It isn't looking too much like Christmas here in Utah right now. We had a day of excitement when it snowed but by afternoon nearly all of the snow had melted. That didn't stop the kids from trying to shovel the entire neighborhood's walks to gather enough snow to make a sledding hill. It was a pretty pitiful hill and is now just a lump of ice on the front yard. It's sure been cold though. Time to do the "can't find my mittens/hat/boots" dance. It is sure a switch from the weather we experienced at the beginning of December in Anaheim! Yes, that's right I said Anaheim! We made an impromptu trip to the Happiest Place on Earth with about 70% of the Jeppson clan. It was Charlie's idea to use this time while my mom is still mobile and relatively well to make some memories together as a family. About a month back my mom made her wishes known that she no longer wants to fight the cancer that is growing in her body and she has no desire to be hospitalized. It was a very difficult decision for her to make and Charlie and I chose not to fight her on it because it is her life and her body - we both respect her decision. Plans are in place to work with hospice when the time comes to help make her last days as comfortable as possible. For the time being she is doing well considering. She tires easily and has some pain and discomfort but is still mobile. Mom had lots of anxiety the few weeks leading up to the trip and struggled with adapting to each new situation but on the whole did really well. We all took turns pushing her through Disneyland and California Adventure in a wheel chair so she didn't tire out too bad. The weather was pretty good compared to what it was in Utah but it got pretty chilly as the sun went down. Some of the highlights were:
playing Wii/ping pong/pool with the cousins.
visiting Mickey in Toon Town as a family
riding Tower of Terror
World of Color
getting to do It's a Small World twice in a row
watching the Christmas Parade as a family
catching very realistic snowflakes on our tongues during the It's a Small World lighting ceremony
drinking hot cocoa before bed
pineapple frozen yogurt in the Tiki Room
lunch at Ariel's Grotto with the princesses
JJ getting into the Jedi Academy show
watching the Aladdin show together
lots and lots of cotton candy, mickey lollipops, mini candy canes and fruit by the foot
Asher falling asleep snuggled up on the couch between Brandon and Emmy
All the kids said that the thing they most enjoyed was just spending time with their cousins and Grandma J. They each bonded with one or two of the cousins and pretty much stuck by them like glue.
Asher's favorite ride was Soarin' Over California (this one really freaked my mom out!)
JJ's favorite rides were Star Tours and Pirates of the Caribbean
Hannah's favorite ride was Star Tours
My favorites were Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain
Lance's favorites were Star Tours and Tower of Terror
When asked what her favorite part of the vacation was my mom said the parade. She has always loved a parade and she had a big smile on her face during the whole parade. She really didn't enjoy most of the rides. She liked It's a Small World but that was about it.
Since returning home we have gone to Lance's work party that was dinner and then a concert by the Bar J Wranglers, taken the kids to see the play The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and attended the kids Choir and school concerts. JJ got a part in the school play and because of her age age Hannah can only be in the chorus of the play - which she is sad about but at least she will get to participate that way. We have so much to be grateful for and so much to look forward too like Hannah's baptism!
Wishing all of you a peaceful Christmas season full of love and family.
Today neither Lance or I lost any weight. Lance actually gain a few ounces. One of the things we are learning is to try to not get frustrated when this happens and give up. Some of the factors that go into how much weight you loose at this stage of the game might surprise you. Using lotion can counter act the effectiveness of the HCG. When your body is so starved for oil/fat it will use what is absorbed through the skin from lotion or other things like make up. Well I refuse to go to church without make up on so maybe that is what did it for me. Lance has SUPER dry skin so I think he probably is still applying lotion when it gets so itchy he can't stand it. Hannah inherited Lance's propensity for dry skin and I applied moisturizer to her face yesterday so I am sure I absorbed some while applying it. Another aspect that we have both had to contend with it the grumps - (me probably more than Lance). You really can't sugar coat this aspect of most any diet - sometimes you just feel really grumpy and unfortunately you sometimes take that out on your family members. Remember that saying "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"? Ya that is really true and when "momma" gets a certain amount of comfort from food -she ain't going to be happy ALL the time on a diet! Sorry to break it to you but that is the raw truth.
As promised here is a breakdown on what we can eat during this phase of the diet.
Breakfast - nope you don't get a breakfast although if I could drink coffee or tea, that would be a option. I sure wish I could get away with sugar free hot cocoa - I love me some hot cocoa on a cold morning.
Lunch -
100 grams of meat (yes if you are going to do this you need a food scale!) The meat options are as follows:
veal
ground beef
chicken breast
fresh white fish (tilapia is what we like - look for it in the frozen section)
lobster
crab
shrimp
All visible fat must be removed and it must be weighed raw. You can boil or grill it or steam it (Ziploc steam bags are awesome!) You can't use any fat to cook it. That hasn't been a problem for us although another one of our friends used a small amount of olive oil and was still successful with the program. You can season your meat with granulated garlic, sea salt or half a lemon. We have also used fresh ground pepper and paprika as well as other spices called for in specific HCG recipes.
A handful of veggies of a single type Your veggie options are as follows:
spinach - Costco has nice big bags of fresh spinach all ready to go
chard
chicory (no clue what that is)
beet greens
green salad
tomatoes
celery
fennel
onions
red radishes
cucumbers
asparagus
cabbage
To be truthful between Lance and I this list gets whittled down quite a bit. We use the spinach and green salad the most. I like celery raw but Lance doesn't, he likes tomatoes raw but I don't. We both like onions as long as they are cooked. I like cucumbers in sushi but not a real fan of them elsewhere. We tried asparagus in the steamer bags but both decided we didn't like it much. We bought some cabbage but haven't used that yet. The Zeller's turned us on to an awesome line of dressings by Walden Farms which are pretty much free of everything - not sure what they are made of but they taste good and work great for this diet.
Now for the clincher for all you carbaholics like myself.
You can have one breadstick (grissino- which means it is the width of a pencil and just a little big longer than a pencil) or three of the small Melba toasts. Melba toast has become our go to carb. They taste pretty good with other food but eat them alone and they taste like flavored sawdust. But hey when the kids are eating a hot piece of butter toast you can crunch down on your Melba toast and pretend it is the same thing they are eating!
And now for dessert . . .
Your choices will be
apple
orange
handful of strawberries (which unfortunately are not that great out of season)
or half a grapefruit
I am ok with eating any of the above - I usually have my grapefruit in the mid morning around 11 to tide me over til lunch time. Lance on the other hand only likes apples and strawberries. Asher LOVES that we have all this fruit on hand - if he could get away with it that is all he would eat.
Now that you have made it this far you might be wondering what's for dinner. Same choice as above only you can't eat the same things that you had for lunch.
Lance and I have found that we can make some of the recipes up ahead of time which makes it possible for Lance to take food to work for lunch and also to plan ahead for really busy days. Premeasuring your meat and putting it into little bags or containers is also a helpful way to speed up the process.
Here are two recipes that we like and are great for making ahead of time, each are designed to feed only one person:
Chili
100 grams lean ground beef
1 cup chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned is good too - we like the no salt added kind)
1/2 cup water
1 Tb minced onion
2 cloves of crushed and minced garlic (invest in the bottle of already minced garlic - so worth it!)
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of onion powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
pinch of oregano
Cayenne pepper to taste
salt and pepper to taste
Brown ground beef in small frying pan, add onions and garlic. Stir in tomatoes and water. Add spices and simmer slowly until liquid is reduced. The longer it cooks the more tender and flavorful. Add a little water as needed to prevent burning. This takes care of your protein and your veggie for the meal. Melba toasts taste pretty darn good dipped in the chili!
Meatloaf
100 grams of lean ground beef
1 serving Melba toast crumbs
1 squirt of ketchup - we used the Walden Farms ketchup
1 Tb chopped onion
1 clove of minced garlic
cayenne to taste
1/4 tsp paprika
Crush Melba toast into fine powder. Mix with the ground beef, chopped onion and spices. We put the mixture into a muffin tin and put a little of the ketchup on top. It made three meatloaf muffins for each of us. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. This counts as your protein and your carb so you can have a salad or other veggie with it and of course your fruit.
No, I am not confessing some great sin. I just came to the decision that I needed to document the journey Lance and I are on at the moment. We are trying to make some healthy lifestyle changes so that we can be around to see our grandkids some day. That means both of us loosing a significant amount of weight. To aid us in that we are using the HCG diet with Scott and Missy Zeller as our mentors. We are at day 12 on this quest for better health and weight. We have both already lost more than 10 lbs. Some days we loose more and some less. It is NOT an easy fix. There have been MANY moments when I wanted to quit but knowing that Lance is doing this with me and not wanting to let him down has helped me over come those moments without cheating on the diet.
The basis of the HCG diet is that you take the HCG in drops or pill form twice a day to help your body correctly use the stored fat in your body rather than go in to starvation mode and store more fat as you eat a very restricted diet - more on that later. You do this for between 21 and 40 days and then go into the maintenance mode for 21 days. After that you have retrained your body to subsist on a regular healthy diet without feeling the need to over eat and your body's metabolism is reset to process your diet in a more efficient way. This diet experience has led to a lot of discussion around the dinner table - with the kids wanting to know why we aren't eating the same thing they are. It has been good for teaching them a little more about how to make healthy eating choices themselves. Asher is all about eating healthy - he asks me now before he eats anything if it is healthy and reminds me that he wants to eat healthy things. He has always been our healthiest eater aside from disliking milk. He would rather have a fruit or veggie to eat than almost anything else. Hannah used to be our pickiest eater but being consistent in not catering to this quirk has paid off and she now is a pretty good eater of a variety of things. She still has her likes and dislikes - which is totally normal - and she still eats a LOT less than the boys but that really fits her petite body type. JJ has been the most difficult to help make good eating decisions. At his last check up, a year ago, his pediatrician told him that he would like to see that he had maintained the weight he was at for the entire year so that his height could catch up with his weight. He had taken a large leap in weight over the year previous. We have tried all year to help him be aware of the amounts he is eating and the food choices that he is making so that he can learn to make better ones. It has been a struggle and frustrating at times because it is a fine line to walk between helping him be healthy and damaging his self esteem. I don't think what we have said has made much difference until he saw us walking the walk with this diet. I am somewhat ashamed to say that we spent WAY too much money on eating out multiple times a week. Eating out is something that I really LOVE. I hate doing dishes and I am not a good cook. I really like food in all it's variety and I like to try new things. I knew we were spending too much money on dining out but I really didn't think too much about it affecting our health but I know now that it has especially for the kids. I believe that will be the hardest habit to not slip back into after we are out of the maintenance phase. I have never attempted to go on a diet before. I believed that I didn't have the will power to do it - maybe I wouldn't have without Lance. Growing up I always was taught that I shouldn't deny myself any food that I liked. My mom still believes that ice cream is good for you. I guess the milk in it is good but is that really balanced out by all the sugar and fat? I think it is fine for a small treat on occasion but not something you should indulge in on a daily basis.
This experience has helped me notice some of my triggers for overeating. I really like to eat a snack before I go to bed at night when the kids are already asleep and I am enjoying some "me" time. Cold cereal has been my go to snack at night. Not the worst thing I could eat but considering my weight it certainly didn't help to eat something that late at night. The other times I have struggled with wanting to cheat on the diet have been on special occasions or outings with the kids. Those times almost always included dinner out to "celebrate" whatever it was. I miss that!
It might be helpful to someone reading this and contemplating doing this diet to know that organization and planning really is the key. Since we have to a very specific diet we have to have on hand the food we need to prepare our lunch and dinner meals. This is doubly important for Lance as he has to take his lunch with him to work. We also have to try and eat on a schedule - not whenever we feel hungry. We have found a few short cuts that have helped and the Zeller's have helped immensely- sharing what they have learned through their journey.
One of the other difficult issue for both of us has been the limited variety that we can choose from day in and day out - add to that our own personal likes and dislikes. The recipes that Missy gave us have really helped and they are very flavorful but after a couple of days you have to start repeating menus. Next time I will talk about some of the recipes that we have tried and liked or disliked. For me, so far, the simpler the better because we have to do a separate meal for the kids too. Lance has taken over doing a lot of the shopping and preparation of the dinners and some times lunches for he and I while I tend to plan and prepare the stuff for the kids. Neither of us have spent so much time in the kitchen! I am sure grateful that he is on this journey with me. I am fairly sure I couldn't do it without him!
It's been a crazy couple of weeks. My mom has been in the hospital due to starting her chemo. After coming home and slowly recovering she made the decision to not continue chemo. It has been a difficult time for all of us involved in her care not to mention how emotional and difficult it has been for her. In the midst of all that life had to go on around our house. The merry go round doesn't stop for us to get off even when life gets tough. So in the last few weeks we have celebrated JJ's 10th birthday. It was a Star Wars themed party. I got some cute ideas from Pintrest. Hannah is in rehersals for another play. She just loves doing plays - she loves the singing, the dancing and the acting. Her play will be the first week in November. She is playing a zebra in Whackadoo Zoo. With the cooler Fall weather comes all the fun corn/pumpkin patch places opening up. We decided to go with Grandma and Grandpa Madigan to CornBelly's at Thanksgiving Point. We haven't gone for a couple of years so it was fun to see what the kids enjoyed now that they are a little older. JJ's summer drawing class from the Art Center was able to create a mural which is now installed at a bus shelter at what will be the Lehi commuter train stop at Thanksgiving Point. We got to go and take part in a little presentation with the Mayor and UTA reps. We are proud of what a good artist JJ is becoming. Lance headed down to St. George for a few days for a work conference. We always miss him while he is gone. Asher especially isn't the same until Daddy is back home. I decided to whip up a batch of Pumpkin Pie popcorn for the ladies I visit teach and the families that Lance home teaches. I didn't even get to taste it but hopefully it tasted good. Here is super easy recipe if you are interested in trying it out yourself.
Pumpkin Pie Popcorn
1 cube butter - melt add: 3/4 c brown sugar 1 T pumpkin pie spice
Bring to a boil and pour over popcorn.
It couldn't be easier! You can decide how concentrated you want the flavor by how much popcorn you use.
My best friend Missy gave me and my mom a vinyl quote to put on the wall by Pres. Monson. "Be of good cheer, do not fear. Your future is as bright as your faith." I have been contemplating this quote a lot lately. Growing up with my mom - fear of the unknown was just a part of our lives. It was like a living breathing thing at our house. My mom was consumed with a myriad of fears that she often transferred to me. Since the day I married Lance I joyfully found that I didn't have to live with the "fear monster" on a daily basis. I still have moments of panic but the peace and calmness that comes from living with someone does who not search for things to worry about was initially almost overwhelming. My mom still knows how to, albeit unconsciously, let the fear monster loose on me but I have had a refuge in my husband. The last few months have been terribly difficult for her and for Charlie and me, not to mention our spouses. My mom has a real fear to contend with now that the cancer is ravaging her body. Rather than that one fear being the focus of her attention though she still nurtures her many useless and often unfounded fears. She holds them tighter than life itself.
When I gave her the vinyl wall quote I tried to talk to her about the meaning behind it but she just changed the subject. I always thought she had a bottomless well of faith, and maybe at some points in her life she did. It is so hard now to see her trying to find the truth and peace behind the word Faith. It is easy to understand intellectually what it means but when you come to a point when you can't find the strength to go on you have to go deeper to find the kernel of tangible faith that exists if we only delve deeper.
Is it possible to go on when everything you have or are seems about to be taken away? I am trying to have faith that it is possible. There are more than a few examples in the scriptures and through out church history showing it is possible to be of good cheer in the blackest of circumstances. But for me the examples that have the most impact are of those souls I know personally who are struggling with mountains of adversity and doing it with a cheerful heart. My hope is to learn from those who are "enduring well" and be of service to those who are not. Therein I hope to find my one ability to endure well with a cheerful and faithful heart.
For the past 3 weeks at least one of our immediate family has been sick. I fought it off until last weekend but then I succumbed. For Asher it was just a really bad cough/sore throat with a little bit of croup but not enough to take him to the doctor for. For Hannah it was all of the above as well as a bad case of the croup. She got to go to the doc and get the steroid. JJ initially complained of complained of the the sore throat but never really got too sick. Lance was out of town to a conference in St. George while Hannah and Asher were the sickest. By the time he got home he was sick with it too. It had him down for the weekend and a couple of days the next week. In the midst of this we were still doing soccer games and trying to get my mom fully moved out of her house. Then both Hannah and Asher ended up with ear infections stemming from it. The next weekend Lance was over it but it was General Conference and I was officially down with it. It is Thursday and I am still in the midst of it but you know mom's just can't take a day off even if they didn't get any sleep the night before. I am pretty sure I have an ear infection too. I am trying to decide whether to try and tough it out or just give in and go see the doc. I really hate going to the doctor and I was just there getting a physical a couple of weeks ago. Between the cough and the pressure in my ears I am pretty darn miserable. But enough boo hooing. We were able to get my mom's antique player piano moved to our house this week as well as a new dryer (the other one was literally eating our clothes). We have been repainting our living room area and rearranging furniture so the house is in total disorder. Hannah is in another play workshop called Whackadoo Zoo. She just loves the singing, dancing, and acting. JJ and Asher are playing soccer. JJ's team is so small that they never have enough players to substitute during the game so we asked if a girl could play on the team and we got the ok so my friend Missy's daughter Kynlee is going to play on his team. We are so excited! Asher's team has been doing awesome especially considering they are all either 4 or 5 year olds. They have one girl on the team and she is the star player! Lance enjoys coaching but this time around the assistant coach has been kind of interesting to work with. She is super competitive and really like to take over and try to push the kids to do stuff that they just aren't capable yet. Lance is really patient with her and the kids so things have worked out. I have pictures of the boys soccer games that I will post later. Right now I am going to crawl back under the covers and wait for this cold to take it's leave of me.
I am the first to admit that I am not the greatest cook out there. I can do the basic stuff and follow a pretty simple recipe. Lately I have been trying to include more of the fresh veggies that are in season here to our diet. The kids (and sometimes Lance) are pretty resistant to the idea of straying from our 4 or 5 typical veggies - corn, peas, broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce. This month I have tried out eggplant with out much success. Granted it was from the store and probably not the freshest but it was a huge bomb. The last few years we have grown zucchini and yellow squash - both of which I love. Lance is not a fan of squash in any form so I am the one who eats all that we get off our plants unless I give some to a family member or friend. Growing up my mom cooked with a pretty wide variety of fresh veggies so I have tried a lot more than Lance and the kids, therefore I am much more open to trying even more new ones. I have come to the conclusion that for the time being I can't push too hard on the veggies so I am putting more effort in to disguising them. I have a favorite recipe that I got from one of those "ward cook books" called Zucchini Rice casserole. I have successfully gotten the whole family to ingest at least a few bites of zucchini and tomato using this recipe. I personally LOVE it and would have it every night but I know that wouldn't go over too big. Tonight I wanted to use some of the fresh squash and zucchini from our garden and chicken so I decided to kind of wing it with out a recipe. It is rare for me to be that bold but I am proud to say that we all liked the results.
Here is how I made it:
First I sauteed/steamed about 10 frozen chicken tenderloins in a little bit of evoo. When they were pretty close to cooked through I added the veggies I wanted to use. In this case it was 1 yellow squash and 1 zucchini from my garden, half an onion sliced thin, 1 bag of partially steamed frozen broccoli and cauliflower and one fresh tomato chopped. While these were cooking in the sauce pan I started my spaghetti and cooked it until it was al dente. When the veggies were cooked but still crisp I added the drained spaghetti to the pan. I next poured a bottle of Ragu Alfredo sauce (I like this brand because it has the least amount of sodium). I mixed it until everything was coated with sauce and added a little shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheese to the mix and it was done! It was super yummy and the veggies were totally hidden. Delish!
Can it be that summer is almost over? I can't believe it but it is. I really don't mind the thought of the kids going back to school but I do love the warm weather and I feel a little cheated that we haven't had more of it this summer. I have loved just being a homebody this summer. Even when we had stuff to do it was all around here close by for the most part. The kids have spent a lot of time just playing in the backyard with the neighbors or their friends. I have spent a lot of time scrapbooking this summer. I am now on the creative team for a digital scrapbook kit designer so I have had to crank out the pages more frequently than usual. If you want to take a look at some of my layouts and learn more about digital scrapbooking you can head over to my scrap blog: My Butterscotch Memories. Lance has been working on projects around the yard whenever he gets a chance to. One of his current projects is to repaint the back porch pergola. Instead of stain this time we are using something called Restore that gives it more of a stucco texture and is supposed to last up to 12 years. We are hoping that it will be worth the effort that he has put into it.
I adore summertime. The warm weather really makes me happy. We've kept the kids busy so they haven't been at each other's throats too much. We got a trampoline this year and I have to say it has been wonderful for me because the kids and any number of their friends are entertained for hours on end. We also have a cheap blow up swimming pool that just fits perfectly on our back deck. So the kids jump on the trampoline a while and then swim in the pool and then go back to the trampoline. They are getting quite toasty brown although I do put sunscreen on JJ and Asher - Hannah rarely burns. I know, I know I should put sunscreen on her too but she tends to run out the door too fast for me to catch her before she is all wet. Aside from spending their days in the sun the kids have been going to the Lehi Arts Center for some classes. Hannah has been in play called Bugz. I think that at this point her love of the lime light and applause if firmly cemented. JJ took a drawing class and learned lots of new techniques for making the Pokemon he draws look more realistic. Asher attended a "summer camp" and was able to do lots of fun activities from making a rodeo clown costume to visiting the local fire station. JJ and Hannah also have been attending the Literacy Center to keep up on their reading skills.
Our chickens have started laying eggs! We have had 4 so far and one that the chickens broke before we got to it. I think that Asher's chicken Chickie is the one doing all the laying! Me and the kids are obsessed with checking to see if another egg has been layed. It is like getting a little present every other day! We can't wait till the other chickens start laying too. The pecking order has been established and Buttercup is low man on the totem pole. Fortunately, or unfortunately, she is the best at flying. When she gets picked on by Goldie or Jane she just flies up to the top of the fencing around the coop and into the back yard. We have some mesh netting to put over the top but haven't gotten a chance yet to put it up.
The other time consuming activity that we have engaged in of late has been helping my mom settle in at Charlie's house. It has been even tougher than I thought and I knew it wouldn't be a cake walk. The stress of change has really taken it toll on her and she has had great difficulty in adapting although Charlie and his family have been really patient and loving to her. I have spent hours listening to her crying over the situation and ranting about things that I can not for the life of me figure out why they are important to her. I know it has been tough on Charlie but I am grateful that he and I have been able to talk a little more openly and work together to try and help her. I think it has brought us closer together. Mom has her bad days still but she has a few more calm days - not happy, I would say, but at least some what calm. Her cancer is still a terrifying aspect of her life and she has by no means accepted it. She is fighter that is for sure and sometimes when she feels helpless to fight the cancer she fights the rest of us who are just trying to help her and be there for her. I tell her nearly everyday to just keep moving forward with faith and she is trying to do that.
Summer is finally here! Since I last blogged we had Memorial Day, the last week of school, and a few beginning of summer activities.
I wanted to update the photos I have of the kids in the living room so after church the other day I took some pics of them. I already had a nice one I took of JJ but I needed one of Hannah and Asher to kind of match it. It was the wrong time of day to try and get a picture - the light was too high in the sky and too harsh so these were taken under that big pine in our front yard in the kids "dirt place".
Thursday JJ went to Cub Scout Day Camp at Jeremiah Johnson's. He looks forward to this every year and had a great time again this year. Lance was able to take off work and go with him. This was important because there is another boy in the ward who struggles with some behavior problems - he and JJ are like oil and water. Their struggles have been blown up into this big huge thing. Lance and I have just come to the conclusion that JJ can't participate in scouts unless he or I are with him or that boy isn't there. JJ and the boy got along just fine though at the day camp so that was good. JJ LOVED making "soft" swords and having a huge mock battle! In the past few year I have gotten disposable cameras for JJ and Hannah to take to school the last week or day of school. It is always fun to see what they take pictures of. Of course most of the pictures are pretty crappy but they have fun. This year JJ decided he was too cool to do that so he didn't take the camera I got for him. Hannah did though and got some funny pictures - most of which are super out of focus because they were taken too close but she was having fun and that is what really mattered to me. This is her and her teacher Mrs. Lish. Mrs. Lish was not my favorite of the teachers I have worked with in the past but we got through the year without any major problems. This is her class: Another fun event that took place this was was Becca's bridal shower. Becca Clark is engaged to my nephew Dan! We are thrilled to have her an official part of the family. She has been an unofficial one for a while now! One of the last week of the school year activities that the kids look forward to the most is the Dance Festival. I am so happy that our school maintains these fun traditions. One class always does the maypole just like back in the day when my mom went to elementary school! It is a great event. JJ and Hannah both did great and had big smiles during their class dances. This year JJ's best friend has been Oakley. They both love their DS games and Pokemon and get a long great! I am so glad that although it has been a tough year for JJ he has had a good friend to brighten it up for him. Field Day this year was an all day event even for the PTA moms helping out! We all heaved a sigh of relief that 1. it didn't rain and 2. it hadn't started flooding the school playground yet. Maybe I haven't mentioned before that our local school is built on a low piece of land with a creek running under the front of the school (that floods every year) and another creek that runs under the back playground (that floods every year). Since this is the wettest spring on record every one is just waiting for the inevitable flooding to take place with the huge snow pack that we have this year. Memorial Day this year was even more bittersweet than usual. The idea that this may be my mom's last memorial day with us was hanging over all our heads. She was in good spirits but it was very tiring for her. Right before we took this picture at Aunt Ellen's grave (A Christmas Dress for Ellen) my mom fell. Thankfully she was on the grass. She and Hannah were bringing up the rear of our group that was waking toward this grave. I turned to see if Hannah was ok and saw my mom lying on the grass and Hannah looking terrified next to her. Hannah told me later that she saw her start to fall and tried to catch her but then stepped aside because she didn't want to be crushed. It was traumatic for all of us. It was really rainy and cold but we enjoyed being with Charlie's family. Asher was sick that day so Lance stayed home with him. We really missed having them be with us.
The kids are each signed up for a special activity this month. JJ is taking a drawing class. Hannah is in another play- Bugz this time. Asher is taking part in a summer day camp. So far they have really enjoyed their classes. More pictures of these activities coming up!
It's been a tough week. It had it's good points, don't get me wrong, but on the whole I am glad to see this week waning. This week we found out that my mom has cancer again. This time it is in her bowels. I suspected this might be the source of the pain she has been having but it didn't make the truth any easier to deal with. I pretty much fell apart the day she told me - I know, I know I am supposed to be strong for her - I got news for you . . . I am not strong and I am dreading what I know happens next - the rounds of dr. appointments, the days of radiation and chemo, the paranoia over germs and the pain of watching someone I love suffer even more. I dread having my kids watch this all happen again as well. The day I found about this Asher was playing outside and didn't hear me talking on the phone with my mom. I said nothing to him about it. Later as we were driving home from a trip to Costco he announced out the of the blue that he would miss Grandma when she died. I was floored and it was all I could do to see through my tears to drive home. Mom has already started radiation and there is some discussion about whether she will do chemo right away or not.
JJ had scouts that afternoon at his scout leaders house. When I went to pick him up I was informed by one of the other scouts that JJ had thrown another boy's glasses out into weedy area and everyone was looking for them. Of course I was appalled because especially now that JJ has glasses he knows what a big deal it is to mess with someone's glasses. So the full story was that JJ and this boy as well as a few others were jumping on the trampoline and "glasses boy" jumped on JJ and wouldn't get off no matter what JJ did or said. JJ hucked the glasses as a last ditch effort to get the boy to back off. My question to JJ was where the heck was his den mother during all this - he had no idea where she was. This is yet another event in a long string of events that have added up to my frustration with this ward. I want JJ to take part in scouts but having to deal with this crap on top of my own family issues just is more than I can deal with. My friend Missy and her son Carter came over later that night and brought me some yummy cake that Carter had made as part of a project he did for school on the state of Maryland. I am so grateful for loving friends who overlook my many failings and try so hard to buoy me up. There have been several who have expressed their love to me and willingness to help this week and I cannot describe how much that means to me.
On a happier note we watched JJ's last soccer game tonight despite the frigid and windy weather. They didn't win but they sure had fun playing. JJ's coach this year really stressed learning the game and having fun. We are so proud of what a good team player he is! Hannah still has one make up game left if we can ever get it scheduled on a day that isn't raining. She is a good little player when she tries but she is distracted easily. (like the dog from Up!)
Asher spends every minute that it isn't raining outside with our neighbor kids (whom we love!) toting the chickens around and playing his little heart out. He comes in at night filthy and covered in chicken crap (the coop still isn't done) but so happy. We are so glad we got some good neighbors next door finally.
So since I update facebook I rationalize that I don't need to duplicate the info here on the blog. The problem with that is that the details of what is going on with us Madigan's never really gets put down and then it gets forgotten. I am not sure that anyone even reads this blog but I do use it to refer to when I scrapbook. This month has been filled with lots of rain/snow/hail and a day or two of sunshine. We have tried not to let the weird weather stop us from doing the stuff we have to do and enjoy doing.
The kids have been really into making tents lately. They are very creative in what they use to make the tents and how they keep the tent from falling in. They asked one weekend if they could sleep in the living room in their tent and I thought - what the heck - as long as they sleep and don't keep me awake. Amazingly they didn't come and wake Lance and I up at all and seemed to sleep ok themselves. Since JJ started elementary school I have been involved in various ways with the PTA at our school. This year I have been the secretary and I will continue doing that job next year as well. The reason I like being involved is that I gain a greater understanding of what is going on at the school. I can also have an impact on my kids education for the better. One of the events that we had this month is the Walkathon. It was a big success and will fund our school play next year. The following embarrassing picture was taken by Lance while I was taking a turn going around the course. I have decided that Mother's day is not all it's cracked up to be. Although my family is very loving and sweet to me, I end up stressing about getting my house cleaned and a meal prepared. It makes for a long day when you include church into the mix. I am, however, very grateful for my mother and my mother in law. They are both so loving and kind to me and have had a profound influence on my life. To my great surprise I was asked by Hannah's teacher to help chaperone the 1st grade field trip to Hogle Zoo. Although I have helped out every week in Hannah's class I have never got the impression that her teacher liked me very much. I suppose that is just how she treats everyone. Anyway she asked me to come on the field trip - Hannah and I were very excited! I was a little worried that I would get stuck with one of the many difficult kids in Hannah's class (I think they gave all the hard kids to Mrs. Lish because she is so stern) but as it turned out I got all the easy ones! This group of girls was so much fun to be with. The zoo was pretty busy and there was some construction going on where they are adding some more animal enclosures but it was a gorgeous sunny day and we all had a great time. The girls all fell asleep on the bus ride home! Asher had several field trips this month too. Lance took the opportunity to go on the Thanksgiving Point Farm field trip with him. They had great fun. That is one of Asher's favorite places to go (we have a pass so he and I go there every couple of weeks). He has his favorite spots like feeding the ducks and goats. Asher also had his preschool graduation this last week so he is all done with school. Now if we could get some summer-like weather we would be set! I can't believe that my baby is a preschool graduate! We decided to have him attend another year of preschool before going in to kindergarten even though with his August birthday he could to this year. He has made a lot of progress in with his speech and has learned to be much more out going this year. We are grateful to the great teachers at Starting Point Preschool for making it such a fun and happy year for him and us. Hannah has been attending dance classes at the Dance Depot during the school year this year. This has been her first exposure to tap dancing! She has also been doing ballet. We enjoyed the year end recital so much. She did a great job! She is an amazing dancer! We have also been involved in the North County Soccer League again this year. Both Hannah and JJ have been on teams. They played in the Fall and then again this Spring and are just finishing up now. JJ has improved as a player and has really enjoyed the friendships he has made with his team mates. He loved his coaches too. Lance was Hannah's coach again this year. It has been a great learning experience for her to be on a team and to learn the game even better this year. She loved the girls on her team and enjoyed spending special father-daughter time with Lance.
Our chickies are doing really well. They are getting so big and are hitting that awkward teen stage where their baby feathers are falling out and their big girl feathers haven't quite come in yet. They look pretty funny right now. They are learning new things too, like how to roost on their roosting stick. They love scratching their bedding all over the place so we are having to vacuum often because it gets tracked all over the house. I will be glad when they are finally outside in their coop. We have gotten all of them to eat food out of our hands but certain ones are more curious and friendly than others. Jane would be our most standoffish chick. She doesn't like being held and has only eaten out of our hands a couple of times where as Chicky and Goldie come right up to us and don't put us much of a fuss about being held. Black Hole really likes being petted. I petted her to sleep today. All the chicks would rather be petted while in their brooder than be picked up. I took the chicks to Asher's preschool one day and then later in the week I took them to the elementary school to JJ and Hannah's classes. One of the kindergarten teachers that both JJ and Hannah had when they were in kindergarten saw me in the hall and asked if I would bring the chicks to her class too! The kids all seemed to really enjoy the chicks. JJ has been a real help with the chicks. I showed him how to clean out the water and food dishes and so he has kind of taken over that job which I think is great! He is really good to do it but usually has to be reminded to do it.
Now that I have confessed my sins as a housekeeper I thought I might as well a blow the myth that I am some super woman who doesn't let my kids watch TV and does a million creative and time consuming things throughout the day. Ya, nobody was probably thinking that anyway. So me and the kids like watching TV, playing video games and all those nasty brain cell killing things. Because this blog is all about being real and honest about who we really are I thought that I would write about what we are into right now as far as entertainment and media.
So starting with JJ . . . He is really into Pokemon right now so he likes playing his various Pokemon games on his DS or on the Wii. He likes watching Pokemon cartoons too. As far as video games are concerned he also likes Wii Mario Cart and Sonic Colors. He will occasionally branch out to other stuff on the Wii like one of the Lego games that we love so much. If he is watching TV it is usually SpongeBob Squarepants although he love vintage Mario Bros. episodes on Netflix. Remember this?
Be very thankful if you don't remember it!
Hannah is our easy going, don't-rock-the-boat girl. She watches whatever anybody else has put on the TV. I don't think she even know how to use the remote. So she ends up watching a lot of Pokemon and Spongebob. If, however, you were to ask her what she would like to watch lately she would probably ask to watch a Jane Austen movie like Pride and Predjudice or Emma. She is loving the special connection that we share when we talk about and watch those movies together, just me and her. If she, by some strange chance, gets the Wii away from JJ she likes to play her Disney Princess game. She has finished the game multiple times over but she still like to go back and start the game over. She will play Mario Cart with JJ but gets frustrated by his super competitive spirit. She just wants to play for fun and he is out for the kill!
Asher spends probably too much time watching TV just because it is just me and him here most days and he gets bored. He loves Spongebob too but his favorite shows are shows about animals or dinosaurs. He is kind of growing out of his love of Diego but will still watch it whenever it comes on. He loves Dinosaur Train and Dino Dan and tell you quite a lot about dinosaurs because of that. He loves Zoboomafoo because it is about animals. He likes the Wiggles too just because they are so silly. Lately he has enjoyed Bubble Guppies and Team UmiZoomi both of which have a lot of science or math in them. Occasionally, when I can stand the torture, he will watch Yo Gabba Gabba. (I do love this music video from the show though)
Asher will occasionally ask to play the Wii and when he does it is usually his Go Diego Go Dinoaur Rescue game. He does pretty well but gets frustrated easily.
Lance doesn't spend a lot of time watching TV but when he does he enjoys watching stuff I have put on the DVR like Big Bang Theory and Parks and Recreation. Sometimes he will watch a show that he has saved on NetFlix instant download like Farscape or Stargate. If he plays Wii it will usually be Mario Cart with JJ or Lego Harry Potter with me.
So what am I into right now? Well, I was just waiting for you to ask! As far as TV is concerned I LOVE my DVR. It has allowed me to watch shows that I never would have been able to before because they are on during dinner time or when I am trying to get the kids to bed. I am loving these shows in no particular order: Off the Map - combine Lost and ER and you get lots of fun adventure, humor and a tiny bit of romance thrown in. Hawaii Five-0 - Ok so the story line has wholes in it that you could drive that cool Chevy car they drive in the show through but it is filmed on location in Hawaii so my mind gets a mini vacation and I get to stare at Alex O'Loughlin. Parks and Recreation - LOVE this show! Maybe it has to do with the fact that Lance works for a government institution very similar to the one on the show but he and I just roll on the floor laughing every time we watch this. Amy Poeler is amazing. Big Bang Theory - Lance and I came late to the game with this show but I think we have seen all the episodes in reruns. Lance and his brother are total nerds (there I said it!) so that may be one of the reasons we both love this show so much. (Yes, Vance has a Star Trek costume and has attended conventions) Castle - This is Murder She wrote meets Moonlighting! LOVE, love, love it! Nothing better to take you away from your everyday life than a good murder mystery romance. Outsourced - I first saw the movie that this show is based on through Netflix and I highly recommend checking it out. The TV show is even more funny and well written. 30 Rock - I just love Tina Fey - take her out of the show and it would just be another train wreck work show. Glee - I adored the first season of Glee. And I still love most of the music that they pick. They actors are amazingly talented. However I have gotten very frustrated with the story line of late. I HATED the gay kiss in the most recent episode. Gag, not everybody wants to see that. I was not a fan of their alcohol episode or the sex episode either. I get that they are trying to push the envelope but the reason most people started watching the show is for the interesting story, quirky characters and amazing music - why can't they stick to what works and people enjoy? Why does it have to make a statement or cause a controversy? It is just TV for heaven's sake!
As far as games are concerned I am a BIG fan of the Lego games. I played Lego Star Wars until the end and I recently finished up Lego Harry Potter. I haven't started Lego Indiana Jones but I will and I am hoping to get the new Lego Star Wars the Clone Wars and I can't wait for the next 3 years of Harry Potter to come out too! These games have such a great sense of humor and I enjoy the story line type of game. I am also pretty excited that we just got Just Dance 2! It is a really fun dance game that I am hoping will help me to loose some weight! Who knows!
So that is what we are into right now. I would love to hear comments about your favorite shows or opinions on mine.
Ok so as anyone who has been to my house knows, I am not a stellar housekeeper. There are several reasons for this fact. Number one - I find housework boring and frustrating. Number two it just ends up having to be done again in a matter a minutes, hours or days. Number three, some of it I just don't know how to do properly because I never had to as a kid. (my mom was a clean freak who liked things done HER way) Number four, there are literally millions of other things that I would rather do (like writing on this blog). One of the things that I have a like/loathe relationship with is cooking. I am not some 5 star chef but I am capable of following a recipe and making the occasional tweak here and there. I think I would probably enjoy cooking more if I didn't always have such a mess to deal with after it is done. The fact that our house isn't a pigsty can be at least partially be credited to Lance - he is jumps right in and does what needs to be done with out complaint. I know I am really lucky to have guy like him and I appreciate that fact every single day. I do enjoy trying new recipes as long as they have normal every-day ingredients and not to many steps. Yesterday I tried a new chili recipe that we all liked. I tweaked the recipe a little to make it fit what I had on hand. A little side note - can I say how much I LOVE ward recipe books. They are the only recipe books I use anymore. They have normal ingredients and generally easy to follow instructions. I have about 5 of them from various ward I have been in or have known someone in. One of these books is the most used wedding present that Lance and I ever got. The chili recipe that I tried comes from that book and is credited to Cindy Harding whose daughters are friends of mine. I am going to write the recipe how I tweaked it - the main difference is that Cindy used dry beans- I just don't have the time for them so I used canned. Best Ever Chili 1 can kidney beans 1 can white beans 1 can pinto beans 1 can pork and beans 2 small cans of tomato sauce (16 oz all together) 1 1/2 cup ketchup 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup minced onion 1 small bay leaf 2 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp dry mustard 1 qt tomatoes 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 cup celery 1 cup green pepper 1 Tb chili powder 1 1/2 tsp salt 2 Tb Worcestershire sauce 2 lbs ground beef
Brown ground beef. Put all ingredients into crockpot and set to 4 hours. The beans don't need to be drained. The longer it cooks the thicker the chili gets.
It was pretty darn good with a sprinkle of cheese and a dollop of sour cream on top. I served it with corn bread too. Perfect for a not so springy first day of Spring.
So I am trying to make a greater effort to blog - I forgot how useful the blog can be when I go back and try to scrapbook things. I haven't written about what we have been up to so far this year and we have been doing a lot of fun stuff. JJ and Hannah are preparing for their Spring Choir Concert that will be coming up in a few weeks. It is hard to get them up early to go to Choir on Wednesdays but we take turns carpooling with some friends so that helps. JJ especially is excited about the songs they are singing this spring. They are doing fun songs from several different eras. He especially likes Rockin' Robin and Celebrate Good Times.
Hannah has recently finished up being in the play Sleeping Beauty at the Lehi Arts Council. She LOVED it and can't wait to be involved in future plays. She told me that she loves it even more than her dance class. It's probably because it involves all the things she loves: drama, singing and dance. I am probably biased but I thought she was really good in the play. It was an awesome experience all around for her. In the picture below she is on the bottom row in black holding up her certificate next to the girl in green. She was Blather, one of Maleficent's goons. JJ has been involved in Jr. Jazz at the Legacy Center and has gone from knowing next to nothing about basketball to doing pretty well at the game. He is good at doing assists and defense. He even got a couple of baskets. It has been good for him to practice being a team player. He ended up on a team with a boy from his school class that he has had some problems with in the past. That boy's dad was the coach. I was a little worried at first but they boys buried the hatchet and it made a big difference in how the dealt with each other in school too.
Lately every time we have had a windy storm the power has gone out. One of these times we were just sitting down to dinner so we had to eat dinner by candlelight. The kids thought it was kinda fun! I can't remember if I mentioned before but JJ got glasses. His eyes were pretty bad so he wears them all the time now. It has been a change but I think he likes the glasses and the ability to see so he hasn't complained a bit.
This year's blue and gold scout banquet was a different than in years past. We (mainly me) have missed our old ward so much. It makes going to these type of ward activities hard but we do our best to try and fit in. Besides these few activities we have done lots of other things individually and as a family. Hannah is still in dance class and is gearing up for the spring recital. Lance is involved with Elder's Quorum stuff because he is in the presidency. Asher and I try to take one day a week to go and do some sort of activity while the other kids are in school. Today we went to Cabela's. We have also been to the Aquarium, Thanksgiving Point Farm, Gardner Village, the Bean Museum and the Dinosaur Museum during the last few months. We finally got Asher's speech tested at the school only to find out that he is 2 points away from being able to receive help. The speech teacher advised another year of preschool even though he will be 5 this summer and then we will see how he is doing the following year in Kindergarten. We were lucky enough to get him enrolled in Eaglecrest elementary's preschool program like we did with Hannah so next year should be a great experience for him. It's a weight off my mind to have that all figured out. We are all doing our best to help him learn how to pronounce words correctly with out making him feel bad. So that is what has been happening the last little while!
Posts
