cold the past few days 

here in Florida.  Well, one of the challenges I have set for myself is to never run the heater in Fl.

It's FLORIDA for heck sake!!

Several, I'm guessing at least three years back, when I was still 

paying our bills, I was shocked to see our electric bill.

It was outrageously high, and clearly there had been an error in 

the meter reading or something.

I called FPL, and they sent someone out straightaway to take a look.

When the service man was here looking at the meter he asked me to look at the meter with him.

He had me go click on the heat, then come back and look.

That meter was booking!!!...it was speeding around and around.

The guy said that heat was the most expensive thing to run in the house.

Way more costly than the air conditioner.

Whoa.....!

Good to know.

Well, since that time I have not had the heat on.

No need.

I have come up with other ways to stay adequately warm on these days 

when it is 59 degrees inside.

• Many Layers of clothing
• Automatic Oven cleaner (last night finally got the grease out from the turkey spill over)
• Baking
• Loads of Hot Cocoa
• Make toast several times a day
• Hot lemon water ....yow!!! Pucker up!
• Running in place
• Roaming the house with blanket wrapped around waist like a towel
• Mid day baths
• My Favorite....my desk hand warmer....Plenty of Candles - when we get a little too chilly I just light a few more candles.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

(Art work by McCauley, don't you love the eye lashes?)

Am I the Grinch?

Sometimes....

This song has caught my attention this year.

I never gave it a second thought in the past....
but this year I really took a listen, and I truly think they added a few verses.

Just when you think it is over, here comes another slew of absolutely outrageous insults.

I am going to try and fit many of these into my vocabulary...

can you imagine how fun these would be to 

fling at the one you are having, 

shall we say, a disagreement with.

I bolded the ones I am really hoping to use.
(unfortunately I couldn't locate this long version for your listening enjoyment)

Lyrics to "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"
a.k.a The Grinch SongYou're a mean one, Mr. Grinch
You really are a heel!
You're as cuddly as a cactus
You're as charming as an eel,
Mr. Grinch!
You're a bad banana with a
Greasy black peel!
You're a monster, Mr. Grinch
Your heart's an empty hole!
Your brain is full of spiders
You've got garlic in your soul,
Mr. Grinch!
I wouldn't touch you with a
Thirty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole!
You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch
You have termites in your smile!
You have all the tender sweetness
Of a seasick crocodile,
Mr. Grinch!
Given the choice between the two of you
I'd take the, um, seasick crocodile!
You're a rotter, Mr. Grinch
You're the king of sinful sots!
Your heart's a dead tomato splotched
With moldy purple spots,
Mr. Grinch!
You're a three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich
With arsenic sauce!
You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch
With a nauseous super naus!
You're a crooked dirty jockey
And you drive a crooked hoss,
Mr. Grinch!
Your soul is an appalling dump heap
Overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of rubbish imaginable
Mangled up in tangled up knots!
You're a foul one, Mr. Grinch
You're a nasty, wasty skunk!
Your heart is full of unwashed socks
Your soul is full of gunk,
Mr. Grinch!
The three words that best describe you are as follows and I quote:
Stink, stank, stunk!
Stay WARM !!

Respect and Appreciation.....I'll have some of both please....

I have to say, this holiday season has been one of my all time favorites thus far.

I do not recall a time that I have had more anticipation and build 

up for our up coming trip back home to Utah.

I think it stems from the fact that we did not visit this summer....

what a void that left.....lesson learned.  

Family, be prepared to have us for a solid three months this Summer.

We will have to make up for all the time we missed out on this year.

But as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder....

I am definitely feeling very fond of my family these days.

I have been working on calendar pages and scrap book pages for Kev's parents.

So naturally I have been doing a lot of reminiscing about this past year and getting 

all reved up for our trip in 

7 DAYS!!

December brings Christmas, but it also brings Pearl Harbor Day, 

which also brings my mother's birthday.

She turned 64 on the 7th.

(I know this because she happened to mention tonight on the phone that next year she would be 65)

My sister HB did a massive tribute to my mom on her blog page.

It was fun to read and think back....

made me dig around in my own memories and think about my wonderful mom.

I really enjoyed our phone call tonight....

made me so very home sick.

She said I get to choose what we eat for Christmas Eve....SWEET....

um....your split pea soup!

well, yes I can make that while you are here...but are you sure for Christmas Eve?

OK - ham for sure then!

Whooohooo!

My mom is such a great cook.

She has also committed to teach me how to make her homemade

 crescent rolls and delectable sweet rolls.

Prepare to be blown away my Floridian friends....

cuz I am gonna rock your food world when I get back!

One of the things I discussed w/ my mom tonight was our dear boy Ethan....

I was telling her about how last night he was being all disrespectful and totally rude in the car.

I was frustrated with his attitude, etc.

She somehow seemed to revel in my discomfort.

She even said so....that she thinks it is very funny watching myself and my older 

Brother begin the "teen years" with our children.

Oh, just you wait sweet heart.....

just you wait.

(I halfway expected her to say "baby you ain't seen nothing yet")

She didn't say that....

but she did say....ooohhhhhh, don't you remember that one family night?

Of course I do...you remind me of it constantly....and almost always in front of other people.

Remember how we were talking about Eternal families? 

We were saying how all of you children 

chose to come to our home.

.....and then you said....

dah....da...da....daaaaaaaa......

Did you ever consider that someone 

had to go last!!?????!!!

Yes mom....I do remember,

but thanks for the reminder again....it was starting to get hazy.

So here I am today with my own children.

Trying to do my best.

Wondering how to instill 

R E S P E C T 

AND

elicit a little A P P R E C I A T I O N from our oldest.

I don't care so much necessarily about the appreciation...but it is just the blatant 

un - appreciation that rubs me the wrong way.

 Ethan is a fun kid.

He is a good kid.

He is an excellent student.  

Has always been academically self motivated and driven to do his best.

He does not feel he gets the blog time that he deserves...so tonight is his night.

Hope he likes it.

As he has gotten older both Kev and I have really grown to thoroughly enjoy his personality.

He has a great sense of humor.

He gets it....ya know?

He knows so much....I learn from him every day.

Sometimes he will say things....like last night for instance on the way to scouts.

The boys were talking about whales... mammals, or water...
 anyway, and he said,
that the reason whales die when they get beached is because the bulk and 

weight of their own mass crushes them on land.

That's what it was.... buoyancy.

I was like....hmmmm....did you learn that in school?

Oh no....I read it in a book a few years ago.

He can retain numbers and facts like I cannot believe. 

Ask him anything about baseball, football, Nascar......I bet he will know the answer.

He has been reading the sports page since he could read practically.

He is an accomplished piano player.

I really wanted him to learn and play the song 

"Believe" from Polar Express.

He fought me on it tooth and nail....I finally said that was all I wanted for Christmas from him.

That was the ticket.

He was still perfecting it at this point in this video...

but it sounds pretty darn good.

(you will need to mute the Christmas music below)

I am proud of this young man.

I am thrilled he chose to come to our family.

Maybe sometimes he doesn't know it...but I see him like this picture below.

This will be him before we know it.

I appreciate his efforts at helping us have a loving home.

I am thankful for his example to his siblings.

Tonight Kevin was away with Elders Quorum duties. 

I rounded the kids up for scriptures and family prayer. 

(no we are not perfect every day or night, but tonight was a good night)

We are reading in Moses,

specifically Moses 7:18 stuck out tonight, it says...

"And the Lord called his people Zion,

because they were of one heart and one mind, 

and dwelt in righteousness; 

and there was no poor among them."

I really love this verse.

We talked about how our home can be Zion.

We can work to be of one heart and one mind.  Our family can work together in 

righteousness so that there are no poor (sad, upset, cross) among us.

I'm in.....

Eth....you on board?

The building and demolishing within 24 hours.....

Today was a great day.  I worked on many holiday projects, even finished a few of them,

all while doing wash and listening to Steven R. Covey's

The 7 Habits of HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE

I have really enjoyed it over the past month or so.  I gave this set of cd's to Kev way back when.  I came across them a while ago and thought I would give it a go.

I don't like having the t.v. on in the day, but I really like listening while I putter 

around the house and do my work.

I just finished going through the 13 cd's for the first time (minus the first 5, they were lost in Kev's truck....until today.....I just dug them out...whooohooo!)

I am going to start over now.

I learned a great deal the first go round....and that was starting in the middle....so this will be a real treat.

I already like so much that I am familiar with the terms he is using...

ex - Paradigms - the lens in which we see the world.

I have mini notes all over my planner of little nuggets of knowledge I would like to retain.

One of the habits that I am really working on is sincere listening.  

Listen without my own agenda in mind.

Listen to understand.....not to reply.

Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

Empathy = Understanding

.....now you know.

OK, on to the post.....

Last week we had a sweet time making ginger bread houses w/ a few good buddies.

Vanessa pulled it together.

We all had a lovely time making our ammeter candy cottages.

Although.....some people took it WAY more serious than others.

ie - the bottom two photos.

These people were in it to win it.

Focused they were.

 The rest of us were more like Kevin here,

mostly in it for the candy.

Ours is that bad boy down on the left side.

Scrumpsh.

 Who wouldn't want to live there???

Well, the idea behind these houses was that we would make them and then go give them away.

You know....spread the cheer.

The kids were a bit down on that idea....because in the true spirit of Giving,

they really wanted to give it to themselves to eat.

I was like...you would eat that thing??

That is super disgusting....I mauled all that candy.....it was handled on numerous occasions,

by a number of children and adults.

Well, after some thought and a sweet invitation from our good friends, 

the Tolands, to come and enjoy 

the Sunday night Christmas devotional at their place, we knew where we would 

be placing our delectable gift.

Let me just say it was well received.

The kids tore into it.

I was amazed, and our kids were thrilled.

They really made a dent in the embellishments.

The devotional was wonderful, and we enjoyed each others company.

Great night had by all!

The next morning I was going around doing my house work, vacuuming and 

reminiscing about the lovely evening before....and the sweet placement of the house.

How happy every thing was......when I came up to our garbage can at the curb.

I was stumped.

I was really befuddled.  

I was so confused, because if my eyes did not deceive me,

 it seemed like I was looking at our ginger bread house

 stuffed in our garbage can.

huh?

How is that even possible?

I flipped the lid.

YES...that is our house.

The house I know we left at the Tolands.

Kev happened to be home at the time....I went racing into the house...

"Kevin.......!!!   why is our ginger bread house
stuffed in the garbage can??"

He had to drive his truck over last night, so left just after us.

He said that when he was about to drive off Stacey came running out of the house carrying it....

She insisted he take it...."we don't want it here".

at first I was like....

?

...but truthfully as a mom, I do get it.

I know exactly how it was....she did not want to have the candy sitting around for 

her kids to eat non-stop, and thought ours might be able to continue to enjoy it.
Well, K made an executive decision on that one....
yeah, one I would have to agree with.
That little house had been loved enough.
I was exasperated at first because I thought some how K brought it back home by accident....
luckily my Paradigm changed once I heard the explanation.
How do you like that????
Pretty sweet use of my new lingo!

41 days later, one day short of 6 weeks.....

Today has been a wonderful day.... I decided to take time off from the gym and running

and just stay in my pjs and Christmas shop online, do wash, 

AND drink cup after cup of hot cocoa.

This was going along marvelously....I put together a whole slew of fun items on Vista Print,

got some awesome game recommendations from friends off FB.

Put our clean bed sheets on....yum!

Around noon I hurried in to change into my day clothes....

somehow the fun of wandering around in pjs flees when Kev stops in for his mid-day check in.

I was folding clothes and hanging out when Kev went and got the mail.

He was flipping through it....magazines, ads, bills, aerobics...

he tosses it my way.

Oh MY GOSH.

I had no reaction out ward.

Kept folding.

He was on the phone now.....

I really wanted to wait and not open it until he had headed out.....

you know....just in case....I need privacy for crying my eyes out if this is bad news.

I end up casually picking it up and walking to the office.

I am very scared and excited.

 I DID IT!!

I AM OFFICIAL!

I am a Certified Group Exercise Instructor!

Whooohoo!

You have no idea what a relief this is.

Can't tell you how many times I have been asked about it.

Each time I was asked the thought went through my mind....hmmmmm, will there be a way to 

nonchalantly stretch this out into 12 weeks if I actually have to retake it?

It has been in the back of my mind taking up valuable otherwise contented space for 

41 days!!

I would be coasting along, feeling satisfied and happy with life....

only to stop myself and try to remember what was nagging at me...

OH Yeah... I don't know if I passed yet!

That's right....I can't completely relax,  I cannot get totally comfortable.

No more! 

Cheers to me!

I am ready to WORK YOU OUT!!!

GET ME ON THAT STAGE!

The MOST Wonderful Time of the Year.....

I, like you, really love this time of year.

I love the fact that there are only 15 days until we are flying home to Utah

to visit family for the holiday.

I am in the throws of going through closets, gift stashes, 

and my stock pile to see 

what surprises and clothing I can bring to tempt my sisters with this year.

We always make clothes and service trades when we are together.

My sister Amy is an esthetician/massage therapist at a sweet spa in down town SLC...so I have quite a few goodies coming her way - Layers dresses, contact solution, etc. etc.

Keri is a hot-to-trot beautician....she still makes a trip every four weeks back to LasVegas 

to take care of her clients.  

She has very good fashion sense (similar to mine!)....so I am sure I will have my eye on several 

big ticket items (expensive jeans) from her.  

I will have to do some smooozing for some of it I am sure.

Heather, we don't trade so much....she is my blog mate, and a relator 

(unfortunately I am not in need of a new house very often), well....she is that... but she also works at the LDS Church Office building....or at least used to....she is head of the relocation department for the church....is that right HB?

Really I love it when October hits....and then it is just a non-stop frenzy of putting up and taking down decorations until Christmas.

We really don't have many decorations at all, but it looks like tons and tons because it is all crammed into such a compact area.  It works out pretty good.

 Ethan is always accusing McCauley of doing things and posing just so she can get on the blog.

So I said...you want on??  You got it....give me your best shot....

this is what he was able to muster up.....

I can't remember what the boys were doing w/ Kevin, this was the day after Thanksgiving, Kev got McCauley and I the tree down and we went to town.

First we cleaned the whole house so we could focus w/ abandon on our task.

Then we brought all the Christmas decorations in from the garage.

We lit the candles and threw on the Christmas music and it was go time.

She helped me with my least favorite job...

the spreading of the fake limbs.

The boys eventually made it home to help with the decorating.  It was a lot of fun.

I love the finished product.

My favorite ornaments are of course the hand made kid ones with pictures...

Eth does not have one on the tree, we need to make new ones this year.

I love the feeling in our home throughout the season.....

it always has this warm glow.

lights are dimmed, we are happy spending time together, it feels so good.....

....it is the feeling of CHRISTmas.