What do you do...

when you get to watch your favorite movie? G is all about "Cars" lately. He has a "Cars" shirt, and a "Cars" book that he goes bonkers for. I've turned this movie on for him twice and he only lasts for ~30 minutes, but those 30 minutes are pure enjoyment! I just love him!

So what's your favorite movie... and how excited do you get?

My Gratitude List...

I've got a lot to be thankful for, but I'll just mention a few specifics here that I've noticed lately - not in any particular order. (this is a long one)

1) Exercising - this has made a huge difference on my outlook on life. It's amazing what a little physical activity can do! Our day begins with diaper changes, scripture reading, and breakfast. After that routine is competed, G knows that next it's time to go for a walk. He finds my shoes for me and starts "barking" at the garage door so that we can load up in the stroller - he won't let me miss a day! Thanks G! And thank goodness for double strollers. I will admit that its a little challenging to push, but as long as you're going straight it's great!

2) Birds - this may be kind of a strange thing to be grateful for, but G really gets SO excited when he sees a bird of any kind (or animal for that matter). On our walk we always see this family of ducks with 12 babies! Well, recently there've only been 9, but I think they're starting to get weened from their parents because today we found them all alone sitting on the bank of the canal. Later their parents joined them... they're growing up so fast! We've remembered to take bread with us a few times. When we've forgotten to bring bread, they seem to still remember us - the babies came up and were walking underneath the stroller and were trying to eat my shoes. G never wants to leave them. On our walk we also see horses and plenty of dogs.

3) Scale - I don't know that I'm terribly grateful for the scale itself because I probably weigh myself three times a day hoping to see a miraculously lower number than 4 hours ago... but I must share my happy news. I'm in the 140's now! I haven't seen those numbers in 2+ years! I'm not quite to pre-G yet and definitely no where close to pre-marriage, but at least I'm heading in the right direction!

4) Tutoring - I've been doing some tutoring lately and I LOVE IT! Not only does it bring in a little $$, but I get some time to myself (with two HS kids) doing something that I totally enjoy! Math! It's nice to use my brains to help others get some brains.

5) Patio - One of the things that I've loved about this house since we bought it is the fact that it has a huge covered back patio. For 8 months now I've been looking for patio furniture that I love and can afford. Checking craigslist has been a daily routine for me and I've emailed on dozens and dozens of patio sets, but never able to follow through with a purchase... until last week! This girl posts a picture of a set including two chairs, a bench, and a table stating that they can probably be tightened with a wrench and that there's a gold emblem with "SCAM COM" on it $150 OBO. I replied as usual but added the fact that I was a serious buyer - she called me the next day and we picked it up the following day. It sure was a little rickety... but with a lot of sanding and oiling, look at what a treasure we've got! Come to find out Scamcom is a high dollar teak patio furniture maker and this set sells new for over $3000! Lucky! A big thanks to my parents and Jared to helping! I finally finished the project last night and am still working on acquiring cushions for the bench. I'm looking forward to several enjoyable evenings out on the porch.

Original

Sanded

Stained

6) Cute hair - I've been toying with the idea of going short with my hair. It's been 6 years since I've had short hair and I'm always afraid that I look fatter with short hair, but I went the full 9 yards. I went short and got swoopy bangs. I haven't tried to style it by myself too many times yet - my mom's bringing her flat iron for me to use in 2 weeks so that should help. But it's just long enough to squeeze into a pony tail which is super nice when we're out walking.

7) Good deals - G is growing so fast that I can hardly keep up with the rate that he's outgrowing his clothes. We're up to 2T and 3T stuff. So we had to go and find some good deals. Children's Place, Old Navy, and Gap helped us out. 18 shirts, 2 jackets, 6 pants, 1 tie for $90 AWESOME! I also found some darling white dress shoes for me for $15!

8) "I Am A Loveable Me - Sleepytime Messages" - this is what we put G to bed with (and B eventually) and it's great! People are always impressed with how he goes down without a peep... and all the while he's getting positive reinforcement. After I changed his diaper and put on his jammies tonight he walked right over and turned on his CD himself. I guess he was ready for bed - he then reached for his crib. Miracle! Thanks Holly for introducing me!

9) The Zoo - and friends to go to the zoo with. Andrea and I went last week and we're going again on Friday with Teri. It's good for G and B to get out and about and see the wonders of the world around them - what better place than the zoo? G loved the birds, turtles, chipmunks, zebras, etc. He wasn't sure what to think about the petting zoo - I think he likes the animals from a distance.

10) Nursery - they let G into nursery a few weeks early and WOW, what a treat that has been! We actually get to go to Sunday School and I get to listen to all of the Relief Society Lesson! The transition has been amazingly smooth - not even the slightest struggle. He sees the toys in there and just bolts for it. They did say that the first week he got a little sad after singing time, but next was snack time so his sadness didn't last long :). Apparently his first week they talked about being grateful for birds and insects. He came home with a little coloring page and carried it around with him for days. I LOVE Nursery!

11) My Calling - This last Sunday I conducted the ward choir in Sacrament Meeting for the first time and it went amazingly well. I thought my legs would've been shaking and my heart racing but I was totally at ease - that's a miracle! They sang "Where Love Is" as performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with a flute descant. I will say that our first rehearsal was a wreck - and in retrospect I can definitely see that it's because I hadn't been set apart yet. After having that blessing my attitude and ability greatly increased - and I wasn't in tears at choir practice :) I can't say that I enjoy my calling yet, but I no longer dread Sundays with fear and trembling. My faith has grown as I've strived to fulfill my calling knowing that it comes from God - that's reason enough to be grateful for my calling.

I'm sure there's tons more, but these are current favorites... and as usual I'm grateful for my boys and husband, that I get to be a stay-at-home-mom, the gospel, etc.

Going Private...

So I've thought about going private for a long time... A while back a tutee of mine (and previously a complete stranger) did a background check on me to see if I was safe - he told me how he found out when I got married, how much we bought our house for, he told me about our kids and how I blog a lot - I was a little uneasy about all that... and then this last week I got a comment from some absolute stranger in Brazil that informs me that he/she has now added me to their "blogroll" I'm a little freaked out truthfully.

If you'd like to stay up to date with the goings on of our family, send me an email and I'll add you to the list... that is if I consider you safe :). I'll probably make it officially private in May.

INSERTED AT A LATER DATE...
**Okay, instead of emailing me (since most of you don't have my email... post a comment with your email address and then I'll delete your comment so that your address doesn't stay published forever... how does that sound?)

***Oh, I don't know what to do. Andrea thinks that the weird Brazil comment was an automatic computer generated one, not by a real person. I just changed the setting to require word verification - hopefully that helps. I'd really like to keep it open so that long lost friends can reconnect if they want to, but how do you keep the scaries away? I think I'll stay public for a while longer, but keep your email addresses coming and I'll put them on file so that if there are any more scares I'll be ready!

Oh, and be on the lookout for a "gratitude" post coming up...

Catch up...

So it's been a long time since I've uploaded pictures from our camera... consequently this post is going to be a "picture overload." It all starts with Easter - G's first "Easter Egg Hunt" which consisted of a dozen plastic eggs filled with goldfish scattered throughout a 6x6 foot patch of grass. Once he found one egg all he wanted to do was eat the insides - and have Daddy hold his pink basket... it was the only Easter-y basket I had at the house :)

And now for a favorite picture I took of B when he was just over 4 months old. Isn't he handsome?

How about these pj's for G? We call them his "stretchy pants" :)

And now for the enjoyable evening the boys and I had while Daddy was on his fishing trip. The weather was perfect. B was as happy as can be as he blew bubbles. This is his bubble face:

G found two rocks that he carried around all night long. He found lots of creative places to put them and places to bang them on. I love watching his mind work and explore.

How big was his catch?

It was THIS BIG! A 20+ incher and 3-4 pounder... Jared will correct me if I'm wrong.



Jared G's was even bigger, much to my Jared's dismay. Check out that hook on its mouth... that's a true sign of its size and age - or so I'm told :).



The guys had fun on their fishing trip together and I am so glad! Of course, it wasn't without its adventures, but that's what makes them more interesting right? Well, they almost hit a bull elk (thank goodness, it was only "almost"), Jared G may have gotten a speeding ticket - bummer!, their one lighter wasn't working at first - hard to cook foilie dinners with no coals, Jared G cut his thumb on my Jared's recently sharpened hatchet - of course they had NO bandaids, and it was freezing cold and very windy (they woke up in the morning to find their boots literally frozen solid). It's quite possible that I'm forgetting some of the memorable moments. As I am reminded of them, I'll add them.

All in all, it was a successful trip and both boys came back tired and happy.

Perfect for me...

Do you sometimes sit back and ask yourself why you've been chosen to be so blessed? After listening to conference I've been reminded of my many blessings and have made a commitment to try to be more acutely aware of the many tender mercies in my life. One of my greatest blessings is my husband - he really is the perfect match for me. Jared is level-headed and can calm my emotions when I feel I'm lost in a raging torrent. He motivates me to be better than I am through his wise counsel and example. His hugs can make any sour day turn sweet... I can literally feel my heart soar when he lovingly puts his arms around me. I am grateful to be married to him. He is an amazing husband, father, priesthood holder, and hard worker. He is a tender mercy...

Here are some pics of him on some business and hunting trips...

The Alamo


Washington DC Temple

Hunting some "beast" with his Dad... deer probably

This weekend he and his friend Jared Gunnell are going fishing up at Chevlon Lake. Fishing is a life-line for him... if he doesn't get to go for too long a time, some of the life starts to seep out of him. I'm glad that they have the opportunity to go because he needs a break from all the stress and burdens placed upon him... a chance to recouperate, enjoy the outdoors, and have some "man time."

Gregg's Cookies

Here they are... my father-in-law's FAMOUS cookies! Really, I can't get enough of them! And they're relatively healthy - oatmeal, whole wheat flour, honey instead of sugar, etc. This recipe was typed up by my brother-in-law Kirk and so you will see inserted some comical remarks :) For the mix-ins my favorite is coconut, butterscotch chips, and chocolate chips. Enjoy!

-Dad’s Cookies-

(not just a recipe, but a tribute to Dad, Grandpa, or Uncle Gregg to many)

- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- 3 cubes of butter (½ cup cubes)
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup honey
- 2 tsp. Vanilla
- 1 ½ cup white flour
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 tsp. Cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp. Baking soda
- 3/4 tsp. Salt
- ½ tsp. Nutmeg
- 4 ½ cups old fashioned oatmeal
- 1 ½ cup pecans or walnuts *
- 2 ½ cups mix-ins (i.e. chocolate chips, raisins)
- 1 ½ cup coconuts **
* - Optional, don’t do it if you don’t want to.
** - Also optional, most commonly used instead of nuts. However, they’re your cookies, so do what you feel like doing. You could even be really crazy and put like nuts, and coconut. I mean, I wouldn’t, but you can.

-Directions-

- First add the sugar, butter, eggs, honey, and vanilla to a large mixing bowl. Cream these ingredients together, if you do it right, it should look like a glossy brown sugar blob. It should also be fairly pliable. Not to mention, almost irresistible.
- Next, in a different bowl, mix the flours (that’s right, there’s an “s” on the end, what of it), Cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
- Now, you take the mixture of the dry ingredients you just made and add it to the sugar blob.
- Once you have the new, sugary, floury blob thing, you add in the oats. Make sure when your doing all this mixing, you do it throughly.
- Now shape the dough in circles about 2 inches in diameter, and ½ inch thick. Im not even going to try to explain how to do this, I could write a book. It suffices to say that nobody can do it like Dad, so just figure something out.
- Almost there, all that’s left to do is this: bake for 14-15 minutes on 360-370 F (182-188 C). Now that your done you could eat them, but if you want to be like Dad, give them away. One more thing, if you have kids they would love to have a spoonful of dough every now and then.