Great invention...

I wish I knew about these when I was nursing. It's always uncomfortable to have to nurse in public and around family. So why not get one of these? Just click on the picture to get to the webite and learn more!

Invisible Mom...

I borrowed this from my friend's blog, Thanks Maria! It is so true! I do feel invisible most the time and this was an eye opener :) It's always good to get a new perspective.

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response,the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously, not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? & can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?'; I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England .. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there,looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.' In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.' At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.When I really think about it, I don't want my daughter to tell the friend she's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want her to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to her friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it here.'As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot see if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Too cute!

Kylan stayed home with us from church, he has a cough too. He came out of his room later in the day and was dressed like this. He said he was a Primary teacher going to teach, he's too funny.

And on it goes..

Don't let the smile fool you, this kid is pretty cranky when he's sick. The poor guy has a nasty cough and has had a fever too.


Kylan was playing with the camera and got this pic. I look so lovely, don't I? Notice the look on my face, I had been doing this almost all day. She has been having a pretty high fever, almost 103 and that scares me because she had the febrile seizure because of that same grade fever. Yikes!



My poor baby, she just doesn't feel good. Her little cheeks have a rash, it's clearing up now, but it seems like it should bother her. And her poor legs are covered in excema, which I think has been made worse from the high fevers. It stinks!



Kylan got this pic the other day, doesn't her look just say, "What are you doing?"




The poor kids have been sick lately. They've had 101, 102 degree fevers and a pretty nasty cough. We were home sick from church today and I am having issues with the space problem. I have no space! AHHHH! Just had to get that out :)

Basketball shmasketball....

We signed Kylan up for basketball at the Y, he's had some fun! This is the prayer circle before every game.

He tends to not focus on the game, but at least he travels down the court, sometimes :) I even had to sew up the pockets in his shorts because he was obsessed with having his hands in them the whole time.

This picture cracks me up! I'm not sure what he was doing, but I caught it at just the right time, he's Joe Cool!

He's guarding the kid, right? But who knows where the ball is, I think he was looking off court at something.....silly kid. At least he was trying and it's only his first season. He has his last game on monday and we'll have to see if he wants to do it again next year.

Playing and crafts....

I made this valance for Hannah's room. It was really easy, I used the heat n bond and no thread at all! It's not perfect, but it'll do.


The neighbor girl was over playing at our house and I can't even remember why I didn't let Hannah go out with them, probably because she was in white pants :)



Look how she is up on her tippy toes watching them play, how sweet!

Don't know what you've got, til it's gone....

My R.O. is not working. For some reason it decided to stop making water. It only gives me, maybe, a cup a day. So that's just fabulous! I hate having to go fill water bottles! I used to do that all the time and it gets old so fast! I worked so hard to convince Nate that we needed the R.O. unit and I have been spoiled for so long that I can't go back now. I use that water for everything, cooking, drinking, filling up my water pitcher so it will be nice and cold in my fridge. Now I can't even fill up a drinking glass. And the stinkiest thing about it is that Nate can't fix it right now because he's in the middle of the financial reporting time at work and has been working from early in the morning to late at night. This really stinks! Sorry to complain, but I have to vent somewhere :)

Best buds 4 ever

Or at least every other day. These two are too funny. They had a play date on Monday and it had been a few days since they had played together. So you'd think they'd be so nice to each other, right? Well I was doing the dishes in the kitchen(duh?) and I hear Ian crying. It's not just a, "he took my toy" cry, it's a, "I'm hurt!" cry. so I run in there and find them both holding onto the skin of each other's throats! Yes, they both had some marks left over from that. I take them both into the other room and they had a time out. Ian did not like it one bit, he was crying the whole time, it was the breath in between each word sobbing ...I...want....My......Mommy! I did feel bad for him though since Caleb does that neck pinch thing on me every day. So I let them cool off for a bit, then I remind them that it's not okay to pinch or hit and that we need to be nice to our friends. It took some hotdogs, chips, and fruit snacks to smooth things over, but I think it turned out alright. By the end of the play date, Ian didn't want to go home, so are they still friends? I guess we'll see what the next play date is like :)

A little suprise...

"Here's how it works-the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well-before you leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Then come back, let me know you're going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! Remember that only the first 3 comments will receive a gift from me, so be quick!"

This was on my friend's blog and I thought I would try it out. Here goes nothing! :)

Sanity savers...

So lately we have been sick in our family. It started last Sunday night with Kylan, who missed school on Monday. Then Hannah got sick on Thursday, she threw up several times. Thursday, in the middle of the night is when Caleb throws up, all over his bed. Yes, it's nasty, but that's just the beginning. The next step in all of it is the diarrhea, and I will spare you all the details. We thought Caleb was over it, except for last night. In the night I was wakened by this very unpleasant aroma. Good thing he was wearing a pull-up and his mattress is protected. It was the worst mess I have EVER had to clean up! I would rather be picking up piles of dog doodoo, and I hate the smell of dog poop. Let's just say it was disgusting and I'll leave it at that. Anyway, making a long story short, I have been struggling because of being stuck inside for so long and cleaning up so many messes. So I made me some things to look at to remind me that it's all worth it in the end. I really need some sanity in my life, even if just for a moment.



I need to fix this and add Pres. Monson's name, it was from last conference, in case you forgot :)


And this is helpful to have around becase it's such a great reminder of what we should be doing everyday! Thanks President Hinckley!

Happy birthday!

Yesterday was Nate's birthday. It was a crazy day, with work, a basketball game, FHE, and a party. We tried to make it a special one though. So I made some yummy brownies and we tried to catch them on fire, see below. I think next time we'll just use the number shaped ones :)


These aren't in the right order, but I'm not fixing it!

He had a hard time blowing them all out and keeping them out.


Can you say cheesy? And fire hazard?


The boys were excited to help with the presents. Caleb was informing him of what it was just before he opened it, that's the last time I let him help wrap! :)

Read-a-rama

On Saturday it was the CBS7 Read-a-rama at the Petroleum museum. So Kylan and I got to go spend some quality time together. Caleb was sick at home with Dad and Hannah just got to hang out at home. It was really nice to go and only have one kid to worry about. Now I know why people wait so long between kids :) It was a breeze! He had a lot of fun and we got some new books out of it, so I guess it was worth it :)


Here he is trying out the racecar, he didn't want to hold still :)

Exercise is hard work!

Last thursday, while Caleb was at preschool, we went for a bike ride for some exercise. It was pretty bumpy on the ride and it must have been too warm and cozy in the trailer, Hannah was plum tuckered out!


This is how I found her when I pulled into the driveway.


Aren't they so sweet when they sleep?

Why do I bother....

So today I decide to be a nice mom and take my kids to the storytime at Barnes and Noble. We even go early so Caleb can play with the trains for a bit before it starts. It actually went well for a little while, until the stories started :) Caleb and Hannah could not sit still. They were all over the place. I lost count of how many times I had to go looking for Hannah throughout the whole store. And Caleb at least waited until the end to go running off through the store. Sheesh! Being a mother is such a thankless job! The sad part is that I will probably torture myself again soon since I need to get myself and my kids out to socialize once in a while. Yikes! :)

Chili champs of the Ward!

Not an actual photo of the chili, just one I found online :)

So friday night was the Midland 1st Ward chili cook-off. I had a lot of fun trying out some new kinds of chili and some yummy desserts! It was really suprising though to win 1st place in the chili cook-off. I was totally shocked! I was actually thinking to myself...."Man, I'm not even going to get an honorable mention!" And then it helped that my neighbor, Kyle was playing M.C. and tipped me off when he said, "This isn't right, I guess this one was rubbed off on by their neighbor." It was pretty cool. It was a recipe that Nate found online and it won the world champion title for 2008. I did some tweaking to it and made it my own though. But if you are hurt by that, oh well! :) Then you need to talk to Bro. Gray and see what is in HIS chili, that he won 3rd place for. Anyway, several people asked me for the recipe, so here it is.

Southern Chili Georgia Style
World Champion 2008

Source: Georgia Weller
Submitted By:

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp California chili powder
3 Tbsp Gebhardts chili powder
1 Tbsp Pasilla chili powder
1 Tbsp Chimayo chili powder
2 ½ Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp granulated garlic
1 Tbsp onion powder
½ tsp Cayenne powder
2 tsp salt

Combine above ingredients for spice mix. Reserve 4 Tbsp of mix and set aside. Divide the remaining amount into 2 equal parts.

3# Tri-Tip roast or Chuck Tender cut in small chunks
1-15oz can of beef broth (Swansons)
1-15oz can of chicken broth (Swansons)
1-10oz can of tomato puree (Hunts)
2 Green Chiles – from a 4 oz can of whole ones - blended
Tabasco to taste
Salt to taste

Instructions:
In chili pot, combine beef broth, chicken broth, tomato puree and ½ of remaining spice mix.
In skillet, brown the meat, drain and add to chili pot.
Cook for about 1½ hours.
Add other ½ of spice mix and blended green chiles and simmer for an additional hour.
Add reserved 4 Tbsp of spice mix and cook a ½ hour more or until meat is tender.
Adjust salt if necessary.
Add Tabasco to taste.


Servings:
3/4 gallon

I made 1 1/2 batches of it since Nate and I both signed up to bring chili. I didn't use the tri-tip, I used ground sirloin instead. Then for the blended green chilies, I used a can of green salsa, and part of a can of chopped green chilies. We couldn't find the California chili powder, so we bought some dried chilies from HEB and crushed them up, they weren't spicy at all and I think they were red :). I also added 1/4 of an onion and a couple shakes of minced garlic. It also turns out pretty runny, so you could probably leave out the chicken broth or do half and half. I had to boil mine down on the stove and add a little corn starch to thicken it up. For the tabasco I used smoked jalapeno, and only a few drops will get it spicy enough. Oh, and I added two cans of bush's black beans. Let me know if you try this and if you do anything different to it that works for you! Or we should have a big party and I'll make a big batch of it!