New Year's Resolutions

This year I made a few New Year's Resolutions, but I neglected to blog about them.  I decided that I was not going to make any "lose such and such amount of weight" resolutions.  I want to get in better shape, I don't care about my weight.  I guess that isn't completely true, I do care, but I figure if I am getting into shape, the rest will fall into place itself.

First of all, I decided a few months ago that by the end of this year, I would do a chin up...unassisted.  My upper body has always been weaker than my lower body, well, at least since adulthood.  I remember when I was younger I could beat boys at arm wrestling...

Friday, Jan 17, we got a membership to your local fitness center in the area.  They have a couple swimming pools, an indoor track, cardio machines and weight training area.  This past week, on Thursday, my husband and I went and did some weight training.  I managed to bench press 65 pounds.  I thought my husband was going a little loco when he suggested that, I thought the bar would be enough since I hadn't done any real weight training in almost four years.  I did three sets of eight with 65 pounds.  I have to say I was proud of myself :)  Then I did bicep curls.  The first set was 8 pounds, 12 times. Then 12 pounds, 12 times.  Then my husband thought I should go to the assisted pull up machine.  I took 112.5 pounds off of my weight, and I did three sets of six chin ups.  Then I did, two sets of eight dips at that weight and then one set of five at 93.5 lbs.  I have been sore for a few days now, but I feel great (if that makes any sense).  

Another resolution was to exercise 3 to 5 times per week for 20 minutes or more each time.  We have been swimming a few times since we got the membership.  It is a nice place to bring the kids to swim.  I need to sign my three year-old up for swimming lessons.  She is doing better being in the water, but she still has some fears I need to figure out how to help her overcome.  My daughter, and another person and her two daughters have been training for a 5K with me.  We started on Wednesday.  Before that, I was still making sure to get in my 20 minutes or more.  This structure is helping.  My children love going to the fitness center, so it makes it a lot easier.

The next thing I did was give up ice cream.  I had my last bowl on New Year's morning.  It was the rest of the Turkey Hill Peanut Butter Chocolate ice cream in the house.  I even took a picture of it before I ate it.  My addiction to ice cream has probably contributed to a few several of the unwanted pounds I am hauling around.

My last bowl of ice cream for 2015...taken 1/1/2015

I have not had another bowl of ice cream since then.  I haven't even really been tempted.  It might be due to the fact that after I ate it, I prayed that I would have help not eating ice cream for the rest of the year.  Heavenly Father does answer prayers, and sometimes you know He has a sense of humor in the way that He answers.  By the end of the night, I was puking out of both ends (as one of my friends phrased it).  Sorry, about all the information, but what better way for me not to want to eat ice cream, for quite a while!  

I resolved to plan meals ahead of time.  I have not done too well at that.  Although, I do know what we will be eating a couple of times this week, although I don't know what days.  I need to do better about that one!

I resolved to learn to cross-stitch.  I haven't started that yet, although I bought all the materials for the item I wanted to cross-stitch.  Then my daughter taught me how to crochet.  I am working on a blanket that might take me the whole year to do.  It is BYU-Provo's colors.  My daughter (she is 10) thought a good size would be 400 links.  I think this will be a California king size blanket.  Oh well...our bed is a queen, but it wouldn't hurt to have something that the whole family can sit on the couch and cover up under while watching a movie!

I also like to make spiritual resolutions.  As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we get callings.  We don't get paid for doing the service we provide.  Currently, I am one of the librarians. I have been a primary teacher, scout leader and Relief Society teacher in the past.  I want to be there to fulfill my calling as one of the Ward Librarians.  This entails making copies as requested, giving out pictures, chalk and erasers, etc.

Another resolution is to go to the temples more often.  Before I became a mother, I would go much more frequently than I do now.  I want to change that.  There is a peace that is felt at the temple, where I know that I am doing things to help others.  I feel like it is a time when all my stress is left outside and I can concentrate on serving others.

Ogden Utah Temple

I am already thinking about New Year's Resolutions for next year.  I didn't think of them in time for this year.  I think that the ones I have this year will help with next year's resolutions a lot though.

Christmas Eve Came and Went Again

This year for Christmas Eve, we drove to Rock Springs, Wyoming, to have lunch with my sister and her son.  It was a nice trip and I am thankful that there was somewhere we could meet and have lunch.  We ended up at Golden Corral.  They do have pizza on their buffet, so it wasn't like we went against the pizza on Christmas Eve tradition.  I just couldn't eat it, since it wasn't gluten free.

The three of us girls were together again.  I enjoy getting to have these times with my sisters.  Even if it is for just an hour or so, it is definitely worth the time.  One of my sisters lives with me, her husband had to work, so she rode with us.  She sat in the back with the children and got to play referee.

After we had lunch, we headed to a music store.  My daughter has wanted a guitar for a while now, and they were having good deals there.  She didn't have enough money for one, or any money for one, so she borrowed it from her brothers.  She agreed to pay them back.  So far, the only hitch is, she isn't allowed to play it until it is paid for.  She is really happy with it though.  It is purple, which isn't a surprise!

After going to the music store in Rock Springs, it was time to say goodbye to my sister and my nephew.  I always hate the goodbyes, but it is definitely worth it to see them.

My husband took the kids to see Big Hero 6 when we got home.  I stayed home with my toddler, because she isn't a big fan of sitting in movie theaters.  I also had some things to do around the house before Santa came.  Santa comes on Christmas Eve in our house.  My sister and her husband also stayed home.

My husband called when they were on their way back from the theater, so my toddler, sister, bro-in-law and I could go walk around the neighborhood and look at Christmas lights so Santa could come. My daughter loves looking at Christmas lights.  It was a beautiful night.  While we were out, we saw a TV by the curb saying that it was free, and that it works, so I remembered where it was so we could go claim it if it was still there, after opening gifts.

This was taken a few days before Santa came.  There were a lot of gifts under there.  My seven year-old exclaimed it was the best Christmas ever.   I was happy that he felt that way.  Opening gifts on Christmas Eve, gives us the time to remember why we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day.

My sister made all the children blankets.  Our puppy always loved laying on the blankets, so it wasn't too shocking to see this under the tree later that evening.

I am so blessed to have my children.  We enjoyed Christmas Day with my sister and her husband, and my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and nephew.  It was a nice day with them.

My Youngest Son Turned Seven - Dec 20 and Lost His First Tooth - Dec 30

Where has the time gone?!  He was my only child that was born in NY.  We are once again in Utah.  He is my little blonde hair, blue-eyed fellow.  He reminds me a lot of one of my brothers, both personality and looks.

He had planned what he wanted to do for his birthday for months.  He wanted to go to Wingers, which is a restaurant in the area, that gives you all the popcorn you can eat.  I think that is what drew him in!

He started to ask to open his gifts the day before his birthday, because it was "just one more day."  I kept telling him he had to wait until his birthday.  I got woken up very early by him so he could open his presents.  I told him he would open them later, after his cupcakes and cookies had been made.  He wasn't horribly amused with that idea.  I remember being a kid though!

That morning, the kids went over to one of our family friends so Keith and I could get some things done around the house, before the party time started.  Keith then picked them up and we met my sister and her husband at Wingers for lunch.  Their gluten-free fryer was down, so they let me have all the salad I wanted for $2.  I had two plates of it.  Thankfully, I love salad!  The birthday had chicken, and all the popcorn he could eat.  They also brought him a huge slice of mint chocolate chip ice cream pie.  He shared it with everyone!

His uncle and his dad then had to run down to Salt Lake to take care of some business.  When they got home, we sang happy birthday and he opened gifts.  I had bought birthday wrapping paper, because I didn't want to wrap his stuff in Christmas wrapping paper, just because we had some.  I got a couple of pictures with my phone, but the rest are on a camera and I don't have access to it to get them off right now.

His big gift was a remote control car and a game called Tenzi, which is dice.  He got a few other smaller things.  He was elated!

In the past year, he started first grade.  He has learned how to read a lot better.  He knows how to cook scrambled eggs, and enjoys doing it.  He loves Monopoly.  He enjoys playing with our dog, Hazel.  Him and his brother share a room and have bunk beds.  They still haven't quite come to terms with which bunk is whose.  They will switch whenever they feel like it.

He loves doing yardwork a lot more than housework.  He will be the first one out there to pull weeds or shovel snow.  He helped to turn the soil in the garden with the shovel.

He loves playing with his siblings.  He has an amazing smile and a good sense of humor.  He hates to get his haircut!  His request for his birthday meal was turkey roast.  We had that the next day, since he didn't give me the request til about 6 pm, and we wouldn't have been eating til after 9 since I would have had to go buy it.

He lost his first tooth on Dec 30.  My sons hold on to their baby teeth, in their mouth, for as long as possible.  He was so excited to finally lose a tooth, so the tooth fairy could come!  He is like me when it comes to getting adult teeth, his adult tooth was growing in behind the baby tooth.

I am so blessed to have this little fellow for a son!

My Toddler Turned Three - October 5

First of all, my toddler turned three on Sunday, October 5.  She wanted to go feed ducks, so we did that.  She is quite easy to please!

She got a lot of clothes for her birthday, as she had been growing like a little weed.  She also got a little box with an owl on it, because she loves owls, and Jenga blocks to play with.

That morning we started off by watching General Conference, which is a semi-annual broadcast from our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We then had her open her gifts, for which she was very excited.  She loves the surprise entailed with presents, but I think she would be just as happy if she was opening empty boxes.

We then had lunch and toward evening, when it had cooled off a little, we went to the park where we feed ducks.  After we fed the ducks, we went on a walk around the park.  She got to walk, instead of ride in her stroller, because she wanted to :)

Her request for dinner was chicken and broccoli casserole.  I didn't realize that we didn't have everything for that, so we had that later in the week.

It is so hard to believe that this little one is now three years-old.  By the time she turned three, she started to urinate in the potty.  She has pooped a few times in it, but I still can't convince her to make that a regular practice.  She will bring me a diaper so she can poop.  If I don't put it on her, she will not go, even when her stomach starts hurting really bad.

Her health has seemed to improve, but she still has times when she gets sick out of blue.  She doesn't want to eat during these times which cause me great stress.  We learned that she is allergic to mosquitoes.  Where she gets bit, it swells right up.  At one point, her whole hand was swollen because she was bitten between her pinky and ring finger of her right hand.

She was weaned, cold turkey on August 4.  I think this was harder for me than it was for her.  She took it pretty well.  I was a nervous wreck, because the times she wouldn't eat, at least she would nurse, and I knew she was getting nourishment she needed.

Her hair grew a lot this year.  It is actually long!  She loves owls, as I mentioned before.  Her great-grandma, who she is named after, loved owls too.  It is amazing to me that there is that kind of connection, because I never have had owls around.  When we were visiting my parents in NY, she had owls around, and my toddler immediately started playing with them.

She loved her summer in New York with her grandparents while my foot was broken.  She would spend hours playing outside in their backyard or sitting on the swing.  I am so blessed to have this little girl as one of my children.